PAX: http://www.swtor.com/user/ce/1j66c

This is not just the SW IP.. it includes Indiana Jones (will be difficult since paramount did all the movies and such), Industrial Light & Magic (which does visual effects / sound for A LOT of movies), Lucasarts Ltd., and Skywalker Sound. And considering, Disney also own Marvel Entertainment and Pixar...... OHHH I can see the jokes in my head now of all the possibilities Can you see it: The Hulk on the Millenium falcon, With Daisy Duck as Queen, and Buzz lightyear as the quarky sidekick LOL As for the new films, we shall see how it turns out. Once thig is, it will be family oriented

Be aware that the crates that are sprawled around the areas are not very large. So make sure you look in all the nooks and crannies as they are not always visible.

WHOOAAAA there people... Don't go saying you actually ENJOYED the Rhakghoul event. From all the posts after that event, it was a complete failure according to people. :rolleyes: At least we are getting "some" sort of advance warning. I am curious to see how this one works out though. Wonder if those Chevin will ask us for Rhakghould DNA - now that would be hilarious. HMMM My ship isn't going to explode after 20 minutes of me grabbing the cargo is it??

Greetings from the Chevin Conglomerate. Our eternal purpose: to provide personal enrichment opportunities. All other claims are libelous. The Grand Aquisitions Race has begun. profit opportunities are extensive for individuals capable of interstellar travel. Others nned not apply. Our representative on the Nar Shadaa promenade awaits aspiring Conglomerate agents. End of Transmission.

/sigh - I have problems with your post as well If you are running a 64-bit Windows OS, using only 4 GB of RAM is CRIPPLING your machine if you are a gamer or do any type of video editing / run multiple programs (or even if your not - just may not notice it). Why you ask? Because if you only install 4 GB of RAM on a 64-bit system, if automatically has the same limitations of RAM as a 32-bit OS. It's due to the way Windows handles 32-bit and 4 GB of memory - the same limitations are applied to a 64-bit system with only 4 GB of memory. Also, because SWTOR is hardware / memory intensive, having more than 4 GB of memory Windows is able to utilize the 64-bit instruction sets for, you know, faster rendering and loading. Not only that, SWTOR itself runs MULTIPLE tasks (you do realize it is unzipping SEVERAL files and loading and unloading FILES such as music, NPC's, planet, etc...) And 8 GB of ram in these days can be gotten fairly cheaply. I've seen corsair 8 GB kits running for ~$50 or cheaper (ddr3 1800 mhz). Don't gimp your gaming system. ;TLDR You are asking them to get all this decent hardware that can make EXCELLENT utilization of the 64-bit archetechture and higher command levels to SPEED UP processing, then you are asking them to gimp their memory to a 32-bit standard. And before you say it, yes SWTOR is a 32-bit application, but running on a 64-bit system, it CAN utilitize the upper functions of the 64-bit Archatechture. Don't gimp.

I am a 43 Sage spec'd Healer (not full seer - points distributed across all 3 Tiers, but mostly in Seer) 1. How do you think your Sage spec is perceived by other classes? They are weak, low damage output, very squishy, low healing output, wanted really only for Salvation (full seer only). For PvP, we are not wanted. For PvE, still have some usefullness. PvP, we are laughable. Group content, depends on the other classes in the group whether Sages are usefull or not. 2. How do you perceive your own spec? Resource management, esp in a long battle, can be difficult. Once you run out of force, that's it. In PvE, I can typically hold my own even going solo. If I end up having to be the DPS in PvE content (missions / quests), because of the low damage output, battles tend to take quite a while and get drawn out, which leads to the resource management problem. I take a lot of damage, output little damage, so I am healing more instead of damaging more. Even with Tharan out, he's sole purpose is ONLY to heal me and that's all he does the entire battle is constantly throwing out heals. Squishy squishy

