Ok, will do. Thanks for your help, much appreciated! EDIT: Follow up question to anyone who knows: Are these additional CC's are available in F2P, or do I need to sub to gain access to them? Thanks in advance SE

They do? I assume by "cc" you mean Cartel Coins? I'm a CE buyer and have been previously subbed for several months since release but have been away from the game for a while. Recently logged in but didn't notice this addition you mention in my CC balance? Thanks in advance SE

Definitely a good start IMO...but perhaps you should also add some exotic elements such as Marsian zombies and/or possessed killer refrigerators just for good measure? While I'm all in favor of spreading misinformation leading to global mass-hysteria and causing panic attacks amongst the hardcore gaming community, it doesn't hurt to make the process more entertaining and enjoyable for us bystanders. Wouldn't you agree? /popcorn SE

QFT BioWare/EA aren't doing anything outside of what a number of other MMO's have already done. Also, in case you haven't noticed, they are running a business here. When doing that you obviously need to look into a variety of options and models when going forward. No big deal, the sky is NOT falling and definitely nothing worth freaking out over. SE

/thread

So basically you don't have any clue whatsoever...let alone any solid facts or numbers to back up your claim? Yeah, seems legit. SE

Thanks for the response and the nice pic. Bookmarked for future use. SE

Sorry, didn't find them. Perhaps they were a lot further down the search list. Still, if that's the case then it would seem that I'm not alone and that this is seen as a problem by others as well. Perhaps the devs will notice these threads and focus the system more towards skill than gear in which case they will have served their purpose. Yeah, I can see how it could be a problems given the current heavy focus on gear. While Expertise does a good job at separating PvE and PvP, it still creates an uneven playing field in terms of skill, as the one with better gear and more Expertise will always have a significant advantage over someone with worse gear and less Expertise. I don't mind having different gear, but IMO it should not be focused on being better in terms of combat, but it could for example be more focused on visuals or cosmetic aspects. You are of course also right about this being the "usual" way to do it in MMO's, but IMO that doesn't make it right, nor fun for that matter. Btw, what I find interesting are all those comments about my supposed lack of PvP skills, when in fact I'm advocating a system that would put focus on skill. Perhaps these people are simply afraid that if it would be implemented, they wouldn't have the advantage their gear gives them. Which makes you wonder how skilled they actually are since they seem to depend on gear so much in order to be able to win. One would think that someone who is truly skilled would welcome a system based on skill...or? SE

This. ^^ IMO, SWTOR is nothing short of excellent all the way up to maxlevel, with the story being a very important element...at least for me. However, once you hit 50 the game becomes an absolute grindfest, with little more to do than tedious repetitive task to acquire better gear in order to be competitive. Can't speak so much for PvE as I'm mostly into PvP myself, but that part of the game is extremely heavily focused on gear...and skill is by no means the decisive factor, which it in my view should be. For hardcore players that have unlimited time to put into the game and for people who actually enjoy the grind, that may be ok...but for us casuals with a more demanding RL, the grind and frustration can easily overshadow the fun. I can only congratulate those of you who feel that endless grinding is fun, or the ones that are ok with the fact that your skills are being far less important than your gear, but for some of us that stuff is starting to become more and more frustrating and less and less fun. Don't know about you, but if I'm going to be bothered with paying a subscription fee, I want to have fun...not just constantly grind for better stuff. IMO, that model is obsolete and it's time for we get rewarded for being skilled in the actual game, rather than how many exact hours you have at your disposal to put into the grind process. SE

Thank you for that fully developed, intelligent and most insightful response. Please tell us more about how skilled you are in PvP.

1. Have full BM already. 2. My point is that you can't compete in PvP on a completely equal level in terms of skill. The whole point of my thread is that I think skill should be the only decisive factor in PvP, which it currently isn't. SE

Hi Let me start off by saying that I'm mainly into PvP (currently in full Battlemaster gear) and I'm probably what you would describe as a casual player, as my time to play is more than often pretty limited. To me, PvP has become less and less enjoyable over time and the fun once had has gradually been replaced by frustration and eventually indifference. Just in case someone else has similar thoughts or if perhaps a someone from BioWare would happen to read this, I'd like to present what I believe is one of the main problems with PvP in this game, strictly from my personal perspective of course. For the record, everything I comment on will be regarding post level 50 PvP. I'll begin with the heavy focus on gear... Basically, unless you have the top tier gear in PvP, you're always going to be at a significant disadvantage. Which in turn forces you to grind for that gear yourself in order to have a fair chance and compete on an even level. Now, being a casual myself, I realize this might not apply to many of you, but having limited time to play the game means that the time you put into it also becomes more valuable. Personally, I'd rather spend time having fun while playing the game than being repeatedly thrown into a scenario that is not fun just because I need to get better gear. Which brings me to the next problem with the PvP in this game, which is the lack of focus on skill... Again, being a casual, I'd prefer that my valuable time put into the game would be used to improve my hands-on skills with the game, instead of participating on a very uneven playing field just to get the gear to a level where my skills will actually begin to matter. The current PvP basically presents an uneven and imbalanced playing field where the actual PvP is not rewarding skills, but rather grinding to get the best stuff. In other words, the ones that have the most time to get enough money to buy steroids will finish the race first. TL;DR The decisive factor in PvP should be skill, not gear or grinding for it. Currently, this is not the case in SWTOR. Finally, for those interested, I can recommend reading the thread Horizontal scaling, a new type of progression by user Majspuffen is focused around a concept called "Horizontal Scaling" described by the PvP'er Taugrim in . IMO, the model that Taugrim is not only more fair since it focuses on skill rather than gear, but it also sounds a lot more fun...but then again, perhaps that's just me? Anyway, just my 0.02 /flamesuit on /marshmallow on stick SE

