Didn't they try that a few years ago and the blowback was instant, fierce, and constant until it changed? I think it was something like win 6 for the weekly, maybe.

Thanks for this. It's the most ridiculous fight in the expansion... and it seems even worse in 7.0. The hits are ridiculous... I'm moderately (326 blues and purples) geared and regularly do HM ops - there is no reason something with simple mechanics like this should be as deadly and frustrating as it is on veteran. Hell, even on Story it's a challenge.

All I could think of, as a Gen Xer who grew up with the Brady Bunch reruns, was this: https://imgflip.com/i/6f0sar

I think the most important question: Does this mean at some point you will revert the beta change to Quinn?

So what if it's a money-raising entertainment event... What is a concert? A money raising entertainment event. What is a movie? A money raising entertainment event. What is a play? Do you sense a theme here? Maybe having an interactive event is somehow different? What is a murder mystery weekend? What is a LARP? The long and short of it - it's an event that sounds like fun. If it were at a better time (because my kids are in bed at 9, until then I my time is their time), I would be there. To me, it's worth the money because if I equate it to what I'd pay IRL for something, vs the time I have to work to earn it, it's chump change. Even with the sub fee, it's chump change.

I would love to see the Athiss Custom Holdout: http://swtorista.com/user/?s=486 http://www.torhead.com/item/7xFU1U2/athiss-custom-holdout#. It would be nice to have a semi-auto pistol representation to compliment the revolvers represented by thge R-30017 Aikion blaster.

In looking at the Ancient Infernal armor, it's distressingly low-res. I understand this is an optimization for Soa, but for players who want to see high poly count armor, it's a terrible shame. The low resolution doesn't show too badly in-game until you zoom in close, but when you do, it's an eyesore. By way of comparison: Conqueror (Smuggler PvP): http://i.imgur.com/m4DY3bH.jpg The Ancient Infernal (Cartel Market): http://i.imgur.com/iPZD8rP.jpg Trailblazer (Cartel Market): http://i.imgur.com/Cbmp9vl.jpg The above are all 1920x1080 with full High Settings in the client. What are the odds of getting this upsized to be comparable with other armor in the market? I really, really love it in-game, except when zoomed in. EDIT: My armor is shown with Black/Red dye. It looks the same in the default (color changes, resolution is that same)

I would love to see a Cartel Market variant of the Athiss Custom Holdout. You can see my bounty hunter with a pair here: http://swtorista.com/user/?c=341 And a generic video (not mine) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61ZhQbGgc6g At level cap I ran Athiss several times to get two pair (PvP and PvE). on my Merc.

Something people might want to check on before talking about the numbers of people getting ratings: http://ootinicast.com/leaderboards/ Teo from the podcast pulls the data via the API, so it's the same data in the leaderboards, and is updated every two hours. Out of the entire "somewhere around half a million" subs, solo ranked PVPers are at 25k. Of those, only 2.6% have a 1500 rating. That's data current as of 4pm US-EST. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of players doing ranked quadruples once word REALLY gets out and guilds start forming teams. Even still, that's not a lot of people who would be eligible for the rancor, assuming the percentages in the various ranks don't change. I personally think the higher ranks will grow a bit as the inexperienced arena PvP "newbs" get stomped on), but even if it's 5% of 100,000 people that's 5,000 people in the entire game... divide that by players on at any given time, and players on that specific character, and rancors will be rare indeed. Groups are lower - currently at 13k participants total and 3% tier 5.

1. It is made of awesome, and wrapped in bacon. It's great to have it back in a new form rather than an exact rehash, and I'm glad it's differently gated than the prior event. I had a hard time completing the event on a single character last time because of play time restriction. It's great that I've done all of the event, and even on multiple characters. It feels different, like the plague has progressed, and that the SWTOR universe is dynamically evolving. Good on ya, BioWare. 2. The addition of bolstering for the PvE Operation boss was a grand idea. It was nice to bring in a 26dps and 48 tank and be effective! I also like the new format (going back to gating), the new reputation rewards (I WILL have an infected Dewback!), and the ability to trade in old DNA samples (at a 50-1 ratio) for cannisters. 3. I did not like the 1k purchase requirement for the operations quest. It's 1k - a total pittance, which wasn't the problem. It just seemed like a silly gating. Also, the inability to QT directly to the tunnels from outside was a PITA. 4. I would like to see organized PvP quests. I know, so many Gree whiners ruined that chance, but PvPers should get some love. I would also like to see better spawn times on the Fungal elites. Lastly, when it goes to other worlds, I would like an area not in tunnels (which I see from the Achievements section won't happen, but I can dream, right?).

