I believe that "higher up" goes even higher than the project manager, OP. I believe EA has been giving BioWare most of the orders since KotFE/KotET, because that was the last time the game seemed to have any significant investment based on the scale of things. I believe EA doesn't trust BioWare anymore and they have very little say in game affairs since then. Also, these insults of "did you get an intern to do this" that I'm seeing all over the forum and elsewhere are really kriffing low. These people making these insults obviously were never interns. Unpaid interns could only dream of doing work as important as UI design on a huge video game. Never in a thousand millennia would they be allowed to do work as relevant as that!

About the Subject You Want to Address, and Stop Creating Your Own Threads. If you just want to file a complaint in general, there should be one thread for that. There should be one thread for each aspect you want to talk about. We'll use the 7.0 update as an example. each thing that is wrong with 7.0 should have its own thread, such as: Class change concerns, such as the removal of abilities The awful new in-game UI Objections to the new character creator How much better the old class icons were than the new icons Bugs Etc., etc. Note I said "aspect," and not every little thing. It would be ridiculous to split hairs. Use common sense to determine what should have its own thread and what is related enough to be shared in another thread. By posting your own thread, you are diluting the power of a united voice, because your thread will quickly fall off the first page within 2-5 posts most likely, never to be seen again. If everyone contributes to the same threads, they will stubbornly stay on the first page and have to be acknowledged sooner or later. That's why one of the rules of the forum (if anyone bothered to read the stickies) is to do a search before posting, to make sure a thread doesn't already exist on the subject you are going to post about. This is taken from the Bugs sub-forum, but it should apply to any forum, especially General and the Suggestions Box. If you see someone posting a thread on an already existing topic, you have to nip it in the bud. Post in their thread and politely redirect them to the main thread on the subject by linking to it in your response. This will temporarily bump their thread, but future viewers will hopefully see your post and post in the proper thread.This is how we finally got a fix for the Bonus Series Bug. I assure you, posting individual threads on the same subject over and over again will almost ensure the subject never gets addressed. That's not how forums work. Forums act as records, including records of knowledge. If those records are strewn about all over the place, it makes it very difficult to track and search through. Is it easier to go through papers thrown all over the floor or organized and stored neatly in files in a filing cabinet? That is not how Reddit nor Discord really work. Threads expire on Reddit, and messages and subjects have the shelf life of unpasteurized milk on Discord. This is a forum, a message board. It is not Reddit. It is not, the Force forbid, Discord, which is even worse in the shelf life of its messages. Please stop polluting the forums with redundant threads. It doesn't help the community get its message across any better, especially when we have a suggestion or a criticism. In fact, it hinders those efforts. Use one thread per subject and politely link any wayward posters to the main thread on that subject.

I really think the guidelines for each of the forums, especially the General forum and Suggestions sub-forum should be updated to what Bugs sub-forum states (not that anyone will read it): Too many members treat the forums as if they were Reddit and Discord. This makes it extremely difficult and beyond frustrating for the average person to search for information that probably already exists on the forum, so they just post their own thread, exacerbating the problem.

YouTube is not an ideal method for sharing the wonderful music of this game. A download from the website like the older tracks from long ago were is a much better way. YouTube's compression algorithms add a ton of noise, and if recording levels are not left with enough headroom to account for YouTube's algorithm or compression in general in mind, this can result in clipping due to quantization, I have seen even professional recordings sometimes not take this into account. Lossless versions of files would be ideal. Offering lossless versions for download would set an incredible precedent in the gaming world. But I'm not naive and know this probably won't happen. I and I think many others would be happy with high level (Level 6 or higher) OGG vorbis though. It is a better format than MP3 and widely supported nowadays. The old music could also be re-shared in this better format. But please don't share lossy versions of YouTube audio rips. At least make them from the master copies if you go the lossy route.

No, it doesn't. There were few or no complaints about how Satele looked with her dualsaber/saberstaff carried on her hip. And Type 2 Female is the shortest of the female body types (though Type 1 is only a fraction taller). It looks absolutely ridiculous stowed on the back. It's not a physical staff. Even if it were, for all intents and purposes in this universe, it's retractable.

