What's that supposed to mean? Of course I do. Why would I write it otherwise. Not such a great way to start a post, in what is supposed to be a reasonable discussion. A rhetorical question? That's certainly new. Yes. If Bioware chooses to do this, and if it is what they wanted to do after they announced "adequate changes". That was what they said they would do. Make changes as they see fit. I didn't say that. That was your assumption. What I said was, read again carefully: If Bioware would nerf a class by 99%, it would still not constitute the term removal. It is a change. A removal would mean to delete the class entirely. I don't even know where you take that assumption from. I also never said that a GTN price nerf of almost 80% was a bad thing. Neither is it a good thing. It's meaningless to me. I have enough credits to buy the augmentation (kit & epic augmentations), stims and medpacs I need. With or without the slot machine economy crash. As happens so often in this board, you took my statement and applied it way out of content. Let me put it this way, blunt and simple. Nothing about economies, crafting and nerfing classes: Bioware said they'd look into it and change it adequately (as they see fit). They did. They didn't remove it, they didn't take it away from you. They changed it. Deal with it.

They didn't rob you of anything. Games change. Deal with it. They released it as part of a test run. The data, which had been collected since the machines release, showed that, while working as intended before release, the overall impact on Crew Skills/the economy was too high to be sustainable over a longer period of time. They changed it back afterwards. No. This is just wrong. I'll take the powertech example for this. You could adjust his damage and health points by 99%. You would still not remove the class, you'd change it. Of course, it would be downright useless afterwards. You could still play it though, which means it hasn't been removed. So, you say this: "I will not support this ridiculous attempt at robbing me. I will not stand for this half-backed, unfinished content. But I will continue to give you money.". I think you don't know what a boycott is. You don't start to boycott a major fast food chain, then go inside and say: "I will only buy a single burger. I won't order a menue, I'm boycotting them!".

This isn't your game. I don't know if I can take you seriously on this. People are allowed, encouraged even, to present their opinion here and then stay with this game. If you feel you can't take that, move away yourself. Because, frankly, this isn't your game.

Sanction me? Ban me? Well, tough luck. I wasn't involved with spreading the exploit, nor did I participate in the exploit. I'm not trying to avoid punishment here. I don't "rationalize" this because I'm afraid of the blame. Fact of the matter, I didn't do it. What I'm doing isn't damage prevention, it's trying to apply reason to this whole thing. What people aren't saying is that "Nothing was done wrong.", what people are saying is this: "What was done did not negatively affect the playerbase.". If anything, people are rejoicing because purple augmentations, hilts and everything else are cheaper than ever. I've heard people in my guild rejoicing about the lowered price, without participating in the exploit. What's done is done. And now, listen again: "Their actions did not, in any way I can think of, impact my gameplay in a negative manner.". So, why should I shout for any punishment? It doesn't concern me what punishment they receive, if any. What concerns me is the toxic and poisonous attitude of this community, which has become judgemental and condemning.

Now here's the thing. It does not matter in any way that you want the rules enforced. Bioware makes the rules here. If Bioware says that "a slap on the wrist" is enforcing them enough, it is. If Bioware says that nothing should be done, it is as good a solution as any. You don't make the rules here, you don't have any claim to enforce them. In the end, you can play the game and enjoy it. You can say your opinion, and Bioware will act on it if it is appropriate. You can want to have the rules enforced. But if Bioware decides that a slap on the wrist is their enforcement of aforementioned rules, then they are enforced. You are a paying guest here. When you walk into a cinema and encounter a disturbing element, you can't force them to change it. It's within their own discretion how and when they deal with it. If you're not contend with the way it was handled, you can move away. Bioware will make the decision how the rules are enforced. But I can see a thousand people shouting that it won't be enough, implying that they have more to say on the matter than Bioware.

But you leave out one thing in your explanation, which is important as to what a "witch hunt", or this series of events, implies. It's the fact that people who weren't hurt, damaged or otherwise influenced by the deed can render that punishment. You can certainly say you think you have the high ground in terms of morality, but I wouldn't care. Even if you have the superior ground, this thing does not concern you. Are you an employee from Bioware? Are you in any way related to a branch of EA? This decision is, at the end of the day, Biowares. What's offensive to me, and propably a few others, is the indifferent attitude of people to shove the moral high-ground into your face. Did you experience any significant harm by this exploit? Was your gameplay experience in any way influenced for the bad? If the answer to those two questions is no, then you should remember that it is not your place nor decision to ask for a punishment. The most terrifying thing about this is that, seeing the forums lately, people aren't only judging, but blindly judging. They deem that their decision for a punishment is right, when in reality, it's not based on any reason or circumstance. You can take the moral high ground all you want. You can even deem a deed "right" or "wrong", make up your mind about it. But do not try to render judgement when it doesn't concern you or you are the person harmed/wronged by it.

