It is the only alert we have to let us know that Tactical Advantage has procced. I personally do not care one bit about the aesthetics of the classes giggle. I do however like to know when I receive TA from Collateral Strike, or from a Kolto Probe tick. In a sense this upcoming change makes the class slightly more difficult and frustrating to play. Why is everyone only concerned with the aesthetics when the TA alert is a much more important issue?

Same here

It would probably be better if you were reviewing new games or making videos displaying classes from a games beta. Anyone who is/was interested in a Jedi Consular has already hit level 50 months ago, has full raid or PvP gear and likely knows more about the class than you do. Who is your target audience anyway?

I'm aware that Bioware added "Server Group Forums" in response to the public outcry that there were no individual server forums. These are not nearly enough. Wading through posts from over 15 other servers just to find ones that pertain to mine is frustrating and makes no sense to me. Like many other people I don't even bother using them for this reason. Biowares philosophy has been to basically copy all the successful elements from previous MMOs. So I ask the question... why are there no server forums? Do they not understand that this is a staple in every single successful MMO? Server forums are crucial to building communities. I think most would agree that the community aspect in this game is severely lacking compared to almost every other MMO. I have no idea who the best PvPers on my server are, or who the guild with the furthest PVE progression is. I'm not aware of any rivalries or alliances. I have no idea who is who or recognize any name outside of my own guild. I hate to say it but this kills the game for me. This game feels like a single player game from start to end-game. MMO game mechanics cannot compare to those of a real single player game. People play MMOs for the social experience. Since this game is severely lacking in that aspect there is no reason to play it over another MMO with a better society or a single player game with better gameplay. This is one of the primary reasons I have cancelled. If this is ever fixed I might give it a try again. Am I crazy or do you feel the same?

Also, I'm surprised Bioware hasn't locked this yet. They constantly lock or delete any posts referencing other MMOs.

You must work for Bioware.

Sounds like you are just inexperienced and need practice. Marauders are the strongest PvP class in the game, but unlike other classes, require skill. Use your defensive cooldowns. You have so many that you can last for a very long time before going down. Most other classes die in seconds (especially to marauders). You have the highest DPS in the game if you are using your damage abilities correctly. A marauder with any healer is far and away much stronger than any other two classes in the game. Pair up with a healer friend and you will find yourself 2v6ing people with ease. Keybind everything. Dont click on abilities, you need your mouse hand to navigate and stay on your opponents. Dont start fights with force leap, use it when they get away from you. Always snare and interrupt heals. Use deadly throw to reduce healing. Ravage people who are stunned or rooted next to you. Etc, etc, etc etc etc...... Do all this and you will be a wrecking ball. Oh, and you are getting nice buffs next patch on top of all this.

It sounds like you just described GW2

The sterile social environment that Bioware has created is probably the #1 reason why my account was cancelled last week. The insane amount of censorship, no server forums (because they think they might be an "unpleasant place"), and bans on anyone who steps outside the bounds of being polite make this game incredibly boring. Rivalries, disagreements, and competitiveness all make for a great and interesting social environment. Bioware only allows these if it is fake (the announcer in huttball, or story elements) but pulls out the ban hammer whenever they occur in real life. Sorry but I'm an adult and can handle when someone trash talks me. I've never used ignore in my life but I understand its there for a reason and people should use it if they cannot handle real people. There are plenty of things deserving of bans like racism, hobophobic remarks, bullying etc. But "Man I destroyed you! You are TERRIBLE L2P" are not one of those.

Wow. That is honestly insulting. That is legitimate constructive feedback to a serious issue (one whole tree being unplayable because of a broken mechanic) and the thread gets closed immediately. Screw the devs and this game.

You contradicted yourself pretty hard there buddy. You are right in that marauders need to played well to be as OP as everyone is saying. They do have an insane amount of abilities and require skill. And you are right. The other classes are not challenging. They do not have the options your class has. A marauder has an incredibly high ceiling for skilled players, but the other classes are limited. This is why they are not challenging. They cannot reach the level a marauder can. The problem is Bioware decided to balance the game around bad players, who despite their classes power, still die and complain. Now marauders will be the most overpowered class for unskilled players. I shudder to think what the good players will be capable of with a marauder. You know what... I'm not staying to find out.

