I have to echo this. On the main page, one of the primary reasons for this change was listed as: *Balance the Crafting skills, so that the benefits of all Crafting skills are relatively equal. Now, Artifices can make: Color crystals, Lightsaber hilts, Enhancements, color dyes, stronghold stuff, lightsabers themselves, and Shields and gens (offhands) With this new change, we're losing Enhancements. We've long since been pushed out of usefulness in the color crystal division. 98% of the time, the Cartel market has a better color choice, and all of those crystals are +41 (Max) and usable at level 10. it's no longer a market worth getting into. Like color crystals, the Cartel Market has superior choice and control over this particular area, and like with color crystals, it has relatively -no- impact on your character other than a visual. Lightsaber hilts: As pointed out, this is one slot on half the character classes. Lightsabers, shields and generators: extremely limited value. Customs almost always stat better than blues/purples. The custom lightsabers are also again outweighed by Cartel market and drops which almost always have better models. The offhand customs have no models and may as well not exist. Their cost doesn't equate to their value. And every class has stronghold stuff. So tell me again how we're equal? Even Armstech sits prettier than Artifice. They've got a wider range of weaponry they can craft (Assault cannon, blasters, blaster rifles, sniper rifles) They can craft barrels (like us, but these also fit into the offhand of both agent/smugglers and Mercs vs mara/sents being the only one for artifice) AND they can craft Aug kits and augments... which are both useful.

As a member of the Mara/Sentinel community, I have to say this is way over the line. While I do echo some here in that I'm not a fan of the decision of the developers or their explanation.. This is a freaking game. Even if you are currently paying for it, there is no legitimate reason to ever stalk, insult, harass, or threaten an developer. This sort of behavior will just become venom in their system and give them a negative disposition towards their job and the community, and no one wants or needs that. I have played a great many games over the years, both MMOs and SP/MP games. In those games I have disagreed with many decisions made on part of the developer to change a class in some form or another. Despite this, despite some of my favorite gameplay being taken away, I have never considered harassment of the staff to be acceptable. Yes they're paid to do their job. Yes you're paying to play their game. HOWEVER, if they make a decision that you don't like.. bring it up respectfully on the forums. If, despite this feedback, they decide to continue with the changes, then you need to make a decision on whether or not you wish to keep playing. If you do.. strap in tight and continue your feedback. Not everyone can be made happy all the time. If not... Then stop paying and go away. I have played my marauder since the original game. Not since launch, but close to. I know what it's been through. I have seen the cries for change a great many times. I have wanted change myself during these phases. I have seen the replies from the staff. While unpleasant, I do not believe any of it has warranted what has been done here. To those guilty of this.. grow up. To those who defend: You're only going to fuel dislike between developer and community. If you don't think negativity from your audience will kill something.. I invite you to look at quite a few Long running TV shows that were killed because of viewer negativity. I doubt this game will be any different, but at the moment I don't see any SW MMO to replace it... keep that in mind. To the Devs: You have my sympathies. Having been a community leader on a much smaller scale, I know that you guys have an extremely difficult job. No amount of detrimental decisions will ever warrant the course of action these players chose to pursue, and I am sorry you had to put up with it. I encourage you to not let these people get to you, and to continue to communicate with the community for the good that it can accomplish. I have seen drastic improvements in community satisfaction when developers communicate and work with them. And more importantly, you guys have created a game that many people still play, regardless of their reasons. With my kind regards to those directly effected by this, Rennia

