Long post. Admittedly, I was thinking a lot about KOTOR when I drafted this. Plot: Hunting the Star Forge "The balance of galactic power, and the future of the Force itself, is threatened when an ancient fortress that consumes the Force is re-activated. Who did this, and what is their goal?" If the Rakata built a Star Forge, chances are good they built something else big and nasty that also churns out infinite weapons, droids and ships, or whatever else. Why not make this one a machine that eats the Force? This time, it's remnant Exarchs, seeking to rebuild the Zakuul Empire, that have seized the space station/asteroid/secret base/whatever. They were fed information by Darth Malgus, in a bid to raise a galactic power to supplant all other factions. Why? It's Malgus' MO, really. The story would reveal the final fates of Darth Malgus and Satele Shan, and maybe elevate another Jedi Grand Master - perhaps Tau Idair? New daily areas: Manaan, Tatooine and Dantooine Look for clues to this new threat by searching through the remains of the ancient Rakata Empire, secrets held jealously by each faction until now. Except Korriban, because that stuff got plundered centuries before the Sith returned and no one knows where that stuff went (or DO they...?). New planets: Rakata Prime and Kashyyyk On Kashyyyk, players could earn reputation with Czerka corporation by helping to repair a major ecological disaster, local civil war/dissident movement, or some such. Reputation rewards could be vanity armor sets at mid-tier and top-tier, and faction-specific mounts at top-tier. For flavour, there could be secrets like a datacron in a puzzle found in the remains of Jolee Bindo's old hut. There could also be a lore achievement investigating Czerka's role in creating the problem on Kashyyyk in the first place. That darn Czerka! Finally, there could be a new Terentatek world boss that drops reputation rewards and a Czerka, Wookiee or Mandalorian-themed mount. On Rakata Prime, each faction could help one of the local tribes rebuild their society. For the Republic, it could be the remnants of the ancient Rakata civilization that existed before the Rakata Empire. For the Empire, it could be the Tribe of the One. Overall, it would be a kind of love letter to KOTOR, the game that started all of this, and would be a chance to develop familiar locations in new ways. Or, maybe I just need to go play KOTOR again.

I would like to suggest that we stop making things that can be earned for participation available later for money, so that people who play can feel rewarded for doing so.

I'd like to see an end to HK things in this game, honestly. At this point, it feels like every other point of comic relief in SWTOR comes from an HK droid, and I'm kinda over it. "Ha ha, that walking gun said or experienced something uncharacteristic." "Say the line, say the line!" "Oh yeah, that's the stuff."

I think the problem is that we have so much free stuff, and a wildly over-saturated cash shop, that nothing feels exclusive anymore. I don't feel that getting more subscription reward items is the solution. In a similar vein, I registered a physical Collector's Edition code 7-8 years ago and it hasn't felt Collerctor-y since about a month after I registered it. Getting yet another version of the Lucky-77 swoop, a wee astromech pet or HK-55's jetpack in the mail doesn't feel as rewarding as, say, getting a Dread Master Mask, a Desler Nomad speeder or the Wings of the Architect mount. I feel the root of the issue is feeling like you're not being acknowledged for your support, and I agree that is an empty feeling, but I don't think more trinkets are the solution. Unless, of course, said trinket was actually exclusive, but with the CM offering clones of almost anything you can find or earn in-game, that's gonna be tough.

We have endgame gear progression, conquest, the daliy login reward system, and a two-track Galactic Seasons activity that rewards playing in general. I feel that adding yet another activity, specific to Endgame players, would confuse people (like 7.X gearing isn't weird enough already) and make things harder for devs to keep clean. Also, I feel that adding another endgame activity wouldn't reasonably address the root issue, which I feel is a persistent drought in new endgame content. There are only so many ways to make replaying content feel rewarding, after all, and that's what Renown felt / Conquest is trying to do in the first place IMHO.

It seems the fear of allowing f2p/pref to post everywhere, or at all, is due to concerns about spam, advertising and "game hack" posts that would appear, and possibly dominate, the forums boards. I think these concerns are resonable and valid. I only play as a sub, because 1) I like having access to all the things and 2) I can afford CAD $20 monthly, so I cannot speak to the f2p experience. I can, however, speak to the difference in attitude that many f2p/pref players have vs sub players, in my experience. In short, although it is not all of them, it is very much present in that community and it is concerning. F2P/pref players want more for free, and that harms the subscription model that keeps this MMO running. My fear is that is we allow F2P/Pref players full access to the entire forum, we will see not only an explosion of spam, but a change in tone of the forums towards giving more to people who invest little to nothing. That would drown out the voices of the people here who literally pay more for the same access. Playing for free is advertising, nothing more. F2P is a free sample. People who subscribe, and to a lesser extent people who play for free but buy from the CM on occasion, are the reason this game continues. As paid supporters of a subscription-based model, I believe subscribers' voices merit being heard first and loudest. In the context of these forums, I believe that means (at least) restricting the access of those who have chosen not to support this game. I realize that doesn't sound democratic, but subscription-based business models are not a democracy and I believe forum access rights should reflect that.

