Just as an example of some numbers pertaining to the "adjustment" of companions, as a player at lvl 65 and lvl 50 influence for Lana with all class buffs and all legacy/datacron presence buffs. Pre-Patch: 106k HP; Melee Primary: 5161-5179: Melee Bonus Damage: 5131 Force Bonus Damage: 6348; Force Bonus Healing: 2920 Crit%: 34.5%; Crit Multiplier: 63.27%; Alacrity: 7.6% Soothe: 12919 instant heal on a 5.6s CD Mending: 4874 over 9s on a 11.2s CD Enlivening Force: 18809 channel over 2.79s without CD Protective Barrier: 20 second bubble absorbing moderate damage on a 34.4s CD Post-Patch: 84.2k HP; Melee Primary: 3213-3228: Melee Bonus Damage: 3183 Force Bonus Damage: 3968; Force Bonus Healing: 2831 Crit%: 29.7%; Crit Multiplier: 60.18%; Alacrity: 5.34% Soothe: 3696-5159 instant heal on a 5.7s CD Mending: 6525 over 9s on an 11.4s CD Enlivening Force: 4474 channel over 2.85s without CD Protective Barrier: 20 second bubble absorbing moderate damage on a 28.5s CD All of my experience with this change has been on lvl 60-65 characters in either SoR raiding gear or KotFE raiding gear, depending on the character level of course with activities ranging from weekly H2s to soloing the heroic Star Fortresses. I can't really push to see which of the harder flashpoints I can manage with just my companion and myself anymore though, which I did enjoy and did usually require trying to use everything, so thanks for that. A few DCDs may now have to be sprinkled through the playing experience, or a bit of kiting, etc., but truth be told I wouldn't call this more challenging; as many have said already it just feels grindy and tedious, and grindy and tedious isn't fun. If you want to add challenge to things, maybe toss in some mechanics or something, not just things hitting harder and having more health. Also, if I wanted grindy and tedious I'd go back to playing Asian MMOs. I enjoyed Tera's combat system quite alot, but the endgame grind for top gear was truly face-desk worthy and is why I've long since left that game behind. (Tedious Grind = Bad) I can understand if the dev team has some sort of vision or desire for how they'd like the game to be and to be played, but at the same time the devs aren't paying themselves without customers' help (if you are, can I maybe get some type of hint on how that works, please and thank you). If you piss off and possibly sacrifice large swathes of your playerbase that support the development of said vision, in the end that seems counterproductive and poorly planned. Also, yanking the rug out from under and alienating the style of players that you've been advertising to try to attract is just poor form. As for myself, it doesn't matter to me personally if the change stays or is altered/reverted/tweaked, as I know I'll adapt to it and continue on since I still like other aspects of the game. At the same time, I know and acknowledge that not everyone likes to play as I like to play and likes less challenge, and I take no issue with that; they're here to play like they like to play and I'm here to play like I like to play, but I can't understand the need of other people to try to dictate how other people play and enjoy their game. Do you really have to prove that your lightsaber is that big? To the NPCs in your story instances no less? As things stand right now, there seems to be little known incentive besides crafting bonuses to increasing companion influence. After comparing companions across several characters, the difference lvl 1 and lvl 50 seems to be little over 1-2k on heals at most - hardly worth the effort of upping the level. That being said I'm still upping KotFE companions, at least on expansion characters, since I'm weary that BW may use influence at some point to determine if a companion lives or dies during an encounter or story point. Clarification on that would actually be appreciated, so if that's not the case I could stop worrying with that for companions that aren't used for crafting. It seems like there needs to be some type of fix to the situation, obviously, but not a blanket one. Leaving it as is will likely alienate people who like to play casually and reverting it or rebuffing enough to satisfy casual players will likely bring the lightsaber measurers back to complain that companions are too OP. While a different dev team, as a company you guys have had no issue offering scaling difficulty in everything in other games (see Mass Effect scaling of talking heads with occasional pew pew to Insanity). I had originally had a suggestion about possibly scaling effectiveness in tiers based on influence levels and a way to disable influence gains, but I've since seen a simpler suggestion that I like more and that is to offer the same flexibility that was offered for 12x XP. Make the default companion strength as it was with 4.0, and if somebody sees additional challenge as a few medpacs and using the recoup skill between mob pulls, then they can turn off the companion buff and have it as it is now or worse. While we're at it, why not make it scaling - default as initial 4.0 companions, and 12x XP reducer-esque debuffs for companion effectiveness at say, 75%, 50%, 25%, and then near clothed (or naked if you're feeling frisky) paperweight maybe? Without at least something to that effect, it seems unlikely that you can make a change that will end up without at least some segment of the playerbase being happy. The game may have a vision from its development, and that's respectable, but you also need happy customers from as many corners of your playerbase as possible to the best of your abilities and available resources, within reason.

