I agree that the majority of it is really just the more elusive game mechanics, especially boost/buff combinations that require multiple classes ( such as a Sage's Force Speed on top of a Sentinel's Transcendence). Snoop around the internet and find some of the swtor mechanic threads, and especially advanced-class articles and pvp strategy guides. You'll find some pretty amazing abilities that definitely look like cheats at first glance... That being said... omg gaming industry, just use the server clock and save us from that one Real cheater. It's probably the same few people across all the games I've ever played, but the mere possibility of him existing frequently has the accusations spreading like some bizarre chatbox disease. I know it'd require a heavier-duty server in some cases, but could probably be worked out to take up less bandwidth than redundant data checks. Let the hackers think they're cheating while the server maintains a proper rule-enforced game state, and use any bandwidth you save to smooth out gameplay for non-hackers. Bandwidth is advancing a gazillion times slower than processor speed and memory, anyway.

Keep bringing more people to PvP. Especially bad ones. I'd just assume bury the nerdragers in easier-to-get-along-with noobs. A losing team of hilarious people offers a ton more entertainment value, anyway.

Heard.

Should I move/reference this post to another thread?

This will probably remain "out of control" for a great number of reasons. Unfortunately, the best solution I can think of requires a pretty big man-hour investment by the developers, which is a cross-server que (to bring enough population to the que initially), and a map and/or gametype filter (to stop players from ending up in the gametypes they would normally quit). I'll admit, I've quit plenty of huttball matches (though I decide whether or not to stay immediately, and it has nothing to do with winning or losing, but rather my general opinion of the gametype). I'd rather just Not Que for huttball, but the lack of map/type filter had forced my hand. Often there aren't Just team-oriented players in this game. Many players prefer to que solo, and would probably prefer to fight solo as well. I know the community seems to think that team-only multiplay "forces people to learn their class"... but I dare each and every one of you to find a pvp oriented mmo forum without a reference to "how bad people are at pvp" or whatever. It doesn't work. It doesn't force people to learn a class or team role, and in fact, it probably holds them down. Players are now expected to: Know the game's elusive mechanics Know the classes' vaguely defined strengths and weaknesses Know all their own cooldowns Know a general ability priority for the class's role Know specific goal-oriented ability priorities Know team positioning Know interdependent strengths and weaknesses with other classes Know adjusted ability priorities according to partner classes (both general and goal-oriented) Know target selection priorities for their own and other classes Know both general and goal-oriented ability priorities and strategies for enemy classes Know effective ability counters against enemy classes Use all their knowledge in favor of the team instead of themselves, when the two interests conflict Learn all of these things without ever having been in a situation where 3-7 other players depend on you to have already learned how to play the game, and have already geared for your tier of team content Did I miss anything? (rhetorical, I'm sure I missed a bunch of stuff)... Point is, the lack of cross server que downsizes the community to the point where you have little choice... Don't play warzones, or play warzone maps and gametypes you hate with people you can't stand to be around, either because they have a horrible attitude or are simply not as progressed in terms of skill and gear as you are. Instead of pretending like there Is no progression, and that everyone Obviously likes Every map you make, try and build the game to service the reality instead. Instanced-PvP needed a map filter, for starters, but could've also used a progressive unlock series as well (to go along with the actual player progression of skill and gear). For instance, in order of availability, based on a certain number of wins, you could have: 1v1 arena matches, 3 man FFA matches, 4 man FFA matches and 2v2 team matches (tdm only) 5 man FFA matches and 2v2 team matches (introduction to capture and hold) 6 man FFA matches and 3v3 team matches (expanding team size) 7 man FFA matches and 3v3 team matches (introduction to assault, i.e. voidstar type maps) 8 man FFA matches and 4v4 team matches (expanding team size) 9 man FFA matches and 4v4 team matches (intro to huttball) and so on, adding maps and players until you get to 16 man FFA and 8v8 team, requiring in each tier/type branch a certain number of wins in the tier/type that came before, and allowing all players to que for the lower tiers as well as the latest they've unlocked. This would Actually force players to learn, instead of just making them feel like they shouldn't even bother to begin with, and would allow players to avoid ques for types/sizes they don't particularly enjoy. Again, this requires a pretty big investment of man hours, as a larger que population is required to support this kind of thing... but it would rid of some excuses for quitting. After all of that, a small consequence could be imposed for quitting, though it seems like the only thing that should be necessary is the mark it leaves on a simple wins/plays ratio (no exceptions, no loss tracking, just number of joins and number of wins for stat tracking), so that quits and losses count the same, at best, save you time, at the risk that you're missing out on a comeback win by your team. Also, personally, I'd love for the ignore thing to keep you out of warzones with d'bags, the same way it works with group finder. Certain people just don't belong in social situations at all, even a video game with nothing more than a chatbox to call "social interaction"... Nerdragers suck the fun right out of MMOs (and scare off any potential new customers to replace the Nerdragers previous income, before he realized he'd reached end-game and dropped to preferred status).

