I'm very happy to hear about the next expansion and I'm looking forward to seeing what new goodies the Dev team has in store for us. When I read some of the criticisms posted on the forums much of the tone often is very melodramatic and blown out of proportion--sometimes egregiously so. It gives me pause to consider the plight of game developers who must constantly contend with a never-ending stream of vitriol posted by people who are accustomed to spewing out this kind of scorn. To save my sanity I have to dismiss them by assuming they are probably young and immature and still have a lot of life lessons to learn. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but for all of you who insist on posting incessant criticism with nothing positive or constructive to say, be advised your words have about as much value as a credit spammer. You do nothing to improve the quality of the game. I ask that people please be more constructive with their feedback. I also want to offer my thanks to the minority of players out there who post valid criticisms and support them with thoughtful, articulate responses. It elevates your opinion, promotes a valid discussion, and makes reading these threads much more tolerable. A few people seem to be taking issue with SWTOR's identity as an MMO or an RPG rather than accept that it is both. I can say with ease that I'm quite comfortable with both the MMO and single-player RPG elements SWTOR has to offer and I have been playing this game regularly since it first launched. Those of us who played the original KoTOR have a much deeper appreciation for the latest expansions. We find them to be a welcome addition to the game since they celebrate some of Bioware's most memorable and groundbreaking work from the earlier days. Yet, you have some silly people denouncing the entire game because the new PVP warzone "sucks", or you have others who grimly proclaim that there will never be another new Operation in SWTOR. Ever (only Sith deal in absolutes, right?). Then, of course, there is everyone's favorite troll: the MMO Doomsday Prophet, who can not resist making their proclamations that "the game is dead". No, SWTOR is far from dead. With some luck it may be around for many years to come and continue to offer many fun and unique elements for its fans to enjoy. The most important thing I think reactionary people need to understand is that every MMO is a living, breathing game that is in a constant state of evolution. The game WILL morph and change over the course of its life span. It will go in directions that you will genuinely love and enjoy and it may also go in directions that will hold little interest to you. I sometimes wonder how many players actually grasp that concept. The game goes in a new direction and people absolutely freak out! It gets very silly. For now, SWTOR's focus is on story. I'm cool with that. I enjoy stories. When the story is over I'll have fun designing cool new outfits for my characters, playing Galactic Starfighter, decorating my strongholds, participating in role play events, fly some of the original space missions in between PvP matches, play a new class story, go datacron hunting, join a group to take down a world boss, work on my achievements to earn some exclusive titles and/or decorations, scour the GTN for that ultra rare bargain, hang out with some guildies and attempt an Operation on hard mode, explore the massive world the game has to offer and marvel at it's beauty and design and the occasional easter egg. We do not know what's in store for SWTOR in the long term, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to be reading yet another stupid rant from some troll a year or two from now bashing the the Devs for "wasting" their time by adding new Operations, Warzones or, heavens forbid, new content for Galactic Starfighter. What a vicious cycle.

Contest winners for "Prize in the Skies" @ Begeren Colony June 2016 Thank you to all who participated in Campaign4GSF's inaugural "Prize in the Skies" contest! The winners are as follows: Grand Prize: Vector-srw 2nd Prize: Ladyof'thelords 3rd Prize: Kurnos Bonus Prize: Zaximus To ensure that this contest remain fair, impartial and 100% legitimate we posted a transcript of the prize drawing in our Gallery. We will be holding this contest once again in July with much bigger and better quality prizes so stay tuned and please continue to voice your support for GSF. Queue up! Post on the forums! Reach out to new players! Thank you for your participation and I hope you join us again for our next round of "Prize in the Skies" in July!

Hey everyone, I wanted to inform all of you about a contest I'm sponsoring on Begeren Colony to coincide with my Campaign for GSF proclamation I posted on May 29th. In order to facilitate this to the best of my ability I created a website on Enjin to host the contest. Introducing: "Prize in the Skies!" at Campaign4GSF.enjin.com This contest is designed to motivate casual players to participate in GSF by offering prizes as an incentive to queue up. This concept is still in its experimental stage but my hope is that it will be well received by the players on Begeren Colony. I will be hosting another "Prize in the Skies" contest on Begeren in July as well, and may carry this contest to other servers if it gets enough traction. Please feel free to visit the website for contest rules and more information. It is a work in progress and will probably need some additional tweaking to get everything dialed in, but the basics are in place and the contest is now live.