I do agree that the type of system you mention would be best since it's the most flexible, and also agree on keeping floor things on the floor and the like (though doing an inverted room could be fun). On the other hand, I wouldn't imagine they, or many current decorators, would be very willing to toss the hooks out completely since it'd likely clear out old strongholds when they'd change it - unless they could code it to just drop current decos where they already were or did keep free placement only in future SHs. The mesh grid of small hooks and removal of deco hook size restrictions just seemed like the simplest solution to me given the current system.

For anybody that actually enjoys decorating their SHs (not the ones that just toss in stuff for conquest, no offense), there's likely inevitably been a time when you've had an idea for a room/area only to find that the pre-arranged hook layout doesn't accommodate said idea or there's not a hook setup there at all.. While probably not a huge deal in the overall scope of the game, it can be a frustrating moment for those who enjoy the SH feature. I've seen past suggestions for editable hook layouts or other such ideas, but I've had another idea and that is to cover each surface able to be decorated in a mesh grid of small hooks throughout the surfaces of the SH (think similar to the current look of the interface editor, but with small hooks). In coordination with this idea, hook size limitations would be removed from decorations and simplified to where a floor deco is a floor deco, a wall deco is a wall deco, etc. While the hook sizes for decos can be somewhat helpful for sorting in the editor, they seem rather arbitrary and ultimately unneeded; if somebody wants to decorate their space with decos that don't fit at all and look horrid, in the end its their space and they can do as they want. I realize this would be probably best done only with future SHs, both from a standpoint of dev time to go back and redo older SHs and the wave of unhappiness that would come from full SHs having their layouts wiped out - neither situation would probably end up with thrilled groups of people. It seems like this idea of a mesh grid would come as close to free placement of decos while still utilizing the hook system already in place. There could maybe be some type of performance issue that could arise, but that would of course be on BW to decide. Just some thoughts though, hopefully somebody else thinks it sounds like as flexible and entertaining of an idea as it does to me.

