Agreed, it's just spam from the game, you don't need it. If it's just to tell people where their listed item went, just implement a GTN history tab for your recent bought/sold items so people can still check which items are sold, when, to whom, and still be able to put up more items at the same time without needing to run to a mailbox to check what that new mail was all about.

PTS is for testing, so incentives should be focused on ways to get people to the appropriate levels and missions to test the content that's being implemented. Titles are meaningless, especially on a server that has a potential for complete wipes. It's a test server, the only bonus we need is some form of progress acceleration, exp/drop boost, character copying, or ingame mail/inventory items that boost our exp/levels during certain times when they need to test certain content. If SWTOR wants to make full use of the PTS then it needs to have some of these things up and running asap, otherwise it's just a dead server, even on patch days(which is usual peak times for a PTS when it comes to MMOs).

Content isn't being tested to the fullest when there are only a handful of people on it most of the time. Yes there are 50s, but how often are they there, and what do they actually do? Just look at the backlash on all the GCD changes up to this point, all completely unnecessary changes that went "unnoticed" on the PTS and went completely ape**** when it went live. There isn't enough people on the PTS to test patch content properly, because there's no incentives for doing so. I'm seeing 5-6 people of extremely different level ranges on the PTS per faction most of the time, that's NOT effective use of PTS. PTS is supposed to catch the bugs missed by the dev teams, provide feedback before the patch moves to live, and overall TEST the content that is being changed throughout the game. In order for this to be effective, you need a viable sample base that's consistently providing feedback at least around the times the patches are implemented. Currently there's no indication of that for the PTS because patch content are focused on endgame or pvp, with no population at high enough level you have no samples to say whether the changes are good or bad and then watch it hit the fans when it moves to the live servers. The current problem with the PTS is the population, concurrent player numbers are stupidly LOW, no experience gain acceleration buffs means exceedingly long lockout time until able to test the patched content. People aren't going to help you test a product they've paid for unless you make it easy and worth their time to do. Having to download the game is already a barrier for some, and for those who have done so, grinding through the game again at an even slower rate is another barrier. At least on live servers you have the population to help accelerate the leveling process, but on the PTS, you're on your own. No FPs, OPs, social points can't be tested properly, class quest problems not being addressed due to people either not there yet or already past it. Character copying to the PTS is a priority if the patches are focusing on the endgame content like it is now. I doubt the PTS will be able to test Legacy content properly at this point with only a few people having their legacy let alone leveled it on the PTS. The SWTOR PTS is not working as intended, this is something that the developers have realized from the last comments they made regarding testing content and are working on the character copying because of it.

Sigh, nerfs are useless and idiotic, instead, focus on bringing the other classes up to par instead of nerfing the classes that "seems" op. Honestly I miss the cc immunity from DCUO, where if you just got free from a cc effect via breakout, you won't be affected for a second or two, this prevents stun locking for one. Instead of asking for nerfs against knockbacks, give the other classes some sort of knockback resistance/immunity skill on a massive coolown (3 to 5 mins). Enough for them to withstand the next attack if they know it's coming, but not enough for them to use it for more than 2-3 times in a full match. Skill balancing shouldn't have been making everything suck, it should have been about bringing other classes up to the same level. Sadly sucky players will complain instead of getting better, hence nerfs are what we're still seeing instead of actual skill balancing. Nerfing's not the answer, coming up with viable improvements to other classes is the best way to balance the classes. Of course, nothing will matter if the players are lacking the skills to use it...

Now that "hue to chest" is coming to 1.2, will we see less gear palette swapping and more useable and unique selection of gear appearances soon? I'm really quite sick of the fett designs for BH gears...

If this means people can actually get into warzones at offpeak times, then go for it, especially when there's no opposition for the specific warzone you're queuing in to. Queuing for a specific warzone will result in lack of population in other warzones, let's face it, there are only ever so many people pvping at any one time, split them up and you'll have no one to pvp with/against. Filling the wz with your own server and fill in the rest with other servers is fine, so long as they fix the warzone win counts for good it won't matter much in the end when people actually get to play and get loot rather than waste time waiting.

Togruta - consular/inquisitor(slave's fine for togruta). Cathar - JK/SW, see them as ingame npcs already, not too far a stretch... Jawa - BH/Smuggler...seriously, it'd work...

