No. Unfortunately Ilum will never work because the game's engine will never be able to support / handle large groups of players battling in the same area. It barely handles 16 players fighting in the same warzone.

Stop feeding the troll guys, this is the most obvious troll I've seen on the forums yet!! +1 for so many bites though.

You will never see open world PvP in this game on the scale you want, the game engine simply cannot handle it. After playing in the last beta weekend for GW2 I've cancelled my sub, I just cannot justify paying for PvP in SWTOR, it's just not worth it.

Since I primarily PvP, I don't think that SWTOR is worth a subscription fee, from a PvP'ers perspective. Same repetitive warzones, no open world pvp and class balance issues. I played in the last GW2 BWE and had an absolute blast. Just simple things, like no gear grind for structured PvP, being able to dodge roll to avoid attacks adds an element of skill. The world vs world PvP was utterly engaging, catered for big zergy fights and small groups running around skirmishing. And what amazed me the most, is that it was lag free, I mean literally hundreds of players going at it trying to capture the big keep in the middle and no lag even with every graphical setting maxed. I go into a SWTOR and I am faced with lag and stutter, even though GW2 is in beta it already surpasses SWTOR from a PvP perspective, but then SWTOR was never a PvP game from the outset, maybe they should just remove PvP completely, they already killed open world pvp so why not just remove warzones.

The thing that amazes me, is I can do WvWvW PvP against and with literally hundreds of players with NO lag in GW2 beta (beta being the word), yet 16 players in a Voidstar match on a game that's been out over 6 months and I'm lagging like my computer is from 1991. Maybe you should have hired some of Arena Net's developers, they really know how to code a game engine. After playing the final GW2 Beta Weekend as much as I like Star Wars, I will not being staying / paying for swtor, it's not worth the sub. GW2 has opened my eyes to a number of things. Structured PvP (warzones) with NO gear grind and open world PvP that does not involve scrapping over a handful of armaments in the middle of a map...*cough* ilum.

1. How do you think your Mercenary spec is perceived by other classes? From a PvP perspective, very, very weak. Very easy to interuppt, no reliable way to kite any melee classes, poor utility and desperately in need of a snare or root. 2. How do you perceive your own spec? (Arsenal Spec) Desperately in need of a root / snare or even as others have suggested, some kind of disengage ability that leaps you back away from your target. Very weak compared to other ranged DPS classes.

I literally dominate on my merc in the 10-49 bracket, I go through warzone with zero deaths, upwards of 250k damage and a boat load of kills. However, this WILL change once I hit level 50, I know this. It was the same on my scoundrel, I did exceptionally well through the 10-49 bracket, hit level 50 and it all changed. Player skill will take you so far, but there are so many classes that are just better than the merc, even you outgear them. I regularly kill mercs in the 50 bracket on my shadow, and it is shockingly easy to do so. There was a full WH augmented commando, that I repeatedly killed in a voidstar (I'm only BM geared and still using the recruit generator lol) on my shadow, full dps gear playing 23/1/17, this player could do nothing to stop me killing him repeatedly, felt quite sorry for the player really, he was doing the right things, he had no way of keeping me at range.

I *used* to guard healers on my shadow, but I realised that 99% of them just use me as a health battery and don't actually heal me, so I never, never, guard healers.

I cleanse all the time, I don't bother trying to cleanse PT's/Vanguards though as it's their main dot is instantly re-applied...they should maybe fix that....

I have recently switched from my Repub characters to a merc, while I am new to the class all I really do is PvP. My repub chars are a shadow, sage and scoundrel, think my shadow is valor 81 (can't remember not played him in a while), my sage valour 52 and my Scoundrel is BM but can't remember the rank. I love my Merc so far, I switched from Pyro to Arsenal once I dinged 40 so I could spec into HSM. So far I am doing quite well in the spec, BUT I know how to position myself, use los, kite etc... etc... and how to counter classes. However I am nowhere near an expert on the Merc as I am still low level, I understand that once I do reach level 50, it's going to be difficult for me in recruit gear, but that's the same for *most* classes. My observations so far, is that positioning, using los and pre-kiting are my biggest assets. I think cure needs to be off the GCD, when facing off against Vangaurds/PT's that can spam proc the slow on you, it's counter productive trying to cleanse and waste a GCD as the snare is immediately applied, having cure off the GCD would help to give us a chance against snares being applied rapidly and would aid in kiting. We could use a hard root, something tied into Rocket Punch (maybe Jet Escape) would help us deal with melee while not giving us the ability to lock someone down at range. I do miss having an interrupt when facing healers and have struggled to kill them unless I goto melee range and use rocket punch / knock back to interrupt casts, I would imagine going against geared WH healers, it's probably impossible to kill one.

