When smedley says " to be announced" He basically means the game is there, they just havent officially announced it. In any case, we'll find out at SOE live in august.

You arent being forced into pvp. If you get flagged, STOP GOING BACK IN. Wait for 5 mins and then go back unflagged. If you keep going back when you are flagged, and keep complaining, then you only have yourself to blame.

That doesnt matter. If imps get railed in GSF, theyll stop queuing. On ToFN, we normally let them keep 1 sat at all times, so it prolongs the match, they get extra rep, and now and again a second sat gets capped by them which keeps things moving.

Gunslinger/Commando Sniper/mercenary are the fastest levelling specs. You can mow groups of mobs down at range and pretty easily solo 2+ quests, and just keep going with little to no downtime. However, i would suggest playing something that is fun. Not what levels fast. You might get a lvl 55 in a few days, but thats useless if you hate the class.

Ahh the devils advocate approach. People keep stating that EA has exclusive rights to a star wars mmo. However, there isnt evidence to suggest that. Remember, licences are only valid for a certain amount of time, and with Disney/LEC/whoever they are now, things can easily change. Ea will always be susceptible to a monetary offer to alter the terms of the agreement.

I think you are over reacting. This game would do fine if sandbox mmo came along. Like i stated, and you seem to have ignored, a full hardcore sandbox mmo like swg only caters to a niche audience. SOE seem to have learned that lesson the hard way. It wont have much effect at all on the playerbase of swtor, as sure, a lot of people will head there, but will leave soon after when they realise that the content of a sandbox game is player made. There arent any quests/missions, there arent any flashpoints/dungeons. It is basically an open world where the devs populate it with NPC's, ability to customise your character/town/city however you like, and basically make it your second life. That sort of gameplay doesnt appeal to many people. Evidence of this is WoW. Most, if not all players of that game like the linear approach to the game where they are spoonfed content and pretty much dont have to work for it. In a sandbox MMO, if you dont work for something, you dont get it. It's that simple.

And? If a game is good, it is capable of standing on its own too feet. SWG lasted almost 6 years after the mass exodus of players. Im pretty sure SWTOR can do the same. Remember, a LOT of gamers dont like sandbox games, because by its very nature, it is an open world hardcore system. There are no 'safe options' in a sandbox. From the second you enter the worldwith a new character you are at the mercy of players and NPC's.

Except, believe it or not, SOE have changed. Theyve gotten rid of the defunct games, gotten rid of the terrible game management, and sat down and had a rethink. They are focusing on a few games now and ploughing their resources into their own IP's. They've basically gone from a big developer like EA, and closed themselves in to ensure that their games are actually good. And from all accounts of the games they have, they are doing a damn good job of it finally.

Why not have both. One is a sandbox, the other a themepark. They both cater to different playerbases and can easily co-exist.

It's not EQ next. Smedley specifically said it was unannounced, and he states further on in the AMA, that EQnext is to be released later next year. The only thing we can take from that is it is a swg or a new IP, but built on SWG's framework. Since it is in development, theres no point hoping for a release before 2016 at the earliest. lets just hope theyve completely trashed the original swg engine and theyre using a new one. Done right ( big words for soe), the planetside 2 engine would work very well for it. Theyd just need to get over this whole "stylised graphics" crap that is prevelant in the industry now. I just hope they dont hire the old SWG management team. Everything they touch gets destroyed. But scarily, most of them have left Bioware and EA and havent stated where they are working now... which ties in with a secret MMO.

Protip for new players. STOP DOGFIGHTING. Seriously, go hug a satellite when it pops. defend it for 2 mins, fly over to another sat as it caps, defend for a min. You will get much more req that way than mindlessly killing players, and faster req = faster upgrades = you can kill stuff easily.

It's common sense though. A group of 4 will fill the slots in a match faster than a single player. Right now, as GSF isnt fully released, the focus is on getting matches started. Doing it the current way is the only way to achieve that.

It's the ground pvp heroes trying space, and failing as much there as they do in the ground game. Let them have their kicks. As soon as they realise it will take them FOREVER to get any upgrades, theyll stop playing.

Grab 1 or two friends and queue. They dont have to join the match, they just need to have GSF enabled on their account and to not drop out until the queue pops.

If they wanted to milk arenas, theyd follow blizzards example. Charge everyone $2 per match.

You are going to need a better PSU OP.

If matchmaking went live now, the ONLY way you d get a match is if you queued with 5 stock ships in your hangar.

The indicator used for matchmaking are the ships you have selected when you hit the queue button. Thats why they are greyed out when you are in queue.

http://www.swtor.com/community/forumdisplay.php?f=411 And be wary that a GM could probably change your guild tag.

You do know thats not matchmaking, but a premade team right?

Post in the suggestion forums.

Why do people not understand that matchmaking isnt switched on yet? Until it goes live next month, there is no point, as if it was switched on now, hardly anyone would get a queue pop.

People will spend money however they choose. You have no right to tell them otherwise. if they get pleasure out of spending money on virtual items, who are you to tell them different?

Imo wait till feb and for matchmaking to finally go live. Right now, it seems to be switched off simply so people get matches with the limited number of players. Once it opens fully in two weeks, everythings meant to be activated. So youll have much more even teams.