I am kind of late with this one but it was a busy couple of months here, but this discipline thing is completely dumb compared to the ability tree. You have completely changed the game as now there is virtually no real leveling up....or at least leveling feels as if it is largely pointless. I have been playing (as a sub) since release and I am not trying to turn this into a rage quit post, but even after playing for a little while now trying to test (and adjust) to this new leveling system I think I might be giving the game up. This discipline system is clearly nothing more than a way dumbing everything down...probably to make it friendly to someone who doesn't want to have to put any thought in the game or their character. I am not certain how that is judged good for an RPG that is supposed to be in large part about character development. You taken that element away or have at least taken the experience the away from the player in exchange for a developer decided mechanical process.Some casual passerby players may like this but it is not the reason I have remained a loyal player/customer for years. Did it work? Are sub numbers climbing? If I had to guess based on population counts I have seen, I would guess no as it seems pop numbers are lower than they were a couple of months ago when before I had to take a month or two break due to my schedule. I understand everyone doing an MMO wants WOW's success, but if I wanted to play WOW, I'd be there and not here. Keep changing this into a clone of that game and I will write this one off just as I have WOW. One of your customer service agents even compared the changes to WOW system (thinking I guess that would win me over?) when I called for a refund for the Revan expansion pack as I definitely know I do not want to invest anymore money into a game that is becoming less what I want to play. Kudos for the WOW clone changes!!! Since even the Bioware team seems to think WOW is so awesome that they need to make their game a clone of it, perhaps I need to give WOW another look. I mean at least then I will get what I know I paid for and won't have to sit around having the game I play slowly be changed into a clone of another game.

Or perhaps it is simply that I have no desire to socialize with a group. Seriously look at the posts here, and ask yourself logically why anyone would want to subject themselves to having to listen and put up with socializing with these types of people for more than a few minutes. I understand this is an MMO but it also gives me the ability to ignore people, and I get my socialization outside of this game with people I actually enjoy. Why should I be forced to join a guild, group or anything of the sort just to play the game and even remotely stand a chance of being successful? I am not demanding or even asking for this game to geared to fit ONLY my preference of playing style. Read my post as my main point was the game might be a tad more enjoyable if EA put a little effort into trying to balance out the teams (by make up of the classes) as it seems now it is just smash or be smashed, neither of which I find to be that enjoyable.

It should be "THAT DOESN'T...." Beyond that, you can share info in a way that is constructive and doesn't make you come across like a horse's rear, but I understand many people have insecurities which leads them with the need to try and degrade others with name calling and such in order to try and prop themselves up. It really does work the opposite though as most people around you actually tend to think less of you and in this game/forum these types of people just end up on ignore as no one really wants to hear them because even if their info is correct they lack the ability to regard others with any level of respect. See the post below yours for some guidance on a decent way of conducting/expressing yourself when addressing others.

I haven't run an IA yet so wasn't aware of their ability on this. Thanks for the info.

