My girlfriend and I had recently decided to move in together. The other day she called me to ask what day I was planning on moving my stuff. "Soon." I replied. There was a short pause before she noted that having a day would really help, even if it was a rough estimate. I told her I didn't want to lock myself in to an obligation by picking a date, and that soon was the best I could do. She then retorted that she wouldn't be holding me to a specific date, she just wanted a general idea, as a courtesy. I replied, "sorry babe, soon. I'll let you know when I get a more specific time in mind, don't worry though, it will be soon." We both play TOR, and while she did not find it amusing in the slightest, I am hoping that you do, and that eventually she might as well...

Agreed. I haven't used tab for targeting in forever, mouse click. Its faster and barring enourmous hit boxes, more reliable. How many times have you had this scenario play out. 3 targets in front of you, you wish to attack one as it is a high priority target. However, for some reason, no matter how many times you hit tab, it only jumps between the two targets you couldn't care less about?

wait... you have seen imp toons (as in players) on balmorra... ***?

trick question!

Why would it? One came out during the reign of WoW, grew, thrived, and built a healthy enough community to warrant a sequel. You only need to kill it if you plan on taking on its customer base. Quite frankly, why would you want that? (as a player, of course)

Funny, after the BWE myself (and a few other guildies) developed a certain kind of despondency. For days we couldn't bring ourselves to log into TOR, and now many of us only log on raid nights, and that isn't because we enjoy them but because we feel we have an obligation to guildies who are still having fun. Which I should note, some are most certainly still having fun. Just wish I was one of them

Glad to see that when people can't fight about the topic at hand they find something else to fight about. Was almost worried that the drop in players might lower the amount of conflict on the boards, glad to see I was wrong. As to the OP. I think there is a very simple answer. You are going to continue to see a drop in subs until they release something new, implement a patch that fixes issues, or otherwise radically alter the way you interact with the game so as to give people incentive (which they currently lack) to play. Honestly, I don't see their being any "extra" dropoff from the event though. People who are bored with the game aren't going to log in just because they have an active subscription.

Because constant knockbacks isn't equally detrimental to a melee? See what I said at the start. Mechanics either work against melee and ranged, or just melee. To clarify, for the most part I was discussing end game boss fights, as that is what all my examples were. Still, I have a 50 merc, and a 30 sniper, so I feel pretty confident when I say that, even during leveling, this is pretty prevalent.

Everyone who has played both a melee and a ranged class knows what I am talking about. There are some fights in the game with mechanics that increase the difficulty for melee while there are none that do so for range (at least not any that don't apply to melee as well.) A simple example of this would be a boss that does damage in the immediete area around it with no real means of avoiding it, save not being next to it and not doing damage. Think of Toth from Denova or the second boss from EV. You can't simply avoid the attacks when they come, it is a proposition of either standing there, doing damage, and taking a hit. My biggest problem with this mechanic is 2 fold. First, it pointedly bias towards a specific group and secondly that it is unimaginative and simply not fun. There are plenty of mechanics you can use to force the DPS to potentially take damage, that effect both melee and ranged equally, as well making the fight more interactive. A great example of this would be the Mentor Assassin Droids or Krel Thak. The damage shield that returns damage is an inventive way to give out damage to the dps (healers need something to do) while giving the damage classes control over this, forcing them to be more engaged in the fight, and affecting ranged and melee classes equally. If you can't be bothered to break from the melee ranged AE boss mechanic, then why not at least give the melee some way of adressing this. -give mission items that act as melee range interupts for specific melee range effects -have bosses use cone attacks that would allow the players to position and dodge -give mission items to ranged characters that can be used to mitigate effects of boss AE done to melee The fact of the matter is, that at the moment, any instance can be cleared with less difficulty by simply bringing all ranged damage classes. This is because of poor fight mechanics placing a direct disincentive on a particular type of character. The worst part about it is, it is relatively easy to fix, it just requires that designers not be lazy or afraid to stray from the "generic" mmo model. I realize that this problem is endemic in almost every game, just hoped it would be different here.

It isn't as if they aren't fixing things, it is often what they are fixing, their prioritization if you will. I tried to jump up a box (had done this before) on hoth to cut out part of the chain to of platfroming to get to a datacron. Apparently they had removed the edges from just that set of boxes, they had been there before, not anymore. Then I thought to myself, "they fixed this... really... HK has been bugged for how long now and they spent time and resources on this!?!?!?" Needless to say, this is just one of many examples, and I am sure most people would agree, it seems the developers don't have their priorities straight. At the very least, not in line with what the community sees as important.