I've copied this from a post I made in another of these threads, but since this seems to be somewhat closer to trying to compare actual numbers and my other post is under about 10+ pages by now I didn't think it a bad idea to add this here. Also to note, this is at player lvl 65 and lvl 50 influence for Lana with all class buffs and all legacy/datacron presence buffs. Pre-Patch: 106k HP; Melee Primary: 5161-5179: Melee Bonus Damage: 5131 Force Bonus Damage: 6348; Force Bonus Healing: 2920 Crit%: 34.5%; Crit Multiplier: 63.27%; Alacrity: 7.6% Soothe: 12919 instant heal on a 5.6s CD Mending: 4874 over 9s on a 11.2s CD Enlivening Force: 18809 channel over 2.79s without CD Protective Barrier: 20 second bubble absorbing moderate damage on a 34.4s CD Post-Patch: 84.2k HP; Melee Primary: 3213-3228: Melee Bonus Damage: 3183 Force Bonus Damage: 3968; Force Bonus Healing: 2831 Crit%: 29.7%; Crit Multiplier: 60.18%; Alacrity: 5.34% Soothe: 3696-5159 instant heal on a 5.7s CD Mending: 6525 over 9s on an 11.4s CD Enlivening Force: 4474 channel over 2.85s without CD Protective Barrier: 20 second bubble absorbing moderate damage on a 28.5s CD I'm not a real fan of everything being faceroll easy as challenging things can be fun for me, but at the same time it's nice to choose when there's a challenge since that's not everybody's prerogative or like it at varying degrees - even people who like challenge can not always be in the mood for it. I don't claim to care how other people play their own game either; as long as they're having fun and not actually exploiting/breaking ToS type rules, I could care less what they do and how they play their game. Whether you're some extreme over the top player (y so srs?) or want to RP walk everywhere you go, it doesn't really matter what somebody else is doing in their story instance and I don't understand the feeling that it does somehow. I haven't tried out the weekly H2's, but have gotten through a Heroic SF still but had to change stances like I did when my Lana was still in the low teens of influence. I guess that made it more challenging...yay?...but it didn't feel more challenging, just more of a grind to be honest. Grinding and time sinks are not challenge; they're only grinding for the sake of the grind and sucking up time.

So, truth be told I'll admit that I recognized from the first couple days of 4.0 that companions were a bit too overtuned in how they were performing and would likely be scaled back at least a little, but that being said, there seemed little harm in it as companions have little to no impact on anything that's actually meant to be challenging (HM or NiM Ops). Very little in the leveling process has ever been difficult here even since the beginning unless maybe it was your first character/first MMO/just didn't know what you were doing. Solo'ing old H4's while on level could be challenging depending on your class, but that was about it. Knowing how these things usually go around here though, I decided to keep a listing of pre-patch stats on a lvl 50 influence healer Lana for a direct comparison. Only relevant stats for her are listed. Here it goes: Pre-Patch: 106k HP; Melee Primary: 5161-5179: Melee Bonus Damage: 5131 Force Bonus Damage: 6348; Force Bonus Healing: 2920 Crit%: 34.5%; Crit Multiplier: 63.27%; Alacrity: 7.6% Soothe: 12919 instant heal on a 5.6s CD Mending: 4874 over 9s on a 11.2s CD Enlivening Force: 18809 channel over 2.79s without CD Protective Barrier: 20 second bubble absorbing moderate damage on a 34.4s CD Again, admittedly a bit overtuned and a scaling back probably due, but we all know how these things end up around here. Post-Patch: 84.2k HP; Melee Primary: 3213-3228: Melee Bonus Damage: 3183 Force Bonus Damage: 3968; Force Bonus Healing: 2831 Crit%: 29.7%; Crit Multiplier: 60.18%; Alacrity: 5.34% Soothe: 3696-5159 instant heal on a 5.7s CD Mending: 6525 over 9s on an 11.4s CD Enlivening Force: 4474 channel over 2.85s without CD Protective Barrier: 20 second bubble absorbing moderate damage on a 28.5s CD I think it's safe to say that's more than a bit of a reduction. I think my favorite is the new Enlivening Force, and that alone tempts me to have Lana guard my Contraband Slot Machine. Sure the stats were high, but companions are worse than some of the worst situationally aware people; they stand in stupid with no attempt to get out of it, ignore all mechanics, and have tunnel vision that would make even a parsing dummy jealous. Granted those examples primarily apply to trying to do things that companions are not intended to usually do, but still the point stands if that's something you enjoy doing as I do. Is this the intended nerf even at lvl 50 influence? And are gamers so insecure anymore that the need for their L337 pixels and digital dick measuring requires that other people's difficulty in playing is harder even when it has no bearing on themselves? To me, it makes little difference how other people play their game. I like challenge, but I like to have fun too. If I want a challenge, I find something that is such as trying to solo things made for at least four people. For all the people wanting challenge, stop being storyline heroes and find your challenge in a HM or NiM Op, or PVP, or find your own way to create your challenge. Even as someone who enjoys finding a challenge, I do not understand the need or enjoyment that comes from detracting from the enjoyment of how someone else wants to play the game. GG whiners, and GG Bioware.