I kind of agree with you here, in that the way they are matching up teams is horrendous, and it is sucking the fun out of this game for me...to the point that as someone who has played, loved, and defended this game since beta I am thinking about throwing in the towel. I PUG and that is it and one of two things happens in EVERY war zone I am in...I am on a team that literally steam rolls over the opposing team as if they aren't even there or I am on a team where the other side seems to melt through us as of none of are even wearing armor. Neither one of these is much fun (though of course winning is preferable between the two), but very very few times do I ever get into a WZ that is even remotely evenly matched. I don't know if the times we seem to destroy it is by sheer dumb luck that I have gotten on a team that partially a premade or not, but here is what I personally have come to experience over the past couple of months. I love the warrior class as I have always preferred melee to ranged. Even in SP games I will not play shooters as I can't stand them as I crave in your face melee combat. Anyway, getting tired of NEVER while playing my Mara, and I literally mean NEVER, getting a healer on my team I stupidly thought "wow our side needs some healers in PVP" and rolled one. I am not exaggerating in the least to say with my healer I have not once EVER gotten into a WZ where I am the only healer for my side, and would estimate about 50% to 60% of the time there are 3 of us and about 10 to 15% of the time have had 4 or more healers on my WZ team. At this point I stupidly thought "wow, everyone else must have gotten tired of no healers in PVP and rolled one as well". So preferring the warrior I went back to my Mara....suddenly it appeared healers were again lacking on our side in PVP as I went from teams of at least 2 or 3 healers to having a healer on my team about 10% of the time. At this point I was getting frustrated and went back to my healer and sure enough was getting teams that were constantly made up of no less than two or three healers. I have no idea *** they are doing during the queuing the match up teams, but it is horrendous. I doubt they are literally trying to make team matching awful and it is likely just the luck of the draw, but come on it should NOT be that difficult to match up several queued healers to teams with to spread them out a bit. I am frustrated especially after experiencing first hand how terrible the queuing and team making function works in this game. While player skill is one thing simple things like DPS/Heals/Guard abilities between teams and classes should be fairly simple to match up, however, based upon my own experience Bioware gets and epic fail in this department. As for premades...seriously is it that difficult to match group queued against group queued? I understand that many premades avoid ranked because they aren't that good but can get a leg up against pure PUG teams, but it can't be that difficult to match say a group that queues 4 against a team that is comprised of a group that has also queued at least 4. Seems fairly simple to do (at least during higher pop times). I understand not everyone likes a fair fight and some prefer the ego stroke of their seeming ability to face their opponents even though they have a huge leg up on them, their ego stroke shouldn't come at the cost of others choosing not roll with premades get face rolled constantly. If you want a group PVP this game provides you with the option to do so. Why aren't the premades, if they be as skilled as they want to believe they are, rolling there? PVP needs a bit more of a balance and not because the classes are not really that balanced but because the queuing/team matching system really is quite atrocious.

Ahhh, there is an endless resource healer cheat? That explains a lot with a couple of people I have played against. I was wondering how I could whale away constantly at a couple people and they could just stand there healing themselves over and over and over again, and wondered what I was doing wrong as a healer since when trying to do the same to keep myself alive I run out of resouces to do so rather quickly. It doesn't happen often that I run into someone that seems to be able to heal themselves nonstop (had one healer "trapped" alone in the first part of Voidstar for almost 2 minutes once) and he literally sat there and just healed himself the entire time. I found that one scenario odd in particular as healers are typically pretty easy for me to get a head of (my DPS vs their heals) with my Mara especially if the "fight" between us last more than 10 to 15 seconds as then I really start to out DPS their ability to regen resources to heal themselves. Interesting. I hope Bioware gets a handle on this cheating quickly even though I definitely don't seem to run into it as much as some like the op, as it is does make the game far less enjoyable for those of us who choose to play the game as it is designed to be played.

I second this. I am by no means a wealthy person, but would be glad to invest what I can to get back the Bioware games that you guys used to make. That being said while this game isn't perfect, I do enjoy it. Though it is a far cry from anything pre-EA Bioware quality or enjoyment.

My first MMO as well but I've been playing this one a little longer now than You. Unfortunately, there are some people who really are just rude. Fortunately though, at least in my experience the rude ones who need to try and build their own self-esteem through trying to rip others down for a mistake in a video game are in the minority. As soon as encounter one, I do not give them the attention they are so desperately crave, as that equates to rewarding their poor behavior which only encourages the same behavior in the future. I simply put these types of people on ignore. In months of playing this game I have maybe 5 people on ignore, so I definitely don't think those types of people in any way constitute a large portion of this game's community. If your server is different, while losing the time investment stinks, I would suggest trying to find a new one.

If I were strictly PVE I would stick with Anni personally, mainly because I found those small self heals to be quite helpful. Typically with those and using Quinn my health hardly ever got to below 3/4 and not having to stop to recharge health in between fights and just keep running on to the next mob really does help pick up the pace a bit. However I PVP a lot and currently spec'ed into Rage to give added aoe a try there. Personally I think for a Marauder (a lot recommended it for Jugg) Rage is really underrated. It is pretty awesome after getting a good smash set up to watch at time a mob of three weaks, or in PVP a few enemy surrounding getting low on life, all drop at the same time when you hit smash. Carnage was by far my least favorite and for burst, which is what most seem to like Carnage for, in rage you can get really decent burst damage on multiple targets at the same time. So while carnage is good and definitely viable, it is definitely not my preference at all.

