It will all depend on how effective the companions are with max influence and presence. It could be scaled that they're very strong early on so that when you do get more coms or operation gear, yea sure they don't get the benefit but they were already strong to begin with. Either way I don't see the issue. The reason for the change was due to the changes in companions. Now that they can fulfill all three roles, getting gear for each role or even 2 of the 3 roles would be a hassle, especially if you had to rotate them in and out, also you'd have to get different types of gear (blaster vs sabers, heavy vs light and med). So it only made sense to make this change. The purpose was to simplify things and allow more choice. Now I can literally customize the look of all my favorite companions and swap them out whenever I feel like using a certain one at any given time.

In crafting/missions yes, but in combat no.

Presence + Influence.

No. You can craft blue items from the start but you still need to RE to get the artifact versions.

Crafters are going to be getting hit hard this expac. Getting gear from PVE will be much easier than before, so the demand for crafted gear will be lower. Also every subscriber gets one free 60 so there will be quite a few people who will at least get a level 60 character.

Honestly, I think this is all a huge blow to crafting. Gear is going to be easier than ever to acquire from PVE activities. Since the rewards you get scale to your character, it'll actually be easier to get gear from Heroics, Quests, and FPs than it is for crafting. But then again it wasn't like there was much money to be made from crafting anyway, especially from the lower tiers.

Right just like you can say it over the internet, but irl I don't think it's likely.

What's funny is the new change will allow you to do exactly what you were doing on Yavin and etc. In fact you'll even get rewards and exp based on your character's actual level if you do the heroic dailies on a previous planet. So I am not sure what you're argument is because you're saying you like to relax while doing content that is at the level of your character and and advanced too (not sure how that is the case if you're max level but okay). Well the same is for the previous world content in doing the heroic missions. So either what you said in about relaxing on Yavin and level content is nothing but a bunch of blah blah which means your argument makes no sense OR you're just QQ for I dunno just to QQ. Not sure what's not to like on the changes, based on your first argument.

I think it all boils down to whether you side with valkrion or not. If you do I can see some betraying you, mainly the ones who are loyal to the empire (Quinn, Pierce, Jaesa(Dark side), Temple, Ashara(maybe?), and etc) The only way they wouldn't betray you is if you were their husband or wife.

I tried it In the past too and never did ONE mob ever stop dropping credits and I had multiple runs over and over, over the course of days. I did notice a decrease in items though such as gear and the likes, but not credits.

You'll still be powerful and heroic when you re-visit old content. You just won't be a GOD to where things are trivial. So they're just removing the GOD trait .

And like I said, doesn't seem to be working very well. And according to your link I was right. Also this doesn't apply to credits which is the main source for farmers. So a right back at ya.

Lol. Anti-farm code? Sure, if there is one it isn't working very well. And for the highlighted comment. Sure, sure, let them earn credits are the expense of the players who are trying to level up and do the content them selves. And I understand your post clearly. What you DON'T understand are the END RESULTS if they made it optional.

This is directed towards your comment in red. If you won't come back to areas you completed, then....Oh please mista... please tell me why are you complaining about the changes?

Lol. You still don't get it. So they use more bots? It still means less for them and more resources required to gain the same amount of previous productivity. WHICH STILL RESULTS IN A NERF FOR THEM. Also Bots generally farm MOBS (not talking about materials otherwise your argument is true) but if they're farming mobs they farm lower level mobs they never farm levels of equal level UNLESS the mob of equal level has a chance of dropping an item of significant value or popular demand.

You didn't read everything I said. If you did, then you must not understand what I said. I am not sure which is the case, but I hope it's my first guess.

Oh I've been around in MMOs since the dawn of MMOs starting with Ultima Online, so your thoughts are wrong. And while you maybe right, but you fail to see the result. Even in your case, BOTS AND HIGHER LEVEL PLAYERS still lose. They won't be able to kill mobs quickly (as in one or two hits), they have to pay more attention and be much more careful. If mob density is fairly high, I am not sure if they'll be able to bot the area. But nonetheless, they'll be on the same playing field as everyone else, such as other players who are trying to level and since they're bots, they're going to be less efficient than the players. Higher level well they're just be on a more equal terms of performance.

You're not being punished. There is no punishment in this. Just because you're not happy with the changes doesn't mean you're being punished, no one is causing you harm and this has nothing to do with moral ethics. So please stop using the phrase "being punished". Also this cannot be OPTIONAL. Simply put, if this was optional bots and players would simply ignore the scale down and solo farm heroic missions or world bosses, causing players who are trying to level not be able to do the content and progress because they cannot compete with the higher levels killing all their mobs. I've had this happened to me many times on my alts.

I think this is the right move. With players being down leveled to the level of content, you will no longer see bots or players solo farming elites in heroic mission areas. That'll be a nerf to inflation. Not to mention when I level an alt I won't have to compete with players who are solely there to farm money. Also old content will see be a lot easier, but just won't be trivial as it is now.

Gear won't be pointless like in GW2. Your gear will still be accounted for. So if you were to go to a previous planet at level 65 in your raid gear, you'll be in artifact gear that's equivalent to the planet's level, plus you'll have the set bonus. In other words, if you were to go back to planet Hoth as a level 65 in raid gear or raid set, your gear (and your chara) will be in level 41 artifacts that still has the set bonus applied. Those mobs will die A LOT faster than if you were a true level 41, with no raid set or bonuses. Hell doesn't even have to be raid set, just having the level 65 talents/skills/prototype and artifact gear will make a huge difference. So yeah, gear is going to matter and so will levels.

To gain skills, talents, higher/better gear, you know all that fun stuff. You'll still be able to use them even if you de-leveled below the requirement to use purchase or learn them.

Your levels and gear are still taken into account. Think of it this way. When you first arrived on Korriban/Tython you didn't have many talents or skills. However, lets assume that you were level 65 and had level 65 artifact gear and were to return back to Korriban/Tython. The moment you set foot on Korriban, you would be down leveled to 10 but still keep all your skills and talents and would be in equivalent to level 10 artifact gear. In other words you're still very powerful in fact much more powerful than when you first arrived to Korriban, but not stupid powerful to where everything trivial and dies in one hit.

I rather like this change. For one, I no longer will see players/bots farming heroic mission areas for credits, which was annoying when me and my friends were trying to get them done on our alts. Also if it' anything like GW2, a level 65 player will still be vastly stronger than he was previously if he went back to a previous planet such as Korriban. You're still going to have all your talents, skills, and current gear taking into effect of your character's strength. It's just that the skills and gear won't be as effective as if you were max level. So instead of doing 7k dmg you'll probably do 700 dmg, but at least you'll be able to use all available skills and talents that your character has learned. This actually works with immersion, as it was just silly going around 1 shoting everything with just a basic attack. Even though our characters are much stronger they still shouldn't be able to do such a thing (if were talking about immersion here). Also for the FP this will make gearing up much easier and more fun.

I am sure many do it for both. But lets face it you need the gear to raid, especially in the higher tiers. Also people wouldn't raid a boss on farm status if it wasn't for the commendations or the gear, without them it would be one and done.

Like the other poster said, you make more money and from playing the GTN, and a lot of the times it just much better to sell the mats than to use them to product an item for sale. Gathering isn't my primary but more like my secondary/third source (with crafting being the 4th source) and I usually only gather when I do dailies, which also isn't my primary. But like you I tend to get bored doing things over and over again, so I switch it up between, playing the GTN, dailies/gathering, crafting, and another primary source that I won't mention on the forums (not that what I am doing it's illegal).