I have always been in favor of 2 companions but it wouldn't be as ideal as some thing for this title 1) We all have memories of KotOR 1 and 2, Mass Effect 1-2-3, Jade Empire, Dragon Age 1-3 and more where our companions interacted verbally with each other. This game would never put that in at this late stage so that entire concept would be lost here. 2) Much of the game (seriously like 90% of it) is already way to easy and simplistic with 1 companion. Having 2 companions out would really be SWTOR very own godmode version Which would make already damaged content (because of lack of challenge) and turn it into meaningless enounters that would get boring ultra fast. The game simply is not designed for 2 companions + player and no way in hell would the devs take the time and effort to redo combat encounters so they would be challenging. 3) being able to summon 2 companions would dramatically effect the little bit of grouping there is now I know for myself, if I get some whiny pouter rage quitter in a flashpoint Depending on my mode that day there is a better then even chance I will replace the player with one of my outfitted companions If I could do 2 companions, the chances of me grouping go down drastically (except with guildies and friends of course) So while I would have loved this game to release with 2 companion set ups I think its just to set in stone now for them to ever up the usable companions Just not a viable option at this stage of the game

Honestly the word Challenge and SWTOR do not belong in same sentance before or after 4.0 SW:TOR has always been the easiest MMORPG in the genre, since release. In closed beta many begged EA to slow down the leveling and increase mob toughness Instead at launch they made it even easier and faster and simpler So outside of hardmode Flashpoints and HM/NiM ops, I am not grasping this so called pre 4.0 challenge you speak of. HOWEVER, to answer your question, yes its even easier now Companions are way over powered and the only real challenges out there are when hit by a bug or they stealth change a boss fight and you caught unaware (but that only happens once per boss and then its back to easy mode) Play for the story and see if there is something to hold you ingame after that If not, unsub until the next block of story comes out would be my suggestion But if you are looking for any kind of challenge (outside of HM FPs and HM Ops) This not the game you are looking for Wish it was Boy do I wish it was But it is not

While I agree I never heard of any NiM guilds either. Ive met a number of players that say they are hardcore elitists (and usually some of the most inflexible players out there that if content doesnt follow a specified pattern they fail) And seen some uber PVP guilds (but the amount of obvious cheating done by them tarnishes any real respect someone might wanna give). Truth is this game doesnt have the uber hardcore guilds found in Original EQ and other pre WOW MMORPGs So that part I agree with you BUT What I took from the OP is he was speaking about having rewards and content that makes you drive forward. Take the next step up. And he is 110% correct The BIGGEST issue facing the long term health of SW:TOR is how they give everything away rather then make people work for it. When you give it away you diminish the value of the item or the acheivement For example: Right now the ONLY mount I want is Baron Deathmarks Ranked PVP reward. It is ALMOST enough to get me to do PVP ALMOST It actually got me to play and start building up a set of gear so I could join ranked But that ended with one Huttaball match were I spent entire match stunned, pushed, pulled, restuned ... (rinse and repeat) But SWTOR having the genres worst PVP is hardly a new or groundbreaking revelation but the rarity of the reward made the reward special and unique and thus of value to me to try and acheive it And IMO thats what his point about getting the best gear and rewards from NiM ops. Least thats how it read to me after then nonsense of gushing over other guilds (or his own guild for all we know) EA needs to get back to the carrot in front of the donkey they need to put in rewards and contnet that gets players to challenge themselves, go that extra mile, do that extra content It should not all be either given away or sold on the Cartel Market.

I have never, on tank healer dps had to cleanse or be cleansed in that fight since day one of doing it at launch I have ran that flashpoint well over 300 times now and NEVER had to cleanse on any character Ran it in hard mode and never had to cleanse And besides that, a scoundral has 1 cleanse and its certainly not going on a dps over the tank (or in this cas the level 55 shadow who was also in same group) Sorry but thats complete nonsense And for the record, the 55 shadow, myself as a 45 scoundral survived the opening gernade with no problem. It was the 2 20 something dps that died almost instantly If there is any lingering effect is minimal and mostly ignored in the past until upward bolstered character (who lack the abilities they gain at higher levels to survive those attacks) entered the fray.

