Upper management doesn't care Management are imbeciles This is driving people to unsubscribe Bioware only cares about money Wanting cross-server for PVP Calling people carebears Calling people elitists Posting a massive wall of text

A few more: Use "Biofail" Use "fanboi" Claim to speak for the majority

Suggestions for the list in no particular order: Final nail in the coffin The devs are idiots This change is going to break the game Complaint about an event Complaint about being forced to do something Person seeking advice saying they don't want to be told what to do Have enough items you could make your own forum bingo cards to check off.

You can equip weapons, but the array of weapons the companions can use has changed. I don't believe ear pieces, implants and relics can be equipped, though, since it is like a slot in the outfit designer.

Yes, companions changed so that they do not have individual stats anymore and are based off your level. Clothes they wear are cosmetic now like the way outfits are for a player. Affected changed to influence, but that's another topic. Also, the Knights of the Fallen Empire companions are not customizable now, though.

There are 3 things that I think would be a benefit. 1) Find a good guild to join so that you have known people to ask for help and what not. There are many that are casual friendly and it will save you the headache of dealing with people that rub you the wrong way (for whatever reason). It will also give you a place to ask questions without opening yourself up to the trolls that live in general chat. Having guildmembers available to group with for missions lets you learn stuff without being insulted or verbally abused for not knowing things. Don't be afraid to switch guilds if you join one that doesn't click with your play style. 2) Dulfy.net has many class guides that are easy to read and gives a good place to start with learning what skills and abilities should be used. It really does not take a huge amount of time to skim through rotations. A little bit of research does go a long way in making the game more fun. 3) Based on your post I'm not sure if you have issues with area of effect (AOE) attacks so I'll just include it as general advice since it is a common problem that many players ignore even when they know about it. It is a point of irritation for people that play the game more often and see people die to avoidable things. Situational awareness is something that takes practice. A lot of more experienced players call it "staying out of stupid". When in a fight, be mindful of the areas that light up indicating an AOE attack is coming and move away from it. It will keep you from taking damage from the mob you're fighting as well as insults from group mates that lack patience. For the leveling and solo mode flashpoints, your healer companion can heal through the damage, but as the difficulty increases (to the point where groups are required) so does the damage so it is probably best to practice avoiding AOE attacks as a general rule. Take it or leave it. Hopefully it was helpful. Good luck.

Look, there goes a Gamorrean with a rocket pack

Putting the definition war on the side since it is not relevant to the issue at hand, as with anything that deals with a large volume of unknown people, one has to assume that there is a percentage of those that fall into the scummy range or ethically questionable to use a more neutral phrase. What the actual percentage is unknown, but it does exist. That means that one cannot go shopping on the GTN blindly and blissfully ignorant of the potential pitfalls. To do so opens oneself up to falling for the overpriced trap. Would it be nice if there were no ethically challenged people selling stuff? Sure, but that is wishful thinking and not reality. Since there is very likely nothing on the horizon to change how the GTN functions it is incumbent on the buyer to use the available tools and avoid those pitfalls. With the proper attention paid these pitfalls are 100% avoidable. Yes, it does suck if it does happen, but the only thing within our control is attention to detail.

If you have beaten the Shroud (which means completed the Heroic 4 at the end) and have the macrobinoculars available in your abilities menu then you have completed the story line. Then, the droid for that particular achievement in KotFE should be visible out a window.

At this point the only thing that can be proven is that the developers decided to do something. Everything being posted about the process by those individuals that are not a developer is complete speculation. One side claims it shouted the loudest. The other side disagrees and they were the ones that shouted the loudest. The fact is they probably ignored all the shouting and read the rationally penned letters they received in the mail and their own data gathering. Regardless of how the decision was made, it was made. The change is going in. Try it out. See how it plays. Honestly, who gives a rat's tookus about who was responsible for the change (hint: no one posting on the forums)

It is called cherry picking things to fit your narrative. It happens all the time. It was announced when the patch was released that feedback was wanted and it would be adjusted if needed. That tells me that they would be watching things over the next week and make changes if things did not work out exactly as they intended. It is highly unlikely that the plethora of qq posts had a significant bearing on the decision. Some people provided concrete data for them to look over and took the time to present evidence that the change was too extreme. That along with their own internal data is mostly likely what led to the decision to buff things. How much will the buff be? Who knows and I predict a new wave of qq posts afterwards about how it wasn't enough.

