I play a lot of tactical FPs every week (quick, easy way to get credits and basic comms), and the only one that bolsters is Kuat. The other 5 (Both Czerka, Tython, Korriban, and Manaan) do not. The only other thing that bolsters in Group Finder (as far as I know) is the 8-man Operation.

Just wanted to add my voice to this and say I don't like the fact they're half the size, either. I crafted a Fury to put on my pad on Tatooine, and it barely takes up 1/2 of the starship hook. Honestly, at this size, why aren't they simply classified as centerpieces, since they would fit in those hooks. So, yeah, BW, thanks for giving us Mini-Me Starships (they really are cool, just way too small for what they're supposed to be), but if you're going to keep them at this size, you really need to reflect that in the description and lower the materials cost. Also, if they're are going to stay this size, change their hook type to centerpiece, since there is no reason why they won't fit on DK or Corsucant.

I see your Schwartz is as big as mine...

I can't comment on the FP on PTS (I haven't done it on purpose because I want it to be kind of new when I first play it on live, heh), but I think

Although it really has nothing to do with this thread, no, I wouldn't ask Ford what the next Aston Martin looks like. Considering Ford hasn't owned Aston Martin for years now...

when a Gree walks in with an itty-bitty waist

First off, welcome back! Lots of good questions, and I'll try to answer them the best I can. Rested XP only affects kill experience (the XP you get from kill all those womp rats on Tatooine, for example), and it's effectively put on hold during a double XP event. Meaning, it's kind of shoved in a cupboard and brought back out once the event is over, so it'll be there for you when the week's over. Subscribers do get an XP boost, but it's more like non-subs get less XP. Say, if you receive 100 XP as a subscriber, you would only have received 80 (iirc, I think it's 20%) XP as a non-sub. So, really, as a subscriber, you'll not see an increase if you've never played as a non-sub. And finally, apart from the rested XP I mentioned earlier, it all stacks! There's an older forum post by Eric about all the different amounts depending on your situation (like +10% for Guild Bonus, +30% for Flashpoint XP (Legacy Perk), XP boosts, etc), and I think it can get up to something like (a little) over 300%. Now, go out there, and soak all that extra XP up!

Yes, it would, especially since they do their streams during (American) daytime, and a lot of people have to work or can't otherwise watch them. Seriously, Bioware, you have, what, 4 or 5 Community Team Members now? Surely one of them could come to update info on the forums after the steams, right?

Hey, look on the bright side! They finally removed the advertisement for it off of the launcher! It only took them a couple of weeks to do that! (I love this game, but sometimes the bush-league quality of the team boggles the mind...)

Could we get an update on this whenever you get back into the office, Tait? It's been almost two weeks since you replied. It's weird that all the grade 9 purple materials (Sterilization Kit, Permacrete, Nanite Threaded Cloth, Mytag Crystal, and Berylius) are for sale, but the only one missing is the Thermal Regulators. Since I could (rarely, but still possible to) pull regulators out of previous packs, they need to be added to the scrap peddler.

That's the outcome of all this (not the changing rates 'experiment,' but the bush league handling of the whole thing*) for me as well. I've been running dailies/weeklies on some of my 'mirror' characters to help pay for my guild's flagship and my stronghold(s) when they come out, so I suppose I'll just continue doing that to buy the few items per pack I want. Meh, I was spending too much on this game, anyway. At least this way, I can take that money and upgrade my computer instead. It's decent, but getting a little long in the tooth, so it was time to do it, anyway. (Already got a nice speaker system with the money I was planning on buying CC with; I'll probably get some more RAM next. ) * By bush league handling, I specifically mean the amount of time it took them to respond, the 'WAI, but we'll fix the rarity icons when we embargo it!' "fix", and the marketspeak/'wiggle-room' response they finally gave on future packs. It's been pretty obvious (to me, at least) that the team has been small for a while now (most, if not all, MMOs end up that way, so I actually expect it), so it shouldn't take you guys days to walk a few feet (or pick up a phone) to ask a question and post a response. If it does, boy, do we have way larger issues with TOR than the CM.

First of all, thank-you, Eric, for coming here to tell us what the situation is. I'm truly trying to make this a case of 'don't shoot the messenger,' so if you could make sure the Einstein(s) responsible for this 'pack experiment' reads this, that would be swell: What the FRAK are you smoking?! Look, I understand that this is a business first, but seriously? This is right on par with the whole encrypted datacubes 'experiment' from awhile back. I honestly have to wonder if BW/EA's marketing department is either full of lobotomized Ewoks, or, more likely, is solely consisted of a Ouija Board. Maybe the Ouija Board is operated by the lobotomized Ewoks? Yeah, that's seems an apt analogy; the Maker knows what else could be behind their past (and current) reasoning. (Fixing the tooltips at the same time the pack gets embargoed? In what rational, intelligent mind does that even make any sense?) I, as others have stated, plan on not buying as many CC as I usually do, and I most definitely not be buying hypercrates of packs in the future. It is way easier to run dailies on my many characters and save up the credits to buy the stuff off of the GTN. Sure, it will take me longer that way, but at least I won't have (even more) cargo bays full of unsellable crap items in my search for the 1-3 items per pack I want. TL;DR - Thanks, Eric, for having the horrible job of telling us how it is. However, this 'experiment' failed miserably (much like the datacubes), and the people responsible for it need to rethink their career choice because they obviously suck at their current one. The only outcome (for me, at least) of this 'experiment' is that I will most definitely be spending less money on CC in the future.