I'm going to have to agree here. This change just eludes me. I see no one actually gaining anything from this that they didn't work for. As so many have stated, the pvp to get the comms was done, no -account- was being given free comms, only characters on that account that hadn't pvped (enough) by that point. There's no actual net gain here. So why is this being done? There's very little grounds for argument on the matter in my opinion. You're forcing people to have to start from the ground up, or play the shell game on alts. For one, that means you have to find a place for these shells on other characters while trying to gear the alt, and it means double the cost, which may not be much for some, but it is for others, especially those who primary in PVP only. (Yes you get some from matches, but I always seem to come out at a loss when I start moving mods around. I don't think that's a coincidence.) This is also actually HURTFUL to newer players, despite what some here have tried to argue. Even people without lvl 60 characters could make use of this system. They could pvp on their main and move comms over to other characters when you filled up. Then when you hit 60 you could move them BACK to this character and buy gear. If it hasn't been made clear: Comms being earned on one character are being put to use LATER on said same character. So where is the issue here then? "Because they're going over the cap?" Well lets look at PVE which has their own cap and weekly caps in some cases. Basics, elites, ultimates all have caps with elites and ultimates having a weekly cap. However, to my knowledge, none of these comms can be earned in a significant amount to threaten the cap before you can actually make proper use of them. Elites and ultimates are not provided in significant enough amounts prior to 60 to ever threaten even a weekly cap as far as I'm aware. The content that would be required to earn them would push you to 60 far quicker. (Read: Black hole / CZ / Sec X / Oricon weeklies) and basics can always be used at any level to get the best gear for the level. Not so much the case with pvp comms. Yes you can get medpacks/adrenals.. when you need them. If you're running out of both comms and medpack/adrenals.. There's an underlying issue going on here. (Also I should also point out that neither medpacks nor adrenals are BOP. You just can't get refunded for them. Good for those who need it (like the ones who are spending their comms on gearing) but not much else) Comm boxes.. laughable. The crafting box is worthless.. and the credit box.. Well if you think that's a good way to spend your time.. Basic comms? Again if you think 40 warzone comms warrants basic comms (Which are provided in abundance and will be even more so come 3.2) then good on you. Most however find it to be a complete waste as it's far more efficient to either craft or buy gear through comms. Now from an endgame pve perspective (Since I do that as well), it's still not the same. As others have stated you don't have to worry about turning in shells, which is for one more money or grind. For another, once you have the 186s or 192s from transferring, you don't really need to keep doing it. The content was designed with baseline gear (that they GIVE you) in mind. I've been able to do current HMs on my commando in 150s without being carried! Then there's the fact that there are easy ways to get basics on the character you want them on.. not so much for pvp. Do tactical flashpoints or a plethora of lower level content. Black hole gives 30 just for doing the weekly AND 6 elites. There is no easy mode PVP for 60s. It's not like Ranked is the HM and regs is easy mode. Regs are still laden with geared players and require around the same level of effort. "Well do warzones before 60" Good idea. And it was a legitimate answer until now. You have a cap of 4500 ranked comm and 2500 regular. That won't get you much. So in summary you have a very hurtful change that I see no real reason for.. being announced on extremely short notice. It's not the end of the world by any means, but it does force a lot of people into unpleasant situations given how utterly CRAP bolster is. It also is a hack fix, and only benefits people who already have one geared character and don't want anyone else to get gear. On a somewhat different note: Given the recent post about marauders/sentinels, it seems to me that Bioware wants an already struggling class (Which is performing as intended) to have to go into PVP with PVE gear. Thus lowering their survivability even more! Anyone for kiting games with under-geared maras?

No matter what the Devs post there will always be ************. That's the nature of life. I believe there was a saying. 'You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.' For the most part, this holds true. Though I'd be hard pressed to find a change made by the team that someone didn't complain about. I recall when they announced that they were making unstoppable a utility for all juggernauts, some in the vengeance crowd were all 'This will be the end of vengeance in pvp!' You're telling me that there's not one of those three skillful utilities you can't give up? Having played a jugg, I could certainly sacrifice one or two for that. But more to the point, I tend to take all complaints with some grain of salt. I myself might have my own concerns about certain changes made, but often times it's not as bad as they sometimes sound on paper. They're just not how I used to like it. I've learned to live with a lot of changes I don't particularly care for, and they're fine. I've always felt that more often than not, the Devs in this game (and to be honest, Devs in a lot of games) get far more flak from people than they should. Yes they're getting paid for their work, but often times people jump to being overly critical and harsh before trying to reason. (I'm not saying that is always the case here. I've seen cries for many things stretching back for years.) However, this is just insane. When an overwhelming majority of the community is coming together to say that there is something legitimately wrong with a certain class.. I don't see how the hell you can brush it off with 'metrics'. Yes, it's the nature of players to complain, but look at the degree to which it has gotten Bioware and tell me again how Marauders and Sentinels are 'fine'. I do get they say they intend some small changes here and there down the road, but they also say they plan on making no significant changes in the same breath. This means that while they might rework a utility here and there, the class is overall going to stay in the same mire that it is currently in. Unless they pull some crazy stuff out of their arses and apply some magical utility fix for their mobility and defense issues, they're going to have to apply changes. And quite frankly, for annihilation, this is just downright disheartening. Your anni/watchman players are telling you that you have destroyed the gameplay for them. I am telling you that you have destroyed the gameplay for them. It used to be fun, engaging, and felt rewarding to play. I loved it on my marauder for years, through buff and nerf. I didn't care about being on top of the board (Though more often than not I was near it). I just had fun playing it in a warzone through win or loss. Now.. without optimal conditions, it's just frustrating. Even more so in duels. I get that you cannot work any spec around duels.. but at the same time, I think it should be somewhat telling of the state marauders are in. Let me paint this picture for you: To sum up: I know this is just one personal experience and it definitely shouldn't be something to -center- any changes around, but I do believe it at least gives a hint as to the complete change that has occurred with 3.0. I by no means profess to be the best player, or to have cleared the latest content on hardmode.. but as a player who has been here an incredibly long time (along with many others) I have noticed a serious -serious- change with marauders that has taken away from the fun of the class. I don't need to top the damage boards all the time (or even any really). I just want to actually enjoy playing the game.. which is.. you know.. the point in playing any game. And to reiterate what others have said: Most agree that the DPS is fine (At least for pvp. I am not sure how to change PVE damage output without buffering PVP). We don't need a damage output increase. We need mobility, utility, and survivability. That's what the overwhelming majority have been begging you for. Please address this! For those of us in the Anni/watchman community... I can't speak for all, but I've gathered that many of us also believe the RATE of damage (When it can be applied) is also fine. We just want to change the way in which it's applied! Change gameplay and make it enjoyable, and adjust the numbers to fit! I wouldn't mind if annihilation (The ability) did less damage if it meant the class was fun to play again!

