So I'm not crazy. Malgus always has been a crap healer/tank (and why do they force us to use under-INF comps for late-game stuff, anyway?), and it was always possible to goof up and get mobbed. But I tried to do this mission yesterday on my l 78 sniper and got utterly facerolled 3times before I gave up. Didn't use to be this way.

Since most people seem to be focusing on endgame builds, i thought I'd start from the floor and have a look at how the game might appear to a newcomer post-expansion. Haven't gotten all that far, yet, but I have a few quick impressions: Does Marksman sniper still feel like a sniper? Yeah, I guess. At low levels, it especially feels like a 'real life' sniper, lots of 1-shot pew-pew. The skill tree is nice and clean, IMO. Good job. For what it is and represents. Is it *fun*? Eh. My first reaction was that it feels kind of like certain low-budget F2P Asian-style MMOs, where you grind away with the same couple of abilities roughly forever, rather than a Western (or Asian, for that matter) AAA game. It does up the challenge very slightly, I suppose, if you tackle elites as a newbie, and I get the appeal of streamlining the quickbars some. I think my question, especially as someone with a lot of alts, is as so many others have asked: WHY? Why, so far along, are you forcing us to rebuild our stable of characters (in case constantly having to reset talents with every 'rebalance' wasn't enough) and change our playstyles? If this was year 2 or 3, and part of a grand revisiting of systems, it might make sense As it stands, in year 10, it strikes me as being an attempt to make the game seem 'fresh' without really doing anything new. You're just taking away options. Again. Everyone was stoked for Combat Styles. No one, AFIK, asked for a complete teardown of the skills system. Another one. A few extra-minor side issues: those trainer statues you gave out as 'rewards' or that in some cases folks paid CC for- are they now so much v-waste? Since trainers no longer seem to do anything. If that's the case, and not simply an unfinished mechanic, there will also now be orphaned quests on the starter planets, all the 'go see your trainer' ones. While they weren't of major importance, they were a source of XP and early-game gear. Will anything replace them? If not, will you at least remember to REMOVE them, so they aren't just roads to nowhere?

For whatever it's worth, +10. Seriously hope they can come up with more ideas besides 'Play teh PvPs' or 'kill bugs'. I don't give a rodent's rump about Starfighter, and while I do like to PvP some of the time- not on this game. So that leaves basically Kill Bugs for Dailies. Almost always on Balmorra. Whee.

Why not? The game's already World of Wookies, with better writing...

Not intending to come across exceptionally pissy, but you do realize it's their JOB, right? My Dad used to do computer GFX for a major media sports carrier, and we often didn't see him for DAYS, especially right before a big event. And yes, even so things some times went wrong- and several times he was afraid he might get fired as a result. If you screw up the implementation, you stick around until it's fixed. It's what you get paid for, and what your customers are paying for.

Probably not. While I enjoy ToR (though less and less of late), the absolute last thing the world needs is yet another World of Wookies

Experienced RPer is looking for a mature, hardcore RP guild on Ebon Hawk server. Small guilds are fine, so are casuals- my play time is somewhat limited. Strong chars and stories a must. Dark is fine- I'm not squeamish I'd prefer either a cartel/crime syndicate (Imperial) or a BlackOps/mercenary theme (either side), but not limiting my options. If anyone knows of such, or is involved in one that is recruiting, please PM me. Thanks!

...good point, and thanks. Sleepy twit is sleepy...

Experienced RPer is looking for a mature, hardcore RP guild on Ebon Hawk server. Small guilds are fine, so are casuals- my play time is somewhat limited. Strong chars and stories a must. Dark is fine- I'm not squeamish I'd prefer either a cartel/crime syndicate (Imperial) or a BlackOps/mercenary theme (either side), but not limiting my options. If anyone knows of such, or is involved in one that is recruiting, please PM me. Thanks!

Will we see any method of dealing with the "unmovable Market interface occludes part of the unmovable Inventory screen" that can make setting up sales such a PITA, when the market UI covers the slots you're trying to sell?