I unsubbed for 18 months for shoulder surgery And then came back to find most of the complaints made in closed beta, open beta, launch were still not fixed so yuppers, can say with no lie since launch you dont need to have been subd for the whole time, you just need to know that a bug at launch is still currently not fixed Take for example the current bug that has players who were legacy 50 prior to acheivements being put in has been present since day 1 of acheivements. I know this because when looking through the endless bug reports on the issue they dated back to start of acheivenment. So what if I didnt personally get bug until I came back and resubbed, I can follow the virtual paper trail that shows its a now a 2 year old bug that remains unfixed to this very day. Game difficulty (or lack there of) was a hotty contested issue in closed beta with many many many bclosed beta testers saying they needed to make the game tougher and slow leveling speed down. There was endless reports on how leveling to fast would race people to end game (it happened), would minimize need for crafting (it happened), who cause faster burn out due to bordom (it happened and then happened again and again and again and ...). All you needed to be was in the closed beta to know this. So one gander at the forums now and the problems affecting SW:TOR and you can realistically say the problem has been around since before launch. You didnt have to be subd for all those months inbetween. So nope, doesnt matter if they were subd for all those months (some were, some were not) all that matters is they were around at the start so can accurately and honestly say this or that was a problem at launch. Sorry OP but there is a endless string of bugs and problems that EA was noticed years ago about and have failed to fix or address years later.

never happen as they shifted companion customization to the cartel market for you to buy with real money get use to it this is going to happen with the rest of the game until all customization is gone from game and only available via cartel market purchases. This is not a new revelation either from day 1 of the cartel market hitting this game, thats the direction they slowly been moving towards

hell until upward level sync is outright removed I will not do a flashpoint through GF unless with a fully premade group 3.5 hours in Taral V (only to get so annoyed I quit group because a level 20 shadow couldnt survive the opening gernade attack of final boss, so she was screaming about how was my job to cleanse her.....my reply was "ITS A $#%@$^ GERNADE, THERE IS NOTHING TO CLEANSE, USE YOUR DEFENSIVE COOL DOWNS, USE A HEALING TERMINAL, AND JUST SURVIVE HIS OPENING VOLLEY") That was final straw for me. Will not do any GF content with PUG groups going forward And Im far far far from alone in feeling that way Yup, fact is all of the original Bioware folks are long gone now. This version of Bioware is just EA employees transfered to that division. People insisting on talking about them as something seperate and different then EA are completely lost on the facts. Bioware stopped being Bioware the day the Doctors and all the original staff left. This new version of Bioware is just EA doing what EA has always done. Buy a company and then change everything in it and then wonder why the original loyalty to the original product no longer there We saw it with Westwood studio and we seen it with all the other companies EA bought out. There is no Bioware anymore beyond a meaningless name Its all EA, plain and simple. And anyone claiming different is either uninformed or just in denial.

LOL I been waiting over TWO YEARS for them to fix a bug that Legacy 50 reads as legacy 1, if you hit legacy 50 before acheivements were put and and your account was closed down. Noticed it when I came back and submitted a bug report got reponse it wasnt a bug and to contact cust service Submitted report to cust service got reponse IT WAS A KNOWN BUG and would have to be fixed in a upcoming patch (this was over 2 years ago now) and to make sure I submit a bug report Furious at the double talk and run around I came to web site, hit cust service, and there was pages of people saying exact same thing for months and months before me and getting same result every time. Bug still not fixed and occationally I resubmit bug report and cust service report and get the identical form letter reponses (Same form letter reponse used when you submit bug report on Rishi datacrons STILL being bugged) So how do they expect people to stay subbed when they outright ignore long term issues? Who knows, but appearently they really do.

