Patch 1.1 isn't just new content...it includes a bevy of bug fixes as well. Check the patch notes for all the details. It makes sense to me to continue adding to the content pool. It seems to me like an MMO's bug-fixing is a never ending task, and it would be a waste of time to try and "fix" every last bug in a game before adding content to it. At least this way, a small portion of the disgruntled players begging for new content can be temporarily satiated, and BioWare can slowly start to build a reputation of delivering on promises...I'm actually pretty impressed that a new major content patch is already being delivered, after only a month. I don't know if that qualifies as impressive to anyone else, but it certainly shows a dedication to improving the playing experience to me.

I guess I'm not too far off the curve...actually, probably right around the top of the bell, if anyone were to chart it that way. I dunno, I saw that this morning, and for some reason got the idea that that was way too slow just for level 40.

Just curious here...I hit 40 this morning, and it had taken almost four days of playtime (Trolls, do your thing, I don't care how much of a noob you think I am). I was just wondering what other people's /played say when they finally hit the level cap (obviously, rough figures are going to be necessary for those who hit it a while ago and don't remember exactly).

Well it would certainly be hard to tell that you aren't a teenager who spends all his money on stupid accessories that really mean nothing, because it sounds like you did exactly that with this game. Also (hope you're ready for some unsolicited life advice here), if that really is your living situation, it sounds like you have more to worry about than your Star Wars speeder or lack of security key...stop clogging the forums with pointless rants and go play with your kids. On top of that, if you really can't afford a smartphone, then I don't know where you're going to come up with $15 a month to play this game anyways... Honestly, man, you're complaining about nothing, and to change nothing. Someone already said it...you participated in bad consumerism by not fully researching what you were paying for, and most likely not thinking objectively when you saw what the extra in-game perks would be. OF COURSE some CE garbage perks aren't going to be end-game items that will give you the leg up to be the biggest ****** on your server...That's never what they're meant to be in ANY game; they're meant to be either cosmetic or unique alternatives to items that everyone else eventually also gains access to. No hate towards them, but CE's are typically all geared towards the super-fans who have a deeper, vested interest in the IP of the game. And if paying for the security key feature really chaps your *** that much, then I'm sorry but you are just digging deep for stuff to complain about...if anything having it be a smartphone app is something they did to throw us a bone, so we dont have to pay for or keep track of a physical key. I just fail to see how it's anybody's fault but your own that you played right into their hands by purchasing crap you don't need. I almost fail to see how your argument points towards "corporate greed," as I've always seen CE's as an extra thing that publishers and developers do as a favor to the fans...of course compiling extra artwork or music, or creating in-game items is going to use up a few extra resources that they will inevitably need to charge for...they're running a business, after all, not a charity.

/signed One question I've had about Legacy Surnames...do you ever get to add to it? When I made my legacy, I wanted it to be "Harbinger of Death." It wouldn't let me do this, so I just did "Harbinger," assuming that I must be able to add to it later. Is this not a possibility? It is truly just a "last name?" I'm certainly not satisfied with "________ Harbinger" for any character I have...it makes no sense. I thought I was creating a title for myself. Also, is it able to be switched to the front of your name? I think at the very least, "Harbinger ___________" would be a little better. I dunno. I'm one of the many who just isn't happy with my selection, but am even more unhappy with how little I was told about what I was deciding.

Are you even allowed to summon companions in PvP? I've not played much so far, so I wouldn't know... I'm confused about how this would be an unfair or significant mechanic. I don't want to be able to continually summon or swap companions in battle in order to have an advantage, nor do I want to be able to switch mid-fight. I've noticed that there are two different states of not having a companion at your side. One is where their portrait and toolbar is nonexistent down in the lower left corner of the screen, and I have to go into the companion menu and Summon one. The other is when I guess technically my companion is already summoned, but isn't right at my side, and all I have to do is just click that little arrow button and they show right up. I don't know what the difference is. There are times when I'm going through a zone and run into an elite mob or pull a group accidentally, and when I get knocked off my speeder, my companion is not there. At this point, I'm locked in combat, and when I click that little arrow, it tells me my companion cannot be summoned in combat. This is what I would like to see changed...I'm not sure what rules would need to be in place to assure the mechanic wouldn't be abused or grant an unfair advantage, but I just don't like getting "ganked," so to speak, by certain mobs. A case could be made for me "learning from my mistakes" but the fact is, I'm never going to be perfect when I play this game,and when an accident or mistake happens, I'd like to not have to take a death or not be able to recover.

Any possibility of it being changed to be able to do this? It's not the most prevalent issue I have with the game, but the occasional accidental elite mob pull not being an instant wipe would be nice

Something I've always wondered is why people are so against Dual Spec? If someone doesn't like it, can't they easily just not use it, without any ill effect to the game for them? I guess I've just never seen the downside. It provides a great level of convenience that aids in facilitating groups, and seems easily ignored enough to those who don't enjoy the flexibility... BTW, I'm asking why people are so up in arms about this feature, aside from the peoples' opinion that it might not necessarily be needed.

I think the OP then derailed his own topic by quickly digressing into the ensuing wankery himself...

