From what I remember from the previous posts, the OP incites negative comments when s/he enters a warzone because s/he gears in 190+ PvE gear and expects that to be a norm in the unranked PvP. Despite the folks patiently explaining the gearing requirements, the OP outright declared that it is his/her bio-given right to queue in whatever gear pleases him/her and spend the comms elsewhere. It's this attitude, not the fact that s/he is a beginner (which s/he is not, because s/he shows up regularly on the board with the same complaints over and over and over) that is bound to cause negative responses. I went from a complete newb in PvP to a wannabe average, and despite an annoying internet presence and a low skill cap that I do not hide, I very rarely got called out openly. I always spoke out against toxicity, and I always will, but it is a two way street. If you cannot empathize with the prevailing sentiment and a sprit of good sportsmanship; if you are unwilling to spend the minimal efforts on pleasing those who had been there for a while and love the game; demanding concessions and asserting that YOURS is the TRUE WAY is a behavior of an out of control toddler. This is a game. For a game to be the most fun everyone involved needs to be willing to give a little bit. From the veterans - just a touch of tolerance. From the new players - just a touch of enthusiasm and effort. And we all will be gazillion times better for it. If the OP is unwilling to give anything, no wonder s/he is not receiving anything but scorn.

If that system worked we would not be having this conversation, because everyone would be happily playing ranked that promises just that: only matching people of similar skill. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in the last season that stopped anyone from jumping on sorcs and pts and playing the ranked. But the increase in participation was minimal, and could have been simply accounted for by alts and duplicates in the tables. it's not that the matchmaking does not work because there is not enough people. It is that the ranking decimates the population because unsuccessful players drop out. In practice it does not work. The absence of 8x8 or the mythical "class balance" or cheating are all only secondary to the root cause of unpopularity of the ranked. The main thing is that it is ranked, and the loss has consequences. Most of us have bad losing streaks in the regs, and most of us stay. Most people who have bad losing streak in the ranked leave the ranked and go back to regs. In addition: 1. Eliminating the regs means that the guys like me will never have a chance to see the really good guys play. 2. If someone groups up 'out of bracket' that will either put a shark into the pool full of koi, or put a koi into the shark tank.

This change will penalize a group that is capable of clearing though, but just goofed up or got an unlucky RNGitis. I understand where you are coming from, OP. I spent this summer repeatedly wiping on the Underlurker, with only a few clears, and never in a pug. By the fall I went through 3 different guilds until I found the one I've liked and that does content on the level my reflexes and commitment can handle. Once in a while I am lucky enough to be invited to more challenging runs to test my mettle, but most of the time the guild runs the content we can carry people through, meaning all SM ops and the easiest HMs. The quality of playing the game went through the roof. Zero frustration, drama and uncertainty. I can try what role I want, ask to fast level any toon in any gear through a couple ops runs, and jump in to return the favor when someone else needs something done. Guilds are in this game for a reason & they are a perfect way of clearing the end-game group content.

I did not make it. The leveling speed in BnS is variable, so I gotta run till I am done, because I have no clue if I am on track or not. And it kills my muscle memory for SWTOR, because it is so reliant on LMB/RMB timing and casts other buttons only rarely. I've managed to join my guildies for killing the DF HM Boss #2 in SWTOR, only to wipe on the Corruptor, and the rest was all BnS, BnS and more BnS. But I healed on a sorc, and by now I think I can heal on a sorc in my sleep. Tried a bit of faction quests in BnS, they are a lot like Ilum event in SWTOR, but they are permanent Dailies. So, you go to a hub area, and try to do tasks risking an attack from the other faction + fight the NPCs some of which require a few guys from your faction to pound on them to get them down. Wish they did have that in SWTOR, but BnS at least tries to balance the factions by locking out the overpopulated one. So, plus for BnS there for at least trying. You can also switch Factions. The silly part of the BnS is that the OW PvP there requires you wearing a uniform. Well, my faction uni looks like pajamas. With ruffles on the bottom! It's downright hilarious charging into battle dressed for a sleepover. Damn, SWTOR does that part better!

I love 4X! He does for me what the HK-47, 51 and 55 do for the rest of the gaming community.

