Whenever you see something that's genuinely suspicious, you can write and submit a ticket about it. And yes, Bioware DOES act on information submitted by players, even though they don't tell us. Just last night, I heard a bit of juicy gossip from a guildmate about a certain notorious "griefer" guild that had once targeted us. Word was, BioWare is VERY aware of that particular group's history, and clamped down hard on their griefing in this game. So hard, in fact, that they wound up only being able to grief one another in their own guild. That guild is now in... disarray.

I actually prefer this moddable-gear system BioWare has come up with, rather than a pure cosmetic-gear tab. It just makes better sense. I'm still wondering how it will all ultimately play out, though. The core problem I see is the plug-ugly designs on some high-end armor sets (*cough* Consular Rakata gear *cough*) coupled with the not-much-better looks of much of the other stuff (*cough* Consular gear in general *cough*). Doesn't do much good being able to pull mods out of one awful-looking set if no other available shell looks better. On the Republic side, I'd grade the general looks of the various classes as follows: 1. Trooper: A-minus. Generally, Trooper gear looks excellent, although it gets a slight downgrade for the Columi/Tionese headgear. Makes my Commando look like a Thum-Thum from the movie, "Spy Kids." After enjoying my crafted Electrum helmet for so many levels, it's a great disappointment that I can't transfer the set bonus from his new Columi helmet. 2. Jedi Knight: B-plus. Generally, the Knight's gear is pretty good, although my daughter complains that it all looks like it caters to male characters. She bitterly resented giving up the chest piece she'd earned from bartering Tython Commendations. She wants to go with an Aayla Sekura-style wardrobe for her Twi'lek Knight, but all she gets is Obi-Wan Kenobi robes. So, something in Guardian armor for girls, please. 3. Smuggler: C-minus. When I think "smuggler," I think "swashbuckler." Unfortunately, the vast bulk of this class' gear makes me think, "mad scientist." What is it with the huge thickly-padded lapels, anyway? Thank the Maker I came up with schematics for the Drelliad Jacket and Drelliad Pants. At least my green-skinned Twi'lek Scoundrel can look somewhat dashing. And I've seen other Smugglers with the PvP "Spider" set -- that one looks pretty good, too. And then, of course, there's the space-cowboy look of the high-end set. Those three sets save this class's grade from sliding to "F." But because EVERYONE is wearing that space-cowboy set, the lift only earns the designers a C-minus. More swashbuckler, less mad scientist, please. 4. Consular: F. I never thought I'd see a more gawdawful-looking armor set than the wretched "Giantstalker" set for Hunters from World of Warcraft. But by golly, SWTOR's design crew managed to pull it off with the Consular's Rakata gearset. Every time I look at this set in the in-game Dressing Room, it makes my Shadow look like a demented Christmas Tree angel. And almost all the other Consular pieces suffer this malaise to an only slightly-smaller extent. And Shadows are just plain screwed. Tthere's not a single moddable gear set in the ENTIRE GAME that I've seen that makes a Shadow look like a Shadow. Closest approximation is the House Thul social set from Alderaan, but that's an enemy House. But hey, at least it has pants, and the chestpiece doesn't have a dangling piece hanging down entangling itself with the pants. In general, Consular gear suffers the reverse of the problem that affects Knight gear: it all looks like it's been designed for female characters, save for the ONE pair of Consular pants in the game: the Alderaan Commendation-vendor piece. In fact, all the Consular gear looks like it was stolen from Queen Amidala's wardrobe. Theoretically, Consulars should have the benefit of being able to use all the social armors in the game -- but seriously? Almost all of it, save the afore-mentioned House Thul set, looks like some variation on a space suit. Shadows need to look like they're dressed to blend into the shadows -- NOT to stand out like a lawn ornament! And Sages need to look dignified and somewhat understated, as befits their Jedi philosophy -- NOT like they're playing dress-up with their sister's Queen Of Naboo set. Here's how I would approach Consular gear: 1. Planetary Themes: Tython: Padawan robes. Traditional white color, with black lapels. Coruscant: Something a bit more urbane-looking, perhaps in a solid tawny color, with a hooded cloak. Maybe available in a range of colors (including black) to add variety to the player base. Taris: Medium-green/tan camo-patterned hooded cloak and jerkin and pants, with lightweight boots with lace-up waterproof leggings suitable for the toxin-laced watery environment. Tatooine: A full-body, light-sand colored, loose-fitting billowing linen robe with hood designed to shield the character from the sun and protect from blowing sand, with traditional Jedi garments underneath. Alderaan: A. Ceremonial Jedi Robes. This set could be awarded for services rendered to House Organa, and be wrought in a stylized color scheme reminiscent of the Organa color scheme, light blue on white/silver, with a complementing sash running diagonally across the chest. B: Field camouflage set, done in a pattern of forest green-and-white, to help the Shadow blend into the mixed subalpine terrain of this beautiful world. Balmorra: A predominantly prairie-grass green/brown outfit with dark-brown hooded cloak. Outfit features strategically-designed light armor pieces to denote Balmorra's prowess as a source of top-quality military gear. Quesh: Light HazMat protection: breath mask, rubberized gloves and boots, synthetic fabrics with sealed joints. Cloak replaced by an emergency air-supply system. Hoth: Winter Camo/Thermal gear. All-white gear, thickly-insulated, with facial covering to protect from the bitterly-cold winds of Hoth. Belsavis: Full-body jumpsuit with tall lace-up boots, form-fitting jacket, and bombardier-style cold-weather headgear, all done in a jungle-camo pattern. Corellia: Honorary Green Jedi robes. Ilum: White/blue camo pattern with white "motorcycle helmet" style headgear and thick mukluk-style wampa-hide boots to help spread the weight of the character over crusted snowfields and muffle the sound of crunching snow. Biggest thing to remember: PANTS! Second-biggest thing: ditch the wierdness with the headpieces. Large, flat surfaces = wind resistance and bulk and a high "Look At Me, I'm An Idiot" factor. NOT good for either blending into a crowd or for the acrobatic combat moves of a typical Shadow.

