Negative. class balance is only relevant for PvP. There are still a LOT more people that play the game in storyline mode than strictly for PVP. (That does not require anecdotal evidence, merely listening to general chat on station for 5 minutes. The chorus of 'waaaaah! how come no one is ever in WZ?' is evidence enough.) While I agree that bughunting is important, expansion of the storyline, metagame/crafting, and post-50 experience should be, and likely are, top priority. 'Casual' gamers are their best source of revenue with the lowest overhead(bandwidth costs money). According to a friend of mine that does network work for EA, EA already has ULC nearly completed, and is working out when is the best time to spring it on the playerbase(and no, this is no big secret). ULC is mad profit and is, ironically enough, sold more often to casuals than to hardcores. Perhaps because casuals...you know... have jobs and money and stuff. The Only ULC that can sell consistently to hardcores is stuff that gives clear mechanical advantage, which every non-korean MMO in existence steers clear of.

why not? Does it make Bioware money to do it that way? what part of "Bioware exists to make money" is unclear? If you want games that exist for 'the love of the game' you should probably look to indy publishing. They are willing and able to take risks on rarified content.

incorrect, there are orange droppable bracers that are specific to sentinels/smugglers, and there are orange droppable bracers that are specific to marauders/agents. They can be obtained through low-level treasure hunting, and are 2 slot level 15 minimum items. I know that there is also a specific marauder/agent orange belt, level 17.. and although I have not personally gotten one (they ARE rare drops after all) I am certain that there is a republic version as well.

I have no problem with special crafter-only items, especially appearance stuff like color crystals and crafter-only oranges, but I would like the craft list expanded enormously so there are plenty of 'almost as good' unbound items to sell.

You know, just because you disagree with the majority who actually think crafting may be useful does not make you right or them stupid. In point of fact, if a large number of people are logically disagreeing with you, Is it fair to consider the fact that perhaps your own ego is preventing you from considering the fact that they may be right? augmented masterpiece Rakata gear is not what I'd call 'entry level'. In point of fact, I would prefer that raiding be taken OUT of the highest end crafted gear. I don't like raiding, because usually there's some egocentric tyrant that has no clue how to run the raid in charge, and it usually involves simply too many people that don't have time to socialize even slightly as they grind their way into 'uberleetness' at the expense of real human interaction.

Masterpiece

Admirable sentiment. Not terrifically likely, all things considered, but I certainly would hope that, this time at least, they would at least put some thought into the suggestions from the tiny, vocal minority on the forums.

I don't think that EA is actually interested in how constructive any of our suggestions are. They have, to date, never actually made any alterations to 'existing' products attributed to customer feedback beyond bug reports. I think they are more concerned about simply giving you a place to vent your ideas and frustrations, to keep you happily occupied debating and avoid any disastrous grassroots complaints. The Lack of feedback strongly suggests that EA is following their existing, sound, PR strategy.

yes, and by the same token, 'loaded' content of this sort was NOT discussed on the packaging, and was not 'threatened' or 'promised' when many of us pre-ordered. The inclusion of this sort of content is thus, a major deviation from the advertised product. It was not part of the esrb rating. (which does, in fact, take into account the inclusion of such material) and this is not considered a 'content upgrade', especially with the suggestions many have added to this thread about expanding this sort of content beyond just 'additional' npc's into the 'original' npc's. Alterations to mechanics are a legitimate, and necessary, part of game evolution, but alterations which necessitate a change in esrb ratings are an entirely different kettle of fish... announced Bioware plans (which I still have not seen directly, only seen quoted) notwithstanding.

There is no sound, logical reason why it SHOULD be included either.

Umm... It might take a course in propaganda to understand, but it's a very carefully considered strategy. You give loudmouths something to talk about in a vacuum, they will waste enormous amounts of time rattling their cages and flinging poo at each other instead of trashing your game on the net (which can have an ENORMOUS effect in today's MMO marketplace... I played Conan, it was a fairly decent game, at least as good as SWTOR, but was panned enormously leading directly to it's failed status...) The point is to give just enough information to get them screaming but not enough to solidify any real plans. Believe me, EA's public relations staff knows EXACTLY what they are doing.

