Well said, OP. I agree that because they confer stat bonuses, they ARE mandatory for serious players. But the steps needed to get some are ridiculous (eg Jawa balloon). And just to be clear I LOVE exploration and lore in games, but this goes beyond that. I spend hours just exploring each new map, the SWTOR environment is so well done. I would still never spend hours hopping along pipes or jumping on travelling background scenery just for lols. I would suggest that if it is to be left as "mandatory" make them possible to get through normal exploration/skills/quests. Alternatively, remove the stat bonus and make it just a lore find plus perhaps even some "status reward" eg medals that can be displayed, or titles

Maybe i missed it, so apologies if this is a stupid question- but when is 1.2 coming?

Sorry to be the first negative voice, but Datacrons is something that really annoys me about this game. I love the extra lore that comes with them, and i suppose the little XP boost is nice. But i disagree with giving stat bonuses to the players who can be bothered to spend their game time figuring out ways to jump around the terrain, or sit and watch a balloon for 60+ minutes (tattooine) I'd love for the stat bonuses to be removed, but more stuff like the lore and exploration added. That way it encourages players who like that side of things (me being one) without penalising those who aren't interested And i agree unique (but not better) items and equipment is one way to do this one good idea warhammer and others had was medals/trophies that you could pin to shoulders, belt etc. that might be an option to go with it.

This thread seems to be dominated by people unhappy about the endgame oRvR. I've not reached lvl50 with any characters, so can't comment on that. I also enjoy PvE as much if not more than PvP I was hugely pleased about adding the 50 bracket to warzones. It was great last night to find everyone jumping on, and finding a reasonably fairly balanced fight every time! so well done on that one On the downside, as a few have mentioned, my skills are sticking now. taking 4 or 5 seconds to pop, or not at all. Which in PvP = frustrating, instant death. so hopefully that will get noticed and addressed sharpish that's really ALL i've noticed from the patch, it was a bit of a non-event for me for whatever they plan next, i'd seriously hope they concentrate on fixing and building on what is ALREADY there, rather than new content. I'm on the whole very happy with the game as it stands, as i think most of the non-vocal majority are. so work on things like bug fixes skill misfiring further customization (dying armour, cosmetic changes to speeders etc) turning space combat into a real co-op part of the game instead of a minigame afterthought a couple of other related notes. the amount of downtime for the actual content patched seems excessive to date. if this is what it takes, fine. but could you at least schedule it separately for EU/US so that the EU aren't loosing so much of their subscriptions? also, why close the site at the same time you update the game? anyway on the whole i'd like to chip in and say well done so far. not enough people say it on the forums. just take note and work on the bugs mentioned and you will have a fantastic game