I've been hoping that they add a personal cruiser, a space station, or even an individual method of owning the current flagships but at a reduced cost and with fewer advantages than a full out guild flagship to balance out the reduced cost for obtaining it - at least without the ability to invade planets if nothing else, otherwise the forum rage would be strong. In any case though, hopefully at some point we have a means to decorate beyond the current hook allotment for any of the strongholds. I've considered eventually just buying a guild flagship of my own at some point, but knowing that I'd only get to decorate maybe a third to half of it like I want to, it just doesn't seem worth the effort of getting it.

I just finished my own two stack sample size before coming here (it felt too much of a waste of time and credits to continue experimenting), and after reading the results from others at least I can see that my results were in line with the new rates; I was afraid I was maybe just having a bad day. It must be admitted, though, that this is rather impressive as it's another instance to add to the list of things in the game since launch that were at one time enjoyable, or at least fine as they were, but have been nerfed into the ground based on foot-stamping and screaming on the forums, poor player execution enabling skewed experience complaints and stories, and usually an annoyingly persistent combination of the two. I know the usual reasoning is that said changes are made due to not being in line with the "metrics", but many times I wonder myself if the "metrics" are always the actual game data and not how close the forum whinometer is to pegging to the far right. Meanwhile, actual broken game mechanics, gold spammers, and even glaringly obvious bots that I still see running around in some areas and have reported, clicking their heels as they go, remain in the game. However, it's all cool. Now that the slots are worthless once reputation for them is maxed (unless you really want that mount I guess, or enjoy watching the spinner on the front go around), I'm looking forward to going back to watching the load screens while I hop around locations trying to get a crew skill mission that actually has a possibility of returning a useful material.

At least for myself who mains an inquisitor and has the background/story of the class as one of my favorites (some can say what they will of that I guess), it'd be cool in concept as an idea especially given that in some cases it could be argued that eventually becoming a replacement of the Emperor would fit well with the inquisitor story and may even be a possible or likely end long down the road. That being said though, it seems like something that Bioware could only do if the inquisitor was the only player character in the game...I can only imagine the blowback they'd get if they had only one of the classes out of a possible eight be the one to bind/free/give Revan a complete and final conclusion. They had enough complaints when originally only the SI received a Darth title and the SW didn't. So yea, I think it'd be interesting as a SI player and it even could mesh well with my own head story I sometimes do for my character, but with it being the type of game it is it seems like it'd be a far reach for them to make outside of a single player game, at least in my view.

That statue is actually in the game, and working at least as far as I know ... but assuming that you mean just getting ahold of it to use, it's at a vendor on the fleet right next to the security key vendor for 0 credits. I was wondering where it was myself since I'd expected it to be mailed to us like most every other in-game reward we've gotten in the past, but then someone mentioned where it was in the fleet chat and I hunted down the vendor from there.

Having done the SI story both as an assassin and a sorcerer myself, I do agree that it feels a bit more geared towards the sorcerer in terms of force use, learning and knowledge as you go through your story segments. On the other hand though, you can make the assassin side fit well too depending on your play-style and how much story and lore you do in your own mind. Exar Kun does serve as a nice model for the advanced class over Maul; I even still have and use my good ol' Columi saber shell that's aptly named as...Exar Kun's double-bladed lightsaber. Given the SI's position at the end of their story, and as someone that likes to do stuff solo story-wise myself, I play my assassin as one that will go to confront a threat backed by the authority of their position, bend them to the Empire or kill them, and in the process be ready for just about anything that can be thrown at them whether it be droids, other duelists, or force attacks. It may not be a perfect backstory or theory behind that character, but it keeps me entertained at least and I have to keep myself busy one way or the other I guess

