Surprised no one has mentioned the one thing which was a big driver for 16m in 2.x and presently. Commendations. 16m really became a thing not because of the low Tank/DPS ratio, and not because of the ability to carry/be carried; it was the mass of commendations that could be acquired and post 2.4 this number exploded. Solution: bring 8m up to parity, or remove top tier comms from all sm operations (there is a precedent for such a thing). 8m would become a much more appealing option for sm operations; and with a rise in popularity making it the Group Finder option by default, or the only option at all... would be something Bioware would be able to consider. This wouldn't do much for the Tank/DPS ratio in the group and wider community. Of course if the option of being carried were removed then people may even be compelled to "get good"... which in itself may inadvertently encourage people to roll tanks themselves.

Treek has nothing on Guss Tuno. Nothing.

On the topic of archaeology... would people agree the the nodes are far less prevalent than those for bioanalysis or scavenging? It feels like I'm having to trip over 4 or more of each before even coming across an archaeology node (whether it's a colour crystal or not) Assuming the art team don't develop a new multi-material node; which is a bit of a stretch I'd like to see colour crystal nodes removed all-together. If people really truly want those colour crystals they can still run missions.

Let's not forget that Marr probably appreciates how OP she is. Do the solo Revan fight and take a good look at her buffs; and then what that equates to on your character sheet. 13K mainstat?... I'll take that any day

Fair point, and yes some of the math doesn't quite add up. So my question then is: What will be the new craft-able gear? Level 55 186 gear using new mats (as per what happened with the Rakata gear for 2.0) or would it be shifted to 58 or something (with the same stats)? Will there be any new crafting at all?

For both collections and achievements definitely. Also wouldn't mind a toggle for collections (only show unlocked)

I remain sceptical about the purchase of Dread Master gear (or 186 anything with the new Basic comms) It may be recommended rating for the new ops, but I doubt it will just be given away as people are suggesting. Let's look at the issue historically and mix in some sense for good measure. If we take a look back at the current Classic Commendation vendor Campaign(146) gear (in all its poorly optimised glory) is available for direct purchase while Dread Guard(150) gear is only acquired through tokens; and the old 50 operations are now full of Hazmat(150) gear. If we were to draw any parallel to the 2.0 transition... Basic comms would be purchasing Dread Forged(180) gear, Dread Master(186) tokens will be much more accessible, all level 55 operations will be swimming in Dread Touched(186) gear And for a higher price, players will be able to purchase (190?) "The new Pristine/Exceptional" gear which is of the same rating as the new craft-able gear; but will probably have worse enhancements (off by 1 or 2 power for example) than the 186 gear.

While it's nice to see a dev response to this issue; it's still concerning to think that development time may still be wasted because some people can't pay attention and like to cry.

Thank you Eric, you have really made my day.

I'm not saying that what OP wants is aliens, but...

My issue with this is that between now and SoR anyone can farm/be carried/whatever to 300 ultimate comms from 16sm facerolls and flashpoints. Level to 60 and collect 2 pieces of gear of the same rating as the drops from new HM ops (say an Offhand and Implant; which wouldn't affect set bonuses) this is assuming the price-tag doesn't change much on those items. Sounds great, right? However the problem which the community and BW should be considering is how long it takes between the SoR launch and when we start seeing comments such as: "Sorry noob, you don't have 60K HP you can't do this sm op /votetokick" Something I'm sure plenty of us have seen, and maybe experienced (especially with 12x XP). While this is almost certainly inevitable we should still care to delay it as much as we can. Giving away top tier(-ish) gear on day one will only bring that time so much closer. I'm a big fan of the change to planetary/classic comms though but feel that the Makeb mod vendor should be looked at while this is being changed. The Rakata mods you can get worked great until the GSI bolster; now there's really no point in buying them at all.

"You won't lose Ultimate commendations or anything between now and Shadow of Revan..." Eric this is a terrible terrible move. Clean slate please, bump them to Basic with a massive overflow if you need. But this... ???

Shh... You're making sense.

/makesandwich and /eatsandwich That is all.

Except for the part where you get them on "a later planet" I agree.