I can't speak for the person you quoted, but I have heard, "My wife's giving me that look. I'll be back in about 15 minutes, guys." (Incidentally, he happens to be my Guildmaster, lol! So, we basically cleared trash and waited for him to come back, heh.)

-- "Be well." (Am I the only one who thinks of Demolition Man whenever I talk to Imperial Medical Droids? Still better than the Republic one -- "You are fit for duty. Return to your post." Yeah, yeah, yeah... )

Heh, I was going to post about the awesomesauce Boot.ini debacle of Eve, but I see I've been beat to it. This update for TOR isn't the worst I've ever experienced, but it's the 2nd worst. (Long story short: CCP, makers of Eve-Online, accidentally deleted peoples boot.ini files after an update one time, and Windows was pretty partial to having in order to... well, boot, lol. Although, I luckily avoided the issue on my laptop (not my desktop, though) and even got a free month out of it from CCP. Good times, good times. ) Other than my initial encounters with the transition and loading bugs, my game client seems to have calmed down a lot (playing on The Shadowlands, for what it's worth). I'll admit, I was pretty PO'd when I tried to play yesterday, but after a while I was even able to do some of the Casino Event (got a Rancor, yay!) and even some Bounties. Overall, I like the actual content of the patch (well, the parts I'll use; don't PvP or progression raid), but definitely a thumbs-down on the deployment of it. Still, you haven't borked my operating system (... yet...), so I guess life goes on!

Been playing for the past few hours (and still am, as I post this) on The Shadowlands.

NiM simply stands for Nightmare Mode, which is the hardest level of difficulty for Operations (Story Mode, Hard Mode, Nightmare Mode). DF is the abbreviation for the Dread Fortress Operation. (Also, DP, in this game at least heh, is the abbreviation for Dread Palace. Although, I still get a juvenile chuckle seeing the 'Looking for More for DP HM' in chat.) As for being experienced, well, unfortunately that's kind of a catch-22. I believe the quote goes 'Experience is what you have right after you need it' or something to that effect. When you see that in chat, it simply means 'know the operation/mechanics already' and/or 'be properly geared'.

I haven't played it on PTS (and am waiting until it actually goes live; I don't really like previewing game events, tbh), but I think it would be a good idea to keep around regardless of whether it does good or not. They've already coded it, so there wouldn't be anything extra needed to keep it around permanently.* I remember when Star Trek Online added Dabo (sigh, I have a Lifetime sub to that game, which is my burden to bear I suppose. Haven't really played it in a while though), and it was pretty cool for the little amount I played it. After the initial newness wore off, I still played it from time to time whenever I happened to be on DS9. TOR should keep at least the machines around all the time, and even add more. Not trying to advocate gambling or anything, but Nar Shadaa is a pretty cool planet (always love going there whenever I start a new character), but their casinos are woefully, well, boring. *(Disclaimer: I am NOT a software/game engineer, so I am most likely wrong! I have, however, coded some crappy little games myself (started in good ol' BASIC, then C++, VisualBasic, and some GameMaker), and I don't really see any hurdles/problems with making it a permanent addition.)

/thread (All hail Battlebug!)

To paraphrase Inigo Montoya: 'You keep using those words. I do not think they mean what you think they mean.' But, regardless, toodles!

Mustn't... post... ASCII... artwork... (Not sure about TOR's rules on it, to be honest, so I'll just be wussy and leave this here: Toady)

So, if we're going to label all PvE activities as 'PvE' (regardless of whether people like, or even attempt, doing them), then we really should label all PvP activities as 'PvP' (regardless of whether people like, or event attempt, doing them), right? That would mean that GSF and the GTN are 'PvP'. Really no other way to describe them, if we're going to be absolute in our nomenclature. Galactic Starfighter is only (currently) accessible if one wants to play against other players. One cannot (currently) put a group together to take part in free form space flight combat without the enemies being other players. So, whether it is popular or relevant to the ground game is immaterial. GSF is still a purely Player versus Player activity. And, yep, the Galactic Trade Network is purely PvP as well. Every single item placed on it is put there by a player. Every single item is bought by a player. Every single undercut, flooding of a particular market, or ludicrously high listing is made by a player. I'll admit that it lacks the charm of blasters and lightsabers, but yes, the GTN, one of the best ways of making credits in TOR, is a purely Player versus Player activity.

I agree that the icon for the helmet looks different than the actual item when used in-game. That said, though, I would hope they change the icon to look like the helmet, because I like the look of the helmet, especially dyed with a deep red/black dye. I actually clicked on this thread hoping it was about the lack of voice modulation for the Master Hunter Headgear. Not trying to throw your thread off-topic, but it was kind of disappointing to put it on my BH and her voice be the same as if I had it hidden. Anyway, yeah, the icon is different than the helmet actually looks like, but I hope they change the former and not the latter. Also, please add voice modulation to it.

As far as I know, it didn't already charge you. It will charge you the $14.99 in 3 days, once your game card time runs out. (Basically, all you did now was tell them 'yes, I'd like to continue to sub in 3 days when my time runs out,' and they'll bill you on the 24th.)

Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious. (Darn! Snark backfire! Now I really want to watch that movie again. Oh, well, could be worse, I suppose. )