I have one question...does hopping on these boards and whining endlessly really make people happy? Does this community really need to know your opinion about what you think will sink this game? As a reader of this topic, I've been indirectly told that I "seriously suck", "should quit MMOs and RPGs altogether", and that I "have no life," amongst other things. How is crap like that ever going to contribute to making this community a better collective? I get that everyone pays to play this game, and in some form or another feels entitled to an entertaining experience...but how sorry do you really expect people to feel for you when you inhale all the game's content so quickly? That's like getting mad at the restaurant when you eat your meal too fast to truly enjoy it, and then have to wait for everyone else to finish eating before desert is served. Its a cancerous complaint that has no merit, and in my opinion its stuff like that is what is really killing this community. I'm hesitant to opine much, but I just have this sneaking suspicion that many disgruntled TOR players are ex-WoW players who didn't start playing WoW until the expansion era, when new endgame content was nothing but expected. If anyone who is complaining about lack of endgame has ever played an MMORPG from launch day, take a second and think back to what those first months were like...with the exception of a select few PvP-centric games, how much endgame were you TRULY dominating in the games first twelve months of life?

And the fire is stoked....

To me, it would definitely make sense to scale how many drops there are available to a given population at certain times. Its only a logical progression to to increase the number of drops when the population increases, at least if they want the drop rate to remain a relatively static range of percentages. It's not bulletproof by any means, but also consider that just because you were lucky enough to have artifacts drop during peak, high-population hours, it doesn't necessarily disprove the theory. I'm not saying that having artifacts drop becomes an impossibility when you are playing amongst a large population...just that it becomes that much rarer to get one if the player pool is much larger to draw from. Even including a scaled amount of fixed drops, it would make sense that with more people to compete against, it becomes more of a rarity. The only snag I really get hung up on is HOW the drops are determined. My theory points towards a higher likelihood of rare drops during low-population hours, but there still must be some basic loot roll underlying it all. Unless the developers decided to make Artifacts far less of a rarity than in similar games of the genre, I am convinced to a T that rather than having an infinite number of random Artifacts that can drop on any given extremely lucky loot roll, there HAS to be a pool of Artifacts for corresponding areas and time slots, and the less people in the area, the higher your chances of getting one of these to drop.

I do...my bad, I thought that would be more clear. Purple gear/loot is what I'm talking about here (and Prototype/Blue loot as well, to a certain extent).

I have been noticing something more and more, that is making it increasingly difficult for me to ignore, about Artifact world drops. I'm talking strictly about Artifacts looted from random mobs in the world; it excludes flashpoints, lock-boxes, and the like. I'm almost certain that rather than there being a very low percentage of getting an Artifact to drop on an enemy-to-enemy basis, there is in fact a quota, so to speak, of Artifact drops for a particular area and time-slot. My reason for thinking stems from this: In the last thirteen days (the entirety of my experience and exposure to the game), I have received six Artifacts from random world mobs, three of which were in one day alone. That averages out to an Artifact almost every other day, which at least from everyone I've polled, is unheard of. If this were my only basis for this theory, then I might concede to just having gotten extremely lucky, and that it will balance out, and blah blah blah. But it gets more interesting when I look at WHEN and WHERE I got all of these drops. Now, my work and family schedule is pretty rigorous, but I play whenever I can spare the time. This has resulted in a lot of very early-morning play. Leveling through Balmorra and Nar Shadaa, it was common for there to be less than ten players (and sometimes even zero) on with me in the same zone. This is when ALL of these Artifact drops have happened. Anytime I've managed to play during peak hours, I don't see squat. Only further solidifying my theory is a guy I was talking to early one morning on Balmorra. He noticed the same thing...when population was extremely low, his drops were substantially more fruitful. Nothing on the level that I managed to achieve, but still notably better. All of this leads me to believe that the formula for Artifact drops is more like "In [zone], [x] amount of [Artifacts/Prototype/etc.] will drop during the hours of [y] and [z]," which then resets itself once the time slot is passed, rather than "When [player] defeats [NPC], loot roll [x] determines [item level of loot]." (which is how I always assumed looting worked). I dunno...I know this has been rather long-winded, but I'm interested to hear what people have to say about this, or if there can be any confirmation or denial from developers...It may sound trivial, but if there's any substantial gain to waking my *** up at the crack of dawn to go Artifact hunting, maybe I won't feel so inclined to sleep in and skip playing altogether some days .

What about if I'm not PvP'ing? I'm definitely more of a PvE player. I haven't decided what I'm going to spec into yet, but I was leaning towards Pyrotech...

I've been able to locate a lot of endgame builds and rotations for the Merc DPS builds, but I'm wondering if there is a kind of "in the middle" type of guide... I haven't really been having many problems per say...I am just curious about how I can best play my class before I actually start getting heavy into flashpoints and whatnot. I'm only level 15 at the moment, but I can't help but feel as if I'm not really putting abilities together in the right order (and if I am, it's by complete accident ) So yea...I guess I'm looking for a combination leveling/skill/rotation combination guide (tall order I suppose) to be able to get acclimated to playing Merc DPS as I level up. Thanks guys!

Can someone explain how this works? Setting the graphics settings higher to fix framerate issues? I'm not doubting it, it just seems backwards to me, and I would appreciate an explanation of how that fixes it exactly