Hey everyone, I wanted to inform all of you about a contest I'm sponsoring on Begeren Colony to coincide with my Campaign for GSF proclamation I posted on May 29th. In order to facilitate this to the best of my ability I created a website on Enjin to host the contest. Introducing: "Prize in the Skies!" at Campaign4GSF.enjin.com This contest is designed to motivate casual players to participate in GSF by offering prizes as an incentive to queue up. This concept is still in its experimental stage but my hope is that it will be well received by the players on Begeren Colony. I will be hosting another "Prize in the Skies" contest on Begeren in July as well, and may carry this contest to other servers if it gets enough traction. Please feel free to visit the website for contest rules and more information. It is a work in progress and will probably need some additional tweaking to get everything dialed in, but the basics are in place and the contest is now live.

Hey everyone, I wanted to inform all of you about a contest I'm sponsoring on Begeren Colony to coincide with my Campaign for GSF proclamation I posted on May 29th. In order to facilitate this to the best of my ability I created a website on Enjin to host the contest. Introducing: "Prize in the Skies!" at Campaign4GSF.enjin.com This contest is designed to motivate casual players to participate in GSF by offering prizes as an incentive to queue up. This concept is still in its experimental stage but my hope is that it will be well received by the players on Begeren Colony. I will be hosting another "Prize in the Skies" contest on Begeren in July as well, and may carry this contest to other servers if it gets enough traction. Please feel free to visit the website for contest rules and more information. It is a work in progress and will probably need some additional tweaking to get everything dialed in, but the basics are in place and the contest is now live.

Esteemed fans of Galactic Starfighter, There is a potential for change in the not-too-distant future and I am appealing to all of you for your help and support in making this happen. On Saturday, May 14th, Eric Musco held a Twitch stream that featured Michael Backus, lead technical designer for SWTOR. Michael Backus also happens to be the lead designer for Galactic Starfighter. The following is a transcript of Michael's response to a player requesting further development of GSF: The Twitch stream can be found here: https://secure.twitch.tv/swtor/v/66376234 and the conversation begins at around 02:03:20. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised this hasn't received more attention on the forums. Unless I am mistaken this is the most input on GSF we've received from the Dev team in a very, very long time. I may be overly optimistic but to me both Michael Backus and Eric Musco seem to be inferring that perhaps there is still some hope for GSF after all. With this revelation, along with a few other factors currently in play, it seems to be an ideal time to strike while the iron is lukewarm and make our collective voices heard. I propose we muster our forces and make a strong push during the entire month of June to tell Michael Backus and his dev team what we have been wanting, waiting and hoping for over the past 2 years. I think June is the perfect time to do this for the following 2 reasons: Michael Backus's recent appointment as lead designer for all of SWTOR. Perhaps some of you were already privy to this information. I happen to find this news very encouraging considering some older posts on the forums claimed the original GSF team had left SWTOR long ago. The revelation that GSF's lead designer is now in charge of SWTOR's entire game design is a BIG DEAL. If ANYBODY on SWTOR's current Dev team can make something happen for GSF, it is going to be Michael Backus! GSF is his baby. Grand Galactic Starfighter Packs. Despite Dulfy having listed these as "items no longer available" in their last Weekly Sales post, the GSF pack is still available and has been moved to the Miscellaneous tab on the Cartel Market. Sustained sales of these packs might be the most direct way for us to communicate to the Devs that there is renewed interest and profit to be made in GSF. Over the next month, I encourage everyone to spend some Cartel Coins on purchasing a few Grand Starfighter packs. At 110 CC a pop, they won't break the bank and a spike in sales could help tip the scales in our favor. Subscribers have the added benefit of simply allocating their monthly 600 CC stipend toward purchasing a few packs. Despite a few minor bug issues these packs may be the strongest tool we have at our disposal for pulling GSF out of the abyss of neglect it has been in for the past 2 years. Keep the bigger picture in mind! I have enlisted a few members of my guild to embark on a grassroots GSF campaign for the entire month of June to help promote and revitalize Galactic Starfighter on my home server of Begeren Colony. We are currently in the process of developing a few ideas that will work within our means while having some fun and reaching out to players who might be too intimidated or frustrated to queue up on their own. I appeal to guild masters, officers, solo players, veterans and rookie players alike to help spread the word and embark on your own grassroots campaign to promote and support GSF on your server. GSF deserves a new lease on life. This is our fight and this is our goal. For every pilot promoting GSF on the forums and in general chat, there will be a hundred trolls tearing them down. I ask that you ignore the hate and focus on what is ultimately most important: the message. We are passionate about GSF. We desire more content. Our loyal and beleaguered community deserves to have it's voice heard and recognized. Please reply to this thread and voice your support if you wish to see more content for GSF! Queue up! ~Elaeis~ Begeren Colony

