Honestly a cool staff and some other stuff like that would be great. Double bladed sabers are usually poorly made versions of single blades just copied, pasted, and rotated to make a double saber (The Odessen one being a very obvious example that's even offset it's so bad) and really, there's just not nearly as much love because only assassin/shadow uses them I guess. But yeah, more options are always good.

Also a person that used cover bar originally because I had to, but after it went away I got used to not having it and now I prefer it. I am always for options, so having it back as a toggle is cool, but honestly, it's fine without it.

I still think as you even said, it should've at least been changed. How much may be a different question, but I do think this incentivizes more engagement with the game. But on the point of impacting small guilds. I'm only in small guilds of 5-10 people total. We are absolutely cruising encryptions between us. Conquest is fast and we can supplement off the GTN as credits are basically infinite in this game. I still don't feel that this change is a bad thing and hitting conquest on 5 or so toons still feels doable with minimal effort and more is possible if you really sink in play time.

The problem is that's not a fair comparison and I don't appreciate you attempting to make me look like a prejudiced person when you're not even comparing the same. It's more like there's a ramp available for you to use but you don't like the ramp, you want an elevator. That's fine, you're welcome to want that, but that doesn't mean there's not a way into the building for you still. If something is there and you don't like it, that's not the same as there being no option. And again, nobody is forcing you to do anything. I'm just pointing out that you shared an opinion and I shared an opinion. You don't need to get mad at me for my opinion just because I disagree with you. Both of our opinions are valid. I just see multiple flaws with what you're asking for. Personally I think they could just as easily have /4 be LFG or PvE or something like that and it would serve the same function without the system messages. But I still think you're freaking out over people "being able to see your logins" and I still cannot comprehend any way in which that's an actual problem beyond you just don't really like people seeing when you log in. But I can add you to my friends without any action on your part and see your logins anyway so... yeah. That's kinda my point. It's a very public game and public forum. That's the nature of the beast.

The problem is this is entirely optional content and it's supposed to be a rare drop. That's what makes it exciting. Also iirc it's not bound even after use so if you know somebody with one they can trade it to you, you use it, then give it back. I don't know if they changed it, but I remember some of my friends getting theirs that way (unless I hallucinated the whole thing)

The problem is that would invalidate so many mounts as they're mostly just different colors of the same thing.

I'm not trying to force you, I'm legitimately not understanding why you find it a problem. But that's fine, I'm really not even invested in that anymore. But to your second point. You posted to a public forum and in doing so made it public business. If it's not anyone's business why are you talking about it in public? (I want to emphasize that I'm legitimately confused how something public isn't public)

Try making a separate chat tab for endgame that way you stay in it, but only look at it when you want to. Then you can leave system messages on in the normal tab. That may work better for you.

I think the bigger point he was making is that even if the names are showing, who cares. Unless people are actively looking for you it doesn't matter. And there's more effective ways to actively look for you. I think you're inventing a problem where there really isn't one. And if you know to join endgame you know how to turn system messages off.

I hate to tell you, but credits aren't hard to come by. Many players are easily in the billions. If I'm under 100,000,000 I feel like I'm poor at this point. There's so many consistent ways to make money in this game. It's such an issue that the devs are actively trying to remove cash from the economy

Companions no longer get stats from weapons. They used to. It mattered. I had toons with companions in full 140 gear. I'd go to Ilum and watch my companion solo max level players that didn't have ops gear. That's why they didn't just give them all back then. Once that was no longer an issue it made those changes viable. I again agree that if it's not too much work I'd be for it. I don't want any other updates to suffer though in favor of this.