That's what happens when you run with those self-righteous Jedi types.

Okay, got you. Thanks for making some sense beyond people just whining. I can't speak to any of this as I have no experience this high yet.

Yeah kind of figured that since it seems as if most people just need look at my new (ungeared) lvl 50 Mara and she falls over dead. Still trying to figure out how this plays into Mara being op. Is the class the problem or is their gear getting some type boost that is supposedly making the op. I have lvl 50 Mara but again I admit I have very little game play at that lvl with my Mara so I am trying to understand specifically what this issue is, because there is no way based on my experience anyone who is rational can seriously claim the Mara is op.

And your point is?

Do you play a Marauder/Sentinel? If so could you please cite specific examples as to how you are able to just face roll everyone? I truly need to learn from you and I want to understand beyond the fact that one can kill you how (probaly because it requires you push a few more buttons than you want to have to use to effectively deal with them) you specifically came to the conclusion that Mara/Sent is op. Please by all means roll a Sent/Mara see how easily you go down, how easily a smart player can take you down and especially at lower levels how little utility you have compared to some of the other classes then give your feedback. I can't believe I am saying this, but seriously l2p before whining because you can't figure how to push buttons and in what order to push them to effectively take out your opponent. The only reason people "think" Mara/Sent are op compared to other DPS classes is because Mara is right on top of you, while the others sit back just blowing you away and at time you might not even realize where the shots are coming from. It is a fact, that your gun toting classes put out more damage in almost every single, 90+ %, WZ I have ever played, with warrior falling somewhere in the middle, yet Mara is op??!!?? Seriously people need to start using the grey matter between their ears.

I don't want stuns removed entirely from PVP, but I do find the resolve to be mostly useless. I have read the resolve bar guide and try to follow it to the letter, and still in the rare occasions that it builds to give me immunity I am only a hit or two from death. Everyone keeps saying that all the classes only have one stun, this isn't accurate is it? Don't the IA/Smuggler classes have two? One that lasts for a few seconds and one lasting 6? Because every time I face one, inline with the Resolve guide posted here, I never break that first one since it is the shorter of the two opting instead to save it for the 6 second blinding one....if my break isn't already on its 2 minute cd of course. I know resolve does work problem is you need at least two healers (depending how much you are being focused on atm) to keep you alive through the stuns or you will be dead long before that resolve bar does anything useful. I want stuns in PVP even though I am playing a Mara right now and we don't technically have any, and I don't necessarily favor auto-immunity after one stun, but chain stunning (after which you are dead before the second one breaks...which usually means the resolve bar drops back to zero before you get back into battle) does seem quite excessive many times in my opinion.

I gave 1 specific example because of your QQ'ing to show that there are classes that can easily deal with Marauders and how they do it. There are more examples but I am not going to waste my time arguing over an aspect of a video game. It is a complete and utter fallacious statement to say a Marauder is being focused by 2-3 people and the Marauder destroys them all....UNLESS of course there is a healer focusing on nothing but keeping the Marauder alive. Then it is a problem of the 2-3 people of which you speak not having enough sense to take out the healer. Anyone who takes your post serious that a lone Marauder can be focused by 3 people and wipe them out is drinking some seriously kool-aide. Again I think people need to actually play the class as they will quickly find much of what they think they know about this class is nothing but delusions. Perhaps this is my fault for not focusing more on surge, but at level 30 the only way I ever get the 2.5k crit hit with my marauder is to pop an expertise stim and even then I probably only get it about 30-40% of the time. I can easily get this using death field with my Sorc using recklessness with no stim. Yes I play a Marauder, but I also play a Sorc (two one heals and one DPS) and an Operative regularly and have a Merc (my least favorite class, just find it boring, so I don't play it often).