Esteemed members of Begeren Colony and fans of Galactic Starfighter, There is a potential for change in the not-too-distant future and I am appealing to all of you for your help and support in making this happen. On Saturday, May 14th, Eric Musco held a Twitch stream that featured Michael Backus, lead technical designer for SWTOR. Michael Backus also happens to be the lead designer for Galactic Starfighter. The following is a transcript of Michael's response to a player requesting further development of GSF: The Twitch stream can be found here: https://secure.twitch.tv/swtor/v/66376234 and the conversation begins at around 02:03:20. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised this hasn't received more attention on the forums. Unless I am mistaken this is the most input on GSF we've received from the Dev team in a very, very long time. I may be overly optimistic but to me both Michael Backus and Eric Musco seem to be inferring that perhaps there is still some hope for GSF after all. With this revelation, along with a few other factors currently in play, it seems to be an ideal time to strike while the iron is lukewarm and make our collective voices heard. I propose we muster our forces and make a strong push during the entire month of June to tell Michael Backus and his dev team what we have been wanting, waiting and hoping for over the past 2 years. I think June is the perfect time to do this for the following 2 reasons: Michael Backus's recent appointment as lead designer for all of SWTOR. Perhaps some of you were already privy to this information. I happen to find this news very encouraging considering some older posts on the forums claimed the original GSF team had left SWTOR long ago. The revelation that GSF's lead designer is now in charge of SWTOR's entire game design is a BIG DEAL. If ANYBODY on SWTOR's current Dev team can make something happen for GSF, it is going to be Michael Backus! GSF is his baby. Grand Galactic Starfighter Packs. Despite Dulfy having listed these as "items no longer available" in their last Weekly Sales post, the GSF pack is still available and has been moved to the Miscellaneous tab on the Cartel Market. Sustained sales of these packs might be the most direct way for us to communicate to the Devs that there is renewed interest and profit to be made in GSF. Over the next month, I encourage everyone to spend some Cartel Coins on purchasing a few Grand Starfighter packs. At 110 CC a pop, they won't break the bank and a spike in sales could help tip the scales in our favor. Subscribers have the added benefit of simply allocating their monthly 600 CC stipend toward purchasing a few packs. Despite a few minor bug issues these packs may be the strongest tool we have at our disposal for pulling GSF out of the abyss of neglect it has been in for the past 2 years. Keep the bigger picture in mind! I have enlisted a few members of my guild to embark on a grassroots GSF campaign for the entire month of June to help promote and revitalize Galactic Starfighter here on Begeren Colony. We are currently in the process of developing a few ideas that will work within our means while having some fun and reaching out to players who might be too intimidated or frustrated to queue up on their own. I appeal to guild masters, officers, solo players, veterans and rookie players alike to help spread the word and embark on your own grassroots campaign to promote and support GSF. GSF deserves a new lease on life. This is our fight and this is our goal. For every pilot promoting GSF on the forums and in general chat, there will be a hundred trolls tearing them down. I ask that you ignore the hate and focus on what is ultimately most important: the message. We are passionate about GSF. We desire more content. Our loyal and beleaguered community deserves to have it's voice heard and recognized. Please reply to this thread and voice your support if you wish to see more content for GSF! Any suggestions, support and constructive comments are greatly appreciated. Queue up and have fun out there! ~Elaeis~ Begeren Colony

