One other thing for Carambole -- it sounds like you've exhausted more options than I have in addressing performance issues, but switching to fullscreen windowed mode really helped me. I had always been skeptical of this, as it sounded really counterintuitive. However, I resorted to this for the last patch, and it really helped smooth out the peculiar stuttering issues. I don't think it will help with actual server lag, though. Your mileage may vary!

I'm hoping this will attenuate after the initial F2P interest, but the lag was abysmal last night. There were times I was trying to loot an archaeology node, and my companion stood there dumbly, and I wasn't allowed to loot it myself because it had queued it for my companion. I eventually dismissed my companion and did it myself! In combat, companions and enemies would run forwards, then backwards, and did a sort of shuffling, ludicrous dance trying to figure out where each one really was rather than where each one of them used to be. This was on Alderaan, with a population of about 80 users. Not a small number, but it was by no means excessive.

This is very true. I put on my headphones the other day when I was in Nar Shadaa and picked up all kinds of immersive sounds. It was really effective. I think what bothers me is how quiet the characters themselves are. Gestures such as /laugh take your character through a lengthy silent pantomime, and it makes the social interactions feel distant. I use /cough regularly because it's one of the few gestures that has a sound (it's also pretty well done. *grin*). At the risk of referring yet again to WoW, sounds made interactions with other characters much more fun -- the bawling an of Orc, the shrieking laughter of a Blood Elf, whistling when bored... I think a lot could be added to the liveliness of the universe with a few emote sounds.

Hi Bioware, As a self-appointed delegate of the underrepresented "easy-to-please" demographic, I'd like to thank you for your work on crafting. I look forward to the patch!

While I generally agree, I find it weird that quest reward choices get clogged up with parts that are clearly meant for your droid. For example, after completing one quest, you can pick body armor for Kaliyo or a core for 2V-R8. If Bioware only meant for the droid to salute you whenever you enter your ship, why'd they go through all of the trouble to give you nifty quest rewards for him? It seems like there were two different design philosophies that went into 2V-R8, and the resulting compromise limits his performance as both a mission runner and a combat companion. It warms my heart to hear that he doesn't say the same thing over and over in combat, though! Thanks!

I was able to draw out Darth Jadus with Suppressive Fire. Crouch behind one of the boxes in front of him, put Kaliyo on passive, and get him off that evil platform that causes all the LOS issues. Place him at the edge of the target, and your character will begin spraying the area and it should catch him. If not, play with the positioning a bit. Like others have said, put Kaliyo on passive until he starts running down. At least with this method, you sort of get the jump on him. Not that I've beaten him! By the time I discovered this trick, I was already pretty annoyed and went back to the generic quests on Taris. I realized in retrospect I probably should have been using my interrupts more cleverly. I'll go take him on another day when the wounds have healed and my bank account has recovered.

I'm just saying that I find unsettling that so many people just assume stagnating at the end game is inevitable, and a fun endgame can never be engineered. Maybe they've had a lot of bad endgame experiences and have come to this immutable conclusion -- it sounds like you're not one of these people. So... yay!

I'm loving this game right now. People complain about the game and have these tantrums because they truly do like this game, not because they hate it. They want to keep playing it. Some comments (a lot, really) come across as demanding and immature, and perhaps that's fair -- but they make a valid complaint based on their play style. I've seen many comments lately declaring it's an impossibility for MMOs to be fun once you hit the cap. While that sounds reasonable, is it really the case? Just think if Bioware could figure it out. Sandboxing, customization, whatever -- I don't have the silver bullet, but I'm rooting for Bioware to overcome this perceived lack of content and make some mechanics that keep the game compelling for most of their audience even after the level cap has been hit. Keep up the good work, Bioware.

I really appreciate the work you guys have been putting in to ability delay. I've been limping along with an AMD dual core that's in its sunset years as far as gaming is concerned, and this was very welcome news. I look forward to your fixes!