I'm sure BW has a few more reveals for 1.2. Even if they do not, 1.2 is pretty content-packed.

TLDR at bottom! My basic question: Are the cumulative costs of monthly subscriptions congruent with the amount of content and services provided? So, what does our money buy? #1 It pays for server operating costs and customer service I looked for an item in EA's latest quarterly report that would cover server costs, but all of the items were of the "condensed" variety and offered no single number to reference. So, let's use ActivisionBlizzard's MMO-related costs, since EA and ActiBlizz are both behemoths and can conceivably have the same cost structure. $58M for 3 months. Or approximately $20M every month. With a 10M user-base, that comes out to $2 a month per user. #2 Patches The $13 left over after figuring in operating expenses goes to content updates. This probably shouldn't include too many balance tweaks or bug fixes, because other games do this for free (most of the time). Later this month, we expect 1.2 to drop. Containing: New WZ New FP New Dailies More gear Crafting additions Legacy features UI Improvements (pretty much just a "fix" though) Guild banks Etc, Etc Quite a lot of content, to be sure. However, it has taken 4 months or $60 worth of subscription fees to get this and previous additions of content. $8 ($2 per month X 4 months) goes to server and customer service costs... leaving us with $52 for this amount of content. Yes, we received the first month for free, but we will not in the future. $52 is pretty much an entire game worth of content. Are we getting an entire game of content for our money? Disclaimer #1: My numbers are subject to debate. In general, they should at least be a ballpark of the actual numbers. Disclaimer #2: I am still subscribing. So, this isn't a treatise for or against this game as a whole. It simply concerns content added post-launch. TLDR $15 per month. $2 goes to operating costs. $13 goes to content. Including all of the content through patch 1.2 (4 months from launch), have we received $52 worth of content?

I agree that SWTOR PvP lacks complexity. It is hard to tell the difference between a decent player and a good player. This problem is exacerbated by gear being the deciding factor most of the time. There's also only a small learning curve for classes and you can only get so good at playing a certain class. After putting in minimal thought considering the most effective way to play your class, most PvP skill advancement comes from being better at general PvP strategies that are independent from class. After acquiring a decent skill level, the best avenue to increase performance is gearing up. SWTOR is heavily reliant on implementing team strategies and coordination. Individual skill levels matter much less than getting the whole team on the same page.

Thank God someone noticed that. OT: From my experience, left/right have more success than east/west. 90% of people will go left or right from the spawnpoint with little map-related confusion.

No. People don't starve in MMOs. Kind of hard to starve in a Hotpocket-backed economy. Credits are universally accepted. Global currency. The Illuminati. The Freemasons. Roswell. Aliens. Outerspace. Starwars. It all connects.

Well, we could tell for sure if they would let us make mods, give us a damage meter, or at least a combat log that can be exported. But, Bioware's flagrant catering to the casuals knows no bounds. I say again, no bounds are known.

Everyone, be prepared for the non-consensual enjoyment of this game. Commencing in 3....2....1....

Oh, you are. Ever experience any lag spikes or sudden, but brief, framerate issues? Does it take a second or so longer to load into an area than normal? That is BW slowly breaking your subconscious self with subliminal messages. Also, marzipan. Yeah, they told me.... you probably shouldn't talk to them anymore. They KNOW things. Impossible things...

If BW is so intent on killing SWTOR, why not just get it over quickly? Why not shut down the servers?

I think Bioware is trying to see just how obnoxiously they can break a system and still get people to pay them money. "How can we make a game barely playable, but have high subscription numbers?" ^^Most commonly asked question at BW Austin and where the majority of their budget went.^^

I need very little info to rage with the entirety of my being. L2QQ.

Removing the Dev team ought to fix the problem.

