WoW. It's ruined the genre. That, or a timesink business decision to milk more subscription money.

Worst. Mindset. Ever. Time rewards gear. If I raid for 6 months, I should be competitive to those who PVPed for 6 months. PVP stats are HORRIBLE DESIGN.

And then we'd have Rift PVP, one of THE WORST implementations of instanced PVP combat of any themepark MMO. Just say no to brackets, children.

Three reasons: 1. No talents or abilities. You don't have your staple rotation yet, so you WILL be weak until 20ish at the latest, though a couple ACs bloom very late from what I hear. I've suggested countless times that especially sub 20s need as much as a 30% extra boost from Bolster. 2. You don't get Sprint till level 14, which is a horrible design choice on Bioware's part. Sprint is FAR too crucial for PVP. 3. Even low level, you can be beneficial. Even at 12 and 13 my vanguard during beta seemed to have an impact. What hit you here, I'm willing to bet, was a mix of inexperience, lacking teamwork on your side, and if the enemy team had any 50s the expertise stat gave them an unfair advantage.

How to fix Warzone PVP in a few easy steps: Sprint at level 10 Tank ACs get taunt, guard, and tank stance at 10 Increase bolster effects as much as 30% for low levels, particular sub 20s Introduce optional 50s bracket with choice to queue for next available or only one bracket Remove Expertise from 10-50 bracket. Better yet, remove the stat entirely, it ruins PVP and is counter productive to bolster If you're going to keep Expertise, let it work in the 50s only bracket. Fixed!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand fail troll is fail. If you're not going to actually contribute to a thread, then don't post in one. It's a pretty novel concept.

The funny thing (or maybe it's the sad thing) about SW:TOR is that with the Bolster system, the point of Expertise becomes meaningless, neverminding it's a flawed system to begin with. It's especially true when you consider PVP servers. If you're out questing, you're in PVE gear, because you need the bonuses Expertise gear lacks. Then, someone looking just for PVP comes along and bodies you because of a meaningless stat.

Expertise is at least half the problem, though, and players like playing alts, tend to have lives, and can't spend 5 days straight grinding through a video game. I pay for rent now. It was easy to play endlessly out of Highschool, but not anymore, and being 50 myself won't change the fact that Expertise is a HORRIBLE STAT.

How to fix Warzone PVP in a few easy steps: Sprint at level 10 Tank ACs get taunt, guard, and tank stance at 10 Increase bolster effects as much as 30% for low levels, particular sub 20s Introduce optional 50s bracket with choice to queue for next available or only one bracket Remove Expertise from 10-50 bracket. Better yet, remove the stat entirely, it ruins PVP and is counter productive to bolster If you're going to keep Expertise, let it work in the 50s only bracket. Fixed!

Why is there auto-facing? Play a sniper. NEXT!

+1 Just add an OPTIONAL 50's only bracket and neutralize Expertise in the 10-50 bracket. Zero it out, make it useless, it's an unfair stat and we're seeing why. High levels have enough of an advantage with a better array of talents and a more robust rotation. Expertise is overkill. Rift is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of how NOT to do instanced PvP, and the others are equally strong cases against brackets.

You guys didn't even pull off ANYONE at over 100K damage? And only ONE person with barely a couple hundred in protection? ONE person trying to heal? You got wrecked not because it was a premade with 50s. You got wrecked because your team fundamentally sucked face Even against a premade with 50s in gear you should be able to do SOMEthing.

The problem is two fold: 1. Most servers have a population disparity, some very large, favoring the Empire. This means fewer Republic are queueing. 2. Most Republic have a rather low morale because more high level Imperials are queuing than high level Republic. Thus, they queue less, so only the die hards and try hards queue and wind up losing against not even just premades but generally higher leveled, and better equipped Imps. There's only so much they can to to incentivise playing one side and playing in warzones. Hopefully, things improve, and especially with the bolster system itself as I think it's great.

No. ONLY when necessary and ONLY as a finisher burst. FAR too expensive for the damage it causes. It does as much as a snipe over time which is bad for Marksman for two reasons: 1. Like Explosive Probe, it's energy intensive for what it does, and 2. Snipe/Ambush have a chargeup time. You regenerate a lot of energy if you stay above 60 for these and you essentially become self sufficient, neverminding the fact your Snipe/Ambush is going to be talented whereas Dart won't be. And then, when you get Followthrough, a good sniper never needs Rifle Shot anymore. When fully talented, you can wait between each snipe/ambush by about .3 seconds, use Followthrough once it fires, wait another .3 and spam Snipe twice while waiting for Ambush to cooldown and Followthrough is up again. It's incredibly energy friendly when fully talented and is up in just over two snipes. If you're going Marksman, you should essentially be ignoring Corrosive Dart, all melee stuff after Shiv and Debilitate, and consider not even having Explosive Probe on your hotbar. It's only good for its burst to help finish off an enemy sooner. Once you hit 30 and have Followthrough it's practically worthless.

Do NOT split up brackets, offer an optional 50's only, and improve Bolster. First thing I'd do is require level 50s to have expertise because they should bolster down. Then, cap Expertise. Remove bolster effects and cap in the optional 50s warzone. Then tweak low levels' bolster bonuses, give tank ACs their taunt/guard/tank stance at 10, move Sprint to 10, and we're good.