What I am saying is this: There is a bunch of choices to be made here. Each case, every single one, has to be investigated and dealt with in a case by case fashion. It takes a lot of time and effort, I'm aware of that. But, there are many factors to be considered: 1. Did the person in question participate in the exploit more than once? 2. Did the person in question actively work to spread the exploit across the server? 3. Did the person in question actively advertise it on the fleet and sell the lockout? 4. Did the person in question promote the use of this exploit, i.g telling people it was "Alright. Bioware doesn't act on it.". All those questions have to be answered before someone is banned/punished. I'm not saying Bioware shoudn't take action. What I'm saying is that, given the circumstances, it is more than unreasonable to call for one and the same action (ban) against every person. That would be a witch hunt, as was demonstrated here. "Just burn them all, no questions asked. If she is guilty, she will rot in the depths of hell. If she is innocent, she will go to heaven!". I'm trying to say that Bioware has the say in this. Bioware shouldn't listen to people who shout for one and the same punishment for all cases, no matter how extreme. Not only is it injust, it is severely crushing the financial income of this game. I'm not trying to say people who buy CC get a free ticket. But I'd love to see this game survive the year, as does Bioware. Things must be considered.

You know what actually upsets me the most about this issue? About all of the discussion, about all the people involved? It's not the exploit in itself. Not even the people who used the exploit. It is the sheer amount of people who believe, going as far as to demand, the moral high ground in this. Who actually think that they can claim that banning everyone, no matter how much they used the "exploit", is the best way to go. It annoys me, maybe even pisses me off, how many people claim to be the instance of judgement in this series of events, disregarding the player behind the screen. There have been some examples in this post, given by people who actually admitted that they were caught up in this exploiting mess. I was "fortunate" enough to know that there was something wrong with the Ravager. Because of that, I was able to deny any part in this before I was pulled into this. I was able to decline any offer made for a "quick way towards gear." or "a free purple crafting material". What also really annoys me is the constant flock of people who demand that, no matter how ridiculous it sounds, they are actually rewarded for not participating in this exploit. Heck, you don't do the right thing because you want a reward for it. I certainly didn't say "no" to everyone who wanted me to participate because I thought I would get some CC. I did it because I, being completely honest, was too lazy to do it. This has become a witch hunt all across the forum and reddit, with people claiming the high ground in terms of moral and character. It's time people calm down again and stop pointing fingers at people for something as this. My gaming experience was in no way altered by the people who participated in this exploit, nor was it made worse by them. Could this mess have been avoided? Yes. Do I think it was a bit unreasonable to leave the exploit within the game for this extended period of time? Certainly. But I think that it's time we forget about this whole incident, let Bioware decide what is best to do, and stop complaining in 10 different threads about this. The exploit is out, Bioware knows who did it. I don't get why people 'still' have to shout for bans over this. Yes, make an example of the worst abusers of this. But don't ban everyone who did it once or twice. Don't roll back all their credits, don't take away all their gear. It shows how much some members of this community would abuse power, if they were given some. It's time we calm down and move on. This witch hunt isn't productive or entertaining, it's simply annoying.

Or they might choose to read on a forum rather than post something, because any discussion has the possibility to become a "I'm better than you!" argument really quickly. I have a lot of friends who play in the top 5% of PvE and PvP tier in their respective MMO/on their respective server. Not only SW:TOR, but ESO and WoW too. Guess what? They choose not to engage in any forum thread because it bores them to no end. They don't need to change the game, they adapt. His argument was simply the truth: This is an MMORPG, with a focus on MMO. PvP is a...social interaction. You will enhance your experience when you participate with friends. And, let's be honest, it isn't really hard to make online friends.

I wouldn't really agree with that sentiment. I know of many people who like Jakarro and Deefour. I'm not going to lie, they're quite amusing. For a brief time. I couldn't imagine them as part of my crew though. They'd get annoying really fast. Besides, it would be kind of a let down for any Scoundrel/Gunslinger, wouldn't it? Having two Wookiees on your ship? I'd rather want to see a completely new companion. A new race. Maybe a Nautolean? Kel'dor? Anything from mercenary to force-sensitive being. Something...which not a single class has. We might need to get a bit tricky for that, but in the end, it would be far more enjoyable than anything currently in the game. That's my humble opinion though.