Doesn't help consider people have been submitting feedback about this and other quest problems since beta and it's still not improved. That tatooine mission is idiotic...you can spend a few hours and get nothing or spend a few minutes and get all 5... Quest item drops should be fairly consistent if not guaranteed, if you want players to spend more time on the game then make it more difficult to locate the target, interact with certain objects and then hand them the items for being your errand boy. Anything that halts a player's progression will start adding doubts to the player as to whether they want to continue playing. Game breaking bugs and time wastes like this just makes players not want to do this again and question whether the rest of the game is like this. Fixing bugs you've introduced is one thing, but overall experience should still be upheld at a high enough priority. This tatooine mission problem has been there since beta and was never fixed and likely remain unfixed for the rest of the game's life.

Hardmodes don't reward social points for one that I'm aware of since the last time I checked around the forums... And for Legacy, all we know so far are these, -Family tree relationship system (useless fluff crap...) -Miraluka sith warrior on Korriban. (some sort of cross faction class combination, useless at this point really by itself...) Cross faction race/class combination NEEDS to be implemented with an ingame character appearance customizing npc, otherwise, it's just punishment for the people who already have all their alts. Changing your race isn't a big deal in this game, no one refers to you as your species, you're either human or alien, that's it if there's any mention at all. So changing player appearance isn't a problem for story, considering it's just a cosmetic option right now as there are no "species" story line. Beyond the things you can see in the "coming up" video released a while ago, there's nothing else at this point because even BioWare hasn't figured out what they're going to do that won't piss everyone off.

Exactly, I've been voicing my concerns about this issue since launch as there are only as many distinct non-palette swapped styles as there are in the class progression videos(plus a few more ugly headgears). Many of which are not player favorites, so until BW start getting rid of palette swaps and add in more distinct styles, whether you can extract purple mods from endgame pieces is irrelevant. Months ago, yes, but they've said a lot of things before the game was launched and removed/delayed on even more things since then. As it stands, their claim that all crafted recipe has orange receipe is false, mainly belts, bracers, and headgears have very little orange counterpart. Everything they say about "planning" is going to end up taking at least 3-4 weeks to implement, 2 if it's an emergency patch to already released content. Them "planning" to make more useable social gears for other armor classes is probably just adding the same items but in different armor types. Which honestly is still the idiotic thing to do as it's just a temporary solution until they realize that vanity items should not have armor type associated to it, instead it should just be place in a vanity slot so you wouldn't need to go through all this trouble. There are only about 4-5 distinct styles for each class, and 2 of those are endgame pvp/pve sets. Bounty Hunters for example for the option to look like the newbs, or the slightly less newbish coat, and then 2 varieties of boba fett/mandalorian armor. That's it for orange appearances for BHs. What you see in the class progression vids is it, that's more or less all they have, if they have more it's only 1 or 2 more and they're NOT orange custom items available right now ingame through any method. Even with the changes coming, it'll still be clone wars. As the patch notes stands, it's just more stat wars. Great, augment slots, that's real helpful for people who still hate the measly selection of gear selection. Palette swaps are idiotic, BW, work on paint/dye system and add in more variety in gears, add in vanity slots so custom appearances won't be a pain (for you) and people can actually look and remain how they want (like you promised). Removable base mods won't do much beyond the first few days when people realize that there's still crap in terms of selection.

Indeed, yet another change to the UI that wasn't necessary. It's like they want people to rage about these things so we wouldn't be pointing out where else they screwed up or lacking... UI's in a MMO is always going to end up about one thing, Options. The ability to switch from one configuration to another is always going to be necessary because of the large user base and their own preferences. It is always necessary for a MMO to have options because you're constantly going to be able to change things via a patch. BioWare, you need to start pointing out explicitly what's being changed in each patch and have people test them to give you feedback on it, not have people wonder what the heck is going on and then players can get to work on getting you feedback. In most cases, you're better off posting a video of it on the forums or ask the player base first before you think about needing to change something...changes to the UI's have been a mess since launch and continue to be this poor in quality.

@cKBaleFire, You're not alone. Gear appearance selection in this game is crap, that's the real reason behind them taking out "matching to chest" because of all the palette swaps. Not much point in having custom items when there's only 4-5 styles per class to choose from, and you're grinding endgame for palette swaps, seriously?... It's idiotic that they have walls filled with gear designs only to have most of them not making it in the game. It's stupid, it really is... Take out the palette swaps and put in an actual gear dye/paint system and complement it with more variety in actual appearances. It's totally clone wars right now, such potential, wasted by poor decisions...

Pretty sure they've said cross-server anything was not likely to be implemented. Misleading topic, but LFD is still likely to happen on its own or part of the improvements to the LFG system.