I'm also an altoholic and used to love pvp but not so much in recent patches. I also mostly run class stories over and over outside of ops a couple times a week or so. I think the biggest issue is the game has no real identity in the sense that it was very clear at launch and the first expansion or two, but I think Kotfe and Kotet were the worst thing to happen to this game from a health standpoint. They reworked basically everything, it was extremely divisive, and the best part were the cinematics. They've been struggling to find a new identity since. That's why I'm sick of Tenebrae and Revan, they keep bringing them back because they're like "well the players liked it the first time." It has gotten old. At least the new stuff has shaken things up a bit. Though I'm really hoping to wrap the mando stuff up soon. It's just so unconnected to most of my characters. I like it, but it's starting to go on too long. the constant problem. It lacks novelty

But you make that the focus of your argument and statements. These top players are not relevant, they are statistically insignificant on the bell curve of players. Why even bring them into a conversation about the average person? You can say you're not going to tell someone how to play, but then you immediately turn around and continue to dump on how they play. These people are not trying to be the top even 5% of players, I'm not even trying to do that and I've cleared the vast majority of content this game has to offer. The difference clicking makes is so small compared to the million other things that will hold someone back. It's completely the wrong detail to focus on. Says more about your opinion on clickers than anything actually about clickers. You voted against them because you "value your time." Do you not hear how absolutely prejudicial and condescending that is? That's so incredibly insulting to dismiss someone without even seeing what they are capable of because you don't agree with the way they do it. Also not everyone running the highest content join big, popular, or famous guilds. I have some friends that have cleared all pvp content and it's literally just their raid team. None of them stream. Been playing since the early days. Not everyone wants to invest that much into a game. You do, that's great. But again, I'm asking you very nicely, please look at the things you say. You've made a lot of good points, but your attitude is absolutely butchering your credibility and doesn't make anyone want to listen to what you have to say. Let's be more constructive and less condescending. This reads to me as "I immediately look for who I can blame when we wipe." I'm going to simplify this and also address this point. I can see my hotbars and the boss and rest of the screen at the same time. It's a skill people can learn. I'm good at processing a lot of visual data. I play competitive FPS games a lot (I see a lot of attitudes similar to yours in comp lobbies so that's why I say I see your hardcore mentality) and the things happening all around including things off screen are things you have to pay attention to. I don't always need to watch the tanks. I'm looking for them to be where they are supposed to be. Sometimes they aren't you adapt as best you can. I'm a tank main so I know because it's my job. If I'm out of position that can cause a wipe. If the tank goofs and a DPS dies, that's not really the DPS at fault it's the tank's because they failed their part. We all have a role to play. And let's be real, if they are going to mess up because they aren't paying attention it's not because they're clicking vs keybinding, it's because they aren't paying attention. Let's focus on the things actually holding people back like not knowing class or fight mechanics and let people use a mouse if they prefer clicking without telling them they are inferior. That's the part that's a problem. In the process of learning and setting up keybinds you will inherently be working on your rotation and execution though. You could get similar improvement just improving your clicking skills. Skill increase is skill increase and I think you're overly weighting how much the keybinds themselves matter. I think your mindset improved more than the hardware switch. You're literally saying you just immediately assume they are incompetent. "I'm not going to tell you how to play, but you're doing it wrong and I know there's no way you'll not be able to do what I'm trying to teach you." How is that not condescending? Finally, blaming not clearing content on clicking is copium and it's toxic to immediately jump to blaming others. Poor craftsman that blames his tools. Clicking doesn't make you a bad player, there's just a lot of bad players that click. Correlation =/= causation. I've covered in depth the things far more relevant to success in another reply before this so I'm not gonna copy and paste it. At this point I'm expecting a lot of replies including my own to get nuked because this has gotten off topic and largely non-constructive at this point. So I'll leave you with a parting thought. If you take anything away from this at all, I hope it's this. You are 100% allowed to see yourself as better than someone else as long as it's for the right reasons. If you beat someone at chess consistently, you're better at chess. You can be proud of that. If you've cleared more content in swtor than me then congrats! However, that does not then make it ok to turn around and treat people like they are lesser. You can be a champion without treating the average person as inferior. Prop them up instead of putting them down. The way you say something can matter as much or more than what you say. Your replies have been very much a tone of looking down. I'm not sure you even see it or intend it that way, but it comes across that way. It tells me various things about you in the same way you say you can tell when people are clickers based on how they play. All I'm saying is, be nicer about it. And maybe realize that you can miss out on interacting with some amazing people because you judged them on something arbitrary that you decided was true. So yeah, I guess if clicking works better for you, click away and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. But for the love of the Force please learn your class, try to learn the fights, and admit if it's your first time in an Op or MM flashpoint. That will be 99% of the way to being a good player.

