I've seen this in other games in one form or another. I believe it was in EQ2 in some fashion and I believe I saw it in GW2 on some you tube videos. I could be wrong though. Would not be the first time. We already have the ability to scale up levels in the PVP Warzones, in the 10-49 bracket. What about having the option to scale down in levels, to make grouping with and helping lower level people more group/xp friendly. A good portion of the lower play time community indicate the difficulty to get groups for the Heroic Planet Quests and the lower level dungeons. While sure, a level 50 could come and destroy the content for the individual, but they would lose out on all the bonus xp for being in a group and actually normal xp gain. Basically all the level 50 offers is just a way to complete the quest for those that need help. I think it could potentially add a lot more grouping opportunities without worry of your XP gain being nerfed.

"Cons" are in the eye of the beholder. The only con I see in your list is Ninja looting for me. The others are Pro's, as you can possibly do the good community member thing and help the under geared player, or tech the player group concepts, etc. But we all know the reality of the "Community" argument. Heh... Hypocrit much?

I played WoW and lived through the supposed horrors of cross server dungeon finders. Sure you get the occasional headache group, but more times than not, the groups were more than fine. And every single person knows it. Unfortunately, you just tend to remember the bad ones, even if they are only a few. The LFG systems implemented in games have done nothing but enhance the dungeon experience for those who wanted to use it. Get groups faster. Can quest/farm/dailies, what have you while waiting for your group. You do not have to sit in designated spot, spamming for wasted time. All the supposed cons I cry hogwash. You get all that stuff, even worse, on your supposed community friendly single server. Hell look at the supposed community here on the forums. No one can post an opinion that goes against what you/he/she thinks without getting ridiculed or lambasted. Hypocrisy is what I say. Heck, you just basically help the argument that it destroys community being silly, very valid. I don't know how many times I have seen someone try to complain about a ninja in a group to their server community. And instead of that community siding with the victim, they all turn on him or her and ridicule them for being a qq'r or its just pixels, etc. And again, you see the similar antics in the threads where folks have posted here about the ninjas and lack of etiquette in their single server experience. It is pretty dang simple. If you dont like the LFG, do not use it. It will not affect your "community" at all because you will never see anyone from a different server. You can continue to sit in the fleet and spam away. You will not be affected in the slightest. Me using the LFD tool, will not affect you at all. And it needs to be cross server, for the faction imbalances that are prevalent on servers. Some factions wont have a problem if it is single server, others it won't fix a thing for them. So they need to pair servers with opposite faction imbalances to help the dungeon running crowd. And yeah, I spent two evenings LFG. Got one lousy run in, with about 5 hours of spamming over the two evenings. Im all for the LFD, pros and cons included. I'll deal with the bad stuff to be able to actually run something.

I posted something similar to this a few weeks ago. I am not really in line with complete faction changes, but I do think some way of allowing people to group with and fight with each other, based on some formula, would be great. It would make Lightside and Darkside choices matter. But having "faction" doesn't seem to be a big deal. Everyone wants their cake and eat it too. Anyways... Smugglers and Bounty Hunters should be allowed to group with anyone in my opinion. I mean good ole Han Solo dealt with the Hutts... the bad guys! He didn't associate exclusively with Republic. Bounty Hunters will go where the money leads them, etc. Jedi and Sith - The light and dark versions are prevalent in the stories of the Star Wars universe. And they associate with their chosen "faction". Some actually undergo complete changes. Jacen Solo - Darth Caedus, anyone? Darth Revan swapped. The stories of our companions in this game. Would bring an added dimension to PVP as well and might actually help with some of the PVP imbalances in regards to population. It is something to consider and take a look at, in my opinion.

I've played WoW and used their LFD tool. Yes you get the occasional "issue" group. But I have experienced dramatically more positive experiences than bad. Its just unfortunate that one or two bad experiences tend to stick with people. I don't see how a Cross Realm tool would affect those that do not want to partake in it. If you do not use it, you will not have to suffer the social negatives that you are worried about. It is like that whole PVP thing. All those PVE people that loathe PVP, do not have to worry about it. Simply do not hit that Que for PVP function! And play on a PVE server. Cross Server should be a standard feature for MMO's now. My opinion mind you. WoW - Started out without one. Moved to one. RIFT - Started out exactly like SWTOR. Did not have one. Had all the same forum wars about getting or not getting one. RIFT implemented one and much rejoicing was to be had. Here we are in SWTOR. Glad to hear they are talking about it. Can't wait for it!

