It's time bioware, free up weapon restrictions, guns should be varied for the classes that use them. Lets see gunslingers using cannons and bounty hunters with sniper rifles. I want an imperial agent dual wielding pistols, and all the variety a galaxy far far away can have. Now is the time, the game needs change, the class revamps are good, but since adding a new class is never going to happen, the ones that are available need to have as much variety as possible. Make is a cartel item, adapted weapons training or something, you know it would sell.

True, but the game and players will aslo benefit as it will allow much quicker updates of new content due to the easier balance.

Yes, and here is why. Currently utility is a byproduct of the trees, you work up a tree picking up utilities on the way that lead to the main gameplay elements of a tree. In the new system you will get the tools needed to perform a role, but have much more variance in utility options between players. The important part to remember is that adding new utilities down the line is much much less gamebreaking, due to the design , and lets the developers add even more variance in a more controlled environment, allowing players to choose "fun" abilites that don't upset the general game balance or break content. If the developers are free to design and release content based around a quantified set of a core class mechanics and abilities they know everyone will have , it allows both the content creation people and the people that design more utilities more autonomy from one another. This makes for more creativity, quicker development and faster content as far as operations and flash points. It also has the side benefit of freeing up more time for implementing new game systems and locations. It's a smart move, it helps make development more agile and responsive, and will increase the pace of new content to the players.

I lug my alienware M17x about the house hooked up to wifi exclusively, I'm no super pro, but I seem to play mmo's just fine on wifi. If I was doing serious try hard pvp or playing an fps I might plug into a cable, but I haven't had a direct line to my laptop in about 2 years. I guess it depends on how much of a competitive edge you need? for just pve wifi is fine.

Oooookay then????

Hi there, Returning after a long absence to swotor and looking for a friendly late night (PST) or oceanic guild, my playtime is usually 12pm weekends to 5am (PST) I'm looking for a guild that doesn't mind a leveling player and intend to vanguard tank later on.

I've always loved Bioware's writing, something that unfortunately other companies just don't ever seem to put effort into. the reason Bioware has good storylines and characters is that they aren't afraid to drop humor in here and there, and selecting dialogue that evokes a fun humorous situation helps to draw you into the world without you realizing it. Home world was an epic game in it's time, a saga that managed to impart the sense of survival and danger the plot centered on. My only issue with the comparison is SWOTOR and other Bioware titles give me a voice in some sense, letting me bond with the character I am playing and giving me a desire to engage in the world.

I recently returned to SWOTOR after a long break and to be honest I have no problem with anything I'm seeing them charge for in this update. Star Trek online went through a similar transition, it was either generate revenue or close the doors and say goodbye. Now they are releasing new content at a decent pace and are actually turning a profit and re-investing it into the game. SWOTOR needs to make money, it needs to create new content and add new systems and story to stay afloat, new species, new equipment etc, and yes unfortunately that means they need to CHARGE for it. If this does not happen, the game cannot remain online, and cannot grow. People getting angry about these updates when they can subscribe and use a stipend to buy the unlocks are fools. If they had their way the game would shut down in a month and they would be the same people blaming bio ware for not generating enough money to keep the doors open.

Hi there, pretty new to SWOTOR, I play late night 12am to 5am pst on weekends, looking for a laid back but active guild in that range. Loooking to be a tank in the late game, but not super hardcore. name is sumides 23 vanguard thanks.

I'd just get a decent 11' gaming laptop

The argument that flying through empty space with nothing to do is rediculous, and if that is a quote from a designer then that dude needs a new job, because obviously it's the designers job to give you something to do. Star Wars Galaxies had a great space game, it wasn't ages to travel anywhere. The current space game is indeed a minigame, and it's alright, but it's such a tease when you consider the potential it has. Space off the rails would be fantastic, the artwork in the space game is gorgeous in my opinion, and it would be a blast to have pvp dogfights, fight over sectors and mine asteroids. In my dream world the space game could be a player driven sandboxy experience, and preserve the pve storymode of the ground game. The thing is, I doubt they'd have the balls to actually risk it, even when kickstarter projects like star citizen drum up 8 million dollars of support in days . It just shows how out of touch developers are with their audiences. A lot of Star Wars fans were hoping for a robust space game, and when they found out it was just starfox they ditched. Just imagine for a second if they did go for it, and did it right...all those people wanting the holy grail of a sci fi game, one with space and ground with sandbox elements and a well built pve story on a strong IP would flood them with money, especially if they sold ships and pilot licenses on the cartel market. A guy can dream I guess.

I really enjoy this game, it's had it's struggles but it seems like it's coming back around again since F2P and the new expansion. Reading about layoffs and closures, and now the server lag is worrying me. Is Swotor in danger of getting shut down? I just got a buddy into it and I'd hate to see this title disappear, or have future updates frozen like Warhammer Online.

itunes is great for the apple peeps, but don't foget an rss for the rest of us!

