My Frustrations with this 'Class' (Mostly PVP)

[Krozis]

I have never posted about my Mercenary. But I feel as my 'favorite' character, I would at least give Bioware, and this forum my 2 cents before I further frustrate myself and just quit playing him altogether.

 

*Warning* This is a pretty long post, and involved the sort of depth a lot people aren't going to experience or care about, but I feel it's necessary so this comes across as a heartfelt assessment of what is wrong.

 

 

So why am I bothering to post?

 

- I've watched self proclaimed experts claim the class is fine, then do a 180 and ask for fixes.

- I've watched people ***** unnecessarily or exaggerate in hopes of getting the class some sort of buff.

- Conversely I've had people tell me how to play the class that really don't have a clue.

- My guild simply won't let me play Rateds.

- I want to give a purely truthful account of what I am having trouble accepting with the class.

 

The reasons above combined with the fact I fundamentally love the class, but find its PVP execution below acceptable limits is why I am posting.

 

I am just going to do this in point form since it covers my biggest issues with the class, but also covers a spectrum of topics. I should start by saying the last straw for me was I logged into my Guild's voice and they weren't aware I was there and I listened to about 4 minutes of why they hate PVPing with DPS mercs on rateds and other warzones..... I certainly can and out DPS many of them on occasion but it frustrated me enough to make me post.

 

1. If I recall correctly, BW was nerfing us in a few different ways. Then they figured out that there was an unintentional 'bonus' to damage allowing ungodly Heatseeker missile damage (it may have been more than that). They 'fixed' this unintentional bonus, but did NOT undo the other nerfs. I think the layered nerfs that occurred around that nerf/fix should be undone once the 'true' issue was discovered. Instead they are left in place to this day.

 

2. When BW changed the PVP system of making 'Expertise' the god power, they also changed the formula. This formula increases damage more, (and to a far lesser degree Resists, and Healing.) The result was that everyone's 'Time To Death' is lower. (so much so they killed Adrenals)

 

I really think this hurt all 'channeling' classes ability to 'keep up' with the insta-cast classes. Some of these channeling classes got boosts (I believe as a result). I personally believe Time to Death reduction (as a result of this new Expertise forumla) AND the fact you can Augment -everything- helps insta cast classes most. But I cannot prove this. It is based on my experience PVPing with the class for months at 50.

 

3. Any competent team (ranked or even premade regular Warzones) go after Arsenal mercs very quickly, and burn them down. If they don't and you get your 'amazing screenshot' of your warzone DPS as a result, this TO ME, is more an indication of the ignorance of your opposing team, and less a compliment of your DPS ability.

 

I have reworked my Arsenal spec a zillion times. It is simply NOT viable in a competent environment. You have no idea how much I wish it was, but there is no doubt in my mind it is NOT. I _still_ in my own stubborn way retry it about once a week (even after it was 'fixed') and the playstyle is too slow for the modern game.

 

4. This leads us to Pyrotech. Mobile? Yes. Bursty? Yes. But no matter how good I get at it, no matter how slick I get with the rotation it under-performs the Powertech version. The fact Powetechs proc railshots on insta-abilities alone is a -massive- (but not exclusive) issue. You claim to have resolved this with a minor tweak to the skill tree for Mercs but there is still clearly a gap here.

 

5. Talented Rocket Punch is a knock back that isn't a knock back. This needs a tweak to go from -nearly useless- to -very usefull-.

 

6. Generically speaking while Mercenary is NOT a dueling spec imo (it probably should be since it is 'bounty hunting' that 'Bounty Hunters' are known for), the class has tremendous 1v1 issues. You have destroyed the survivability of the class.

 

I have tried every trick in the book.... insta Concussion, insta heal, - Run and Kite, - Face Tank, - Stun and Run, -DPS race, etc, etc. there are too many classes that just have their way with us.

 

I play several classes at 50 and I have PVP'd most of them well into warhero. I DO this to KNOW how to beat them. You know what? It doesn't matter.

 

7. Carbonize. This would have been a very nice ability for us that I would have called "Marauder Repellent". You can't damage anyone, but they can't damage you. It would have been a great escape mechanism. (Powertech's rarely use it as an escape, but it would have fit our hole here well.) Escaping certain death is the issue here, I'm not talking about beating them.

