STO ....refugee...here. Sorta. I still have it installed, and I'll play it from time to time if the mood strikes me for phasers and photon torpedoes. It's free after all. But I find myself playing it so much less now days, and playing SWTOR so much more! My STO tag is @C_Carmichael.

I would really like to see some added helmet variations in different colors, that are Orange gear pieces. Finding a moddable Red/White helm to go with my "Tempered Laminoid" set has been difficult to say the least. Looking to change over to a different squad color when I hit Level 27 and can outfit my "Outcast" set (Blue Squad Color)

I have a Level 23 Vanguard, and this is my look currently: http://s1116.photobucket.com/albums/k571/StaavisRepublic/Star%20Wars%20The%20Old%20Republic/?action=view&current=Harrdin_021.jpg The Chest comes from "Trouble in Deed" on Courscant, while the legs are Tempered Laminoid Greaves. My issue is I can't find a helm with Red as it's martial color, and I haven't found gloves or boots that use the Red trim either. So currently, my Gloves and Boots are Grey trim, and I hide my helm. And as you can see, my Companion is wearing a helm with Yellow trim. I am working towards getting the Level 40 PvP set for myself, while working to compile a "Havoc Orange" set for my companion. FYI - I totally can't wait for 1.2 and color match! Getting to even this level of color matching has been somewhat difficult, and quite costly.

Additionally, something needs to be done about the balance between the amount of lock boxes on Courscant vs. the amount of lock boxes on Dromund Kaas. Leveling slicing on my Republic toon was a breeze. Lock boxes were EVERYWHERE in the various gang-controlled areas of Courscant. But out in the jungles of Dromund Kaas? Haven't found a single one. I'm thinking it's not even worth it to slice on my Imperial toon, because I can't seem to level it unless I send my crew on missions, which is a loosing proposition. /sigh

what would it be, and why? For me, it would be playable Mon Calamari. I was always a fan of Admiral Ackbar. (It's a trap!) Then, after running The Esseles and meeting Commander Narlock, it made me wish for playable Mon Calamari even more. I would add playable Mon Calamari, voiced by Tom Kane (voices Narlock, is the narrarator for Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the voice of Admiral Yularen.) What would you add?

Best. Post. Ever.

I can easily say that I DO NOT envy hardcore players. If anything, I pity them. So much of "who they are" in the game community is tied up in "World First" and accomplishments that quite literally mean nothing once you think about it. Think of what hardcores sacrafice in order to achieve those world firsts, and you'll know what I mean. But ultimately the accomplishments mean nothing. Down the road, when new content is released and the old content is obsolete or out-leveled, I can simply go back with a group of friends, and do the exact same thing these hardcores did, while still having all the enjoyment of the base game, without the mad rush to be there first. Trust me, I know. I did it in WoW! LOL During Burning Crusade, we were going back and downing Molten Core and Naxx with Level 70's that were shredding the trash mobs and bosses. In Wrath, we were going back and raiding Magtheridon and Black Temple and the Sunwell. Yeah, other people did it before us. So what? We did it too, we just did it a little later and without all the insane wipes, massive farming to pay repair bills, and the generally undesireable stress that accompanies attempting to do all this as a world first! The same will be happening in SWTOR, and with the massive amounts of Orange gear in all Flashpoints, we'll take our time, we'll enjoy our stories, and later on, we'll come back and loot pillage all the lower Flashpoints and such, because we can, and we'll see all the same things the "hardcores" see, but on our schedule! And to add insult to injury, we'll actually have fun doing it our way, rather than the way hardcores feel it HAS to be done.

Cannon is perception? So I can percieve that a Model 1850 12" Mountain Howitzer is actually a 105MM Field Gun? Or perhaps your meant CANON....

I believe you might be right. Really, the whole thing is sort of a ret-con, since the Maul in Dark Forces was not Zabrak, but I think Lucas wanted to tie Darth Maul and Maul together. But, if this is the case, then Maul has been completely ret-conned again by the non-canon comic book "Old Wounds" where Darth Maul attacks Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tattooine, fitted with prosthetic legs similar to that of General Greivous. It's hard to find any true information on the Maul from Dark Forces anymore, and it seems a generally accepted fan-fact that Maul = Darth Maul, only in that Lucas probably forgot about the original Maul when he was writing Episode I.

