Yeah, whilst killing your own species is fine (after all, they are helping the Republic) the text did grate in many places for a Cathar, unlike all the worlds so far. Came here to pretty much make this post, and found you'd beaten me to it!

The mail headers I see are interesting. The mail appears to come from Dynect (216.146.40.12) who I guess you are using as a mail service. The mail headers indicate ~1 second from there to my mailbox. It usually arrives too late for me to use the OTP. I will be very glad to see the time limit increase, but I'd also recommend you look at the process between the OTP generation and Dynect sending the mail. It varies greatly in performance. Sometimes if can take seconds, other times it can take 10-15 minutes repeatably. I might try using the security key on a smartphone emulator. I can avoid the security issue by having it on another computer. My mail isn't on my gaming computer anyway, for the same reason. Edit - Fortunately the game doesn't ask for OTP often, unlike my browser, which seems to lose cookies on a very frequent basis. Edit 2 - Checking the mail timestamps, looks like it has been much faster before 8pm uk time, but of course that's a pretty small sample size. Just going from those times where I only had to get one OTP rather than half a dozen.

Unfortunately, changing the name system, when that name is used in so many places - database tables (possibly), chat, character banners etc - isn't a quick fix. When SWTOR was losing players fast due to having the playerbase spread far too thinly causing grouping to be very difficult, Bioware had to quickly sort the situation - increase vastly the number of players on each server. Far too quickly to do something elegant with names. I'd like them to do something elegant with names, but I also understand that the overall health of the game was more important at the time.

This looks incredibly similar to the initial LOTRO F2P model (which was so successful for them). Are you also aiming to make Cartel coin content only a way to obtain stuff available in game to subscribers, plus fluff / ease of use stuff (as LOTRO launched F2P promising), or are you planning to add stuff not available reasonably in game (LOTRO added stuff that was vanishingly rare or could be bought, losing lots of support, then started releasing more powerful store only stuff, and lost more) ? Not working for Turbine I have no way to know whether this divisive use of the store made them lots of money or cost them players. Maybe it was necessary to profit. If you're going to cover the interface with shop links as they did, any chance you could keep subscriber accounts clear of most of them (or at least offer an option to do so) ? That was also rather offputting to many players when F2P happened.

Reading this I'm currently glad I play on an RP server (where I tend to meet fewer idiots, I'm not actually there to RP), as I've not had any terrible groups, and very glad it's not cross server, so I don't have to have them!

Or it's just the name used by developers and players to describe the way in game currency in a game is removed from play stopping hyperinflation. As long as it refers to in-game and not real currency, it's a good thing.

I think I /bugged it in the first week of the game, so yes.

Yes, as long as they are in the same legacy. No, you can only have one mission in progress at a time on a companion. The lockbox is personal, not shared. I share materials by mailing as necessary, as it's cheap (10cr a time). Who knows what might exist in future, though.

Probably, the odds are around 0.3% of getting 26 fails in a row, starting at a particular time. So if 330 people tried to RE an item, you'd expect 1 to take 27 or longer tries. Or if, say 33 people tried to RE 10 items, you'd expect one to take 27 or longer tries. Assuming we have, say 100,000 crafters, and that they RE, say 100 items each, you'd expect that around 30,000 of them would take 27 or longer tries on one of those items. You'd expect one to take 72 tries or more! I guess they'd post and say the RNG is broken.

1. Not really had class related feedback relayed to me. 2. I'm 18 Defence / 23 Vigilance tanking spec. Seems pretty good, a little weak with aoe aggro, but not too bad. Have to use taunts well, but that's better than never having to try. My issues are how squishy tanks are against internal/elemental damage, and how crazy it is that my highest damaging attack is hitting someone with the hilt, not the blade, of a lightsaber!

The problem with money sinks is normally tuning. I think there is an issue around level 25, as you tend to want to buy an expensive speeder, and if you are running crafting missions, that is pricy. The three ways I've found around that are stopping running crafting missions around level 20, and starting again at 25 after buying speeder, making money through trading, or waiting til 26 to buy the speeder. I didn't bother buying later speeders til level 50, as the difference between 90% speed and 110% speed is marginal. A game without money sinks has hyperinflation, so it's about getting the balance right. Ideally (in my view) you should be able to afford what you need, have some spending money, and be able to save for nice to have stuff, at all levels. With varied playstyles, that is difficult. Also, can always do grey space missions (if you enjoy them), as they give low experience, but some money. This means your income raises, but the money doesn't.

My suggestion (give it a try if you like). Tier 2-5 UT schematics are pretty rare, as you get them from Moderate missions, which most people don't run. So run them, and sell the schematics. Not sure about your server, but I can currently usually sell them for 15k each (Chest, Legs, Head) or 50k each (Gloves, Boots, Belts, Bracers) for tiers 2-5 (Chest, Legs and Head are junk at tier 6 - where many run moderate missions, and not as good at tier 1 - where everyone starts by running moderate missions). I can just run companion gifts at these tiers, sell the schematics, and get companions to max affection whilst making money. These prices will go down over time, and are only really high for the new stuff introduced in 1.3. Others sell for far more than I!