I think they are more upset about not being able to obtain other companions because once Pierce or 4X alert comes up they can't bypass it and get the remaining 20-30 companions or whatnot. OP, I have seen a lot of posts on this topic, and really, there is one panacea in this game, and that's getting in a group of like-minded people. Post on your server subforum or in general if you do not have a company in the game. I am sure you will be able to find like-minded folks, judging by how often this complaint comes up. Or, put on a set of 190 gear, and just do it. The whole 'humiliate non-PvPers' part is silly. People who waste their typing breath in regular warzones are only humiliating themselves. Lhance, if comp recruitment was not locked behind the awful KotFE, I'd be getting both Pierce and 4X for my every toon! Love them both to bits!

Should be TEH, PTS won't get going till 4 pm PST from the last experience. And, Lhance, my last reply to you got buried on the end of the last page, heh.

Wanna PM me to not have BnS discussion in the SWTOR PvP forum? But it's very clustered, 1-4, Q to R, A to F and Z to V, plus all important LMB/RMB. Targeting is by looking at the target, no click. Movement is AWSD, mouse for camera.

Guys, that's pure gold. Thank you!

Yeah, the PTS start time if you guys can make it? I started on the Destroyer, and prob will keep it as my main, because by whatever reason I am in love with a melee class, and I want that feeling to last. But he did not qualify for the leveling event (he was level 18), so I started Summoner on the 1st and got to level 17 & that's the one I need to max-level before the 23rd for the goodies. I will be doing either Warlock or Assassin as my 3rd (Okay, whom am I kidding, I will be doing a Warlock!), and that would be it, because compared to SWTOR... yeah, as above. The combat in BnS is a breath of fresh air after SWTOR. The very thought of my 42 something skills and like 5 targeting keybinds makes me wanna weep now after being spoiled rotten by BnS. Very fun and engaging combat system. But, I wish it had more flexibility in re-keybinding the skills.

Do you guys want to give PTS a shot on Saturday at the test time to see the changes, and then move to EH? I prob just give an hour or two to BnS today to stand a chance to finish leveling before the 23rd there, and call it a day. Still trying to get over dat cold. bnS = good game, but gotta chose your class wisely, leveling alts is a PITA and ridiculously unsupported. Still can't make a call which game I am sticking to. SWTOR has a LOT to boast in QoL.

OMG, I can actually qualify for this one! I'll try to make it, and reinforce my delusion that I can fly the BlackBolt!

I am glad it helps a little! I've actually had quite an uplifting GSF night yesterday because I told my guildies that I would just clear my GSF daily and then join them for ground PVP, and it ended with all 11 of us queueing for GSF for a few fights mostly on completely new ships with live urgent tips TS tutorial with everyone mixed in with and vs. In that respect, the small size of the population on the Harbinger favored us, as we always made it in the same match. We had loads of fun, hopefully not at the expense of the rest of the long-suffering Harbinger population. The Sattelite matches were super-close, but in Death matches having a bit of the extra folks with more experience made it more uneven, but my guildies seem to like them more than the sat games. Overall, I am keeping fingers crossed that we can do it again, and that getting those first comms and new ships will be a hook enough for the good folks to play it along with the ground game.

Most folks I've met in this game and have any degree of social interactions with are in mid-twenties to late thirties-early forties. Most play the Empire. I am guessing the Bad Boy Syndrome is evolving in the existential mid-life crisis of having an illusion of control and power and complete egotism over the RL where you are by that age firmly ensconced and burdened with the do-lists, responsibilities and putting everyone else's needs and wants ahead of your own. I went through an ugly political breakdown of a socialist system as a young adult, and during my impressionable teens we were flooded with literature on the horrors of repressions and slavery, the whole nation-wide apocalyptic atonement for the sins of our fathers, and the real apocalypse of ideals, crashing despair and all that. Reading about people like Beria made playing the Empire hard for me while RP was still of any concern. I personally feel more empowered in my digital escapism when I am saving the world, but I guess for other folks it's literally having no restrictions whatsoever that does it. Once it moved to the realm of simple convenience and the whole allure of the story had faded completely as a part of this game, Empire it was, 'cause that's where folks are alive and kicking and doing stuff.

The day that happens I leave the game. Ranked turns people into monsters faster than the Rakghoul plague.

