For armor, the Armoring slot increases the base level & armor rating of the piece. So far as I understand, Mods and Enhancements are just stat boosters. For weapons, the Hilt (melee) or Barrel (ranged) increase the base level, min/max damage, and Force or Tech power rating. In the same way (as I understand), Mods and Enhancements are just stat boosters.

A big bright Nar Shaddaa-style Ranked Team Leaderboard hovering over the fleet cantina. It can even be RP-friendly, with a WWII-style news ticker displaying updates from the front lines.

I agree with the idea of promoting community. I am opposed to preventing guilds & friends from playing together (or at least making it more difficult). However, I am also opposed to forcing hardcore solo players to group or shop for a guild. I have floated this idea before, but I think a neat solution would be a Premade Finder. When you are grouped before & after a WZ (as in a guild premade), you have the opportunity to communicate your preferences, do after-action reviews, and (perhaps most important) teach newer or less-PVP-experienced players some of the strategies or tactics they might not be familiar with. Right now, you see a lot of ALL CAPS tutorials in the heat of a WZ, and far too many conflicting strategies ("2 snow, 6 mid" .... "NO we should do 3 snow and 5 grass."... "NO....") being hashed out while less experienced PUGers run one-at-a-time into a mob of the opposing faction. Granted, some premades are bad, but over time they have the opportunity to learn to work together and improve as a team. A PUG never has this opportunity.

This ^^ (emphasis added). Lots of comment sites (and even these forums) can be worse than political talk shows. It's a game, and a damn good one. Game trolls that refuse to let other people have fun are ruining the online gaming community. These "Piranhas" keep people from wanting to swim.

1.) PVP Premade Finder - If you're going beyond the daily, and your guildies are at work.... find a team, make some friends, and be more competitive. This is a multiplayer social game, so meeting people outside your current circle is good, yes? 2.) A Legacy Bank - Let me keep my crafting materials & "Bound to Legacy" gear in one place. Reduce load on the in-game mail server (constantly mailing gear & mats between alts). 3.) Legacy Tier Discounts - Higher legacy levels SHOULD earn you some sort of discount for Legacy Perks. Instead of constantly lowering the standards, how about giving some incentive to grow your legacy (i.e., replay the friggin' game). 4.) Hard Mode Space Missions - Let me at least earn some extra fleet coms for replaying the fun space missions that are grayed at my level. An easy way to add variety to the endgame. Also, a good reason to buy those top-tier spaceship upgrades. 5.) Guild Capital Ships - Floating museums of a guild's accomplishments, complete with cantina and unlockable mission terminals based on ops or PVP achievements. An intuitive way to evaluate a guild before you join, an excellent way for a guild to display their super-awesomeness, and a refuge from overcrowded (and laggy) fleets.

Wanted to bump this idea, because I really think it would add value to the PVP community (originally posted in another thread) My two cents: Game needs a premade-finder. A grouping tool for people that want to PVP as a team. A place for people who don't have tons of guildies available, don't want to spam invites on the fleet, and don't want to get PUG-stomped by bigger guilds. This way, you can 1) Meet new people without nagging or being nagged. 2) Learn to play as a team and be a little more competitive. 3) Avoid being dropped into losing WZs because somebody quit. 4) Avoid finding yourself in a PUG with that one player that just won't shut up... This would also facilitate a sense of community, IMO. Cheers --

My two cents: Game needs a premade-finder. A grouping tool for people that want to PVP as a team. A place for people who don't have tons of guildies available, don't want to spam invites on the fleet, and don't want to get PUG-stomped by bigger guilds. This way, you can 1) Meet new people without nagging or being nagged. 2) Learn to play as a team and be a little more competitive. 3) Avoid being dropped into losing WZs because somebody quit. 4) Avoid finding yourself in a PUG with that one player that just won't shut up... This would also facilitate a sense of community, IMO. Cheers --

Sticky

I think this is more where BW is coming from. They don't want 50s to stop playing. Also, 50s are more effected by the changes, since they played up with old skills, have probably been running HMs and ops with old skills, etc. Also, there is even less end-game content (with the end of Illum daily). They are kissing-up to 50s, begging them not to quit. If you enjoy the story, have 20 alts on 4 servers, and a SWTOR blog, you're not going to quit because your skill trees are different, and BW knows that. If you have 1 main toon whose name strikes fear into the other faction, and suddenly your blaster rifle whimpers when you hold it, you might end your sub. 30 days gets frustrated 50s some time to "see what happens."

sticky.

Till this is stickied

Sticky required.

Human elitism is a product of majority/minority politics. Dark Jedi (ostensibly human) fled to the edges of the galaxy to hide. They found the Sith, who they respected for their inherent Force powers. Build an Empire based on Human ambition & Force prowess.... Fast forward, Empire is crushed, and only a few remnants of the Dark Council survive, plus the Lost Tribe So, the Empire rebuilds again, with a Human power base. Humans, being the most populous race in the galaxy, are always at a numbers advantage. It is dark side nature to test your power, to earn your titles, and defend them until someone else takes them. Allegiances, conspiracies, and backstabbing are normal. Rallying a group of humans against "aliens" who threaten your power is an easy ploy to maintain power. Also, it reflects (minus some violence & lightsabres) RL politics, especially pre WWII.

A backstory of Clan Ordo allows a little wiggle-room in allegiances. Mandalore the Lesser is a tool of the Empire, but they're still pretty fragmented compared to pre-Revan (I don't think that's a spoiler).

