I care because Bolster which is essentially a benefit for PvE players was developed as if it were a PvP feature. Because of bolster, we don't have other long overdue PvP feature that PvP players have been waiting far too long for. Can you actually even point out a meaningful, PvP specific feature in 2.0? Here are the patch notes for SWTOR 2.0. The first major version release since launch. Please do enlighten me about all the wonderful PvP features that were added and how bolster didn't replace them. http://www.swtor.com/patchnotes/2.0-rothc/rise-hutt-cartel-and-scum-and-villainy

I've never had full comms saved when I hit 50/55 with a new character and gearing was still very very fast for the basic tier. After just a few pieces in augmented shells, you quickly start close the gap. Honestly, even full recruit wasn't that bad if you play smart. So your hypothetical PvE'r wants PvP gear, but doesn't want to put any time into acquiring it. Explain to me again how this is not PvE welfare?

You must be trolling me, because you can't really be that bad at reading comprehension. I said PvP players are NOT having problems killing bolstered people. You keep reading it as if I said they were.

It is PvE Welfare. Don't like it? Sorry, not into touchy feely, make you feel better about yourself descriptions. Bolster is not for new PvP players as pretty much every PvP player has told you. Gearing a new toon is trivial and quick to the point that they can compete. Bolster, as it was implemented was a feature to help PvE players in PvE gear die 2 GCD's later. People who need bolster are by definition terribad because any decent player would have the good sense to wear the right gear for the content they were playing. FWIW, I did just fine in my recruit gear for the few days I had to wear it. Just play smart and don't try to face tank the most geared guy on their team. Shut him down, distract him, make him less effective without just trying to out DPS him. It's all possible if you realize that you are playing a person who will react differently to different stimuli. This is the essence of PvP.

1) Terribad PvE'rs cry about gear gap. Get bolster welfare. Still fail. PvP'rs lose PvP development resources because PvP development resources were allocated to creating, fixing, refixing, refixing again.... bolster. 2) It's simply PvE welfare. "I beat NPC's to earn this PvE gear! I want to PvP in it!" 3) It's PvE welfare packaged as PvP updates. As such, it takes resources from PvP development projects and reallocates them to QQing PvE'rs who can't beat opponents who think. The harsher and truer truth.

There is a lot of truth in this statement.

It's been my experience that an infiltration shadow, baring the issues that I mentioned, can not be LoS'd or kitted like some theoretically higher DPS class/specs. In addition, they can almost constantly CC and interrupt. For these reason, I believe, again barring the issues that I mentioned, they would be excellent pressure. Taking my statements in their entirety, I don't think people are wrong in their view of infiltration shadows. I just think they are wrong when they take a weaker player in a better class/spec over a better player in infiltration shadow.

I think people are under-appreciating how much pressure a infil shadow can put on a healer in ranked. That said, I also don't think a shadow's weakness is not being able to exit combat. That's nice, but not really that important for sustained damage. Breach procs constantly if you do it right. What I think is hard is maintaining good positioning with all the lag and CC. If you can't maul consistently when your proc is up, you take a huge hit to DPS. Even wasting 1-2 GCD's is too much. You have to hit it immediately. This one dynamic alone, in my observation, makes my damage output vary widely from match to match. Also, I see people with the "right" class/spec getting on ranked teams all the time. Many of these same people consistently under-perform their damage potential. Personally, I think player skill with a class / spec is under-appreciated too. Disclaimer. I am a decent, but not exceptional player and as such my opinions are a reflection of my understanding of the game at my current skill level.

Bolster doesn't make a player hit their keys any better and really doesn't make the people who were too lazy to equip their recruit gear competitive. They simply die 1-2 GCD's later and buf my total damage stat. Bolster is not about new PvP'rs. It's about making raid gear usable in PvP.

Yes, really PvE. Bolster as it was implemented is designed to make PvE gear viable for PvP. This helps PvE'rs and does nothing for PvP'rs. Still confused? Please ask and feel free to toss out another "clever" taunt that you once heard someone else use.

Nothing, just don't package it as a PvP update when it's really PvE welfare.

You really need to read what you're responding to, because what you quoted says exactly the opposite of what you think it does.

First, the idea of bolster is fine. The implementation is beyond terrible. That said, if you like bolster, that fine, but can we at least stop pretending it was designed to help new PvP'rs? If this was true, the far simpler system of overriding a slot with recruit stats would have been used. If bolster was really for new PvP'rs, it could look at the players specialization and choose the right gear set for them. Would this be min / maxed and perfect? No, but again, if this was truly for new players, it would be quickly replaced with gear the player could customize. It would be good enough. Simple. Easy to develop. The complexity of bolster is only need if you want to make it possible for people to keep PvPing in PvE gear indefinitely. By trying to translate each PvE piece into a PvP equivalent, they are trying to maintain the players customization choices. Allowing PvP customization with PvE components. Bolster is not about new PvP'rs. It's about enhancing and extending the value of PvE gear. This would be fine if Bolster, a PvE feature, didn't come at the cost of needed PvP features. This last point, is what I think bothers most PvP'rs that I know about bolster. I don't know many, if any, people having trouble competing with people in bolstered gear. I do know many people who feel that the development resources are being unequally applied to PvE.