So.. what I'm getting from this is.. Imperials are better than Republic sc-- citizens. Republic citizens <.< Yes. That's what I was saying. *cough* Is it at all possible that these are intentional mechanics and made up for in other ways? Also on Force camo: It never fully dropped threat... though I will have to check whether it functions as a threat dump as it should, I do recall crettins certainly losing interest in me afterwards.. the 50% damage reduction still works though =D.

It's cause he the only smart one not attacking the guarded healer and staying as far away from the tank throwing mass taunts. I probably should have single target taunted him more but.. meh. I was more concerned with keeping those pesky ninjas from stealing orbs.

Character Name - Nar'tris Guild - House Kil'ndar Category - 8v8 Overall protection Number - 1,435,672 Warzone Code - AH Screenshot - It's a Sin

Just Bioware appeasing the cries of those claiming assassins are all OP. Bioware's response is.. as usual, a knee jerk cleaving 'fix' that was intended to lower the survivability of Assassin DPS..The change predated other changes, but they of course left it as is. Such a change as usual though hits the tanks as well as the DPS... but working as intended according to Bioware.. just like the Sin tank's self healing ability was considered OP.. *Looks at Powertechs and Juggernauts*

I believe they changed the functionality of Shroud/resilience with 2.0 and the new level cap. It went from allowing you to resist force and tech abilities to a '200%' chance to resist, which changed the way it worked. Recalling days of even late 1.x play, you would always resist any kind of knock back or stun, tech attack, etc. Now we're lucky that it just stops damage during it's effect. Certainly makes Sin play.. interesting to put it kindly.

I'm somewhat confused, perhaps you could clarify? For most advanced classes I've ever played, there's only ever really 2 different sets of gear for them. Marauder and sniper classes only have 1 set bonus across 2 gear sets, juggs, powertechs, and Assassins have Tank or Damage, and Sorcs, Mercs, and operatives have damage or heals. Their mirror classes are much the same. So I am not sure where 3 comes from. The way I see it, it's either 2 or 4 (if you include 2 for PVP and 2 for PVE). And based off of what I have seen in game, the set bonuses do not change between different damage trees. And if you're switching from damage to tank or damage to heals, you would need to change your gear ANYWAY because the secondary stats upon them are not the same. You wouldn't want an over abundance of crit surge and power on your tank, especially in PVE, and you don't need all that much accuracy on your healer. So just for the sake of changing secondary stats, you need to change your gear. So why then, would set bonuses being different on these different gear sets, be a problem?

During the Empire's time of need the Vigil was assaulted by forces both internal and external. A few brave souls thought to seize power from the occupied leader of The Vigil but were brought to their knees. In their final moments they cried for Mercy before they were systematically executed. The Vigil is seeking new blood to fill the ranks left empty by saboteurs and defectors. People who seek power and knowledge within the Empire need look no further. ((I humbly apologize for my absence over the previous couple months. Unexpected events occurred both in and out of Game. OOCly the Vigil is in need of RP-minded individuals who wish to help -create- a new community. There are only a couple of us active in game at the moment, so people wishing to join need to be patient and willing to help build it from the ground up.))