I don't disagree with you to an extent. Like I said, my opinion on the balance itself is not that strong. It felt a little off last I did it, but meh. It's just less forgiving and the timing is tighter if you're going for the Speedrun which should still be difficult, but I don't think it should be harder than launch. I haven't gone for it, but it definitely felt longer the last time I did it than when it was new. This is more of a vibe feeling though so I'm not pushing it. But to the point, My perspective on clicking and its impact on results primarily comes from tanking though I do run heals fairly often too and usually in flashpoints. SO MANY PEOPLE literally will be like a scoundrel or a vanguard and just auto attack and throw grenades from like 20m. (I have multiple videos of this since I used to stream a lot) I've watched people stream that really don't grasp basic ability procs and class features and miss out on for example getting affliction on a target and keeping it there so that you get your turbulence crits on lightning sorc. Not understanding class mechanics is the number one holdup for the average player, the second is understanding fight mechanics as the Eternal Championship clearly proves. I'd say these are the hands down 2 largest issues and are 99% of the problem. In PvP, yes it can have MORE of an impact however, positioning, planning, ability priorities, cooldown management, teamwork, map knowledge, server lag etc. ALL play a larger role in PvP success than whether you click or not. In fact server lag combined with action queueing and the GCD inherently reduce the impact of input delay that could come from clicking. Basically why I say it has nothing to do with whether or not people clear content is people who use keybinds and don't know their class are equally likely to fail as a clicker that doesn't know their class. That same logic applies to every single other idea as well. Saying it has the least impact rather than no impact may be better. But I don't see you missing it by the fractions of a second difference that timing makes vs mechanical failures or gearing issues. The same logic applies on Blue vs purple vs gold augs. If you're not clearing Dxun Vet, it's not because you're in blue augs, it's because you are lacking on the fights or the class. I've never once had an issue clearing even Veteran R-4 bosses based on what augments I have on, it's mechanics. I'd put click vs keybind in exactly the same frame, it technically matters, but not enough to be anything more than the margin of error and therefore to me it has no impact. And THAT is a hill I'll die on.

So, given the heavy criticism, what keeps you playing? (Honest question as that will say what content in the game you DO enjoy which is also helpful) Personally, I like a lot of the armors or weapons we've gotten over the last few seasons. The new stories have been enjoyable if easy, but I try to remember I'm not the average person, I've been playing since before launch. Not everyone playing today is like that. The people here on the forum are more likely to be longer time players invested in the game and community, where as the average casual player just isn't so the perspectives here tend to be skewed. I'm not going to put too much stock in what the devs have said, it's still early. But on that same thought, I'm not going to assume they won't really turn things around as it's still early. We'll know when we know. I also respect that you're willing to own it if they do manage to release some good content/updates. I'd personally like them to focus on fixing existing content, resolving bugs, and as far as adding things, focus on character customization and tailored story content. The class stories are the hands down best thing about swtor and what set it apart at launch. Moving away from that design direction was the BIGGEST mistake and led to the continual decline. More player individuality is the best recipe for MMOs imo. I do agree with you on bringing back DvL, I think that was some of the more entertaining and unique content. Credit caps getting rebalanced is also just a simple QoL thing though I doubt they do it because they want to incentivize subbing. I think what I'll say is, I'm honestly expecting decent things from 8.0 and I feel like the devs have a level of care that's better than it was in the past so it's hopeful. But I'm also not expecting a miracle and not getting my hopes up because it's just not worth it after all these years. I'll trust in the force lol