Similar to how real-time anti-spam blacklists work, I would be delighted to see a feature in the game (off by default) that auto-ignores heinous trolls based on the number of times they have been ignored in a period of time (say, ten per hour?).

I know costs have been discussed for a lot of other items, but I would suggest BioWare please reconsider their pricing structure. I know it's profitable, but is it optimally profitable? The new dyes, specifically, are where I would like to put in my two cents with a suggestion: Do more market research on pricing. I can only give my own subjective opinion on why I make this suggestion, so here's the basis for that, the who-of-me... My demographics are pretty boring - I'm a 41 year old professional with disposable income and a good career job; the kind of person who spends $1,500 on coffee every year when you total up all those cups. Not rich by any means, but I don't need to think twice about small purchases if I really want them. What I am is one of the many who are your target... the person with free money to spend. And I'm not interested in black or white dyes at all. Here's why: 2,000 coins for black dye, single use? That price tag makes me not want to buy it. If it had been a more reasonable fee - say 800-1000 coins, arbitrarily - I'd buy a $40 coin pack just to buy a bunch of them for several characters. That means I would have spent more money than just getting it one time for the one character I want to be in all black. 1,000 coins for a white dye is a bit steep for a less popular color as well. But again, I would have bought a bunch of them for less as well, again spending more than 1,000 coins. Reach out to your demographics. I know you do occasionally because I've gotten surveys fro you. Maybe give people a chance to put in deeper demographics *if they choose* during surveys.

+1 to the 505. I almost wish I were an RP-er...

I'm curious - if I hold off on doing the quest "A Little R and R", can I hold off on the rest of the Jaxo storyline until *after* my class story is over? I'm running up a Healmando to 50 in PvP and FPs only, so I'll be starting my class story at 50. Well, tbh, I'll be starting from the end of Coruscant anyway, as I went ahead and got my ship for the occasional space mission during queue waits. Is it possible to do the Jaxo questlines out of order with the rest of the Trooper class storyline?

To misquote a famous Jedi Master: Cancel. Or do not. There is no whine.

"You know" "Most of the" Please, do provide us with empirical data proving these declarative statements. Until then, I, as a forty-year old male player with a wife, four kids, and all that jazz, will be eagerly awaiting my monkey lizard, will be giving that axe to my DS Sentinel.

Looks like BioWare has a typo in one of their mouseover descriptors, but I'm sure somebody's going to NOT REALIZE ITS A MISTAKE and go bananas... You get the same mouseover message when hovering over the last item for both the F2P and Sub items at http://www.swtor.com/free/features. It says that both sub and f2p players won't be able to equip a lot of purples. Clearly that's a mistake, so don't anyone panic... it's just a mistake in the message, not the mechanics. Relax. Your purples are fine. Just a typo. Breathe...

Resurrecting this thread as it seems to be the most recent UI thread. Below is my custom UI for Sorc heals (PvE and PvP): Link to Download: http://www.swtorui.com/downloads/info170-GhimlisSorcSageHealerUI.html Link to Just the Pic: http://s.swtorui.com/preview/pvw554.jpg Constructive comments (negative and positive) are always welcome.

Yes and no. Yes - There are more current-content raiding options. WoW has Dragon Soul for current, FireLands for entry. SWTOR has EC for current, EV and KP for entry. No - There's no history of things to go back and re-raid for vanity reasons (transmog made old content fun to farm again). Yes - The PVP is much more complex and balanced here than in WoW. No - There are less PVP options (no arenas, fewer maps) Endgame content in general, across the genre, is dying because it's been the same since the dawn of MMOs. You have two choices - kill the big bad, or kill the other players. Everything else is a spin on the same basic formula. Mechanics, maps, etc. are all nuances that add to the same basic experience and make it more enjoyable than a stright up Tank-n-Spank or Slugfest, but there's nothing new in any of it. I agree with the OP - there needs to be something else. What is that? I don't know... maybe mixing PVE and PVP is a good idea - maybe Reese's PB Cups good. Or maybe not - maybe New Coke bad. If anyone asks "what about dailies?" I will laugh. Daily quests are not end-game. They're time-sinks. That's all they are. That's all they will ever be. I have 3 50s, 4 million credits, and not one daily done that isn't from the FlashPoint or PVP terminal.

