Relics can be crafted by Artifice, as well. Somebody told me that the Intro to PvP mission also rewards a set of low level implants and relics but I haven't had a chance to test it yet.

It's not really trolling. It's just absurd to ask the developers to explain the secrets behind mechanics that we are pretty clearly meant to figure out for ourselves. It really isn't any different from them releasing a new operation alongside a dev blog explaining how to defeat each boss, down to their attack phases and enrage timers. In other words, no they are not going to tell you the best way to gear for PvP.

Awesome. I swear to God, 4.0 is out to get me hard. Juggs got lackluster new abilities and stealth nerfs, artifice got screwed pretty hard, and now tanks are squishy in PvP. Oh, and at least one more season of arenas.

Sure, and while they're at it why don't they explain the mechanics for the next operation. Especially the puzzle bosses, I mean those are such a chore for people to figure out.

You must be 65 to queue for ranked arenas. If it says anything else it's a bug or typo.

This. Pretty much anyone I've ever asked about not liking Huttball usually follows it up with, "Well, I'm not very good at it." Hell, I didn't like it either until I started to figure it out; have said certain classes probably weren't good at it until I played a few matches with them. Besides, they're not worse than arenas. And if for some reason you don't count those they're still not as bad as Ancient Hypergates.

Hmm, I'll need to read out a few of them. Can't quite remember what thrash is called for on Shadows (think it's double strike, but in my mind it's just "2") but I don't recall it getting a replacement ability in the infiltration path.

Noticed a few missing as well. I had to retrain a few (mostly heroic moments) but a few just aren't there anymore.

Link what's not there? I guess you can look at the Sorc/Sage section of the patch notes: there's no longer any mention of force mobility allowing players to move while bubble is active. To be fair, I haven't checked on my sorc to see if it's still there. Not sure where you're reading it in the patch notes, unless you're looking at an old list.

No, bubble on the move was removed. It's not in the patch notes.

While I get this, they invested a LOT more into Galactic Star Fighter. That might still be in the game but how often do they update it? They don't even put GSF components into cartel packs anymore. And from what I can tell they stopped updating it six months after it was released! Arenas have been going strong for two years now, and every few months they drop new seasonal rewards like everyone is lining behind them.

The brackets shouldn't be as much of an issue with 4.0. The reason why some higher levels have such an advantage is that many subs still haven't picked SoR and have set bonuses that give them a sizeable advantage. Since all subs are getting the level bump in KotFE, eventually all those character will level up to end game. Sure, mid tier will be bad for the first month or so but it won't be a chronic issue like it was with SoR.

First, I don't think the game still has two million subscribers or even regular players. Even if it did, the majority of them most certainly do not make up the PvP community. If they did then your final point would be invalid. Second, no, no you do not get to argue that my opinion is just my opinion and therefore invalid. Water is wet, arenas are widely unpopular. If you haven't caught on to that fact then you're new here, not paying attention, or willfully ignoring the obvious. If you're looking for proof, like I said before search for "arena" (I would link to the results myself but I'm on my phone right now). And if you're so adamant that I'm wrong why don't you post some sort of evidence that arenas have strong support in the community. Third, while I will admit that some players don't engage in ranked because they're concerned about public embarrassment, it's absurd to posit that is the only reason people don't queue. Dislike for arenas is one reason. Lack of balance is another. Poor game performance, slow queue times … The thing is, they can't do anything about people's social phobias but there are other issues they can address. And when you look carefully, a lot of those issues stem from the same source: arenas. Finally, the mornings are hardly prime time. I work evenings to and it sucks to be on when most people are either working or sleeping but that's just the way things. You can't make accurate estimates of player population if that's the only thing you see.

What this guy said. Juggs have always been good one on one, it's just that our contributions to the team effort are lacking. And then it's one on three.

1) People don't rage that they pop into a general arena because they can just quit instead, with no penalty. And they do, even when they have a winning team comp. Also, please do a quick search for "arena" and see how many topics come up with titles like "Please remove arenas from the general queue." Because if there aren't dozens of them then there are hundreds of them. 2) You're assuming that the only reason people don't queue is because of pride. That may explain why people stop queuing but it doesn't explain why they don't start in the first place, or try again after a balancing patch to see if their character got blessed to OP status. There's also the fact that in order to get rewards now all you have to do is win X number of matches which should be bringing more people into the queue than ever before (and, no, I really don't think that most people prioritize pride over tangible rewards). 3) No, the general war zones aren't perfect but they are still a good deal better than arenas. I'm not going to dismiss a better option just because it isn't perfect.

