I cant really see the big problem with snipers. At valor level 59, I have played a few WZs, and I never feel Im inadequate. Damage is just insane (ask the people that get crit by ambush, followthrough, and snipe within 2 sec) and if you use your rotation correctly you will be able to keep DPS up for quite some time. As to survivability: stick and move, stick and move. It is true you wont survive long if you get attacked by 2-3 melee players, but then youre doing it wrong. Keep out of range, pick your targets and you will be giggling like mad when your crits take down some poor fool that though he could take the squishy sniper on his own. But sure, Ill take a buff: wont ever complain if I suddenly become a one man army :-)

Thanks for all the positive posts guys, I love that about a good community. The other ones... well, theyre part of it too I guess ;-)

Backdoorbob the (im)Pure

Valor rank: 61 before patch If you cant find a position that allows you to benefit from alacrity, youre doing it wrong. Due to the low amount of snipers in warzones it is pretty much a waste to get diversion for that reason. Lowering someones accuracy is of course very nice, but I as I have mentioned, I have done fairly well without it for quite some time. Im not an idiot though: I will certainly give it a shot. Please refrain from namecalling and personal attacks in the future; it only makes you look immature and lessens the weight of your advice.

Get rid of diversion, sector ranger and 1 point in pillbox sniper, put all three points into sniper volley My rotation stars with ambush if target is far enough not to be able to interrupt, then FT, snipe, series of shots, FT (spam it and u can do it before its unavailable again) Else I go instant snipe, followthrough, series of shots,then ambush (SoS procs reactive shot most of the time). The trick to playing a sniper is to use FT as much as possible: use snipe and ambush to set it up, and series of shots and basic attack as fillers. Use takedown when possible, legshot to keep them still, and flashbang, pulse, and debilitate to get out of hard spots. I never ever have a problem in warzones, and even though my 1-49 "own the damageoutput like mad" days are over, I rarely do less than 250k damage. 4 medals are usually done within 2 mins, and the first 2 almost always come at the first burst. I can honestly say that I pose a problem for most classes in one on one, even though I do not hold my skill as high in regard as to say that I can beat anyone. IMO snipers are just fine. They are pretty well balanced between pve and pvp, and I cant see that they need either nerf of boosts at present time.

You guild could not have had representation: if so, BW would have told me "thank you for your interest, we will give your spot to the next applicant on the list" when I told them I didnt have the means to go. Instead they still sent me the invite, when they (as an example) could easily have given Dodds GL the spot since it would be a minimum of hassle and at NO COST. Still they didnt. It pisses me off that people cannot get it into their heads that BW probably had reasons for inviting some and rejecting others; it was not announced as a first come, first serve event, and it was definitely not announced as a "we want as many as possible to attend" event. My application was deemed worthy in spite of me stating I did not have the means to go. Your guild's application was not, even though your representative was able to go. That tells me something in my application > something in your application. Get over it.

Thanks for the tip, but I have checked out all possibilities Cheapest alternative is about 600 euros atm. I can do probably 2-300 euros if I stretch it, but thats it :-(

Thank you for all the friendly feedback! I would like to put an end to the "if you knew you couldnt go you shouldnt have applied": 1. Like I have already stated: BW knew about my situation, and they invited me anyway 2. Even without my participation, there would be no replacements called (I might be breaching some kind of agreement by saying this): in the preliminary schedule sent out, it was clearly stated that BW had a few spots over for bringing a friend. TO ME this means they have gotten the people they want to the event, and are not planning to fill the spots with other applicants. Note that this is my interpretation, not something BW said. I feel I have done everything I can to get to Austin, and it is just a shame I couldnt come up with a solution. It would have been so cool to do a coverage for you guys; even though BW has one, it is not from a player PoV.

Well, thank you all for the support, but the trip will unfortunately not happen. I asked Bioware, who couldnt help me. Six major gaming sites have answered, one wanted me to go on my own coin and then maybe buy the coverage. The others already had people going, so no go there. The last option for me would be to ask people for money through paypal or something similar, but I believe you should do this instead: take that money, buy your favorite beverage, food, snacks and whatever, check out the live coverage of the event that BW are going to broadcast, and enjoy it yourself. One person going might be very cool, but a whole bunch of people enjoying themselves is about as many times cooler as there are people involved It bothers me that a once in a lifetime opportunity is passing me by, but knowing that I have done everything I possible can inside the boundaries of the law to be able to attend I will not grieve this lost experience.