Esteemed fans of Galactic Starfighter, There is a potential for change in the not-too-distant future and I am appealing to all of you for your help and support in making this happen. On Saturday, May 14th, Eric Musco held a Twitch stream that featured Michael Backus, lead technical designer for SWTOR. Michael Backus also happens to be the lead designer for Galactic Starfighter. The following is a transcript of Michael's response to a player requesting further development of GSF: The Twitch stream can be found here: https://secure.twitch.tv/swtor/v/66376234 and the conversation begins at around 02:03:20. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised this hasn't received more attention on the forums. Unless I am mistaken this is the most input on GSF we've received from the Dev team in a very, very long time. I may be overly optimistic but to me both Michael Backus and Eric Musco seem to be inferring that perhaps there is still some hope for GSF after all. With this revelation, along with a few other factors currently in play, it seems to be an ideal time to strike while the iron is lukewarm and make our collective voices heard. I propose we muster our forces and make a strong push during the entire month of June to tell Michael Backus and his dev team what we have been wanting, waiting and hoping for over the past 2 years. I think June is the perfect time to do this for the following 2 reasons: Michael Backus's recent appointment as lead designer for all of SWTOR. Perhaps some of you were already privy to this information. I happen to find this news very encouraging considering some older posts on the forums claimed the original GSF team had left SWTOR long ago. The revelation that GSF's lead designer is now in charge of SWTOR's entire game design is a BIG DEAL. If ANYBODY on SWTOR's current Dev team can make something happen for GSF, it is going to be Michael Backus! GSF is his baby. Grand Galactic Starfighter Packs. Despite Dulfy having listed these as "items no longer available" in their last Weekly Sales post, the GSF pack is still available and has been moved to the Miscellaneous tab on the Cartel Market. Sustained sales of these packs might be the most direct way for us to communicate to the Devs that there is renewed interest and profit to be made in GSF. Over the next month, I encourage everyone to spend some Cartel Coins on purchasing a few Grand Starfighter packs. At 110 CC a pop, they won't break the bank and a spike in sales could help tip the scales in our favor. Subscribers have the added benefit of simply allocating their monthly 600 CC stipend toward purchasing a few packs. Despite a few minor bug issues these packs may be the strongest tool we have at our disposal for pulling GSF out of the abyss of neglect it has been in for the past 2 years. Keep the bigger picture in mind! I have enlisted a few members of my guild to embark on a grassroots GSF campaign for the entire month of June to help promote and revitalize Galactic Starfighter on my home server of Begeren Colony. We are currently in the process of developing a few ideas that will work within our means while having some fun and reaching out to players who might be too intimidated or frustrated to queue up on their own. I appeal to guild masters, officers, solo players, veterans and rookie players alike to help spread the word and embark on your own grassroots campaign to promote and support GSF on your server. GSF deserves a new lease on life. This is our fight and this is our goal. For every pilot promoting GSF on the forums and in general chat, there will be a hundred trolls tearing them down. I ask that you ignore the hate and focus on what is ultimately most important: the message. We are passionate about GSF. We desire more content. Our loyal and beleaguered community deserves to have it's voice heard and recognized. Please reply to this thread and voice your support if you wish to see more content for GSF! Queue up! ~Elaeis~ Begeren Colony

Thank you kindly for the suggestion, Dr Mike. I'll go ahead and post there as well.

Not to worry. I changed the wording on that so as not to make it an issue.