To add onto the thoughts about the Tat SH needing more hooks, another option would be if we could decorate beyond the 100% hook designation. I know the percentage of completion has its purposes, and a limit of some sort is probably necessary performance-wise, but it seems like there could be some type of compromise that could be made to make more people happy in what they want to do - perhaps something along the lines of the hook total staying the same for 100% completion for the ones who only do SH for conquest boosts, but then have a second hook ceiling for being able to decorate as you wish. One possibility would be to double the current hook allotment for each SH for the decoration considerations...just as a thought, a bit more or less could work too. Even the small ones such as DK and Coruscant can have issues depending on how you decorate, so at least for somebody like me an expansion on the current hook allotment would be well received.

Agreed. I've found that the junker's light and the generator light can give some decent Empire-esque lighting in some areas of DK, but in others they either don't fit well into the architecture (a.k.a. the entrance hall) or they just don't look fitting to be in the sharp lines of the DK stronghold (a.k.a. the junker's light). In one room I've gone with the junker's lights just to give a decent glow to the room, but I'm trying to avoid looking at the ceiling. And even with the Czerka lighting having a more Imperial style, the light it puts out is too bright for some DK styles sadly. I guess maybe it's karma coming back after Imp players Alot of people seem to say we get better fashions and stories, so maybe we have to deal with the short end on lighting options for a while.

As I've seen commented on Dulfy's site and other places as well, in having a main as a Sith and wanting to work on the DK stronghold - I find the lack of red lighting options disturbing...especially when trying to make some design ideas work for different rooms. Something along the lines of the Czerka ceiling lighting in the current CM packs with a red variation would work well, or any of the models used for red lighting while in Red Reaper. In many runs through there trying to get those deco drops, there's been many times I've looked up and thought "I could really use one of those." Also, red floor lighting would be nice to have too...especially the red lighting grates that run through much of the SI/SW personal ship. All in all, just wanting a way to make a room glow with that Sith-esque red aura.

It'd be nice to have simple red/blue carpets especially for the DK and Coruscant strongholds especially. The red and blue carpets that we have so far are nice and can be used well, but at least for me on DK trying to make something along the lines of a Sith temple the current red carpets just don't look or feel right. Even though it'd be preferable to have something like this available outside the CM, I thought I'd suggest it here because it's a dedicated decoration suggestion thread.

Not sure if it's been suggested or not already (33 pages of suggestions to check seemed a bit daunting), but some Imperial Guard NPCs would be cool - something along the lines of General Heskar, but with the full helmet too. The Imperial soldiers are nice to have, but there's just some places in the DK stronghold that would just look better with those long red robes.

Looks like somebody beat me to trying to consolidate interest from my own thread into this one, but thanks Hopefully the topic will continue to get player attention and support to the point that Bioware sees it as a positive, if not profitable, option to offer.

So, unsure if it's been made into an actual suggestion thread (couldn't find it if it has), but I know I've seen support for it around the forums in the past and thought it couldn't hurt to suggest it - Legacy Datacron unlocks. Instead of having to gather all the Datacrons for every toon, why not make the Datacrons legacy unlocks so that when you gather it the first time, it's then unlocked across all your other characters. Exceptions would likely have to be made for ones that only Imperial or Republic characters have access to, but that doesn't seem like it should be a deal breaker in being able to implement such a system. It could be a higher legacy level only unlock (lvl 30-40?) or maybe a Cartel store purchase as a quality of life thing. The Datacrons can be fun to grab the first time around, but having to do them multiple times starts losing out on the fun factor and just gets tedious - at least for me.

I've tried to find the answer to this elsewhere, but as I haven't yet I thought this would be a good place to try. Seeing the implants and earpieces mentioned as rewards for the daily commendations, are there separate vendors for these or have I just been blind so far in seeing them in the vendor list along with the hilt/armor/barrel/speeder rewards? Or are they rewards for some of the heroics? Any help would be appreciated.