Except BWA will remove Boba Fett's flame thrower channel.

I actually thought this would be: I hate Life Day as it is a yearly reminder of that god awful Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978. Instead selling snowballs, how about some eye bleach instead?

I loved the original animations for the channel abilities. I'm deeply saddened to see them go. However, folks... please be careful in the cries about reverting the new changes. Hear me out... For reasons, after 5 years, the balance group wanted to convert these two iconic animations into a single global because people complained a lot about it (Bounty Hunter/Troops *****ed about flame thrower too). So to appease the loud masses they changed all channels or just removed them completely like for our Assassin/Shadow brothers and sisters. I know you want the old animations back. I do too, but we have to be careful. You ask too much of BW Austin and then they will eventually cave... by adding it back as a Cartel Market item. I can see it. A new "feature" in the game: Custom Animations. Little configurable slots on the character screen or the abilities panel that you can drag and drop to be that special snowflake you always wanted to be. They'll hype it up, they'll live stream it, and then gate that **** behind a platinum drop in a ****** CM pack. Be careful what you wish for folks. P.S. I wish I could say this is satire, but I'm serious.

We'll agree to disagree here. I don't think most players expected weapon tunings to be super rare. If that were true this thread wouldn't exist. I can admit, I'm not happy about it, but I knew full well what *I* was getting in to. There are just things about the changes with the CM packs since last year that have been irking me. This just adds more on to the pile.

To be fair, there was no transparency about what the drop rate of the weapon tuning would be prior to the release of the new CM pack. Which is a pretty obvious underlying cause of the player hate. Had transparency been the case, then yes people could have voted with their wallet. I also think it is obvious to say that Bioware could have been shooting themselves in the foot had they been more transparent in the first place. Also, once a transaction has happened and a consumer feels slighted by the expenditure then complaints happen. This is how it is due to human perception regardless if the action is right or wrong. I had a feeling the new CM pack would make the tuning rare, and I bought one to open it and see for myself. I was going to buy it anyway as I tend to pickup a Hypercrate to sell/trade items from them. However, the current trend in how the CM packs are being treated is creating a pretty sour taste even in my mouth, and I don't mind dropping disposable income I have on video games. I just do it less with this one.

I think some of the feedback for the weapon tunings would have been more positive if you guys didn't: A) Make such a big deal about adding it over social media WHILE, B) Locking them behind gamble crates with the weak drop rates of the "gold" tier, C) THEN block them out of the collections causing people to make the choice of buying multiples or not for dual wield or multiple characters D) and finally, insult your player base's intelligence by making this reply while also adding in the hints at a "platinum" rating for future items... C'mon... You guys knew full well that people would be excited about these and putting them in as a "rare" drop on the packs would be a way to drive sales. SWtOR has been manipulating the Cartel Packs since the launch of this expansion trying to find a sweet spot of not pissing on your player base while driving profitability. I get it. You want to keep out of the black. However, don't continually screw people with non-sense like this in order to make revenue. The Arbiter's sabers look great, people wanted it, and SWtOR really bent their fanbase over with the rarity of this. If you read nothing else.... TL; DR: If you're going to hype an item, then put it up as direct sale on the CM so more people can access it. More feedback about the CM packs: I actually liked the older method of Cartel Packs with certificates + credits to spend at rep vendors. Hell, your business saw more of my dollars trying to get Revan's Mask, than I care to admit, than I have put into the game since the packs changed with KotFE. I just haven't had an interest in buying them as I did before because there is no reward that I can build towards. Instead I get loaded with a second, often incredibly crappy, gamble pack WITHIN the gamble pack! However, several of the new shipments also happen to have really awful recolors of older sets ON TOP OF really crappy secondary gamble packs. Consider taking a step back and review the quality of items from some older packs, subjective I know - but most of the new packs have *maybe* 1 decent looking armor set/mount/weapon, and change your strategy. I see the same level of disappoint nearly everytime Dulfy previews a new pack. Consider some more improvements sooner rather than later.

Skadge is the only companion in the game I'd consider killing. I actually kind of liked Tano Vik. He had his own underhand style of charm. I accepted Quinn's apology during the story arc every time even on my dark side warriors (I think I'm up to 4 of them now). Even my most vile play through could see reason to accept him as a lackey. Quinn is the Toad to my Magneto. He stays. Skadge can go in a freaking airlock and kiss the stars.

