There are many reasons to play an MMO just to solo. I won't reiterate them here, but you can find those reasons in lots of threads. Suffice it to say, that MMOs have a lot more to offer than simply 'group up for combat'. As to your first point, where is this MMO law cast in stone? Where does it state that every MMO, for all eternity, must be designed that way? Every MMO I have ever liked and quit (and that's quite a list) I quit because I was forced to choose between relying on others, or abandoning any sense of meaningful endgame progression. I swear that the first designer who gets it through his head and makes an MMO where it's possible (not easy, not quick, just possible) to earn BIS gear without forcing grouping is going to have a goldmine on his hands.

No offense to OP, but everyone is trying to be that special snowflake with this side-changing nonsense. If you want to be evil, play Imperial. If you want to be good, play Republic. This isn't a tabletop RPG with a million options, nor are you even carving your own path. You're playing a storyline already written for you, and it's in a narrow trench with few branches.

You've got to look at the game from something other than your own skewed perspective. If you only bring companions out once in a while, they will be undergeared and you will likely get pwned. For me, they could remove PvP completely from the game, never add in guild perks (or even guilds!) and it wouldn't affect my gameplay one bit. If the game isn't what you're looking for, find one that is, but it makes you look foolish if you call this game a fail because it doesn't have the specific features you enjoy.

Most players don't like having your kind around. As you said, they consider you a nuisance, and so they do what they can to avoid your type and join PvE servers. If this game had open, non-consentual PVP, everything else about it could be absolutely amazing and I would not even try it for 5 minutes.

What utter nonsense. What percentage of the quests require a group? 5% maybe? Add content; more class quests, more places to level up, etc. My vote is for 2. Put in server transfers for those that have to have them, but NEVER for free. What a waste of customer resources that would be, people switching at a whim, whining about having to change their name, etc.

Except you often don't. There are a few 4-mans I've done that awarded less than 10 social points. IMO, every 4-man should award at least 50.

I much prefer the actual leveling process. From what I've seen so far (highest is 44 on 7 alts), 1-20 is a LOT more fun than 20-40. The first chapter of this game lets you play the class quest much more frequently; in later chapters it's something to dabble in from time to time. In the early levels of any game, you are making frequent progress, getting frequent gear upgrades, regularly getting new powers or power upgrades. To me, that's MUCH more fun than doing a 2-hour run and hoping for 1 single piece of gear.

The OP's point still stands. Some people say 'leveling is too fast', others say 'leveling is too slow'. There are many other issues where opinions are at opposites. To which feedback should Bioware listen or respond?

I think it's pretty clear that in its present state, TOR is more of a leveling game than an endgame. If you are a 'the game starts at level cap' type of player, I really don't think this game will be your cup of tea, at least not for a while. You feel you have done all you can do because you have the best gear. I won't feel I've done all I can til I have completed every class story. After that, datacrons and getting the top gear will be my 'something to do'. I have 7 alts so far, 7 different classes, ranging from levels 20 to 44. I feel I'm about halfway done at this point.

"When used properly..." yes, and anytime someone has the info thrown in their face, the tools are not being used properly. I agree that a damage meter could be a useful tool, but there's too many RL tools on the internet for me to think that it will be. Healbot and threat meter are just plain cheats, IMO. Watching a meter instead of judging for yourself takes way too much fun out of the game. And far too many times I've seen people use DPS when they should be cc'ing or helping heal or w/e just so they reach a higher position on the the meter. When I look at all the pros and cons of these tools, I feel that we're MUCH better off without them.

I can sympathize with the OP. The problem isn't that they aren't ways to make xp, it's that it's such an immersion-dropping pain to jump out of the main story to have to do them. It's like sitting down to watch a three hour movie, but you can only watch it 10 minutes at a time, and have to take a 30 minute break in-between each. And those breaks get longer the further into the story you go.

I do not play MMOs to compete with others in any way. Away from the bridge table, I've no desire to compete with others, especially in video games. The ideas posted by the OP sound interesting, but if this game was like that I wouldn't be playing it. I'm glad that TOR is the way it is.