For what it's worth, I 100% agree with Taugrim. Being mainly into PvP myself, I think he often has good things to say and definitely knows what he's talking about. Speaking of PvP, currently in SWTOR it's all about the gear grind and very little about actual skill. In other words, it doesn't really matter how skilled you are, if you don't have good enough gear you're basically screwed in post 50 PvP...which is also one of the main reasons why I don't find PvP as enjoyable anymore. I think the current system (or the vertical scaling if you will) can pretty much be summed up in one word: Frustration. Not being able to take down an opponent simply because he/she has better gear than you just makes it frustrating and annoying. It also makes the playing field uneven as participants aren't competing on an equal basis, since the one with the best gear will most likely win regardless of skill. IMO this is a flawed system at its core. Proper competition should be based on your skill, not simply having the best stuff as it is now. The time you put into the game should be used to improve your actual hands-on skills with the game, not to grind the gear you need just to have even the slimmest chance of even surviving in PvP. Thankfully it seems some developers are catching on to a more "horizontal" approach. For example, a lot of the interviews with the Planetside 2 devs seem to suggest that they are going for a progression system which at least sounds very similar to what Taugrim describes. Again, I fully agree with Taugrim and would welcome this in SWTOR. However, I fear that it may not be possible to implement, mainly because everything in the game is so focused on the gear grind and it is such an important and intricate part of the overall system. Bottom line: SWTOR = Gear > Skill. And nothing I've seen so far seems to suggest this is going to change. SE

I were on 3 month subscription plan, but cancelled it a while back and there's still some time left. Everyone in my guild (which mainly consisted of RL friends and former guildies from WoW) has left the game long time ago and I'm beginning to feel this game might not be for me either. Yeah well, I was hoping to try out 1.3 with my main character on the PTS, but it seems it didn't get copied. I'm certain I filled out the form correctly, even sent an extra one in case the first got "lost" or something. Needless to say, I don't have the time nor the energy to get a character up to maxlevel on the PTS, so I guess I'll never know how the game feels in that regard, let alone if it would be enough to make me resub. I did level up a character to 17 on the PTS, but as I never got the promised reward title for reaching level 10, I don't really see why I would bother even putting the time into completing the first chapter with it either. SE

For the record, I filled out the survey twice with no "mistakes" or typos on my part. However, my main character has not been copied to the PTS and unless I'm mistaken the copy process has ended now? My only question is: What's the thought behind copying duplicates (in some cases several copies) of certain players main characters while not copying even one for some? Doesn't that seem just a tad counterproductive? I would guess motivating a broader range of people to get on the PTS would be a good thing, especially those who have cancelled their subs and simply wish to see if 1.3 might be worth coming back for. Needless to say, if you want to do that, you'd want to try it out with a maxlevel character, not having to level one up as some are forced to do now. SE

For the record, I did not receive this title yet (no in-game mail about it or anything). As far as I know, I have a PTS character that is above level 10, which unless I'm mistaken is the requirement for getting the first of the two titles? Anyway, just for your information...as there are probably others who didn't as well...which means that you may want to have a look into this again if you intend these titles to be a form of reward for participating in testing. SE

Hi Darka, hope all is well with you! I agree the visitor walls were pretty cool, and they sure did add an extra social dimension to these forums. Of course also have no idea why they were removed. As for Stephen Reid, I'd just like to point out that when he first started he was extremely active on these forums. Also, when he took over was also when the rest of the devs suddenly started posting a lot here. Something that was very rare before Stephen came along. I think everyone who was around at that time can agree on this. What happened after that, or how it's been as of late, is another question. Seems a lot of people are critical of his focus on Twitter as means of communication, and I must admit I can at least see where they are coming from. However, on the other hand I can also see it from the perspective of wanting to extend communication to Twitter and it also allowing for more frequent and quicker updates. It's probably a lot easier to keep track of than going through forum threads and reply to them. Personally, I would prefer community managers to be focus their presence on where the majority of the community is, which probably would be these forums. That said, I still feel Stephen did a good job overall. Again, let's not forget that the increased dev posts and more open communication was something that kicked off when he started...before that it was pretty unusual to see any dev post here. All the best to Stephen and thanks for his work on SWTOR. Also, good luck to the person taking over (if that is indeed the case). SE

Maybe he will now when he no longer has any obligation whatsoever to deal with all the crap posted here.