Arnt those called Developer updates?

The problem is the content is fun, for 9 hours and then you go months with nothing new And as you say, paying $60--$90 dollars for what will be a 45 minute chapter just doesnt make fiscal sense Im heading into major surgery so parking sub (closes on 10th of this month) And even though loved HK 55 in story, Staying subd just for him and that 45 minute chapter just not reasonable thinking. Kinda luck about the surgery as I was "this close" to outright cancelling Now at least I have said I will recheck game in March or April after surgery and rehab done But yeah, with out some major changes to how they approach content in this game I will probably be following suit of so many other players I once played with here. Sub in for 1 month every 4-6 months Play the content and then unsub for another 4-6 months period. With out challenge in the content, The desire to stay and replay stuff is gone completely

Yas and no Yes people clearly burned out on the modern version of MMORPGs (Wow and later) There is a reason they all go F2P You burn through them in a coupel few weeks and move on so you are not interested in paying a sub and everything for such a short term game. But When you look at the industry New games still get a fairly strong showing, even if they subscription games The bottom falls out after the initial response when the game play, the immersion just doesnt live up to expectations. Now some would say lower expectations, but honestly thats what WOW did and while it worked for them, its also the reason genre in the state it is now. Because it did not work for anyone after WOW (to the level the companies thought it would) Personally I think players, even the special snowflake tantrum gimme gimme gimme crowd are waiting for a MMORPG to do it right finally. If you look back at the genre from 1991 to present day, there is stuff thats always a huge hit. And there is stuff thats always a negative. Its just going to take a company (cause sadly the days of independant design for MMORPGs are over) to put ego aside (number #1 game killer, developers that think they know best and ignore genre history) and put the peices togather Its not a complexe or difficult undertaking to hilite what works, what doesnt Take that, put it to a setting that will grab imagination And you will have a hit And the MMORPG genre will suddenly thrive and grow. But for some reason beyond all common sense and understanding No company has been willing to do that yet. SWTOR probably one of the closer games but for every step forward they would take 2 or 3 steps back as unable or unwilling to put the ego aside. Wildstar seemed to have allot of it done right, but they went with saturday morning cartoon graphics (which still baffles me on WHY????). And that killed them right in the gate. Rift had a huge opening response (as did SWTOR), the subscription was not a issue and scared no one away. But the easy mode game play in both games at launch really did them in. When you have players at end game 2 weeks into launch, you know you are in trouble as no one can pump out content that fast. Anyways, I dont think the MMORPG genre on burnout as we still see huge numbers for new subcription based MMORPGs. The people are there, its the current products that are failing to hold players most of that has to do with to easy and to fast you eat it up and move on and suddenly the game has lost its opening day subscribers The genre just needs someone to step up and make the proper game It will sell huge and hold its base long term But these devs and companies need to stop shooting themselves in their own foot by trying to recreate WOW success off the WOW model. It doesnt work Its ONLY ever worked for WOW Everyone else that tried it failed to meet market expectations They need to look at the whole genre through out history and take the good, remove the bad, and bring MMORPGs back into being a virtual world alive and thriving. right now they really nothing more then single player games set on ultra easy mode Thats fine for a Single Player RPG But MMORPGs are something completely different

SWTOR is a PG game and based on your posting history EA would simply be to afraid of the "mess" you would leave the server in and thus your request has been denied. Might we request the Sims in hopefully a fully sanitized hot tub!