Yes, but you're forgetting one very important fact: arenas are horrible. At best they're barely tolerated and at worst they're widely reviled. They aren't balanced, they won't be balanced, and they can't be balanced: death match is just not compatible with class/role based systems. People aren't lining up to do arenas because they feel like a chore. Meanwhile, the general queue keeps right on popping.

Ok, yeah, I'll give you that one. I'd expect at least ten new maps for that price and considering their first map doesn't release until January that seems unlikely. It also implies they're thinking of charging ten plus dollars for each map and that seems a bit ludicrous. To be fair, I'm a bit gunshy after the Evolve and Arkham Knight passes. Season passes are like preorders: they're a show of good faith by the consumer that the product they're receiving will be worthwhile. We're just not seeing that anymore.

The thing is, you have to be obscenely bad to be the reason your team lost in an objective match. If you make two mistakes in an arena, that's it. If you make two mistakes in an objective match it's not the end of the world; there's still time to turn things around and a good play can still save the day. Yeah, sure, you'll get idiots and *holes with bad attitudes and rage on people but you get those in regs and they tend to be the exception, not the rule. It's not like the general queue is dying out. Let me put it this way: unless the teams are just obscenely imbalanced in terms of skill, a single great player can make a few good plays and win any match. If you are not that person you need to keep your mouth shut.

Maybe, but that comes with a lot of asterisks. First, yes, there were never that many teams queuing 8v8s (excluding one or two servers, and I'm going to come back to that in a moment) but a good reason for that was that 8v8s never got a proper season with dedicated rewards. Yes, there was rated gear but it was just recolored versions of of pre-existing gear. There weren't even leaderboards so pride doesn't even play a factor. You can't really say nobody was interested in playing ranked 8v8 when there was never really any reason given to play 8v8s. Second, there was still more interest in ranked 8v8 than there is in ranked 4v4s. One or two servers had as many as ten teams playing 8v8s during prime time. That number dropped to three or four teams. There just isn't any interest in arenas (probably because they're incredibly unpopular and absurdly broken). Hell, even BW has admitted that solo ranked is much more successful, and on that note: Third, 8v8s never had a solo option. And, let me stress this, pretty much everyone who wants 8v8s back also wants solo versions of them. Don't say "But there aren't enough players for solo ranked" because see point two. There is a wealth of players who don't participate in ranked because either they don't like arenas or they don't feel their class is viable for them (or both). How many times have you seen Mercs and Snipers talking about how they won't queue because they don't stand a chance? If you added solo ranked objective matches I'd say you'd at least double the number of participants (and I consider that an extremely conservative estimate). And just to tie things up: if they removed solo ranked arenas, if they removed the leaderboards, if the only rewards were recolors of already existing top tier gear, would anybody be queuing for ranked at all?

Yes, in objective games a mediocre player can get carried but the flip side side of that coin is that a good player can carry. In arenas your team is only ever as good as your worst player -- three good players and a bad player will almost always lose to one good player and three average ones. In objective matches a player can always make a good play and turn a game around. Besides, since arenas can not be balanced, isn't it more upsetting that good players end up with crappy ratings because they chose an underpowered class?

Arenas will never be balanced. Period, end of conversation. Team death match is just not compatible with a strict class/role system. It will never work; it's impossible. We start by marginalizing if not outright removing arenas. I would start by removing solo ranked arenas. Group arenas approach some semblance of balance with the holy trinity. Instead, have solo ranked focus on objective gameplay; the higher group size tends to compensate for individual class imbalance and the varying objectives should help reign in OP classes. If stalemates become an issue (unlikely in solo matches but, well, devil's advocate) rework the maps with shorter capture timers and add them as special ranked variants. Long term you're going to want some sort of cross faction system to help combat queue syncing.

Always thought it was funny people were calling Battlefront a SWTOR killer. They're completely different genres. It's like saying a KFC is going to go out business because a Baskin Robbins opens next door. Anyway, Battlefront is fine. Not the dream game I've been imagining for ten years but definitely a solid game. If you like Star Wars, FPSs, and wide scale PVP you should pick it up.

I haven't had a chance to put much time into the beta yet, but I've read that it helps if you go into 3rd person (wider frame of view) and don't use iron sights unless your targets at a distance (the aim assist while shooting from the hip is quite generous).

It's not that I dislike the new launcher. It's just that it's now in the graphical style EA typically uses for everything. I'm not sure how I feel about that.