Go ahead and complain to whoever you want that the game doesn't meet your personal preferences. Just don't assume every player asks for the same things you do. Don't assume you are the only one worth listening to.

I don't play with any of my family members, but in all five of the guilds I've been in there have been family members playing together. Spouses, parents and kids, siblings. Many cases. Many combinations. I tried to get my nephew into SWTOR but he's more into shooters. We are the only "serious" gamers in the immediate family;)

I chose to make my 1st response a waste of space, much like most of your 1st post. To demonstrate something. If you actually want BW (or anyone really) to read and think about your request seriously don't bury it in a post like that, under a title like that. Your actual point is lost. If you are just going for laughs, don't try to make a real point at the end, that kind of ruins it.

Fantasy Land Version: What a great idea! BW should post all their plans for the next year or two! Then we could have some interesting and meaningful discussion of them on the forums! Because that's what the forums are all about! Reality: Fantasy Land doesn't exist. Do you actually read the forums and see what goes on here?

I can only assume you think you are the only customer they have (or perhaps you think you are the only one that matters). Then they could focus all their efforts on doing exactly what you want. That would be awesome!

This is what I thought of when I read the idea. It's one of those things that sounds cool in theory, until you find out all the creative ways people will use it. There are a lot of creative people out there.

SWTOR's current level of "bugginess" is about the same as it's always been. Yes, difficulty picking up loot and/or gathering is annoying. A frequent small annoyance can become just as frustrating as a rare big annoyance. Yes, new content means new bugs. This is reality. I'm not sure what relevance it has to OPs request.

The player base was/is going to change because the focus of the gamed has changed. Say some veteran ops playing subs were looking for new ops, they were disappointed so they left. That would explain a decline in people doing ops. That only leads to the death of the game if you assume no new subs came in who are more interested in story and lighter group content like FPs. Believe it or not a casual who plays mostly for the story and light group content can be just as good a paying customer as a hardcore raider. As long as they keep new chapters coming.

I have no idea what metrics BW has, but any metrics is better than none. And of course metrics can always be improved. I'm all for people telling BW what they think and what they want. But any one individual opinion no matter how well spoken and/or passionate is still one opinion and it would be a mistake to inflate it into more than that. Some people like to put down metrics, especially when the metrics don't happen to agree with their personal desires. That's not good business.

I really don't think this thread is about OP "looking for advice". Also, I disagree with the statement "it's also near impossible to do a lot of tactical flashpoints if you run in as 4 dps too". All TFPs can be completed by 4 DPS who work together, as long as at least 1 players is familiar with that FP and willing to explain it to the others. Some TFPs are harder than others, but all the fails I've ever been in were due to the same thing, bad teamwork. Even if you have a "standard group" of tank, heals and two DPS, the group can still fail if they don't work together.

If your idea of "right" is making all companions (in all roles) so overpowered that poor players making poor decisions can faceroll H2s solo, I'm afraid any more discussion is pointless. My apologies, I was not raised to believe the world owes me instant gratification in everything I do just for showing up.

I'm saying pick the right companion for the right situation. There are plenty of situations where you can use a tank companion, but for this particular one a healer is the way to go. In this case especially, since your toon has no CC and the companion influence is very low. At level 54 you also probably don't have good gear yet, and you don't have all your abilities and utilities.

You are trying to solo a H2 on a DPS toon with a low influence tank companion. And failing. What about this is noteworthy? Did you ever play Dragon Age Origins? There was a reason the healer companion was named "Win".

Because this is a big issue to you? This is an example of an important issue?

It wasn't just about companion influence. The exploit allowed people to generate in game currencies; Data Crystals, Grey Helix, Bounty Contracts, Rakghoul DNA Canisters etc. The companion gifts on the GTN was just the most visible sign that something was going on because a lot of the exploiters chose that as a way to convert other currency into credits.

The game in general is evolving to be more solo/casual friendly. Grey helixes should be part of that too.

Reality check: Investigating and finding real evidence takes time. BW has to make a tradeoff. How much time and effort do you put into punishing the exploiters? Every minute a dev spends doing that is a minute not spent on new chapters, bug fixes, new CM items etc. And guess what? Many of the exploiters are paying customers. Don't think that's not a factor. I would much rather BW minimize the impact of exploits by fixing them ASAP, rather than let them linger for weeks and then spend a lot of time trying to punish people.

Yeah, there is a good chance that this is what's happening. I've been completing the weekly fine regardless of whether the original 4 are there at the end or not. Hammer Station and Athiss are two examples where you have to go back to the terminal.

BW has bigger fish to fry.

I'm an insane altoholic. Couldn't survive without keeping a good notebook.

Yes. HK. Bring it.

When was STWOR at it's best? IMO that is right exactly now.

Forgive me if this is redundant, I'm not reading 25 pages. They are releasing an actual fix for the contraband slot machine that rewards something useful but not game breaking! Yup, I went there.

Yes, and then they should be keelhauled.

TFPs are all about good teamwork and attitude. The vast majority of groups will succeed if they have those, even with one or two inexperienced low level players in the group. As long as those players can work as a team. I agree the primary problem is not "kolto stations", it's players with bad attitudes. Not to worry, now that companions have been buffed many people will go back to what they were doing at 4.0 launch. Wait for the bad(s) to quit, and pull up companion(s) thus making the FP easy mode.