Food for thought

Am I the only one who uses Rebuke and Riposte on a watchman to tank? Granted, I am only level 30, still it has been thoroughly effective.

Mostly for the weps though I dig the robe, and since they all have augment slots I don't expect to switch it out ever, and that is just fine with me. http://i.imgur.com/IpkDE.jpg

Yes and no. I honestly don't believe that one or two skill additions/changes would really adress the problem. As I was trying to say in the original post, this is a general and multifaceted problem that encompasses almost every aspect of the class. Another example. The efficiency of pushes vs pulls/charges. Now, lets look at the mechanics of this. For each of these moves, there is a small activation time, during which a character can move a very small distance. For someone who is being pulled or charged, this small distance is entirely negligible 99% of the time, even with latency as it is. However, for a push, this is often devastating. Someone moving a foot or two in point blank range completely alters their trajectory, and when combined with the poor latency, it makes effectively using pushes near impossible. Combine this with the fact that the majority of a mercs survival comes from pushes, and you see that simply tweaking a skill isn't going to really help when they underlying mechanics behind the way the skill operate, work against the merc. Our survivability skill is one of the worst, just look at inquisitors shroud, or marauders force cammo for comparison. This is understandable though, because while generally ineffectual for an arsenal or pyro merc, for a bodygaurd it works quite nicely, even without the talent points to alter it. Reducing damage on a target that is getting heals over a long duration is nice, but without the heals, its pointless. Other classes survival skills aren't entirely reliant on having other players around to be fully effective. These are just two examples. It isn't just the skills, but the entire way the game works and how the merc fits in that. With the current design the way it is, it would take a complete overhaul to fix the merc in pvp, so that all of the specs were functional. The way it currently stands, to bring arsenal back on to par with even middling tier pvp classes would again imbalance bodygaurd and potentially pyro.

I have had a 50 merc (mostly arsenal, but went bodygaurd for a full month to fill a role for guild) since early January, and have come to a conclusion regarding our viability in WZ. We dish out tons of damage, non stop, and with easy energy management, especially now with barrage operating the way it does. We can crush people, but this comes with a caveat. We can be super effective, but only if we are left alone. Mild to moderate harrasment results in a catastrophic dropoff in DPS, and any serious targetting is an instant dirtnap. The problem is a combination of the way our skills work, and the resources we have to deal with someone getting in our face. Despite what people might think, we are still reliant on tracer missile, it is the heart and soul of an arsenal merc, and it is still just as easy to interupt as it was pre 1.2 . We use unload more, but this isn't the gift most make it out to be. Unload charges you the heat cost at start of cast, has a very long channel time, and is super noticeable. A stream of lasers points back to you so that anyone who feels so inclined can interupt you. If tracer missile is interupted, you lose little, as there is no heat cost until after cast, but with unload, you find yourself building the heat quickly. More importantly though, is the nature of resolve. Rocket punch, builds resolve. Jet boost, builds resolve. Using both in close conjunction will fill someone resolve bar. Melee classes can chain immobilize (no resolve stack) interrupt (no resolve stack) knockdown (reduced resolve stack) and pull in some occaisions. We are fragile as can be at close range, and the tools that we have to deal with keeping ourselves at range simply don't work when you compare them to the counters our opponents bring. We are extraordinarily situational. If you have a tank guarding you, and pulling/snaring/immobilizing others away from you then you are a force to be reckoned with. I can't help but feel, though, that the perception that we deal ungodly damage is an illusion created in WZ where something is happening that should almost never happen. In low competency pvp, we shine, gods amongst newbs, but against people with even a rudimentary understanding of how to play we simply do not stack up.

ITT: People thinking they got a huge damage boost because they see bigger numbers in pvp while wearing full battlemaster and not realizing the boost is from gear change not class change. Also People in champion gear getting wrecked by full BM feeling like they have 0 expertise, and not being able to put out any substantial amount of damage before dying due to gear and survivability nerfs. Heatseaker got a boost in damage, you use unload more often now, but in pvp I consider using a channeled skill like that a wash as it is just begging to be interrupted. Unlike tracer missile, you can't even start and stop the cast to try and get them to eat an interrupt as starting unload starts your CD. The biggest notice for me is the increase on the CD for jet boost, using terrain and line of sight wisely is no longer enough to keep you alive. 1 melee on you will kill you without outside help, period.