Your argument is deeply flawed. It's not just WoW I can compare it to, either, it's also Rift. Going into the next Valor rank by time I quit that game and its inept class balance was easily as comparable to a level 10 to a 50 in expertise gear in SW:TOR. The difference is, by time you're level 20 in SW:TOR, you've earned some of your most staple skills, so you are now a threat to anyone if you know how to play. At level 21, I'm still in the same boat, I still have value and am a threat even to that level 50. At level 21 in Rift and WoW, I go back to where I started, the bottom of the barrel and forced to slog through 7 or 8 levels just to stop sucking because of the drastic gear differences. Seriously, arguing solely over the "low level VS high level" issue, it exists in both forms. Brackets, however, rollercoaster you. You start feeling strong and the moment you feel really good you've become fodder because of the gear and level disparities in the next bracket. With a Bolstered system, you can still be effective, even against a 40+ as a lowlie teen. All you will feel is consistent growth and power in your character because each level provides more abilities and talents. Your strategy grows with your character, as does your knowledge. In a bracket, you suddenly need to change your tactics to be of any value when you level out of your current. Without warning, you've become fodder, you've become worthless, because no amount of skill is going to be able to handle anyone who is maxing out the bracket due to the drastic gear and level differences. A level 10 against a level 50 in PVP gear, yeah, it's clear who should win. Thing is, brackets have the same problem across all bracket ranges. In SW:TOR, by time you hit early to mid 20s, not only have you acquired many of your most staple skills, earned some defense cooldowns and CC, and have some good talents backing you up, you are now a danger. You can reasonably face against any 40+ enemy exceping maybe someone skilled or in a lot of PVP gear. And it'll only get better. Improve Bolster first before you consider brackets because it's a better system in every single way. All we need is an optional 50s bracket insofar as those things are concerned and we'll be fine.

Wow. Congratulations. You've just pointed out one of the BIGGEST problems with bracketed systems in the whole, as you put it "zero to hero" scenario. You can't do crap until you're as twinked out as they are. So, tell me, please, how going back to THAT, where NO ONE except for the twinks is any value is in any way a good idea? Whereas right now I can pop in at level 10 now and still be a benefit even against teams of all 40s and higher, in a bracket system popping in at level 10 puts me against the twinks. A lot of it comes down to player skill, their capacity with their own class, their knowledge of their class, strengths, weaknesses, who to target, when to target, situational awareness, and so on and so forth. All we need is for the Bolster system to get some improvements. All it needs is for... Sprint to be level 10 Tank AC's to get guard, taunt, and tank stance at 10 The impact of bolster to increase as much as 30%, especially for sub-20s Level 50s (or even 48+) to bolster down and require blues to compensate Expertise to be capped An optional 50's only bracket to be introduced that removes Expertise cap and bolster effects Every single problem with brackets has been solved, mitigated, negated, or made less negatively impactful by the Bolster system. It's the best PVP system we have seen for a theme-park level-based MMO. Suggest improvements, not downgrades.

Bads want brackets. Solo queue want brackets. Republic on 80% of the servers because the Empire has not only a numbers but talent advantage want brackets. Bolster is a superior system in every way because it solves some problems, alleviates others, and makes fixing the rest much easier. Just deal, give them a patch or two to improve things.

Except that not only does Sith have the talent advantage, but the numbers advantage. Back in vanilla WoW when I actually played that tripe, Alliance only ever won thanks to numbers. Horde was forced to play well and play hard. The Republic don't even seem to be trying.

You sure they did that? Meh, doesn't matter, it was a terrible game. The most horribly implemented combat I've seen in any modern MMO, hands down.

Bolster needs improvement, not replacement. It's THE best possible system in place of any level-based theme park MMO right now. All it needs is for... Sprint to be level 10 Tank ACs to get guard, taunt, and tank ability at 10 Increase bolster effects as much as 30% on lower levels, especially sub-20 Require 50s (or from 48+) to bolster down unless they've some expertise or all blue gear Cap expertise in warzones Introduce an optional 50s only queue that drops bolster effects and expertise cap There, you go. All done. Seriously, Bolster is better than brackets in every aspect. All it needs is tweaking.

An Alterac Valley style zone COULD be fun, but it would need to be on a different set of rules from the traditional warzones, at least so far as queues are concerned. When AV was first released, games didn't end very often on my server (Alliance sucked and Horde rarely had more than half a full team). I'd rather not be "stuck" in an unending warzone, I'd want the freedom to jump in and out and see what I can do, see if we can't win it.

First off, you people need to start arguing extremes. Every single warzone isn't level 10s and level 50s. The Bolster system shares its exact same problems with bracket systems yet diminishes their impact while solving others. The only bracket we need is an optional choice for a 50's only warzone when you hit cap. Beyond that, we only need improve the Bolster system, because everything brackets do, Bolster does better, while leaving many problems and annoyances with brackets negligible or non-existent. Bolster heavily reduces queue times I can PVP with my friends/guildies on any alt at any level I can be valuable and effective at any level and on any alt by understanding my strengths and weaknesses Only available talents and skills truly make a difference, making balancing easier Since stats are normalized, I can still bring a fresh 10 and challenge a level 50 Reverting to a bracketed system only reintroduces numerous problems inherent in such a system, while retaining the exact same problems we have now. The following is all that the bolster system currently needs: Sprint to be level 10 Tank ACs to get their taunt, guard, and tank stance at level 10 Increase the bolster effect for lower levels by as much as 30%, particularly sub-20 Bolster level 50s (and maybe near 50s) down slightly and require better than green gear to compensate Cap Expertise in regular warzones Introduce an optional 50's only bracket that removes expertise cap and bolster effects

Anyone else stuck with Kaliyo's first companion mission? It refuses to update the fact that I'm actually traveling to and landing on and walking around on and going to the friggen instance door on Nar Shadaa.

Something tells me you're seeing padded numbers, by which I mean numbers combine if damage was done in rapid enough succession. Snipers are fine. If I get attacked, my value to my team goes out the door, because I'm in for a very difficult fight, especially if it's a jedi/sith. Our power is in our ability to range enemies and support from relative safety, and be able to pick and choose between healers or the weakest links.