Name: Aylen DuRoss Race: Human (allowing for colony genetic drift) Allegiance: Whoever's paying her right now, though she mostly backs the Empire out of self-interest. Class: Bounty Hunter Weapons: Anything that can do damage, but the boomier the better. Personality: Implacable, a little snarky, but generally more or less humane. Can seem antisocial; it's more she doesn't trust easily. Likes: Getting paid, being recognized for her abilities, Jonda Bayne, Imperial Agent novels, strong drinks, flying, driving. Dislikes: Politics, politicians, fanatics (Empire or Republic), watered drinks, bad machinery design, sloppy kills, sloppy maintenance, guys with chips on their shoulders, chicks with chips on their shoulders, liars, dealbreakers. Hobbies: Reading, messing with equipment. Personal Quote: "Shut up, or do it yourself." *** Name:Jonda (no last on file) Race: Chiss Allegiance: Herself, Imperial Intelligence, Empire, in more or less that order. Class: Imperial Operative Weapons: Hand-modified blaster rifles, small explosive devices, and a scary array of pointy and edged objects. Personality: Likable and outgoing on the surface, Jonda can be funny, flirty and even exhibitionistic; still, there's clearly something lacking in her- a conscience, or perhaps even a soul. While she has casual friends- for a while- there seems to be no one she actually cares about to any great extent, and violence is second nature to her- the more creative and subtle the better. She seems to truly believe in the Empire and the mission of ImpInt, but only so long as she is allowed to work her own way, on her own terms. Likes: Athletics, competition, edgy and strong intelligent people, parties, guns, annoying her superiors, mayhem, knives, exotic clothing, good food and wine, teasing her colleagues, demolishing enemies, finishing missions in unorthodox ways, aggressive "interpersonal relations". Dislikes: Micromanagement, wimps, being made to wait, being told 'no', squeamishness, fools, Jedi, Sith Lords, indecision (especially from her bosses), getting up early. Hobbies: Making fireworks, illegal weapons modifications, electronic surveillance (particularly of attractive neighbors), long-distance running, free-climbing, driving way too fast, competitive shooting, Yoga, martial arts. Personal Quote: "I'm sure we can find some way to pass the time..."

This! As the night wears on, my hands tire, and my typing, never that great, starts looking like the proverbial simian Shakespeare impersonators.

Errrmmm >.>. I had something rather like this happen some time back, when I was RPing with a friend in a social area. I was a newblet, and didn't realize that while, yes, our conversation was safely in Group, the emotes were going out into the public space... My reaction was rather similar. Fortunately, I always have a lot of alts on hand, so I could hide my shame behind another face until people forgot the name of the stupid bech who enlivened their evening...

Very cool, liking the varied backgrounds and moods. And the Twi'leks, of course

[had a Chuck Norris joke here, but then realized someone beat me to it Shoulda known]

<Obligatory_Snark> {there are no bad RPGs {only bad Rpers </Obligatory_Snark> Now that that's out of my system... Yes, there are many compromises made to make a workable *game* that may damage immersion- but true RP requires a certain amount of work on the part of the player. While I'm somewhat sympathetic, OP, you lost my attention when you started complaining about Titles. No 'real' in-game character is walking around with a big neon sign over his/her head saying "I won da great Hunt, yo!" or one that says Flygirl, or Merciless, or Lord This or That. You're letting yourself be distracted by a reward mechanic that exists outside the 'real' world of the game. The 'real' game world also does not have loading screens or subtitles nor, from what I recall, does anyone come back from being dead in the SW universe, unless as a Force ghost, or in a few very rare instances. All these are mechanical issues that are unavoidable in a game setting. I do find it amusing/annoying that YOU And ONLY YOU can complete Quest XYZ (well, you and 100,000 other players), despite the supposed army of NPC mercs and Sith and ImpInt sitting around on their bums. This is not peculiar to MMOs, however- SP RPGs use the exact same mechanic because, basically...well, there isn't a better one. If ANYONE could kill the Great Froolap, they'd not need you. Game over, thanks for installing. If you can find a better way to handle this, I quite seriously suggest you form a game company, because you will have cured an ill that plagues the entire industry from top to bottom. If you're really so bothered by it- do what Diablo allowed you to do, and what some guilds do in other MMOs. Play in Hardcore mode. No med probes. No quick and easy rezzes back at the nearest medic droid (who can also repair your armor, oddly enough). If you die, you're done. Reroll. I suspect that bit of realism will stop being fun after a while.

You know, if someone posted and asked "Why do humans roll Elven (or insert fantasy race here) characters when they're not elves?", it would be an obviously ridiculous question. Odd how when it comes to gender, people suddenly become squickish. While I'm sure for a few guys it's just an opportunity to dress their toons as trampish as they can and act out their real-life sexual frustrations, RP is, after all, about exploring otherness. And most games contain *some* element of Rp- after all, none of us are ninja, Jedi, Space Marines, dragonslayers, whatever (at least for sure most of us aren't)-yet here we are. I play both genders, though I play mostly female chars. It depends on what feels right for the concept, and sometimes that's a guy, sometimes a woman. Am I *successful* at convincingly RPing both? I'll leave that to the people I play with to decide. For myself, I see no problem with Rping whatever gender you want, so long as it's not done to deliberately grief or offend.