You know how you can tell someone's never used it? They lie about something. Savage Kick cannot be used in PvP. At all. Ever. Period. Also Chilling Scream can be talented to be free by putting 2 points into "Intimidation" (Tier 2 Immortal Talent). You know how to make yourself look like a jerk? Misunderstand a simple comment, and call the commentor a liar. He said chilling scream activates savage kick, which it does. He said he uses chilling scream in pvp and pve. useful both places. He never once said that savage kick could be used in PVP.

There's no real point to any ops, realistically... what are you gearing up for? The same op you just did to get the better gear

Wow, I have never actually seen someone fail at sarcasm before.

actually, I stack patron on my gunslinger more than on my scoundrel. gunslingers actually feel quite a bit more 'squishy' since it's relatively impossible to keep all the melees in every encounter from gangrushing you the entire fight. Cunning is GOOD, but I am specced sabotage, and staying up for longer is more important to me than a few extra points of damage which will likely get wasted in overburn. (sabotage has ENORMOUS damage if you can wait out the ticks)

I think the point she was making is that sawbones healers are 'decent', and that in larger encounters, you should not only have multiple healers, but multiple 'types' of healers. The three different types of healers work in different ways, with sawbones keeping people up, commandos maintaining in really LONG fights, and sages being quite good at burst and emergency... having all three healers (actually, in a 16 man, I have often seen a fourth or fifth healer of any type) provides a nicely versatile trifecta of healing talents, and adds more survivability and viability than simply multiple healers of any single type... including sages. TL/DR version: I'd rather have a sawbones than a second sage.

still on ignore, buddy . You have nothing useful to add to any conversation.

really? you have been ejected for HM heroics, or not considered a viable DPS? The Hardmode team leader must have been a complete idiot. even the haters have to admit that scoundrels can do a huge amount of damage. actually based on how hard it seems to be to even get HM teams started, I cannot even imagine someone being stupid enough to eject teammembers unless there are duplicate classes and someone else is already lined up. Or someone is a jerk, ninjalooter, or completely incompetent. sorry, I needed to quote this guy again

Your post is just noise.

You know, one would think that people supporting sgc would be all for having another toggle

semantics, there is a UNIVERSE of difference between 'best at nothing' AND 'worst at everything' neither factoid holds water.

I have been 'ostracised' on my operative exactly once. It was because the leader already had a guildie sniper, and he didn't want to share the drops. I understood completely. It only had peripherally to do with class.

sorry sligxx, but you have been on ignore for a week. might as well stop following me around.

The point is, you are making claims that scoundrels are the worst in everything. That's the titles of the thread 'worst at everything'. EVERYONE who plays a scoundrel knows that that is flat-out untrue. If you do play a scoundrel, then it really comes down to asking WHY you are throwing such a blatant falsehood around like it's gospel. I am tired at trying to guess at your motivation. I can only come up with three reasonable hypothesis: 1) you are trying to singlehandedly convince Bioware that their metrics are false... either to allow you to get to the top of the PVP charts more easily or to try and 'force' them to include damage logging and make scoundrels the automatic 'beat everything else by including it class'. neither of which are going to happen. 2) You are trying to spread disinformation to make it harder for scounds/ops to find teams/guilds. The only possible goal behind that is so that you won't have as much competition. 3) you are tired of getting killed by operatives or scoundrels, and even though you play one yourself you are finding other classes way too difficult to successfully compete in PVP and thus wish to discourage any others from playing it. Is there some other motivation I haven't seen? I know that I, for one, am unwilling to give up a strength in some other area to become a better 'specialist' healer. Is that what you are pushing for? to make scoundrels as centered on 'heal only' builds as sages? Did you come from playing a 'healer paladin' in WoW and are uncomfortable not being able to find the same build in Swtor? Seriously, some motivation behind your ignorant badmouthing of an entire class would truly help us understand where you are coming from. Are you even AWARE of what other classes have to give up in order to become the specialists you dream of? I mean heck, even 8 man raids don't come CLOSE to the difficulty of most WoW raids... that level of specialist precision is pretty much a WASTE in most cases. I ran eternity vault with the main tank in blues, greens, and low-end oranges, for pete's sake... finished it successfully.

wow, so OP 'yes men' are the only contributors? and you are complaining about MY logic?