To put it simply, yeah.

Well an Operatives main gun ability is 10 yards. Their base attack hits for around 300 twice and the grenade damage is low to the point where it is not worth the huge energy cost unless used as an AoE on a group of 5 or more players.

You know what. I actually agree with you. You know whats funny? These changes did not nerf Op burst at all. It nerfed their SUSTAINED DPS. It nerfed their sustained DPS very badly when it was already the worst in the game. These changes did not solve the problem everyone else was complaining about. It just created a new and different problem for Operatives in PVE and in PvP outside of their initial burst. If Bioware knew what they were doing they would LOWER the cooldown of backstab and reduce its damage. Too bad they do not.

Yeah I never understood the randomness of dropping out of combat. Sometimes its as fast as WoW, sometimes it takes a full minute of not interacting with anyone and everywhere in between. It in no way can be relied upon as a way to restealth, regen, or mount. If you try you could potentially be CCing yourself for a full minute.

Its sad really.

I feel Bioware USED to be passionate. Games like KOTOR, Baldurs Gate, and the original dragon age were all awesome. But something seems to be changing recently. Have you played Dragon Age 2? It was awful. It seemed clear to me that it was just rushed out just to cash in on the success of Dragon Age 1, then it had tons of expensive DLC day one. I feel they did put an effort into Mass Effect 3 and did a good job other than the ending. They have to keep up their image in at least one game I guess. I however no longer trust bioware and I'm not giving them any more money.

I find it almost comical how Bioware just threw their hands up in the air and decided to remove all incentives (daily quests) to PvP in ilum. I don't understand why it is so difficult for them to design working world PvP. The other day I was thinking of some cool ideas off the top of my head like having a giant zone with several fortresses that can be captured and sieged, smaller towers that can be held and taken by smaller groups, resource nodes that can be captured by groups of players which will be required to build siege weapons. A little PVE thrown in like a raid boss which once killed gives your entire faction a zone wide PvP buff. Quests from NPCs that once completed they will help your faction, etc etc etc... Then I read this from the developers of GW2: http://www.arena.net/blog/mike-ferguson-on-guild-wars-2-world-vs-world All I can say is WOW... that looks awesome. REAL well designed world PvP. Here's a video of it in action from people in beta: first five minutes is commentary about how it works, then the rest is combat and it looks really fun. The difference between these two companies is one is passionate about gaming, has previous MMO experience, understands the value of real social elements and server politics, and truly wants to make a fun PvP game they also want to play. Bioware is only interested in your money, and will put out a sterile "safe" game completely ripped off from a 7 year old successful MMO, except stripped of real social elements, meaningful PvP, and balanced classes. These are businessmen, not gamers. If they were, do you think they would have made awful game breaking balance issues in patch 1.2?

Its because operative survivability is so bad. If they participated in big brawls like you are suggesting they would basically be about a 5 second decoy then they die and you're back to the situation you started in.

Its an interesting theory and could be true. Who really knows what they are thinking though. It would quiet the community a bit if they would explain but that is very rare for bioware.

Actually I would say 3v3 is the most common match up in any warzone other than initial rush at the beginning. It can be more or less than that but on average its about 3v3. This is why I feel this is a good mark to base class balance on. BTW a good operative is not going to blow his stun cooldown while your undying rage is up. That stun is too crucial for a kill and almost necessary for an operative to actually take someone down. The idea is to use it while your defenses are NOT up so you cannot use them. Otherwise you are wasting the stun completely. Sometimes we do have to blow the stun while your undying rage is up just to stay alive, which ruins our chance for a kill, but hey those are the only options for an Op in those situations.

What are they balancing for exactly? 1v1? Warzones? PVE? Ilum? Their changes are so off the mark that they don't make sense in any of these situations. 3v3 at least is a simple and controlled way to show class balance in you know... group combat.

I agree. I honestly don't think Bioware plays this game.

Damn... beta is going on now? Sign me up man

I totally agree that MMOs never truly become balanced, but often they come close. Patches usually close the gap between classes or rearrange who is powerful. The fact that this patch is FURTHER exacerbating imbalances that already exist is the problem. A buff for marauders... really?? Bioware is completely clueless. This does not bode well for the future of class balance at all in SWTOR.