I disagree. SS seems fine to me. I queue PvE (vet FPs) daily and PvP weekly. I see a slight queue delay for PvP on SS (5-10 min), which is expected, but just last night on Imp fleet there were regularly 110+ users online. On Pub side, there were 75-80+ users online (IIRC, my Pub visit last night was short). There's also a great deal of activity in the SS "endgame" and fleet chat channels, so there are active endgame and regular communities there. I don't see a need to merge.

There are lots of classic "big speeder" lines that could be expanded and offered as rewards for Galactic Season prizes. I'm thinking of the Desler line (e.g., black w/ glowing red trim, call it the Night Rider), the Czerka Cruiser line (e.g. gold with silver trim, call it the Vice-President), the Gree Hyperpod (swap the colour of the glowy bits to red, yellow, etc.), the Manta (the long-lost purple, or a verdant green), and the Stardrive (something besides grey and yellow, perhaps?). Collecting the new versions might also spark interest in collecting the classic versions, which are found throughout classic SWTOR content including operations, hard mode flashpoionts, CZ-198 reputation and the KOTFE/KOTET Alliance system.

IMHO it's a welcome addition that's been missing from the galaxy at large since launch. Perusing the information available on fan sites, it looks like y'all have been working hard and taking (constructive) community feedback. First off, great artwork! Seems you've also hit your stride regarding gear rollout; tying one of a few acquisition methods to reputation is a keen idea that you can repeatedly exploit in future modules. Looking forward to exploring this content and finding those new datacrons!

Funny, I've had the opposite experience. Perhaps the Imp/Pub speeders from Tac 55s are Faction-specific (I play Pub).

Roughly 18 months ago I spoke with Customer Care about the availability of some old lightsaber and armor skins, the Desler Nomad and other HM (now MM) FP mounts. I was informed most of these items are obsolete, though players report the speeders do still drop on rare occasion. It seems their drop rates have reduced or vanished since decorations were introduced, and many of these have since vanished as well. I recall BioWare once floated the idea of returning more old content besides what we find in Command and Heroic crates. Please, consider returning more old items this way. There are some collection achievements we cannot get because of obsolete item removal, i.e. "Gearhead". Thanks for your time.

Bump for Justice Thank you BioWare. KotFE continues to engage even after clearing the new story content. Re-playing old heroic mission content with a level cap, for rewards and experience relevant to one's actual level, is concurrently refreshing and familiar. Playing Conquest for rare crafting items makes it directly relevant to any crew skill, and the new points scale makes Conquest events palatable even if one is not in a guild. Patch 4.0.2, to be released just four weeks after 4.0 early access, completes the resolution of a laundry list of the most commonly reported issues. Your decision to nerf companions is also sound, as it restores balance to a broken mechanic. I mean, I was able to rock all the Exarchs in 208/216 vendor tank gear, with my companion set to heals and only ~20k influence, which is a little broken in my opinion. Stay the course - most posts in these forums are made in anger or frustration and do not reflect the opinion of the majority of your (subscribing) base, who I argue are simply enjoying themselves and practicing patience as you iron out the details. It hasn't always been this great to play SWTOR, and I for one want to see the trend continue. Wherever you're getting your player feedback, give the source a raise. It is earned. Thanks again. Let the good times roll!

Bump. Crafted an Exarch Asylum Mk-26 lightsaber last night and issue persists - still no color crystal slot. The item tooltip has space for it however, and the offhand Exarch Asylum Mk-26 Force Shield does have a color crystal slot. On the upside, it appears the correct materials are required to craft - Artifice bonded attachments instead of Armstech, and Level 8 Crystals instead of Slicing mats.

Bump. Crafted an Exarch Asylum Mk-26 lightsaber last night and issue persists - still no color crystal slot. The item tooltip has space for it however, and the offhand Exarch Asylum Mk-26 Force Shield does have a color crystal slot.

I have noted the offhands for Artifice, at rank 208 and 216, do appear to have their crystal slots but the mainhand Asylum sabers at 208, 216 and 220 do not. The Armstech mainhand blaster pistols appear to be missing their color crystal slots at all ranks.