LOL so do the jedi masters, sith leaders, Imperial Intellegence, Oh and travelling to those 20 different space stations as a smuggler was fun as well Master Hyperspeed Build Lightsabers Cant use a holo phone on a encrypted line! But my 5 things are 1) NO PAZAAK or SWOOP RACING (ala KotOR1) 2) 2 year old bugs still not fixed and when you send in a bug report they say its not a bug and to contact cust service, So you send in report to cust service and they reply that its a known bug and needs to be fixed in a upcoming patch and to submit a bug report. (and I WISH WISH WISH I was even exagerating on any of that statement) 3) No repeatable crafting for conquest each week. Conquest (except for the rare crafting week) is dead now with same guild basically being given a free win each week because of horrible changes. (This is why my account ends in 6 days FTR) 4) Everything is easymode now. Send your companion in and go afk for coffee. You companion will win. There is no special feeling of accomplishment or acheivement. Use to love running dailies and weeklies. Now I just do the few conquest ones as its all so freaking dull and boring being so mindlessly easy. Last night I did the Maken Heroics solo on a 61 level guardian in level 45 gear and a influence 2 companion. Didnt even remotely come close to dieing, not even remotely. Where is the excitement and challenge? Do the modern era gamer really want everything just handed to them mindlessly??? Come on, have a little self respect. 5) PVP (including GSF). The GSF NEEDS joystick compatability. The PVP needs to move outta crappy warzones and into open world planets (but with massively reduced stuns and no PVP gear) and have capturable outposts and compounds (which should be claimable and upgradable by guilds....for a cost ). Basically put DAoC PVP (but with massively reduced stuns) into SW:TOR. The current PVP model bites dead penquin ..... (yeah we will leave it at that)

So you never attended the casino events in SWTOR???? Never bought a Cartel pack for real money???? Gambling has been alive and well in SWTOR for years The whole gambling excuse has been disproven 100 times over now Stop beating the dead horse

Steve I would counter, and I have seen this play out true for 25 years now, that if you are one of those that ONLY engages in guild activities that directly benefit yourself You will quickly find yourself left out of guild activities When you join a guild you have to understand that you join for everyone and not just yourself Otherwise do not join because if you think you can only take take take and never give. You might get away with it short term but people will catch on and you will be left on outside wondering why no one ever wants to play with you or invite you along. I will admit its gotten much worse in last decade with the selfish attitude of many players And maybe for them those advertised over general chat guilds a good fit But when I think of guilds I think of community with in a community And you can not just take from any community for long Sometimes we all have to make sacrafices for the greater good Gaming no different I hate SWTOR PVP, Seriously its the worst PVP I have ever seen in 25 years, bar none Absolute Garbage Yet I have four different characters over Valor 70 and 7 over valor 50 because over the last number of years guildmates needed help or partner so I bit the bullet and joined a night here, a night there because I knew somewhere down the road I also would need help in something and people would be much more willing to help. And those that do not Well they usually end up sitting in a chat channel alone wondering why no one wants to play with them anymore (or they moved on because they were not being included in ops groups and everything) Sorry but in this regard gaming no different then Life You have to give to receive So saying you will only do something you enjoy (IE Beneficial to yourself) is completely wrong headed and honestly rather selfish. Its more of the (what I call) GIMME GIMME GIMME mentality that has infected modern day MMORPGs And is not at all helpful in any manner or way. PS: When I say you, its a generalized term not meaning you specifically

most requested item since before the game even went into closed beta You can see for yourself how much that mattered

Founder and closed beta tester as well Sub runs out in 7 days But to be fair not because of the announcement My final straw was Yavin Rishi Conquest week when the guild EVERYONE said would win Yavin Rishi, won Yavin Rishi (yes both of them) with out any real challenge because Conquest all about PVP now. And PVP so crappy its not worth doing. I will look at game again in March or April after some real life medical issues done. But the recent announcement simply wasnt good enough to get me to stay sub'd until then. Love HK 55 in the story but hes not worth $10-$15 dollars to stay sub'd in January And a 30 minute chapter with him certainly not worth the $60-$90 spent for a 6 month sub period Once again EA massively over sold and under delivered. Like they been doing since day one