Guess you didn't play "Dark Forces" then, did ya? If you had, you'd know that you face a Force powered boss named...Maul...who has the lower half of his body missing....

Yes, this is correct. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 2, Episode 12. However, the "Darksaber" was black cored with a white glow, rather than a yellow glow. But, as noted by Governor Pre Vizsla, this saber was of ancient origin, which would suggest that they existed during a period of time long before The Clone Wars era. This time before, could be the time represented by SWTOR, and it's possible the sabers were more common then.

Oh? I tend to disagree. Bug fixes in Patch 1.1: 1. The cooldown indicator on hotbars no longer causes all ability icons to appear grayed out (unusable). Now, when an ability is on cooldown, it will not be grayed out if its activation conditions (like resource costs or range) are met. 2. Using character rotation keys no longer breaks a character out of cover. 3. Force Stasis: This ability is now correctly an instant ability when both Stasis Mastery and the 2-piece PvP set bonus are present. 4. Plasma Brand: This ability’s tooltip now properly reflects the damage it does. Its damage has not been adjusted. 5. Force Choke: This ability is now correctly an instant ability when both Force Grip and the 2-piece PvP set bonus are present. 6. Jaesa Willsaam - Fixed a bug that could block marriage dialogue options with this companion. 7. Companion abilities that have been disabled by the player no longer toggle back on when the companion is re-summoned. 8. Corrected an issue that caused the indicator that a companion wants to talk to you to disappear. 9. Companions no longer need to be re-summoned after selling trash items if the player mounts a vehicle after dispatching them. 10. Traveling from a Contested Area to a Contested Region now causes companions to be unsummoned correctly. 11. All mod type item modification schematics have been removed from the Artifice trainer. These schematics were invalid, and could not be used if purchased. 12. Maelstrom Prison - X-37 Oppressor Droid’s grapple can no longer be resisted, ensuring the fight mechanic behaves as intended. 13. Colicoid War Game - This Flashpoint’s mission now correctly leads the players into the Flashpoint. 14. The Red Reaper - The Red Reaper mission now updates correctly for the entire group when the mission is obtained on the Imperial or Republic Fleets. 15. Directive 7 - Corrected an issue that caused Interrogator to sometimes spawn far more cyborgs than intended. The fight is now more manageable. 16. The False Emperor - Corrected an issue that caused Jindo Krey to randomly target players with his blaster attack. He now focuses those attacks on his primary target, making him “tankable” as intended. 17. Several tanking relics that had the incorrect stats have been corrected. 18. Removing a modification from an item and then re-inserting it no longer causes that modification to be lost upon area transitions. 19. Battlemaster Bags now correctly contain Battlemaster Commendations. 20. A Dangerous Auction: The step “Travel to Hutta” now updates if the player travels there via the Imperial Fleet. 21. Death Marks: This mission now advances in the Star Cluster Casino regardless of player decisions regarding Yjal on Balmorra. 22. Enclave Raid: This mission no longer becomes blocked if players complete the task “Defeat Tarisian Enclave Masters” before completing “Recover Tarisian Artifacts.” 23. Hutt Hospitality: The conversation with Ambassador Rove now takes into account the outcome of a decision regarding Grub. 24. The Mandalorian Killer: Kellian Jarro and Thendys Noori now correctly spawn during this mission. 25. The Sacred Flame: Blank dialogue options no longer display during this mission’s conversations. 26. Back Alley: Players now receive credit for defending the point with the turret. 27. Lab Work: Choosing the dark side option in this mission no longer causes this mission to stop advancing. 28. Prison Breaking: Rist Slayers, Stalkers, Torturers, and Prison Guards now respawn correctly. Rescue Operation: This mission now progresses normally if the player is defeated on the step “Use Your Personal Holocom” when fleeing the base. 29. Scorched Earth: The mission objective NPC in this mission no longer spawns as friendly and unattackable in some instances. 30. Shattering: Mission progression no longer becomes blocked if the player returns to the med center after being defeated in combat. 31. The Shadow Fist: Mission progression no longer becomes blocked if the player closes the loot window on the step “Recover the Stealth Field Generator.” 32. Thwarting House Thul: Thul Mercenaries, Thul Sharpshooters, and Thul Colonels now respawn 33. Fixed a bug that could cause specific NPCs to appear miniature-sized in conversations. 34. Players using the French and German clients can now obtain daily PvE missions. 35. Fixed a bug that would not grant proper credit to the first player to interact with a mission loot chest. 36. Players will now receive proper Valor and mission credit when defeating another player. 37. Space Combat - Armor Upgrade 2 now has the correct armor value. 38. Opening the Inventory Panel with the button on the Menu Bar now always correctly displays the reverse engineering button. 39. Inviting a new player to a guild no longer causes the member list to display incorrectly. 40. Corrected an issue with older ATI cards that could cause the game to render as a black screen. 41. Falls on the Republic and Imperial Fleets that should lead to death now properly do so. 42. Players who die on the Fleets now respawn at the appropriate med center. 43. Corrected an issue that could cause the game to crash during area transitions. 44. Fixed a bug that could cause players to fall through the world during or after a conversation or cinematic. 44 Bug fixes. If you ask me, that's a significant haul. Granted, there are other bugs to deal with, and some major bugs will still remain, but these are issues none the less, and they are being addressed. 44 bug fixes, compare to how much "new content"? 1 additional flashpoint? Yeah, I really don't agree with your assessment.

