The individual class stories were great. Where the game went wrong was everything after the class stories ended. Since the story going forward after that was generic (the same regardless of what class you play), it had a lot of limitations, and that only got worse as they kind of ran i to some dead ends. Pet of that is power creep for the villains. Galaxy eating Vitiate got really old after a while as they just kept reincarnating him and telling the same story. KOTFE/KOTET had excellent production, and I liked a lot of the missions, but it didn’t feel very Star Wars since they abandoned the Jedi/Sith conflict. And it created even more problems by introducing and then taking away things like the infinite fleet or whatever it was called. You spend all this time building up a huge alliance and then it basically just melts away because otherwise there would be no tension in the story. They have tried to pivot back to Malgus, who was always a better villain than Vitiate, but it has been very underwhelming. Honestly, I would prefer we get less content but go back to class specific stories that feel more like Star Wars. I have more fun going back and replaying the class stories than playing the new stuff.

Good to see the continued concern from the devs (complete silence) toward those of us who still can’t get the game to run. I mean, you already got my money for the month, why should you care that I can’t play it?

Nice to see the Devs have completely given up even responding to this thread and trying to help those of us who’s till can’t get the game to run. Thanks for your concern.

I can get past the launcher, but not the title screen. Launcher works fine. I click play. Title comes up. I can hear an astromech and some sounds for a bit, then sound cuts out and I get a little blue circle for my mouse pointer and it just stays on the title screen forever. SWTOR was already added to firewall allow list. I have downloaded Direct X 9 and installed it. I have checked compatibility settings and all are unchecked. My system meets all specifications. Windows 10 64-bit. I’ve done everything suggested and can’t get past the title screen. If I click the mouse after a while I get the error message that Star Wars: The Old Republic is not responding. I can close the program or what for it to respond. Waiting for it to respond does nothing. Just stays on the title screen forever.

I downloaded the update. The launcher works. I click play, and then I get the title screen that never goes away. Server page won't come up. Character page doesn't come up. It just stays on the title page, and nothing happens. My system meets all the required specs. I downloaded Direct X and followed all the other troubleshooting tips on the forum post. Nothing. Really glad I re-subbed only to be unable to play the game.

Carnage is the only Marauder spec that isn’t competitive and has been for a long time.

This will just lead to the same “Spammer Sation” problem that plagued 6.0. I don’t mind doing more difficult FPs, and it can get incredibly boring running HS over and over. We just need the rewards for the longer ones to scale such that the time investment matches the reward.

Yes, sorry. I mean vet mode.

I’m not talking about MM. Go back and read my post again. This in reference to the SM versions of the Flashpoints. Nathema in SM using Group Finder is in my experience the worst FP. Part of it is the mentality of those who queue for SM flashpoints. They are so used to just charging in and never wiping that fights with actual mechanics cause problems, and that is compounded in instances people rarely run because they are known for being not worth the effort.

I was mostly joking. I appreciate the response. Just don’t want it reverted.

I got one pair from the regular machine and one from the max bet

This is my favorite spec. It has been an underperformer for quite a long time. I mostly run it in solo content where it doesn’t come up and I can just enjoy it. But knowing it isn’t viable for top level content is depressing, made even more so when they release a set of balance changes and do nothing whatsoever to address it. I will say, I think MM/SS has by far the easiest rotation in the game. And maybe that plays into their thinking here. You can absent-mindedly run this spec pretty well because for the majority of any fight you apply a dot once that never has to be reapplied thanks to your tactical, then you use four different skills. Ambush, Follow Through, Penetrating Blast, Follow Through, Snipe, Snipe, Follow Through, repeat ad nauseam. Add in Takedown at 30 percent boss health and an extra Penetrating Blast when your cooldown comes up, and that’s it. Compared to specs where you have to dot track and time a bunch of procs to maximize damage, this spec has an incredibly easy rotation. It’s true that movement complicates things because the spec is crap for mobility. But I just wonder if that is part of why they get penalized.