If you feel that midbies do not go smoother by the time you hit level 52, it is a pretty good idea to go back to the lowbies I have done it a few times once the brackets have changed and speed abilities were introduced, playing and replaying a few classes to level 41. Then I took a couple of characters to 65 (including a Sage/Sorc run that makes you understand fairly well just why we've got that much lamented god-bubble), as well as played a couple of the formerly capped out level 60 chars via PvP. One of my 60's I also played through lowbies once I switched his AC on level 61 on that other AC to get used to how the abilities come together and find good keybinding sequence. It took getting used to the significant change of pace as well as things like Shadow Stride or Holotraverse in specific circumstances (aka VS) so there is absolutely no harm in playing and replaying a lowbie bracket for a bit or mixing it in on a mirror or a copied toon. Seriously, OP, it's fine to enjoy the lowbies and no harm in checking them out on different ACs a few times, and some classes will struggle through the early midbies. If you want to push through a few levels fast to get a specific DCD or Utility, there are always alternative leveling means. The advantage of 65 is that level difference stops being a contributing factor to imbalances.

This is actually super-awesome, thanks! COlor will be so much better than trying to tell at a glance if that's a boy or a girl in that wee little square.

He comes from BioWARE/Obsidian assembly line of Male Rogues That Crack Jokes and Try to Be Bad Boys with a Heart of Gold. It is located in the same warehouse that produces Female Perky Cutsey Tomboys Rogues that All Male Gamers Love Even if They Don't Admit It. But in the absence of like really interesting male characters that actually notice that you have created a female avatar with breasts and everything, Theron Shan wins the race against the pitiful opposition.

By the time I logged in, you guys were all fast asleep. I have my usual insane Wednesday, but off tomorrow, thanks goodness, so fingers crossed you are still there on the Hawk! I want to give a shot to doing some stuff in BnS in the next week to see if I can manage to get one of their time-sensitive promos, so I will for now stick to Madness. Hope that's Okay!

yeah, the moment you log an Imperial, you become a real pro. Playing in a premmie is not easier because getting 4 people together speaks to your persuasion skill and logistics prowess, but ain't a license to faceroll yet. Awareness is a key to saving your own hide as a solo. It becomes gazillion tons more important when you play with friends. You can't just expect them to have your back. You need to have theirs. And that means being aware of what three other people are doing and what helps they need in co-targeting, being relieved, healed, cleansed etc. It's amazing, but you gotta want it badly!

Okay, Slug is long, and ion is boxy, got it. I'd still MUCH prefer a color-code.

I flew my Razorwire in the other 2 Dom game that night (with 4 and 5 medals each), but the way the bonus comms ar structured, I need to switch the ships, so in that particular one I was flying gunship, trying to get at the turrets. However, the approaches were heavy with all the fun mines and drones, so I was first trying to find a secure position, then start clearing out the gadgets, beacons, repair drones etc to make sure other folks had a chance to get to the sat. Or, well, trying to. I need those bonus comms, because all the upgrades cost so much. Honestly, I just want one thing changed in GSF real badly (well, save for folks actually playing it). That's a different color icon on the Gunship for the secondary weapon switch. because I tried to hover my cursor over it in the game, and all it tells me is that it's intended to switch my weapon, not which one is equipped at the moment. Silly.

Well, if you were thinking to give BnS a shot, now is not a bad time. They are adding an extra Class (Warlock) and a free char slot with today's patch and give an incentive bundle of some end-game useful stuff for leveling your character from scratch to 45 (max level) in the next 3 weeks. I am getting used to the art and slowly getting over myself in terms of: "OMG, I just can't play... this... erm... shallw e call it a character." I am trying a different class for this promotion, and it is not as smooth as the first, but I think it's muscle memory re-arrangement.

It gets worse from there. Not just illogical, but insipid, and, worse of all boring.

They are not bad, they are not bad teams, they are players just like me who load up to play a few games here and there. Just the way the game is supposed to be played. I don't have any problems with it. I like these folks, they make the game happen for me, whoever they might be and whatever their reasons are to queue up that night. I want to play with them, because I am one of them! If folks want to stack the odds in their favor by only playing with the selected few they deem worthy, or doing manual matchmaking, that's fine with me. I want to play with everyone and anyone who'd come and play. However the RNG decided to split people up. GSF is perfectly rewarding right now. I have months and months of comms to got yet to put into crew unlocks and the ships. My char is leveling really fast. It's fine. The only problem I have is with people pronouncing judgments and demanding things to be taken away based on the assumption that meeting some X benchmark is 'easy' and if you did not do it, you did not try hard enough and therefore should not get points, comms, XPs, whatever.