Oh of course. For example say you had 4 of these tabs: one could be PVE gear, one for PVP, one for an off-spec, and another for an RP set. Say you had your PVE gear in Tab 1, but you use PVP relics, Everything on that tab would be filled and you would put those relics there. On Tab 2 it's all PVP gear, so you would fill all slots, and know that the relics would filter through from Tab 1. Tab 3 is a PVE Tanking spec, which is complete and has it's own relics. And Tab 4 is a mess of Greens and empty CM shells; it looks very nice but only the stats from the implants/ear/relics from Tab 1 filter through to this appearance. Makes a little more sense with an example, even if it is a bit messy.

My advice would be... Don't ignore those tank companions, unless you're a Warrior/Hunter; you have my condolences. Class missions will regularly reward companion gear to help keep them geared, and provided your DPS isn't terrible they should survive most encounters fairly easily and can have their HP restored as easily as hitting your Rocket Boost. Also helps to interrupt any nasty casts unless you want your comp to eat them, and clever use the "passive" ability to keep companions out of any stupid.

So let's think of a compromise... I'm quite fond of the idea of gear "Tabs" mentioned earlier in the thread. Additional tabs could be purchased from the CM, or maybe crafted by Armour/Synth.... from a UI/art side of things I'm thinking a drop-down on the character sheet (possibly with the ability for players to name each one). Put a cap on the number of these tabs; say 5 for starters. One tab "Tab 1" will always be the primary set of gear. Meaning, any slot on another tab which is empty will use the appropriate piece from "Tab 1" and would perhaps have a yellow outline around the slot to show it's being used from another tab. Gear itself would remain the same, and if someone wants to try out or wear some different armour; be it social gear, greens, empty CM gear they can. However to use this gear for Operations, Warzones, etc (and be viable) the player would still need to put mods in and augment just like any other piece. Thoughts?...

No word on exactly how It will be handled. It's been said (I forgot the source, but I believe it was BW) that Commendation Tiers will be remaining the same (Classic/Basic/Elite/Ultimate) My guess is that Basic>Ultimate commendations will all be converted to Classic at varying conversion rates and "existing" Classic will be converted to Planetary with an overflow cap (perhaps another 100)

True, we do need more Sand People Armour. And not just for the men; but the women and the children too.

I have to agree with this. The class stories I've experienced during 12x have been full of casts which need to interrupted, adds which need CC, stupid which shouldn't be stood in, defensive CDs which need to be used, etc... The last few characters I levelled before this event we're very under-levelled for the mobs they faced (by at least 2 levels, often 4) but decently geared. This gave a very interesting challenge for most mobs with a gold/silver, or both. With 12x I've taken a different approach and only used quest rewards, and whatever drops while in the world. While you outlevel the content, your gear is often rubbish and player skill is what will help you through the encounters... until Makeb where the GSI bolster is an insult to the other characters I took through there at 47 the old fashioned way. For the most part a lot people will beg for help with any remotely challenging encounters; instead of tackling them intelligently (/cough Bothrium, /cough Archon). And then some Good Samaritan comes along thinking they're helping... only to contribute to the problem. Other issue I would put down to a combination of gear dependency and over-gearing; especially at endgame. If Bioware were to adopt one of their old philosophies from 1.4 into 3.0 (the removal of top tier commendations from SM ops) it would do wonders for the general skill level. When you're unable to faceroll content due to being underpowered/undergeared you need to play tactically, and if you need to play tactically then chances are you might actually learn to play.

Current system works fine, and so many of the options suggested would kill the augment / kit market. Any why? Because a bunch of people don't want to pay for mod extraction and augmentation when there's a new look that they like? What I would like to see is a "Box" system (forgive the terrible name). Up to 14 items can be put into a BoP box and equipped directly from this box and returned to the box by clicking (using) the box in from inventory. Perhaps even a BoL version which will only store BoL items would also be an option, or maybe a reward from event currency vendors. This would help with a few things, but specifically for people who run multiple specs in both pve and pvp. And also help to keep those characters who use legacy gear to keep some clothes on when their usual gear is in storage.

Pretty much this. Of course from a sales standpoint a gear dependant population has done wonders for my credit balance.

See this so often and it boggles the mind. In the last few days I've levelled 2 characters to 55 using only the quest rewards and random drops to gear along the way. Between listing irrelevant drops on the GTN, and not needing to pay for training it's worked out to be about a 2Mil profit across both characters. It's totally achievable, and you won't be able to obliterate enemies in the same way you could in level appropriate blues/purples; but you can do it... Until Makeb where the GSI-QQ-bolster is horrendously overpowered; and then you can go on obliterating things.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=7651274 Certainly not common, as for how far back... it's hard to say; could be hours, could be days....