I have not encountered much in the way of bugs, this is true. Does that mean I think everything is "just fine, nothing to see here, move along"? No. Bug fixes are important, and I recognize that they need to be addressed in a timely fashion. However, rushing out a patch that is meant to fix bugs, but could easily produce new bugs or create other new problems, is not the answer. If we have to wait an additional week or even two in order to get these fixes, I'm okay with that. This game is about a month old. I don't expect Bioware to have every issue addressed in such a short time. The fact that they are aggressively pursuing the bugs and working to not only quash them, but also to continue moving forward with new content at the same time, tells me that Bioware is on the right track, and I'm more than happy to give them some leeway for the time being. These people that are screaming bloody murder, or insinuating conspiracy theories and generally trolling in regards to the patch delay, are a joke. 1 month in, and all I've seen is whining, complaining, ************ and moaning. For those who are suffering from real issues and bugs, I have compassion for their state of affairs, and I hope their issues can be resolved soon. But most of these haters are not suffering from bugs. They are hating for hate's sake, in order to get attention and troll. Nothing more.

I want to say I'm thankful that Bioware delayed the patch, in order to get it right, and I commend them for their honesty on the subject. Being a veteran of both AoC and STO, I have seen first hand what occurs when developers push out a bad patch, only to spend weeks and months trying to fix the patch on live, putting all other new content and fixes on the back burner. Way to go Bioware! Keep up the good work, and the level of quality that you are obviously committed to. As for the petulant children on here throwing tantrums and cursing Bioware's name for delaying the patch, my advice would be to grow up. Or at the very least, go load up Age of Conan and tell me how great it is to rush out patches when they aren't ready. AoC's last patch has brought their servers to a grinding halt for over a month now. Be thankful that Bioware thinks more of it's customers than that.

Is that Rod Serling I see over in that corner yonder?

I have never added so many people to my in-game ignore list as I have in SWTOR. And I played AoC. The general chat in AoC was pretty horrific at times, but nothing compared to some of the things I've read and seen in SWTOR chat. It's a real shame too that things such as racial slurs, gay-bashing, pornographic commentary and swearing that would make a sailor blush, have become so acceptable in the gaming community.

Fair enough, and I tend to agree with you on the majority of your points. However, the current difference between Jedi and Trooper/Smuggler (at least to me, in the lower levels) feels substantially more than the slight differences you point out in your post. That's not me disagreeing with your post, but rather feeling it's a bit of a different issue in this case.