Playable Mandalorians could fill this role for both sides. They're mercenaries, so they don't have genuine loyalties. In fact, it would be awesome if you could "unlock" a Mando (a la Death Knight from WoW), but instead of being minimum 30, 40, etc.... 1) One unique backstory reduces dev time 2) Make it Faction Neutral. Bolster either faction on a whim with your "you can't kill me" attitude, skills, and gear. 3) In WZs, you could "choose" which side to queue with (Mercenary style). 4) In open-world PvP, you can attack either faction, which means you can be attacked by either faction. 3) Don't violate your Rep/Imp sensibilities and role an "enemy" char just to explore the other faction's areas. Go Merc. 4) Land in an orbital station, pick up a planetary Merc mission that keeps the NPCs off your back. 5) Replay only the fun missions from your previous roles. 6) Have a price put on your head for killing an extremely unbalanced number of members from one faction (i.e., no griefing Repubs with your Mando army). Killing you not only brings high valor, it's a Bonus Mission that rewards credits. Turn in at terminal... No Rep/Imp balancing issues, because Mandos hate everybody.

You can't make crafted gear better than raid drops for reasons discussed (why raid?) and vice versa. However, if you add new dimensions, you could make it worthwhile for those who <want> to craft & be economically viable (i.e., need money to buy medpacks). 1) Social points generally go to those who group/team/raid. Have schematics that require Social IV, V, etc. The same for Valor 40, 50, etc. That way, you're making gear with stats that you know about & that interest you. If you camped the WZ queues, no purple lightsabre for you. If you cry every time you hear "Rotworm pass imcomplete," then no +200 expertise Darth Malak resperator for you. The gear doesn't have to be BETTER than dropped gear, just different in a way that appeals to some people. 2) High-level crafting for low-level items: For example, a series of color crystals (i.e., purple) that requires Valor50 & Artifice 400 to make, but that can be used by lower levels (i.e., purple1, purple2...). It's a quantity vs. quality argument. There are WAY more newbs, slowbies, & re-rolls than high-lvl chars on any given server. Many of them are completely willing to pay way too much for a stupid lvl11 purple crystal for their lightsabre -- That's why so many people go in for pre-order and collectors edition pets & perks - so they can have something cool to show their friends. For casual gamers (who take months to hit 50, rather than days/weeks), it sucks that your customization options are so limited. Let me make high-end gear that they can't make themselves, and if they want it, they gotta pay for it. If you're a re-roll with a fat checkbook in your lvl50's purse, then send yourself some credits and buy a slightly too expensive low-level custom helmet made by a high-level craftsman. More options @ lower levels keeps people interested longer. More moneymaking options @ high levels rewards people who enjoy crafting. </two cents>

If you play nothing except FPs and raids, it's really not fair if you walk into the Voidstar once and weld the doors shut every time they're blasted open. Conversely, if you camped the WZs from 30-49, you really shouldn't be able to laugh at Bonethrasher and force him to flee in tears. If you spend the time, you earn your right to pwn. If you don't enjoy the time commitments of FPs (including LFG), and prefer fast-paced Huttball queues, then you should never be AS good at PvE as someone that never hits a WZ. And vice versa. If I hit Social V, Artifice 400, I should be able to craft an epic purple-crystal lightsabre that makes all those hours of RE and FPs feel worthwhile. If I hit Valor 50, Artifice 400, I should be able to craft a relic that expands my Huttball passing radius by 5 meters, and grants me a #16 jersey and Jedi Joe Montana title for 10 minutes. If I grind both, I deserve both. If I don't, I better have the credits to buy both. Let all those endgame bucks go to something besides goofy-looking speeders and iron bikinis. Either way, people (like me) that enjoy managing crew skill missions, reverse engineering crits, and off-roading for mats, have the chance to come back and say "HA! I suck at Huttball, but check out my wicked Purple/Black lightsabre crystals, y'all."

Rather than creating a new augment to track (an idea I like, but which won't fly with people who just want Battlemaster so they can go win Huttball and be done with gear), I propose a social solution: Elite PvP gear that can only be mod/crafted by players with appropriate crew skills AND high valor (this way, you earn your PVP expertise, and probably have PVP friends - e.g., a PVP guild Huttball team) Elite PvE gear that can only be mod/crafted by players with appropriate crew skills AND high social skills (this way, you know the FPs & likely have raid friends or a raid guild). This way, you can help yourself 9-49 in a way appropriate to your roll, with an eye to becoming a vital member of whichever endgame/PVP communities you ENJOY being a part of. As it stands, the perks for PVP are too high to resist. It is not only killing 400 crew skills (except maybe Biochem), it is also killing FPs. The cost/reward ratio for FPs is too low when compared to the ease of queueing PVP and standing around in the Fleet.

While I agree that it doesn't make sense that there are ZERO consequences for PVP-ing inside neutral-enforced Voss-Ka, I do think that, when they implement the change, there should be ways to get around the new security. The only thing more fun than jumping someone (of competitive level - order some new **** if you're bored enough to grief lowbies) is jumping someone while the guard's back is turned. That way, it is possible to be careful enough to avoid an unexpected fight, or cunning enough to start one anyway.

The notion that I am not going to have the "best" gear if I don't grind the three WZs is also hurting FPs. Why beg for heals/tanks, run a 4-member group through a long FP, and then roll dice for "decent" gear when you can just queue for WZ and stand around in the Fleet? No begging, no extended time commitment, and Battlemaster sets for all! Yay PVP! Don't even get me started on how disappointing it is to hit 400, craft my own armor, and still feel like my gear sucks.