I didn't get the subscriber e-mail either. I did get my monthly coins on time, and I was provided with the confirmation e-mail about it on 2-18-16.

I'm pretty sure it will be Manaan. The movie will have Luke leading a team with Rey and Fin into the depths. They'll come across the movie version of Ortuno... Luke will realize that Rey and Fin are too low powered to face off against an enemy like Ortuno, and he'll succumb to the dark side by rage quitting. With Rey and Fin stranded against such a powerful foe the rebellion will have been disbanded before it even started. *Seriously though, it isn't going to be related to SWTOR... unless its Manaan. Then it would be hilarious.*

I agree with a lot of your description of Kylo, but (and you point out) that is the point of the character. I was talking to someone yesterday that said he was an emotional Darth Vader wannabe... that is the entire point of the character! I actually thought Adam Driver nailed the performance. The more we see Kylo Ren unravel as the film progresses gave so much more impact to Snoke's statement of "bring him to me. it is time to finish his training.". That was a moment that really shed light on so much regarding the character. I thought Driver's interaction with Han was well done, and I liked his emotional range. I love Darth Vader for being so cut and dry evil in the first two films. Vader never misses a beat in those movies as the bad guy and he is an iconic movie villain for being so stoic in his monster nature. Kylo Ren is exactly the opposite of this, but, to me at least, the film pulls it off well. As someone else said in this thread, he was Anakin in Episode 2-3 done right. Hats off to Mr. Driver. I thought he was great.

Sorry, but I feel a lot of the people so puzzled by this have lost the idea of what the force is, and what Jedi training is for. Jedi/Sith training is not about discovering the force in their selves. It is about controlling their emotions. The Jedi train physically to build discipline and focus. This is to avoid giving in to deeper passions like fear or anger. Anakin's younger self was amazingly good at pod racing because of his connection to the force and his strength in it. Ezra in Star Wars Rebels (canon by Disney standards) performs feats bolstered by the force without any training in the pilot episode. Again, the training isn't about gaining force abilities. It is about controlling oneself. That was always the point.

Hmmm... I agree with 5, 4, 7, 6, but I can't really put my finger on which of the prequels I feel was the worst. I think 1, 2, 3. I need to state that when I watched Episode 1 in the theater even Jar Jar couldn't kill the hype, and I totally recognize that Qui-Gon and Maul were the best parts. Epi 2 was not a favorite, but it wasn't the worst of the bunch. So I guess that leaves me with Episode 3. Why? Because I hated, hated, hated, how Obi-Wan walked off and left Anakin to die. It felt SO out of place and character. Why not just kill him? Why leave him there broken and suffering? Why not.... you know... save him? Obi all teary eyed saying "You were like a brother to me", and turn and walk off while letting him die alone on that planet. And then "Padme... NoooOooOoooo". Yeah, Episode 3 killed much of my childhood. Even the younglings. F*** that movie.

This guy gets it. My only gripes with the film were the question of why is there a rebellion directed at the First Order when the Galactic Republic exists. Why doesn't the Republic leverage military action against a fringe group that is clearly trying to bring back the Empire. An Empire that was responsible for the mass murder of Alderaan. The Starkiller base has physics questions that make it absurd, but then again so do lightsabers. And that is exactly what I told myself when I say it sucking down a Star into a planetary core. I stopped myself, and thought just go with it. That fight scene in the snow, not even a problem on my radar. I feel some people have a bad taste in their mouth for a few reasons A) they allowed hype of Kylo Ren potentially being some ****** to cloud their judgment, B) there is some linger chauvinism that won't let them believe "a girl" can kick ***, C) forget that the force "flows through us, it guides us" (as said by Kenobi in Episode 4), and D) some combination of these. The fight scene itself wasn't implausible at all. Rey nor Fin used the lightsaber with what appeared to be even jedi knight level skill. Watch again how many times Rey thrusts the weapon near head level without great aim or how many times she is hammering down the lightsaber with both hands as if it were some heavier weapon. Fin obviously has some natural talent that his is tapping into, but he doesn't use the lightsaber even on a level that Luke did in Episode 4. I'm willing to bet you the fight choreography in this film was as deliberate as it looks.

