Where does this extra 30% come from exactly? I don't doubt it with all the mirror class differences, I'm just curious.

It happens when you're drinking Red Bull irl while PvP'ing.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=350113

Should healers have better survivability in PvP than tanks?

Melee specced for DPS better put out some awesome numbers in a game filled with range and lots of CC.

Exactly. On my scoundrel I will only top the healing charts if I can sequentially use 2s casts. If I have an equally geared DPS on me, they will keep me busy just keeping myself alive... not that that's hard to do, but I certainly won't have time to really dedicate any significant healing, (only hots/small instant here and there) to other players. Personally, I think that's how healers should be though. If I have someone peeling that DPS for me I can push out enough healing to keep a few team mates up that are getting hammered. I didn't really hear much about this "a single DPS should not be able to negate a healer" garbage until RIFT.

Nowadays I just PvE on the planets/areas I like, then only do the class quests on the ones I don't. PvP and space missions are cool for filling those gaps pretty quickly IMO.

This is just short sighted. There is no tier/bracket of PvP that does not require a periodic influx of fresh meat. People move on from games they have no problems with for various reasons; there will always be attrition that you have to counter.

It kinda started out that way.

Alright, I'll try to give as concise an answer as possible to your question if you'll do me the same favor. My definition of competition is pitting equally matched opponents against each other. Rating is required to set that up, gear is not. So I believe that, while acquiring uber gear via PvP may be fun, it can only serve to hinder a truly competitive rated bracket/environment. I hope that answers why I personally dislike the idea of competing for rating locked gear. My question is: If the measure of your gear's worth is determined by comparing it to your opponents gear, then how are upgrades not merely cosmetic if you only plan on playing against equally geared players, (as you would in a properly matched rated bracket)?

I think you're the one who's dodging the question. If you're only playing against other elite people with the same gear then gear is not an advantage. The only reason you would need gear from this bracket to have better math would be to use it against people in a different bracket. Out of all the possibilities for rewards, the only one you're concerned about is the type that gives you an additional advantage over the people you should need the least advantage to win against.

If you're just creating a higher bracket for people with this special gear to play against other people with this special gear, then what is the point of the special gear? Why wouldn't a bracket with the rating requirement be sufficient, (if you're really OK with shrinking the pool of players you have to play with)? If the math advantage/disadvantage is a wash anyway, then why is cosmetic gear not a sufficient reward?

I don't think the players that this change benefits all quit the game, and the game is new enough to expect a lot more people trying it out in the future. The number of players who despise this are not enough to keep/grow a healthy PvP community. They really don't have anymore of a choice than WoW did if they're going with frequent gear refreshing. Actually, they have even less of a choice until cross-server WZ are implemented and the population goes up. If you can't entice PvE players and new players to PvP with veteran PvP players as quickly as possible, your PvP community will die even if it has a healthy amount of top-end attrition. If gear-centric PvP'ers (lol) wanted a longer/more significant grind to to the top then there needed to be less of an emphasis on gear. The higher you make the gear cap, the easier it has to be to get to compete with it, or else you will run out of competition eventually. The cycle is really silly to people that have fun in PvP regardless of gear.

Preach on, brother.

I can confirm this as well. None of this stuff is really game breaking for me, but it does seem odd.

Inc starboard

You could probably save some time rehashing this by necro'ing one of the 1000 page threads with a similar title/subject.

Is it? So you're a hard working imp with bad queue times and an empty world on server-X. BW gives a temporary exp/valor/whatever buff to pubs on that server. All of the sudden you are faced with shorter queue times and more red players in the world. ...and your first thought is "BS, they got their stuff in 2 weeks instead of 4!" ? ...wait, did I just get trolled? I am getting so rusty at internets.

1 on 1: Getting jumped by an op/scoundrel and losing so much of my health so quickly is annoying, but even more-so when an ambush that would have resulted in a moderately close fight is followed by an evade/vanish. Group: Double bubble

nice!

I really hope they don't end up making more brackets (like 10-49, 50 ranked, 50 unranked). 10-50 unranked with a stat cap and restrictions on rewards would keep from having to further divide the community.

probably /wrist

Moving towards an e-sport paradigm... yuck.

lol a trailer with the deathstar lurking up and blowing up ilum would be the best vid ever.