Clewat was above average? News to me. I know Warcloud (Werclerd) had some decent players... but I never considered the their 'leader' to be one of them.

The Vigil Name: The Vigil Server: JungMA (RP/PVP) Affiliation: Empire/Neutral Guild Type: RP/PvP/PvE What the Vigil is: The Vigil is primarily an RP guild that incorporates aspects of PVP and PVE into it's foundation. We are very outgoing and willing to aid the Empire as a whole on an OOC front. The Vigil offers a broad range of Role play open to all Imperial classes from Sith to bounty hunters to Imperial agents. Role play ranges from independent single stories to guild wide arcs. The Vigil is a laid back community that strives not to place unrealistic expectations upon it's members. However a basic level of participation is requested. We have little interest in those simply out for the experience bonus of joining a guild. OOC goals of the Vigil: The Vigil is currently in a state of rebuilding after changing leadership hands and the retirement of some of our senior members. As such, We're not a big guild, with only a handful of people on at any one time. It is our intention to increase our numbers to a respectable size, to the point we can freely run end game content, such as operations and PVP, as well as have RP going on through out the day. Idea of the Vigil: The idea behind the Vigil is that is an undefined organization. It is something that people may or may not have heard about, but only those within it ever know what it truly is. To some it may appear as a mercenary organization. To others it may appear as a Sith cult, to others it may appear as a simple business. The Vigil was created as an organization dedicated to the interests of the Empire as a whole, or rather the perceived interests of the Empire based on the beliefs of it's then ruler. This goal has been reshaped several times, but remains it's underlying goal. This does not, however, mean that all of the Vigil's members are fanatics, or indeed are required to like or even directly wish to push the Empires goals, but it should be kept in mind that conflicting with them may not be taken very well. The Vigil also serves it's own goals. It's current leader, Darth Nar'Tris wishes to expand the organization to match her vision of the Empire. She has little interest in mindless Sith or grunts who charge recklessly into battle. Potential recruits must show a degree of intelligence if they wish to gain her approval. Combat discipline is also a must. Currently the Vigil is seeking individuals with a particular skill set to form tactical teams designed to carry out specific functions in order to meet the organizations goals. What the Vigil provides: In depth, mature role play: We don't expect perfection by any means, but we strive to provide quality Role Play while maintaining a casual, laid back environment. Forums: We provide a place for people to connect out of game, though not necessarily out of character. Our forums offer a variety of information, both in character and out of, and allow for us to fluently communicate through means beyond in game chat. PVE: While we are not currently large enough to actively field operations teams, the Vigil is full of members who would love to partake in all sorts of PVE content from Flashpoints to Operations. Participation in PVE is not required, and those who do participate are encouraged to keep a casual mindset. We are not a hardcore PVE guild, but that doesn't mean we have no intention of participating in endgame PVE content. PVP: Several of our members enjoy healthy competition, and thus PVP. Like PVE we like to keep a casual mindset, though eventually we intend to piece together a quality ranked team of our elite members. These individuals will part of our guilds Elite inner circle and entitled to the benefits there in. PVP skill will of course not be the only factor in determining who gets a spot on one of these teams. Support: We're all friendly, mature, adults. If you're new to the game, that's perfectly fine. Our current members have a wealth of experience that we're more than willing to part with to those who may not be familiar with Role play OR The Old Republic in general. Who to talk to: Nar'Tris (leader) Trishara Rinadra

