On the contrary, players unable to recognize the glaring flaws of this cc/resolve system are definitely people who don't understand the game. They attempted to make maps that allowed for tactical maneuvers (look at the force powers) but at the same time did everything possible to limit player movements -- there's NO SYNERGY between them at all. It took me less than an hour of WZs during beta to find that there's something awfully wrong with the flow of PvP. There were comprehensive threads on the beta forums for months prior to launch discussing this yet no attempts has been made to address it. Do you honestly find a hotbar-based instanced MMO PvP -- ratcheted down by a whopping 1.5 GCD and one that still fails at giving counter CC measures on a spec-by-spec basis -- satisfactory in 2012? Do you ever wonder why EAware has been avoiding cold & hard questions about PvP? The moment PvPers lay it all out for analysis, it won't stand up to scrutiny. Joke PvP is joke PvP. Failed system is failed system.

Just place them on ignore list or pity the fool and move on.

[snip] Sorry, wrong game.

Design issues. I've had two overarching problems with this game, which could actually be summed up as the game severely lacking depth. First, EAWare tried create their own niche by racheting in the fourth pillar by virtue of the IP and KOTOR series -- though, falling woefully short even here despite the voice acting. I mean figuratively speaking, if the Star Wars Universe was a massive wall filled with inlaid figures, posters, graffiti, etc. (think of it as canon-levels based on permanence and prominence), you could blindfold someone and ask them to empty a nerf gun at that direction, and have ideas to work with no matter where the darts stick on the surface. They had 8 class storylines to work with and god knows how many factions/cultures/systems are within the Republic, Empire, and Hutt Cartel's influence. Despite being a themepark, the game initially touted that here our choices have lasting consequences (bollocks, lol). I kept asking myself, at the very least why isn't there a time honored allegiance system with appropriate rewards like gadgets, character customization options, etc. They sky really is the limit here. I've literally laughed and cringed myself to sleep in disbelief over this (e.g. The Hutts and Sith purebloods supposedly have long lifespan -- business opportunities anyone?) I was hoping to be immersed in The Old Republic era, but I couldn't even care less about the six figures standing by on my starship. And the second issue is PvP... need I say more? Yes.

Those have been around since pre 1.0. The only solution I know of is to... slow your fingers down and don't hit them binds too rapidly. Though on the flip side, if pulled off with the right timing, I've found them quite humorous.

That's in your opinion, based on your own experiences. But calling someone else an idiot for not going by the supposed optimal method? Please. I have my own taste of how combat (PvP or PvE) should play out and I'll absolutely lower or raise my bar as needed. I know what's considered 'practical', I'm sure that tank also has his/her own notion for it -- and if you haven't picked it up by now, I too refused to spec into Harnessed Darkness because I disagreed with the properties of the passive, and the implications it presented for me, as a player. Combat in this game is simple enough as it is, I don't want to simplify it even further. The problem I have with the changes to mitigation and self healing from Dark Charge and H.D. is that it takes options away from the player. I think it will be most apparent for Assassin and Shadow tanks who are under geared. Yet they're failing on both fronts. You're assuming an awful lot.

Not quite. On the contrary I'm certain that they've tested for these changes and it has been thoroughly calculated. The problem for players is that they've settled for one the narrowest minded solutions. Changes that are lacking and of this nature, shouldn't come as a surprise anymore. They've taken up the challenge of building up a virtual entity that's mobile at its best and simply tweaked it's upper flow (i.e. logic), while ignoring how it's lower level mechanisms interact with each other -- the stuff that PvPers will [eventually] notice and contend with day in, day out. Instead of expanding upon or making certain aspects more intriguing, they'll just 'tweak it' or stuff add-ons into place. I just think those with a voice either have no understanding or refuse to accept the nature of PvP. If I had anything left to tell them is that, the realities of PvP are fleeting. I wrote a critical post on this thread yesterday (that I retracted) that basically stated: the office is willing to go to any length to isolate the player variable and I reason that PvPers will neither enjoy or thrive in that environment. They've constantly tried their damndest to manipulate this game into producing acceptable 'returns' but in a bass ackwards fashion, which unfortunately for the team, many players have noticed this. ****, by the time 1.1 came out, I thought to myself this is Star Wars: The Old Republic? At that point I knew the only way things could change was to have the shot-callers replaced. Then yesterday I checked out the PTS and got all excited until I glanced at the patch notes and saw the Assassin's changes -- I thought it was a misprint. It's not surprising that the stream of disappointments (for PvPers especially) hasn't and will not cease until someone with an at least basic understanding of PvP begins to call the shots.

[snip] PvE game. All the best, Akabeth

Something like your third point, imo, would've been an amazing feature when the game first came out (i.e. it's much more effective if the player base is more active and large-r). EAWare knew there would be a lot of casual subscribers and it's in their best interest to streamline their experience from starting planet to the end game ops and warzones. If your aim is to consolidate info. and have it for public access, my suggestion is to merge your first point with the third into a guild maintained catalogue accessible through a console pop-up inside our personal starship. Also for your first point, we could simply have it as extension of the former in the form of an internal newsletter for guild members -- also extendable to friends (after their approval, of course). This way subscribers have a more structured way to remain on the same page with each other. You'll always have /tell and mail for member-to-member communication. For another step further, the devs can install large display panels highlighting guild milestones or paid advertisements in form of newsflashes amidst Empire/Republic/Hutt Cartel programs found at the fleet and faction capital -- and if I keep going, we'll probably end up with a fusion of current game and the single shard EVE Online (+ SWG), only set in a Star Wars galaxy far, far away. OP like yours never fail to get my head going, and thinking, "What a wasted potential this game has been", and that's why I'm still following it. But remember, you're appealing to the same group of people who have yet to provide substantial tools for server specific communities to mingle in the forums -- let alone in game.

