I think possibly the only type of game where this makes sense is in a super hero MMO. In that genre, there are a limited number of themes based around the kinds of powers you get, and you are creating an identity, not giving a name. In any game where you are creating a name for an individual, I am all for unique names, to force people to use their imaginations a bit and come up with something new. I would be against this if only because it would result in a lot more Annnakkin, Anukan, Mallgis, and whatever stupid attempts to pretend your character is one of the iconic Star Wars characters people come up with. I wish someone would tell these people they don't look cool, they look like asses who can't come up with their own stuff.

/yawn another self-righteous PvEer with a nonsensical, one sided understanding of what MMOs are about. I love how you guys always want to point the finger at PvP for "imbalancing" and "destroying" MMOs...when it is you guys who are almost solely responsible for the way MMOs have devolved over the years from games with awesome communities full of imaginative, creative people, where developers took risks and created incredible, dynamic worlds to explore and deep, rich game systems to work with, to the WoW carbon copy theme park BS we have nowadays. It is the PvE/raid crowd that feels the need to stroke their sad little egos by chewing through expensive to develop content at a ridiculous pace, probably not enjoying any of it, just so one can brag to the other that they downed X boss first. You treat the creativity, money and time game developers spend making this content for you with no respect, as if it exists solely as fodder for your weird little epeen competition, otherwise known as "progression". You have forced developers to take fewer risks, work with proven formulas instead of creating new things, and have made these games increasingly shallow and banal, because all of the development resources have to go towards keeping you brats happy and churning out enough content to pacify you so you don't cry and whine about quitting on the forums. This game lost a ton of subs and went from having queues and god knows how many servers down to what we have now because you couldn't pace yourselves and enjoy the game, you had to play that stupid "Race to see who gets there first" garbage, and got done with the content so fast you had nothing to do but sit on the fleet with your thumbs you know where, leading you to pollute the forums with vitriol and endless whine fests to the point they were unreadable and a lot of people who may have wanted to try the game got turned off. You incited an exodus that dominoed into entire guilds leaving because they saw fewer and fewer people around. You have done the same thing everywhere and every game you have been. You are the locusts of the MMORPG world. Never satisfied, caring about nothing but your epeen race...not even the game itself really except in its capacity as fuel for your neverending search for your missing pair. So drop the "PvP kills MMOs" nonsense. If you want to know who has changed MMORPGs for the worse, look in a mirror.

Now, now. Don't even try and argue that point my friend. I am not a person who is in favor of PvP being about who has the best gear. But when your game is designed that way, and the main thing you offer people as a reward for progression is gear, you cannot do what Bioware is doing and use this back door, not at all subtle means of "balancing" the game by negating the stats people are grinding WZs for. I liked the PvP in GW2 where everyone was on equal footing and no one had a gear advantage...but most people did not. The problem here is that this is not GW2. The developers have stated that their PvP model includes gear as a factor...and yet they make the advantage for getting even the top tier ranked gear ridiculously small for the effort involved. This is really so crazy and poorly thought out that it amazes me it was even implemented by professionals. You want to encourage people to spend time in WZs so they can get better gear, yet that gear basically places you what, a few hundred expertise above someone who comes in with no PvP gear? That is the most inane system I have ever seen in MMO PvP. As I said, for 10-29 and 30-54 it is a great system, and I applaud Bioware for making pre cap WZs so much fun. However the decision to continue this system into the 55 bracket is killing PvP in this game, and needs to be removed immediately.