This. If I'm questing along, and I'm given a soloable quest, I can just do it when it's convenient. If you make it require others, now I have to: a) stop playing until I can convince others to join me and wait until they get there, or b) stop questing and get to another place on the map because someone else is at step a. They need to make a way so that if I'm suddenly given a group quest, I can just jump into it as easily and without wasting time the same way I can do with every soloable quest. I'm not anti-grouping or anti-challenge, I am anti-wasting-time. Having something be convenient is not the same as having it be easy.

Yes, but the numbers that stack up aren't pulled out of the ether. The devs have full control over what those numbers are. So, a clever programmer could simply add all the maximum possible numbers for any stat, note that as the 'cap' (without coding a cap) and build monster stats accordingly. It also makes for more straightforward coding, as you have simpler routines that don't have to have things like 'calculate this way, unless this limit is surpassed, in which case calculate it this other way', etc. This way, players don't have to figure out often-veiled info like soft caps or hard caps or at what point diminishing returns kick in. The player then knows that more always equals more. A much better approach IMO.

So why not remove or lessen the DR on the other powers instead of yet another nerf?

This has happened to me at least a dozen times since launch. I have a pretty decent rig, and it happens on no other game, so I'm not putting much stock in the 'it's not BW's problem it's yours' crowd. I can even reproduce it, somewhat. If I alt-tab out with the game running, and then go back into the game, within about 30 minutes this will happen.

Six would suit me, four bottom ones, and two side ones. One side is for all my non-combat powers, one for mission items, and the bottom 4 for combat. Four bars just isn't cutting it.

Progressive soloable endgame.

If you mean better xp, then fine. If you mean exclusive loot, then this is just an awful, and short-sighted idea. Forcing people to choose something they don't enjoy is NOT better than giving them an alternative way to enjoy that content and the rewards that come with it. Better would be to have a group version and a solo version. Given the choice between grouping up or abandoning progress (and possibly quitting the game), I'll take the latter. Many others feel the same way.

Make the quests soloable and I won't have to look for groups. Grouping, when everything's going right, is possibly the best fun you can have in an MMO. The problem is, when it's not, it's the worst. And by going right I mean a mesh of personalities and playstyles. The heroics are just too much of a pain to get people for, get them to the quest in a decent time, and hope you're not with a ninja or gogogo type. So, knowing the rewards in advance would make zero difference to me. Seriously, just scale them or make a solo version.

I play a mix of half clicking and half keyboard. While I won't argue that all keyboard offers speed gains, the simple fact is, outside of pvp, those speed gains aren't needed 99% of the time. And I will argue that clicking only is easier, and since that's all that's needed most of the time...

Quite correct. Now add to that content, a series of soloable instances that still have timer lockouts, still have the RNG and most importantly still have progressively harder content offering progressively better rewards and I'll sign up for a year. Honestly, I am just DYING for one (ONE!) developer to offer this in a decent AAA MMO.

This. Keep raids as the best/fastest/most efficient way to make endgame character progress (read: best gear). Do not have them be the only way there. Offer an alternative method for those who don't enjoy raiding.

Personally, I think the issue is a lack of class quests, particularly level 25 up. Instead of being required to so many side quests that are the same for every player, there should be more class quests to fill in some of the level gaps. Or, the class quests could provide significantly more xp than side quests. Or, there could be a LOT more side quests, so the player has options besides 'from 25-28 I will quest on Tatooine'. It'd be nice if there was enough content to offer more options. Having said all that, give em time. They launched a game with a TON of content, and they're bound to add more. I just hope they don't put all their new efforts on the endgame, and add more content to the middle/late levels that need it.

So, would you prefer a 'Quest Board' that just has a bunch of notices pinned to it? 'Kill 10 Republic Gunmen' 'Gather 6 droid cores' 'Talk to Sgt. Green' 'Clear enemies out of Scroth Base' And you just run up and go click click click click and run away? /shrug, maybe you would. I suspect that you're also the type to NEVER read quest text in other games. Some of us like a little RPG in our stories.