It feels nice to be seen. I think TheJudeAbides covered most of the issues for master mode. I will throw in some thoughts for SM because I frankly run them more but some of the same issues persist. I will say I have recently noticed some changes to the tuning on SM flashpoints that have made certain ones a lot easier than they used to be. Spirit of Vengeance is a good example. The trash mobs are nigh endless, but they go down to AOE reasonably quickly now. Most of the SM flashpoints are tuned pretty well. I would put the following FPs into the “minimal or no issues” category: - Hammer Station - Athiss - Kuat Drive Yards (please put this back in Group Finder. It was fun and the fact that you could get different variations added some cool aspects) - Mandalorian Raiders - Battle of Ilum - False Emperor (number of trash mobs could be cut down as it makes this one a bit longer than it needs to be) - Assault on Tython (It has been tuned down. Trash mobs used to hit too hard and cause problems in SM) - Korriban Incursion (Ditto. The recent tuning down has made this one less of a burden) - Czerka Corporate Labs - Blood Hunt (Another one where groups used to wipe a lot but tuning changes have made it better) - The Foundry - The Red Reaper - Cademimu - Boarding Party - Taral V - Battle of Rishi The only major issue for me with some of these is length. Some simply take a bit longer than others, but none of them are so outrageous that I am going to consider quitting when they pop. This next tier are SM flashpoints that are mostly OK but have a tougher mechanic that makes them a bit more difficult than the first tier and worthy of additional rewards: - Maelstrom Prison (Two bosses have mechanics that seem to mess up SM GF groups even though they aren’t really that hard if you listen to those who know the fight. Colonel Daksh’s laser optical phase still gets people killed because they can’t figure out how to kite around the boxes. Not that hard, but when GF groups are doing SM flashpoints, players just Leroy Jenkins and ignore mechanics. Can’t do that here. Similar issue with Grand Moff Kilran’s snipe). - Czerka Core Meltdown (The Vrblther fight is usually doable even if someone is being dumb. Dunceclaw is not. Getting GF groups to listen and follow the mechanics on this one can be a struggle. This fight causes a lot of wipes because someone in the group had aggro and won’t go stand on the barrels even when you are screaming at them in chat). Take these out of Group Finder entirely: - The Esseles/Black Talon (Esseles feels worse to me, but both have the same essential problem. When you are running these in group finder and one or more people don’t want to spacebar, things are going to get ugly and someone is going to get vote kicked. I just don’t think these belong in group finder. You can solo them with a companion in story mode. Their only purpose is to make players hate each other over whether or not to spacebar. Stop forcing people who are trying to farm gear to run these. It is torture). This tier are fun in my opinion, but people often quit because they take significantly longer than the FPs already mentioned. Give some more rewards and people might hang around more: - Secrets of the Enclave (too many trash mobs) - Directive 7 (Most of the problem here is the amount of dialogue. It is excessive and this causes similar issues as Esseles/Black Talon). - Legacy of the Rakata (This just follows the trend of some of the newer FPs that have too many unskippable trash mobs) - Kaon Under Siege (So many trash mobs. I love the Turret fight, and the unique mobs here are fun, but it is just so much longer than FPs like Cademimu or Czerka Corporate Labs etc.) - Lost Island (Same issue as Kaon. I truly like running this one in SM, but I could run Hammer Station three or four times and get triple the rewards for the same time investment). - Spirit of Vengeance (The bosses seem to have a ton of HP compared to other SM flashpoints. I have noticed the unending waves of unskippable trash mobs at least go down faster lately, but it is still too much). - Depths of Manaan (This is another one with fun boss fights that I personally like to run, but it is way longer than others and the bosses seem to have too much HP). Too long/Didn’t Run. These take forever and a day. - A Traitor Among the Chiss (I don’t think this one is especially difficult from a mechanics standpoint. It’s just that it isn’t worth running if there isn’t a stealth toon in the group who can skip you to the first boss. The entire trip to the first boss is unending and unsatisfying in the extreme. I think it creates the perception that this one is hard merely because so few people stick around to run it that it seems like it’s always the first run for at least half the group). - Objective Meridian (Now we are getting to the ones I simply refuse to run. I’ve run this once or twice. Never again. It takes forever. Because so many people feel the same, when you actually do try to run it, no one seems to remember the mechanics. I think this one needs to be removed from group finder entirely unless it can be significantly reworked to put its run time more in line with other SM flashpoints). You can’t make me do these no matter how hard you try: - Ruins of Nul (To be fair, I haven’t run this since the latest patches, and if the Malgus bug is fixed, it wouldn’t be that bad. I am still angry beyond measure that this was released in a virtually unplayable state). - Crisis on Umbara (This one is at least doable, but nobody ever knows the mechanics, and it takes forever). - The Nathema Conspiracy (I think I have successfully completed this through group finder exactly once. The last three times I tried it, the group got stuck and disbanded at the Gemini 16 fight despite my efforts to explain the mechanics. The mechanics on all the boss fights in this one are overtuned for SM, but Gemini 16 in particular usually ends the experience because GF groups just can’t get it done).

