Going by what happened in WoW, the answer is no. In terms of build variability, many classes/specs still have cookie-cutter builds where plenty of the allegedly meaningful choices are either useless (and are never taken) or too strong (so they are always taken). So that beats the "fewer but more meaningful choices" argument. Regarding the "easier to balance" argument, the current state of WoW (I am talking about the pre-WoD patch) simply shows the opposite as well, both in PvP and PvE. So taking these two together, the only actual change occurring is that for most of the player-base there will be much less choice, meaningful or not, while the balance will still be the same and many classes will still be in for a roller-coaster.

The irony of this post is off-charts. Who exactly is the vocal minority, the casuals playing with all sorts of builds (including many that are hybrids) and never visit the forums or the "hardcore/elite" "progression" raiders/"ranked" pvpers that spent half their time complaining about things like 0.1% dps difference on the forums? It is quite astounding that the same BS arguments used when Blizzard made the change are used here unchanged. There are MMO FPS on the market that currently offer more character customisation and build options than what you have in WoW, but apparently that change was successful and it worked for the best of the game- as obviously seen by the "fine" state of both PvE and PvP in MoP!

Best news in ages! Why couldn't BW put something like this in SWTOR is beyond me, but now with the originals released for modern operating systems I don't care anymore. Anyway, back to finding a joystick for Tie Fighter...

I am using a 60-day card as well (bought directly from EA/BW) and I can tell you that you get your other 500CC when the 2nd month rolls. All the best

If you are going to bring gamergate here, you might as well include the harassment and death threads the pro-gamergate people get as well. Otherwise you simple reek of bias and as someone who is looking for an argument just for the sake of it.

Do you mind telling me how you can distinguish whether the Trooper, both of the Sith and the Bounty Hunter are male or female? Because I am pretty sure that I have seen partly similar armor on both male AND female characters in-game, plus there is no face shown to help distinguish one way or another.

Just because more of us are not here posting all the time, it doesn't mean we are not deeply concerned and unhappy. I had exactly the same kind of circular arguments on the WoW forums when that change was announced with the proponents of the system giving the exact same arguments as here. In the end though a) it still went through and b) the results were as negative as predicted, ie dire balance, no wonderful variety in "meaningful" specs and bad players were still bad players even if you put their rotational abilities on their bars in numerical order and told them to roll their face on the keyboard. So apologies for having a very strong case of dejavu and not wanting to get through the same story all over again. All I will say is that just like in WoW, despite my better judgement, I will still give this system a spin. Unlike WoW though, I can and I will do it without paying and if I am not satisfied that will be the end of it.

Pretty much this. When they revealed that the expansion was going to be Revan-centric, their PR worked and I did re-sub after a very long time, fully intending to buy the expansion as soon as it was on pre-order. But now I am really really not convinced simply because of the Disciplines. Call it "extremely bad taste from WoW" or whatever you want, but I only have negative feelings for such changes in the name of "balance" that is never achieved anyway.

Yeah, it's on the list for sure. Especially since it's built with co-op in mind and it would be great for playing with some friends. But, nothing beats my love for Icewind Dale :-)

Looks great tbh! The problem is I just bought last month the full version from GOG and it's the 3rd time I buy this game in general throughout the years :-). So I will have to wait for the price before I take any decisions.

That's exactly how it feels to me as well unfortunately. I mean they could very well make you select a spec prior to assigning any points on the tree that then gives you a passive that buffs by 100% (random number is random) all the spells that spec is supposed to use. So if you pick dps spec, then even if fully specing and gearing as healer, you wouldn't have that major buff and your output would be limited. That would have had even bigger effect on hybrid specs. But no, lets do what Blizzard did! Additionally, the main problem is that in WoW hybrids at least got to keep some basic/iconic off-spec abilities (so DPS paladins/druids kept some basic heals and tanking tools for example) while I am suspecting that from what they said during the stream they (BW) will strip DPS specs from all such tools. I hope that's not the case, because I don't want to play an FPS MMO but rather an RPG MMO like SWTOR is supposed to be.

I really hated the change in WoW and as such I am not positive at all for this announcement. Personally, I was changing talents much more often with the previous system in WoW than the current one. Pro-tip: just because the choices are fewer and are labelled "meaningful" they do not automatically become so. Expect shortly after the release of 3.0 to get guides for each spec saying "if you are going to pve spec this way, if you are going to pvp spec that way", only with no ability to branch into the other two specs of your AC and try things that you might find interesting.

This has been very clear from the beginning, my question is that since you think like this then why do you want Ranked premades to be able to q for WZs, even as groups of 4 only. Aren't RWZs enough for you "serious" ppl or can't you follow your own advice and join a "serious" enough guild so that you can do RWZs only and be done with the noobs? Or are "serious" pvpers simply supposed to have the best of both systems and Bioware should ignore the casuals? Anyway, I am done arguing this subject, I believe it is clear enough what the problem will be to anyone with half a brain and no illusions of grandeur. Pugs vs premades will push casuals (clickers, noobs, backpedalers etc etc) away from lvl 50 pvp, whichever way you try to dress it up.