Best post in this interesting thread. TOR is my first MMO. And since I am a big Star Wars fan, I like the class stories and the atmosphere. But I hate the all-time-grinding, and you cannot avoid it, to move along. And its a pity, that TOR has put some tiny elements in the missions, which show, that they could have avoided it more. There are actually one or two riddles in quests (remember one on Balmorra, where you have to switch power stations, in the right order). The dialogue system should already be able, to achieve different things from NPCs, if you act clever. There are a few missions, where you protect NPCs against mobs. There are some enemies, who you can beat, when you observe their patterns. But, it is too few... Actually, having puzzles is actually a good thing. And SWTOR does have puzzles; how to get to that datacron is one of them. TSW is actually trying to get away from a lot of the MMO stagnation. No levels, 1 realm with multiple dimentions; meaning I call myself Godzilla, NOBODY else can use that name - no matter what "homeworld" they choose. Even though my homeworld might be "AWESOME," I can still be in a guild that is on "L33T" and have friends on ANY of the other dimentions and play with them on-demand. I can also put something up for sell on the Auction House, and it is now up for sell on ALL dimentions, not just my "homeworld." EVE is taking another step forward. Look-up "Dust 514" (PS3 / VITA only). Dust 514 is an MMOFPS (currently in beta) that interacts with the EVE MMO world (which I've never played). It is also a FREE download and F2P. Basically, in Dust 514, you are battling in w/e battle the people in EVE are battling; they control what battles you can join. You can't create anything, but you are a ground troop soldier in those battles; while the EVE players are fighting in space. You choose from the same alliances as in EVE; same star system map and all. So if you take over a planet, you take over someones planet in EVE; meaning you just affected A LOT of people. EVE just created a way for people to play their game, and not even know it Now imagine if SWTOR combined with SWG in the same way EVE is doing with DUST 514... THAT'S thinking outside the box. In SWTOR, we are doing the quests, missions, etc... then on the fleet we hear "A battle has broken out on Belsavis." Then in SWG, they are there fighting on Belsavis. Then say if say The Empire takes it over, in SWTOR the quests / missions change based on that. Now imagine if you logout of SWTOR, and then are able to login to SWG (using your same account) and YOUR CHARACTER is there. OR in SWTOR, we get into a warzone, and what happens there is added to what happens in SWG.

So I have a level 50 character with max crafting which I created on Day 1 named "Roxy." You have a level 40 character with mixed crafting levels named "Roxy" also created on day 1. I have a /playtime of 200 hours. You have a /playtime of 400 hours. I can only log in a couple times a week. You on the other hand can login everyday. So how come I have to lose my name? I have actually invested more in the game since I have a level 50 character with max crafting while in the same 7 months, you have only made it to level 40 with mixed crafting levels - though you have more "playtime." Unfortunately, there is no right answer. Companies have to try and use the best method that will cause the least amount of issues. And just what is an "inactive" account in your mind? What if the person hasn't logged-in in 3 months. is that inactive? Maybe they have been out of the country unable to login, but want to keep their subscription going since it is only temporary. They pay the same amount you do so why should they be forced to change their name? See what i'm getting at. Someone's going to draw the short stick no matter how you do it; that's a FACT. I lost a few names in another MMO simply because those characters did not have enough "playtime." I was actively leveling them, but they were alts, but I still none-the-less had invested time in them. Again, someone's going to draw the short stick no matter how you do it. As for Ebon Hawk and queue times, I have only ever been put into the queue and that was in December 2011. Even after the mergers, I have not ever been put into queue - and I play in "primetime" hours. So not sure what the deal is there.

he was the Principal Lead Combat Designer

I would say yes.....

It was answered in a one of the QA's: http://www.swtor.com/blog/community-qa-april-27th-2012#m http://www.swtor.com/blog/community-qa-may-4th-2012#f http://www.swtor.com/blog/community-qa-june-22nd-2012#f (this one gives more explantion into loot drops) To paraphrase: In all content, there is a Bias to what gear drops based upon what Classes are in your group. For normal pvE content, that bias is low so you get lots of randomness. In endgame-content, the bias is very strong (since 1.2, patched in 1.2.2). It is a bias, NOT a gurantee. The bias is that SOMEBODY will be able to use the loot that drops, but it still is not 100%. It uses both base class (Consular) and advanced class (Sage / Shadow). For instance, If I have a Sage in my group I have a good chance for Light Armor drops; add a Shadow, the drop rate for say Light Armor pieces would not increase due to the fact that they are BOTH consulars so there is only 1 single Bias (if the bias is to Consulars). Now suppose there is also in the loot an off-hand LightSaber. Because there is a Shadow (who can use off-hand LS's), there is now a bias for that item to drop that would not be there if there was only a Sage (Sages can't use off-hand sabers). The bias is an “opt-in” system for each character present. That means that you have the same loot playing as a solo Jedi Sage or a full group of Jedi Sages. I had runs where it was like my Sage was getting ALL the drops - and really good ones at that. Then I run it again in 15 minutes, and It's like nothing really drops. Just because tehre is a bias, doesn't mean it's guranteed. A blaster pistol could still drop in a group of all Jedi / Sith, it just has a lower chance of doing so.