Then you should submit an in-game bug report and post it in the Bugs forum, not here. It's not going to get any attention here. Also, before you post it in the forum, do a search and see if it's been posted before. If it has multiple threads, choose the one that is most informative and/or has the most informative posts. Contribute your experience with the bug there. That is the only way bugs get addressed. Diluting your experience with the bug by creating your own post is a surefire way to ensure it will never get addressed. It also makes their job easier having all the information in one place instead of having to consult a handful if not tens of threads on the same kriffing bug. If you see people post after you about the same bug, you need to redirect them to what is designated as the main thread for the bug.Otherwise, the devs can just feign ignorance. "We didn't know so many people were having a problem." This is what we had to do to get the Bonus Series Bug a solution.

But is that a bug or was it removed? It's not clear what you mean.

It did, I could understand them making it a bonus, so new players understand the concept of a bonus mission immediately, but I don't think it should be automatically picked up. There are plenty of dead Padawans they could've made interactable. There were also countless bonus missions removed, such as one for the Empire on Alderaan where you planted the Imperial banner, which really added to the scale of chaos and destruction you sowed. A really big change I forgot to list is how they removed the Cover mechanic from the Scoundrel and Operative, fundamentally changing the way they play. That still doesn't explain why they intentionally hide content if they don't remove it. It made more sense to have the couriers on the space station, because you'd only go to the ships if you had prior knowledge. It makes more sense for them to be on the station to get your attention. "Hey, Hero! You're needed for a special mission. See the Commander on this ship for your special briefing." There are still plenty of first-time players that don't know the sequence of story events. Even if they're not necessary, it's good to have continuity, or you get newbs that do story flashpoints out of order and other things such as Ilum that could spoil major plot points before they're at that point in the story. I've been told plenty of plot elements have been spoiled for players by this happening. Much of this could be solved by instead of level gating content to make it conditional upon the completion of prior content, such as only opening Ilum if you've completed Chapter 3 but I digress.

Are you confused? You should reread the OP. Keep rereading it until you understand. I specifically stated that lightsabers and saberstaffs/dualsabers should be considered retractable for all intents and purposes. Therefore, there is no need to store them on the back like an adventurer would with a traditional, full-length sword. Nearly all the characters in those pictures can be identified as adventurers. Some of them I don't recognize.

You wouldn't have that problem if they would restore the Choose Your Advanced Class NPCs and Mission series that explained the different classes.

You misunderstand, you used to have to interact with a dead Padawan before you were granted that bonus mission. It lent more to immersion than just knowing there were dead and captured Padawans out there without anyone telling you so. It was early in the game's life, but I don't understand why they changed it to be picked up automatically.

No, they didn't have to outright remove them. They could've made those conversations optional instead of imposing a specific playstyle on everyone. Not everyone only does the class missions nor spacebars through every conversation. The same could be said about the Advanced Class mission chain, where for a time it was completely optional to do, but they removed it when they forced everyone to choose an advanced class at character creation. The devs cater to a very specifc playstyle, and as far as they're concerned, every other player that doesn't play that way can kriff off. There's years of evidence that cannot be denied. Below is a not exhaustive list of content that has been cut that either lends to story or immersion, sometimes both: Galactic Map - 3D planet models, satellites, and home stars or mother planets shown, similar to Mass Effect's map Tython Captured Padawans - dead Padawan in cage missing that triggers mission [*]Advanced Class NPCs [*]Choosing Advanced Class at Level 10 [*]Cover mechanic removed for Scoundrel and Operative, completely altering their play [*]Blade Dance/Ravage replaced with Blade Barrage [*]Heroics Option to see heroic mission NPC mission completed full conversations Republic Ord Mantell Heroics - Pickup NPCs removed Into The Killik Warrens - Pickup NPC removed [*]Flashpoints Couriers Fleet Couriers - Athiss, Cademimu, Mandalorian Raiders, Red Reaper Athiss - Nar Shaddaa Cademimu - Tatooine Mandalorian Raiders - Alderaan [*]Colicoid War Game Never updated for 4.0, not in group finder, essentially removed outside of story mode [*]The Red Reaper Debriefings [*]Operations Couriers Pre-Dread War Couriers The Eternity Vault Explosive Conflict Kaon Under Siege Lost Island [*]PvP faction-based warzones, cut faction-specific cinematics of Voidstar. (I know this was done because of cross-faction play now, but would it kill BioWare to let us have the option of seeing the old ones?)