 

8. The rise in Sentinels/Marauders and Powertechs/Vanguards population are exacerbating the problem: Powertechs simply show us up, Marauders annihilate us. An unskilled Marauder I can walk away from. An equally skilled/geared marauder is certain death. These two classes (imo) are our nemesis and they are both on the rise making our shortcomings more obvious.

 

9. Finally, I held out on this but I finally rolled a Gunslinger/Sniper. THIS class is so much better. It's under the radar a LITTLE bit right now because DPS operatives/scoundrels are on the decline in the competitive warzones. BUT Gunslinger/Sniper works very much like a Mercenary SHOULD:

 

- Huge hitting Channeled Abilties

(That require no combinations)? CHECK

- Uninteruptable while Channeling? CHECK

- Massive, quick recharging AOE Knockback CHECK

- RANGED AOE Stun? CHECK

- CC Protection ona 45 sec cool down? CHECK

- High Burst and sustainable DPS ? CHECK

- RANGED Interrupt? CHECK

- "Trauma" Or HEAL Debuff/Armour Break in 1 Power? CHECK

- VERY low cooldown RANGED ROOT? CHECK

 

Look at that list! That's ridiculous Bioware!

 

Not to mention they still have a single target stun, 2 defensive shields, and better 'run and gun' powers that are inherent to their skill set. This makes NO sense to me.

 

I'm sorry this became a mini-novel but it's probably going to be the only thread I make on the subject, and I felt if I stopped playing my MERC today, I should at least tell Bioware why.....

 

Right now my Merc is only half Warhero, but he's sitting on 3300 Ranked Warzone comms. Why? Because I can only log him in for about 3 matches before disgust sets in, as I get leg humped by another Marauder/Sentinel I can do nothing about. It's usually at this point I log in one of other 50's and start wrecking the other poor buggers out there running around in Merc denial land.

 

I apologize for the length of the post, but at the very least I hope you realize I've tried to be honest, and make an informed opinion based on months of warzone experience (with several classes) and this class is BORKED and needs immediate attention.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Krozis

[Choffware]

I share your frustration. But here is the deal. Bioware has been too busy trying to get their business model (corporate crap) cleaned up to make any real change in the game. So we have a choice reroll or quit or wait until they finally get back to improving the game. Everything you said here is spot on.... but it has been talked about for months on this forum. They have all the info they need now it's just a matter of them applying it... whenever that happens

[Soljin]

I 100% agree with you, and feel an insane amount of frustration as well. Many possible solutions have been suggested on these forums...Some OP, some very realistic.

 

Bioware really doesnt have to do anything except make a couple tweeks to fix the problem.... My real frustration comes from the completel lack of response on the subject regardless of the crazy amount of threads running all saying the same thing... Merc needs help in PvP.

 

Not a word..Nothing on the Class feedback thread...Nothing. Not even a generic "We'll look into it' response.

 

Bioware has a theme...They wait until its a serious problem...then they respond with a "Plan"...Then they launch the plan well after they have lost a ton of folks confidence, and potential interest in the game...They actually forced me to cancel with the delay on server transfers....Seriously I didnt want to...But couldnt play..at all...they literally made me cancel. So strange.

 

Anyways..Obviously Im mad......I also play a Jugg, and IMO it has a chance to beat any other AC out there, even though its an uphill battle against some...Its still possible. With Merc this is not the case.

Edited August 2, 2012 by Soljin

[Krozis]

I share your frustration. But here is the deal. Bioware has been too busy trying to get their business model (corporate crap) cleaned up to make any real change in the game.

 

@Choffware, sorry if this is old hat. I read these forums everyday, just don't post a ton. I agree that the business model is probably high up on their 'to do' list, but I have to believe they have a 'team' or at least a few people that are responsible for this type of thing.

 

I wanted to say or do something, even if it is ignored by them (again) before just dropping the class.

 

 

Not a word..Nothing on the Class feedback thread...Nothing. Not even a generic "We'll look into it' response.

 

I know this is falling on deaf ears, but if I didn't try for a final time, I know I would regret it.