You'll also notice the rich companion gifts are for tier 5, not 6. If there were tier 6 companion gifts they would be only moderate and abundant missions.

It was true months ago, when they had the guild meeting that was streamed to the web. It is unlikely still to be true. Money sinks are important to a healthy MMO economy. Now one can always argue that the current economy isn't healthy, but that's unlikely to be down to money sinks. Most of the concerns I saw raised about the new perks system boiled down to "why can't I get all the perks I want on day one with the money I have in my pocket". It's not hard to raise money if you want it, and you can buy perks over time and work towards them. Personally the only ones I've bought are +crafting crit chance, as they will on average lower my crafting costs and increase the value of crafting sales. Basically an MMO economy needs stuff to trade between players, and it needs money taken out. Ideally you should take out of an economy a similar amount of money as comes into it (actually somewhat less, to account for players leaving, and a bit less to allow moderate inflation - as people prefer moderate inflation to zero inflation or high inflation). Buying something from another player does not do this. Buying something from an NPC does. So money sinks include crafting missions, skill purchase, repairs, GTN fees, perks, paid legacy unlocks, ship fuel costs, etc. The balance trick is to get the costs right, so that people feel like they are slowly getting richer, and that they are improving their characters by getting stuff, but not feel hamstrung by lack of finances, or get it so fast that they don't value the achievement (as then they tend to just quit the game as it's too easy). That isn't an easy balancing act, compounded by everyone's expectations being different.

Could well be, and there may be some logic to it, as existing Belt/Bracer modable drops were very rare. I hadn't seen a Heavy Armour one drop whilst getting two characters to 50, but saw many other modable drops. The real oddity for me is that the purple belts/bracers I can craft can get higher tanking stats than I can add to a modable one, meaning that not only are they rare, but also pointless!

To be honest, that only 'ruined' DAoC because DAoC was a PvP dominated game, and it 'forced' people to PvE to gain PvP benefits. For those into PvE in DAoC, Trials of Atlantis was great. As long as it's not the grind that 'legendary' items are in LOTRO !

It depends how you define it. A DPS specced Guardian still has Soresu form available, and can use it. They wouldn't be in their DPS stance, of course. It also implies that your main tank wasn't guarding anyone, as the DPS guardian wouldn't be able to guard them if they were.

MMO's are complex things, and a lot of factors come into play. WoW was a game changer. The game itself wasn't, it was pretty much a straight clone of many other games, albeit done in a slick (but basic) fashion. What was different was the marketing, a huge budget, and aimed at players unfamiliar with the genre, just as home computer ownership and home broadband was taking off. We're pretty much stuck with the trinity, I fear, though some games could broaden it somewhat (Hell, in DAoC I wanted tanks, heals, dps and petspammers for top level raids). The main reason for this is the players. Give players an open system where they can choose 50 skills from 500 and they'll numbercrunch til they find the best at aggro generation/damage mitigation/avoidance, the best at keeping others in the game alive, and the ones that do the highest damage. Then they'll insist on one of the former, one of the second, and as many as they can get of the last to be in their 'uber, optimal' groups. In other games I've sometimes gone with CC+DPS and either Tank or Healer. You can usually do this, but players don't want to risk it. Don't want to think of the number of times I've persuaded a group to go with what classes they can get and made it work by changing our strategy, but it's a very tough sell to most players. The real problem though is different players like different things. Hell, tanking in SWTOR I feel squishy compared to other games. My DAoC Paladin could pull off amazing kills, I just needed a calendar to record how long they took. I love the indestructable feeling. Sure, it's great to be able to level as fast as a dpser, but it's not me. A game where we were all dps would be no fun at all. I would love to see new character roles and types. For my money we lack decent CC and debuffer / buffer classes, which could be added. I'd love to see a Beastmaster character who could tame and use monsters we find (ala DAoC Sorceror). I'd like other things tried, would love a DAoC style Friar who healed by melee attacks! I also really wish there were three sides (for PvP reasons, though it cuts down on developer time per faction, which makes it expensive, if most players only see one faction), and that PvPer's would accept that PvP combat might not be perfectly balanced all the time, allowing factions to have different abilities, rather than being clones! I think this is a really backward step which came around WoW launch time.

Personally : To be account wide. Not to be the only way to get a surname. To not format the 'family' tree as a straight line going off the edges if you don't want to be parents/children of your own characters (of different races!) To carry on being a money sink so that the economy doesn't overheat as badly as so many other MMOs. To never include "required" buffs. To be added to slowly, not in large chunks early in it's life then abandoned.

