I certainly hope you discuss why certain companions haven't come back. My main character is a BH and I got all my companions back except the one i spent the most time with and effort trying to max her out. I am referring to Mako of course. While others may not see it the same as me, I find companion stories to be essential to part of the game. I played through all of the new expansion waiting for her to return with some great story behind it and there was nothing.... I hope you guys are doing something with it just haven't revealed it yet.

So I am magically supposed to know about a livestream? I kept looking for information about what was going to happen but found nothing. The story was ok at best, everything was so rushed and the fights were extremely repetitive. Most of the story was predictable and lackluster, they left so much untold. Frankly the story was not worth loosing the relationships you had with your companions. That's what really made the game fun at first at least for me. Had I known that they would not be returning I would have just used the damn console to get her back. What a waste of a good story.

Dude I am married, grow up. Its about the story and the connections you make with your companions. I spent a lot of time getting her up to 47 of 50. Removing them from the story is unrealistic, sure one or two of them may die, but that's not the point. Basically it just comes down to Bioware and EA being lazy. The expansion was not all that great, started out good but the end was really quite uneventful. It would have been nice if they actually spent the time to wrap up a lot of loose ends.

Ever since KoTFE when we lost our companions we regained some of them back, however I never got Mako back. It was said that they would return in the new expansion. That was a lie!!! Your character is the leader of the alliance, your romancable companion wouldn't have that hard of a time finding you or searching you out. Did you guys just forget about them? What the hell were you thinking, you completely ignored an entire great part of the game? I figured you could have brought them back in the story or at least you could make a patch where you search for your long lost love. I really dont wanna play anymore because of this....

Your not being rude, your just stating an opinion. I do quite well with my heroic and crystal gear but I run two specific weapons for their look and have to mod them to make them equivalent to crystal gear. I don't run ops unfortunately because I have very limited time to play. The crystal system is nice for common data crystals, but getting radiant and glowing become a daunting task to the point it is pointless. I strive to keep making my character stronger and pushing the boundaries of what my character can do. I see it as what is the point of a crafting system if your forced to do other stuff you don't want to do just to be able to craft a piece of gear. However i will say it has got better from when the game first started.

I have read this too and have tried that but kept running into strange errors saying the mod was meant for a different piece of equipment, or when I tried to place it an item it said that item would then become bound to me, all of which is contrary to everything I have read. No its not impossible it just improbable for the solo player.

I have not tried it on Glowing or Radiant Crystals, but I know it does not work with Common Crystals. I can only assume it works with Glowing or Radiant crystals then. The ones from the operations I have also heard are better, but I don't run operations because I have no guild and I have no time. NOTE: During my first Star Fortress I was awarded both the mount and a piece of 220 armor (Exarch's Boltblaster MK-4 Belt) The mods that were in this piece of armor were unlearn-able. It seems they screw the solo player once again.

I am currently working on my crafting but cannot seem how to figure out how people are creating level 43 item modifications. I have tried looking at numerous websites and explanations, but they seem not to actually explain how it is done. I already know one way is to reverse engineer stuff from operations, but I am looking to do this without running operations. I have my main character currently running Star Fortresses and getting Exarch items but I am not able to transfer them to Armstech and Cybertech Alts. No matter what I seem to try, I end up with the game blocking me from making or even learning the schematics. Frankly I am getting quite upset with the so called easier crafting system. Does anyone have any idea what I may be doing wrong or a link to a guide the is a step by step walkthrough.

Not really, the previous set of code before the patch could have easily been updated to accommodate option based changes. If they had left the previous set of code all they would have had to do is add a new subroutine. When the player wished to be able to customize their companion the code would call one subroutine and if the player did not wish to mess with the companion mechanics they would select the second option which would call a different subroutine to pull stats from an array/ database of sorts. Using your level as the variable the subroutine would then select the appropriate set of stats and skills. From my perspective the coding would be easy but yes you may be right it might interfere or complicate other aspects of the game. Maybe they did try a solution like this and the game went haywire, who knows. Sometimes even the simplest coding can cause the weirdest of changes in the game. I will say i do like the implement of roles for each companion, but I don't think each companion should be able to perform all three roles. Can you imagine Mako from the BH storyline a tank, common really? I do appreciate input from other players such as yourself it make the discussion that more interesting.

Glad they work for you, they don't for me.

That's a very good point, there really is no real reason anymore for more than one companion, except a small storyline and choice of aesthetics. I understand that if you have tons of characters, my god does it ever waste time to gear up companions and that's why I don't suggest we return to the old companion system but a hybrid version that allows the player not the game to make companion decisions. It just takes the fun of being able to customize things out of the game. Since companion armor is now pointless I have sold all my companions clothes now they just run around in their underwear.

