This is just a thank you to any and all who responded and helped me with my recent issue. The issue was resolved in my favor, but I have no clue what happened. My original thread was deleted, which is understandable (I was going to edit the OP as someone suggested but it was deleted before I got a chance to do so), and I did briefly skim it this morning, but I didn't get to read it carefully to see what happened. In game, I received no notifications or updates, but my cartel coins were refunded, and the item I was trying to refund was properly removed from my unclaimed items. Last night, I did PM Eric and Keith and some suggested, but I have so far received no PM's from either of them. I did receive a PM from Owen, who I'm not sure is affiliated with Bioware/EA or not. I am curious as to what happened and who helped me. But regardless, thanks to all who helped. Many of the suggestions and replies helped, including the suggestion to PM Eric and Keith (I would not have imagined developers responded to player PM's), who might have been the ones who resolved it. The information about the bug people were talking about helped too, as I referenced that information in my PM to Eric. There may even have been some Bioware/EA employees replying in the thread, but it was unclear. So, whoever I have to thank, thank you!

I didn't say they don't deserve long vacations. I said that they can't. As in, they can't afford to. They may very well deserve a vacation. They may very well need a vacation. But that doesn't change the fact that a vacation does massive and irreperable harm to their subscriber base. I say this because there is seemingly a downward trajectory in server populations that will eventually lead to the game shutting down. EA hasn't released any subscription numbers for SWTOR recently, but server populations certainly feel lower than they did at the same time the previous year. In December, subs were rumored to be around 100k , with the previous officially released numbers somewhere around 250k. A long vacation isn't the only factor in people leaving, but it certainly is a major contributing factor - it means major outstanding issues all throughout the holiday season as well as a nearly 2-month delay/hiatus/freeze in the development of new content/features. In the case of Warhammer, the game could not survive a vacation. The game launched in September 2008. It sold 1.2 million copies and had 750,000 subscribers by October. The devs were exhausted after developing the game for many years, so they took a long vacation sometime in December (I believe). But there were major outstanding issues left unaddressed while they took their break. They lost over half their subscription base over the holiday. By December 31, 2008 there were only 300,000 subs left. The game never recovered. There were some attempts at new development/content throughout 2009 but by the end of 2009 the game was essentially in maintenance mode. From there it was just a downward spiral to the game's closure in December 2013. The EA Mythic devs may have deserved a vacation, sure, but in today's oversaturated MMO market, they couldn't afford it. Many of them didn't have jobs anymore several months to a year after their vacation. Of course, SWTOR does this vacation thing every year at this time, and it has survived thus far without being in maintenance mode. But that doesn't change the fact that these vacations are major catalysts to people leaving. The game is still around partly because of the resilience of the F2P model. But even that can't offset steady attrition towards a dangerously low number of subs, which is what we're approaching right now.

They were all on vacation. Apparently, they just got back. They might want to rethink these ridiculously long holiday vacations. I can't help but wonder how many customers they lose just because of these vacations. EA Mythic did the same thing which is part of why Warhammer Online failed. That first Xmas right after launch the devs felt they deserved a long vacation because they worked long and hard on the game. Well, guess what, that just meant that all their hard work went down the drain. MMO devs just can't take long vacations. A lot of people don't get weeklong vacations much less monthlong vacations. For Xmas and New Years some people just get like 2-3 days max.

If you're just farming the heroics for alliance crates, yeah it makes sense for them to be the way they are. However, if you're doing them to experience the storylines, they're completely ruined now because the end dialogues that used to be there are gone. People are not asking for the cutscenes to be there every time you do them. People are asking for the option to turn them on and off, or for them to be there the first time you do the heroics. Or, have two different versions of the same heroics - if you pick it up from the terminals, you don't have cutscenes. If you pick it up from the npc's, you get all the cutscenes.

Yeah, it seems like they broke it. This is the first time we've seen Xeno HM since he was scaled up to 65, and I believe they've overtuned it. Tanks just get crushed by normal hits - and we're talking about well geared tanks in all 220-224 gear.

Is there a list somewhere of which specs/classes are best for which bosses?