1. Sharding - you can really get rid of this. Technology wise, a computer can only handle so much information at a time. If all the sudden you saw 10,000 people on your screen, i gurantee even the best computer would go :csw_deathstar_un: on you. That doesn't mean though that there aren't ways around this so that the world still appears vivid and lively. Can you imagine chat with 10,000 people all talking at once So unless they are using really really really big super-computers.. sharding has to stay. But again, it doesn't means there aren't ways around it. 2. The Trinity - I think anyone who has played MMO's for any given time HATES this. It forces people to having to play certain ways. There's no dynamic play involved. You HAVE to have a Tank, you HAVE to have a healer, you HAVE.... why do I HAVE to?? just because I'm a Doctor, doesn't mean I don't know extensive Kung Fu / Karate / Tai Kwan Do / etc... And just becasue I'm a Boxer, doesn't mean I didn't graduate med school. Maybe you can throw a harder punch, or have a little more endurance becasue you have been training for it, but why is the healer ALWAYS so defenseless?? 2 hits and BAM - dead. WHY. Did I somehow forget how to fight just because I'm a "healer?" I have seen some companies try and take it out, but it ALWAYS somehows creeps back in. And the excuse is "Well it's for class balance." Well then build the freaking classes / game equally. Quit using the Trinity as an excuse to change. Using the doctor (healer) example from above.. how come the Doctor can't Tank / DPS too?? he knows Martial Arts which means he can hit and dodge too. yeah, he might not hit as hard as the boxer, or have the same endurance as say a runner, but that doesn't mean he can't do it or that he's some involate that needs protection cause he's some weakling. Even an Archer, if someone got close enough, they could hold their own as they were trained as well in up-close battles - not just shooting arrows at people. By far the Trinity needs to go the way of the 8-track. 3. Factionism - This one is ehhhhh not quite sure. Still kinda on the fence with this one. it works in some, others it doesn't. There are options out there, but I'm still thinking on this one. 4. Grinding and Leveling - We understand why it's there - keep you playing as long as possible, but there is an inherent problem - it creates gaps and so if you don't keep up with the Jones', you're stuck at a level trying to level when no one is around your level to help (lots of levels in that sentence - I think I leveled it up) I will say this DCUO had the right idea and SWTOR is also leaning in the right direction. With DCUO their whole thing was "Get to max level as fast as possible, cause that's where eveeryone wants to be anyways." I mean even a lazy lazy lazy casual player could make max level; it was "if you're not max level within 3 days - you really aren't trying." And that was playing only 2 hours a day. it was outrageously easy. Where they failed though was in content. There wasn't enough content and what they had became very repetative very fast. We have these large planets with a bunch of open space that's not even being used. How is it epic to sit killing the same mobs over and over again for 10 hours? How is it epic to get a quest and it says "We need you to go and kill 20 of these. Now go kill 40 more" The basics of questing haven't changed AT ALL. It's overdue for an overhaul

If you do the "Jedi Prisoner" series of flashpoints (Taral V and Maelstrom) on the republic side, you see how it kinda ties in. Watch the taral V dev. walkthrough for a glimpse But as well

I had not checked recently and this was not always true. You are correct that Techblades use barrels. At one point they actually used hitls. Since they added in the moddable techblades, they seem to be correcting some things - my fault for not checking recently

UMMM... yes you can - just not in battle (unless you have the rez-in-battle ability). And it has a 0 second reset timer on it. There is even an ability to res a dead person while in battle (only healers get it). I'm pretty sure EVERYONE gets a rez ability, it just on a long timer. But for us healers, it is on a 0 second timer (I can rez you, then rez him, then rez him - no wait time) But I must agree with the sentiments about the "leroy jenkins" out there. No one should have to deal with them. people... If we are doing Taral V - WE ARE NOT ATTACKING EVERY FREAKING GROUP OF ENEMIES.... And if you have never done a FP / OP, please say so at the BEGINNING so that we can make any needed adjustments. We know there's good people and bad people out there, but sometimes, some people you just sit there jaw wide open like "Did that just really happen..... Where in the space time continuem was that not just plain, outright, STUPIDITY?" There are good groups and bad ones, and some just don't jive together. But you can get some decent PUGs who just jive from the start and run through it - though they may have just met each other. They just have that chemestry - or the group has just the right classes with the right abilities and boom - instant awesomeness.