Me too. Darth Gollum. However, I liked it anyway. I won't be surprised if they try to tie Snoke to Plagueis. Though, I thought Darth Plagueis was a member of the muun species, and Snoke is most certainly not that. What I think... I think Snoke's hate for Luke Skywalker is tied to all of his scarring. I wouldn't be surprised if Kylo Ren killed off the other students at the behest of Snoke whom wanted to get some form of revenge on Luke for having wounded him in the past. More realistic is that Snoke's features actually look like the original concept art of the Emperor drawn on the story boards for plan during Return of the Jedi. The emperor was only shown as a head and barely had his face revealed (he had different prosthetics around the eyes in his first appearance vs Return of Jedi). He was original drawn as being tall and very gaunt. Much like what Snoke appears to be. Time will tell though.

Actually, according to Obi-wan Kenobi in A New Hope, J.J.'s vision is pretty much how the force works. Kenobi kept on telling Luke to let the force guide him when he was practicing against the tiny droid on the Falcon. Luke just wouldn't listen. Even Yoda felt Luke was too stubborn to learn when he first started training him. Luke's biggest enemy in the first two movies of his appearance, was Luke himself. We see how that plays out by the end of Return of Jedi. Yes, Palpatine was still really strong, but Luke was finally able to accept his place within the balance of the Force. Rey just came to that conclusion much faster. Why? She is obvious FAR more open minded than Luke was at the start of A New Hope. Rey *knew* what she was. She was scared of it and wanted to hide out on Jakuu (which will probably get explained more later). However, in that moment against Kylo Ren she let the force guide her actions. She is obviously very strong innately in the force and that let her make up for some loss of practical skill. Plus Kylo Ren was badly injuryed. Like I pointed out before, the movie really tries to foreshadow just how power the bowcaster is (taking out 3 stormtroopers in a single shot, blasting one so hard it blows armor pieces off). Yet, Kylo takes a bowcaster shot to the stomach (a fatal wound most of the time) and is still capable of pressing on. It obviously wears on him. I think he was beating on the wound in that fight to prove, to himself, he was strong enough in the dark side to manage his pain. Rey just took advantage of that.

I doubt there is a connection, but I totally noticed it.

Got to watch it early this morning with only a few in the theater (so fairly nice and quiet).

Agreed! I'd love to see titles tied to legacy and unlockable by class. I've already done each of the stories, some of them more than once. There is no good reason to keep them locked away from those with multiple alts other than maybe technological limits. I'd pay cartel coins to unlock all of the titles from say my Sith Warrior that is 65 on my Sith Warrior that is lvl 19. Maybe the titles get tied to level, I don't care, but it would be nice to not have to run through the stories for them. I made my instant 60 a gunslinger because the title of Captain, while missed, isn't as important to me as Master/Darth. Bounty Hunters fall into the same state (most of their titles aren't great, and I have a Baroness). I will never, ever, buy an instant 60 force user because of the lack of titles.

I'm kind of hoping that they have two versions of Jaesa based on alignment level. It would be neat to see the alignment of the PC impact what sort of alert message you get. That's probably too complicated so it may boil down to the recruit mission involving alignment level or something. Or the alternative is she takes the Tanno Vik route and doesn't present an option to join at all. Her dark side romance letter hints that she may not be available even if we find her. Khem would probably default to original mind Khem. No special guests. I was glad to see very different recruitment conversations for characters like Choza Raabat on my Jedi Knight v what my Sith Warrior had. I have some hope for some interesting developments. Ultimately, I'm waiting for an opportunity to kill Skadge. Unless there is a *really* good reason to let that turd live.

Carnage is middle of the road in terms of burst and sustain. It is capable of high damage output but the burst isn't comparable to Fury for Marauders. OP, if you're only interested in big numbers at a time then Rage Juggernaut will have the best results for you especially now after 4.0 because of War Bringer. Juggernauts get to use Vicious Throw after Force Leap (once high enough in level) plus they get to use Retaliate. Basically they have more options to use higher damage attacks than their Marauder brothers and sisters. If you want the best possible damage get good at Anni Marauder or Carnage. Don't just play them. Get good. Both have high skill caps, especially Carnage - at least to me, and they are not for derpy players. Vengeance Juggernaut is fairly newb friendly but the priorities on what to use and when do take some practice. Also, keep in mind most of these parse within 5% of each other. I happen to have 4 Sith Warriors and 3 Jedi Knights. I've played all of the specs.