Me and my guild enjoyed the EC/Denova not too long ago but there's a laundry list of issues with the existing game. I can't speak for anyone else but among many other things... I found rng implemented in the wrong places (e.g. reverse engineering (!), the old pvp bags, some ac being overly dependent on procs to perform) Performance issues (e.g. unresponsive controls, loading screens, fps spikes, apparent lag during larger scale encounters) Mergers and/or transfers unavailable (can't tackle content and PvP lacking) Breathtaking customer support (just check out how they handle customer inquiries, lol) ...to be detrimental. It just makes the whole experience a chore and a much bigger hassle than it needs to be. I don't find it surprising at all that there are, in fact, multiple ghost town servers.

But there's not much drawing folks together either. If population was the real issue with OWPvP, Ilum would've worked out alright until more OWPvP objectives are made available. There are no consequences to controlling territory in this game (umm... not that there are segments of the pie to fight over to begin with) and for those willing to make the effort, they're dissuaded from wrestling over quasi territories. Republic and Imperial questing areas remains separated and instanced even in more encounter-friendly planets like Voss. Also, champion 'checkpoint' guards make it difficult for solo or unorganized players to hunt down targets -- it's tough to find them. Every step of the way in this game, imo, reeks of hand holding. EAWare claim to target as wide audience as possible though that means there are those who shy away from PvP encounters all the way to individuals at the other extreme. Your players at Fatman server are the sole factors for those OWPvP encounters. It's all so artificially constrained and this mentality manifests throughout SWTOR top-to-bottom -- from quest design standpoint (shot themselves in the toe here with voice-overs requirement) to overall combat freedom. Again, there has been so many suggestions thrown around, players have pretty much illustrated and spelled out our interpretations of how Ilum and OWPvP can be made better (e.g. there was a huge thread on inter-planetary conquest some time ago). And what improvements have been made? Questing 'adjustments'. FFS EAWare you made it appear the whole IP is warlike during this time period. If this is true... I'd hate to see what that 'competition' plays up to. If they had any say there's no way in this planet a map like Huttball would've made it past beta or at least it won't be part of ranked warzones.

MMOG or not fme it's more like the unobserved locking mechanisms or embedded chains that binds those pillars in place through good, and bad weather.

I appreciate OP taking his time writing that letter, but I believe at this point it's a matter of prioritization for EAware more than anything else. SWTOR isn't the only game in town and the list of competitors will only grow larger. Not when those recommendations are based on real time testing. For example, exploits aside PvP centric players of every level of competence have consistently complained about game play altering performance woes. This includes lag at the ops scale OWPvP encounters, ability lag or stuttering or misfiring altogether due to discrepancies in character animation vs. casting bar, and untimely loss of control of sorts from rapid bursts of key strokes. Testing has also proven that there are evident issues with Bioware's approach towards crowd control. A certain advanced class in the game has been literally singled-out for nerfs due to their capacity of bursting and locking out single targets to death. They claim that this reality has driven players to cancel their subscription -- apparently the big shots forgot that their game was clearly balanced for team play. Because of their assigned values (i.e. perceived worth) the resolve bar provides a very high ceiling for knockbacks, roots, and snares, relative to stuns and knockdowns. This... is... less than ideal. If you take into account the abundance, range and cooldown of abilities belonging to the former category versus the latter, and leap and pull maneuvers on top of all that, we're left with the possibility of: Players and teams utterly dismantling the other on basis of class, NOT positioning and maneuvers (i.e. my CC and cooldowns > yours, therefore I/we win. To make matters worse, our wonderful PvP lead claims that the game has plans for ranked warzones. This will only compound the issue since in coordinated environments, the game makes it possible for specialized teams to do their objectives merely through the merit of limiting their opponents. The culmination? The SWTOR team is now limited with the variety of maps they're able to produce for ranked warzones and the amount of viable specs and advanced classes able to perform consistently under its expected conditions. Though worst of all they've also -- unwittingly -- subtracted the amount of players who can to participate in ranked warzones effectively -- without even taking guild size, roster, gear, regional latency, and individual player competence into consideration. And the above, is just one aspect of the game. The team claims they have good data. They claim they've heard our feedback. But when core mechanics are left so unrefined and neglected as thus, are they really expecting any PvPer worth his or her salt to treat SWTOR's ranked warzones as anything more than a glancing interest? EAWare, " ." Anyway I'm still in disbelief at how this game's evolving in the past 6+ months. Players have put out so many ideas and suggestions and little has come out of it. To this day the SWTOR team prefers to deflect the difficult questions. I really couldn't give a **** less about PR policies -- this **** is unacceptable. I want the game to flourish but maybe everything I've ever done, thought or written about this game has been misplaced and consequently worth nothing. x2

Strictly from a PvP standpoint, I don't think expertise has a helpful role. It's a lazy mechanic that: Forces players to split their time between two realms of game play since OWPvP became irrelevant and not encouraged -- which also [needlessly] extend time investment at the gear treadmill Compensates for PvE tuning based on metrics so that viable specs perform within reasonable limits in PvP environments (expected OOC interims vs. active & passive mitigation cooldowns, burst heal vs. sustained inc dps, guard & taunts/sec vs. focused fire, etc.) SWTOR was made with the casual player in mind therefore there's no need for a chasm between those who prefer to enjoy the PvE content and others who prefer PvP encounters. Based on my own observations I have models of how I think PvP gear 'progression' ought to work. But if 1.0 - 1.2.x has made anything adamant, this game was never meant for a PvPer.

I'll give it a 7/10. I've always thought that SWTOR is a solid game taking everything into consideration, though there's plenty of room for improvements.