Yup to many outside variables to take his numbers at face value But hes not wrong all the same 4.0 Brought back a ton of accounts to see the content Mass majority of those that returned were already gone before the companion adjustment went in when the adjustment went in, really wasnt any noticable pop drop on Harbinger (same names queued for same GF content and same normal activity on fleet for Ops and all that). Those that were leaving were speaking more about bordom then anything else After the companion "fix", no change. No rush of returning and about same trickle effect leaving 4.0 brought back a ton of players for the short term but only a month later they were mostly gone as seen the content, finished it, left again. And honestly I think yesterdays "Subscriber rewards" speaks louder then anything else. EA made a 6 month reward because they are desperate to get players to stay subscribed. They saw the quick decline after 4.0 bump and this was their answer to it. Wont work though. a 30 minute chapter for spending $60-$90 on subscription simply is not worth the price tag Even though people loved HK 55 in the storyline. Said it in closed beta Said it last (how ever many years since launch) Say it now If EA truly wanted to retain subscribers (but its to late to do all this now as we saw with companions, the special snowflake tantrum gimme gimme gimme crowd runs the show here now) they need to slow down the levelings speed so players have a target goal to acheive. They need increase challenge levels so those goals and acheivements carry a sentimental value and worth to them They need to add in time fillers and time sinks like Pazaak, Swoop Racing, Bejerik (sp?) They need to get real PVP (again original DAOC got it right minus the stun fest) They need to add in locations players think of when they think of Star Wars and Knights of the Old Republic (Dant, Onderon, Dxun, Telos, wookie homeworld,... and since this game no longer tied to cannon they gould add in Endor) They need to improve existing side games like adding joystick control to GSF and the pve based one no one plays They need to allow crafting to actually have a use in game (to late for that one now Id say, cartel market saw to that) They need to FIX YEARS OLD BUGS !!!!!!! Truth is this game made so many mistakes, HUGE GLARING MISTAKES that is kinda surprising its still doing as well as it is. But its also clear that all those mistakes are finally catching up to them So now they desperate and trying to bribe players to pay $60-$90 for a 30 minutes of easy mode content that ultimately will have no barring or effect on game. OP sample size is far to small and far to limited to draw any real con****ions from But common sense and experience in the MMORPG genre really all that is needed to be able to see the downward slide that is happening and why.

Nope PVP is and always has been a small demographic of the existing player base and its simply not big enough for EA to program for The conquest change of forcing people into GSF and PVP is probably the last real incentive PVP will get