 

Anyways..Obviously Im mad......I also play a Jugg, and IMO it has a chance to beat any other AC out there, even though its an uphill battle against some...Its still possible. With Merc this is not the case.

 

I have a 50 Jugg as well. It almost adds to the frustration because you can see how other AC's work (and somewhat 'properly').

 

I think BW did a knee jerk reaction from a few different sources (community/feedback/data mining).....

 

But one opinion I do have is changing immensely in the past few weeks. I used to trust BW with their 'hidden' metrics, and data they didn't want to share. I believed they KNEW the classes better than we did.

 

I don't believe this anymore. I think we know the classes on a -playing- level better than they do. They may know the nuts and bolts, but they do not understand the reality of day to day PVP mechanics.

 

If they did, there's no WAY they would make this many changes to fundamental mechanics this far outside of Beta-testing. They mis-judged a lot of things and unfortunate, wide-sweeping (AND unapologetic) changes have been mandatory as a result.

 

On top of it all, I read all their developer interviews where they tell us we simply don't understand the class, or we are doing it wrong.... A BW employee has said this more than once, which does not make it fact.

 

But I digress, I'm not posting to berate BW because believe or not I still want this game to succeed more than anything. My intent here was to make this thread as my final sounding board on what is perhaps the most frustrating (PVP) character in the game. The Bounty Hunter that has no Bounty, and the Hunt part... well you can figure that one out yourself.

 

This class defines "Close, but no cigar".

 

Now to figure out what to do with those 3,300 Ranked Warzone Comms I can't bring myself to spend on my Merc.

[Soljin]

"On top of it all, I read all their developer interviews where they tell us we simply don't understand the class, or we are doing it wrong.... A BW employee has said this more than once, which does not make it fact."

 

This frustrates me even more for a few reasons....

 

1) Do a side by side comparson of PT/Pyro vs. Merc/Pyro... PT version is favored by straight up MATH.

 

2) BW clearly admitting that having an entire tree built around one ability (Tracer Missle) was a problem...Dmg Mitigation, Armor debuff, two dmg procs all applied through one ability that is stopped by interupt...Seems like bad design.

 

3) Merc is the only AC in the game with no interupt. Im not even going to start on a ranged class with no ROOT!

 

These things alone make any claims that the AC is fine invalid via math and logic....So I submit its not Merc players doing it wrong its Merc Developers.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Soljin

[germil]

I really like this game. I don't know why but thats the way it is.

 

But I really feel that since lauch it has been driven with quite a lot of incompetencies.

 

With 1.1 Ilum fiasco and communication fails, 1.2 "Quality of life improvement" >> one of biggest nerf I have ever seen in MMO (and made me unsub), + communication problems, delays etc...

 

The classes are simple in this game, and they don't even manage to balance nearly 2 identical spec having lots of tools in common, but one being god (PT) and the other one being below average (merc). That tells a lot.

[germil]

But one opinion I do have is changing immensely in the past few weeks. I used to trust BW with their 'hidden' metrics, and data they didn't want to share. I believed they KNEW the classes better than we did.

 

I don't believe this anymore. I think we know the classes on a -playing- level better than they do. They may know the nuts and bolts, but they do not understand the reality of day to day PVP mechanics.

 

They did lie to us several times. I don't trust them anymore. How would it be possible?

 

One example they nerfed 10% (or more...) power shot. But didn't do anything for the PT equivalent which was already doing the same if not more damage on some target (being elemental). How would one expect the metrics to be identical after that?

[Keonachak]

Played two arsenal mercs to 50 full bm. After getting my first to 50, I waited patiently for a server merge. When this didn't happen I created another on a difft server and got him to 50 as well. I'm happy to say that I no longer play either one. They are full bm crafting *****es now. I liked them but I grew tired of waiting for a GU fix.

 

Now I play a Dps VG. I could care less if it is fotm or whatever. I play to have fun and spending more time complaining about my class on a message board than playing my toon is not fun for me.

 

When I created my BH, I always envisioned him surviving and soloing and doing dps like my VG. For many levels it was. I think they bloom earlier than some classes but post 40's it's just dismal.