I love this idea. Note that it should be a utility item, and provide type-specific item storage (just like when you put on gear), and should display the items worn. This would be a great addition to decorations, and would absolutely be worth some cartel coins! Yes, bioware. I'd actually give you real money for one of each base class and one of each advanced-class styled mannequins (20 total per faction, 40 across both). Take it or leave it! /signed

This is common for a large part of the game, actually. The whole "immune to interrupts" thing only applies to the pure interrupt skills, like Force Kick or Distract, not to stuns. Note that if the suggested change were made and balanced, many of your enemies' skills would then render those classes immune during certain times as well. For instance, that smasher would be able to master strike right through your knockback, and if the smasher respec'd to combat, he'd be able to root you with it, too. This would force you to spend a stun break or escape to counter these kinds of skills, which would probably make the gameplay pretty terrible. It's already about taking turns hard-stunning and killing eachother. If anything, breaks and interrupts need to be More frequent, not less (though all I'd really like to see is a longer cooldown on all hard-stuns in game). To summerize, you'd either be OP because of the change(unbalanced), or would regret that you ever thought it up(balanced).

Order of the Prophecy is a friendly semi-casual guild currently recruiting active Imperial and Republic PvX members to fill the ranks. We're looking for players with a good attitude, and offer a structured ranking system, training for players new to a class, web site, teamspeak 3 server, 10% reputation and experience boost, Guild Bank, and Guild Stronghold. We are also currently grinding around the clock for our guild ship for each faction. We're always running end-game group content, including conquest objectives, operations, flashpoints, dueling days, as well as both ranked and unranked warzones. We run both structured and unstructured groups to push individual and team strategy without diminishing the game's entertainment value. Look for Order of the Jedi Prophecy in the Republic faction, or Order of the Sith Prophecy in the Imperial faction. Message me here, or message any of us in game if you're interested!

Order of the Jedi Prophecy / Order of the Sith Prophecy is currently building/gearing ranked pvp teams and operations groups. Need healers and tanks more than anything, but dpsers are welcome. We offer in the standard 10% rep and xp boost, of course, along with a guild bank, in-guild economics, web site, teamspeak 3, and an increasingly well organized guild structure for member support. We also have some officer ranks open now that ESO is live, if you're interested in taking a lead position. Let us know!