Aren't they supposed to be death dealers..they are a pure DPS class after all. The one thing I will deny is that they are OP in any way especially in PVP. Again I am trying to figure out what people are QQ about. Just because a Marauder can kill them? Seriously? There are a lot of decent sniper who destroy my Marauder before I can barely touch them. It is so much fun trying to walk to them having them firing away on me, just to stun me run back a several feet go into cover so I have to keep walking to them as they again just unleash on me. Such a frustrating experience, and yet my complaints about their class have been zero. And you may not like it, it frustrates the heck out me when playing my Sorc healer, BUT any good team's DPS is going to be on you constantly if you are a healer. First thing I do in any WZ, regardless of the class I am playing is look for the healer and mark them. As soon as I see that mark I chase that person down and relentlessly pursue them. Again I play a Sorc healer and I know this can be extremely frustrating, but it is part of the game. Could you elaborate on what you mean by all the "tricks" a Marauder supposedly has up it's sleeve? Because I need to learn what these are seeing how I am missing them.

I've been playing Marauder since Feb and all I do is PVP. My current Mara is lvl 30 (deleted my first) and just making it to Nar Shadaa becuase I PVP so much. Never have I been a WZ with more than 2 Marauders...one of those being me. At least 90% of the time I am the only Mara and would say 70% of the time the only warrior class at all. All I see from both sides is teams of Snipers mostly (not sure the Republic sides complement for that is, but there is a crap load of them) with some Operatives and Assassins. I have been playing since beta, and have played every class (empire side) so I am pretty familiar with most of them. I still think even with the pretty hard nerf the Sorc is my favorite class because of its utility. Perhaps the Mara can dish out some pretty quick damage, but based on my experience it takes far more skills to do so AND any decent player can find a way through stuns, knock back and slows to mitigate the damage a Mara can dish out. With the countless WZs I have played I would say maybe 1-2% have I ever seen a warrior class ever do top damage. Even now with the nerf to the Sorc and buff to the Mara I still usually top the damage I do with my Mara in WZ with my I just don't get what all the complaining about Marauders is. I think people should play them and find out they are nowhere near as OP or easy to use as some people think they are. At lvl 30 I already have at least 18 abilities that I MUST use constantly, where as my lvl 50 Sorc I can get by just as well and in situations better with 12 to 15....usually even less.

Yeah I've given up on the Sorc. I see most of this is about DPS but I have been rolling as heals lately and I am just tired of being useless at least 70% of the time in PVP and probably 30 to 40% in FP boss fights as I have no force. I feel like a POS when my team dies but what can I do when force depletes so quickly and regens way too slowly. Perhaps the class needed a bit of a nerf, I don't know, but they made the class virtually useless now. I am trying an IA and hating the class so far which is just sucking the fun out of the game for me. I want to enjoy this game but no other class really appeals to me. Already suffered through a lvl 50 warrior (prior to 1.2) for the story mostly as again the class didn't appeal to me. I have tried BH a few times and each time I am so bored i have deleted each one before even hitting lvl 20. It's not a rage quit by any stretch of the imagination as I have had many enjoyable months playing this game but with Sorc being the class I enjoy and it now being virtually useless, I may not resub when the time comes up in another month. I don't care that they aren't the best class in the game, but as a mainly PVP'er I do find they are borderline useless to completely useless for way too much of the time in any given WZ.

I recently respec'ed to a healer with my Sorc. While overall I like it, the force issues with a Sorc, especially a healer are ridiculous. Just trying to keep one person alive to make it through a 2 vs 1 can deplete my force entirely...then I am useless. I have no long range attack to use that cost no force even....I have nothing. My only option at that point beyond standing there waiting til enough force regens to throw out a few more heals is to go in and do a basic saber attack, and what a stupid move that would that be for a Sorc, especially a healer, to do. At the very least giving Sorc a lightening blast shot they could use at a distance that didn't deplete our force would be better than the nothing we have now. At least the gunslingers have a basic shot attack they can use while waiting to cooldown or recharge....we get nothing. It is kind of lame this ranged class has nothing they can do for free especially given how quickly our force now drains and slowly it regens. I am useless at least a 1/4 of the time in any given WZ because I have no force and dying is the best and at times the only real option available to remedy running out of force and being virtually useless.

Ha ha...you are correct there is the root of my problem. Thanks for some reason I just skimmed over that and it didn't sink in.