 

I smile everytime someone force leaps on me and pray for wz solo fights now. These were two situations I avoided as a merc.

 

I've recently started a scoundrel (sawbones) and am loving it as well.

 

I say just stop playing mercs altogether, let the class die and throw it back onto Biowares plate. They're obviously not going to read a few posts and change anything. Just my .02.

[Baarabas]

Spot on assessment.

 

I too hope this does not fall on death ears. I have been posting "fixes" since launch. Why? Because up until now Pyro Merc has been the DPS low-boy of all BH DPS. Now were second to last thanks to Arsenals nerfs.

 

At launch it was Arsenal, PT Pyro, AP, Merc Pyro on the DPS totempole.

 

1.2 - PT Pyro, AP, Merc Pyro, Arsenal

 

1.3 - PT Pyro, AP, Merc Pyro, Arsenal

 

I too have tried everything. I respec back and fourth between Arsenal and Pyro. I've tried hybrids. No solution. Much to many peoples suprise, Pyro Merc shares many of the problems an Arsenals Merc has. The mobility of a Pyro is more a novelty than an advantage with all the CC and gap closers in this game. Other than that, we cast as much as an Arsenal. The duel wield is a sure indicator to opposing forces that an Merc is an easy kill and need to die first and foremost. All Merc DPS shares this problem.

 

If they do fix Mercs, I hope they dont simply focus on the larger community of Mercs and overlook the Pyro.

[Hotdollar]

just a thought, what do you guys think about a (wow mage) blink type ability, i.e. allows us to rocket propel 20 yards forward and is usable while stunned? 30 sec or more cd

[Bombomelette]

 

I apologize for the length of the post, but at the very least I hope you realize I've tried to be honest, and make an informed opinion based on months of warzone experience (with several classes) and this class is BORKED and needs immediate attention.

 

Yep, that about sums it up. Love that purple writing too

 

Hopefully with Gamescon coming up and the press conference they'll address even a slight hint at what is in store for this class specifically. I don't think the other class forums have this much QQ going on that's actually necessary in order to fix a class.

 

BTW, WTB a Disengage and all the other stuff the 37,000,000,000,000,000,000 postée's have asked for. (Let's call it necessary implications)

Edited August 12, 2012 by Bombomelette

[jgarib]

I have never posted about my Mercenary. But I feel as my 'favorite' character, I would at least give Bioware, and this forum my 2 cents before I further frustrate myself and just quit playing him altogether.

 

I agree with everything you've said. Our class needs some attention. TBH My main was a marauder from pre-launch all the way up to about a month and a half ago. I swapped to Merc because mara became FOTM and our guild had too many of them. All discrepancies aside, the merc in arsenal is simply NOT FUN to play relative to other classes. You have a 4-5 button priority rotation with minimal utility to make the dps loss of breaking priority worth it. You have 1 role; dps and even doing that is no fun as you have no options in how you do that dps.

 

I wont even get into how having an entire AC's dps revolve around multiple RNG procs absolutely sucks. What made the merc great before was the ability to unleash great damage on a dime. Since that has been removed, we really need more utility to balance things out.

 

The fact that Merc Pyro is vastly inferior to PT pyro is unacceptable.

 

The OP brought up the implications of a lower TTK which is absolutely spot on as well.

 

Anyway, just posting my support for change.

Edited August 14, 2012 by jgarib

[Tobradex]

I don't think the other class forums have this much QQ going on that's actually necessary in order to fix a class.

 

What about DPS Operatives. Lately there haven't been as many QQ posts as around 1.2, however, that is because hardly any DPS Operatives exist anymore after nerf after nerf after stealth nerf. DPS Operatives underperform (at equal skill and gear) all other classes at PvE and PvP.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Tobradex

[Krozis]

Since making the original thread I left my Mercenary on the shelf. My intent was to strip him down of all his gear and comms and transfer over a Powertech (from my old server).

 

Of course this didn't last. I ended up playing the Merc again just to confirm a lot of what I suspected. To my credit I tried new ways of playing Pyrotech. As Arsenal merc in PVP the book is closed. I still see people trying it, and unless you have high ground and get the drop on an oblivious opponent, it's still junk.

