Or unlock special skill abilities as you gain PvP expertise. So PvP'rs who have accumulated many many hours in the warzones might have a few special moves they can use - (with long cooldowns).

Uh why do you think they created a 50s bracket within a few weeks after the game was released? I doubt very much just because "a extremely small group of players" wanted it that way. It was because of the fundamental problem of PvP play imbalance - and players were getting ROFL STOMPED by 50 teams on a regular excruciating basis. Now if they had designed the game where you could only PvP once you hit 50 - then there would be no reason to complain. But they designed the game where players could start PvP'ng at lvl 10 or above. Except it wasn't working because - only a few misanthropic players enjoy being ROFL STOMPLED against 50s. Most players find it not fun at all. And my guess is - SWTOR PvP devs quickly figured that out from the level of complaints they were getting. And there still is a BALANCE problem with their PvP in my opinion. And without some range of BALANCE - it is not fun to PvP. You need balance for good play.

Interesting OP that I agree with. They really need to get away from a gear based progression - and introduce more skill based progression. i.e. more advanced PvP'rs will be allowed to do more with their toon - not simply P-own another player by have 20% more DPS and ARMOR. It's silly to have competitive PvP - (or competitive anything) where one team can easily ROFL STOMP another - just because they have better gear. It isn't fun - it's stupid. I still think they need to break up the 1-49s into two brackets - but likely only after they allow cross server matches - which I think would improve gameplay - as you wouldn't end up playing against the same set of players every single gaming session. PvP gameplay should be skilled based - not gear based. Rewards should not give a player a huge advantage over other players. Rewards do not have to be gear based - people posting here seem to think that is the only way you can design PvP for an MMO. Wrong.

^^ This.

Oh I see. So that's why in an NFL football game - one teams can field 20 receivers and another 3 receivers. Or one team gets rocket packs and another gets rubber bands. Who are you kidding?

It's interesting that Jeff states here that Bioware takes exploits and unfair gameplay seriously. And yet on my server - I have a growing list of Warzone players - who deliberately AFK during a match - to get free points for themselves (by doing nothing) and putting our Repub team at a disadvantage. It is odd that players when AFK will be timed-out and kicked out of a Warzone if they are in the start area - but once they enter the fight ground - they can AFK and do nothing - and get points for free - while the Repub team - usually facing a higher level Sith crowd - fights with one man down - giving a good advantage to the Imps. Now many of the Repub players I play with even recognize the names of the players - that is these AFK/Exploiters have been doing it now for so long on our server - we've gotten to know who they are whenever they enter a match. These exploiters have been reported/ticketed repeatedly. One player said he's been doing a ticket daily on one guy. AND YET NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE AT ALL. No official response. NOTHING. The exploit is still taking place. So - I dunno. On one hand we're being told this stuff is being taken seriously. On the other hand - there have been AFK/exploiters now in the PvP warzones for weeks. Is there some kind of mis-communication between management and the people responsible for monitoring cheating in game?

You guys are killing me. Breaking my poor Repub heart ...

Listening to all the QQs of the 50 Empire Imps having to wait now for a real PvP match - not the farming they've been doing now for the last few weeks. Breaks my Repub's heart ...

Did one all 50 match today - and will do some later this evening. We lost as Repub - but the fight was way better. I really don't care too much if I lose - as long as it's a good fight - not a ROFL STOMP farming session.

I do get so angry I stop PvP'ng for periods of time. LOL. It's funny how imbalance and cheaters can make you soooo angry. But yeah - the pre-made imbalance would be nice if they worked on that. I also think some brackets under 50 - should be a choice for players - whether they want to enter bracketed competition under 50 or not - along with whether they want to fight in pre-mades or PUG versus PUG only. Should be some kind of flag system using radio buttons. Ilum appears to still be broken - but since I'm not a Stat wh*** I really can wait until they fix it. And again - the problem doesn't look like so much mechanics and gameplay - but rather BALANCE.

Yeah I swear - all this QQ'ing - I'm really beginning to think some of it is coming covertly from Bioware/Star Wars competitors or Star Wars haters - posing as players. But then I'm a bit of a conspiracy nut.

As to the actual fights - visuals, gameplay mechanics, SOUND - I think they've really done a great job. My central gripe has been match balance - and there probably needs to be a little more analysis on some of the classes - such as Operatives Imp side etc. Other than that - I'm enjoying the PvP - although the imbalances - and ingame AFK cheating can be pretty darn maddening - to the point where I have been avoiding Warzones etc - at least until this new 50s bracket was released.

Just played my first 50 WZ match Repub side. Yep - way better. Felt like a real fight this time. Even though my team lost - it was a heck of a lot funner than being unevenly matched and ROFL STOMPED. Glad they finally got the fix in - and hope they continue to work on making sure matches are more balanced. For example, pre-mades should really fight mostly against pre-mades - and players ought to have more of a choice whether they want to be in a PUG going up against a Pre-made or not. Cheers to PvP devs for moving toward change. And now for some more interesting fights...

Can't wait for a bracketed system. Just because you're a 50 and way better geared doesn't = you're a better PvP'r. But many 50s think so.

I laughed ...