Well given the grind of the Alliance system, I think Arcann has a right to be a bit smug in thinking "we'll never catch up".

I disagree. Some the Cerzka Meltdown is pretty tough even with explanation. The kolto nodes don't help. Some pulls, like in Athiss, were designed with trinity play in mind. Example being the 6 droids before the first boss in Athiss. People that understand CC (and have it) get past this fairly easily. A group of 4 without any CC (Marauder/Sentinel, really low level players, etc...) will struggle and probably wipe more than once. The problem I see is that much of the tactical versions to old flashpoints is they slapped "tactical" and "bolster" into the design without accounting for actual gameplay. Sure, most of these flashpoints are doable with 4 DPS. However these 4 DPS have to not only know the ins and outs of their class, but also understand that using the Kolto station is *everyones* responsibility. I've watched far to many people just sit and turret damage (snipers, sorcerors, mercs, etc...) and never move then die. Some even do this while sitting right next to a Kolto and never ever touch it. Its just stupid. Given the complexity of some of the flashpoints they probably should add brackets to them. Like Black Talon/Esseles and Hammer Station in a 10-20 range, Athiss 20-30, and so on and so forth. The only really faceroll easy tacticals that I find are the ones that were designed with solo mode active since Shadow of Revan. Those are so dumbed down on mechanics many can complete them without too much issue.

I think this is probably the best observation and one component to the core of the many complaint threads about the companion change. Also, a lot of people have noticed an issue with scripting on healing. I ran into that this morning. Lvl - 65, Sith Juggernaut in Vengeance spec. I've played him since beta and I understand the mechanics exceptionally well. I haven't pushed progression with him though. Gear- meh, still upgrading from Shadow of Revan, I haven't been a raider in years. We'll call it an average 192. Dabbled on Oricon this morning - "Clipping their Wings" Heroic 2+: There are times that you will pull a gold, 1-2 silvers, and 4-6 standard mobs. I used Jaesa with influence rank 9. Jaesa died once to a pack with 2 silvers and 6 standard mobs. I initiated combat with Force leap, and the very first heal Jaesa cast gained her aggro from everything. She crumpled shortly after that, but I cleared the mob. I started to use her Whirlwind ability to initiate combat after that, and Leap/Taunt (as necessary) to reduce focus fire. That worked a bit better. I did notice that healing companion's draw extreme aggro when there are multiple targets and it is hard to peel enemies off if you don't have a taunt. Also, healer Jaesa would just stop healing for a while (including her self), and just engage in melee combat with her pathetic basic attack even if a heal was off cool down. Jaesa and I engaged a few champions in that same heroic zone (for the quest). 1 on 1 fights with a champion were fine. Jaesa's healing output, even at rank 9, was fine to keep me up despite the really crappy champion mechanics there (apparently all champions there have 3-4 crowd control abilities on an 18 second cool down each, and they *love* to spam them back to back). Observation: There is something wrong with healer mode scripting that creates a time frame where the healer will just stop doing that role for a bit, and then reset when the player is below 50%. Healing output, even on a low rank companion, is noticeably weaker though it is tolerable if the AI is consistent with its role (it certainly isn't right now). There is also a gap in gameplay between KotFE story mode chapters and the Alliance system requirements. I've completed KotFE on my Gunslinger prior to the 4.0.2 companion changes. There *is* a gulf between the story content "casual" gameplay that jumps right into "hardcore" end game grinding. You need to reconsider that and figure out what you really want for your player base. I personally like the suggestion of adding completion to the story mode tasks but also keeping them in heroic for those with more experience.

Rage is overkill for most PvE content. Though, I've been biased towards Vengeance ever since beta. It has been my favorite spec. The change to Impale makes it a strong single target hitter, but it doesn't quite compare to Focused Burst during leveling.

This is exactly why I mentioned Jaesa's plot armor power. It could completely neuter the advantage you think Kaliyo has in manipulating people. Overall I agree though, in melee Kaliyo is dead.