Gear matters, quite a bit. But that's not the whole story. I'm a noob, this is my first MMO, I'm getting better but still not very good at PvP. I have a Sent and a Commando that are both very well geared (mostly augmented WH with a few BM pieces), but at the end of a WZ I finish near the bottom (especially with my Sent) more often than at the top. I've quit desparing when I see a roster of teammates who are sub-15K in HP, because many times a 14k player will finish near the top. It's a bummer to face a team that completely outgears yours, but weirdly enough, that motivates me to get better gear.

Which motivates you more? For me, as much as I hate to lose, and that's a boat load, I love to win even more.

First off, for gearing up a Gunnery Commando, I disagree with the claim that everybody says There is some lively discussion, but I believe the consensus for Gunnery Commando is to focus on aim, and for PvP gear you also need expertise. Accuracy, crit, and power can help, but not as much as aim, which is the commando's primary stat. The reason,it is the effect that the stats have on the damage you do and the damage you receive. You get more payoff for aim than for the other stats. In PvP, the expertise differential between you and your opponent affects damage delivered and received. Cheers!

My theory is that anything that makes me better at PvP makes it easier and faster to get better PvP gear, so I buy the first items I can afford. This means that the implants and ear piece come early. On the other hand, a guildie of mine says that improving your weapon will improve your DPS above and beyond the improvement you get from overall stats, so for a DPS class one could make the case that you should first try to save for a decent weapon. I know that some people like defer purchases until they can buy a major piece. Other than saving up to get a high quality cannon or light saber, I don't see the logic, but what ever floats their boat...

Ouch! So it's gone forever? I would cry; I have so much fun playing my Commando!

I believe that's exactly right. At any rate, I'm certain it's the best choice for my Gunnery spec'd Commando, not as sure about your Vanguard; maybe a Vanguard can chime in?

Some time ago there was a fun thread on your Trooper's soundtrack. (My entry was "Song 2", by Blur, which, incidentally, was featured in "Starship Trooper".) Here's another tune that totally gets me pumped: "Light of the Morning", by Band of Skulls. The lyrics are more love song than kick butt, but that guitar makes me feel like, well, seriously "messing" stuff up.

this ^^^ Excellent! And make sure the deathmark is visible to Pubs. Take all the pride you want, bubba, but I'm gonna wear you out!

Bummer! I'm on "Prophecy of the Five". Lots of members of lots of PuGs I'm in have a clue, but I think we still lose more often than win. (I don't know how to adjust for the team having to carry my slack butt, but you'd think really good teams could handle that. )

I like it, and I'm usually slogging away at midfield. But I'd like to know who does the scoring. The few times I score, it's frequently the result of some sage pulling me across the goal. I always make a point to broadcast "thx for the pull, <insert char name here>!" to ops chat. There is a "suggestions" forum; why not write this up over there? There's a better chance of a BW/EA employee seeing it and acting on it over there.

A guy PST'ed me on the fleet, wanted to know if all Pubs on the server "are this bad". (I guess he's an Imp rolling a Pub toon.) I told him that sometimes PuGs I was on dominated, but it seemed to me that more often it was the other way around. He then said that the Pubs were undergeared, which is a suspicion that I've harbored for awhile. Just an annecdotal story, not any real proof, but it is certainly consistent withm my impression. I'm in a lot of WZs where my PuG knows what it wants to do, but executing is complicated by the fact that the Imps are hitting like Mack trucks. I'm not saying that gear beats the player. But it sure does help.

Kudos to you for your excellent manners! Maybe they can rub off on me. But we still disagree. True, they took mid. But saying "I'll stay at mid because they might come back in force" only works if they don't decide to zerg the side. Take care; hope to see you in a WZ (I fight for the Pubs on "Prophecy of the Five").

It's weird when you have to doctor up your WH gear to make it as good as the BM gear it's replacing.

I've done more than my share of complainng about the jerks I run into while playing PvP, but what seems totally off the radar are the frequent moments of shared purpose, mutual respect and support, and so on. Following many WZs I'm so hyped up on adrenaline and endorphins that I have to get up and walk around a bit. I'm ready to sit at a campfire with my PuG singing K-um Ba Yah, making S'mores and grinning from ear to ear. Or maybe trash a bar. Whatever, something fun. Admittedly, that's usually after a very lop-sided or a very tight win, but still, there's a sense of some sort of connection and rapport with the team, and it's a kick.

Excellent advice, bro. Hope I can learn something, 'cause otherwise it's going to be a long, tedious slog.

I was in a PuG, no vent. We capped, and it was quiet, with no Imps visibly on the way in. And there was a crowd of us at mid. I'll leave mid and try to get to our ligthly defended turret every time this happens, unless others beat me to it. (If I see a stampede following me and mid being left under-defended, then I'll turn back; I frequently announce what I'm doing e.g., "heading to grass", in hopes of precluding the stampede thing.) There's a difference between assessing the situation (which I did: everything was clear, there were lots of defenders), and predicting what the enemy will do (I expected them to hit our side turret hard, but we don't really know; we have to be ready for a zerg to either asset.) If you thing leaving mid was a mistake, we'll juist have to agree to disagree. Or you could come around to the side of reason.

here's the graph I was referring to: expertise in 1.1 and 1.2 I saved a link to the graph, but not to the thread and the author. Mea culpa.

You are right. Heading to grass would have a better response than engaging the lone defender at snow. Sticking it out with the wrong turn was a much bigger mistake than heading the wrong way in the first place. [EDIT] Not making an excuse but just saying -- the synapses didn't click for me like I wish they had.

The graphs I saw had separate curves for 1.1 and 1.2. I don't know if there was any change to expertise in 1.3.

this ^^^ And oops, I should have read the entire thread before replying.

This does not agree with the graph I've seen. In that graph, the benefits of expertise continue to accrue at a darn-near constant rate well past 2500. I have heard, but cannot verify, that there is a discrete bump or step up benefit that occurs at 1100, so that should be regarded as a minimum.

First off, I've not made any excuses, unless saying "I ****ed up and stupidly read the map wrong" is an excuse??? Second, whether I was at snow or grass, I would not be at mid. We lost the game because we lost mid, and this happened after I capped snow, I believe after I was killed, but before I finished the rez and could get to mid. Even if I had not gone the wrong direction, I would not have been at mid; it might have been easier to get there in time to help, but that's not a sure thing. To my knowledge, nobody from my side came to help me at snow. Multiple imps showed up to kill me; I think I probably tied up more of them for a longer time by my brief stint at snow than I would have at mid. Did I screw up? Guilty. Cost the game (by capping a node, for God's sake)?? That seems like quite a jump in reasoning. On reflection, I don't believe that a solo cap of snow hurt the defense of mid; 4 players not being able to hold mid long enough for reinforcements to get there had a lot more to do with it.

As you say, it's all good. I took what you said as thougtful advice, and I see that's just how you meant it.

For what it's worth -- was just in a win in Voidstar. I had a so-so game, 8 medals, 125 commendations. We got the cores with about 90 secs to spare. The enemy got further than I thought they would, but they were stopped in the bridge area, before they were able to shut off the forcefields and get down the stairs.

Slowly (not sure how surely), my situational awareness is increasing, but I'm not at that level. That said, I hear you, I'll work on it.