I will only play an MMO if it REQUIRES a sub fee. Not F2P with optional sub for extras like many are doing, because they still tend to compel their subscribers to spend more to get the cool new stuff they develop. It has to be sub fee exclusive. If this one goes F2P, I will move on to the next one with a sub, then the one after that, then the one after that. If it ever reaches a point that there are no subscription MMOs left, I guess i'll have to switch genres, because F2P makes me physically ill.

I found Vanguards solution to be a nice middle ground. You had an offensive target (attack/debuff spells would hit them) and a defensive target (heal/buff spells would hit them) and you could change either one at your leisure. Not quite automation, but definitely improving gameplay for your support characters, who always deserve a little love.

Off-Peak: adj. Not in the period of most frequent or heaviest use Only Bioware has the raw data on what times in what parts of the world their game gets the least amount of use. Based on their position and their repeated posts about ensuring "that the weekly maintenance period to takes place in an off-peak time for both North American and European players," i'd say 10AM to 4PM probably falls into off-peak as far as SWTOR goes. Either that, or as some like to claim Bioware really hates any customer that doesn't live in the U.S. and is actively trying to drive you away from their game. I'll let you decide for yourself which is more likely. Edit: If you folks really want to convince Bioware that the current maintenance is actually during your peak hours, I suggest providing them with some data on concurrent players in Europe at various times, check numbers on your server any day but tuesday during that time, compare with your server late at night. Keep doing this for a month or so. Or send them a petition with a hefty number of signatures. Otherwise, i'd say they've decided that this is the time that inconveniences the smallest number of people.

From Biowares latest Maintenance update: "As a reminder, we are still aiming to limit our scheduled maintenance period to once a week, on Tuesdays, but we had to delay this week's maintenance due to some issues found on the Public Test Server that required extra testing. Our goal is still to ensure that the weekly maintenance period to takes place in an off-peak time for both North American and European players. We are also aiming to inform players of the precise duration of any weekly maintenance period at least 24 hours before the maintenance begins." Now you're free to call Bioware liars, disingenuous, what have you. But their official stance is that they ARE doing it at a time that is convenient for Europeans. And i'm pretty sure they have the raw data to support that, as opposed to the few anecdotal complaints around here. It's entirely possible that you folks are the few who will be inconvenienced based on your individual schedules. It's possible that were they to switch, more people would be inconvenienced. Someone is going to have to, there is no time frame in which no people are wanting to play. If you can persuade Bioware to change their minds, more power to you. But it's going to take a bit more than some angry forum posts.

In other RPGs, including some Bioware ones with nearly identical dialogue/romance systems, once you had achieved relationship status with someone, you could entertain them in your captains quarters, have them dance for you, etc whenever you wanted. So the precedent is there for something more, even from the same developers.

Yeah this is disappointing, I was hoping at least for a clickable repeatable romance cut-scene with them on your ship whenever you felt like it. Bummer.

Yeah DCUO's system was awesome actually. It forced helpful cooperation even when someone was trying to grief.

It certainly happens from time to time, can't think of a game i've played that didn't have issues with Ninjas. However i've found here that the objectives respawn VERY quickly (15-20 seconds or so) and significantly before the mobs respawn. So at worst you're looking at standing there for a couple seconds, and not really having to worry about fighting other mobs. Is it a fix? No. Does this mean they shouldn't find ways of addressing it? No. But at least it isn't terribly off-putting, or hasn't been in my experience so far. Edit: While it doesn't work for every objective (some say you can't interact while fighting or whatever) i've found a good number of blue clickies that CAN be used while in combat. What I tend to do is send my companion, run to the clickie, and see if it works first before clearing the mobs.

It's not like you will have lost two full days while everyone else was able to play. Every single subscriber will have been denied access for the exact same amount of time. I highly doubt they will be adding a day to everyones subscriptions every time they have maintenance. Don't think anyone else compensates for maintenance.

And you are getting exactly that. I am losing as many hours of game time as any European. They are bringing the servers down at the same time and for the same duration for everyone. Nobody is getting special treatment. Like I said, my playtime happens to be in the mornings, and i'm missing out too. But i'm not acting righteously indignant about it. That appears to be reserved for the Europeans who DO want to be treated as special unique snowflakes.

While there are certainly some griefing/trolling type names out there which should be addressed, I also think some of the stickler RP community needs to loosen up a bit and remember what universe they're playing in. There's been a good deal of heckling people for having names that aren't "unique" or some odd combination of letters. Those guidelines were fine in a medieval fantasy setting. This is Star Wars, where you have characters like Salacious B Crumb and Savage Oppress Is it really so lore breaking to have names like Vampirius (an example from the forums who was harassed)? This isn't EQ, or LOTRO, or (someone shoot me) WoW where only names like Uthgor and Jak'rel are acceptable RP names. Just try and remember what world we're in is all.

Apparently you didn't read far into the thread, because Bioware does in fact respond on the topic, on page 17 to be exact. Here, i'll copy and paste to save you the trouble: "While today is still classed as a holiday in many parts of Europe and many of you may still be off work or school, this downtime slot was chosen for a number of reasons. Firstly, in the past, we've talked on a number of occasions about how we will run a global service. Many players raised concerns that patches/updates would land later in the EU than in the US. We stated that as we're running a global service, we'll do everything we can to make sure the updates go live in both regions as close together as possible. For this to be achievable, we need to run maintenance at the same time. Secondly, although many of you are able to play at this time, this is actually one of the times in the day (and the week) when we have the lowest number of players in game. It's certainly far from peak. Given that many of you are still on holiday, today's maintenance may feel a bit more out of place than usual, but in the future, the number of users impacted will be even smaller. Finally it's also worth noting that today's downtime was a little longer than usual and in the future, shouldn't be the case. So hopefully that's gone some way in shedding a light on the reasons as to why we've chosen this slot. "

I actually love Daragon Trail. It reminds me of Oregon Trail.

Yes, this has me worried for my Inquisitor, Darth Malignant. To me, it fits perfectly well with the rest of the lore, ala Sidious, Bane, Maul, Plagueis, Nihilus, Scabrous, Ruin, Karnage, etc. Besides, in a world where names like Solo, Skywalker, Mace, and Savage are common, it's not like using common words is lore-breaking in any way. For the OP: As someone who tutors Hematology, I love your name Anemia and would sign a petition for you to get it reinstated. Edit: Don't forget: Wedge Antilles Greedo Grievous Salacious B Crumb (One of my personal favs) Biggs Darklighter Maris Brood Talon Karde Nute Gunray Droopy McCool (Yeah, hes real) etc. Lets face it, the Star Wars universe doesn't really have any naming conventions to speak of. Crazy and off the wall is the norm.

Even if I were to PRE-ORDER from Origin, unless they decide to give me EARLY ACCESS before the 20th, I still won't be able to play until official launch. Try again.