"Hi, Customer Service? Yes, I'd like to report an inappropriate, non-SW, non-Rp name please? Yes, well, see...it's actually your fault. Your whole 'Legacy System' that, at the moment, does absolutely nothing but force all of your characters on a server to be related, regardless of race, affiliation, or maybe some attempt at having an RP backstory? Oh, plus the fact that the Legacy System is the ONLY way to give any of your characters a last name, since a space is apparently considered a 'special' character by the name handler. I'm sorry? Why, yes, yes, I'm quite serious. It destroys my immersion to have my Twi'lek sharing a surname with my fullblooded Sith. For the love of Luke, they don't even speak the same LANGUAGE!" For real. Now, a little more seriously- I'm one of the first to complain about people rolling on an RP server and then running around like idiots with names like Barney_mustdie or whatever. And yes, I would like, on the RP servers at least, to see this sort of thing moderated a bit better. There are also IP issues- another MMO I play in fact gives people hassles for naming their chars anything remotely LIKE a character that might maybe be someone else's intellectual property, even if the name in question is a historical one, or a common word. You can't even use a specific word for a chess move, in a name or in text, because it HAPPENS to be used as a character's name in a completely different context in another IP. But. I'm reallllllly not convinced that outside of these parameters, anyone in the player base is qualified to say what is and isn't an 'appropriate' SW name. the restrictions mentioned above in another game get ridiculous there, and would get ridiculous here. If I am a human trooper, and my name is Kirk Legume, are you going to report me if I use the title "Captain", which is granted to me by progressing in the story? Because I am now "Captain Kirk Legume"? Still >.>. .<.< I DO understand the nerdrage.

Too frakkin' cute...x2!

It's probably part of the getting-here-eventually Legacy System- the first stage is unlocking existing player races for classes they were unable to select at launch.

To my mind, there is no question here. If you are openly RPing in Say in a public place, you are *inviting* interaction. We've all seen people off in a corner seemingly inert- those are the folks who don't want their shenanigans (ERP or other) interfered with, and so, wisely, keep it to themselves. Someone mentioned maturity, someone else mentioned choice. Both are valid points- though from my own *personal* perception of the flow of the game and its story construction, I find it unlikely that a bunch of Padawan are at the point in their careers where they've all decided the Order is wrong, so start acting out College Girls Gone Wild LXVII in public- far more likely it's teener G.I.R.L. syndrome- about which I could, of course, be horribly wrong. Under the circumstances, I think the OP and company responded very well IC, and the replies were...not so good. Even if the players truly want to RP that their chars believe this, essentially responding with a big *%$^ off is neither good RP, nor really IC- after all, if their attitudes were THAT bad, how were they ever accepted as Padawan in the first place? So, we're back to maturity, I'm afraid. Of course...the OP being (seemingly) shocked by that sort of behavior in an MMO? Without trying to be at all snerky, I might say *that* points to wishful thinking, or lack of experience. Welcome to the jungle. Enjoy the scenery.

This, to an extent. While it would seem to make sense to RP in the cantinas (which I've done, esp. on Nar any number of times), it gets old listening to MrMarblesXXX going on about setting his droid on fire to impress the Twi'lek dancer, or whatever. Most of my Rping is done in-ship or on missions because, as someone pointed out earlier, for some reason, despite having like 30 servers, non-RPers still flood the Rp servers, in part it seems to grief. And, unfortunately, ToR ATM lacks some of the RP tools available in other games: Guild bases/housing (ships work, but with a 4-person team cap...blah)- even a simple method to tell when someone you're speaking to is responding, as opposed to sitting there dead. Just wasn't a priority, it seems. The learning curve is steep in this one.

You mean like correcting someone's typing, while screwing up your own? No apostrophes in plurals, dear. Apparently you can't 'spell', either. Aside from the level of unneeded snark in your response, you barely addressed the poster's points. Yes, cantinas provide resting XP- which is only useful in combat. Which was the poster's main complaint- the heavy focus on combat Yes- there are *NPC* merchants everywhere. Not *PC* merchants. While there is the GTM for selling you crafted items, it's pretty sterile. Again, yes, there are *NPCs* running around, spouting the same 2 or 3 sets of canned lines (still with the audio bug where they start to talk, stop, then finish their conversation once you're well out of earshot- but you can still hear them). I play on several supposedly-RP servers, and when I see player chat at all outside of General, it's mostly people looking for teams for Heroics and FPs. Which is totally cool, but reminds you constantly that you're in a game, not a SW movie. Granted, the poster IS comparing apples and oranges- SWG, before it was broken, was designed as an mmo*RPG*. Whereas ToR is mostly a console-crowd team-based shooter. I still find it fun, personally, but the poster is right. It's not anywhere near as immersive.

