Firstly, thanks to all who gave honest opinions about the state of PvP...kinda rare on the interwebs to get that. To the trolls; WoW called is said come back and play your DK some more, there's new purplez to grind. Here's the thing that I loved about PvP in this game while levelling; the impact of gear was greatly mitigated. PvP was actually *fun* and I would argue better balanced in the 49 bracket. I know, I know, some people think that it's all just a learning curve and somehow, no magically, none of the PvP you do sub-50 means anything. Surely, you can't possibly learn how to stop a runner in huttball or manage stuns or escapes effectively when you're not 50? Nobody, uses vent/mumble or teamwork in sub 50 and no one ever ques with their friends (some on alts) just to PvP....amiright? Come 50 and I'm playing Gear vs Gear because some nitwit at another game company decided that PvPers needed to soullessly grind gear to enjoy the game like the PvEers do. No one would ever play a game to actually have fun or for the enjoyment of working with others for the thrill of completing against other players on a fair playing field? Bottom line, I don't want to play a game just to grind gear so that someday I can sit around and faceroll pugs because the playing field isn't level. Oh wait, but this time I get to do the facerolling you say? So that must be fun right? To the guy who mentioned GW2, I know, I'm in the beta and I can hardly wait to get back into Tyria. Maybe we'll cross paths in that game.

So I finally got to 50 and spent all the cash I managed to save up on recruit gear and I am getting facerolled by tools in premades all day long. As I've been watching less and less people log into the servers at night I suddenly have a theory to explain why. I literally played the last game against a premade and got no points because they have all the power and I have none. I refuse to pay money to play a game that isn't fun.

Thanks to all those who replied so far. I like PvP tanking but I've heard that it's better to gear for DPS if you run a Shield Tech spec. Is this true?

As long as gear is not normalized then you will never have an equal footing. Most MMOs I PvP in have all had the same problem that they inherited from the 800lbs gorilla. It's a broken and painfull model that doesn't encourage fun competition. It fosters elitism and poor conduct from the players with gear. Some may legitimately be good players but the reality is that many just got their status by playing 14 hours day. PvP becomes frustrating with gear factoring in so prominently....it's supposed to be a fun competition right? Right?

Hello! Here's the situation; I just dinged 50 and have no idea where or how to start gearing. I'm hoping that others who know where to get the good gear at can help point me in the right direction. I'm open to any suggestions on how to make the most of my class so bring it on. Me Class: Powertech Spec: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#301GoMrdkrkGRZbcbZ0c.1 Gameplay Focus: PvP Resources 350K Credits 1997 WZ Commendations 400 Armormech 400 Cybertech 400 Armstech So where do I start gearing? Are any of those tradeskills I have access to worth anything? Rumor has it that the mods you can make as a cybertech are useless compared to ones you can get by doing some dailies. Where do I start??? Thanks!