I agree 100%. My original guild fell apart because of the delay on introducing PvP content...even the ability to queue as a 4 man group and not have to remake after every WZ took forever to implement. The worst part is this new "bolstering" system. It is fine for 10-29 and 30-54 but I can't for the life of me understand who they are catering too when forcing it on the 55 bracket. Why on EARTH would you bolster the 55 bracket? For those people who didn't give a crap about PvP AT ALL till they hit 55 and all of a sudden feel a need to PvP, have ZERO WZ comms and do not want to be disadvantaged at all for THEIR lack of foresight and preparation? The only thing bolstering the 55 bracket does is make grinding the PvP gear next to meaningless. If you haven't prepared yourself for PvP at 55 enough to have capped your comms in order to be able to get a few pieces of gear you DESERVE to have your face smashed in until you catch up. I can't be "bolstered" to run 55 Hardmodes and OPs the minute I hit 55, and people who haven't given a second of thought to preparing for PvP at endgame shouldn't be "bolstered" so that they are competitive with those who have a full set of PvP gear. It is simply ridiculous that this situation exists, and makes you seriously question the thinking of whoever is in charge of the PvP game at this point. This game is starting to seem more like Star Wars: The Old Cartel Shop than anything resembling a Star Wars MMO to me, and if it doesn't turn around I am likely to vote with my wallet and find a game with more balance and integrity, regardless of the fact that I really do want to play this game and love the hell out of Star Wars.

I honestly have to laugh at how the concept of entitlement has become distorted and misused lately. It now seems obvious that the vast majority of people who come around with these "entitlement" arguments are simply people who have been brainwashed into the notion that we as citizens of a civilized nation are owed absolutely nothing...not the slightest bit of personal respect, not any consideration that we are individuals with lives to lead, families, and a lot more important things than what, whether and how much we purchase, and that business has every right to view us solely as objects to be targeted with the most deceptive, unreasonable, abusive and manipulative sales tactics for no other reason than to grossly increase their earnings. There is no justification for Bioware moving the line that has been the standard in MMORPGs from the beginning, and has been very profitable for these games in order to monetize cosmetic character changes. Just as disturbing is the host of gimmicks they are weaving into their system to maximize their profits. I agree 100% with those that feel disrespected...because we ARE being disrespected. Though I am personally not comfortable with the racket they have going with the Cartel Market, I can deal with it because the items eventually can be sold on the GTN. But the cosmetic changes can not, and I find neither the argument that "it isn't necessary" or that "they give you a stipend of coins each month for subscribing" convincing...simply because no other games that I can think of in the Western market ask you to pay real money for cosmetic changes, and that is enough of a reason for me to find this practice unacceptable. EA and Bioware made a host of mistakes releasing this game...releasing it before it was ready, completely misunderstanding the rate at which players consume content, and balking at releasing not only ranked WZs, but the ability to even queue as a larger group, which alone was responsible for wiping out several major guilds from my server alone, my guild included. There was no excuse for any of this short-sightedness...especially the failure to realize how quickly people would level. I read the Ohlen interview, and I call BS. Not only is there over ten years of documented information concerning the rate at which players go through MMO content, but this is THEIR JOB. They ought to know these things, and they are utterly responsible when such a well made and overall amazing game like SWTOR fails to the extent it did early on due to mishandling. Now they are trying to make it back not by engendering trust with their loyal supporters, but via manipulative sales tactics and the monetization of services every other MMO offers for free to subscribers. People are right to find this unacceptable. Paying real money for perks like special mounts and costumes is one thing...accepting that you cannot make cosmetic changes to your character without opening your purse or wallet is another. Have some pride in yourselves and quit accepting any scheme corporate America tries to shove down your throats for the love of cake.