This may be one of those things that belongs in it's own que instead of the WZ que( as Huttball does, in my opinion ) but.... 3 stage PVP & PVE Flashpoint ( should include NPCs like a flashpoint as well as two player teams ) ( yes, NPCs should be combatants, for an intense open-world feel with the balancing of bolster ) ( no, NPCs should not respawn, they are simply an additional and optional objective and environmental hazard for the attacking faction, and should be dead for good as they are in Flashpoints ) Same objective types as warzones ( hold ground around turrets, doors, etc ) to get to complete the stage Round 1 First stage: Neutral ground ( as the assault begins ) Common objective and 2 mirrored objectives Capturing the common objective and one of the enemy's mirror objectives, or both of the enemy's mirror objectives will take you to one of the other 2 stages Winning takes you to Second stage owned by the opposing faction, where you are the attacker Losing takes you to Second stage owned by your own faction, where you are the defender Round 2 Second stage: Ground controlled by the LOSING faction of the first stage ( as the assault continues ) NPC's belong to the defending faction Graphics of stage should reflect defending faction specifically (to give environment an Imperial or Republic feel) 2-3 single objectives (winner from stage 1 attacks, winner from stage 2 defends) Successful attack grants a win to the attackers (winners of stage 1) and match ends Successful defense brings defenders to other faction's stage 2 to attack Round 3 (only if the match is tied, defenders of round 2 may counter attack if defense was successful ) Same as stage 2, but roles are reversed, and NPCs/graphics of environment now match the new defending faction Successful defense or attack grants the final point and ends the match

I'm guessing no objections were made for this by the game's admins? As an older thread I'd assume someone would've posted if they were banned for it. I've been looking for something like this. I'm not a big fan of "cheating" in games, but I really don't feel like this particular control option is a "cheat" anyway, as it only adds an option for the sake of the feel of the controls, and doesn't give an in-game advantage to players who use it.. My biggest problem in this game so far is that turning my camera would often select a new target accidentally, or if I happen to be playing in windowed mode (to look up datacron spots, etc), could even select other windows outside of the game, all in the middle of an engagement. :/ makes the game more frustrating than challenging, in my opinion. Gonna try this out, thank you!

The problem I see with avoiding the attacking of lower level players directly is that they'll still do it, even if it's less often. Ultimately, there's gonna be bullies no matter what, but if incentive to attack players of a lower level is removed in-game, and incentive to respond to those who attack lower level players is added, it'll balance out the risks and benefits of "ganking". Again, the ganking issue is what's keeping players from leveling up characters and learning to play them in pvp engagements. These guys discourage everyone from trying, and need to be dealt with in order to populate the server. Yes, you'd be able to start a war by doing it, but again, it's literally common enough that I see it every day with or without the in game benefits. What I Don't see is players coming to help the defensive in either faction. The fights are already started often enough, they're just never finished because of the manner in which they are fought. (one lowbie against one or several 55 w/ endgame gear). i.e. murder('gank'), not war(owpvp). Gotta remove incentive by pulling rewards for kills against lower level players. Gotta outnumber them when they do it anyway to get them out of your faction's territory and clear the area for those who are trying to quest / level.

Agreed. Same faction pvp, I think, is enough with the dueling system. Think more story for open PvP, and offer level-restricted incentive for participation to balance out bullying. http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=7312863&postcount=27

Actually, the most fun solution I've come up with is to just outright allow the players to gank and assault, then start a server-wide event called "call to arms", offering a reward for... Imperials: "Getting revenge" Republic: "Bringing to justice" ... against any player engaging in combat in enemy territory, to play to the story with it. Basically, you could commit an act of war by attacking the enemy faction's territory to attract players to an open world brawl that gives daily valor, xp, credit, and commendation rewards for killing enemy players at or above your level. Not only would this add a whole new layer of awesome to the pvp server, but it would balance out some of the bullying by attracting more resistance to them in faction-owned territory, and restricting the easy-gank areas to contested areas. Also, reset the legacy achievements and restrict to at or above your level, lol. This would make me happy just to see Bioware take the kid's toys away when they couldn't play nice with them. I'd say the community as a whole would be better off, and more players would be apt to toss a little money in the hat to keep the servers up and running.