(mostly relating to another thread that got pointed this way, though not any individual) One of the things you'll find is a great variation in how well geared people are. Generally in normal HM's it won't make a huge difference, unless you are hitting enrage timers, as long as you play appropriately. However, gear imbalance does potentially make everyone's job harder, so you have to adapt. If the tank or healer has the best gear, you're all laughing. DPS can do crazy, healers can relax. If the DPS has the best gear, you need to be careful. DPS needs to control their aggro, Tanks need to taunt a lot more. Remember that the cooldown on DPS AoE is much lower than on Tank AoE taunt though! I have a Healer Commando, and I know how great Mortar Volley is as an alpha strike in solo PvE. I also have a Guardian Tank, and see it kill more Troopers and cause more wipes in HM's than any other ability. DPS is important, but you have to time it right. If the tank dives into a tightly packed bunch of enemies and does a couple of AoE attacks, sure, go for it. If the tank dives into a sparsely packed bunch of enemies, does an AoE or two, then goes off to round up stragglers, only do it if you can tank the group. The time for all out dps is when the situation is under control, not the start, unless dps is needed to make the start controllable. Remember, there are two ways to solve class imbalance, one is to petition Bioware to increase group sizes to include 3 or 4 dps + heal/tank. One is to make Tanks and Healers feel more welcome, and to learn their skills. DPS learning their own is part of this. Anyone can DPS learn to do well with a well geared tank that has great skill. The test of skill for DPS is taking an undergeared tank and still succeeding. This is not aimed at any individual directly, just read too many threads that can be paraphrased as "Everytime I do this we wipe, they are doing something wrong".

It's a good system, but works best when you're only tractking a few factors. I'm guessing WoW did that on quest drops (tracking the number killed in the quest, dropping the data on quest completion), rather than other drops (so you'd have to track many different items, for very long periods). Using it here might be troublesome and complex. If you do counted every item RE seperately, that'd be 1000's of extra numbers to track against each character. If you just counted number of RE's since last success, you'd have emergent strategies where the optimal strategy becomes RE something cheap and low level til you have failed X times, then try the expensive high level one. Personally I don't want to have to muck around like that to be optimal! Personally I'd make the 10% rates 20%, and see what results. I think personally that 10% chance to make a random one of five purples is harsh, especially trying to go from purple to purple, where it can take hours to get the materials (needing two crit successes on missions that take an hour to get enough for one attempt). 10% chance if there was only one option would be fine. Maybe even offer legacy character perks for an additional small % chance of RE success.

I've seen the same in every other game where RNG comes into play, especially around crafting. Always pointing to long unlucky streaks as evidence that RNG is broken, rarely understanding that long unlucky streaks is a sign of actual random behaviour too. There have been games in which RNG was broken, generally early ones. Nowadays it'd be more effort to create a broken RNG system than just to reuse a working one. The sign of a broken one was "if I do this, or craft in this area, or just after zoning, or at this time past the hour, I'll always succeed or always fail", basically ways to inflence success that shouldn't have been possible with RNG.

Just keep /bugging it I guess. I have been.

Still pretty good, though I am a tank, so usually get fast queues. There's been a few oddities, like the day I queued up for any HM Flashpoint, got a group in 2 seconds, one dps didn't click Accept, so went back to the head of the queue and waited 30 minutes without a group before logging. I forget how many I've done, probably 2 a day on average since groupfinder arrived. Only got a couple of poor situations, like the group with 2 expertise stacked dps that couldn't beat enrage timers (especially jumping around rather than standing hitting monsters - pvp habits I guess), but they soon rage quit and the replacements walked it. Had a group recently with a healer who'd just respecced from dps to healing, and it was their first group since (why try a HM for learning your skills!). Still managed it, though I spent more time one hit from death than I've ever spent in a quest! Still a 100% success rate. Am seeing more groups wanting to spacebar through, and more groups wanting to avoid monsters and bonus quests where possible (indeed, most of the wipes I've seen have been as a result of someone squishy trying to avoid monsters and accidentally pulling a group). I guess this is just a sign of many more groups being run. Would love to see the figures on flashpoints run over the last few weeks/months.

I hope it is a shallow level cap rise, if this game is going the level cap increase route. A change where the kit you've worked to obtain is obsoleted by the incoming top tier kit is fine. A change where the kit you've worked to obtain is obsoleted by random drops in the first week is frustrating. The main trick for me for level cap raises, especially in games where many play alts, is to keep content quite high compared to level gain. At present you can pretty much play all of a planet with one character, just storyline on the next, and repeat, then do the reverse with another alt. This means the game takes longer to get boring. They did the same in LOTRO, but every expansion added only just enough content to play through with one character without repeating, heavily damaging the replay value. It's the reason I'm hear paying subs, rather than there playing free (I'm a lifetimer).