Go to the galactic trade terminal on Nar Shaddaa in the lower promenades, just open the map and enable filter and look in the upper left corner. That one is cross faction, you can either sell the crafted result or the schematics there to the other faction. You can learn the schematics yourself and craft them just fine btw if you're on the opposite faction. It's one of those things the developers didn't explain to people about how "galactic" the galactic trade market actually is. It really should just be server-wide terminals for all instead of needing to go to another planet altogether if you end up with a bunch of cross-faction drops. You still can't see specific gears from the other faction anyways, so why limit it to just Nar Shaddaa...

The one played by a more skilled player. There are two variants to pyrotech as well as that is a shared specialization among bounty hunters. They play a bit differently due to their other skills but there is still a difference.

Or just the generic astromech that beeps instead of talking... Using the ship droid to do crew missions is a bit annoying when it's the only one available while you're questing early on.

When will we see a proper gear dye/paint system and actual variety in gear appearances instead of palette swaps so players finally have a real choice in creating and maintaining their choice of appearance?

Would have been great 2 months ago though. I am curious as to why the "register an account" video is at the bottom and not at the top and released with this video since you need to do that first before you can even get into the game... Social coordinating and updating the new player guides is nice and all, but it would be vastly more informative and useful if it was in the proper order. -Create Account -Server select and character creation -Movement, maps, bindpoints, taxis. -UI (onscreen display) explanation (such as skill bar, skill useage, cooldown, mini map, quest tracker, etc). -Finally socialize. Might want to get on that account creation video, people kinda need to do that before they can choose servers and create characters. Unless you're planning a bait'n'switch campaign with this series of videos by showing them the game, get them to buy, and then come back to figure out how to set up an account. In that case, sure, leave it the way it is. That would be nice, but it'd be nicer if the huttball loading screen actually showed you that instead. Simple replacement of one loading screen with a better and more informative one would be way more effective in the long run. We need more explanations ingame rather than checking youtube all the time, and where better than on the loading screen itself when you're loading into the warzone to explain the different aspects and mechanics.

At least you guys (consular/inquisitors) can make use of the social items as they are the same armor type... But I have to say, consulars have stupid hats while inquisitors are limited to stupid furry bras with triangles for shoulder pads. Else inquisitors can choose to look like jedis in either white or black depending on the custom item used, but the rest of the selection are idiotic for both classes... You'd think they take a look at the named npcs in this game that wear robes/dresses and include some of those as player appearances, but sadly, jedi/sith robes are mass produced and distributed to gangsters while random npcs have access to exclusive fashion store that makes clothing just for them.

There is currently no such thing as "extensive appearance customization throughout the game". "Extensive" is only passable for light armor classes due to the selection of social gears. Palette swaps are NOT appreciated nor should they replace a proper gear dye/paint system. Bounty Hunters for example have exactly as many different unique styles as you see in the progression video, and that includes the following, -1 set of each pvp and pve end game gear. -Around 5 other unique appearances including 2 sets of newbie appearances. -Not all of the non-endgame styles are craftable as orange custom items. -Nearly all of the bounty hunter's line of appearances revolve around the same boba fett'ish, where's the variety in that? There are other bounty hunters in the star wars galaxy, you've included them in the bounty hunter story, so there are other styles. Start upping the amount of UNIQUE gear models/meshes instead of focusing on churning out more palette swaps. Then you won't need to worry so much about "matching to chest" not working well because you're lacking in variety. All appearances save for the special ones (pvp/pve-raid token gears) should be craftable as orange custom items. You would have been far better off by not mentioning "extensive appearance customization" as that is a complete lie. I've resorted to cross-class dress for my bounty hunter (using sith heavy armors) because of a lack of non-fett style armors that doesn't make you look like you're level 10. Two words, Cad Bane. Now take his coat and add in armored shoulder pads for missile storage and connect it to a jetpack that isn't just another round garbage can. Or these two words, Jewl'a Nightbringer. Female siths could also use more work and less emphasis on the skin-bra selections, it's one thing to include it as a one off appearance, seriously, Indignation chestguard is ridiculous as a heavy armor chest piece for female juggernauts. I've voiced my opinion on how idiotic this set is for female siths since beta yet there's been no change to it or responses. It could have been a decent appearance if it wasn't so terrible, it really looks ridiculous on a body type 3 female. You guys have a lot of work to bring us more UNIQUE gear appearances in the future, palette swaps to this extent are absolutely disgusting to see from a company like BioWare. Don't rename the same appearance just because you painted it with crimson instead of rouge, prefixes could have easily distinguish the level of the item if it was planned out. Item names should matter, not just filler while you keep churning out more items slightly more brown than the previous one. Gear appearance selection is the MOST disappointing thing about SWTOR for me, and crafting doesn't make it better as there are no UNIQUE appearances you can craft like previously mentioned before the game launched. Again, palette swaps = trash. Do things right rather than getting it done, bring in more gear appearances soon and give the choice of colour/patterns back to the players and then I might think you're not lying about "extensive appearance customization". We're running presets approved by BioWare right now, there's no "customization" when we can only pick "newb", "not as newb" and "endgame pvp/raid grinders" as appearance choices. You want to be a really good MMO? Improve with the customizations, especially when it comes to giving players choices.

