Hi, I think the whole premise of viewing the population as being composed of separate PvP and PvE populations is false tbh. From my experience, the vast majority of players on all server types do both to varying degrees With that in mind, I think the changes to PvP gear prices and Wz comms that are coming with patch 3.3 will have a huge impact on the amount of time people spend in PvP as proportion of thier time in-game. That alone will change the experience of PvP for everyone who partakes. Hopefully those changes are a foundation for a couple more wz maps etc in the future.

Hi, In fact you don't even have to keep the original item at all When you slot an item into outfit designer, it's very much like making a 'photocopy' of it. The 'photocopy' remains in your designer slot forever. or at least until you replace it with something else. You can put the original item into cargo, sell it, or even destroy it, and the 'copy' remains in the slot.

There is no such machine for Binary rep

Hi, I think a variation of the White Acute Module that allowed players to reduce XP gain to thier tastes would be a great idea. We already know just from the way that XP boosts and the White Module work that Bioware can target particular activities with boosts and 'reducers', so players trolling PvP with 'permanent lowbies' could very easily be prevented For example: Grey Acute Module - Reduces all XP gain by 25% (Excluding WZ XP) Black Acute module - Reduces all XP gain by 50% (Excluding WZ XP) I'd love something along those lines personally, it would allow me to do exactly the content I want to do, in exactly the way I want to do it, and have no impact whatsoever on any other player. As it is, I use the white Acute Module, do all story and side quests, but by default, I abandon all bonus parts of quests, never do heroics, FP's or wz's. If and when I feel that i want to gain a little more XP, i then go do a couple of Heroics or something. After which I go back to just story and side quests. Allowing me to reduce my XP by 25% or 50% would actually mean that I played more of the game content at a level that still had some challenge to it. Give the Ancient Creature some more modules to sell!

Hi, I think a variation of the White Acute Module that allowed players to reduce XP gain to thier tastes would be a great idea. We already know just from the way that XP boosts and the White Module work that Bioware can target particular activities with boosts and 'reducers', so players trolling PvP with 'permanent lowbies' could very easily be prevented For example: Grey Acute Module - Reduces all XP gain by 25% (Excluding WZ XP) Black Acute module - Reduces all XP gain by 50% (Excluding WZ XP) I'd love something along those lines personally, it would allow me to do exactly the content I want to do, in exactly the way I want to do it, and have no impact whatsoever on any other player. As it is, I use the white Acute Module, do all story and side quests, but by default, I abandon all bonus parts of quests, never do heroics, FP's or wz's. If and when I feel that i want to gain a little more XP, i then go do a couple of Heroics or something. After which I go back to just story and side quests. Allowing me to reduce my XP by 25% or 50% would actually mean that I played more of the game content at a level that still had some challenge to it. Just my thoughts on this P.S. Just popped this into the suggestion box forum also. You never know, maybe it'll happen

Heh, me too I never thought I'd use it but I do! Mainly it's just to let me use things like the 186 basic comms 'bulwark' head gear for knights on troopers etc, the one that has a mic and earphones I do still like my actual modded and equipped gear to be the main 'look' generator though. It feels more 'realistic' to me!

Hi, If I understand correctly, you are trying to unify a custom chestpiece with the legacy set that you have modded in your equipped gear tab? If so, simply remove your legacy gear to your inventory, then stamp whichever parts of it you want have unified to the custom chestpeice in the Appearance Tab. Then you can re-equip your legacy gear to your equipped gear tab. No need to buy a second set of legacy gear Stamping gear to an appearance slot is kind of like taking a photocopy of it. Any gear that is currently in your inventory can be 'photocopied' this way. After the stamped copy is generated, you don't have to keep the original gear in your inventory, you can put into cargo, equip it, or even sell it. You have the the 'photocopy' forever, untill you stamp something over it in the future Hope that helps

Hi, You can purchase game time cards at plenty of places, and the Time Card code will be delivered by email, so you can forward it on to your friend easily. This place is pretty good for prices: http://www.dlcompare.com/gamecards/10/best-deals-on-swtor-60-day-pre-paid-card Hope that helps

Hi, This page shows all the Sub / Pref / F2P features side by side, so will give you a handy checklist: http://www.swtor.com/free/features Personally I bought all the unlocks account wide, but I'd prioritise Cargo bay ones, Inventory ones, GTN sales slots, 3rd crew skill slot. After that, Additional char slots (Pref start with 6 and max out at 12), Quickbars, then cosmetic like hide head, and Unify colours. I'd also suggest you buy any expensive Legacy unlocks, eg ship gtn, rocket boosts etc, as these can be a pain to get once you have the Pref cred cap. Hope that helps P.S. Also area unlocks like Sec X Access, so future chars have access to them !

