I think bioware did a great job. The mechanics in these fights are great. Enrage timers just make it more difficult. I am in the best pve guild on my server and usually we die when we mess up on the mechanics and or the puzzle. When you look at soa enrage timers interact with the mechanics like the tank positioning the boss to bring down his shield. What other game besides wow has these kind of quality mechanics? I wouldn't know I guess. I think when you look at what we have in game and the infinite possibilties of what is to come there is going to be alot of crazy fights. After playing in end game in different games for years I have come to a single conclusion. That bioware exceeded my expectations. Koan had some interesting mechanics. Oh one last thing I want to rant about is the models. It seems like they re skin things far to aften which I know is typicl in a mmo. It would be awsome though to see them design new models instead of reskinned mobs that are made bigger and painted differently.

Hellrage this is to you. I have been playing on the same character since day 1. I havent made a single alt because leveling in any game is not my thing. I currently take part in the 3 wzones out. Im in a raid guild doing kp and ev getting ready for the next ops, and come on 30v 30 in ilum is fun atleast for me. I find the hard modes fun to. You mentioned gear grind? Alot of people dont do ops for gear lol they do it to get that feeling that every hardcore raider feels when your in the end game high. I guess the best word for it is progression. Its a mix of the coordination and intensity of a boss fight. Is this nerdy enough? My point is im not sure what your trying to say by there is nothing to do. Find another mmo other then wow that has this quality in terms of mechanics and graphics and player base. This is a solid game either way you spin it. Get Dunked!

Im just curious have you ever tried end game? I mean I am not trying to be a troll I think you have a valid point but this is a mmo. Operations are the backbone of great mmos in my opinion. You do things in them that you could never do in any other game I can think of. Why would they put in new story arch type things if we are at level cap? You should just play Xbox or ps3. In all honesty for most people I think the quests and stories in this game are just a grind to finally beable to do cool things like ops and pvp and hard modes.

What kind of new operations and flashpoints will we see in the near future, and how will they be different from what we have now?

I am curious to see what future operations are going to be like. So far my guild has completed everything on hard mode. Our second 8 man group is currently clearing through normals atm. To be honest I think they have made some fights more challenging since the game came out. I was never a big fan of using enrage timers to make things difficult but I think the mechanics of alot of these boss fights are really well done. Maybe just needs some time.

I am still not convinced that this huge casual player base really exists lol! Just saying.

I think most of those casual players back in the day became the raiders we see today becuase they looked at it like it was a huge challenge!

Nothing stopping someone who is casual from joining a raid guild. It may only encourage people to get into the game more.

;LOL what am I talking about I agree Nightmare mode is something we havent even cleared... To easy? Then Challenge yourself and do the hard stuff in the game.......

Just wanted to see what people thought about the idea of getting rid of normal, hard, and nightmare. Instead just have 8 man raids and 16. Like in burning crusade... The idea would be to make the 16 mans hard I guess equal to nightmare in terms of difficulty. The 8 man stuff could be just as hard. Guilds would really struggle. This in my opinion is a good thing. Only reason this has been rolling around in my mind is becuase I can remember when killing the first 3 bosses in khara felt like a huge achievement to me. For my guild the first time we cleared the instance it felt like we worked hard for it. The best part was we had 25 mans to look forward to. Simply put I think the Difficulty of end game Progression is what makes it fun.

I dont think it matters what color the gear you get is. As far as the end game content I havent made an alt yet simply becuase I havent had the need. I have been 50 for weeks now and I still have alot to do. Between pvp, ops, hm, daily stuff on ilum, and even some role play I think there is alot to keep most people happy until new content comes. I would agree that a few encounters in EV seemed like free loot machines. The actual encounters are fun though. Maybe not hard but between the mechanics and graphics I think there is evidence that bioware could take end game pve to a whole new level. So in my opinion to your post is just give it some time. The game is still evolving.

So far im having alot of fun. I joined a raid guild and usually im able to easily find a group for a hard mode within 20 mins of logging on. I love the boss fights in EV and tonight I may be doing Karraga's palace. Other then the pve it always seems like there is alot of stuff to do. Warzones, Ilum, maybe if im feeling nerdy enough some rp. In the end I would give the end game in swtor a 10/10. Im also enjoying the graphics more then I thought I would. Plus come on a star wars game that doesn't end. On the other hand I have come across alot of bugs. Im also using a nice comp atm and when there is a big battle on ilum everything lags. Other then these two problems I have been having a great time. I can't wait to see what kind of future content they have in terms of pve.

Not sure if you have reached end game yet but so far im loving it. Honesty the hard mode flash points were a challenge when I first hit 50 now that im geared I can clear them with less difficulty. Now the ops on the other hand range in how much of a challenge they are. I feel like the game offers more then enough in terms of boss difficulty. I know of only one guild on our server that has gone 5/5 in karragas palace and im not sure if any has downed soa on the hardest difficulty. Lets not forget that this is only the beginning of end game. I have a strong feeling there working on new fps and ops along with new tier sets. All im saying is if your looking for a challenge in pve then your playing the right game, and I would look forward to the far and near future!