This is an issue in on-level flashpoint runs, too. Just did my favorite, "Maelstrom Prison" last night on my level-37 Sage. One of the members of our pick-up group was doing it for the first time, and wanted to watch the cutscenes. Another player was urging everyone to spacebar through them. As we advanced, his pleas became increasingly strident. I'd done this FP several times on multiple characters, so I had no problem spacebarring through, but when I reached a dialogue wheel, I had no worries whatsoever waiting for the other player to catch up. And in the end, I just made sure the chat window was invisible, and kicked back and enjoyed the final cutscene. It's still one cutscene I enjoy watching in full. And the whiner got plenty of phat lewt, while my guy (as usual) got skunked.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE: No microtransactions. WHAT I WOULD NOT LIKE TO SEE: Microtransactions.

I'd be inclined to agree with you, except that the OP was dead-on in his descriptions of some of the dumb things players do. (MEMO TO KNIGHTS: Full health bar > full resolve bar. You've got tools for building resolve in combat, not so much for building health in combat.) I can add a few other sins to the list, such as running in a circle around a crate, breaking your healer's line-of-sight with you, or not knowing that your Shadow tank's mezz only works BEFORE you jump into combat. Good advice. I'm surprised at how few players know that Shadows can't mezz things when the fight starts. And *sometimes* a quick "hold up a sec" helps. But the forums *might* help someone become a better player. And sometimes, ya just gotta rage a bit.