To the OP, If you're a subscriber now, then your problem will be fixed automatically simply by waiting 30 days. If as you say, there are only two subscribers in the guild (yourself and the inactive player) then the GM rank will automatically pass to you if the inactive player doesn't log in for 30 days (might be 60 days, can't remember exactly). It's a standard Guild feature, to prevent Guilds being crippled by having an inactive GM. So just wait it out P.S. maybe send an in-game mail to the inactive player, explaining what's happened, and asking him to transfer GM status back to you. Then you'll be covered on the off-chance that he logs in sometime in the period till you get GM status back automatically.

Indeed, we draw different conclusions from our anecdotal evidence. I disagree fundamentally with your points 1 & 2 above also. As to previous HM bosses that could (and still do) cause frustration, I cite the CZ Droid in the water, CZ sandstorm boss (and the other one with the pods), CZ Engineer boss, Ortol and his shackles. prob a few others that I can't remember also Really though, all I'm trying to say, is that I, and others, am really enjoying having some challenging FPs to do again.

I disagree with what seems to be the majority view here. I think that HM FPs should be tough, and a few deaths should be expected as people learn how to coordinate and deal with mechanics etc. I queue solo daily with both my chars (a Sage and Scoundrel, both healers), and apart from the first few times there have been remarkably few complete wipes. In fact there are only two FPs that I can remember having to completely abandon, on the first boss of Tython, and on the last boss of Manaan. Communication in group chat is the key, and not trying to rush through everything. As an aside, after doing Kuat maybe 2 times when it released, and Tython/Korriban a couple of times, I quickly developed a deep loathing of Tactical FPs. So much so that I never queue for them. So my previous experience of the Manaan and Rakata FPs was limited to two trips through them on Solo story mode. Gearing wise I was in a mix of 2 peice 168 set bonus, some 180 Oriconian, and some comm and crafted 186's (crafted enhancements) when I started on the HMs. All peices were auged though, Some with old purple 156 augs, and the rest with blue 178's. Relics were Brutalizer 162 PvP FR and SA. In that set up, and with a group that doesn't consist entirely of 'Headless Chickens' the new HM FPs are tough but doable. TBH, I think the problem is more that people got used to steamrolling the old 55 HMs, largely due to the vast qty's of Ultimates that were being showered on everyone like candy! Just thought I'd share my experience so far, and I know plenty others here on the Progenitor are having a similar experience

I agree completely. You don't win friends by giving them a nice present, only to snatch it away or stamp on it later! I baffles my why the concept of 'light touch' is so alien to the Devs. They only seem to have one balancing tool in thier box, a Sledghammer !

Something I do with excess Basic comms is buy stuff like mods, armours, hilts etc from the comm vendors on Fleet, then sell the items on the GTN. Not very exciting I know, but it can add up to a nice pile of useful creds! P.S. I've found that low to mid level mods and enhancements give the best Cred return per comm. Hope this helps. P.P.S Just as an aside, speaking as a long time Pref player myself, there's a way you can help your friend accumulate enough creds to enable him/her to buy Artifact Auth or any other unlock. Just have your friend give you say 300k whenever they accumulate that much, then mail it back to them as a 300k attachment. This allows your friend to accumulate a large cred reserve in thier mailbox, in easy to access 300k chunks. As Pref your friend can make face-to-face secure trades with other players, so high value trades can be made just by standing beside a mailbox, paying the seller in 300k chunks and refilling between payments. I bought pretty much every unlock account wide this way, by asking for them in Trade Chat channel. I assume around 800-1000 Creds per Cartel Coin exchange rate, and had no trouble getting the stuff I wanted (Progenitor Server). Alternatively, just have your friend give you the 300k chunks direct, and you act as thier 'banker'. Keep track in a notebook or whatever. Then you can make large purchases for them on GTN or by secure trade, and give them the items after the trade is done.

