Having tried both to a semi-reasonable level (not so far with my scoundrel yet), I can say that the operative plays just a little better and the animations seem a bit smoother. Dirty Kick is the most obvious difference. It should definitely be fixed, but by no means is it gamebreaking. Overall, I'd pick the story/side I enjoy the most and not worry about the little differences. I mainly notice them because I've played both, and even then it doesn't stop me from having fun.

I just got Bowdaar. Never seen a companion get killed that much.

Seen it happen with him and other companions for other characters. Bowdaar doesn't even show up on my ship at all. Once he wanted to talk to me and there was a quest icon on the map, but Bowdaar was not there.

He specifically talks about the PvP team using the scoring system. THEN he talks about PvE and how they'll be monitoring it. So it can really go both ways. To me it sounds like they balanced the class due to PvP only, then hoped it would be good enough for PvE, but I'll admit that it isn't 100% clear. I can understand that. But as I've pointed out, your own view was also an interpretation. But this is my conclusion for now: It's not 100% clear what was actually meant, so it's pointless to argue about it.

What works against my character OCD is not surprisingly the same stuff that I've found helpful against other OCD like behavior: Distractions. You need to keep derailing that train of thought because no character will ever be perfect. Joining a guild and forcing me to stick with a character has been an excellent distraction in other MMOs I've played. Worked every time. There are other ways. I have developed a few techniques for myself to distract me because I do have OCD and it spirals out of control if I let it. But that kind of thing is likely very individual.

Depends a lot on how much you like the planets I guess. My least favorite planets are Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa and Taris (the really sad part is, Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa are very similar), and those are the first non-starter planets for the Republic. It's a bit brutal for me, but at least after that it's pretty smooth sailing.

While I think it's a bit wrong to twist the words in an interview too much, I'd say a fair criticism here would be that the response about PvE getting nerfed as a result of PvP actually focuses on how they went about finding out a PvP nerf was needed, with PvE merely as an afterthought. But it would be wise to avoid namecalling and such in this thread. Discussing the points made in such an interview is valid enough as long as we focus on them and only them.

Yep, that's exactly what I noticed as well. I was still playing my scoundrel, but honestly after hearing this, I'm having second thoughts about even playing the game. Very demoralizing to know that PvE is just something we'll have to think about later AFTER we nerf it. I won't lie. It's not like I'm doing endgame content at the moment so I am not an expert. But I have played MMOs far a long time, and you'd have to be blind not to see the current situation as a problem. I care about my character being viable for endgame PvE. I don't want to hold my raid back because my class sucks, and I certainly don't want to be denied a raid spot because of it. But as I understand this message along with the nerf, they aren't taking the PvE aspect seriously enough at all. VERY disappointed. Bah. PS: This is by far the most whiny thread I've posted in a game forum ever. I do apologize

VERY unlikely to change. They actually changed the patch notes yesterday and left the nerf alone. They haven't said a word about it either. I'd love it if they reconsidered the armor penetration nerf, but I fully expect this nerf to happen as is.

I haven't had Bowdaar that long yet, but his personality seems very familiar. I'm pretty sure I've had this same wookiee in my party in a game before. That said, I still like him.

I also prefer Republic myself. But as for the LFG comment, I really wish I knew an easier way to get groups. Whisper people and annoy them even more? Or are you supposed to already know people before you start playing the game? I don't blame people for spamming general at all and I've never felt the slightest bit annoyed to see that one line of text appear on my screen once every minute or so.

I know exactly what you mean OP. I would classify myself as a veteran MMO healer (at least I've done it for years including plenty of raid content of course). I felt utterly worthless with a < level 30 operative healing, and it's the weakest I've ever felt healing with any class in any game. The energy mechanic just didn't seem to allow the kind of output that was needed. Granted, I was in a REALLY crappy Cademimu group where people's understanding of tactics was running around with a headless chicken and doing ANYTHING but tank the boss. You can go below 60 energy to save someone, but now you're in trouble, because your regen is lower and the incoming damage is the same as before. So you need to blow your cooldown. But two emergency saves, and you have to sacrifice someone. I know it gets better with the level 30 talent. But still, low-level healing felt horrible. At least the instances are mostly easy at that level though. At the same time, it seems like the sages/sorcerers have very little trouble healing. It seems like they do better healing in DPS spec too. Again, I know this changes. Just talking about low-level healing here.

When leveling it's quite good to lessen the damage you take. I use it all the time.

I'm more attracted to the Republic side. I can't take all the sith nonsense seriously, and although I liked my imp. character, working for an Empire built on sith power struggle nonsense and racism just does not appeal to me in the slightest.

I think maybe some people are getting there too early. I got there at 32 (the quest is level 32 as well) and didn't have any trouble at all. I used concealment and Kaliyo. Not particularly amazing gear or anything. As you said, you should stun and interrupt, and he should go down easily enough. I'm not saying the fight isn't bugged though. It is.

Well the female voice actor (ehm, actress I guess) definitely delivers. My opinion anyway. I found myself pressing escape in a few conversations tonight just to hear the lines again. My operative is male, however. He has an evil laugh version of the giggle. Very fitting.

I have played both classes now, and as much as I like the scattergun, operatives just work better visually for me. Their healing animations are better, and their vibroknife abilities flow more smoothly than our pretty random assortment of moves. They also use the vibroknife for more abilities. I just think it flows very well and looks better. The scattergun should be used in more animations I think, and it should be displayed the way other weapons are even when you're not using it. I still prefer my scoundrel though. At least this time around I don't have to listen to a bunch of sith lords whining about anything and everything.

I'm a pure PvE player. I thought it was cool and all getting Hidden Strike but the damage really didn't revolutionize anything for me. The thing I like most about it is generating TA when using it, because otherwise it can be a little slow getting your Stim Boost rolling and still have TA for Lacerates.

Thank you! I thought everyone had gone crazy. Besides, the OP also seems to be forgetting the fact that the armor penetration buff is going to be used all the time in PvE.

I wouldn't expect any positive changes the first few months. I'd love for them to prove me wrong though. The forums always make me depressed. Going to do something else instead. Something positive

You don't get a balanced game by thinking in terms of revenge. You may please a certain part of the player population and anger another and decide it's worth it if the former population is much larger than the latter. But it's hardly fair and healthy for the game. Scoundrels and operatives are not overplayed on the servers I've seen (PvE servers, and last I checked there were 47 people in my zone and I was the only scoundrel), and actually the class has a bad reputation. See the healer comparison threads and you are recommended rolling a sage/sorc in most cases. See the threads about PvE dps and you are recommended rolling a ranged class, and if you must roll melee, pick a sentinel or marauder. Yeah people write all kinds of things. But it's the same here as it was with the burst damage threads: a lot is just opinion and whining, but there's a certain amount of truth to it. You have chosen to ignore the negative aspects of the class and focus solely on the burst, rejoicing when that gets removed and no other concerns are addressed.

With commendation gear you don't really have much trouble keeping up gear-wise, so I wouldn't worry about that. However, if you do decide to join a guild and stick around, you might get annoyed that you don't have both your characters in the same place.

On my server, Sentinels are incredibly popular. So much so that I don't want a Sentinel alt. They are EVERYWHERE. Scoundrels, Vanguards and Snipers seem about equally rare, although I've noticed a drop in the Scoundrel population in low-level areas these days (wonder why ).

Yep, seeing it as well. Same bug exists for the Operative version. Yes, it sucks

Yes, how could the designers not notice that Dirty Kick is worse than Debilitate. It's not gamebreaking for me, but I can't understand why they didn't see it and fix it.