;tldr... The world is moving to Digital and there is no way of stopping it. How this is implemented though, and how we the consumer react will dictate whether or not it will be to our advantage, or disgrace ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// I actually use a service that is 100% online for games. if you haven't heard of it it is called "OnLive." They have a variety of games (some new some old) but the thing is, there is NO downloading of the game to your computer. You 100% need a broadband ( 3Mb/s or higher) connection to play. Online is were everything is moving to. I play other MMO's that are 100% DD and have not ran into any major issues. While I will agree that not everyone has "Broadband" Internet access in the world, there are FEW areas that people truly have no access in some shape or form. For instance.. 90% (yes 90) of people IN THE WORLD have a cell phone - Internet access. And even in those areas where cell phones are few, there are places one can go and still access the internet - such as cyber cafe's. So yes while you may not have it directly to your home, it is still accessible in most of the world. Now with that being said, I understand the argument of what people are saying. But now consider this, who said EA couldn't still use stores as marketing? Who said it couldn't still be digital only? I goto my local game-store and look around. See a couple games I like. Hand the store a storage device of some sort (CD, DVD, USB drive), I pay for said software, they copy it to my media and off I go. EA doesn't have to worry about the overhead costs of shipping and storage, creating DVD's etc... saves them money. Now as people have brought up though, just because you go Digital doesn't mean they are going to pass on those savings to you. Some places will, but it's not likely. You paid 59.99 for that boxed copy, you pay 59.99 to download it too; only difference, depending on where you live you might not pay tax for the online purchase. They are literally robbing you in broad daylight, and ADVERTISING they are doing it to you. I typically only buy DD if I can get some sort of deal over getting the boxed, otherwise, I want the boxed. Not just the gaming industry, but video, software, phone, computing, - everything is going Digital. Don't have cable .. that's fine, I can just use some Video Streaming service and watch it online tomorrow. Not sure if you wanna buy XYZ movie? Don't know if I want to buy XYZ game? Try a game rental service or a gaming cafe even. The only problem you are left with is how companies are now metering your broadband speed. That is actually now being reviewed by the FCC and ISP's now because the rates they are limiting people to, because everything is now so digital, are they acceptable. I know a couple of ISP's that are trying out "pay-per-MB" usage (ex. 100 MB = $1 so 5GB = $50); not that I agree with that style either but I can see the reasoning. We understand there are costs associated with marketing, up-keep of hardware / software, employees, etc... If I cut costs by not having to have a boxed product, I think you can cut some of the costs to the consumer as well, and STILL make a nice profit, without robbing us silly. Example: In this day and age, why are we still running copper to NEWLY built homes outside of use for electricity? I think the gaming industry should look at what happened with the Music Industry when it started going digital. You can pay $15 for the CD, or pay $15 to download it. People did not take that well and saw the price gauging going on and didn't stand for it. When people stopped buying their product (the RIAA lawsuits didn't help), they started realizing "OHH maybe we should do this differently." Now I can pay $15 for the CD, or $5.99 to download it; or even still, I can pay 0.99 (or cheaper) for a single track. Now the industry is making tons of money, artists are releasing DD only albums and tracks all because instead of me having to pay $15 for 2 songs on a CD (cause I don't like the rest of the tracks), I can buy what I like - and they don't have to worry so much about pirates. For those of you keeping track, we call those a bad word in gaming ..... "Micro-Transactions"

OHH - I will have to check this out when i get home HMMM wonder what it could be

If you go into your codex and click "Planets" select a planet you can see the acheivements. There is one for Datacrons. While it won't tell you specifically which ones you have, it will tell you how many you have found on that planet (ex: 3/5).

