My god, do some of the people in here realize that you are in fact playing a video game? You're not a professional athlete, you press buttons in a sequence in order to make red bars get smaller. Stop trying to make it seems like you are accomplishing more then you are. It's petty and actually kinda creepy. Games are fun, play the game for that reason. You act like having the ability to turn your character faster or press your buttons harder is cause for some reward or recognition. It really doesn't and everytime a post is made like this, I really start to question the decisions in my life that has led me to somehow have chosen you as a member of my peer group. A game. This really is just a videogame. Try and find your sense of accomplishment through something real and tangible. If a different color scheme on your equipment is what makes you feel like your milkshake is gonna bring all the boys to the bar, Bioware can't help you with that.

Just to clear up the fallacy that the Mercenary Pyro tree is a lot more mobile than the Arsenal tree. It's simply not true. That tree is built around fishing for Railshot procs that are gained from casting Powershot and Unload, much akin to laying on your debuffs with Tracer missile. Sure, you'll get lucky sometimes and get a proc after 1 Powershot or Unload but it doesn't happen all the time. Thermal detonator's cooldown is equivalent to Heatseeker missile. Yes, you get Incindiary missile but that's a high heat cost ability that usually is used once or with Thermal Sensor Override (personally I use TSO with Fusion Missile but different strokes and all that). I don't think any Merc would argue against having more mobility but not at the expense of damage. Just calling for blanket nerfs because you don't actually know the tree from Adam is kinda silly. I'd like more tools in my tool box but for the time being, I'm going to work within the specs that I'm given. You reduce the damage of Tracer but then you need to adjust the damage of either Heatseeker, Unload or Railshot. The massive amount of tears if they raised Heatseeker and Unloads output would be legendary because those are, by far, our hardest hitting single target abilities.

I know for me, when I started my thread on this subject, I had it in my mind that using content already in game would probably make the development aspect of this easier, considering the template is already in place. I could wholeheartedly embrace any idea that would allow the use of all companions. If people felt that their group content was being trivialised to make it available to the solo player by all means, add additional FPs. I'm not advocating stealing from Peter to pay Paul here. I'm thinking there's a compromise somewhere so people can have their cake AND eat it too. With all that being said, why don't we start discussing possible ways to implement something like this where we can get either more people excited about it or at least accepting of the idea.

I don't think that the solo FPs need to be "ezmode". I've done enough faceroll grouped instances to understand that grouped content doesn't equal difficulty. Unless your speaking about the difficulty inherent to group forming maybe? In that case..... Like I'm not suggesting removing group content all together. There will always be content directly relevant to groups. Raids, rated WZs etc. We are really only speaking of FPs and the like. Neither is solo content being forced on you. It's there for added gameplay value.

Sorry, if solo content increased subs AND profit, why would that be a bad idea from a strictly business point of view? Why does immersing yourself into single player experiences= bad player and why does that matter? There's definite competitive aspects to MMOs (and games in general) but that really doesn't give anyone the right to diminish another persons ability to enjoy a game. Unless, of course, they're having a negative effect on yours but there's all kinds of different avenues to deal with this and this really isn't the place to debate those.

I'm not neccessarily certain it would limit the players that choose to group for whatever reason. I'd suspect that through the process of grouping they'd be interacting with like-minded people. Keep in mind there's also raids, pre-made WZs and the future rated WZs. If someone chooses to do things with others, there's really nothing holding them back. Granted, the available players might dwindle but I don't think it would be enough to unbalance anything. I don't think that people would instantly start flocking to solo FPs and turn around and complain that there's no group content. Player choice and player options.