Error #1: Stephen Reid replaced Sean Dahlberg. Error #2: The CRM Manager position is open.

Just wanted to drop by to wish Mr Reid all the best in the future with whatever he decides to do. Personally, as far as I could tell, I think he did a great job. As some have already pointed out, this community can be an extremely tough crowd, not to mention one very difficult (impossible even) to clearly communicate with at times. Some people just won't accept simple facts, other are huge drama queens while some troll or are just flat out illiterate. I think that's important to keep in mind before you criticize him too much. Anyway, hope all goes well for Stephen and I sincerely thank him for all the hard work he's done for the community. Cheers mate! SE

Yeah but as far as I know that is just ONE (1!) existing and isolated example, and on top of it all it doesn't even come from one of the movies but from a friggin' cartoon TV-series for crying out loud! IMO, it qualifies as a one-time freak accident, nothing more. If anything, it's just an extremely poor excuse to bring some tasteless "bling bling" into the game for the kids who like shiny stuff. /rant I find your remark about being able to "pvp on an equal level", which I agree can't be said about TOR. Seems to me that if anything, with the increased importance of Expertise post 1.2, the focus on gear has been even more concentrated...and often when gear becomes more important, skill tends to become less so. No doubt the decreased TTK would have affected this as well. Would you say the change in TTK has made it even less about skill and more about gear, or is it just a matter of those being quicker having an advantage over those of a more tactical long-term style of PvP gameplay? Personally, I miss the longer TTK and enjoyed the more tactical aspect of PvP. Then again, maybe all that really shows is that I'm just too slow to keep up with the higher pace of combat? SE

Actually, I think that "given fact" is not entirely without question. It may carry the name and have the required IP-license, but some things are definitely NOT Star Wars at least as I know it...for example: Black Lightsabers. Visually force corrupt non-force users. The 1.2 high level armor designs. I don't want to completely derail the thread, but it doesn't take much research nor consideration to realize that the above are pretty much out of place and should arguably not have made it into the game to begin with. To get back OT and answer OP's question... To be perfectly honest: No, I would probably not. But seeing as I'm feeling less and less inclined to agree that the game is true to the Star Wars I know, even that is becoming questionable. Because for every black saber and force-corrpupted Smuggler I see, I get more and more turned off from playing the game. SE

To begin with, it's getting more and more questionable to me whether this game even is Star Wars in its true and proper sense anymore. I say this because of the horrid black lightsabers, visually force corrupted non-force users which together with the recent 1.2 high level gear designs makes me seriously question BioWare's level of seriousness when it comes to respecting this IP. And no, to be perfectly honest the only reason I currently play and PvP is due to whatever remains of "Star Wars" in the game. Although considering the fact that the development seems to have been hijacked by the loudest crying kiddies with no sense of taste or moderation whatsoever, then given enough time there might not be much left resembling the IP as some of us know it. As for the PvP in particular, IMO it's certainly not as fun anymore mainly due to the following: Imbalanced and low server populations. TTK is down too much post 1.2. Pugging it and being forced to face premades. Getting thrown into losing Warzones (e.g. 2 minutes left on a Huttball match and under by 5 points). Non-existent open world PvP. Must admit the stunfest is getting a bit tiresome by now. I'm currently in full Battlemaster and PvP is my main activity in game. I don't have the time nor inclination to group up or commit to more organized teamplay. So before anyone responds to my "pug vs premade" point by saying "just join a premade": No, anyone should be able to play as casual and compete against other casuals. It's a perfectly valid playstyle and a most reasonable request, or else there wouldn't even be an option to solo queue in the first place. Granted, a lot of the stuff I listed above can be fixed, but the question is how long it will take. I can't speak for anyone else, but pretty much all of my guildies/RL friends have left the game months ago and don't seem the least tempted to return, at least not at the moment. Finally, can't say much about the "other game" as I didn't participate in the weekend beta. Don't have the motivation to pre-purchase in order to try it out. It seems kinda cool I guess, but frankly, I'm sick and tired of the Fantasy genre. I've had it with trolls, dragons and elves in tights. I might check it out later but now I'm just happy for those who tried it and liked it; good for you and enjoy. Me, I guess I'll stick around for a while, but as I said I'm already on the verge of what I can take from this game. Every time I see someone with a black saber I die a little inside. And if the day comes when I stop getting the Star Wars feeling from this game, then I honestly don't know. SE

Thanks to OP for the heads up! Seems this is something primarily useful to low level alts on pre-speeder levels, good to know. Thanks again... SE

IMO, it would be awesome if we would be allowed to just trade/gift them with/to other players. That way, at least it would be humanly possible to get a full set and all the dupes we're sitting on would come to good use. Money sink, yeah of course...but I must admit I don't fully understand the reasoning behind this concept. I mean, when you do the dailys and earn your DNA's...getting RNG-violated on the rewards feels a bit suboptimal considering you can't do anything with your dupes but throw them away. While I can grasp the concept of encouraging players to try different classes, I think it's pretty safe to say that no one is going to roll 7 Consulars on the same server. SE