Same server LFG won't do much for the low population servers. I'm of the mind of Cross server LFG tools need to be in the game. I know all the pros and cons. For me, however, the supposed cons go on now in the game without any LFG feature implemented. Ninja-looting - Go browse the forums and see the MANY MANY threads about people needing on items, that are not for their class. This is not a cross server problem. Community - The server communities are a joke now! People still only group within their guild. Hence you have the constant spamming for LFG. New people who may struggle get ridiculed and made fun of. This is NOT a cross server problem. Accountability - Loot and leave! Guess what, it happens now! Spend 90 minutes looking for that tank. Go in and kill the first boss. Oh darn, the tank didn't get the drop he wanted and suddenly has to go! Back to the drawing board. Leaves the other 3 high and dry. And he gets to repeatedly do it, because of well, that tank shortage thing. Ninja-looting, see above. Nope, sorry, not a cross server thing. Reputation - What Rep? Every time someone tries to announce to the public that player x is a ninja looter or just a general *****, the loving community that they are a part of turns on the player and tells him he is whining, or it is just loot, etc etc. No, sorry, not a cross server problem. So for me, all these "cons" are moot. All that is being lobbied as worries and bad things, are things that happen now, without any type of LFG tool. So bring on the cross realm LFG! I mean seriously. If you are so against it, Don't Use It!. I sure as hell won't force you too. Continue to play how you want to play. You won't experience any of the cons of the cross server LFG if you do not use it. Group with your guildies and list of friends. But if I am on at an off time than my guild or friends, I sure as heck should not be held hostage by the play times of my guild or friends. I should have as many opportunities as possible. And cross server would help bring together more people with similar situations. I hope they see the cross realm will be a much needed necessity.

Same old story, different MMO. Player X can't do new content. Game is going to Fail. Player X had his/her class adjusted. Game is going to Fail. Player X did not get all features in game in a patch. Game is going to Fail. Yet, oddly enough, virtually every single major MMO that was released, enjoyed many years of success. And if I was a betting man, SWTOR will be around for a while as well.

If you are being focused by the one plus the 7 other players, ie the whole team, who cares how many stuns there are, yer dead.

I do. I play a Sorc and an Operative, both healing spec. I get stunned a lot and focused a lot. I learned to adapt. We have tools at our disposal which enables us to live. What level are you and what do you play?

I think the commendations is a good idea, personally. Yes I understand the time sink equation. But I honestly feel people are going to play as long as they are going to play, regardless, for the most part. And the less painful things are, the longer they will continue. One scenario why I think shared raid commendations work... I have multiple 50's. My healer is all decked out and needs nothing. I have been playing my Operative. Well unfortunately one of our healers was not able to be on for the raid. The guild knows I have a healer and asks me to play it so the raid can go off, without having to pick up a pug, or what have you. Normally one would be hesitant because they would lose out on opportunity to get some needed commendations for their toon. Well now it is no big deal, because I can use the commendations gained with my healer, for my operative and the guild got to still raid, without incident.

I think the idea is great for those who wish it. With the grinds that folks are complaining about now... Social - What is on there that you have to grind for, to advance in raid content or zone content? Seems pretty optional to me. I am a whopping Social 2 and still enjoying the raiding and PVP scene, etc. Not seeing what is REQUIRED to obtain. Legacy - Not implemented yet, so kind of silly to complain about. And it seems fairly non noticeable, considering virtually every single thing you do, on any toon, grants you Legacy experience. Raiding Gear - This is really the only grind that I see, to get the top gear from Raiding. Well, you have to raid. Nothing from any faction grind is preventing you from succeeding here. Fresh 50's can basically walk into EV and begin their Raid Gear commendation farming. You do not HAVE to do dailies, or HM Flashpoints. It helps, sure, speeds up the process a little bit, but sure doesn't block you from succeeding. I didn't do my daily HM FP. Dang it, not going to be able to clear EV this week... =( PVP Gear - Much like Raid Gear. And you get to start this at level 10. Few Warzones a day keeps your Valor maxed as you level. Once you hit 50, you have a whopping 10 levels to "grind" out for the best gear, and usually a supply of bags and gear to give you a nice head start. Nothing from any faction grind is preventing you from succeeding here either. Not sure what is on that social vendor preventing you from becoming a Battle Master. If folks want more faction grinds and "flavor" rewards, much like the social stuff... then why not. It isn't preventing any type of progression at all. At least that I am aware of.

I think this is a great idea for a PVP server. You could do so much with it. Obviously if you are the hunter, you get your bounty reward. They could add titles and such for how many bounties you claim successfully, or even fail to collect. On the hunted side, they can do the same. They can get some sort of reward or stigma associated with being hunted, the size of the bounty on them, the amount of times they are hunted, etc. They way it is fun and rewarding for both sides. You will have players that will thrive to be on the "Bounty Board", if that were the case. Anyone should be able to track the bounty. And instead of a locating device, just have the player possibly flagged with a different color name! So if you happen to run across him, its like... crap he is WANTED! Or put a tracker on your ships that indicate only what planet said person is on. The only way to track would be to actually sign up for a Bounty. And then have bounty Hunters actually be flagged with a different color name, as well. That way the hunted can wonder if that bounty hunter is after them or not! Talk about adding suspense! Its Han Solo in the cantina all over again! We better get out of here... Could definitely add a lot to the PVP scene.

When you reverse engineer a piece of Operation equipment, do you get the schematic 100%? Or is it just a chance, like all the other crafting?

Would love to see more maps and yes, so much they could do!

LOL Indeed.