 

I won't repeat my original post. It's still 100% valid in my opinion but I want to reiterate based on further testing and comparison:

 

1. Channeling screws us. As I mentioned with the changes to Expertise, Arsenal is dead, and Pyro Merc has one foot in the grave. Channeling characters in PVP, post 1.3 are severely handicapped unless: They have immunity from CC, interrupts, and multiple knockbacks. We have little of this, again 'Gunslinger/Sniper' is the way to go here (more later).

 

Other characters have this issue as well but they have offsets, and not near the reliance of channeling to make the character -function- properly.

 

Being handcuffed by heavy channeled attacks on somewhat lethargic abilities (Powershot is way underpowered) still kills us in a game that rewards insta-cast characters far too much. What a geared Sentinel/Marauder can do to you in the time you can say "Tracer Missile takes too long to cast" is obscene.

 

=====================================

 

2. The "Powertech > Mercenary Syndrome" or "PMS" : As mentioned earlier, I did indeed transfer my Powertech and I continued to level him. I can tell you this much; after taking time off from him the first handful of times I played Powertech Pyrotech, I could not believe how much more -functional- and -relevant- Pyrotech IS on a Powertech over a Mercenary.

 

In defense of Powertechs I will say this: They aren't nearly as survivable as Marauders/Sentinels are. The misconception is a Powertech is an un-killable, PVP god, but the reality is they just burst -really- well, but are quite killable. (Don't believe me? Go over to the Shadow forum, look up Shinarika's Shadow video's and watch her latest video Rick Rolling half a dozen powertechs in mere -seconds- without breaking a sweat.)

 

Again, the main difference here between Merc Pyro and Power-Pyro is INSTA-cast vs. Channeling! Bioware stop handcuffing us with the burden of proc'ing railshot from long, rooting, and somewhat crappy abilities!

 

Just a question for you guys here: Speaking pure DPS-wise Unless you PVE, why you would play Merc over a Powertech? I'm not saying nerf Powertech.... but BUFF Merc's instead.

 

=============================================

 

3. The last thing I wanted to do in PVP was sit behind an electric fence, and go 'pew-pew'. But the reality is Sniper/Gunslinger is the closest thing you can get to a 'successful channeling PVP Class'. My checklist in my original post is a long, but very valid explanation of why.

 

=============================================

 

4. The King of the Hill? The longer I play my Sentinel/Marauder, the more I'm convinced of this. The survivability of Watchmen/Annhilation self heals plus the best defensive (multiple) cool downs in the game, and the ability to cloak combine for an insta-casting, hard hitting, vunderkind of SWTOR PVP.

 

The biggest miss-information out there is " Sentinel/Marauder should be the best because they're so darn hard to play" is complete, and utter smoke screen denial.

 

I was going to go into detail on a Carnage spec (stupid easy to play 100% AP, Ravage spec) and Annihilation spec (uniterruptable-insta cast/self heal) rotations but there's no point. Trust me, you don't have to be a rocket surgeon to play uninterpretable, insta cast classes. Plus it's almost all offence!

 

Try rebuilding a broken rotation that roots you while trying to cleanse dots, throw knockbacks, and deal damage after being interrupted time and time again. Now that is difficult if not impossible. (Not to mention the idea of "pushback". (Really? You are going to further punish me because I am using 'Powershot' while getting hit by a Marauder just so I can hit him with this crappy shot, and hopefully proc a railshot?)

 

=================================

 

Conclusion:

I guess it's obvious I'm passionate about this class even though I have a lot of 50's on both sides of the game.

 

I fell in love (since SWG actually!) with the idea of being a guy that is a Jedi's -nightmare-, not his fire-hydrant to relieve himself on. The idea of being a bulked up, sleek armored, missile and gadget touting, jedi wrecking ball is what probably drew most of us to this class. Sadly this is far from the truth. Most of us are in denial, given up, or become healers in order to stay in the ranks of our PVP oriented guilds.

 

Is this the way you wanted it Bioware? Is this the way you saw the class? The class that was -too powerful- to have an interrupt? (<-- true story, although in all honesty aside from healers we are the number one class to shut down with an interrupt!!! Ironic, ain't it?)