I am going to put my angrypen down for a minute and not overreact to the nonsense being posted in response to the OP and just point out a few things. First of all, enough with the idea that Bioware is justified in monetizing content like the appearance kiosk on the basis of them giving subscribers x amount of Cartel Coins per month. It would be at the very least against the norm in the MMO world even if they stipulated that those coins are intended to be used for certain services in order for the subscriber to be able to actually take advantage of all of the games basic features...and they don't. What it actually is is a MAJOR attempt to move the line concerning what it is and is not acceptable for game companies to charge for...and to redefine the benefits of subscription. To argue that the character customization is not a basic feature is nonsensical...it IS a basic feature in the vast majority of MMORPGs, and always has been. To say that you accept this change shows that you care not at all where the limits are set as far as what is and is not fair for those running these games to charge for. One thing for sure, I wouldn't want you looking out for MY back in any situation. People who think this way are the main reason our society has become victimized by private interests as well. There is nothing wrong with the way benefits have been given for those subscribing to MMORPGs. These companies are making a ton of money whether they admit it or not. To support efforts like the one Bioware is currently making to give you less for your money is not a sign of being a savvy consumer...it is a sign of being a sucker. If poorly informed people with a false understanding of these kinds of issues continue to give corporate entities the rope to hang them with, that is precisely what those entities will do. They care only for maximizing their profit, and you owe yourself enough respect to call a spade a spade and admit that SWTOR trying to charge paying subscribers real money for cosmetic changes to their characters is a total load of BS. The ONE thing that has been turning me off about this game lately is how obviously Bioware is using every sad little gimmick to get people to pay more...and more...and more...for stuff almost every other game gives you for free. I applaud the OP for starting a discussion about this topic and hope the voices of the community lead to Bioware having a bit more respect for their paying customers. Bottom line: paying real money for vanity items like Cartel Skiffs is one thing, paying real money for services that almost every other MMO charges only in game currency for is not. We as players do not want to lead the way in helping EA or any other game company to fine tune the exploitation of our fellow gamers. Enough is enough.

1. Ithorian 2. Selkath 3. Mon Calamari (being reasonable of course...we aren't getting Jawa Jedi so I am not going to vote for that )

Just going to quote your shortest post to save space but... You in fact seem to be one of these people who likes to practice their own version of common sense and rationality where business is concerned. The fact that "by law" they don't have to specify that your cartel coins are to be used to purchase regular content updates is very obviously far from the standard expected by normal, sane human beings. They are very obviously suggesting that these coins are a reward for subscribing, not a resource to be used in conjunction with your full paid subscription that must be put towards content updates if you want your full paid subscription to act like just about every other full paid subscription in the gaming world. If you want to mince words and skew reality in order to make business look saintly as is the norm in our society, you are just another among millions who have discarded accurate thinking to make yourself comfortable with questionable practices that have become the norm in order to reduce your internal conflict with the realities of society. But that doesn't mean anyone else is required to accept this foaming crock of nonsense as truth or a rational appraisal of the situation. I personally am willing to accept the Cartel Coin charge for Cathar if they give us one free race change per character to Cathar along with the purchase. That is the only way it will honestly be fair to paying subscribers, as we did not at all "pay for every race" as you suggest...we paid to unlock them for certain classes. All of them were available with the initial purchase for some classes. The idea that we should have to pay for cosmetic changes as subscribers is totally absurd. If they are going to try and lump in simple things like hair style and color changes with full racial and gender changes to blur the line between what is typically paid for with in game currency and what is typically paid for with real $, I find that completely unacceptable. The bottom line is that there are a lot of people who are not entirely pleased with the way Bioware is using the Cartel Market relative to paid subscriptions. I think that if they want to keep many of the people currently subscribing, they ought to treat us like intelligent human beings and not dummies that can be fed any line of nonsense and are expected to buy it. Simple respect for the customer goes a long way. I pay the monthly sub so that I do not have to be nickle and dimed to death, and I expect my experience to reflect the norm for subscribers in MMO games. If Bioware plans to rewrite or modify the rules, I want to be told explicitly and not have the question dodged with coy language and doubletalk.

Lol...it isn't a conspiracy, it is simply the naked fact of how businesses work. When you create a system where profit is everything, the value of people is minimized to where they can fit in the profit scheme, and every last bit of effort is put into squeezing any bit of profit that can be attained...at any cost. Until people wake up to this reality and quit thinking business is the good guy and that it is a "conspiracy theory" any time the massive flaws in this system are brought to light, things will continue to deteriorate. A sane people would realize off the bat that when you design a system based on greed and materialism it is doomed to create horrible consequences. We, however think that we are so unique, and that our technology so amazing that it can get us out of any predicament, that we are in the process of destroying our world the same way other societies have collapsed throughout history, and do nothing about it because we are under the trance of materialism.