They are around, and I occasionally get that "1 credit" email (I take their stupid credit and report them ), but BW has been very quick to respond to people Credit Selling / Spamming general chat. As well, there is no market for Credit Selling either in SWTOR. Credits are extremely easy to come by. When you can spend 40k credits, and then have it completely back (plus some) within the hour, no market for credit selling. As well, if the playeers refuse to buy the credits, we have also not created a market

It is in fact correct and I have the proof: http://yfrog.com/5strandoshan003j In game testing, Qyzen actually did at one point use ranged weapons. He was a "ranged" tank. Later, they changed his weapon to a melee weapon (Tech Blade) and then to add more confusion for you, they labeled his weapon in the Codex as a "Vibrosword" (think about that when you buy his first new weapon and can't equip it), left his main stat as "AIM," and did not introduce any moddable Tech Blades. They also gave him all the STR buffs as well as the AIM buffs. So by adding AIM, you are actually adding STR, which is why so many people mistakenly add STR cause he uses a MELEE weapon and attacks Now you want to know some more info... Tech Blades use "HILTS" (not Barrels), you CANNOT (0, nin, none, ziltch) make an AIM hilt (ohhhh the plot thickens). Believe me when I say Qyzen is one messed up guy

It was reported on when on the PTS, and I beleive the comment was made in one of those threads (which of course have since been deleted). They said "technically" it is working like it is supposed to (it was dropping people in the wrong area at first, but they corrected it to drop you into you in front of your Hangar (I believe that wis the correct position). They are working on it, but as was mentioned, they stated the FP and OPs would need to be re-done so that it would work in that fasion to drop you off where you came from EDIT: I see lexi beat me to it

Attis Station is one that requires some patience. You can't just Zerg it, you gotta go in with a strategy. Don't over-pull, use your CC's and interupts. Attis is one that pretty much every Consular has a similar experience. You just gotta take it in stride and be smart. Those enemies are close together. be sure to heal up to full between every battle. There are some healing stations in-between, but I haven't found them useful Also, make sure you are armored up correctly. Don't go gimping yourself and your companion with bad gear - make sure it's current and good.And if you are using Qyzen to tank, TURN OFF HIS AoE - will screw up your CC everytimel.

As far as crafting goes, just look at the interface.. it is DESIGNED to be used on say - a mobile device. The end-point being "Oh, I can login with my phone, and send my companions on crafting missions." (BW actually said this) And actually, crafting was not initially able to be done just anywhere. It changed during game-testing. You actually had to be at a crafting station (those tables that are now for augmenting) to do some crafting - such as adding and removing mods. And trying to find a table was sometimes difficult, esp on some planets, as there just were not that many around or spaced too far apart. So tying crafting to one spot was actually making it unnecessarily difficult - thus the reason for the change. As far as the LFG system, that horse is pretty dead. It's had the discussions on it. The telport to flashpoint / world is actually a nice option when you think about it. Im on Hoth looking doing some questing while LFG. In the past, I would have to travel back to my ship, load into my ship, travel to fleet, load the orbital, travel to the next ship, LOAD the fleet, travel to flashpoint, LOAD... see what I mean. And not everyone's machine is the same, and not everyone's load times are the same. So rather than a bunch of loads (while the party is waiting), 1 simple load will suffice. The perks mentioned (repair droid) actually cost quite a bit, and are on a 1 hour timer. Some of the perks are also tied to your Fleet pass (which is on an 18 hour timer). If a person has played enough to have all those extra benefits, more power to them. They are basically rewards designed to make the gaming experience better. You don't want to have to do all those quests on taris (AGAIN), put your points into class questsor FP's for more exp so you can skip the world quests. This is a VIDEO GAME, it's not WORK. I shouldn't have to come home from WORK, to play a GAME which mnakes me WORK. It's not making the game easier, the content is not changing, they are just making it more convenient to DO the content and to allow for more people to experience more the the game they also pay for.

The Devs have actually answered that question (On the boards during the Guild Summit - or right around that time frame) and the answer is - Working as Designed and Intended. By dropping into cover, it basically puts a wall 360 degrees around that person, thus taking them out of LoS. So even if you walk behind them, you cannot force jump to them. You have to find a way to break their cover first. Even if they are not behind those nodes and are just kneeling down, Cover gives them the "LoS" advantage and you lose LoS.