There is a red light on the finishing stretch: the taxes for the flight are insane, and as of a few hours ago I am desperately trying to find other means to work this out.

Darth Mall of the Büttefondlère Legacy......

Well, I can definitely afford room and board myself, the flight was the big issue. As of a few minutes ago that seems to be solved as well. More updates will come.

Well, as it stands now I have been offered frequent flyer miles by a guild friend, so the preliminary plan is: Im going to Austin! However, some paperwork needs to be done, and I will know tomorrow, or at the latest thursday, if I can go. I will keep you guys updated, my intention to do some kind of coverage is still very much real.

Small update: housing costs covered, college buddy just called me.

To clarify the issue of applying with the financial situation Im in: I described my position in my application. I still got the invite. As to opening a paypal account and asking for handouts: it has crossed my mind, but that feels more like asking for someone to pay for me. I hope it is clear from my first post that I want to EARN my way there, so that whoever helps out gets something for their troubles. Good point though, will keep it in mind.

Hey man! Saying that our guild does not have concerns is pretty shallow. Also, if only the big guilds would come the whole summit would be a bit lopsided, dont you think? The game isnt made entirely out of 90 man guilds, I believe it is quite the opposite: there are a few large guilds on every server, and about 3-4 times as many small ones. I think the main factors I got the invite are that we ARE a small guild, and that we are from Europe. Whatever their reasons, Im sure BW have some kind thought behind them.

Big thanks for all that info, will check out that service and start writing!

Hi guys I lead a very small guild (seven extemely active players), and when the guild leader summit announcement arrived I threw in an application just for fun. A few days ago I got the invite; I was seriously suprised that BW would consider such a small guild at all. To me that says that the event is not only to butter up the leaders of the main HC raiding guilds, but that they actually do want input from the full spectrum of their player base. Now, why am I writing about this here? Well, it is simple: I live in Europe, and I cannot afford the trip across the pond on such short notice. My reason for reaching out to all of you is simple: I need tips and help on trying to find a sponsor/sponsors for my trip. To make things clear, I am not asking anyone for handouts, I am simply trying to find a way to earn my way over there. The best way for me to give something back is probably as a reporter for the community, and especially for the European segment since there will likely be few europeans at the summit. Since the event includes free wifi, I would love to try to do some kind of live broadcast of the discussions if possible. At the absolute minimum there would be a blog, photos and, if possible, interviews with BW people and other guild leaders. This is the absolute basic idea for the trip, but I want input from the community as to what YOU want: To be honest, I LOVE that I even have the opportunity to go to Austin, but seeing the frustration seething on the forums I would consider it an honor to try to bring your questions to the people responsible for this awesome but troubled game. For me personally, a trip to the summit without any other purpose than to mingle and drink beer with other gamers is pointless: the cost of this adventure would get me a years supply of beer (well... at least a month ) and some serious RnR right here in Europe. OK, if you read this far I think I have succeeded in getting at least a bit of your attention, and I bet you are wondering who I am and what my credentials are. I will try to make it short and to the point! I am 35 years old, I was born and raised in Sweden, and I am currently living in Stockholm with my wife and our dog. I am a welder by profession, but I have a background in academics with about four years in the university (two of them in Chicago) studying cognitive psychology. I started playing computer games when I was five years old, and obviously got stuck in it ;-) I started playing online games somewhere around 1996, and from there to here I went through Quake, Quake Team Fortress, Half-Life,Counter Strike, Anarchy Online, WoW, EVE, WoW again, and now SWTOR. These games are the ones I consider having spent too much time on, and thus have made the biggest impact on me in one way or another (80% positive I should add). I have also poked around with other MMOs, like City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Rift, Warhammer and a bunch on the lower end of the scale. Other than that, my absolute favorite games of all time is the Fallout series, with Fallout 2 being the top of the heap (BoS and Tactics are NOT Fallout games if you ask me). Generally, action/adventure/rpg is my cup of tea, so BW has a spot on my pantheon for ME, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, and numerous others. Now, if you are still with me: press reply and give me your thoughts! To repeate the main question of this post: how can I find a way to find a sponsor for my trip, and what would you guys like me to give back for that sponsorship? Thank you for your time, and if you want to harass me ingame I am Shrimpsurfer, GM of Riders of the Emocalypse, Eye of Ashlanae

If any of my post on any forum, anywhere, EVER, would mean anything, please let it be this one: I support this thread.