Get ready for 1.1.2 then. They're making Champion harder to get and giving everyone more Centurion commendations. Whoop.

Yes, please. Also, Level 50 Orange craftable gear that does not look like Level 30 equipment would be super cool.

I wasn't frustrated with it until I ended up RE'ing over 25 Level 49 Blue chest pieces trying to get a purple and failing at it. That's something like 50+ hours worth of missions and crafting with absolutely nothing to show for it because of an unlucky streak with the RNG. I can live with the RNG when it comes to critical successes on the crafting bit (augment slots), but for the recipes there should be a more defined path to progression.

I just combed through Torhead.com looking for Level 50 schematics (not the ones that require the Raid ingredient) and yeah, the only ones available are the Helmet and Leg pieces, or the three Orange Electrum Onslaught ones. I just hit 50 on my Trooper and was hoping that I'd be able to supplement my equipment with some nice purples until I've earned a few pieces of Centurion or Champion gear. There are some Level 49 ones that I can try to RE into purples. I guess that will have to do.

There are usually a bunch of the Electrum Onslaught Level 50 pieces at the GTN, along with a scattering of helmet and leg schematics, but I've yet to see anything else. Where are the chest pieces, bracers, gloves, etc?

I'm 400 Armormech and in the same boat. It was awesome while leveling, but at 50? There's not a whole lot of use for it. I'm more of a PvPer than a Raider, so getting the ingredient from HMs/Raids to craft my Rakata pieces is even going to be a chore.

Improving your appearance is a key part of character progression in an MMO. If a Level 10 character could just equip Level 50 Orange gear (even with Level 9ish Mods), that incentive would just go out the window.

So long. I'm sure the grass is greener on the other side.

The problem is that MMO players are fixated on progressing their characters. It's one of those things that defines MMOs as MMOs. The incentive for grinding out warzones or suffering through bad Ilum PvP is to get more points to buy more gear to have a bigger advantage on the battlefield. If you take that away? Folks are going to get bored really quickly. Let's face it, if you're really looking for competitive PvP action, MMOs aren't the best place for it.

I'm only Level 49, but my Shield-spec Vanguard is a blast to play. Tough as nails, respectable DPS for a tank, and best of all I can really make the difference in a skirmish's outcome by using Guard and Taunt. I really get a kick out of watching an Operative or Assassin roll in and try to take out a Sage or Gunslinger I'm guarding.

No offense man, but that's just about the worst idea I've heard around here. You want to the losing side to walk away with nothing? How many times do you think folks would re-queue after getting stomped by a premade or even a well-geared PUG? It's bad enough getting abused for 15 minutes in a Warzone, walking away from that abuse with nothing would be the final nail in the coffin for me.

Come on, coming from WAR, the cc here shouldn't be too bad. On my Vanguard, I'd kill for the level of cc my Ironbreaker had in WAR.

Maybe you should go in guarded by a tank too? It's not mitigation, by the way. It's a damage transfer from the target to the tank. I get killed by Guard all the time.

Yesterday I reengineered over 20 level 49 blue chest pieces and didn't get a purple schematic. That's approximately 50 hours worth of crafting and lord knows how many credits to walk away with exactly nothing to show. For the most part, I've enjoyed crafting in this game, but sometimes it's just a *****.

I've sold a couple of Armormech pieces, but honestly even the Purple 40+ stuff doesn't sell very well. As a money-making venture, getting to 400 Armormech was a horrible failure. However, it's been both useful and fun to keep myself and my companions outfitted in purples and blues all the way through the game. Plus, like the previous poster mentioned, I've been able to help out a few guildmates along the way.

If you're outnumbered by two or more opponents, don't bother to burn your CC breaker. You'll just end up dead anyway and will have blown your cooldown. Save it for when it matters.

I'm a big fan of the idea that correlation is not causation, but generally speaking, the most popular class in an MMO's PvP is usually the most powerful one. I think that it may be worth considering that people also love playing sorcs because they are a great class with which to PvP.

Your logic explains why people who roll a sorc, but not why they would stick to one all the way to 50. The plain truth is that Sorcs/Consulars are a great class, which often has an edge in PvP situations. I'll be honest, I have a 48 Vanguard and I hate fighting sorcs. However, I like to think that I'm wise enough to realize that perfect balance will never be reached and that there are always going to be classes that are on top and classes that are on bottom. So, you have the choice of bending to the game or trying to make the game bend to you. If you choose the latter (as so many around here do), you're bound for disappointment.

The problem with that is the Level 10 can go level in PvE if he doesn't like it. Is there a PvE route to Battlemaster?

Go watch Star Wars Episode IV.

If they play all day every day, then they should probably have developed more skill and would not need to be so reliant on the gear crutch, no? Or, are you suggesting that all it takes to win is gear that is rewarded only for time invested and not actual play skill?

I used to feel that way too, but honestly it starts to plateau out around your 30s. By the time you hit your 40s the 15k you might get from a Warzone is just a drop in the bucket and hardly noticeable. Without question, PvE is faster way of leveling in this range. I can get as much XP from killing a couple of elites as I can from an entire WZ.

The gear from the bags is all Level 50 anyway, so even if I opened a dozen of them at Level 49, I wouldn't benefit. There is no purpose that I can see for the the Champion Bags being unique. I'm sure BW had a reason for it, but I cannot imagine what it can be.

Really now, the history of MMOs tells us that the most popular class at any given time is very often the most OP one. Cool animations may attract people to the class initially, but they wouldn't hang around to 50 if that's all Sorcs had to offer. And how do you explain the Sages? The Good Lord knows, they're just about the goofiest looking bunch of character models I've ever seen in a game.

I did read you post. In fact, I even quoted part of it. So, where is the punishment?