I just don't understand the code for all the companions had already been written. As a programmer myself it is not that difficult to write a subroutine that can be called for any character. For instance the subroutine that calculated armoring and skills was likely just one set of code called on for each character. Maybe there is an issue with the compatibility with the old code and the new coding of the expansion. I doubt we will ever be told the real answer.

This thread is a complaint, that's its purpose. While everyone else is out their complaining companions take to much of there time there are some people that actually give a damn about their companions. The purpose of this letter is to make them think about the minority when they make certain changes. I at least offered two very viable options that would benefit both parties. I didn't see the people complaining about companions before offering any suggestions.

Hello Developers, I have been trying to understand the logic behind some of the recent changes to the companions and I need to ask a few questions. Why were these changes necessary? I understand that changes need to be made to further along the game, but what input could you possible have received to think it was a good idea to make everyone's companions the same? I am trying to understand the thought process behind this. Lets walk through this a little: DEVS We have complaints that people think their companions are useless and do not want to have to focus their attention on gearing up their companion so that they can be a vital asset to their character so our response to this is making all the companions generic and taking all the work out of dealing with them. ME I understand some people don't want to take the time to do what's part of the game and I understand some companions are not really fun to play with. I agree with this as when I playing my Bounty Hunter and instead of being able to use Mako (Which I have spent numerous hours on gearing up) being forced to use a moron companion like Skadge who can't hold his own in a fight. Fighting with Skadge makes me incredibly angry, but it is part of the game. I understand people only want to deal with their own character - frankly the only companion in the game I even like is Mako, but the other companions are part of the game and that is something I must accept. How does catering to the masses of whiners who don't want to play the game as it was intended help the game out at all? DEVS Making everyone's companions the same and their armor based on level, you no longer have to worry about using a companion that's not geared up for a fight. We have tried to standardize everything for easier gameplay. ME Ok that's sounds nice. but what about the players that bought armor off the Cartel Market for their companion with real money and spent hours gearing them up to make them great. Personally I have spent over $80 on the Cartel Market to gear up my companions so that they would kick a**. I had Mako pushing out over 750 damage and she healed like a champ, now since the changes with her armor being purely aesthetic and based on level she now does 300 less damage and heals like a first year medical student. Are you really so naïve to screw over the players that put a lot of effort into their characters and companions? Did you even happen to think about the people you would be screwing over? That's a real **** you to players like me. I can only think of a couple responses for this questioning - DEVS (Multiple Responses) 1. Umm we don't care... 2. Were only making the changes to appeal the to masses to make more money. 3. We never happened to think of this issues and that is something we should revisit ME I really hope that your response would be #3. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. Reinstate armoring for companions as an option not a forced change. Having dealt with code before you can keep the current coding setup and write a separate set of code with the armoring algorithms which have technically already have been written since that was the original setup. Then you would have an option on the companions that you may either choose to have Level based skills or Armor based skills. This way people's favorite companions can be decked out just like them and be more than the sum of there level based programming. Companions you hate dealing with would be set to Level Based Armoring. 2. Instead of basing the companions skills off of level they could be based off your own characters armoring. As your character gets stronger and better armor, so does your companion. This way all armor on your companions can remain aesthetic, and you do not have to worry about armoring companions you hate. I write this in hopes that you will understand that you have severely upset some players. I am a returning founder to the game, who may leave the game once more because the developers of the game were unwilling to listen minority hardcore players, and cater to the casual gamer. You don't have to cater to one side or another there are always options that can benefit both sides if your willing to take the time and listen. Maybe if you asked the players how certain changes would affect them before instituting changes you may receive some idea's even better than what you were going to institute. XEROK "One often meets there fate trying to avoid it"

Hello Developers, I recently returned to this game after quitting over a year ago and can say I am not happy with the stat and companion changes. The game is fine the way it is. The reason I never stuck with a game is the dev's keep screwing with what doesn't need fixed. For instance why would I want my companions strength be based upon level? If I went to the hard work of equipping my companion with very powerful armor - your just going to now say well to bad you wasted all that time, now your companion is the same as everyone else. Where is the fun in that? One of the greatest things I enjoyed about this game was the ability to modify my companions the way I want them and now your going to hand me a generic companion. Please do not screw with the ability to make our companions the way we want. Instead here is a thought - make it an option for the companion to level based or armor based. That way everyone can have what they want. Second what's with the stat changes? How difficult is it to comprehend what stat belongs to your class? If there is an issue with there being items that someone wants to wear but can't because of its the wrong stat create a transmogrification station that will switch the stat instead of being lazy and going to one generic stat for all classes. This will make many of the professions pointless, what's going to happen to them. You will have to completely redo the entire professions system. The stat change seems like a good idea but I don't think it has been thought all the way through. I understand changes need to be made sometimes and I enjoy all the new additions to the game but the combat system is something that doesn't need changing.