*cough* rancors *cough* But aside from the rancors, Dathomir abound with story-inspiring hooks.... - The Kwi are the degenerated descendants of a sentient species. What led to their downfall? - Dathomir at this time is part of the Paecian Empire. The Paecians use the planet as a penal colony -- and penal colonies are always a good hook for any number of stories. For example, I could easily see a storyline involving some major character running afoul of the Paecians and being sentenced to exile on Dathomir, with the players assigned a rescue mission. I would also observe that the Paecian Empire collapsed shortly after 3000BBY. Could the players of SWTOR have something to do with this? Perhaps by organizing a prison-planet rebellion? - The Rakata ventured here as well, and left artifacts behind. - On top of all that, Dathomir is said to be one of the richest, most vibrant ecosystems in the known galaxy.

Um, we already have them. They're called "Jedi Consulars." They're all wearing Rakata gear.

I long for a day when trolls shrivel up and die.

Once upon a time, there was a MMO that allowed player characters to capture and tame creatures from the in-game wilderness. These intrepid explorers, known as "Creature Handlers," pushed into the deepest, darkest, most inacessible corners of the galaxy in search of rare creatures they could capture and tame in their infancy. THey didn't need convoluted, expensive quest arcs with Fully Voiced Dialogue™ -- their endless search and the reams of discoveries they brought back to civilization was its own quest, far more detailed and diverse than anything any human writer, no matter how creative, could concoct. And discover, they did. The world teemed with mount-trained kaadus and tauntaun-like cu pas, and dewbacks and banthas and falumpasets and bagerasets. Saddle-trained flightless Corellian birds the size of a binary load-lifter droid carried them proudly above the crowds. A dizzying array of fearsome creaures like rancors and razor cats fought alongside their masters. Until one cold November day, when they disappeared forever. Articles mourning their demise erupted across the landscape like volcanoes across the paper-thin surface of a young world, then slowly died away as the years passed, absorbed in site admin's archive files. The database that chronicled their thousands of discoveries was assaulted by hackers, prompting its creator to finally shut it down completely. And the humble Creature Handlers were forgotten by the rest of the universe. Or were they? I remember. Maybe you do, too. Maybe you remember the thrill of astonishment, as I do, the first time you saw another player character ride by on a kaadu, with a dewback in tow. Maybe you remember seeing an enormous bioengineered kimogila towering over your town, as your guildmate, a Master Creature Handler, stood guard while you prepared your lowbie for a levelling run into the wilderness of Rori. Maybe you even remember the thrill of the on-screen white-letter message, "You tame the creature" when a tiny, infant version of one of Yavin-IV's most deadly creatures became yours as you stood, scent masked and trembling with fear, in the midst of a nest of venomous Giant Crystal Snakes. Or maybe you remember standing on Dantooine in your squishy taming togs in the shadow of a nest of Graul Maulers, as you coaxed an infant Graul to you: "Good... er... boy?" "Don't bite me..." "Easy..." And maybe, you long like me for a day when the entire SWTOR galaxy becomes your giant playground. REMEMBER THE CREATURE HANDLERS.

Love it when respondents' posts don't even sound like the writer read the original post. The OP was asking for a NEW planet, dedicated specifically to player housing, player cities, and city-defense-type PVP. The OP did NOT ask for player housing on every existing planet. LOTRO had player housing built in instanced neighborhoods. It was lame. Even when lots of people were active in the game, I never once saw another player there, except when people gathered at the guild hall to form up for raids. To make player cities work, you have to have a REASON for players to go there. SWG had some of those reasons. Players could establish cities near hotspots like Ft. Tusken or the Krayt Graveyard, with the ability to add a shuttleport once the residential population grew large enough. Conversely, player cities could become eyesores, like the ring of abandoned houses that accumulated around Coronet City on Corellia or Theed on Naboo. Other reasons included things like crafting that actually mattered to the game, which meant players had to travel to player cities to find desired items such as armor or weapons or that really good Chef who made great buffing foods. In short, for things like player cities to work, the designers of the game have to approach the game with a core mindset that's probably fundamentally different than what post-WoW MMO designers are willing to embrace anymore. Everything in MMOs these days is premade, predetermined, thought out in advance, and has had the life "balanced" out of it. No space is given for player creativity: it's all the devs' show, and we're along for the ride -- take it or leave it. That said, I think a world dedicated to open-ended player creativity is a great idea. Mor, plz.