Edit: Never mind, that change was prior to me starting my Marauder as my second "main" character.

This. The supply/demand ratio is simply off. It's the same with the Socorro stuff, and it has been the very same issue with the Cybernetic stuff forever. People rarely show interest in them. Since the skin was released, I saw one character on the fleet really using it. I can try to sell cybernetic and socorro stuff for 200 credits on the GTN, they simply won't sell. I've come to a point where I destroy them by default. I wouldn't mind the cybernetic stuff so much, if it wasn't the same in nearly every Cartel pack. I don't want the rare stuff right away (although I wouldn't mind that Tulak Hord armor), but opening 10 Cartel packs to see 8 of them dropping cybernetic stuff is ridiculous. That's the very reason I'm not opening packs anymore. I simply sell them on the GTN (make close to 8 million with a new hypercrate), and buy the stuff I need. And I usually make a profit of 5-6 million that way. Seriously, we get it. You love cybernetic stuff. But do it right, or don't do it at all. I certainly don't neet a new copy.

I'd not go as far as to say that the lenght of a story is directly linked to its potential. Some of the class quest, while being incredibly short, were actually a nice touch to the overall atmosphere of Rishi. I especially enjoyed my Guardians class quest. That meeting was long overdue, and the last discussion was pure gold. My biggest issue with some of the quests is that some of them were useless in the overall narrative. The Knight was reasonable, as was the Warrior one. They were quite well placed and actually made sense to take place there. I can't judge the Inquisitor since I'm not sure about its importance yet. Consular was downright useless. As far as I remember... So, yes, they were short. But, at least to me, the more important problem is the overall useless placement in the story of SoR. Most of those stories were of no importance to this addon. Rather than cramp such a quest into the foundation of the expansion pack, I'd have waited and brought a chain of events later. There wouldn't have been a reason to keep them this short since they wouldn't necessarily be funded by the money put aside for the expansion pack, but be funded individualy. "Class quest" doesn't need to refer to a whole new chapter, but three - four quests in succession isn't too much to ask for, right? Even with the limited rescources Bioware has to work with, that should be quite possible. While my latest argument defeats the point of my first sentence, I think that changing the placement within the narrative and the length would greatly benefit the overall atmosphere and actually restore some of the Bioware storytelling we came to enjoy during pre-RotHC.

Long post which will contain spoilers for SoR. Keep that in mind when reading beyond the second paragraph. The whole problem with the force is the same problem you have with magic in most fantasy novels. It's essentialy the Deus Ex Machina of the Star Wars universe. The force has been used in various ways over the course of the expanded universe, some of them more unreasonable than others. A good example was given with Starkiller pulling the capitol ship out of orbit. That was a somewhat strange and unreasonable use of the force. A more reasonable usage of the force is Jaina Solo, holding onto a speeder going at 200 miles per hour. The second one is essentialy only some form of physical help, while the first one actually embodies a somewhat godlike power ("There is nothing to huge to be pulled down!"). "It was the force..." shouldn't be an excuse for any experienced writer when writing a story in the Star Wars universe. I have to admit that the whole story of SoR felt like this was a thing now. Revan tried to get rid of all the distractions in the galaxy. If he would have succeeded and destroyed both fleets, he'd have killed both the leaders of the Jedi order and the informal leader of the Empire in a single blow. However, the Jedi order would have elected a new leader from the Council. Most likely, that leader would've been the Barsen'thor. His list of deeds is quite long, and he seems to be the most reasonable of the members of the council we have met until now. While the Empire would've fallen to a series of power plays, which would eventually destabilize their infrastructure to a point worse than pre-Makeb, the Republic would have simply went on with their overall daily schedule. Even worse, they'd have actively pursued Revan after finding out he is a thing on Rishi. The Yavin IV part made sense. Both factions have accepted that Revan is a bigger threat than initially expected and acted on that. However, the whole Rishi part felt off. It would've made more sense for Revan to stay under the radar and deal with it himself. Yes, there was the thing about "waging war to awaken the Emperor". That's a pretty unreasonable attempt to explain Rishi though. The Emperor told us that he simply had to wait for both factions to do what they do best: wage war. That means Revans part on Rishi was entirely useless in the narrative of the SoR story. We could've jumped straight to Yavin IV (while adding some more story there), and it would've made equal, if not more sense. For me, the story of this addon simply felt off. It started after blood hunt on Rishi, but it continued all the way up to the ending on Yavin IV. The story appeared to be quickly written together. Just for the sole purpose of having Revan in this game once again. Maybe that's because so many things on the second planet felt off. No side quests, no Exar Kun and no compelling stories aside of the whole chase.