I fail to see how any MMO ( or any game for that matter) must follow any sort of arbitrary guild lines in order to be able to be called multiplayer. Much of this game can be done solo but those same parts can be done while grouped with a friend if a person chooses. Why can't we have group content that can be experienced in reverse? I see absolutely zero issue with having additional gameplay and I'm not seeing a reason why anybody could. On another note, it seems the loot chase that's a core element in games like Diablo and Torchlight has also become a major component of max level gameplay in the newer generation MMOs. Id much rather have a diverse gaming experience that opens up even more at 50 then chase after that carrot again. Ideas like this only add to the potential for MMOs to get away from this stagnation and enter into a place where the gameplay can evolve. Instead of waiting for new patches to provide us with content all the time, it'd be pretty rad if the tools were provided to the player to constantly evolve his/her own experience.

Where do you get idea that people would see and experience all of the content in a month? What difference would having the ability to run companions through a FP have on PVP or raids? Far as I know, shelf life for MMOs past max level is far longer than a month. This would do the exact opposite of what you claim it would do, as evidenced by the prior posts.

Thanks for posting the link to my thread. There's also 2 other links within my thread to previous discussions on this subject. I really don't see how this idea could trivialize any content for anybody. If you choose to run content with friends/guildmates this doesn't throw a monkey at your wrench. All it does is add additional aspects to already existing gameplay. How is that a bad thing? Personally, I'd rather spend my time having a more personalized gameplay experience within SWTOR then have much of my latter levelled gameplay consist of chasing after one kind of item or another. Sure, it's a single player directed idea but whoever said that a MMO REQUIRES you to play with other people in order to experience all aspects of the game? Other titles didn't have the option for an idea like this but SWTOR does and I think this would really add another dimension to its identity

You do these missions with your companion (singular), this thread is about additional gameplay that includes your companions (plural). Considering the fact that most people content themselves, for the most part, with 1 or 2 companions ( 1 summoned at a time obviously) we are discussing the possibilities of running FP's and other group efforts like them with a party of 3 companions and yourself. Which, I might add, has been a staple of many Bioware titles in the past.

I think adding different styles of gameplay and the ability to approach different avenues of the content within the game only adds to replay value. I'm not certain where the idea came from that chasing proverbial pixelated carrots should be a major focus of the max level gameplay. Personally, after years of playing MMO's, I'd much rather see different gameplay elements added when you "graduate" so to speak. I'm not knocking raiding or existing content that's already in place, I just feel that fleshing out a system that's already in place (and has been proved in the past that Bioware knows this system) just adds a whole other dynamic to the game.

Seems the Suggestion box doesn't see a lot of traffic. Feel free to leave any ideas or thoughts to expand on this idea!

It almost feels as if the groundwork has been built into the game in order to build on this idea, considering we do have companions that fulfill the traditional tank, DPS and healer trinity. Maybe there a plan to implement this in the future ( or at least a version like it). I also think that the community, at least by the majority of posters in this thread, would like to see something along these lines. There's definitely a lot of possibilities that open up with something like this, not just with solo play. Edit: Yes, thank you for posting your original thread. I started this one off of my phone while having my coffee break so it was a pain to try and find the link.

Responses have been great so far everyone. I'd like to thank everyone who has posted, even if they aren't in support of the idea. It's nice to see our community having constructive discussions about things as opposed to flame wars and troll posts. Hope to see more posts coming!!!

The thing is, it's not content exclusive to single players. As it stands right now, all FPs and group quests are available to groups consisting of players. All this idea does is add more dimension to content that's already in-game. It's not taking anything away from those people who choose to experience things that are already in place for them to experience right now. Actually, while being single players story driven, SWTOR can be levelled with other people as well. The argument that SWTOR is already focused on single player enough seems to come up quite a lot. Any of the content in game can be experienced with a group, if you choose to do so.

I'm not sure I understand the whole MMORPG = grouping mentality. Personally, for me, MMOs are about freedom to choose what your gameplay consists on a day to day basis. Just because on Tuesday I chose to run a FP with my companions because that's fun for ME doesn't mean I won't choose to run a FP the following Tuesday with friends/ guild mates. My experiences that I choose to pay for have no bearing on the experiences someone else pays for and vice versa. Needless to say, I derailed myself in my own thread. Sorry about that. Back to the discussion!!