Esteemed fans of Galactic Starfighter, There is a potential for change in the not-too-distant future and I am appealing to all of you for your help and support in making this happen. On Saturday, May 14th, Eric Musco held a Twitch stream that featured Michael Backus, lead technical designer for SWTOR. Michael Backus also happens to be the lead designer for Galactic Starfighter. The following is a transcript of Michael's response to a player requesting further development of GSF: The Twitch stream can be found here: https://secure.twitch.tv/swtor/v/66376234 and the conversation begins at around 02:03:20. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised this hasn't received more attention on the forums. Unless I am mistaken this is the most input on GSF we've received from the Dev team in a very, very long time. I may be overly optimistic but to me both Michael Backus and Eric Musco seem to be inferring that perhaps there is still some hope for GSF after all. With this revelation, along with a few other factors currently in play, it seems to be an ideal time to strike while the iron is lukewarm and make our collective voices heard. I propose we muster our forces and make a strong push during the entire month of June to tell Michael Backus and his dev team what we have been wanting, waiting and hoping for over the past 2 years. I think June is the perfect time to do this for the following 2 reasons: Michael Backus's recent appointment as lead designer for all of SWTOR. Perhaps some of you were already privy to this information. I happen to find this news very encouraging considering some older posts on the forums claimed the original GSF team had left SWTOR long ago. The revelation that GSF's lead designer is now in charge of SWTOR's entire game design is a BIG DEAL. If ANYBODY on SWTOR's current Dev team can make something happen for GSF, it is going to be Michael Backus! GSF is his baby. Grand Galactic Starfighter Packs. Despite Dulfy having listed these as "items no longer available" in their last Weekly Sales post, the GSF pack is still available and has been moved to the Miscellaneous tab on the Cartel Market. Sustained sales of these packs might be the most direct way for us to communicate to the Devs that there is renewed interest and profit to be made in GSF. Over the next month, I encourage everyone to spend some Cartel Coins on purchasing a few Grand Starfighter packs. At 110 CC a pop, they won't break the bank and a spike in sales could help tip the scales in our favor. Subscribers have the added benefit of simply allocating their monthly 600 CC stipend toward purchasing a few packs. Despite a few minor bug issues these packs may be the strongest tool we have at our disposal for pulling GSF out of the abyss of neglect it has been in for the past 2 years. Keep the bigger picture in mind! I have enlisted a few members of my guild to embark on a grassroots GSF campaign for the entire month of June to help promote and revitalize Galactic Starfighter on my home server of Begeren Colony. We are currently in the process of developing a few ideas that will work within our means while having some fun and reaching out to players who might be too intimidated or frustrated to queue up on their own. I appeal to guild masters, officers, solo players, veterans and rookie players alike to help spread the word and embark on your own grassroots campaign to promote and support GSF on your server. GSF deserves a new lease on life. This is our fight and this is our goal. For every pilot promoting GSF on the forums and in general chat, there will be a hundred trolls tearing them down. I ask that you ignore the hate and focus on what is ultimately most important: the message. We are passionate about GSF. We desire more content. Our loyal and beleaguered community deserves to have it's voice heard and recognized. Please reply to this thread and voice your support if you wish to see more content for GSF! Queue up! ~Elaeis~ Begeren Colony