So according to you, "serious" pvpers get screwed by random noobs in normal WZ cause they can get any 4 random idiots that ruin their playing experience. On the other hand, you suggest to others in this same thread to go join a "serious" guild in order to have enough "serious" pvpers to do RWZs. So in the end what is it? Normal or Ranked for the "serious" pvpers? If you are so tired of noobs and idiots ruining your game, why don't you join an even more "serious" guild and only RWZs with other pros? At the end of the day, the "serious" or "pro" or "God-mode" or "properly geared" or "non-keyboard turners" pvpers get your RWZs in 1.3, leave the normal WZ ones for the rest of us that enjoy this game casually.

Thanks for the suggestion mate, I tend to do that already. The idea is that while you are waiting in the q for your Ranked game, you can also join the q for normal warzones with any group you like, including your ranked team. So tell me, how many do you think will be joining solo or with a different group, considering that 4-man premades are already quite prominent? If you are in a group to do pvp and you can join two qs for pvp, one with much shorter waiting time that also does not affect your q for the ranked games, would you skip that option? Because I don't think many will and thus the casual puggers will be facing more and more ranked premades.

The only thing I will say is this: you allow ranked premades to q against normal pugs and you simply destroy the level 50 pvp for casuals. There is no need for PTS testing for that, pugs vs ranked premades will force casuals out of the pvp scene.

This is the most ridiculous change they could have proposed. So a premade team of 8, carefully chosen (based on skill and class viability/combinatins/FOTM status), fully geared and Teamspeak co-ordinated players goes against a random group of mixed geared players (since many we are pugging in order to gear up) that can have any combination of classes/specs (ie no healers) and very basic, if any, communication. Seriously, if this goes through the WZ PvP for a casual like myself will not be an option. Just great.

Seriously, doesn't anyone see the problem of allowing 8-man premades to q for both normal and ranked warzones at the same time? Can't Bioware see how much not-fun it will be for pugers to join a game against such teams? Isn't it obvious how such a system can be abused in an Illum-type of way (instead of win-trading there will be "day-trading" since you still get Ranked rewards if you q for it, even if you play a normal WZ in the end)?

Bad company policy all the way. A martial arts instructor I know used to say that "getting the black belt is not the end of your journey, but your first step towards truly exploring the martial art you are studying". Similarly, I would say that getting to top level in an MMO is where you will really start exploring your character and the surrounding world. Unfortunately, BW/EA have decided that the best thing to do at 50 is re-roll alts (which is enjoyable as a distraction) or become immersed in watered-down versions of systems already offered by other MMOs, most notably WoW from which they "borrowed" an endless list of items, from abilities and their names to game-systems and gear-progression, while failing to learn from the failures of others (expertise anyone?). So to conclude, as someone who left WoW and joined this game hoping for something slightly different to do at top level, can any of you give one MMO activity that SWTOR offers at top level and WoW doesn't? Just one, I am not asking for the world. And when you do, then come and tell me that as a customer I had unrealistic expectations.

I am going to be very angry if I die in this mission!!

I would like more options regarding the enemy plates. I want to be able to see my debuffs/bleeds/resolve bar/thread/class. In case you are wondering what I am talking about, think of the Tidy Plates addon from WoW. Better buff/debuff visualisation in general. Most importantly, I want to be able to see whether that dot/debuff on the enemy is from me or the other guy with the same AC as mine Better tracking of procs- think of the Power Auras addon from WoW, but not necessarily to that extend complexity. Make keybinds persist for all your characters. You already give the option to do so with the UI customisation. Many thanks

I believe a feature like this would be awesome for swtor. Unfortunately, there are no encouraging signs from Bioware regarding their technical abilities in swtor with numerous examples on this. I complained many times that swtor simply copies wow on too many aspects, but for this one I wouldn't complain.

Seriously guys, if think you have it bad in PvP just go roll a commando, especially gunnery. Yeah, scoundrel has issues in pvp but you are nowhere near the bottom of the barrel. For the OPs question, scoundrels are fun imo once you learn to think outside of the box and utilise all the tools available to you like heals and cleanse, even occasionally cover and range dps. You just need to realise that as a scrapper in pvp you are an opportunist that sneaks on vulnerable targets or assists your team as needed. You will never be the (visible) hero, but you can make a significant difference.

One things I wanted to ask Vanguards: is the Assault tree playstyle similar to a Frost DK from wow? If not, any dps spec you could recommend that does? I am asking since I really enjoyed that playstyle, and the impression I get from looking at the tree/abilities is that Assault Vanguard plays in a similar manner. I have a commando already so rolling a vanguard would be a bit painful, but I am thinking about it.

I just want to say that I find this step by Bioware to be really good imo. For casual puggers like myself, sometimes the luck of the draw smiles at you and sometimes it doesn't. When you have limited time to play, it's good to know that it still counts for something when you give it your best. +1 for Bioware on this.