 

I am sorry this turned into a long post again. I truly do appreciate that you guys have posted in the thread and have validated what I'm saying as being thought out, tested, and in the best interest of our class. Thanks for that.

 

The last week I have tweaked gear, tried new tactics (more or less re-hashed my old ones) and done everything in my power to make this class relevant in PVP. Conceptually it's my favorite class. In reality it is in fact the worst PVP class I play.

 

So he is now getting permanently shelved. I can't pretend I won't pull him off the shelf for nostalgic reasons, but at this point I'm going to be playing my Powertech.

 

P.S.

I don't see Powertech getting nerfed. I just don't believe it will happen (they need to fix the Tactics/Advanced Prototype tree anyway). I also don't see bioware nerfing Marauders. Frankly I don't care for or about nerfs, nor do I believe in them. I'd much rather see Mercs get -fixed-!

[Svarteryttaren]

I know lots of merc players that quited the game rather then rerolled. Period.

[Macroecon]

I've mentioned this before, but the reason that Merc dps (and Operative dps) won't get fixed is that BW doesn't think there is a problem. And they have the statistics to back that up. Their ingame stat collection shows that the meta average productivity of all the classes are within 5% of each other.

 

The problem is that said stat collection does not control for player skill. And who is left playing Merc dps in wz? Since so many people have abandoned the class, it is skewed towards highly skilled, highly geared players. In contrast the meta averages for PT, Mara and Assassins are flooded with low gear players who have flocked to those subclasses and are not yet geared, nor skilled in their new professions. Once you control for player skill, it is evident to all players that Merc dps sucks. But the meta averages don't show that.

 

The inability of BW to understand how player migration between the subclasses distorts their ingame stat collection has haunted ToR play balance since launch. It is the reason why we had the infamous double nerf to concealment operatives. The first nerf culled out the low performing players in the subclass, so the meta averages actually rose after the nerf. This lead directly to the second nerf. The same pattern later repeated itself for Arsenal Mercs.

 

The bottom line here is that ToR made some real advances in the state of the art for MMOs in its statistics collection abilities. But BW lacked the human skill to interpret that data correctly. And when you hear them talk about subclasses hitting damage output targets, it is clear they still do. That's the reality of the situation.

[frivera]

I've mentioned this before, but the reason that Merc dps (and Operative dps) won't get fixed is that BW doesn't think there is a problem. And they have the statistics to back that up. Their ingame stat collection shows that the meta average productivity of all the classes are within 5% of each other.

 

The problem is that said stat collection does not control for player skill. And who is left playing Merc dps in wz? Since so many people have abandoned the class, it is skewed towards highly skilled, highly geared players. In contrast the meta averages for PT, Mara and Assassins are flooded with low gear players who have flocked to those subclasses and are not yet geared, nor skilled in their new professions. Once you control for player skill, it is evident to all players that Merc dps sucks. But the meta averages don't show that.

 

The inability of BW to understand how player migration between the subclasses distorts their ingame stat collection has haunted ToR play balance since launch. It is the reason why we had the infamous double nerf to concealment operatives. The first nerf culled out the low performing players in the subclass, so the meta averages actually rose after the nerf. This lead directly to the second nerf. The same pattern later repeated itself for Arsenal Mercs.

 

The bottom line here is that ToR made some real advances in the state of the art for MMOs in its statistics collection abilities. But BW lacked the human skill to interpret that data correctly. And when you hear them talk about subclasses hitting damage output targets, it is clear they still do. That's the reality of the situation.

 

I've seen this babble before and don't buy it for a second. In my experience, the hard core players are the "first" to abandon a broken class because they feel they can no longer compete at the highest level. I know plenty of WH geared Mercs that have benched their characters and switched to PT, Marauder or Sniper. Many new, casual and less skilled players either don't know about class imbalance issues, or don't care because they are not planning to run ranked wz. They continue to play the class because they enjoy it; the storyline, lore, look, playstyle, etc. So please save us from your misguided hypotheses. If you have the numbers to prove your theory, please share them with us. But since you're basing your theory on your own subjective assessment of player "skill", you have no way to measure or prove your statements. It does make for good reading, until you realize the logical fallacies in your argument.