Are you so sure? No doubt my girlfriend and I are not the only people who tried out Jedi, found them woefully weak, not very fun and generally ineffective early on, and traded them out for the uber-Trooper and Super Fun Smuggler. So is that worth analyzing? I'd be curious to see what percentage of the game population is Jedi (Knight or Consular) compared to how many are Troopers or Smugglers. The naked eye is probably not a good judge of this, but as I look around Republic Fleet, it seems to me (once again, not very scientific) that the majority of people I see are Smugglers or Troopers. If Smuggler and Trooper have an overwhelming share of population (which we wouldn't know for sure unless Bioware released the numbers or a census was held) then wouldn't that suggest that players don't particularly like the Jedi or find them fun? First impressions are pretty big, and my first impression (as well as my continued impressions in soloing a Guardian and Sentinel up to 20) is that the Jedi really don't stack up to the Trooper or Smuggler. It's possible that Jedi hit their stride later in game. I've heard that anyway. But who would figure that out, when so much of the lower levels with Jedi are painful and not very fun? While you want classes balanced at max level, they should also be equally fun to level, and no class should totally struggle and feel pain at any point, if they are designed properly.

I was able to see the difference between Jedi and non-Jedi as early as The Esseles. My girlfriend and I ran a pair of Jedi up to The Esseles. We ran it together at Level 11, and were unable to complete it. We got our rear ends handed to us by Ironfist and simply couldn't get past it. We then ran a Smuggler / Trooper pair. The difference was DAY AND NIGHT!!!! We blazed through The Esseles and never died once. Heck, neither one of us got below 1/2 health at any point during that Flashpoint. I know it's not real scientific to make that detemination at Level 11, but when the difference is crystal clear to my usually non-gamer girlfriend, and she, who wanted to swing a lightsaber, tells me that she hates playing a Jedi and wants to play a Trooper, it's pretty clear to me that the Jedi were not designed for casuals or for the faint of heart. I could probably make a go of the Jedi myself...but it's utterly painful compared to my ez-mode God of DPS smuggler, that often times NEVER takes ANY damage at all.

Maybe because they are from...Roseburg? I mean, wouldn't you be angry being from there? Is there anything going for that little widespot in I-5? It's totally overshadowed by Eugene, it's not cool enough to be Grants Pass or K-Falls, it's just sorta there, you know? LOL Sorta like being Redmond, next to Bend. Redmond has nothing on the uber-coolness of Bend.

I would add to this list another item - REDUCE THE MONEY SINKS! I would not advocate removing them completely, but in their current state, I feel like I'm being taxed to death (like I'm a citizen of New York City or something) and getting ahead is likely not to occur until Level 50. This problem has a compounding affect. We all realize that in order to get our first mount, we have to be very stingy and Scrooge-like with our credits from Level 1-25. What this means is: 1. Crafting takes a serious backseat. It takes far too many credits to level, with the crafting training costing a bundle, while our skills and powers also cost a bundle. So, many don't level crafting at all during the 1-25 levels. 2. The GTN takes 2 blows due to the over-taxation of lowbie players. First, no one will spend money on the GTN, to get upgrades and buy any crafted items, because we need every frickin dime in order to get our speeder at 25. With no one buying, no one can make any money. GTN either becomes dead, or a losing scenario in terms of profits as the value of items on the GTN is cut substantially just to sell it. The second blow comes about due to what I listed in Issue #1. Since crafting gets put on hold, getting upgrades from the GTN has to rely solely on world loot. World loot often is vendored rather than auctioned, because no one is buying. So, if no one is buying, why put up anything for sale? So, then, if you truly need an upgrade piece due to horrible RNG luck or lack of world loot dropping for you, the only options you have are to pay exorbanent prices that you really can't afford because you need to be stingy with your creds, or you go without the upgrade, making your leveling painful, thus you aren't having as much fun. Reducing the money sink taxes, at least until Level 25 or 30ish, would help to spark a more robust economy, where you don't have to hoard every dime you get, and allow less issues in getting the first speeder (which is a necessity) while still allowing you to upgrade, craft and train your skills. Then, around Level 30, the taxes can go up, and it's up to the player to decide how to budget their road to Level 50, where speeder upgrades aren't such a necessity, and credits seem to be a little easier to come by in bulk, giving the player more options in their budgeting process in determining what their spending priorities are.