Esteemed members of the GSF Community, There is a potential for change in the not-too-distant future and I am appealing to all of you for your help and support in making this happen. On Saturday, May 14th, Eric Musco held a Twitch stream that featured Michael Backus, lead technical designer for SWTOR. Michael Backus also happens to be the lead designer for Galactic Starfighter. The following is a transcript of Michael's response to a player requesting further development of GSF: The Twitch stream can be found here: https://secure.twitch.tv/swtor/v/66376234 and the conversation begins at around 02:03:20. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised this hasn't received more attention on the forums. Unless I am mistaken this is the most input on GSF we've received from the Dev team in a very, very long time. I may be overly optimistic but to me both Michael Backus and Eric Musco seem to be inferring that perhaps there is still some hope for GSF after all. With this revelation, along with a few other factors currently in play, it seems to be an ideal time to strike while the iron is lukewarm and make our collective voices heard. I propose we muster our forces and make a strong push during the entire month of June to tell Michael Backus and his dev team what we have been wanting, waiting and hoping for over the past 2 years. I think June is the perfect time to do this for the following 3 reasons: Michael Backus's recent appointment as lead designer for all of SWTOR. Perhaps some of you were already privy to this information. I happen to find this news very encouraging considering some older posts on the forums claimed the original GSF team had left SWTOR long ago. The revelation that GSF's lead designer is now in charge of SWTOR's entire game design is a BIG DEAL. If ANYBODY on SWTOR's current Dev team can make something happen for GSF, it is going to be Michael Backus! GSF is his baby. Double XP and Double Ship requisition this weekend. We will be undoubtedly seeing more people queuing up to take advantage of this incentive over the next 3 days. It is a golden opportunity for us to welcome them, invite them to join GSF chat, offer help or simply give them a few words of praise and encouragement. These things can go a long away toward boosting their morale and inspiring new players to keep queuing. I would love to see everyone capitalize on the momentum of this Double Ship Req weekend and use it as a springboard into this June promotion campaign. Grand Galactic Starfighter Packs. Despite Dulfy having listed these as "items no longer available" in their last Weekly Sales post, the GSF pack is still available and has been moved to the Miscellaneous tab on the Cartel Market. Sustained sales of these packs might be the most direct way for us to communicate to the Devs that there is renewed interest and profit to be made in GSF. Over the next month, I encourage everyone to spend some Cartel Coins on purchasing a few Grand Starfighter packs. At 110 CC a pop, they won't break the bank and a spike in sales could help tip the scales in our favor. Subscribers have the added benefit of simply allocating their monthly 600 CC stipend toward purchasing a few packs. Despite a few minor bug issues these packs may be the strongest tool we have at our disposal for pulling GSF out of the abyss of neglect it has been in for the past 2 years. Keep the bigger picture in mind! I wanted to offer my gratitude and appreciation to everyone, past and present, who has contributed to our community in a positive and constructive way. Thank you to all who regularly post here on the forums, who organize GSF events, stream matches, contribute informative guides and provide statistical data. In particular I wanted to offer my sincere thanks to Despon for his passion, dedication and perseverance in reaching out to lend new players a helping hand. I have enlisted a few members of my guild to embark on a grassroots GSF campaign for the entire month of June to help promote and revitalize Galactic Starfighter on my home server of Begeren Colony. We are currently in the process of developing a few ideas that will work within our means while having some fun and reaching out to players who might be too intimidated or frustrated to queue up on their own. I appeal to veteran guild masters, officers and solo players alike to help spread the word and embark on your own grassroots campaign to promote and support GSF on your server. GSF deserves a new lease on life. This is our fight and this is our goal. For every pilot promoting GSF on the forums and in general chat, there will be a hundred trolls tearing them down. I ask that you ignore the hate and focus on what is ultimately most important: the message. We are passionate about GSF. We desire more content. Our loyal and beleaguered community deserves to have it's voice heard and recognized. Please lend your support and reply to this thread if you want to see more content for GSF! It's time to queue up. ~Elaeis~ Begeren Colony

Can you send a link to this dev stream you watched? Unless I am mistaken the most recent Producer's Livestream happened in the beginning of May and was hosted by Eric Musco, Ben Irving and Charles Boyd.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for the thoughtful post.

In recent months I have witnessed a lot of escalating animosity toward strike fighters both on the forums (which is nothing new) and during some heated matches on various servers. What I am seeing are many elitist veterans preaching their negative opinions regarding strike fighters with many novice and intermediate players accepting those opinions as if it were gospel. The end result is a prevailing GSF culture that has deemed the Strike Fighter as its bastard stepchild. I happen to love strike fighters and though I may disagree with popular opinion I also accept the majority of players' belief that strike fighters aren't viable in competitive matches. What I don't accept, however, are players who despise strike fighters to such a degree that they actively get angry and upset with others who choose to fly this ship. Over the past few months I have experienced some very odd and demoralizing encounters with players who have expressed their disdain toward me because of the type of ship I choose to fly. I have gotten some weird flak from some very hot-headed players out there. To illustrate my point, here are some examples I pulled from various matches: "Why are you flying crappiest ship in the whole game?" "Flying that useless ship is the reason we lost that match!" "Pick something else. You're just gonna feed them." "Everybody knows that strikes suck!" "Because of you I now have to work even harder at carrying the team!" "Just because you got 2nd on the leader board doesn't mean strikes are good ships!" "You're gonna gimp our team out of a win!" "Even the devs agree that strikes suck!" "You're an idiot for flying that ship. Go uninstall the game and kill yourself." This type of behavior is venturing into a realm of human psychology that I find to be--in a word: disturbing. The first time I experienced the Strike Fighter Hate, it took me a little by surprise. Never before did anybody give me grief for choosing the kind of ship I wanted to fly. I couldn't quite tell if the player was joking or not. It just boggles my mind. In my experience, I've found that the strike fighter is capable of contending perfectly well when going head to head with every other ship, with perhaps the exception of those wily T2 BLC scouts. Being the underdog, there are some inherent benefits to piloting a strike fighter. First and foremost, a strike pilot is grossly underestimated. With the vast majority of players who view strike fighters as a joke, a skilled strike pilot can capitalize on its "outsider" status by engaging with "META" ships in ways META pilots are unaccustomed. Like every other ship, the key is learning how to fly a strike within its parameters and play to its strengths and weaknesses. Part of the fun and challenge for me is giving my opponents a good fight in a ship I happen to enjoy flying the most. I don't expect people to change their opinions on this matter but it sure would be nice if some of you would observe the cardinal rule of "Fly and let Fly". Elaeis Begeren Colony