You must be on a terrible server. I have never, not once, recieved any angry messages about me killing people, even when I do lame things like pulling people into the traps in huttball. Most people are reasonable and ask one of a few questions. 1) Are you queueing in a group and is there room for more? 2) What is your spec? 3) What skill rotation do you use? 4) How would you suggest I deal with a darkness sin like you? 5) Is your guild recruiting? Etc. Etc. Never seen any rage from opposing team. Oddly enough, I think it is more likely that teamates rage about silly things like, "zomg you just jumped off the edge, *** why is a newb retard on our team" when you try to jump the gap on voidstar and ninja a door.

Things to keep in mind when fighting gunslingers. Tools that take them out of cover -Spike -Overload -electrocute (I believe, though others have said no) Tools to close the distance -Force Speed -Force Shroud -Stealth Use Line of Sight to your advantage, they are stuck in a fixed position. Do not try and attack a gunslinger who has his enhanced cover up, wait for it to go on CD then kill him. Enhanced cover will make them inmmune to being knocked out of cover, and will allow them to blast the hell out of you. Also, do not waste time trying to pull someone who is in cover. It won't work. Line of site them, and when they leave cover to get a new position, pop out and pull them. If you are doing it right, gunslingers should melt, there really isn't much they have that can counter you.

Most likely they are using force shroud in conjunction with force speed, which blocks all tech/force powers from taking effect.

what kind of pvp gear? If you are anything like myself, you have a mix of battlemaster/champ gear and a crap ton of centurion coms sitting there doing nothing. Buy centurion survivor gear. I wouldn't suggest this strat for any other class, but the shield/absorb stats are extremely important to you, and not having any, is going to seriously hinder you even with a shield equipped.

I have played all 3 specs, and this is what I have noticed. Darkness: Durable, versatile, and good dps. Most utility of all 3 specs, able to control targets and easily mitigate damage on self as well as others. Deception: Good burst, squishy as hell. If they notice you... well there's always respawn right? Highly succeptable to cc and being kited. Madness: Nice mix of melee and range abilities, dots make it so that cc doesn't reduce your dmg output as much as it does for others. Lower burst (and by that I mean lowest of almost any class/spec) makes you less lethal but great at providing support damage on multiple targets so others can kill. There is however a caveat for madness spec. The abundance of inquisitor and consulars (easily 40% in most pvp matches) greatly reduces the effectiveness of this class as force shroud and its equivilants is a kick in the jimmies.

Noticed this when having a pokemon battle (where you duel but only have your companions fight each other) on illum. My companion killed my opponents and when he whirlwinded her, I gained a full resolve bar. Honestly, the best advice I can give you for companion dueling is this, use a tank companion. Many people are tempted to use a damage companion or a healer, but look at it this way. Taunt in pvp reduces all damage not directed at the tartget by 30%. It is also insta cast, allowing your companion to do damage while this effect is up. The whole time a healing companion is healing, they aren't doing damage, and they can have their skills easily interuppted. Nothing you can do about the resolve bar thing, but I hope the second bit of advice helps.

Read the post date.

The build no longer works. Before Raze was dependent upon melee crits to proc, now it requires that you have lightning charge on your saber instead of dark charge, invalidating the whole build.

It takes X amount of time to watch the retarded cinematic, and then fly on the slow *** speeder to the starting point. Joining with 15seconds left on the countdown to start does not change this, what it does do, is ensure that you will be staring at a wall with the full respawn timer when you speeder finally does arrive. I know I am not the only person to get into a Voidstar game, only to have 6 of your 8 teamates locked into the room for the first push, which is a guaranteed door cap. What is worse is the nature of voidstar allows this to turn into a runaway, where the bulk of the offensive team will then always be ahead of the defending team, ensuring repeated caps. Possible solutions. -Ditch the stupid speeder -have the defender door stay open for the first 40seconds of the round -since it takes X time to watch video and fly in, have anyone that joins with less than X on the clock auto spawn in deployment room -have two rooms, one fly in and one start room. Players that join before game start will go to the start room which remains open after start, and others go to respawn room which is used rest of game. -all of the above This is by far, the most annoying way to lose a pvp match. Fix it.