I think it'd also help alleviate the generally formulaic max level experiences that seem to crop up in most MMOs. Not saying there's anything wrong with character progression but it does feel like a grind sometimes. Basically trying to expand on content in the games that's already in place but with a twist. Boss mechanics would definitely need adjusting of course.

I think the term fun is kinda subjective. I've been a pretty big fan of Bioware since playing the first Baldurs Gate (and the fact that the company was started in my hometown) and I've always liked the aspect of controlling companions. Kind of adds to the gameplay, for me anyways. I know that type of gameplay is not for some but I also know a lot of us have truly enjoyed Bioware games in the past and that was one of the major selling points to this game. And Star Wars obviously.

I understand there will be definite adjustments to be made in terms of the gameplay aspect of the idea. I think that the tools are already in place for gearing companions though. Commendations, crafting etc. Right now Biochem is the crew skill of choice for many players since its the most beneficial for the single player. Having to upgrade your companions as well would make other crew skills more appealing, which in turn makes more crew skills relevant, which in turn affects economy etc etc. I think that actively trying to gear your companions at 50 ( and in turn gearing yourself) would definitely add more dimensions to the end game experience. Edit: Yes, I was talking of multiple companions to form a 4 player group, sorry of I wasn't clear

Being that it's a slow day for this little boy, I've had a little time to do some forum creeping and I came across a thread where someone mentioned single player flashpoints where your party consists of your companions and I thought "What an interesting idea". I apologize for not having the actual link because I'm actually posting from my phone on an extended coffee break. I'd imagine that many players, myself included, only use 1 or 2 companions during the course of gameplay so it'd be pretty cool to be able to get more miles out of them since they are a major part of the SWTOR experience. Obvious adjustments would need to be made of course but I think it would add a nice, new dynamic to MMO gameplay and NPC companions is something Bioware is very experienced with. Now I imagine many people will say this is a multiplayer game, MULTI. I respect that position. Respect that my definition of a MMO might be a tad different than yours. I made this thread just to get a discussion going on the idea ( maybe even some Dev input...lottery ticket!) so please keep flaming and insulting posts to a minimum.

I've tried both trees, admittedly more time has been spent in the Arsenal tree and I've found the mobility isn't necessarily THAT much higher. We are still casting Powershot and Unload in order to reset Rail Shot which still effectively roots us in one spot. I think for the most part, having an instant cast ability being what we're trying to proc and the fact that we don't need to root ourselves for the same amount of time as an Arsenal Merc trying to get his signatures and Tracer Locks up allow us to be more effective at positioning. I'm not saying that the more situational aware Arsenal Mercs aren't able to do that, it's just a bit easier to do on a Pyro Merc. Real mobility in the Pyro tree comes in the Powertech AC but at the cost of the 30M range. Pyro Mercs also don't have their spec revolving too much around 1 interruptable ability, which is pretty rad. Edit: I also have a mid level Pyro Powertech and the playstyles within each ACs Pyrotech spec are pretty different which definitely speaks to Biowares ability to be a "Little bit country, little bit rock'n'roll".

Wish people would stop spreading the fallacy that Tracer crits for that high. 2500-3k crits. Maybe a tad higher with relics and stims going. For the most part, if you see it spammed you're most likely seeing it used 3 times in a row to get our heat signatures and tracer locks up and to wait for barrage to proc. Heatseeker is the ability that hits hardest for the most part with Unload right behind and oftentimes surpassing it with a lucky string of crits. Quit faulting people for operating within their spec parameters.

Well, since the Arsenal spec is built around Tracer Missile, it'd basically need to be entirely overhauled. Heatseeker hits harder with your stacks up and Unload definitely hits harder when procced especially with a relic used. I mean, what do you think happens when you leave a ranged class alone, spamming attacks? Also, my 50 Merc would love to crit a Tracer for 14k. Sadly, I operate within the game and the highest I've crit is a little over 3000. On a 1.5 sec cast.....yea, totally OP.