I agree as well. I first noticed this problem when I attempted to acquire my favorite Kaliyo customization for my Jedi Knight and realized it was impossible. Since we're on the subject of companions, has anyone else noticed that the majority of them are bugged? Many of the companions no longer speak dialogue when you click on them and, for those companions who do manage to speak their lines, their lips no longer move. This is a minor annoyance, but it sure would be nice if this was fixed!

Wow. I completely forgot about that red sparkle powder. Even if it were lowered to 1 Helix Component it would still be way too expensive! Maybe if they offered a reusable red sparkle powder for around 10 Helix Components at least it would make some sense. I am in general agreement with you all around. I don't think the dev in charge of pricing these things out gave it enough consideration, especially regarding the disparity between Helix Components and the other tokens.

/Signed. I wanted to lend support to the RP community on this Quality of Life issue. It's hard not to get frustrated whenever the developers make an unsolicited change to the game that negatively impacts some or all of its community. Perhaps this decision is a prelude to bigger things to come (such as another round of server mergers) but rather than speculate on any hidden agenda, I will simply state my concern that this decision to remove server designations will, over time, effectively strip each established community of its identity. Of the three primary groups of players who enjoy playing SWTOR (PVE, PVP and RP) the RP community will be the one who will be hit the hardest and will have the most to lose by having its designation stripped from them. What makes the RP community vastly different is that it is comprised of people who share an interest and appreciation for the art of collaborative storytelling. The devs have often stated their goal is to provide players with a unique experience where they can immerse themselves in the Star Wars universe. RP communities endeavor to do the same thing by tapping into our imaginations and building upon the established game world. Role playing is a very unique art form that blends creative writing with elements of improvisational theater. It often requires a high degree of concentration and patience as each participant contributes to the developing scene. This kind of unique interaction is heavily dependent on an environment that is conducive to player immersion. Whether it means having our own server designation or having our own RP Instance, we need something to distinguish our play preference from the PVE and PVP communities. Without a means to distinguish itself the quality of RP servers is at risk of deteriorating. People wishing to RP in public areas will undoubtedly suffer a lot more grief and harassment from other players who have no interest or consideration for that aspect of the game. To those players who insist on trivializing the merit and validity of the RP community, please respect that everyone is entitled to enjoy this wonderful game in the manner that best suits them. As the OP already said, an MMO is a living game. It must be malleable in order to meet the needs of its players. Presently, the devs have taken away a simple-but-vital component that can be just as easily restored with little to no effort. The argument that doing so is a “waste of resources” is as ridiculous as the suggestion that the entire RP community be relegated to a designated chat channel.

Me as well, so I'm bumping this up.

An excellent suggestion, and one that I think many in the RP community would absolutely love. I have often found myself admiring the design work and meticulous detail that go into these class story instances and wishing I could revisit these settings and use them as backdrops for role-play. There are vast treasure troves of exclusive settings I wish I could go back and access: tombs, throne rooms, secluded coves, caves, council chambers, cantinas, senate chambers, laboratories, hangar bays, warehouses, command centers, etc. I often find myself wishing I could come back and use the setting to stage some intriguing RP. I also enjoy the idea of having an opportunity to replay class stories as well as companion stories once everything has been unlocked.