What level and specs? Early levels you shouldn't need or try to heal your companions since you'll suck at it from the lack of stats and skill points. If your companion is dying frequently, check for a few things, -Are their gear up to date? -Are their gear of the proper attributes? -Is the mob you're trying to fight above your level range? -What type of mob is it, strong(silver), elite(gold), or champion(messed up white star gold)? -You have a crowd control skill that can knock one enemy out for 60 seconds, concussive round (@22?)that will deal with extra strong/elites in a group so you can burst down targets while taking less incoming damage. Use the Attack command (ctrl+1 by default) to tell your companion to focus on killing the selected target, it's one way to reduce damage to you and also speed up on killing the group of mobs. Early on it's really just easier to kill things before they kill you unless there are still adds around. Let your companion pick up the strong/elite if a group of mobs have them, aoe the mobs when they're close to eliminate the trash as quickly as you can and then back to focusing on the remaining single target. So long as you're alternating your shots with the basic attack you should be able to handle things without running too low on ammo. You have recharge cells too, so use that if it gets desperately low. And if you are the healer of the group, you probably should ease up on dpsing outside of using your default shooting attack to maintain decent ammo level. The game isn't nice to people who double dip during battles and it's even more harsh at early levels due to the lack of skill points. Take a look at this topic too if you really want to focus on healing and managing ammo, http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=181529 But generally, it doesn't work out all that well to double dip, and overheating is a similar issue with bounty hunters as well if you dabble in too many roles in a fight.

You assume too much and expect too little. We have no information about legacy other than the video that touched on it briefly. Even then it showed 2 things, 1) Family tree relationship between your characters on the server with your legacy. 2) Miraluka sith warrior on korriban. Not offering a species/full on customization change is I think rather idiotic, there are people with all 8 of their character slots filled already and have progressed them far enough that they don't want to reroll just to be a different shade of colour. If BioWare was to release additional race/class combinations as part of the legacy update, they NEED an option/npc in the game that allows full change of the character including all features and species. Species choice does squat in this game in terms of story anyways, you're either "human" or "alien" if you were ever mentioned. Not even the sith purebloods gets a mention of their species name, just "hey, we have the same skin colour!" as your dialogue choice and the npc replies "bleh, I don't care"(not exactly but for all purposes that's what he means). Coming off of games like Aion and DCUO I've gotten really spoiled by the character customization in those games. Aion's was fantastic, you could make anything you wanted, fat, skinny, old, young, toddler or even an overgrown chicken. DCUO allows for freedom to change your appearance based on your personal preference and selection of unlocked appearances and not bound it to what you're wearing at that moment. MMOs for me has always been pretty heavily focused on the ability to make "your" character. Right now with locked combination of features on the CC this game isn't delivering what it should be delivering. Holding off on the basics is idiotic, BioWare, if we're supposed to "Play Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ and be the hero of your own Star Wars™ saga", we need to be able to make our characters as WE see fit, not how you dictate which lekku patterns are allowed with which eyeshadow/lip colour or wrinkles with these eyebrows. It's ridiculous to say you have a character creator when it's really just a preset selector, works for a single/moba game, but not for a MMO.

It's a buff they have, check them before fighting to be sure you can or can't use stun/interrupts on the specific boss. Some "champions" or "bosses" don't have the buff that makes them immune, those are fine to stun as normal, or at least should...

It comes down to whether you want that assault cannon or not, that's the biggest factor really considering nearly everyone else (players/companions) can use pistols/rifles, but only the commando can use assault cannons.

You don't need to have like 50 people racing at once, anywhere from 8-16 is easily manageable for an instance. If some free to play game like The Clone Wars Adventure has multiplayer speeder racing for 4-8 people as a minigame, I think it's easily manageable within a game like this. It'll be added as a minigame, which is something else we desperately need for this game.