What you said is an insult to your own intelligence. That is a throw away statement. "Well if you want to be wrong, then okay." That is one of the most immature forms of arguing, congratulations on choosing to use that method. You define fair as OBJECTIVE. I define fair as SUBJECTIVE. Fair does typically have some objective elements to it, but it will also always have subjective elements. In any reasonable definition or example of fair that you can give I will show you how there is a subject element to it. I am fine leaving this conversation with "we disagree on a fundamental term" but you seem to be unable to leave it at that. Do you believe that insulting someone just because they disagree with you is mature?

Im an IA Operative. I have low damage output and low defense. If you do away with my stealth I would have to get a massive defensive buff (to compensate for the defensive nature of stealth) or else you will have massively unbalanced my class. Considering my in combat stealth is on a 5 min cool down and your damage/defense is always on, I disagree with your claim that stealth is broken.

As a healer, thank you. I got tops 3 medals from healing (not trying to be some sort of bad *** war hero). Before the 4 medal comms cap I would get WAY fewer comms than everyone else, so every vote was GREATLY appreciated.

I am a healer and I have NEVER had the level of "one-minded-ness" with a tank that you described here.

Edit: I read a follow up post from the OP. I see, you are worried that people will act like jerks (afking, ect) and there will be no repercussions since it is cross server. I get it now. But as things currently are without cross-server matches, if someone acted like a jerk, do you really think any community hammer would come down on them? I doubt it, I mean, aside from posting on these forums or shouting on the fleet about what a jerk the person is, how would you let the rest of the community know? And even if you did let them know, I doubt most people would do anything about it.

Are you on a really underpopulated server? On mine, pretty much the instant I am out of one warzone I have an acceptance box up for the next one. Only here and there do I need to wait 5 -10 min for a warzone.

I agree with the studies and concept you are expressing: gear progression in an MMORPG is addictive, it keeps people playing. But you, and the studies you cited, have not addressed the competitive PvP aspect of MMORPGs. The studies you cite are a discussion gear progression (I.E. - carrot on a stick) for PvE. It is not focusing on PvP. Think of an MMORPG as two games in one. PvE and PvP are completely different beasts. What is pleasant for one may be poison to the other. Gear progression in MMORPG PvE is a proven success, no doubt about it, that is where the addiction really hits home. The same is not so true for PvP. If you have a study to cite that says otherwise (Competitive PvP more addictive with Gear Progression), I would be interested in that.

I'm sorry if I misconstrued your post, that is my mistake. And everyone always thinks they are right. If they didn't, they would change their mind and think something else.

Hmmm, that is a pretty good point. There has to be some sweet spot: between where you play so much you don't have any more content to keep you entertained and where you play so little that you don't have attachment to the game anymore. Honestly, I don't know where that sweet spot is, but I would be willing to bet that someone somewhere has done a research paper on the subject, and MMO makers use those findings in their game design.

But the less you play, the less addicted you get, the less likely you are to keep paying. In the devs ideal world, you are correct, but that isn't how it works practically.

My point is that for you and I, we can get frustrated with how long it takes. But to the devs, our frustration (so long as it is not so great we leave) is what they want, because it means that we are falling into their "trap": keep playing so you can keep chasing the carrot on the stick. The devs are crafty... like velociraptors.

In an subscription based game, do you think the devs want you to spend more time or less time in game?

If you do not want a competition based on skill (I.E. - balanced sides) you are in the minority. That is totally fine. However, because they want to make money, BW will cater to the majority. The majority of people want a skill based competition, not a gear based competition. As proof, look at all multiplayer games (RL and virtual) throughout all of human history. A VAST majority of them have a "level playing field" where the competition is based on skill and nothing else. Most people want skill based competition. You simply happen to not be one of those people. That is totally fine, everyone is different is some way.

But using that same example: Does Jordan have a gear advantage? Should he have a gear advantage? Would other players prefer if he had a gear advantage that they could work towards? Would it be better for the NBA if there was a gear advantage for the top players?

I do not want to misread your statement, so please correct me if I am wrong. But it sounds as though you are saying that you do not want a competition of skill. You say, "I get better through game mechanics", this implies to me that you want some people to be at a disadvantage based on game mechanics and others to be at an advantage based on game mechanics, which is not the same thing as skill. This would indicate that you disagree with one of the fundamental principals I tried to incorporate in my suggestion, which is a skill based competition. If you are saying that you do not want a skill based competition, please say so. If that is the case, that is fine, but then we have fundamentally different ideas of what PvP should be. Also, as I have said previously, it only makes sense that BW will cater to the people who they will make the most money from. That is typically the majority. And in the case of skill based competition versus non-skill based competition, non-skill based competition supporters are in the minority.