Oh no doubt this plays a role, as does the total faceplant of the Jedi Knight / Sith Warrior classes. First, consider how many folks probably wanted to play an iconic Jedi or a fearsome Sith. They came, they rolled, they found the JK/SW severely lacking and totally not fun to play. Then, we look at what remains for them as choices: Republic ---------- Jedi Consular - Throwing everything but the kitchen sink and our lizard companion, who tanks (badly) and has the only weapon in the game that doesn't drop on loot tables and has no Orange moddable weapon. Well played! Stormtroopers - This might be cool, except everyone is a frickin Stormtrooper. The Troopers, are Stormtroopers. Their Companions? Stormtroopers. Consular Companions? Stormtroopers. Smuggler Companions? Stormtroopers. It sort defies logic that 90% of the Republic population appears to be Stormtroopers because the loot on our side is 90% Havoc Squad Trooper gear. So everyone looks the same, therefore no one can attempt to be unique. Smugglers - Truly the only thing cool about the Republic side. Han Solo fans get to be Solo, and Lightside / Darkside choices can be made for flavor. Smuggler is pretty awesome. Empire --------- Sith Inquisitor - You literally can be either Darth Maul or Emperor Palpatine. Why wouldn't anyone want to play that? It's fun as heck! And, you can be totally bad and enjoy the heck out of it! Bounty Hunters - Not only does it have the "Boba Fett" factor going for it, but the armors are unique enough that you can put together a personalized look, and not end up with 90% of the population looking just like you. Plus, rocket packs and rocket boots (in the animations) are a serious cool factor. Imperial Agent - or for spy fans....BOND, JAMES BOND. You can seriously pull off the Bond vibe here, sleeping with the hot chicks, killing off your enemies without a care, and you have your own version of M in the Keeper, as well as a seriously way cool hot chick that wants you pretty much right from the start. Is it really any wonder why Republic is so dead, when Jedi Knights (Obi-Wan, Anakin, Luke Skywalker, Kyle Katarn) and Sith Warriors (Lord Vadar, Asaj Ventress) are taken out of the equation by their total lack of effectiveness? When all the other options for fun and cool (outside of the broken Knights / Warriors) all reside in one faction, it truly is a no-brainer why we are struggling with Population Imbalance.

Adding a third faction isn't likely to "balance" the population. All it will do is create 2 main factions (Mandalorians and Empire) with a 3rd sub-faction (Republic). I'd imagine you';d see something like 45% Empire, 35% Manadlorian and 20% Republic. How does that solve the problem? And besides, the Mandalorians aren't the solution. The solution is...the Cartels. Take BH and Smuggler out of Republic / Empire and put them into the Cartels faction. A completely neutral go anywhere do anything faction. Perhaps add a new "assassin" class (or even a Mandalorian class) to fill out the Rogues gallery. Then, create a true Imperial Trooper for the Empire, an SIS agent for the Republic to fill the gaps left by pulling out the smugglers and bounty hunters. tada! For the people that like Rogues, you have the Cartels, with a very "Hutt" centric story. For the rest, they choose between the faction they like most, without the influence of Bounty Hunters being on one side. (We know this is likely part of the problem. Everyone wants to be Boba Fett) With a little work and some slight improvements, Republic can be made as good as Empire, and the population will balance itself.

Just a personal opinion here, but this was my experience: While attempting to identify a "main" for ourselves, the girlfriend and I rolled Republic first. We certainly enjoyed the Smuggler and the Trooper, but the girlfriend certainly didn't enjoy the Jedi, and I found major issues keeping my Jedi Knight alive. So then we rolled Empire. Holy. Cow. Bounty Hunters? WAY FUN!!! I know, mechanically the same as Trooper, right? But it's all about the presentation. The story for the BH seems better than the Trooper, and the animations and attacks you have, are totally AWESOME compared to the Trooper? Oh, and Imperial Agent Bond. James Bond. Yeah. Pretty darn awesome as well. Oh, and the Girlfriend is enjoying her Sith Inquisitor (again, presentation) over her Jedi Consular. Maybe, just maybe, the reason Empire is currently winning on the population front, is because Bioware didn't make the Republic side nearly as cool as the Empire side. I know, tin foil hat and all. But I gotta say, having played a fair amount on both sides, I feel the following is true: Some stories are infinitely better on Empire. Armor looks way cooler on Empire. Attacks / Spells / Powers seem better animated and much more enjoyable on Empire. Most likely, the GF and I will be sticking to Empire for the time being. Not because of population or anything, but because we are having much more fun than we did with our Republic toons.

nom nom nom nom nom.... mmmmm cookies! Thanks!