This is *chef’s kiss*

See this is why people only post negative stuff. I post one positive thing about a change I like, and you immediately punish me by taking it away. Lesson learned. I’ll just keep telling you all the ways you disappoint me from now on.

Yeah, don’t spend credits. Not worth it. But the Emperor’s chips are worth spending since they always give you something and often give you prizes or the “golden certificates” you can use to purchase the Kingpin prizes. Some of the Kingpin weapons look amazing, and who doesn’t want to ride a Rancor? Plus, you can get a free new companion out of it. My advice... only use the Smuggler’s Luck machines to gain the “lucky” buff. You will get a message on screen saying you feel lucky and a buff appears over your character bar that looks like a holoportrait of a Hutt. This gives you higher odds to win a big prize. Once you get the lucky buff, spend those purple chips on the Emperor’s machines. You’ll either end up with golden certificates to spend on the casino prizes, cartel certificates to spend at the cartel bazaar, lots of Kingpin chips or win a prize outright. I convert all my Kingpin chips to max bet chips because it isn’t worth standing at the machines for hours even though I think you would end up with more loot if you did so. I just keep cycling back to the Smuggler’s Lick machines to get the lucky buff (it goes away when you win something good, so you have to reapply), then to the Kingpin max bet machines. They will often give you more Emperor’s chips, which are what you really want. This is my first year participating in the event. I always seek to be taking a break when they run it. I only spend 15 minutes on it here or there and have won loads of stuff. Today I got the High Roller Sniper Rifle, which looks pretty neat. Like a WWI Lewis Gun. I’ve got like half a dozen of the Wraith speeders, two contracts for the Rodman companion, a couple of pair of the freaky rave glasses, a couple other mounts and pets, plus I bought several copies of the Kingpin’s weapons and a Rancor Mount with the golden certificates I accumulated. It@/ actually one of the better events for getting stuff easily, but doing the single bet Kingpin machines is an absolute time sink. Go to fleet and do the max bet ones and save yourself the trouble.

That’s what casinos are supposed to do. I can’t decide how I feel about the event, to be honest. Some of the Kingpin weapons are cool. The blaster looks like Han’s DL-44 with a laser sight. The blaster rifle is probably the best because it looks like a Star Wars Tommy Gun. The High Roller Rifle and Sniper Rifle look more like a Lewis Gun, not my taste, but it is unique. Odds of winning those are also very low. There isn’t a lot of substance to the event, honestly. The quests are short and mundane except for the Mek Sha one, which is capable of getting you killed when it makes you fight like a dozen trash mobs at once. None of the quests are very interesting. You can pound away for hours on the various machines, and you’ll end up with half a dozen Vector Wraiths and maybe a couple other mounts/pets or that Rodian companion. But the odds of winning are way too low for the time spent. I had hoped the max bet machines would cut down on that, but they actually end up giving you less chances to win for no better odds. I haven’t done the math, but at least with the max bet Kingpin machines, it seems like a worse bet to use the max bet chips. Honestly, the best thing you can do is just play other content, take the random Emperor’s chip drops and hope you win enough gold certificates to buy yourself a rancor mount and some of the cool-looking weapons. The Smuggler’s Luck machines are only good for giving you the “lucky” buff to use on the Emperor’s machine. Far as I can tell, the Kingpin machines are mostly pointless unless you want your 900th Vector Wraith. You can win Emperor’s chips, but the odds are awful. Not worth the time spent.