I think this ^^^ may have something to do with it. I did see a level-10 Imp character roaming Axial Park on Corellia a few days, pharming the loot chests scattered around among Imp NPCs. Thought it was a cute stunt at first, seeing someone brave enough to get a character that low so deep into such a high-level planet, but after a few days' worth of seeing that same character running around ninja'ing chests, I filed a report about the character, suggesting BW monitor what the player did with the character's credits. No idea what the result was, but the character stopped showing up.

Captain_Zone replies: We'll have to agree to disagree on that one, then. To me, it was a cop-out in the storytelling department. Those people were survivors. Before Malak bombed the planet back into the stone ages, they had survived for a number of years already. It just felt like lazy writing on BW's part, imo. BioWare usually tells a great story for most given situations in the game. That one just didn't seem to fit. I agree with Renadiel and the others who liked this one. To me, it, along with the ending of the Maelstrom Prison (Republic-side) flashpoint, really helped drive SWTOR from being an Old Republic-themed MMO to being a true KOTOR sequel. And the way the Lost Ones' story plays out, it really sets up the rakghouls as in-game villains. And yet, there are several quests on Taris' Republic side that hints at the rakghouls being something more than just mindless villains. My runner-up vote goes to the Trooper's Ord Mantel finale. I did NOT see that one coming. At all.

How about, "Nay because it's one thing to see someone else's gear; another thing entirely to get it; and yet another to know whether what you are looking at is any good?" And how about "Nay because everyone winds up in the same gear anyway"? And how about "Nay, because far better sources of info for min/maxers is freely available on AlGorz Interwebz than you will ever be"?

ROFL! The part about the uselessness of the map's display options struck me as amusing. Thanks, all, for the advice on where to find these tables. And I really hope BW does NOT make in-ship augmentation tables a "Legacy" perk, but rather, updates the functionality of all these tables. I also remember them being scattered around in various quest hubs. One that comes to mind is the one that was tucked off to the side next to the taxi terminal into the Justicar Sector on Coruscant. ALL of these tables, including the ones in our player ships, need to be reactivated, in my humble opinion.

Okay, that's what I was thinking; for the Republic, the locations would be Tython outside the Jedi Temple, and on Coruscant in the vendor/crew skills area under the Senate Plaza. I was hoping to find some at planetary spaceport hubs as well, but so far no dice. I also couldn't find any on Carrick Station. These used to be almost everywhere, back when you had to use them to insert mods into customizable items. Any bets on how long it will take BW to drop the requirement to stand next to the stations as well for these?

I tried to use the item-modification station that's on my player ship earlier today to add an augment kit to an item, but found that I couldn't perform to "Add Augment" function with it. I take it these stations are not functioning? Which leads me to my next question: where can I find a WORKING item-mod station? On the Fleet? If so, where on the Fleet? And are there any working mod stations on other planets?

I have rank-400 crafters in every crew skill, and noticed that Armstechs are at a bit of a disadvantage for acquiring the component for the new Augmentation Kits, in that all their recipes are relatively resource-intensive. Synthweavers and Armormechs are obvious winners here, since they can craft bracers and belts for 2x2x2 resources. By comparison, Armstech weapons all cost 6x4x2 resources. My suggestion would be to make the more resource-intensive products render proportionally more Augmentation Pieces. For example, a chest piece or weapon that requires six units of metal, four compounds, and two vendor mats could render 2 or 3 such items, with a roughly 50/50 random split between the two. This, I think, would even out the crafting process, and eliminate the Armstech's disadvantage.

If the Hutts are folded into a third faction, that would make Karagga's Palace even more of a target for both Empire and Republic.

