It is very strange with SW ToR pvp premades and their devastating effect on causing imbalance in a pvp match. In World of Tanks for example I can form a platoon or just pug and face off against a team with a well formed platoon and it never feels like there is a guaranteed faceroll for the team with premade plattoon no matter how skilled because WoT mixes up team composition really well (and there are no healers). So whats my point; apples and oranges right? Well judging from the dozens of threads (probably more) about the problem of premades it all comes down to team composition and then skill as a secondary factor. A premade (especially ranked) will make sure to have a competent healer in their group. Merc/Commando healers will often be socially abused for puging in a ranked match by hardcore elitists and hardly ever accepted into a group of hardcore players in ranked. So a premade will often include a competent healer that will be looked after which pretty much makes all the difference in my opinion. Going on at this point I'm just beating a dead horse as none of this is new to anybody but we need some kind of solution. I suggest that like World of Tanks team composition is evenly matched so that each team has a balanced ratio of healers/dps/tank. Would it really be that hard for the matching system to be able to do this? And please absolutely do not nerf heals. We have all read our share of qq threads about heals but they are not the problem, its team composition that is crucial in my opinion.

I hadn't considered the forums not being representative of the player population as a whole and you have some other good insights as well. Particularly your mention of an in game poll sounds excellent; I wonder if your idea has ever been brought to the attention of the devs. The players guiding the devs on where to take the game next seems like a win/win. We get what we want and the devs don't have to stress too much about what will make their players happy.

I think Dec 2nd was the last day to take advantage of the offer. Assuming you did re-sub Dec 2nd for example then you will not be billed again until jan 31st. I hope I'm clarifying this correctly.

I really sympathize with your post a lot and its sad just regular nice people like you get the social abuse that you described from the "hardcore elitists" out there. It would be a very cruel blow against commando/merc spec healers to be nerfed in any way and the social condemnation they face in ranked matches (such as the abuse you suffered) pretty much proves the point.

Allowing players to unlock datacrons at the Legacy level sounds like a perfect solution for everyone. I can imagine that would cost a small fortune though if the unlocks are not global and character only.

Great poll. I hope this helps guide the devs into some insight for what to work on next for us.

Could it be a gunship hitting you? Just remember a defensive maneuver will never break an instant hit from a gunship at 15k range and depending on upgrades those buggers hit through your shielding. Missiles also have travel time which actually cost a lot to upgrade to improve their travel speed while gunships are instant travel from the start.

You sir have countered the simple "re-spawn as scout and kill the gunship easily (insert long winded strategy that really doesn't work as described in actual gameplay)" . So many good points and I especially liked your suggestion that the railgun needs to have a travel time.

Can you imagine how awesome the PvE raids could be for space content? We would probably be going up against things like the Star Forge!

Thank you for speaking up for the silent majority and well said.

I love the gunship because it is sort of like having the power of a tank destroyer in WoT but with the defense of a heavy tank and range of an arty. Of course that powerful combo would be instantly nerfed. Maybe the devs could make a true "stealth" fighter class for the sole purpose of countering gunships instead of just nerfing them. I agree though that something needs to be done about the insane power and utility of the gunships class ship (especially when fully upgraded).

I never played SWG but from what you describe about melding with the ground game would be awesome to see something similar done at some point with Starfighter.

Galactic Starfighter is more similar to World of Tanks/Warplanes than a traditional mmo and could perhaps learn a few things from them in terms of balancing the pay to win aspect. World of Tanks/World of Warplanes may not be perfect mmos but I feel they have pretty much perfected the balanced in terms of free to play versus pay to win. The premium tanks in WoT don't offer any major advantage than the regular unlock able tanks and people can buy "gold rounds" which is probably the biggest pay to win aspect of the game but still not overpowered in my opinion.

World of Warplanes is mouse based and that worked out fairly well in my opinion. The sensitivity and speed in Starfighter are far more emphasized though but of course that is what you would expect I guess comparing WW2 technology to space fighters. Its taking some getting used to for me at least.

Excellent idea. You are proposing would let the strategic types have full control over their companion groups. I imagine solo players out there would really enjoy challenging themselves with companion groups rather than being forced into a human group. Bioware would have to love the fact this gives incentive for replay value because many players would be motivated to gear up multiple companions.