I've seen it on both sides. Do we really need to discuss this? I hope this is some late christmas or early april fools joke. I play both and I'm fine with both. What's the point? On the other hand, it might get rid of the "One story for both factions" problem. With only one faction...

Yeah, that was nice. On the other hand, my mercenary has an emergency button. Kolto Overload is one handy ability to have. I know, it's not a heal per se. But you'll actually sustain most enemies in combination with a set of heavy armor. My Sorcerer only has the bubble of doom. It's nice to get a few seconds to think your next step through, but it doesn't heal you as much. Once it's over, you better get the hell out of there.

I second the notion of Yavin IV having too little to offer. Yavin IV (even during the Old Republic era) was a major point of interest for both the Jedi and the Sith. I actually remember Ashara making a comment when I departed for the wilds: "The Jedi told me about this place. But when I wanted to ask questions, they never answered. Am I ready now?". Both the Jedi and the Sith recognize the incredible potential that Yavin IV had to offer, for good and for evil. Yet, during our visit, there were close to no indications of this planet having any importance at all. Exar Kun was banished there only 4 centuries ago. Even with his spirit somewhat dormant, there should have been a mention of this. What about Eison Gynt? Barel Ovair? Both characters which were first introduced to us by a timeline entry on your very own website. What about all those Sith secrets lying dormant there, waiting to be discovered? About the wall of light? You know, when Satele mentioned the other presence on this moon, I was ready to accept that it was... The landscape on Yavin IV was good. But the potential was wasted until now. I'd strongly suggest building up on the planets heritage for the next stories. How about recovering an ancient Sith artifact, and we have to battle Exar Kuns spirit to get it? Or recreate the path of Eison Gynt to uncover some secret we didn't know until now? This planet is so alive with secrets that it felt empty and missplaced. I will also second the first point. Please try to make different stories for each faction. I brought my Knight to 60 first. When I started my Sorcerer, I was gravely let down. It was a tideous task to level my Shadow and my Mercenary up to 60 through those quests since I had to do the same story a third and fourth time, with the only real difference beeing that my mercenary romanced Theron Shan instead of Lana Beniko.

Alright, that thing takes the "total nonsense" award by a long shot. Bioware released SoR to keep their initial promise of giving us an expansion this year. I can't even start to imagine how much last minute work was done before the release. I take it you've never been part of a gaming company right before the start of a new MMO/expansion? I wouldn't be surprised if many developers have worked overtime to get this thing out by December. Secondly, and most importantly, I also call nonsense on the second thing. They gave us an expansion this year, they worked bloody overtime to deliver. They deserve a good nights rest once in a while. Many people in this community are crying 24/7 because of the most minor of bugs. It seems this community (or parts of it) simply can't get their act together. Admit it, you'd be the first one to cry me a river if I was your boss and I would force you to work three full days during christmas eve and the following two holidays. People, calm down. Those people are human, not your personal delivery cyborgs. Give those people a few days off to relax and make a fresh start into development. I only have ability delay on Yavin IV. I have encountered minor bugs, that is correct. All those things can actually wait until after the holidays. Cut those people some rest. If you can't, then get out of here. Bioware has a hard enough time as it is. They don't need to be called idiots because they don't want to work 24/7 during christmas. They have families, they have friends. You can be sure they want to spend some time with them (or not, depends on the family ). This game can wait three days.

Alright. That's good to know. That means, for 192 gear progression, I will propably settle for 108% accuracy and achieve the two percent difference at a later state. However, there is one thing I am concerned with: As mentioned previously, I think this change is really a one-way road in terms of early progression raiding. As I mentioned above, I will propably settle for the 107,5% accuracy I have at the moment and raise some other augments. This might not be a good thing to do in the early stage, but propably with later enhancements having a higher Accuracy Rating. To put almost eight-hundred points into accuracy seems a bit excessive to me. 600 points would've been far enough, 650 maximum. It still leaves us with a considerable amount of points to aquire, but it makes some tinkering with stats quite possible. Right now, I'd need nearly 6 more augments to complete that gap (while already having two installed AND having more than four pieces with accuracy equipped), which leaves me less room for specializing my gear.