As another poster said... it's Groundhog Day. There's a lot of Freemium / F2P / B2P out there. All slightly different, yet mostly the same - you get the cake for free but need to pay for the plate to carry it to the table and then again for the fork to eat it with. This is not a big deal... unless they do it wrong. And lets face it, if EA is putting their foot in here, they'll likely do it wrong. Why? Q: "What's the worst thing to ever happen to BioWare? " A: "EA." What's the "wrong" way you ask? Some games are F2P but really P2W (Pay2Win), where you need to pay for success. Sure, you can see the content, or participate in the PVP. And fail at it. Hard. You can get frustrated, then buy the gear needed to secure the boss kills or be competitive in PVP. If SWTOR goes that way, I'm out. I think most of the older players here would be out as well. I don't know the SWTOR demographics (I don't think anyone outside select people at EA and BioWare do), but I think if that happened it would be over in no time for the game. On the other side of the coin there are some very successful F2P models. DDO and LOTRO use a model of F2P with premium content - individual content is paid for (beyond the basic game), and there is also an optional premium subscription that allows access to nearly everything that isn't purely for vanity. DDO and LOTRO are different on the content (dungeon packs vs VIP, etc.), perks of membership, and store items, mind you, but they're both succeeding in this model. Essentially, it makes the subscription an option - you can a la carte what you want, or buy the whole package, or just hang out in steerage with the rabble if you like. If SWTOR goes this way, I'll be staying, as a Premium / VIP / Whatever subber. TL/DR? IDC. TB4U.

You sir, are wrong... on every level. What you are saying is the opposite of what the FP is designed for. The FP is designed with that content. Skipping is optional. You are wrong in the following ways: Totally Wrong. Recognizably Wrong. Obviously Wrong. Laughably Wrong Ludicrously Wrong.

Can I get some clarification to this: Does that mean a free trial can also SEND mail to other paying-account characters? It isn't specifically prohibited, and if so, let me just say - BAD IDEA!!!!! Credspammers are a small-ish problem now, let's not make it worse by giving them another avenue for throw-away accounts. But, on the plus side... if you can send mail, can trial accounts buy all of the bank tabs on a trial account? If so... here's what I'm gonna do: create a new email address, sign up for the trial on that address, and make a bank alt there, since I really, really don't want to turn one of my "one-of-each-class" roster of characters into a bank alt. I may even make a guild, join the trial account character to the guild, and buy the first GB bay.

SWTOR's policy specifically prohibits many people from posting comments to this thread making references to trolls, trolling, or other forms of adverse commentary. In no way am I specifically calling anyone a troll, of course. After all, I could be violating policy if I did. In order that my comments remain pertinent to this conversation, I would ask any of the posters here a simple question - what titles do you have from your time on the PTS? I am also curious to know how familiar these same posters are with the changes in 1.3. Also, is there some level of understanding present regarding the unique challenges of such a large game patch amongt the negative-posters?

I vote Aye. Great thread - nice to see an oldie but goodie resurrected and made relevant.

No. The tool may work, but there are some fundamental reasons for caution for events like this, regardless of how it is implemented. Those without uber-systems know what it means to have their computer get REALLY REALLY slow while they play a game, download a file, and your AV program scans their computer... That can also happen to servers. If they do too much, they slow to a crawl. Problem is, demand doesn't let up, and if it builds to high, the server crashes. That can cause data loss. Data loss while your character (and the hundreds of hours of game time spent on him/her) are in transit. What is happening, from a very general standpoint, is this - all of your information is stored in a database (or at least linked in to flat files containing information). This information has to be copied to memory, which uses storage, CPU, and memory and transferred over a physical or virtual network infrastructure, using network bandwidth and i/o (input / output) to the new server, and then re-integrated. Since this is all stored on hard drives (probably in a centralized storage array - NAS or SAN), disk i/o on the storage systems are in play as well. We, the players, do not know the following, but BioWare's staff does: How much data, in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, etc. a single character comprises How many links between other tables, fields, and files a single character has How much local and destination memory a transfer requires How much bandwidth per second is available between each server instance Hoe much network i/o is available How much storage i/o a transfer requires How much CPU is required to transfer and receive a character's data Give them the benefit of the doubt, for your character's sake.