So, I heard that while this is the highest parsing spec on the dummy out of all classes right now, this is the worst gunslinger spec in actual fights. Is this true?

This is great work and I have no doubt with all the proof posted that the recommendations here are optimal. However, I am extremely confused as to what gear to actually get. As far as I can see, the only things posted are augment choices, stat totals, and where stats come from. I need to know what to actually get: what types of mods/enhancements to get, what earpieces/implants to get, and what relics to get. The original post recommends 5 accuracy augments for an assault commando, but I already have 110.74% accuracy on my commando without accuracy augs so obviously that won't work unless I change my enhancements/earpiece/implants. But it doesn't tell me which enhancements, etc. to change out. I also have a vanguard and shadow tank. I see that I should get 9 shield and 5 absorb augments for my vanguard and 4 shield/10 absorb for my shadow. But should I use shield/defense enhancements or absorb/defense enhancements and how many of each? And should I use the old 198 absorb mods as some people recommend? So I basically need to know how to gear my commando dps, vanguard tank, and shadow tank. I also may gear my sentinel in the near future. Bottom line: you know what's best for me. Tell me what to do. Thanks.

Never mind, got in now.

There are many variants of trooper armor that use that model. That's not the point - the great thing about TH-15A Patrol (and the slightly darker assault variant) is the texture/coloring. It's my favorite for all my troopers and trooper companions. It's white with dark blue trim. Obviously it all comes down to individual taste, but to me (and obviously to many others) those two you listed don't even come close. The closest you can come is using dyes on trooper's exalted legacy armor (you'd have to use a different base for companions since companions can't use trooper exalted). But even the best dyes don't really do it as well as TH-15A. There is no white/dark blue dye - there's white and black which is sort of close but too dark (black is not blue). And with all the white/blue dyes the blue is too light. And even if a dye is just right - dyes don't work properly half the time. When you dye the green trooper exalted legacy armor white and black, there's still sometimes this greenish afterglow. And dyes don't work at all in many cutscenes and with companions in many cutscenes (e.g. dyes don't register on companions for every single companion conversation cutscene in the game last I checked). Trust me, this particular one is a big deal for me - I've tried everything - I'd do anything not to have to grind/spend warzone comms for purely cosmetic purposes. But because of there not being the right dye and dyes not working right I've resorted to just outfitting all my troopers and trooper companions with TH-15A at the expense of a lot of warzone comms. At least for my characters I can just buy the TH-15A chest and unify colors which works a lot better than dyes. But ah, can't do that anymore if I make any more troopers or if I roll on another server since they took it out of the game. The above example just goes to show, Eric, that "virtually all of the core armor appearances previously on those vendors can still be located throughout the game" just doesn't cut it. Just because there are items in the game which use the same model doesn't mean you can achieve the same or even similar appearance. Dyes don't do the job right. This is partly because of dye selection and partly because dyes bug out or don't function at all in many instances as illustrated in the example above. Also, sometimes there are features/textures on a particular piece that the dyes can't recreate. For example, you can dye the tactical trooper cartel market armor all day and it'll never look like TH-15A since it doesn't have the Republic insignia or the Havoc badge. Please just put the stuff back in. If the vendors were taking up too much space, then consolidate them into fewer vendors and/or put them somewhere out of the way.

As I've been saying, they should give all companions the ability to use both their old weapon types and their new weapon types. They clearly have the ability to do so. Treek can use both blaster pistols and rifles. Double bladed saber comps used to be able to use both saber types. Comps that used to only be able to use sniper rifles can use both blaster rifles and sniper rifles now. Give us the freedom to choose whether to use their classic weapon type or their new weapon type. It doesn't have to be one way or the other. Let the players decide. And yes, we all know that Jorgan is a former sniper and yes, it makes sense for him to use sniper rifles and blaster rifles (as is currently the case). That doesn't mean that story-wise, he can't use assault cannons as well. Story-wise, it's possible that upon joining Havoc Squad, Jorgan did some additional training that included assault cannon use. Just look at the trooper player character commando advanced class. You start off only knowing how to use blaster rifles and then you learn how to use assault cannons as well (commandos are still able to use rifles). Or, he might have known how to use an assault cannon before he became a sniper. He might have originally been a heavy support gunner before he went through sniper training and joined the Deadeyes. We don't know Jorgan's full history. So story-wise, it can make perfect sense for Jorgan to use both rifles and assault cannons. In addition to that, story isn't the only consideration here. There's also the fact that Jorgan's been using assault cannons for the past four years. In honor of that, he should be given the option to use both rifles and cannons. To many of us, because of the past four years, the assault cannon is Jorgan's iconic, classic weapon. Let's not pretend the past four years didn't happen. As I've said, just give him the ability to use both weapon types and give players the power to choose what they want.