I agree completely, it would be a shame to kill off the slot machine concept entirely. I think it has the potential to be a useful and fun addition to the game. Taking the original un-nerfed drop rate as a starting point, something along the lines of: Halve the Cert drop rate Leave Green Jawa stuff as it was Reduce Blue Jawa stuff by 1/3rd Reduce purple Jawa stuff by 2/3rds Leave Rep stuff as it was Would be a fairly balanced compromise I think. Additionally, we know there is already a mechanism in-game that can cause slot machines to overheat/explode, as could happen in the Nightlife event. Simply by applying this to machines at a much higher chance of occurring would break up 'Click-a -thons' Instead of an overheated slot machine automatically respawning as a useable machine (as happened in the Nightlife event) why not add a 'Slot Machine replacement Fuse' or some such to a Vendor on Fleet? And have it need to be used to re-enable the busted Slot Machine? This would completely wipe out all macro use or autoclick exploit opprtunities. Could even make it a 'unique' item, so only 1x Fuse can be carried in inventory, thus enforcing a trip to the repair shop! Could just cost 1k from a Jawa, or even a few Basic comms from the Vendor in Trade skills area that sells ISO-5 and Schematics. Would give us something to spend our mountains of Basics on at least If the replacement fuse idea is too complex, then maybe make the automatic respawn timer variable or something, though I'm not sure how effective this would be in combatting 'auto-clickers'. Just my thoughts, would really hate to see slot machines disappear without trace.

I think it would be a shame to kill off the concept of these slot machines. They have the potential to be a valuable and fun addition to the game. Would be better if Bio can find a balanced way to implement them imo

znihilist sets out the problem perfectly in my opinion There's no reason to think that Eric's post is anything but honest according to the information he was given by the developers. For all we know he's not exactly happy about all this himself. The real problem is the way the developers veer from one crazy extreme to the other, without seeming able to find a relatively balanced middle way. This being the case it's hardly surprising that they aren't capable of communicating thier aims clearly, What staggers me most, is the way Bio have completely wrecked something that could have been a great fun mini-game. It totally boggles my mind!

Personally I'm really glad that all the 186 trainer craftable schematics are the 'good' ones. If I could, I'd like to go back through my enhancement schematics list and delete all the 'useless' green schematics (high endurance) that I bought before I realised they were a waste of time! Would also love to be able to 'trim' out bad blue offhands (and earpeices from my Cybertech), eg Cunning/Defense etc etc.

People like spending. Whether its Creds, Comms or RL money With the removal of training costs even lowbie first time players have creds to spend and want to upgrade thier gear.

I thik your concentration on CM items being the only factor to consider contains one big flaw. CM items are entirely aesthetic. Thay have no effect on gameplay. There will always be a need for mods, ears, etc etc, items that provide gameply changing stats. So there will always be niches for crafters to compete for and fill.

^ This I think this will democratise the spread of wealth very effectively. Also, we're only really looking at Grade 11 purple stuff, the effect overall across the whole range of mats and crafted gear will be diluted hugely. Essentially, players who have concentrated thier efforts only on top tier mats and crafting will be most affected. Those who have spread thier efforts over the entire range will be largely unaffected. If anything, this will force people to adapt, and hunt niches more. No more easy mode, things will likely be much more interesing and competitive now.

Heh heh I agree completely Well said!

I agree In addition I'd just like to point out that from my experience, profit margins (not listing prices) have always been much much higher on blue grade crafted pieces. I regularly get in the range of 60%-80% margin on this stuff. Volume is what makes big cred balances, not individual highly priced purple items. If anything, when the economy rebalances, I think the effect of easier to obtain rare mats will 'democratise' the market somewhat. No longer will people with multiple gathering alts doing the 'relog dance' have such a monopoly on creds. Instead, those who can adapt and switch around thier markets will continue to make good creds, and the overall benefits of lower prices will be to spread sales more widely among the general player base. When the dust settles, I suspect that there will be fewer 'utra rich' players, but more 'comfortably off' ones, a higher number of 'middle income' ones, and a smaller number of 'utterly skint' ones! Overall, this slot machine along with the Jawa Junk vendors, may very well be a very good thing for the vast majority of players. The only casualties will be those at the very top of the mats/crafting income bracket, who will now have to be a bit faster and more flexible to continue making the kind of creds they've become accustomed to. Thanks for reading