Saberstaffs/dualsabers should not holster on the back. It makes no sense. If it was a full-length staff it would make sense, because there's no room for something that long at the hip. But keeping a weapon ready at the hip is far more advantageous. You can draw it much quicker than reaching behind your back. Just put your hand to the side of your hip. Now reach your hand behind your shoulder? Try doing it as fast as you can. It's a lot quicker to draw from the hip, isn't it? Those are precious seconds or even tenths of a second maybe you would be taking to draw it from your back that could be spent assuming a guard position. There is historical evidence but the method is still uncommon. In most cases, it would only be carried on the back under special conditions. Lightsabers don't exist in real life, but if a retractable staff did, you can bet it would be carried on the hip. And a retractable sword would be on every adventurer's hip. Retractable batons are a real weapon and they are kept on the hip when not concealed. It just makes more sense. Jedi don't carry their lightsabers on their backs, even though they are adventurers (Before anyone responds quoting Master Yoda, I know, Jedi does not crave adventure or excitement.) so why would they carry their saberstaffs on their back and why would Sith as well? They are definitely not too long to require carrying on the back. There is only one depiction in the EU of a character sheathing their lightsaber on their back, and none involving dualsabers/saberstaffs. I am tired of seeing all new dualsabers/saberstaffs being sheathed on the back. Please make them sheath on the hip again, or if it's possible, let us choose if they holster on the hip or back.

I strongly dislike the new Character Creation UI: No background, having a background appropriate to each faction or class would look much better. There is no way to tell how your character will look in-game with a black background. The hangar bays were appropriate, because each character takes a shuttle or transport down to their starting planet. They were also a decent light source. Different environments per class could also work if done correctly. They would require more time and effort to implement though. should stay as it is live since the game launched. An option to toggle different lighting settings and colors will also help to see how our characters will look in different settings. There is no longer a brief description of each faction when you mouseover their respective emblem. The space background was also better than this blue/red, light/dark literal dichotomy. These could be changed to a faction-oriented montage or a scene from each faction's respective capital world. Otherwise, it should remain as it has been live since the game launched. The class and role icons don't fit with the rest of the game. They look like they belong in Battlefront. I understand about accessibility, but normally for colorblindness, there would just be a filter for changing the problematic colors. This is a very roundabout approach and forces a decline in quality on everyone. The colors of the UI elements don't fit with the rest of the game's blue scheme. This black and white scheme also looks Battlefront influenced. The class description text is bland and uninteresting. It the sections describing them should be changed back to how they were before players had to choose advance classes upon character creation. Class descriptions are very difficult to read when a lightsaber is behind them. They require an outline to avoid this. The faction themes should also play again like they once did during character creation. They were removed years ago for an unexplained reason. These help get players excited for the journey they are about to embark on and help set the mood. It's better than listening to the log-in screen theme, even when it was A Clash of Destiny. The music also used to transition from the log-in screen music to whatever cryptic music played on the Faction Select screen. It was changed years ago. It should be brought back. This game is not Battlefront. Either the UI designer worked on Battlefront's UI or the designer has forgotten what the design language of the game is. Please reconsider the type of game the proposed UI and icons are supposed to be for. It should match with the color scheme used in the rest of the game. It should match the design language used in the rest of the game. It doesn't do either of these currently.

You're both too late. They started removing content as early as 3.x. Content that had no place being removed and they haven't stopped since. They've yet to restore anything they've removed.

You may want to hyperlink text instead of posting URLs, perhaps with the thread titles. I'm certainly not going to click those as they are, and I bet lots of others won't either, including the devs.