I personally welcome these new fotm slingers/snipers, much easier to counter than PT's/Vanguards!!!

Replace Mace Windu with any Marauder/Jugga/Sent/Guardian, Sin/Shadow is not on there because they are stealthed I am actually enjoying my merc in lowbie PvP, I know full well though that my experience will change 101 percent when I ding 50, at least that's what the forums say! Bioware, please make Powershot instant cast with a cooldown, that applies a 2 second root or give us a talent in the Arsenal tree that changes Powershot to the above.

So completely FREE PvP gear is still not enough for you lazy @:S@ Bioware keep catering for you failures and you keep coming back with your hand out asking for more, seriously...unsub.

PT Pyro. Hands down, the easiest class to play in PvP

I was doing normal warzones last night and in a pub v pub voidstar, their was a conquer Commando who I know has pretty decent gear. At the very start of the match I killed him 1st before his team could react. I then singled him out through the warzone and was able to kill him easily each time. I even got separated from the group when the doors blew and we had a 1v1. He seemingly could do nothing to stop me killing him, admittedly I know how to play my shadow very well, but it showed exactly how far mercs/commandos are in terms of utility. I am sure toe to toe he could and would out dps me, he had no real way of keeping me at bay. I think they need more utility, something to at least give them a chance to kite melee.

I play 23/1/17 in all DPS gear with no shield nor shield talents, basically playing for the utility in the tank tree while retaining some degree of survivability. I notice little to no difference in my survivability (PvP Only), that however could be due to the burst being removed from the game. I have noticed a slight overall increase in my damage, I am stacking the power relics and added augment slots to my gear where I can. Overall I feel like I can put more pressure on healers now, which is nice. No doubt those people intent on having this class nerfed to the ground will continue their relentless campaign against shadows

I don't really care about the animation as long as the end result is it hitting my target. It is close to instant which is good enough for me. I would rather it actually hit my intended target instead of it dangling pathetically in the air when someone stealth's in front of me.

Number 1230 in the Queue!!!! 1hr 20 minute wait! Go Go Bioware!!

No AC can keep 2 characters CC'd long enough while killing the 3rd, the only one's the *might* be able to pull off such magic tricks is an Hybrid heal specced Operative with Flashbang or a Pyro with it's AoE CC. Either way, the other players with you MUST have been in recruit gear OR you guys are terrible, terrible players. Either that or you are just plain lying. There was a Sorc that used to call me OP via /say everytime I killed him, this was the same Sorc that made NO attempt to kite me or use his own CC of which is has plenty to counter me. He used to bubble himself and spam force lightning at me while face tanking my damage. It seems that there are so many players who for some reason have no idea how to counter Sins/Shadows.

If you want a REAL overpowered class that takes zero skill, take a look at Pyro Powertechs. Minimal skill/effort required for maximum return.

Even after the class get's nerfed people are STILL complaining about Shadows/Sins. Everyone complains about the damage, but the damage isn't that high. Shadows still die as fast as other callings, PT's, Mara's, Jugg's have more survivability. I spec into the tanking tree for the UTILITY it offers me, not the survivability, I don't take kinetic ward and I don't use an offhand shield, yes I am in full DPS gear and I play 23/1/17. It is the utility that makes the class so useful, the pull, spinning kick is an extra interrupt, decent mobility, average to good DPS. Those of you complaining and who will no doubt STILL complain after tomorrow are probably getting beaten by good players, not necessarily the class. Concealment Operatives are meant to be horrible in PvP, yet there are some that can kill me and make me look like an amateur, is the class OP nope, is that player better than me, yes.

Or perhaps they should have distributed users properly across a number of servers....

Grats for you that you seem to be able to time travel, so far my queuing time is pretty accurate and I have not been magically logged in after 10 minutes...The point you failed to pick up on, is why overload one server instead of spreading the number of users around....surely having several reasonably populated servers is better than one completely rammed and lagging server.

I am sat in a 55 minute Q, why oh why oh why Bioware did you merge everyone into the ONE server in the EU that already had a very, very healthy population, all you are doing now is causing a bigger server queue and lag once you do get in. You really should have spread the players around a bit, yet another example of you not having a clue what you are doing.

This sum's up my impressions of the class, for ranged classes to be able to turret like a merc is supposed to turret you need to have the utility to keep melee classes at arm's length, snipers are a good example of this. I simply don't have enough tools to help kite and keep melee away. Long cast time classes with limited mobility and limited utility will always be an easy target for melee, instant casting and mobility is what makes a class good for PvP