Correction: the Mandalorians DID have the power to challenge the Republic or Empire militarily. At this point in the Old Republic's lore, though, they are essentially wiped out as a true faction. Revan and Malek saw to that with the Mandalorian War prior to the events of KOTOR, and the Mandalorian faction is currently a sliver of its former self, with individual clans essentially falling back to life as mercenaries in service of larger, more powerful groups, or individually simply freelancing as guns-for-hire. I would nominate an "Underworld" faction as this game's third faction, comprised of the following groups of NPCs: The Bothan SpyNet The Hutts (as the prime movers in the Outer Rim) The Mandalorian Remnant Various information brokers, spice traders, and crime lords and cartels Bounty Hunters and Smugglers would be obvious choices for player-character classes. If a third faction were introduced, I would suggest creating a mechanism in which existing BH's and Smugglers would be given the choice to remain within their Republic or Imperial factions, or to switch allegiance to the Underworld Faction. I would also introduce an Imperial Stormtrooper class, simply because the Empire needs its Stormtroopers, while the Republic would also be allowed to recruit its own Bounty Hunters-type character class: the Mercenary. And I would flesh out the Underworld faction with a new pair of Force-Sensitives: the Wild Force Wielders. Hunted by the Empire, yet unwilling to submit to the asceticism of the Jedi Order, they often find themselves shunned within the Republic due to their "special" talents, which some attempt to conceal while others abuse them freely. This rootless existence makes life a dangerous gamble for them. On the one hand, finding suitable tutors for the furtherence of their talents presents a formidable challenge, while on the other, they are at great risk if they confide about their talents to the wrong person.

Yeah, I suspect the pricing of Legacy perks was set up to wring money out of the economy. Consider that a single level-50 character can create anywhere from 75k to 90k in new in-game credits just from doing the Ilum dailies, depending on how lucky they get with treasure-chest spawns and trash loot off mobs. Add to that the cash from the Black Hole and Belsavis dailies, and just base gameplay can create some serious inflation.

My only real gripe with the Legacy system is that it assumes that you only want one surname for ALL your characters. I'm another alt-monger with characters of different race. Kinda strains credibility to think they're all related, but the "Legacy Family Tree" menus do have the option to create "Rival" or "Ally" relationships among your characters.

I didn't post this to start a debate with the community -- just sharing my opinion. There are plenty of moral holes in this game and IP, but if you want to play the "hypocrisy" card, I say fine. Remove ALL questionable moral content. Or not, and accept the game for what it is.

For a small faction of players whose mantra is for the world to "accept them for who they are," they sure spend a lot of time demanding that the Star Wars mythos be changed to suit their personal preference. Why can't we just accept the Star Wars IP for what IT is: one of this world's few (relatively) family-friendly IPs? There are plenty of other MMOs that cater to alternative moralities. Besides, I really don't think BioWare wants to be saddled with a bunch of negative publicity for smuggling gay-romance "easter eggs" into a Star Wars MMO. Returning to the topic of the thread, I've always thought the Star Wars mythos is ideally positioned for a third "Underworld" faction. The whole backstory of the Outer Rim is that it's a region beyond the reach of both the Empire (in the original movies), and the Galactic Republic.

I agree. This has been my main point on "Space Combat" since the day BioWare announced the railshooter. Pre-plotted movement paths is just the antithesis of role-playing gameplay. Far as I am concerned, the only value I find in the railshooter is that it's a placeholder for bigger and better things, and that it prevents this STAR WARS game from devolving into 'Ground Wars.'

According to former SWG and Ultima Online dev Jeff Rubenfeld, JtL was developed in 9 months, while simultaneously maintaining SWG after it had gone live. SWG launched in August 2003; JtL launched in late April '04. For those who insist on reading Rubenfeld's profanity-riddled original article, here's the link: http://rubenfield.com/?p=86