Been reading about the new class abilities to be released with the 3.0 update. Was really disappointed to see that instead of really expanding abilities we'll find ourselves essentially downgraded to start things off. We must level up to 60 in order to just regain some key abilities that our characters have already had for years. What this means is that a level 55, on day one of the expansion, will be a lot less capable than was the case just a day earlier. Things that you were used to being able to pull off will be much more difficult, or perhaps possible at that point. One must level up to 60 and regain lost abilities just to get back to the same relative capability as is the case right now at level 55. I had hoped that this upgrade would create a sense of growing even further in the game. Instead, it feels a lot like the leveling process from 55 to 60 is just going to be a recovery period. Seems like we'll need to recover our current level of dps and defense during these 5 levels just to feel like we're back to where we're already at. Sure would be nice if there is time for Bioware to consider rearranging things a bit to at least not remove skills that we have already earned. Why in the world would anyone think it's a good idea to have us re-earn skills that we already have now? Add new skills all you like, but don't take away things we've already learned and been using for the past few years. Not a good strategy.

The point I am making is simply that anyone who has already invested the time and effort to work through all tiers of gear, from Classic all the way to Ultimate, ends up right back in the same exact gear as a brand new player once this starts. Sure, it's 186 gear but it's 186 gear for a brand new player also. Sure, we get to start with a few basic comms in the bank, but you end up buying basic gear with work that was done at the hard mode, elite and ultimate level. All of this to make it "fair". Seems like the fair thing to do is to give everyone something new to work for while not reducing all of the current players effectively to new player status with some bonus comms to start with. At the very least the "fair" thing to do would be to let everyone keep the elite and ultimate comms that they worked for as credit for all of the time and effort spent in the game this past year.

I think someone should seriously re-think the idea of converting ALL comms to Basic level at the start of the 3.0 update. It seems hard to accept that anyone who has already put in the time to progress through Class, Basic, Elite, and Ultimate levels should, almost every year, be set back to square one at the same level as a brand new player. There should be some kind of reward for the time and effort already put into the game. Ultimates dropping back to Elite, Elites dropping back to Basic, and so on, makes a lot more sense when introducing new gear. To have everyone who has fought through hard mode content for the past year suddenly reduced to the level of a brand new basic player leaves a distinct sense of being downgraded. Are annual downgrades really what everyone has to look forward to? What was the value of all the time played in the past year if suddenly one finds themselves starting all over again almost from scratch? If I am missing something I would love to hear it, but I certainly hope that some misplaced sense of "fairness" to brand new players isn't being taken to an extreme here. Please rethink how all of this is going to work before releasing 3.0.