Not sure if you are addressing me, but... Personally, I am on the fence about Wounding Blast. 1v1, it is amazing. If I felt like switching to a 1v1 style build, I would definitely include it. But, to take it, I would need to add 6 talent points to the Leth tree (currently at 25 in my build), which would take away from other skills that I feel my current playstyle needs, like Revitalizers. However, I have used a full 31-point Leth build very successfully. It comes down to playstyle. Go full 31 Leth, if you want that extra ability to really crank the damage out on 1 target. It is very effective. Go for a more hybrid build, if you want Revitalizers and Waylay.

Without +9% Cunning 1257 Cunning....+251.4 Bonus Damage....+8.67 Crit Chance cull...951-1095 corrosive grenade...1731 corrosive dart....1790 With +9% Cunning 1370 Cunning...+274.0 Bonus Damage...+9.31% Crit Chance cull...983-1128 corrosive grenade...1789 corrosive dart...1843 Increase: +22.6 Bonus Damage +0.64% Crit Chance This is with the same points taken in Leth and Concealment trees. I just moved the Medicine points into the +9% Cunning talent. As a reference, the tech power from your MH and OH weapons contributes about as much Bonus Damage as the Cunning stat does. I prefer to have those 3 talent points spent elsewhere to increase my survivability and utility than just the slight increase in raw damage and crit chance. In truth, I am doing better with this Leth build than I did with Concealment pre-nerf. BUT, DON'T TELL ANYBODY. It's so funny to open up with Hidden Strike on someone, but since they are used getting face-planted by Jarring Strikes AND our damage takes a while to build up...they don't react immediately like they do with the knockdown. By the time they start to feel my damage is threatening them (the DOTs ticking away don't alarm people as much as our huge crits do), I have already set up Backstab+Shiv+Cull. Dead or mortally wounded opponent follows. PS- Don't tell anybody that this is a good build. Bioware will find out that Ops still have a powerful spec and nerf us into oblivion.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#401rZGhbo0zZhrbkrrhd.1 1. Using a 2 sec cast Kolto Injection to generate TA is amazing. Survivability is good, survivability + TA is great. 2. Corrosive dart is our best damage dealer, so I took the lower energy cost talent. 3. The corrosive grenade slow is a personal preference. 4. Reduced cost to backstab for extra damage in melee range... and to regen energy 5. 2% health every 3 secs contributes to survivability. 6. No weakening blast, because it has limited use. 7. No 9% cunning, because it only provides a small increase in damage for abilities and negligible crit chance. 8. Increased movement speed and stealth level by personal preference... I could be moving those points around. I don't spend a lot of time in stealth anymore. I have been having a blast as Leth. It is a lot more dynamic than Concealment. You shouldn't have too many enery-related problems with this build. When you do have problems, just pop Adrenaline Probe... it has a 90 sec CD.

I would just like some response from Bioware on the bag system. Are they happy with it? Or do they think it could use some changes?

Maybe they should have taken it to full-term. Only Bioware could be proud of the kid who sits in the corner and eats paste. This is a metaphorical "child", not a real one. Because we all know real babies are aliens. And nothing is alien about SWTOR, it is actually FAMILIAR. Too familiar, kind of like when a simple handshake with an acquaintance turns into something... uncomfortable.

Not Bioware fault. Bioware not hurt us. Bioware love us. Customers bad. Bioware good.

The rent is too damn high!

Blizzcon operates at a loss. EA's stock has steadily decreased since launch. Selling millions of copies of SWTOR and yet the market still thinks it is a bad business venture. I don't see EA being a willing participant to losing more money on a convention to promote products that most (outside of the gaming community) obviously don't have faith in. Blizz has 3 hugely successful franchises. BW has the Shepard storyline coming to a close with ME3, mixed reactions with DA2, and a potential behemoth with SWTOR (just hasn't reached that point yet) Not saying it wouldn't be interesting... just that it isn't likely.

Best thread since launch.

Thread should probably be a sticky.

Good luck, mercs/commandos. The bads came for us... now they come for you.

Just think of them as cheerleaders.

OP, you are my new best friend.