OP, you really naively underestimate how a game developer of this size works. Believe me, there are metrics. PLENTY of metrics. About player behavior, subscriptions, and much more. Also, community managers don't just read threads - there are analysis tools for identifying sentiments in a community.

Radically rolling back the entire patch would be the exact same thing that got them into this mess. Incremental fixes make a lot more sense.

I find the absence of the words "blind", "deaf", and "comatose" in this thread disappointing.

This is an awesome idea. Words cannot describe how much I'd enjoy having other legacy characters as comps.

My experience does indeed say otherwise, though I see why if you've been exposed to a certain culture exclusively, you could come to that conclusion. But I think this is the wrong platform to unleash my inner Eurosnob and get into a sociocultural debate about North American society, so let's agree to disagree then.

"Others are worse" is not, and has never been, a high-quality argument.

I don't, and I pity those who do. People who need that kind of confirmation from a game seem to lack that in real life. I've seen the "work" fallacy pop up around here a few times, sometimes in the shape of "things aren't free". I still think that this is an error of perspective, of overvaluing certain aspects of the game. In a well-designed game, you're supposed to enjoy the journey without the carrot - the achievements, all the other bling, that stuff is there to motivate you through the low points and get you back into the part of the game you enjoy. I'm not saying the game shouldn't reward dedication and skill, but if a game turns to work, and if you're actually suffering to get the carrot - then you're doing something wrong. And that's what I'm reading out of this line of argument - fear of having, for lack of a better word voluntarily "suffered" when you could have just waited and gotten the carrot without the suffering. In that case, though, isn't the problem more with being willing to suffer for it in the first place?

Yes. These "rewards" are just worthless items in a game. If I really want titles, items, credits, I can buy that stuff. I just want to see the story unfold without too much hassle within what little time I have to enjoy it each week. That clear enough for you? However, that's the kind of sociopathic argument people only make under the cover of online-anonymity. We're not in a competition with each other. We're playing in parallel, but separate games for all intents and purposes. What does it matter to you?

My feedback in short, playing a Guardian (Tank) with a healer companion inf 40 or so: combat is a bit too slow, downtimes between encounters kill the game. I'm somewhat alright with the power level of companions in combat, but adding the kind of downtime that gives me DaoC flashbacks back in is not a great choice in a 2015 game. If companions are supposed to stay where they are now, out of combat regeneration should be upped massively.

If companions had been set to the power level they are at now, many people - myself included - would not have returned in the first place. Yes, companions were OP, but now they're UP. There's a point somewhere in the middle, and it's up to Bioware to find that point, simple as that.

I'd be perfectly alright with that. I don't play for rewards, only for story. And the Star Fortresses, alas, are part of the story (as in: destroying them is a presumed outcome within the narrative, and not doing so is missing out on that).

That's just plain false. There are plenty of threads around here from both sides explaining many different takes on the issue and discussing them in depth. Yes, some aren't exactly constructive, but plenty of them are.

Just to fully understand: you like the grind?

I might be willing to put CC into that, so yeah, the idea has merit imho. PvP is easily solved: as soon as a player is PvP-tagged/engages in PvP, companions revert to baseline performance temporarily. The companion boost might just simply not be sold for PvP servers, as well.

I stand corrected then. Farewell, oh imaginary land of milk, honey and Orcs.