In world PvP, a solo healing sage is basically a free kill. If you're with a group of friends, however, you are significant force multiplier. This is what it means to be a support class. You make other people stronger. That said, if you are better than your opponent, you can outplay them solo and win. This requires that you have the right gear and enough experience to know and execute the right counters at the right time. Step 1) Get PvP gear. There is no bolster in world PvP. You MUST use PvP gear there. Step 2) PVP more. Your PvE skills are not enough. You need to learn how people fight. It's much different than the AI. Step 3) Duel people. You will lose. The better you get, the longer it will take you to lose. However, if you can survive long enough, your friend would have been able to kill of one of the sins, putting you in a 2v1 against them. Dueling people will also make you calmer when you fight. Time will slow down and you won't panic. Step 4) Learn how other classes work. Every class works a little different. Once you learn how your opponent's class works, you will know what hurts and frustrates them. They are trying to create a situation that is optimal for their chances of victory. Just knowing what they are playing towards will help you deny them that scenario.

I didn't ask the question to be agreed with, so I am not offended by your response. I think it was a bit douchey too. I got douchey play from my team, so I gave it back to them. Petty? Yes sir. Mid was not capped by anyone until after I gave them grass. We were ahead by a few ticks as you suggested from the period of having them 2 capped. That said, it would have required minimal effort to keep the sides with all the healing we had. Plus side speeders are a super fast ride back. I don't believe people were staying mid for tactical reasons. They thought the game was being won for them and decided to just pad their stats.

I agree. I did feel bad about the gunslinger. That said, he didn't seem upset with me. I think he was just as frustrated. Maybe the guys at mid were just derping for DPS and didn't care to win. If that's the case, I don't see how my choice affected their goal.

I was grouped with one other guy from my guild. The rest of the team were random pugs. The map is civil war. I play pub side. We drop and I go snow. One goes grass. 6 go mid. I run into a sorc in healing spec at snow. Blow him up and take the node. They kill our guy at grass and take it. Stalemate at mid. After a few minutes. I call out in ops chat to see if someone will watch the node so I can try for grass. To my surprise, a gunslinger comes. I go to grass. Find a solo mara there. Kill him and take the node. I call it in ops as the node is turning, as does the slinger at snow. No one leaves mid. Several more calls follow for more defenders, but still no one leaves mid. The gunslinger calls incoming. Still no one leaves mid. The gunlinger dies. They cap snow. This was not a lightning fast recap. There was plenty of time for a rotation. So the mara that I took snow from comes my way. I sit there cloaked and announce in ops that I am going to let him cap. He caps. The team complains. Still the same 6 guys won't leave mid. I sit in stealth and watch them lose 3 capped. My guildy was not happy about what I did, but I feel quite good about it. Am I wrong?

Scoundrel / OP heals have consistently been overpowered since 1.2. Why? My guess is that it's a little reward for not having a glow stick in a star wars game. No one is stopping you from playing one, so go have some fun and accept this fact. It's not going to change. TLDR; Sage gets a lightsaber Commando gets a giant gun Scoundrel gets to be a little overpowered.

Most are frustratingly bad derp fests with inexperienced players. While, I realize that I was an experienced derping player at one point, I no longer am. I want to play with people on my level. No, this isn't me saying that I think I am the best player. I am simply saying I want to play with people who are near my current skill level. A few are just this and they are exhilarating. Win or lose.

I wouldn't mind cross server ranked, but I was trying to stick with fixes that are trivial to implement. All of these things either leverage systems that exist now or are little more than a checkbox and an if statement. If PuG groups could queue ranked and face other players of similar skill, the quality and quantity of ranked games would increase.

I'm quickly getting to this point.

They made it so PvP gear has little to no meaning, what makes you think they would be willing to make valor meaningful?

There would be no guarantee that you would not still be stuck on a flat surface a few feet away. This is because pathing and collision detection in these games can be quite quirky. Death and respawn at a known safe location is more reliable. The tactical advantage of using stuck comes from the re-positioning combined with the immediate respawn. Add a 60 second delay to the respawn and it's abuse would diminish considerably.

Melee trains were over the top from 1.2 until 2.0. Healing is actually fun again and so are the ranged DPS classes. Who has been nerfed? Melee DPS. Sorry, but they were stupid OP prior to 2.0. Now they are good, with the exception of smash specs which are still great.

This pretty much sums it up. My infiltration shadow is great fun against less experienced players and in 1v1 fights. In a competitive fight, it is simply outshined by other classes. 1) Group combat DPS are good, but not exceptional. We kill healers if left alone, which is why we are not left alone and instead, focused early. 2) Node stealing is great, but a good defender will die slowly enough to get help. It's only the bads who implode in 3 GCD's. For these reasons, when I feel like goofing around, I play my shadow. When I want to play seriously, I run my seer sage.