The problem with open world PvP is the same problem as with most every other aspect of the game... there simply aren’t enough active players to make things work like a healthy MMO. Most of the tougher operations are inaccessible unless you belong to one of a handful of guilds on each server that actually run them regularly, can run them at the peak times when all those raids get scheduled and if a spot on a progressive raid team is open, etc., etc. When you were playing at launch, the player base was exponentially larger. Now the business model of the game relies on the Cartel Market, not subscriptions. Which means more work goes into making new cosmetic stuff than designing content that might actually make people want to subscribe. When we get expansions like 7.0 with like 90 minutes of fighting trash mobs, a few cutscenes and a broken flashpoint, that simply isn’t good enough to attract new players. It may not even be good enough to retain the ones they have. Unless BioWare puts more resources back into the game and develops some ambitious expansions that actually attract new players, none of this is going to be fixed. Open world PvP requires a healthy player base. This game just doesn’t have one.

Esseles and Black Talon are still too long because of all the dialogue, which ends up being way worse if you get someone who won’t spacebar, which happens more often than it should in group finder. Those two are easy, but they take forever, even if you are using spacebar. Esseles is worse. Black Talon is actually OK as long as people are smashing spacebar.

Ops hit different, though. You don’t have to do random ops to farm gear. If you want to farm gear doing flashpoints, you have to use group finder and keep every FP checked or else you don’t get the big lump sum of FP-1 stabilizers. Flashpoints are built around group finder now. Ops aren’t.

I’m quick to air grievances, so I thought I should also share my gratitude for the seemingly minor tweaks made to the map function. I like to rerun the class stories, which means a lot of travel on planets like Hoth where it can be difficult to navigate unless you have already explored the map. Being able to actually see the roads in unexplored areas of the map makes it possible to avoid backtracking if you make a mistake or risking death if your attempt to navigate ledges down to a cave go awry. If anything, it would be nice if the hexagons over unexplored areas were a bit more muted. I have to look close and squint to Olán a route. Of course, I need a new pair of glasses, but it would help.

My biggest complaint with the gear isn’t so much the grind (330 is attainable relatively quickly). What bothers me more is the way they split everything up into separate paths for PvP, Flahspoints, Ops, etc. which made things wildly confusing, and also the requirement for so many currency types. There should just be one currency type you can get from each activity, with the amount you get scaled to the time investment and difficulty. It is also bothersome that you need daily matrix regardless. I don’t like being forced to farm content I don’t want to do, which includes dailies/heroics and especially world bosses because of the difficulty in getting a group unless you are in a guild. If all the currency you needed to upgrade dropped from the content you actually want to do, like you could upgrade doing PvP and nothing else or doing Flashpoints and nothing else, that would be fine. There are currently six currencies for upgrading gear. That is beyond excessive. And yeah, you don’t need all of them, but the system is far from intuitive. If you are a new player or someone returning after a long absence, you shouldn’t have to come to the forums and read a 2,000 word essay on hearing changes to figure out how to grind gear. People say ask in chat, but that is often less than productive. There is no reason why gear progression can’t be more intuitive and far less complicated and confusing than it is in 7.0.

I get the idea that they don’t want stealth classes to be able to just zoom past all trash mobs, particularly now that we have alternate disciplines and you can add a stealth class as secondary for any toon and just switch back and forth as needed. But there should be some sort of medium place where that solution doesn’t totally nullify a stealth class’ opener and rotation for solo content. They can put those droids with stealth detectors in, which prevents you from just running through but will still let you holotraverse and use your stealth opener.

Assuming you are running flashpoints to grind the mats to upgrade gear or even for leveling, there is simply never any reason to do most of the newer ones. Crisis on Umbarra, Objective Meridian and The Nathema Conspiracy are the worst. They are more difficult, but the bigger issue is that they take orders of magnitude longer than most other FPs and for no greater reward. Someone almost always quits the group the moment these pop. A tier below are Traitor Among the Chiss (which is only palatable if you have a stealth that can sneak you to the first boss and past innumerable trash mobs), and, oddly The Esseles because it takes forever even though you can sleepwalk through it. If you are going to have such a wide variation in the difficulty level and time invested to complete certain flashpoints, there needs to be corresponding better rewards. If I got twice the materials or something from doing those longer FPs, maybe it would be worth considering. As it stands, I’m simply never going to do them. I will quit the group and switch to a different toon and hope for better RNG on my next group finder pop. This has been a problem for far too long, and I’ve never seen the Devs even attempt to address it.

TL/DR I skimmed and saw something suggesting I build my own guild and raid team. No. I have a life. People should be able to play the game without devoting that kind of time to it. You should be able to come online, find a group without too much hassle and run a raid. That just doesn’t happen because there aren’t enough players.