I have played a Sniper (Eng Spec) since launch. Recently getting back into the game I took advantage of some saved up cash shop coins and bought a token to create a new level 60 character, I decided to make a Commando. Playing Gunnery spec what I have noticed is that the Commando just feels more powerful then my Sniper. Not sure f this is true and I am simply talking about PvE. I suppose it does not really matter. Anyone else have an observation?

Just curious. I came back to the game a few weeks ago managed to play through the last expansion story. Now I am gearing up. Been doing Flashpoint groups and finding the group experience a mixed bag. Either I end up with players leveling their alts and the groups fall apart or I end up with hard cores that complain about my "skills". My damage is sub-par but I am only between 200 and 208 item level. Have to start somewhere again. Seems to me that most of the groups just plain suck. So, what exactly should Snipers be doing these days.. I play engineering thus I have a lot of AOEs.. Should I just not group at all.. should I play a specific spec for groups (not Engineering)? How difficult has it been for other Snipers...

I have a level 39 Sorc who will stay level 39 until the next 2X weekend..

Just my opinion but Sanbox games bore me. I have only played EVE but the game really was boring and lacked story line. It was also full of griefers. Sadly it appears that to do a really good story driven MMO means giving up profit margin and few publishers can or are willing to do that. Thus we are left with what we have which is a game full of potential that will not be realized. The entire space combat mini-game was a misguided effort that did nothing to build on the core game in my very humble opinion.

Great post. I agree. However like all MMOs the majority of players are very young, there are very few guilds with adult players, and the designs of higher end content tend to focus on mechanics that support younger players. All of these items push older players to casual play and eventual perma retirement.

Considering that EQNext will be "sandbox" I really don't think the days of these games are at and end. In fact I think that many publishers, like EA, will use the sandbox to get the customer to make their own content and then eliminate most of the need for a development shop and thus save money. Sadly most of the "Sandbox" games will end up with subpar content and little if any decent story line. If there is one thing that SWTOR got right it was the class stories. I don't believe you could see that type of immersion from player created content. It would be a hot mess.

Honestly if your in a PUG what do you expect? I would be more upset at people that go on a tirade because you don't play perfectly or they don't like the gear your wearing. Trust me that happens. One reason I tend to decide its time to take a break is when the whining and complaining in PUGs (which, lets face it most of us have to use as our main way to group guilded or not) reaches a point where I have had enough. I'm middle aged so I'm not up for baby sitting someone elses failure at parenting. Because of my age and maturity I expect that players in PUGs will not always play perfectly. I also understand that my gear is subpar (thats why I am playing in PUGs a lot) and so is my skill. When I run into people with attitudes and no personal filter that seem to expect perfection all around that makes me take a break and do something else. Someone rolling on gear I could use for their companion/pet.. no I don't really care. In this game thats the least of the community issues.

I dunno. I disagree with both of these posts to the point where I needed to actually reply. As DPS I have grouped only for PvE 4 mans both hard mode and other. I have seen terrible Tanks, DPS, and Heals. DPS does not have a lock on being horrible every time in these PUGS, its a even split between all 3. It might make you feel better to think its just DPS but its not. The tone in both of the above e-mails points to a larger issue that old-timers like myself have seen for the last 15 years. This is that more people will play DPS for a bunch of reasons which means people who play healers or tanks will be fewer, in more demand, and thus develop an attitude. Most guild leaders back in "the day" (EQ1, EQ2, WOW) were Tanks or Healers. It did not matter if they were mature, knew the material, or great leaders. They learned the material eventually and people followed them because of that and because they played the most critically important classes. This is a simple game, hell its fun but I suspect what I am seeing in 4 man groups, and what I am reading about raids, points to a play experience that will make all my years of raiding in other games seem very difficult, more so then it was. Of course I need to get there first and the lack of gearing options could prove a barrier I cannot get beyond. The flaw is that to progress I need to do hard mode content and collect thousands of comms but cannot due to the queue. Only being able to do a few per day means months and months of work to get even to a somewhat minimally acceptable gearing point. WoW's progression for people getting back in was far less problematic. By the time I minimally equip 1 character, at this point, it will be sometime in June 2014 and I have a feeling I will be too far behind to join any of the in-game contacts I have made. Compare this to WoW, took me 2 months to level and gear up to a point where I could sustain raid attendance for the next 4 until guild I was raiding with imploded. SWTOR's gear progression and itemization does not permit this sort of progression and will mean a rotation of players in and out of subscription status. Not good for the game.

The rewards are not up to par and thus tanks don't even bother. As a player that is struggling to gear up 1 level 55 Sniper I can confidently say that after reviewing what can be bought with comms, the hour or so wait between Hardmode runs, and what my stats need to be for me to even think about raiding I may never be able to actually raid. I have only been back a few months so the way I look at it, if my ability to progress is held back, after a reasonable attempt at moving forward, I will likely quit again. This time for good. I don't blame the players and I certainly admit there are many reasons, the biggest one however is the sad fact that if the rewards are not there people will not play. The rewards are minimally viable to get me up to a point where I may be considered as a backup crew member for the team I am trying to join. My estimation is one month out.. 20 hours a week of playing... and I should be minimally viable as a backup. If 2 months go by and I put my time in but have not gotten to where I want to be I'm pretty much done. Surprises me that gear progression has not been thought out better.

I think there is some truth to what you said. However I think my biggest issue is that the Sniper is more gear dependent, just my opinion. Right now I am struggling to get up some comms to get entry level raid gear. I need either that or, it seems, many millions of credits to buy mods. So while I slowly work on that I am leveling the sorc.. which seems easier to move through content with.

So.. just wondering.. as I progress on Makeb.. is it worth finishing the main story line? Are there end rewards that might help me better gear for entry level raid content?

Well.. I am still engineering spec. Mostly because I have found it easier to control multiple targets.. as in burn them down.. both PvE and PvP. Since I solo a lot my opinion here might be biased. If my guild tells me to change spec i will..

Engineering with a few extra points in Marksman. Could simply be that engineering is not a viable spec for solo? I don't know.

I also wonder what has happened to all the class balance that has been promised. I started playing this game after launch and played a Jedi Shadow, after a few months I quit, it was at the time a bad experience. In addition to general game bugs the Shadow was nearly impossible to level, at least for my play style. I returned recently (September 2013) and started a few new characters, one of them is now 55 (Sniper). I also have a 24 Sorc. The fact is that leveling in PvE the Sniper was almost as difficult as the Shadow, it was bearable enough for me to see it through however. I also enjoyed the gameplay and plan to play it at 55 now. The Sorc however seems to be far more durable and can solo much harder content. There really is no comparison for leveling. The Sorc can level 5 times faster. These types of balance issues are disturbing. I have yet to fully experience end game PvE so I have no idea if a DPS sorc would get a group spot over a Sniper at level 55. I suspect this depends since the sniper can't heal at all and the Sorc can... even DPS speced....

If the profit margin dips below that point that only EA has in mind as the minimum they will accept the game will shut down. Sure the IP is a strong one and I am sure the game has enjoyed some level of success because of it. This is a business however and stakeholders need to get paid. Compared to Star Trek Online this game serves its IP much better, is more fun to play, and seems to have a larger population of active players. However, I have said this before, for the game to survive another 4 or 5 years it needs to have more substantial expansions which will included PvE content. Stop that content train and the game will end up shut down sooner then that. My opinion.