I don't understand the reasoning behind the huge increase in the cost of traveling to various planets with your ship. Since the launch of the game these costs were negligible...now this far into the game Bioware decides to nail us with costs that can be in the thousands simply to travel to different planets? Why would you do this? Do you want to discourage people from visiting the various planets in the game? It makes absolutely no sense, especially since the game was obviously fine with little to no cost associated with space travel. Please reconsider this change, it serves no one and will only discourage people from traveling.

I almost wanted to report the OP for trolling, because it is simply one of the most poorly informed, poorly thought out posts on this subject I have ever read. And that is as constructive as I can get. This is a PvE game otherwise all the servers would be PvP? You must either be 11 years old, have never played an MMO before, or suffer from a serious mental deficiency...and I am not trying to be insulting, I mean a literal mental deficiency, like you suffered a head injury or something.

I agree with you OP. There should be ZERO bolstering in the 55 bracket. Getting geared is part of the PvP game, and Bioware has stated as much. If people can't be bothered to get some gear from level 10-54, then it is only right that they get facerolled in the 55 bracket. This bolstering is making getting the 55 PvP gear much less important, and it is trivializing the 55 bracket entirely. There is just no reason whatsoever to have bolstering in the endgame PvP bracket. You cannot walk into 55 hardmodes with crappy gear and some slots empty, and you should not be able to do so in 55 PvP, either.

That's a terrific quote in your signature, DarthTHC. Something everyone in our nation should seriously think about.

You obviously misunderstood the purpose of my post, which was to mildly insult people who chose Cathar as the first race to be introduced in this game. As someone who saw the first movie in the theatre back in 1977 it boggles my mind that, with all the unique and individual races that have been seen in Star Wars over the years, people would choose something as ersatz and overused as a race of cat people. The fact that an apparent majority of "Star Wars fans" made this choice given the wide range of other choices that are truly unique to Star Wars is what I base my criticism of these people not being "true" Star Wars fans on. You can find cat people in almost any damned work of fantasy out there...from sci-fi to worlds with dragons and wizards. Why would you want to play such a race if you had any feel or appreciation for the great work that designers working in the Star Wars universe have done over the years, creating some of the most unique looking and iconic species ever made in fiction? I say it is a sign of a lack of appreciation for what Star Wars is. That is my opinion, and you are free to disagree with it. I won't bother to directly respond to your juvenile comments about reaching puberty(which are almost exclusively used by those who have just recently crossed that threshold themselves) but be sure you are accommodating when you set the barrier in your little IQ test...because it certainly won't pose a problem for me, but I am not so sure about how you and your kitty loving friends will fare.

To you and the guy above you...that poll should be viewed as a major reason that developers should NEVER EVER do something based on the response they get in a forum poll. There is no way that the majority of the people who voted for Cathar are a) real Star Wars fans b) even around still. Thousands of little kids who like kittens and got mommy and daddy to buy them "that Star Wars game" probably voted in that poll. There is just no way that choice is representative of most of the people who actually spend any serious quantity of time in the game, and THOSE are the people who would pony up for a new race, so Bioware should have asked them first(yes, send a poll to the email addresses of people with over a certain amount of /played time). Personally, I am not going to be influenced to buy anything because of the veiled threat that if I don't, there may not be the possibility that I might not get a race I possibly might like in the future. In fact, based on this choice, I doubt Bioware would do one of the races I actually want to see in the game anyway. So please, enjoy the cat people, but understand why some people are neither happy about this or will be swayed into making a purchase simply to encourage Bioware to add more races to the game.