Yea, as I posted in another thread about this kinda thing... The only incentive anyone has to battle on the PvP server is that legacy achievement series, which counts regardless of level. :/ Again, I do it for fun, but most players are rushing to the end-game build, and frustrated by interruptions. Leaving the level difference open leads to a common conclusion. It is most beneficial to level up to 55 and one-hit-kill lowbies to get this reward, and any other rewards that could be offered. Whatever they offer for it, it needs to be something good, and it needs to be restricted to players at or above your level. Otherwise, you're just turning the gamers who've already spent their money on this game into bullies who beat up and scare off all your potentially new customers. Open world PvP needs to be fun While you're leveling to keep players around, not just After you level. These are interesting suggestions, though.

also, can't help but agree... Developing changes in a game of this scale is different from mod making. 4 hours of coding would probably just result in a system with more problems than it offers solutions. However, once again, /sign and bump.

/sign and bump

I don't think it's against the rules, but honestly, in an event where players are highly dependent upon each other, and Only each other, it should be. Yes, you are a putz for it. Gotta think about the whole in those matches. Hopefully you did that because you didn't understand the inter-dependency of a war zone, and not just because you're selfish, and will learn a little something here. Afk is Not a problem while you're soloing pve, however. Please hold your pee until the war zone is over, and understand that your team actually needs you.

Yea... the war zones and free-for-all areas are fun and all, but there's literally a Problem with the open world (while we're questing and running into each other) pvp. The closest thing I've seen for incentive is the legacy score for killing other players, which counts regardless of level difference, and because we're all smart enough to realize that, Bioware has basically just told us to bully the lowbies and run from the higher levels. PvP, in open world where it blends with PvE, as much fun as it could have been, has become nothing but frustration for players who haven't leveled yet. Not a challenge, mind you, which I know people complain about as well sometimes, but literally just frustration. I've seen it drive dozens of people to logout, a few people I knew to quit the pvp server, and probably several to cancel their subscriptions. You made an awesome game in the big picture, but your pvp oversights have created a culture of bullies who beat up all your new customers. Again, there needs to be true incentive in-game. Persistent incentive. ... and, it might help if the legacy pvp rewards only counted against enemies equal level or higher. This wouldn't get rid of the bullying altogether, but people would come out for a quick reward to take down the gankers. I know... "no". Gonna wait and see if they change their minds, anyway. Hopefully they'll warm up to the idea.

A salute to cycao's post. I know this is an MMO, and one with a Huge level separation, but pure superiority via levels or gear, or even both, isn't exactly a realistic goal in any game, when you're up against a well organized group of players who've developed the kind of strategy he talks about. That 30% that's better than the %70 percent of players will find a way to bring you down, even if it comes down to a matter of sheer numbers. Your best bet for success is to take Every advantage you can (Including ganging up on players who've got you held down). You can find an awful lot about strategies for combat, farming, leveling, etc. on these forums if ya look hard enough. Look at your play style as well as your gear and stats to find room for improvements, and learn to play your strengths against other's weaknesses. You'll get there.

Well I got really excited then really disappointed, lol. A reward system seems like just about the only thing that would make the open world pvp system make the kind of sense it should on an actual pvp server that I can think of... Maybe they'll figure something out, but, while trying to get some help against an assault on Aldaraan today, one refused and made an interesting point. 0 gain in game. 0? I do it for fun, but... he was right. Might as well just let your faction get slaughtered and run another round of Kuat or whatever. Thanks for the response, btw.

Sometimes I feel like I'm one of very few players who joined the PvP server on purpose. Have you developer guys given any thought to offering incentive for players to be more involved with that? I ask because "ganking" is a serious problem, and could easily be solved via in-game rewards for killing a player at or above your level. This would attract the apathetic players who Would be capable of defending territories and other players, but don't care enough to try. An example: 3 basic commendations for killing a player at or above your level PLUS 3 basic commendations per level difference 0 for killing a lower level player, since that's already a common enough thing Any thoughts? also, xp same as killing monsters of whatever difficulty rating matches the players, maybe?