Of course, that's correct. However, I doubt that they would make such a drastic change without informing us. The last thing I heard from the dev stream was that, given the removal of the 3% bonus from the skill tree, each point in Accuracy would give slightly more Accuracy Rating than before. Even if they put up the required amount of accuracy points to reach 110% by a bit, nearly doubling the amount would be...frightening.

It's really nice that this is going to be investigated. I'm currently at 106,97% rating. I have 496 bonus points in Accuracy and was just about to buy myself some other Augments to enhance my gear when I noticed that I'd need over 200 more points in Accuracy to reach the 110% suggested cap. Building to this cap with the current system would leave me unable to build into DPS more clearly (I can't apply neither Power, Strength or anything else). So, for the love of the Force, change the equation. As it stands now you'd need close to double as much points as before the patch to reach your accuracy rating. That leaves us unable to build largely into DPS.

No, that's exactly what Bioware can't do if they want to keep the game available for a broader audience. You might not believe it, but there are actually people who can't afford to play multiple hours each day to get that next item in line. And that behaviour shouldn't be ignored. What you're suggesting with that sentence is to make the game a place where only the people with the most skill and the most spare time can succeed at. That's a good way to annihilate a good part of your playerbase. You do FP's / SM Op's or PvP if you don't have much time at your hands each week. Once a week, twice a week. You do HM Ops when you want a bigger challenge. You do NiM Ops when you're really interested in progressive raiding. Bioware doesn't need to make the game more "time consuming" to make you feel like you have just accomplished the impossible.

I guess people are just bend on the idea that better gear means that they are better as a player, and that this is the reason they need to obtain it. Let's be honest here: Even as a HM Ops person, you don't necessarily "need" 198 at the moment. One tier below that is just fine. I'm currently farming 192, in both SM Ops and FP, and I don't see a reason to panick getting it. In the end, it all boils down on what you want to achieve in this game. I sure as hell don't play a Bioware game to listen to the epic bossfights or be part of a progressive raid community. I play it for the story. Now, having the HM FP/SM Ops gear is enough for that. You'll usually be able to get all the story done with that gear. Even when a new Patch hits (introducing a new FP/daily area like Oricon or CZ-198), you'll be able to start there with that gear. So, I don't see a reason having access to 198 gear at the moment. At all. If you are a progressive raider, it sure as hell is a nice perk to get. As everything else, it's not necessary a must have. So, why get all worked up over it?

I have the same problem. Did two HM's during the weekend and didn't get a single one of them for the weekly. Wanted to start again today, ran a HM FP. Still not counting for the weekly. I'm on the Progenitor server.

I'm also quite conflicted about this. I'm one of those people who have stuck around for the commendations and credits grind pre-3.0 on Oricon, CZ-198 and various other locations. I basically entered the new expansion with 1580 basic commendations, and 300 more in my inventory waiting to be opened. Seeing the new hard mode flashpoints, I feel as if I didn't achieve anything by getting to 60. Those are the same flashpoints I've been running for the past 8 months in a row. That's what's killing this gearing process for me. There are hard mode flashpoints, and they are "hard". That's a good thing. However, those are the same FP I did months in advance. I'm forced to run the same flashpoint again and again, for gear which will get obsolete very soon. It feels like there was no progression at all. Running Assault on Tython on 55 for some commendations. Running Assault on Tython on 60 for some commendations and (if you're very lucky) a piece of gear. I already have two pieces of 192 gear from the flashpoints (boots and handgear, with the chestpiece following tomorrow). But it didn't feel like an accomplishment at all. It simply feels off. It feels like the game didn't have any progression in regards to FP. And the worst part about this is that, based on my experience, the bonus mobs in the new [Hard] FP's don't even drop a piece of gear or elite commendations. Everything rewards basic commendations. I don't need basic commendations. I already stockpiled 550 of those. I need Elite commendations. Why don't they drop two basic commendations for each boss, instead of basic? This would give the dungeons some replay value. That'd actually mean I could use some spare time to run the FP's more than once and still get rewarded with elite commendations. It means I could look forward to killing that new bonus boss for a chance at some nice gear. Right now, there's no real point in doing them more than once a day. That's what feels artifical for me. It's somewhat wrong. They should've stayed true to the old concept and kept the philosophy of [Hard] boss = elite commendation. Also bonus boss = piece of 186 or 192 gear.