Well I been at it for 25 years now so lets see what you learned 1. Different people play for different reasons. True but there is massive overlap of certain play styles and to be honest PVP and Raid players make up the smallest percentages normally in MMORPGs (even in games with good PVP content) 2. People will hate the things you love. Its becoming worse and worse as time goes on. Back in 1991 when the genre launched it wasnt like this but developers (really since WOW to now) have played such a nasty trick of pitting one play style against the other that the seperation gaps have grown considerably and created much more toxic enviroments in MMORPGs then there was back in day. 3. People will love the things you hate. See answer to #2 4. You can't convince people to change their minds about #2 or #3. See #2 answer 5. The forums for any MMO are mostly populated by people who are unhappy (some reasonably so, some not). See this is what Blizzard brought to the table with WOW and its just magnified since then. The earlier forums of MMORPGs were not a hot bed of ignorance and anger (well SWG had its moments to be sure if being honest, maybe its a Star wars thing in that regard) If you go back and read what ever was being used as official forums back in day, the anger and obnoxiousness and mean spirited nonsense was not there. And the forums were more about love of any one game then anything else. There really nasty and unhappy forum thing never really started in earnest until WOW entered the picture. And WOW didnt just create bad eviroments on their forems, the wow kiddies would goto all the other game forums and spread the ignorance and bad behaviour there. What you see here now a days can be DIRECTLY followed back to creation of WOW population and posters. It wasnt nearly as bad in game that came before WOW 6. Never spend time in an MMO doing something that you don't want to do (e.g. don't tank because your guild needs a tank - tank because you LOVE tanking). Completely and utterly false Helping out your guild (depending on guild of course) will always have advantages and benefits and if they need a tank, roll atank and help out. A few hours helping them will normally be returned with 100s of hours in enjoyment and them helping you. And if thats not the case Find a better guild In layman terms, you get out of the product what you put in As in Life So if you join a guild thinking its up to them to entertain you at all times and you are not willing to put anything back in, chances are you are going to end up ostrasized or even removed from that guild activities. 7. There is nothing wrong with playing an MMO completely solo, if you have fun doing it. Nothing wrong with it unless you thing the entire game needs to be designed for you to solo MMORPG are normally group orientated content and when you sign up you need to be prepared that normally half the game content will require groups. If you not prepared to accept that, then there most definately is stuff wrong with only soloing And that comes from a player that solos most everything in Post WOW MMORPGs 8. Hide or leave your game's "General Chat" channel forever and never look back. Sadly true in SWTOR, true in WOW. General not as bad in Rift or Defience or Aion Truth is it depends on the game and the "community of players" playing the game But yes in sW:TOR, hide general and never look back 9. If you join a guild, join a guild with people like you (hardcore raider, parent with interruptions, filthy casual, etc.) Id go a step further and say if a guild is advertising on fleet for memebers (or over any chat) DONT JOIN They only interested in numbers Join guilds that you meet in play and have fun with their memebers (course this requires you to actually interact with other players). Worst thing ever regarding guilds is to join a guild that has no community with in it. 10. Games are entertainment; if you're not having fun - stop playing. Duh

You say this about selling the game but complain about every thing they do to try and sell game IMO you give F2P even less so they forced to sub or leave That way less resources used on them while F2P Truth is most players know from day 1 if they will ever sub or not and giving away more and more free stuff to the F2P just drags out when they will sub (if ever)

This game is no longer tied to cannon for the movies and lore It is completely non cannon and seperate now allowing EA to go any direction they wish Hell next race could be Turian or Asari for that matter

Only if we can go there and mass slaughter Ewoks as the light side option!

Considering the first MMO ever made (1991) is still in existance (under dif name) The second "The Realms" is still available Dark Sun Online still available Meridian 59 still available UO still available EQ Still Available (are you seeing a patern here?) SW:TOR will never NOT be available It might hit a point where its not updated and expansions not made for it but it will never fully close down because the day it shuts down (like SWG) you will have a fan made, non profit version (like SWG has) pop up for those who wish to continue playing it. MMORPGs never actually die They just stop being popular and reported about SWTOR will be no different

And this is why the Devs should never listen to the special snowflake tantrum crowd Its not over tuned and is very much soloable Your gear is fine your companion influence is low (20 is suggested but people have done at 10, 8 is under both of them) and since your companion is influence 8 I think its very safe bet your alliance ratinging IS NOT 10 or higher (so you miss out on those 4 extra attacks you can gather) Grab the buff at the strat of the heroic for extra everything As for fight you complaining about, the ambush mobs can literally be single AOEd (2 if really unlucky I guess, either way no big deal) to death from any class, and you as a Sorc have the electrical AOE If the fights really challenging you (which they should not and if they are its NOT a game balance issue) Pop the sheild they drop in plentiful and that will stop almost all damage from attacks in that stage and against exart at end. And if all that is still not working for you, use your heroic moment abilities (you should have at least one) And if thats STILL not working for, find someone to join you because you simply not good enough at your class to figure out the fight Actually not trying to be rude but you people NEED to stop blaming the ultra easy mode setting of SWTOR as beiong to challenging and to hard. Numberous other sorcs and counsellors have gone through the SF H2 with out a hitch or problem They have same skills, same abilities, same gear The ONLY difference is the player controlling the character So STOP blaming the game and learn to adapt and work through issues to acheive success.