Thanks for the guide. As a new healer (got tired of there never being any one the Sith side on my server), I have found it to be very informative and helpful overall. I do have one problem though, and admittedly it may be due my own ignorance in being a new healer and not a criticism of your guide in any way. I definitely see where it can be smart to limit the use of Dark Heal given for about the same force cost it only does about 60% of the healing Dark Infusion does. The problem I have found in practice, especially in PVP, the lower 1 second cast time is an absolutely must in most situations. In less than 2 casts of Dark Infusion (which takes 5 seconds) I can do 3 heals of Dark Heal (which takes only 4.5 seconds) and in less time have healed the target more. Even 1 second can mean the difference between your party member dying or making it through even a 2 on 1 scenario. Who cares if I have conserved my force or used it more efficiently if my team member(s) has died and is now taken at least momentarily out of the fight? I love the static barrier but a team can, and often times do, break through that almost as fast as you put it up again making time crucial in keeping one of your team alive. I find I spam, and need to spam, Dark Heal a lot in PVP and have yet to be in a PVP match where I haven't been he person with the most healing (for either team). Not all matches, but most, I typically beat everyone in the amount of healing by a fairly large margin. The best was me at 323k with closest to me being at 202k. A typical split is me at around 250k with the next highest healing being between 175k to 200k. I personally have no idea if in the "big picture" those numbers are an accurate depiction of the norm for people, I am just relaying what I have seen and experienced and Dark Heal has been invaluable to me in keeping my team members alive as in most case for PVP Dark Infusion just has way too long of a cast time. Though I will say that PVE with decent tank (keeping Assassin "tanks" alive can be quite the chore) Dark Heal is defintiely not as important and is rather situational....like needing a quick spamming of a heal to keep a squishy tank (assassin) alive. Those guys can fall fast especially if swarmed by more than 2 NPCs!

Thank again everyone for the responses/help. I put my barrier up on the tank (and myself) prior to starting the fight so that shouldn't have done anything. We were in Mandalorian raiders FP I think, and there are three strongs Braxx and two dogs. We tried putting the tank on Braxx and one of the two marauders on each of the dogs to try and keep them off of me....this was after trying various combinations of all three of the others on one at the same time, two on one and one on one of the others, etc... No matter how we tried it the moment I cast any spell all three NPCs beelined right to me and stayed on me. The only way I (we) could get them off me was for my to force spring as far away as I could and then they would lose interest in me. Coming back to the group though they would immediately turn back to me at times without me even having to cast a spell. Me just getting close enough after casting a spell was enough. The group even got two of the three killed with me literally only casting one spell as they just followed the NPCs chasing me in circles and even with my group putting out enough damage to kill 2 (or 1 and almost 2 before I died) and me doing nothing but literally running in circles just trying to live as long as possible still I was the one pulling the highest threat with all three. This happens often but this is the only fight I have encountered that me and a team can't get through because of it as I can usually keep myself and the team alive long enough to get through the fight. Something just seems not right. I have even had a couple of tanks in a couple of the groups i've been in chastise me for letting them die but what I am supposed to do when literally every (or almost every NPC) chases after me? I tell them to watch what is happening and as soon as they notice it they have all been apologetic, but it is making the group runs pretty unejoyable for me...and any group I am in as the healer is many times being rendered completely useless. Due to me PVP'ing so much I don't know if this is happening when soloing as I am at a lvl in the mid twenties and just now arriving on Balmorra. So with my lvl being so high in such low level areas the mob is usually wiped before I can observe whether this take place. I am at level 26, I think....sorry I don't remember exactly as I am running a couple different characters and just know my healer is right at the mid twenties.

Okay now I am grasping it a bit better. Wow....pretty bad when one heal raises my aggro so high the rest of the team can't seem to top it even I a start doing absolutely nothing. Seems I just got a couple of really bad groups. Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the replies. I get what you are saying, but don't fully understand why this is happening. I could see possibly temporarily pulling aggro, but they won't get off of me even if I stand there doing nothing while the rest of the team is attacking them. In this case wouldn't my aggro drop and theirs raise?