I'm bumping this up. This post is an excellent idea for helping to incentivize and revitalize interest and enthusiasm for GSF. I have seen a depressing trend in GSF community decline on many servers lately. More and more people seem to be migrating to Harbinger out of frustration for slower queue times on their home servers. I feel a tremendous amount of resentment and frustration toward the game developers for depriving the GSF community of any new content. The addition of GSF and space-themed decorations would at least offer us a tiny sliver of appeasement. More importantly, Starfighter and space-themed decorations are just plain cool. It would be completely appropriate to make them exclusive to Fleet Commendation vendors.

I rarely read or post on the forums but this thread happened to catch my attention. I think it is a testament to GSF's brilliant design that such an awesome mini-game continues to persevere despite having been utterly abandoned by the developers. Regardless, the forums still thrive with ongoing debates and discussions by enthusiastic players who have been going crazy for more content! My sincere, heartfelt thanks goes out to the design team for giving us Galactic Starfighter. Ever since it launched I have seen the steady rise of a passionate and dedicated fan base. Many players have since come and gone while many others are discovering it for the first time. GSF continues to entertain so many of us by giving us the thrill of experiencing everything we love about Star Wars in epic, exciting space battles. GSF is the perfect complement to everything else that already makes SWTOR such a great MMO to play. It is entirely unique and offers something vastly different, fun and exciting to the game. It has its niche. It has earned its place. It deserves another opportunity to take center stage again. We need to keep shouting our desire and demand for more GSF content! Elaeis Begeren Colony

Ratajack, The tone of your writing is far too histrionic for my tastes, so I will make one final post here and move on. I simply am agreeing with the OP that the naming system could use some improvement. I stated my reasons and my rationale. I don't think it is an unwarranted or an unreasonable request. I was directed to this thread after making a post of my own regarding the same issue. I happen to share an opinion similar to the OP and wanted to throw my support behind it. My hope is that other players who appreciate this aspect of the game will also voice their support. Revising the naming system is not my number one priority, but it is something I would like to see happen and I would like to see it taken into consideration. Asking the devs to grant us a bit more flexibility and freedom in naming our characters is a reasonable request. If it is something they can feasibly accomplish while they continue with their other projects, then great. Mission accomplished! Now they move on to the next item on the agenda and the cycle continues. Your tone of writing suggests that this particular endeavor would require some massive, cataclysmic upheaval that would shake and rattle Bioware down to its foundations. Lighten up.

Ratajack, I have skimmed a few of your earlier posts on this thread and, frankly, don't understand why this idea of revising the naming system offends you so much. I am one of many players who also want to see more freedom and flexibility in the naming system. I'm also a paying customer who has been a loyal subscriber since launch. I care deeply about this game and enjoy it enough to make this financial investment. I put a lot of thought and consideration into the characters I design because part of my enjoyment from this experience involves being creative with the tools we are given. Customization plays an enormous role in what makes this game interesting to play and I would prefer to have as much customization as the game can possibly allow. Names are a HUGE part of that process and I want the satisfaction of being able to name a character according to my personal tastes. The current naming system is not convenient or satisfying. It is an exercise in a player being forced to contend with the games' current limitations and parameters. I would like to see it revised and expanded. As a customer, it is not my care or concern how much or how little work this might require from the devs. The OPs suggestion is neither unreasonable or impractical. This game is in a constant state of evolution and we have seen many positive changes take place over its lifetime--much of it inspired and motivated directly from its players. Modifying the naming system shouldn't be any more or less difficult than implementing the original Legacy system, or Outfit Designer, or Appearance Designer, or Cartel Market, or Galactic Strongholds, or GSF, or the new Alliance system, etc. At the end of the day SWTOR is a business that understands it needs to adapt and listen to community feedback in order to keep its customers satisfied.

I was referred to this thread after posting a similar thread of my own. I skimmed over some of the posts here and am irritated by how many people were trolling the OP in regards to this issue. I think the OP is making a perfectly reasonable request and I would love to have more options to name my characters with as much freedom and flexibility as possible, including having a unique surname that is separate from the Legacy name.