Easy to test; get guildie tank lower level, jump on parsec and try it out. The tank could be in dps stance and/or dps spec. I pull agro on my low level toons; remember you are bolstered so level does not matter as much. Also the others have drop threats, so they might have been using it. Another factor is they might not have been using AOE at the start in order not get threat and get killed. In summary, you were doing something wrong!

I takes 2 weeks to get the 2 relics with minimum effort; generally any serious pve'r will get them if they do not have already for their main toon. I got 1 obroan but I got lucky and got one dread forged so I did not have to pursue pvp for another week with my merc. Depending on your luck, it might take months to get dread forged specially if you have rotating folks coming in on the ops thus why pve players are getting obroan relics. Having said that, serious pve players are willing to put an effort and will do the best for the team. It is very easy to get pvp gear, 1 ear, 2 implants, 2 relics. Pretty much how I rolled. The rest of the gear was 72/78. It was enough for me to contribute and be mostly on par with most folks, always top 2 damage in the team. I did not attempt any ranked pvp nor would presume to do so. Simply my merc was not qualified or geared for such. It makes me mad when people do not make an effort, I seen this in pvp many times, please do not assume their are pve players. I have a powertech tank doing pvp now and getting some pvp gear. I am actually enjoying the occasional pvp with him. I fully intend to fully max his pvp gear.

Depends on the rules of the OPs, most do not have rules. If I go on a toon with full 78s and want to roll on gear for my alts, I have as much a right as you do. It is a pug, I am not running to gear you out.

Since it is your first time in the game, it will be fairly difficult. The veterans generally have their toons geared with treek and lots of presence. My guild have not fully completed the progression raids yet, we are finding them challenging. Ops/Raids in swtor is challenging in HM and NiM. Flashpoints are challenging when you go with the gear level it was designed for. Have fun, Sermer.

Read this thread, it will have all the answers you are looking for: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=624205 Welcome back, Sermer.

I would recommend you switch to a dps spec, do HM flashpoints, learn the fights by watching the other tank. You can do the same for PUG OPs, get on vent/mumble and hear the explanations. Once you learn more of the mechanics, you can switch and start tanking those fights. If your guild is not very active, I would recommend a more active guild. Please make sure you min/max your tank properly, read on the forums for recommendations and augment your gear. Some of the fights are a little overwhelming at first but after you learn the fights, they become easy. Good luck to you, Sermer.

As a arsenal merc I solo Oricon including the 2+ group quest; granted I am well geared. Your main issue is that you are using blizz, swap to mako (heal) and you will see a huge difference. Tank companions are squishy. I prefer treek then mako, I set him to tank initially and swap him to heals if needed during the fight. I also gear treek with full dps gear.

I agree completely, a minimum gear check is needed. You could even make it optional that way if you want don't want to use it, you don't have to. You can still take the under geared guildies thru without having to run to the instance entrance. I went with my alt Healer with mostly rakata gear but I only went with an over geared guild tank even then it was tough. If the tank was not highly geared I would not be able to heal the instance so I do think a gear check is key to provide a good experience for everyone involved. Even as a DPS; if I see the tank and healer are both not properly geared, I drop the instance and go back on the long wait queue. If one of them is over geared then I will stay. One instance, the under geared tank died in every boss and I end up tanking the rest of the fight. The over geared healer could not keep him up. The healed mentioned, it was easier healing me (merc) than the tank, granted I am mostly 72s. As a healer, if the tank is not geared to with 61s and some 66s, I drop group. I personally require a certain gear level. I currently have 2 healers, sorc and agent. This can also apply for Operations which is key to the success of the whole team. Without the gear, dps cause enrage, tanks and healers cause wipes unable to the successful completion.

The thing is some people want to do dailies as least as possible and focus on doing OPs. It is their choice and the high cost of repair is causing them frustations. I understand and I aggree the cost needs to go down. In the end, a game's purpose is to be fun, grinding for cash to pay for repairs is not fun.

I think you are viewing lotro with rose colored glasses. Granted I did not stay long after they went f2p. Still the game had only a few raiding areas with extremely basic difficulty elements, traveling was a pain, grinding a must and I do not remember monthly updates. I was a full paying customer for about two years. I liked the story and instanced quests but aside from that, there is nothing that stands out. It is an ok mmo. There is nothing there I would recommend bringing it here. Well maybe one thing, I would bring the community, one of the best community I ever seen in any mmo.

I could care less about the trash, I just want a faster way to get to the boss in case of a wipe. :-)

There was a significant nerf, in order to keep my previous dps, I had to swap various pieces of gear/mods. If you keep your rakata as is, your dps will be horrible. There was a stealth nerf but you can adjust to make up for it. Basically stack power, lots and lots of power. Am I happy with the current dps? No, but we are still competitive if and only if you adjust your gear. All I know is prior to 1.2c, my dps againt the boss dummy was a lot higher. This is not just my experience, posts from sithwarrior.com also show a significant drop. Eventually they will fix it, WoW all over again.

I am retiring my sorc healer and starting an ops one. I will wait until they make some changes if ever to bring him back.

A properly geared merc and companion is a beast, I rarely die and most fights are a joke. Others said it but it is all about GEAR, keep it updated for you and your companion. Rotations also matter, do not let your heat levels to go above 40-50%. I would recommend you to go do sithwarrior.com and read their merc guide. In short, I personally find the merc overpowered in a pve environment compared to the Sorcerer. I also have a level 50 sorcerer. Good luck to you.

Yes. There are a lot of room for improvent, for me the most important is a find group tool for quests and operations.