QA blog published by Gamasutra; written by Tulay Tetiker McNally, a Bioware QA director: QA BLOG Hope that link is helpful (I'm not sure how related to Bioware Austin the blog might be).

Reread your quote. The poster does not mention one on one. There is plenty of false dilemma in the replies in this thread; is there not something between duels and team FF? Do we not face those situations more frequently than those extremes you prefer in your replies? As far as TTK goes, I think it's worth noting that the different views we have are largely dependent on taste. There is no hard and fast law regarding TTK in MMO's. However, I'm wondering where is the slow and strategic pvp we were hearing about from the developers before launch. Rapid TTK has for me placed far too much emphasis on damage dealing and far too little on mitigation that is not cc (which is more often another layer of domination rather than real mitigation); far too little emphasis on situational awareness and adept reaction rather than binary damage magnitude builders and button mashing finishers.

An excellent post, Cel. As far as I'm concerned you've always been one of the best and most even-minded posters on these forums, to an extent that I would call you a community leader around here. Your sentiments in the OP ring true to me. The direction of development for our beloved game has lost proper focus--story, ambiance, character development (as you lined out in your OP). Part of this loss of focus (some will say change of focus) of course should be attributed to the game's lackluster performance in terms of maintaining subscriptions; and I believe that disappointment is more strongly related to the many sources of zealous hate of TOR (EA, themepark, SWG) than it is related to any fundamental flaw within the game itself. I'll say without reservation that TOR is a good game. But I'm not sure that it can continue to be within the current framework. It has to be admitted, though, that regardless of our opinion of free-to-play and cashshop, It's fairly obvious Bioware had to make some changes in order to maintain and/or grow the viability of their product. That in my opinion is a forgone conclusion. Some of us may understand this, yet at the same time may not be happy with the specific nature of the change--for the reasons you outlined in your OP, Cel. It's a grim truth, that some of us who have been long committed from even long before launch, are coming to question whether we can continue supporting the game, with our words as well as our money. For me it is a question of decency and taste. This recent patch has certainly let me down on both points. Cel, I'm sorry to see you go, if that does indeed end up being your final account action. We can hope for the best. Hell, I'm still dreaming that maybe I'll see playable Togruta some day.

The post you quoted is dated November 17. Throne supply and demand has undergone some changes between then and now.

You mean the same faction VO (voiceover)? Holy Hell is that awful. The dialogue itself is downright ludicrous and even insulting. 'Isn't this fun?!' Let me Master Strike that voice actor to silence, please! But aside from that, I love the voice acting in TOR. Steve Blum > Tom Cruise. Not even a contest. One caveat for me though. I'd prefer that the VO would be limited to class stories, and some flavour stuff like emotes. Not the side quests. At some point it just all becomes too much and personally I think the awe factor that I experience with some of the VO is undermined somewhat when the game's action is too often interrupted by cutscene after cutscene of VO.

To hell with subtlety. Well said!

You tabletop DnD guys are schooling me hard. Hope you're there to help me understand the lore in Neverwinter. We know though that min/max'ing goes well beyond stat optimization--something you actually touched on in your reply, GARhenus, though not to the extent that I was trying to be subtle in hinting about in my original reply. An expanded discussion on the evils of the doctrine is probably inappropriate for this thread, so I won't pursue my line of thought here. Thanks for the info though.

No offense was taken though. I appreciated your reply. Wiki does appear to agree with you there, but I think that in general my version of the term is what is actually being applied; though perhaps not altogether perfectly as many might believe. Someone sooner or often comes up with a better min/max than before. That doesn't fit very well with my version, does it?

Interesting. So this would be different though than the more recent use of the term which I will suggest is closer to my definition. In your version one might actually be diminishing their overall effectiveness by applying the principle; and in my version one would have to be yielding maximum overall effectiveness at the expense of some situational sacrifice. These gaming and internet terms are so very nebulous though. My version may already be outdated.

Some of the previous replies are perhaps more helpful, but I can't resist adding that min/max literally means getting the maximum amount of benefit from the minimum amount of effort.

Perhaps something more general should be learned here. If something so simple as a typo can lead to a somewhat nasty breakdown in communication and mutual understanding, perhaps it is easy to see how complex differences in perspectives can very easily go unseen and unappreciated, undermining any chance at constructive conversation. I shouldn't point a finger at you, as we are all guilty of being overzealous in our own views of reality. I'm suggesting though that these forums could benefit from more moderate behaviour and less extreme reactions.

Not a big numbers guy, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can use TOR Status data that way. 'Very Heavy' or whatever other status in game is the very same status on TOR Status. Their are not different sets of underpinnings based on recent changes, as you are suggesting is possible. Or am I misunderstanding what you're suggesting?

You're starting off badly, OP, using the term 'freeloaders.' May I suggest an edit there? On topic: looking at Xfire and TOR Status--accepting limited applicability--I'm gathering that we have roughly 100 - 150 percent rise in player activity (time in game) from before FTP patch to now. Beyond that, I don't even have the will to venture into the murky waters of guessing composition of this activity--FTP'ers vs Subs. I see plenty of FTP'ers asking questions in general chat!

Personally (and let's not pretend any of what has been stated here is more than opinion) I think Bioware has done quite well with the FTP patch. Population has definitely increased noticeably (APAC still needs alot of help), client is performing decently well especially in contrast to launch, and the addition of the cash shop has probably given BW some extra income to re-invest into the game (I'll admit to wishful thinking here). Keep in mind that we've seen only limited advertising thus far and I don't believe 'Cartel Coins' has been sold in retail locations thus far; so there's a possibility of at least one other wave of substantial population influx incoming. As far as TOR being the 'laughing stock' of the genre. Yes, there is quite a bit of negativity surrounding this FTP system, just as there's been negativity surrounding this game from the beginning. This is par for the course; nothing has changed. This fact, this state of affairs, does not necessarily mean that TOR has no chance at increasing population or at increasing other successes the game might have. It does mean, however, that BW has to work bloody hard to overcome that negativity. Despite the naysaying, many of us are still ardent fans of BW and believe they can come through. Will FTP be a success? At this point it's all guess work. We'll have to wait for that typical 3-month to 6-month window to pass before we know how well this FTP system works out. By the way, in general MMORPG's are largely considered the laughing stock of the gaming world. Yes, even WoW is laughed at (I'm sure this is less surprising than my tone is suggesting). Let's not let this type of ignorance infect our enjoyment of what many of us consider to be the most interesting and fun genre of the gaming world.

My girlfriend had a similar issue months ago with ctd's. Switching compatibility mode worked for her. Since that time, however, there has been an update (specific one I can't remember) that resolved the issue for her, no longer requiring the compatibility mode switch--so not sure how much relevance this will have for you. You might give it a try though if you haven't already.