Thanks for the input. Currently working on a Powertech and will try a Juggernaut as well. Hopefully one of them will scratch the itch. And since no bites on recommendations for a ranged that syncs up with what I described, I suppose I'll stop looking there.

Helpful, thank you. To clarify, I get that no tanks are ranged, or have a ranged dps spec, but wondered about tank offspec dps and ranged dps classes. I'm kind of a mess when it comes to settling in to one class, but those tend to be my favorites. Part of it is that I tend to prefer ranged classes in instances and melee when solo, mostly because so few ranged classes are nimble (à la Wildstar's Spellslinger), but feel planted. So trying to find something I can get behind, one or the other, for the long haul. Your input is appreciated. I am glad to know Guardian/Juggernaut dps options are in a good place and will look at them as well as Vanguard/Powertech.

I realize this is a tired question, but wanted to toss it out anyways in case anyone can offer a thought that will help me decide. I'm a founder, played for some time but left just before Rise of the Hutt Cartel. All vanilla stories done at least once, came back to a level 49 legacy that has since hit 50 just by leveling a handful of random classes to get back into it. It's good to be back. I'd like to play through at least one story all the way as a refresher before I dive in the massive amount of content that will be new to me, ideally on the character that I'll take through it all the first time. My preferences are to either play a tank or ranged DPS. So, to the point: What tank classes have viable (for grouping and solo) and fun DPS offspecs? (I prefer to learn new content as a DPS rather than a tank so as not to slow down others who are on farm mode.) And/or: what ranged dps classes are in a good spot right now? Thank you for your time and input!

Perhaps connected to the silent rocket boost issue, many speeders are now nearly silent again. The issue is most obvious on speeders such as the Gurian Lightning which used to have a distinct rocket sound, now replaced with a very soft, generic humming that I believe is a standard/generic sound on all speeders. But other mounts, such as the Lhosan series, are also missing their unique sound, left only with a very quiet, generic humming when moving.

I can confirm this is happening. The initial "lift off" sound occurs but there is no sustained sound of the rockets themselves. This occurs whether they are triggered when stationary or moving, and whether or not the character stands still or moves after activating them.

This. You can search the history of my posts here and games I've played for over a decade and I've never been a basher or hater, but this is another rung in a downward spiral that isn't funny anymore. As someone who has done some work in software QA it is appalling to think that in a patch made to fix three issues one of them wasn't tested long or thoroughly enough to engage in simple and common activities like mounting, changing zones... or how about putting the character through the animation that was actually half of the bug: wielding a weapon. None of these things were apparently tested before this patch, this minuscule patch made to resolve only three issues, went live. It's an embarrassing display of a lack of QA and makes me concerned for the future of this game. I hope this doesn't come across as criticizing you as I appreciate you have more experience in this area, but the issue is beyond this for two reasons, in my opinion: that a patch was made to fix only three issues and that one of those issues can so easily be seen to not be fixed. I can understand bugs and things getting missed, but not when there are only three being scrutinized before a patch goes live, and not when the one that is missed happens through some of the most common activities. This isn't one of dozens of issues that was supposed to be fixed, it isn't something that happens to a specific class, gender, species, body type or after a complex combination of activities. It happens after you mount, after you zone, after you draw your weapon. How something can pass QA without having included some testing with those common actions is the concern.

Just tested on four characters and it has been fixed for me. Try less animosity and more bug report: what class/body type/race/etc. is the animation bug still occurring for you?

Chat panel fade (the text) is a separate setting under preferences. If you reset it the same way you reset the alpha settings - i.e., change it to what you don't want, apply, change it back, apply - it will work until you zone. Annoying, but there is a workaround.

Saw your post earlier and began keeping an eye on mine. Started the day with somewhere around upper 60s/lower 70s and from questing on Taris and completing Boarding Party via random Group Finder I have raised my commendations to 92. Currently a 35 Operative. Sorry it's happening to you, but here's a bit more info as you requested.

In addition my reply to whisper keybind isn't working. Is this the case for anyone else? It's normally Ctrl+R and tried swapping it to various other keys without and positive results...

Since the previous posting about this was incomplete and under an ambiguous title I'm reposting. Pardon the moderate duplication. Since the recent patch (2.2.2) the chat panel has two issues: Alpha settings default to 100% each time the character zones to a new area. It can be temporarily fixed in Preferences -> Chat by setting the panel alpha to any number and then back to the preferred percentage. I.e. from 0% to anything between 1-100 then back to 0%. That "fix" must be applied every time the character zones to a new area, however (i.e., from Dromund Kaas to his/her ship) as doing so reverts the alpha to 100%. It does not adjust the settings in Preferences but acts as though it was 100%. In addition, the chat text no longer fades, either over time or when entering a cutscene. Though the temporary fix for the panel's alpha resolves that portion of the chat window, the text remains visible at all times. The same fix can be applied as above - changing chat preferences to not fading and then back to fading - but is also overwritten when zoning to a new area.

That fixes the alpha settings, however the chat text no longer fades, either over time or when entering a cutscene.

Just adding the same for me. Came to report the chat bug and can verify the jumping. In addition to the chat window alpha needing to be reset as described above, it no longer disappears initially when entering a conversation cutscene or over time.

Make sure you don't have the Companion Quickbar disabled from Interface Editor. What you describe sounds like what happens if you do. Press Esc, click Interface Editor and select the piece called Companion Quickbar. In the lower section of the Interface Editor window make sure Enabled is clicked. If that doesn't fix it for you, does "not being able to control my companion" include keybinds? By that I mean: do the keybinds for companion control no longer work when the bar is hidden?

Does it happen in all quests or only in companion cantina/ship quests?