Any discerning customer and any of the rich will have recorded prices for quite some time. The only problem is, this isn't publicly available information. Along that line of thinking, what they could do is reset the economy with a new credit conversion/new currency. This is what nations have done in real life to combat inflation is redenomination at an exchange rate at a large amount of the old currency. I don't see the devs doing something like this, as it would piss off all the rich players, even though the ones that made their wealth through legitimate means would have no problem accruing wealth in the new economy, because they know how to do it already. The poor would also complain about having next to nothing again, but as long as credit rewards are not changed, they would have greater purchasing power. It would essentially be resetting the galactic economy. This is basically the nuclear option. I don't see them even considering something like this until they've raised the GTN sell cap to the limit. Let's hope they exhaust all other options before attempting this. It will cause a huge uproar amongst players when they see the size of their accounts have been dramatically reduced. Something tells me BioWare does not employ an economist on the SWTOR team. I still think a progressive GTN tax and guild ship upkeep costs are the most palatable methods for reversing inflation.

Wow, this is incredible. It's even formatted like a scientific paper! Thank you all for putting the time and effort into this. I hope there will be a Republic knockback study too. Even though it should be the same, it would be interesting to see if there were subtle differences.

Those with patience may eventually see lower prices, but the floor for those lower prices has risen with inflation. And this last round of inflation jacked the prices on just about everything. That's a bitter pill to swallow for anyone that knows what items used to go for.

I never said any of those. I can, and I will paint with a broad brush. I implied many of the super rich got it through benefiting from exploits they were never punished for. I know there are people that made their fortunes through less unsavory means, but the exploits enabled an unnatural amount to be able to. You are correct. I just didn't go back and edit my post, laziness prevailed. Most of the players will at least do some of Seasons, so the super rich will never run out of money. I have heard a few anecdotes of people actually paying the 10,000 CC to avoid doing Seasons altogether though. I don't know if they paid for those CC or they were CC from the referral exploit. Oh, you're such a saint! That's like telling someone who's never been able to walk that all they have to do is stand up and put one foot in front of the other. It may be easy for you to recoup your fortune, because you've already done it once, so you know you can do it again. Tell that to someone that has never achieved that. There is a big difference. You curb inflation with a progressive GTN tax. You have tax brackets based on how much an item sells for. They can implement as many as they need to. They could also tax guild ships with an upkeep cost. This is a bad example. Watermelon and other produce and foodstuffs have a finite shelf life. Once they spoil, they are worthless. Sure, you can freeze the watermelon to make it last longer, but it won't be as good as it is fresh. Even frozen foods go bad, just in a different way. Other types of goods could feasibly be stored indefinitely, but in the real world we have downward pressure: It costs money to keep things in inventory. This is why there are sales, especially clearance sales. They're needed to "clear out" the inventory. Otherwise, there's no space for their new shipments coming in. A store has a finite amount of space to work with. They can only keep so much in storage from season to season, and some merchants do this but not to the degree that's possible in this game. The only downward pressure players have is Inventory, Cargo Hold, and Item Stash space. That's a lot of space to work with, and many of these players will have a full load of character slots to work with, so they have an incredible amount of space. Their biggest headache is the logistics of tracking and managing it all.

This has been tossed around numerous times. No idea why BioWare won't implement it.

I think OP has a very naive outlook. The super wealthy will never run out of credits. They have so many, they don't even have to hesitate thinking on spending them to bypass the effort of seasons. And because they will make CC from seasons, they will continue to make a fortune converting those back into credits via the CM and GTN, since many of them probably made their fortunes using the Referral Exploit or some old credit exploit, such as the Chair Exploit. It's a positive feedback cycle: They use their stores of credits to buy out of Seasons They are rewarded CC as part of Seasons They spend CC "earned" from CC on CM items They sell CM items for credits They use credits to buy out of Seasons If this is just done on a single server, they might run out of CC eventually. But if they have fortunes in their legacies on each server, this is a self-sustaining cycle. Their coffers will never be empty!

That's even been done before though in the movies, to which I still don't understand after all these years. It's much less of a concern than my other observations. The drop in quality of cinematography and narrative is very noticeable, but people just see a moving camera and go, "Oh my god! It's so much better. It looks like a movie now!" It didn't look like a movie before? Look at most movies. Dialogue typically involves little camera movement.

Unfortunately, you're the only one that noticed or bothered to post in agreement.

I know you're trying to insult the webmaster, but you also insulted every web designer in the developed world in the same post. (Yes, I know you used sarcasm.) All of you whining about the Referral program, it's over! You can thank the exploiters for ruining it for everyone else.