/signed awesome idea

So much heated debate and over what? You've continued to play the game this far or you've come back to stir up flaming posts about things that coulda woulda shoulda been added. Yes there are things they could do and should do, but one step at a time no? Yes the next coming updates might not be for PVPers, whoop de freaking do. SGR was promised long ago and it was about time it was added. Would it make or break my game? No, but it would be a neat avenue to follow. Don't like it? Tough. I'm sure there are features that have been added that you like and others don't. I'm sure smash(Sweep for you jedi scum) spec warriors are rejoicing. The rest of us find them annoying (Except for my sintank.. silly smash juggs) Personally I'm just happy they're continuing to update. Sure I've disagreed and disliked some of their updates, but until they seriously botch the game (Read: Actual pay to win, so far it's a vanity thing, even for that person who mentioned sounds) I will continue to play. That is because in spite of it's faults I still find a reason to play. Maybe it's the company, maybe it's the fact I can still find something entertaining to do. I'll admit, I haven't been here since the beta, but I've still been around for a fair amount of time. Don't get me wrong, I'd be a bit cross with Bioware if they stopped adding new content, but really, at this stage, anything they do add will give me something to fiddle with. I still want some of the big changes some of the other folks want (Some working of Open world pvp would have been nice if it was possible... and keep your chat bubbles unless they can be toggled), but holy cow lighten up. They can't release a huge expansion with every update! Having said that, I do agree that this was a bit vague. I've been looking for more information on some of this stuff and it just isn't here. I'm glad to hear about SGR but there are other things I'd love to hear about. Like how you plan on addressing the gear, what are your op/ flashpoint plans Just something more than "We're going to be working on these." Well gee I hope so! As for story content? I'm not quite sure what they could do personally. I can't speak for every storyline as I've yet to do them all, but the inquisitor and Imperial Agent story arcs seem to be done as much as they can be. I won't spoil it for any who haven't done it, but I don't really see much for them to continue on. And lastly the open world pvp debate. Yes, I'd love it, but the people talking about the game engine have merit. Some of you have some ungodly, beastly machines. (Hope to build one myself one day, though the one I have isn't too bad.) But no matter how many numbers your pc can crunch, and no matter how much data you can send over your interwebs, you're still grounded to reality by one major factor. The server you are playing on. These servers are not built especially for you. They will not allocate all their resources to make sure -you- do not have issues. Fun fact: (The Devs will probably hate me for going on about this but ) I am an EVE Online Vet. No that doesn't make me special, not the point. EVE Online has never been paralleled in one particular field. It's combat scale. WoW doesn't come close to even touching on how many people can and have been involved in some skirmishes in some of the great EVE wars. We're talking thousands on thousands in one single fight. True many don't care for blob warfare. I'm one of them, but in this is a lesson to be learned. It doesn't take an impressive machine to run EVE at full graphics. It takes more than it did three years ago, but even my dated PC can max out the graphics without telling me to go F myself. Some of the Eve enthusiasts have dream machines capable of hosting servers. However, even the mightiest machine was brought to it's knees when they joined in these massive battles. It would take entire minutes, we're talking up to ten and even more, just to load the battlefield. At times people would find themselves reloading a station before they ever had it loaded. Even when it was loaded, things were beyond choppy. But it was not their PCs that caused this. It was the load on the server. This in EVE online, where they even tried to reinforce (Bolster) the node for known upcoming battles. It wasn't until they tried an entirely new way of thinking that they managed to, for the most part, solve this issue. They had improved their game engine over the near decade the game has been out, but they could not destroy the 'lag' beast. (Lag of a different sort). So instead of simply focusing on improving the streamlining of the engine, they added a new feature. Time dilation. This feature would incrementally 'slow' down the speed at which events occurred upon a node to allow their server to process and distribute all the information being generated by the massive amount of players present. The result? It lightened the load on the server and nearly obliterated the 'observed' lagging, stuttering frame rates, etc. The catch was that any action you took would be slowed down up to 80%. So while it wasn't lagging, you were just nearly frozen in time. While this is a neat and innovative feature that works -epically- in EVE Online, I do not believe it would work here, nor would I want to see it ever tried. Perhaps from a technically standpoint it would work, but as a player It would become difficult to handle the slowed environment. It works in a setting like eve as it operates on a point/click basis. On a WASD setup things are a bit different. You would either need to scale the effect of the keystrokes or leave it to your players to estimate when to let go of the key, else overshoot their goal. It just doesn't strike me as feasible in this environment. Not to mention as I do not believe the servers are segmented... Time dilation would likely need to be implemented server wide. Imagine being nowhere near the conflict but having it still effect you? That would not be very fun. So in the end, they can continue and continue and continue to 'improve' the streamline of the game engine, but without something to alleviate the load that players create on the server, it will be a while in the making before they overcome the obstacle of massive open world battles. Remember, the more people in one area, hacking it out, means that the information load increases -exponentially-, not -incrementally-. Now that you've probably fallen asleep without reading half of what I've said, I will just say that I, for one, would still not object to them creating something to encourage a little world pvp here and there. /end rant Rennia