As entertaining as it was to see the first time,I agree, it is getting quite out of hand and should be addressed as quickly as possible.

I would love to see your source for that information. My guess is that you are taking a leap of faith and implying that it exists to support your assertion.

It is very cute that you think forum outrage led to the adjustments or that you have any insight to some perceived mass exodus of players. It was stated when they put in the "nerf" that they were going to make adjustments as needed.

Eric asked for feedback when they implemented 4.0.2. After a week, they have feedback from a number of sources and are going to make an adjustment (which is what they said they were going to do, btw) Nothing is being done because of forum outrage and only Bioware knows what the subscription activity has been over the past few weeks so that cannot be accurately cited as a cause for the change. (No, showing that there have been a lot of "I quit" posts in the forums does in no way indicate subscription activity) There are always a plethora of "I quit" threads when there is a change that people do not like (slot machine, disciplines, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, take your pick of "final nail in the coffin" prediction)

Oh, and definitely use Sana-Rae's unlock ... that relic does some good AOE damage. Oggurobb's healing is quite helpful and Hylo's grenade is useful, too. Heck, it's worth it to get all those crates (there are 2 per level). I've had to search every nook and cranny sometimes after clearing the area to find it.

One thing about the turret is that it grabs the Exarch's attention and keeps it until destroyed so it will give you some breathing room. When I used it, I dropped it at the beginning of the fight and did as much damage as I could while it was up (including using attack adrenals, relic buffs if you use the clicky ones over the proc ones, etc.)

I typically try to interrupt the channeled attacks, but there is a lot of moving as well since some of the attacks are directional rather than strict aoe. Running straight through the boss to the other side is the fastest way to get out of the blast.

There is 216 and 220 gear available from the crystal vendors on the fleet that perform decently well such that you need not do operations. The change in crit importance made the vendor stuff more viable. Does it take time to earn the crystals for a full set? Yes it does, but usually worth it for the increased damage, etc., etc. And yes, augments and stims come in very handy.

As much sense as that is, If they did that it would spawn a plethora of qq threads about why they aren't getting anything for doing the missions.

So much this ... also, they quit at the first sign of difficulty. The same people toss about the "I want to play how I want" and "How dare you tell me how I play" and "You're ruining my fun" and "I'm casual and don't have time". Well, guess what, every game has rules to follow and how it is supposed to be played. "I can't hopscotch my queen like a knight! You're ruining my fun!" See how ridiculous that is? And to those multi-taskers, pick an activity and do it. Finish and move to the next activity. Splitting your attention will guarantee you will suck at all of it. Seriously, if you can't shut off or pause SWTOR when a kid needs something or a SO requires your attention or whatever else you have bigger issues than changes in a game.

"People are leaving the game". Uh, yeah, and the sun is bright and hot. The ocean is wet. Rocks are hard. People come, people go. You will never have a player base that does not change. The companion nerf is just one among many reasons for leaving. It is also likely is a reason people stay. And it is definitely not the most drastic change that has been done (change from skill tree to disciplines). So please, enough with the doom and gloom already.

I actually ran into this on my Guardian way back when. It does not get automatically unequipped, but I was unable to activate the ability of the relic until I was back to Light V. The stats provided by the relic remained. As far as the proc ability goes, I can't say one way or another what actually happens. And, of course, if you remove the relic you will not be able to equip it until going back to Light V.

Here are some things to try .. pay attention to the fight, move around, use defensive cool downs and don't expect the companions to do all the work. Oh, I almost forgot ... use INTERRUPTS. If any of those things garner a "what's that?" response ... there's your problem.

It's a gauge of reading comprehension and at the very least a great popcorn discussion Just popped a bag with butter ... anyone to share?