It's possible animations are an issue, but it's unlikely since comps with animations designed for one weapon type were able to or are able to function just fine with another. Before 4.0, double-bladed saber companions were able to equip one handed sabers and the animations worked fine for both. Currently, Treek can use both pistols and blaster rifles and her animations work fine with both. Also, the player commando class is able to use both blaster rifles and assault cannons, and the animations for all their abilities work just fine with both. They have a TON of abilities, and it's highly unlikely they were all designed and tested for blaster rifles when commando is a pure assault cannon class. Yes, we all know that Jorgan is a former sniper and yes, it makes sense for him to use sniper rifles and blaster rifles (as is currently the case). That doesn't mean that story-wise, he can't use assault cannons as well. Story-wise, it's possible that upon joining Havoc Squad, Jorgan did some additional training that included assault cannon use. Just look at the trooper player character commando advanced class. You start off only knowing how to use blaster rifles and then you learn how to use assault cannons as well (commandos are still able to use rifles). Or, he might have known how to use an assault cannon before he became a sniper. He might have originally been a heavy support gunner before he went through sniper training and joined the Deadeyes. We don't know Jorgan's full history. So story-wise, it can make perfect sense for Jorgan to use both rifles and assault cannons. In addition to that, story isn't the only consideration here. There's also the fact that Jorgan's been using assault cannons for the past four years. In honor of that, he should be given the option to use both rifles and cannons. To many of us, because of the past four years, the assault cannon is Jorgan's iconic, classic weapon. Let's not pretend the past four years didn't happen. Also, many people have customized Jorgan's appearance to include specific assault cannons. In the end, it's about giving players the freedom to choose between the weapons they've been having Jorgan use for four years and the rifles he is currently able to use.

Yes, but as I've said, that's no good reason why he can't use both rifles and assault cannons. They have the ability to allow him to use both. And it's not like snipers don't know how to use other weapons as well.

Yeah, story-wise he should be able to use blaster and sniper rifles. However, there's no good reason why he can't also use assault cannons IN ADDITION TO the rifles he is currently capable of using, you know, in honor of the last 4 years. They obviously have the tech to allow companions to use multiple weapon types. Please allow Jorgan to use both rifles AND assault cannons. Let's not pretend the last 4 years didn't happen. Some of us customized his appearance to include specific cartel market or other assault cannons and are quite attached to him using an assault cannon.

Well, it seems like this change may have been intentional. NPC Changes Some companions can now equip multiple weapon types: Gault Rennow now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. Kaliyo Djannis now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. Lieutenant Felix Iresso now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. Qyzen Fess now only uses Techblades. Zenith now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. T7-01 now only uses Blaster Rifles. Lieutenant Pierce now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. Corso Riggs now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. Risha now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. Aric Jorgan now uses Blaster Rifles and Sniper Rifles. Yuun now only uses Techblades. C2-N2 now only uses a single Blaster Pistol. 2V-R8 now only uses a single Blaster Pistol. Lorewise, it might make sense, but the guy was using an assault cannon for 4 years. It didn't have to happen. All your weapons that say Jorgan on them are Assault Cannons still. They have the ability to allow characters to use multiple weapon types now, so I see no good reason why Jorgan can't use both rifles and assault cannons. Is there any way we can allow Jorgan to use the weapons that many of us have chosen for him and know him so well for in addition to rifles? They clearly have the ability to allow him to use both, so why not?