I went merc, I prefer the smaller body type two with the dual pistols for some reason. I had the same problem until I made a bald scarred cyborg with one eye, then he seemed to match the voice perfectly. That voice sounds like a thug moving into the trade if hunting people down for a living, the scars fit it. I figured the dude would be bald cause hair would just get pulled in a street fight and the cyborg fittings were his cheap entry level back alley mods to give him an advantage in a violent life. Of all the voice actors I feel the bounty hunter male nails the class the best.

Great guide, well made video, you're a credit to our class, helped me out a lot, thanks.

I'm just glad I finally found an MMO that lets me wander through it at my own pace, recapture a bit of my childhood and love of star wars, and gives me a good story along the way. I'll probably never set foot in a raid or do much more than go for kills in pvp, I'm just too busy IRL and too old to be bothered trying to put effort into impressing a bunch of people that have the social skills of a pack of jakals. I've met a few nice people and put them on my friends list, but I feel like swotor was built for the older, wiser post wow gamer, the ones that are in no hurry and enjoy taking in the scenery.

The game isn't going to see a mass quitting, despite the bravest attempts of forum trolls and employees of other mmo companies flooding the forums with nonsense and hyperbole. The game is doing just fine, it's going to evolve just like every other mmo does, and eventually the dummies on the forums will settle down.

I'll be playing for a very very long time

This is interesting to me, but not game breaking. I've played wow extensively and other mmo's as well. Swotor feels somewhere between EQ2 (very clunky) and wow (responsive) I found however in swotor that in combat I am more focused on the pace of a fight and what ability I will be using next instead of trying to make split second reaction based attacks. The ability delay is there, I notice it..but everyone else has it too, so in pvp the hyper speed frantic reaction feel of wow is replaced with something more....cinematic? I think I'll be in the minority here, but I kind of prefer this, I'm an old fart now, my eyes aren't as quick and it's kind of nice that I get that extra little bit of time to react. Maybe it's a design choice for the majority of gamers are, lets face it 8 years older than they were when they dug into wow. I'm not hating on wow, or what the OP is concerned about...I just don't feel for me personally that it's a deal breaker. An example is on my sorc making khem val tanks golds, grab aggro of multiples, keep him healed, keep my party healed, switch to him again, switch to a lose mob, etc In that kind of situation the combat feels right, I can micro manage my companion, taunt mobs, heal me and my party and play two roles, tank and healer without ripping my hair out. In wow though, running on my warlock and doing the same in a hairy pull with a voidwalker emergency last ditch wipe prevention attempt..well it came down too fast sometimes and usually it was because of the speed of that game. Hard to explain I guess, maybe someone might know what I mean but I feel the reaction cushion in combat was intentional to allow you time to micromanage your companion.

pretty much true, in fact if you click on the complainers names and ignore them in the profile section, the forums start to clean up a bit, it takes about ten minutes, but when your done you realize its the same 20 or so dummies spamming hate.

That score is jacked by the same people that are flooding the forums with bs" employees of other mmo's fanbois of other mmo's ex swg players that wanted this to swg pre cu 2.0

I do, as I said in my posted reply you quoted, I'd classify those in the 5% of people that complain in a more civil and constructive way. I don't consider anyone who brings up a legitimate issue in a concise and civil manner to be a complainer at all, just a thinker. It's the people that use terms like "epic fail" and insult and berate others that ruin the good healthy criticism that any creative product requires to evolve and become better.

I honestly wish they would add a like and dislike button to allow players to down rank posts they read, or boost ones that deserve dev attention. some of the more vocal sociopaths that vent non stop in the forums would find out pretty quickly just how little regard normal rational players have for their endless repeated crying threads.

this game isn't going to die any time soon don't worry. the bulk of players never go to the forums, and the ones that do are about 5% happy well adjusted humans, and the rest are about 90% complainers that hate everything. what;s the remaining 5% you may ask? employees of other game companies trying to sabotage the community cause they have no other way of possibly competing with this product. My advice is don't read the forums, go to any other mmo's forums and the general discussion section is exactly the same, morons crying about everything under the sun instead of just shutting up and cancelling their subscriptions and leaving us in peace. Why do they not just do the sane thing if they are so unhappy and cancel and leave? because despite all their rants they know it's a fantastic game and can't put it down either. Unfortunately the average forum complainer is a self entitled noob that doesn't think ahead, has no concept of patience and can't be bothered to read anything longer than a paragraph. They are misinformed on many topics, and unable to frame even the most basic ideas and questions without stringing in terms like bad, fail and ***. The only solace you can take is community managers, designers, and developers have become very skilled in the last decade in filtering out the noise, and addressing legitimate reasonable concerns and feedback.

I love this system, I think it's even better than appearance slots, because it adds the element of working to make the gear better, so you aren't robbed of that sense of accomplishment, but you can look reasonably how you want. It also if more varied orange gear is added, will make the players look more diverse, and with certain classes heavily played that's a good thing. I hope raiding and high end pvp also rewards epic mods, so we can wear what we want at endgame too and have a diverse galaxy of appearances.