Edited August 17, 2012 by frivera

[Krozis]

I've mentioned this before, but the reason that Merc dps (and Operative dps) won't get fixed is that BW doesn't think there is a problem. And they have the statistics to back that up. Their ingame stat collection shows that the meta average productivity of all the classes are within 5% of each other.

 

I won't call it 'babble' but I agree with Frivera; there is an abundance of the broken class players, both in warzones and in PVE only situations.

 

On any given night I can wreck a team with 2-3 level 50 mercs on it. Why are they there? Why bother? Don't they realize the disadvantage they're at?

 

This is the category of player that doesn't bother with forums, nor competitive war zoning, and probably doesn't care what a 'damage parser' is or does. They are simply attracted to the 'theme' or concept of the character. Where they go from there is a crap shoot. (ignorance is bliss.)

 

 

I said it in my first post: at one point I took BW at their word. I believed they knew the classes, and fundamental capabilities in PVP. I don't believe that anymore and I've seen signs of it in their developer interviews, and the biggest indicators are the wide sweeping changes made across the board that I would classify as 'beta level' tweaking.

 

BW were making changes so big, I honestly felt at that point they should have offered us free advanced class respec choices (IE. from Merc to PT, or Jugg to Marauder, etc). At that point in game release, changes of that magnitude told me they were catching up to what we, as players, were showing them about their game.

 

I do agree some people won't re-roll. They will quit, well obviously they have quit. I truly hope with the changing of the guard, we will see some changes. I wouldn't post if I didn't hold out some hope.

[frivera]

I won't call it 'babble' but I agree with Frivera; there is an abundance of the broken class players, both in warzones and in PVE only situations.

 

On any given night I can wreck a team with 2-3 level 50 mercs on it. Why are they there? Why bother? Don't they realize the disadvantage they're at?

 

This is the category of player that doesn't bother with forums, nor competitive war zoning, and probably doesn't care what a 'damage parser' is or does. They are simply attracted to the 'theme' or concept of the character. Where they go from there is a crap shoot. (ignorance is bliss.)

 

 

I said it in my first post: at one point I took BW at their word. I believed they knew the classes, and fundamental capabilities in PVP. I don't believe that anymore and I've seen signs of it in their developer interviews, and the biggest indicators are the wide sweeping changes made across the board that I would classify as 'beta level' tweaking.

 

BW were making changes so big, I honestly felt at that point they should have offered us free advanced class respec choices (IE. from Merc to PT, or Jugg to Marauder, etc). At that point in game release, changes of that magnitude told me they were catching up to what we, as players, were showing them about their game.

 

I do agree some people won't re-roll. They will quit, well obviously they have quit. I truly hope with the changing of the guard, we will see some changes. I wouldn't post if I didn't hold out some hope.

 

OK, babble was probably a bit harsh, but I agree with the above. I still see plenty of Mercs, mostly casual players, even in level 50 wzs. I also see many more PTs than I used to, which tells me that the players that care to be competitive have re-rolled. So the "only the cream of the crop players are still Mercs" seems to be obviously false to me. People like the lore and look of Mercs. Heck, my 11 year old son knows nothing about SW, yet he rolled a Merc because he liked the armor and jet pack. It reminds me of the hunter class in WoW. Very popular due to ranged attacks and cool pets, but known as the noob class. I think we've found the SWTOR hunter class.

Edited August 17, 2012 by frivera

[bobmcbo]

I went healer. I guess that's where we're still alive.

[Jholiday]

Im still playing my Aresenal Merc in PvP , Cant get a ranked group to save my life.. Not even a guild one LOL. I am one of the main Raid DPS so I keep this toon for that mostly, but the only reason I PvP my merc @ all is to get mods to send to my toons that Im leveling who will soon hit 50 . If it wasnt for them I wouldnt PvP at all. Its no fun on a Aresenal Merc, now matter how geared your are .. I'm valor 100 and this toon is Just about BIS , and still useless. The only chance I have is If I see someone in recruit gear, and then I tracer their face off. But other than that Im just a meat puppet here to die..

 

Being useless does have 1 advantage , on Civ War I can get somewhere near an oppositions point and they will all come after me so a stealther can cap.. Thats about it though.