Like a memorial statue come to angry life, two meters of smoking armor pounded down the corridor towards the waiting escape shuttle. Purple robes in blaster-shredded tatters, painted in the gore of a dozen Republic scum who had dared to try to halt his flight, Darth Krenek was enraged, in the quiet, focused way only a true master of he Dark Side could ever be. Fools. Imperial Intelligence had failed him. His fighter pilots, his picked guards, all failures. All fools. And when he was so close to completing his work...no matter. Most of his betrayers had already paid the price of their incompetence, butchered like mewling sheep by the invading cannon fodder of the Republic, or the pair of impudent Jedi who led them. As for the rest, the ones who were not here to be properly rewarded, they would be dealt with later... "Stop." The soft voice came from a figure so unassuming, so beneath notice, that the Dark Lord could be forgiven for overlooking her. A very young Twi'lek, flawless, deep red dancer's body clad in little more than slave collar and manacles, had slithered out from her hiding place in a storage locker and planted herself in Krenek's path. She might have been quivering in terror- might have reeked of it from every pore- but the heavy blaster pistol she held tightly in both hands was as steady as a seasoned soldier might have held it. "Stand aside, slave, or I will crush you," the Sith grated. "Throw yourself on the so-called mercy of those imbeciles from Coruscant, and you may yet live- if you make yourself pleasing to them. I have business elsewhere." "I'm sorry....Master." She giggled, then, a disturbing sound, birthed of fear and desperation. "I'm afraid all of today's departures are cancelled." Renewed rage warred briefly with curiosity in the Sith Lord's mind. That a mere slave- a Twi'lek, yet- should channel her fear so, turn it to strength. Was she worth keeping? Breaking, and rebuilding? Bah, no, there was no time. "You can't stop me, worm. Move or die. I don't care." Krenek started forward again, the mass of his armor alone enough to smash the girl into a stain on the deck. "Don't have to." The pretty face contorted, becoming a hideous mask of hatred, "Jedi will do that. I just have to slow you down..." Her first shot was aimed, not at him as he had expected and prepared for, but the lighting tray above his head. A fixture crashed down against his helmet, trailing live wiring, administering a distracting jolt. Three more shots, wild but fast, severed the cooling lines in the wall to his left, coating him with clinging, icy foam... How long had she planned? Had all of them planned, waiting, hoping for one chance at vengeance? No one really notices a slave; so long as they obey, they can go nearly anywhere, see nearly anything. Contrary to belief, they have minds, and can learn...and Aranna had learned well. Fast and small, so long as the Sith was kept off balance, she could avoid the flashing saber, the lightning, the debris turned into weapons, even in the narrow spaces of the corridor. In fact, the close quarters were to her advantage; the huge darksider couldn't move as freely as he otherwise might have. Every time she fired, it was not his dense, resistant armor she was aiming for, but the far more fragile and volatile structure of the research station itself. Flying, dodging from point to point, each shot rained wreckage on the hulking form, pelted him with white-hot shards, blinded him with smoke and vapor. But it couldn't last. He was a Sith Lord, and she, however brave, only one underfed beaten-down slave. "ENOUGH!" The roar alone was enough to almost be a weapon, but it was the almost-solid sheets of lightning Krenek cast along every surface, driving out from his body like an ocean wave, that ended Aranna's dance. In an instant, there was nowhere left to dodge; his power crowded her into a corner, pinned her against the bulkhead, and spent itself through her convulsing body and into the wall behind. When it finally released her, she fell, limp, to the deck, twitching and smoking, her once-beautiful skin now more black then red. With a satisfied grunt, Krenek wiped some goo, vomited out by the smashed fire-suppression system, from his faceplate, and continued down the hall. Not more than ten steps further along, a sudden weight struck him in the middle of his back. First one, then two powerful legs, blistered and seared, wrapped themselves tight around his waist. Something else, dense and compact, settled in the folds of his ragged hood before it was pulled down over the top of his head and over his eyes, obstructing his view. Clinging like a child riding piggyback, crushed against his flailing steel form, Aranna leaned in close, whispered fiercely into his receiver. "Boom!"... *** Light sabers at the ready, two robed forms stepped cautiously trough the hatch, first one, then the other. Both stared for a moment at the scene: the utterly demolished hallway, the only light arcs from damaged equipment and a few small fires sputtering and smoking; the prone armored behemoth, weapon still in hand, helmet shattered, fragments driven down into the exposed naked skull as if by a giant's hammer- and the tiny, insignificant figure huddled amid a red smear against one wall. One Jedi approached the fallen Sith, carefully, plasma blade extended, while the other knelt by the body of the young slave girl. Despite her agonies, despite the final destruction wrought by the detonator she had forced down against her late master's skull...she was smiling. Assured their enemy was truly gone, the other Jedi joined him, bowing her head in a quiet prayer. "Who was she, Vonn?" "One of us, Aylee," her companion responded in a whisper, gently closing the staring eyes. "One of us."

Dunno, I've run into a lot of 'Jedi' going out of their way to kill anything that moves, with some pretty non-canon names. And that's on an RP server. At least Darkside, if they're acting like twits, it's more IC. The rest of this advice, however, is quite good.