Anyone who cares about swtor and its pvp should read this post.. points at Devs.

all i want is 4 things to enjoy this game.

1. simple macros, because i've run out of keybinds. 24 atm, need 30.
2. item-level filter for warzones.
3. lvl 50 brackets for warzones.
4. various different maps for warzones, especially hutball
5. oh, and a guardian pvp set that doesnt make your eyes bleed.

They could also just get rid of the pvp stat and the two factions all together. As it stands you have Sith who can be completely "light side" and Jedi who can go completely "dark side". There is no reason a Bounty Hunter should be forced to work exclusively for the Empire and no reason a Smuggler should be forced to work exclusively for the Republic. Troopers and Ops are soldiers and spies who would work for either side or become mercenaries fighting for whoever pays the highest price. Bioware prides itself on it's ability to tell stories, but this story as it is written makes no sense, and has hamstrung what this game is capable of. While there is indeed "Black" and "White" in Star Wars there is also a ton of "Gray" that makes Star Wars so vivid. This game is severely lacking on any real "Gray".

Creating a third Neutral Faction that players from both the Empire and Republic can elect to align with is not as hard to do as it might seem on the surface. Such an option would not become available until endgame so that it doesn't necessitate a complete rewrite of the game and it's story. From level 1 to 50 you have been making your choices (light side/dark side) via the class stories, but these choices have no real meaning other than which model of gloves and boots your character can buy from the respective vendors, and what color crystals you can use. Light Side/Dark Side choices are what should ultimately determine your faction, and which side you serve. Remaining Neutral should be hard, and should be rewarded with the ability to play both sides against each other for profit, or to remain truly neutral.

This concepts actually creates an endgame where the choices made as one levels from 1-50 can be fully realized, have meaning, and most importantly have consequences. The ability to change sides would also make things more interesting, and more "realistic" and a mechanic to earn faction "reputation" is easily accomplished (ie: its been done before and is already present in this game). We see NPC's changing alignment through the class stories, why should this ability be limited to just NPC's? NPC's aren't the ones paying subs.

In the Trooper story we have Lara Dorne who was an Imperial Soldier who came to the Republic. We see and hear about Republic Special Forces units that defect to the Empire. When Greedo went after Han Solo in the very first movie was he in the employ of the Empire? No he was a freelancer trying to collect a bounty put out by Jabba the Hutt, and Jabba was aligned with neither the Republic or the Empire. Where is that part of the Star Wars world in this game? It is not like it would be so hard to do.

The creation of a third faction or the elimination of the factions is not necessarily as hard to do as it seems on the surface, not if you look at it with a little bit more creativity. All the tools are already in place, they just have to be given a real purpose. Relying on PvP stats and gear has been and shall always be nothing more than crutches for poor or unimaginative design, and will never be anything more. It has been proven time and time again over countless MMO's that a two faction system does not work and will ultimately lead to faction imbalance and result in hastily applied hot fixes and patches that never really resolve the issue.

This game is by Bioware, and as such we have come to expect gritty graphic novels, not "Family circle" style Sunday cartoons meant to appease everyone in a politically correct manner. Bioware wrote a nice story for getting from 1-50, but needs to allow the players to tell there story from that point forward, based on the choices they made from 1-50. Bioware you already have the tools, you created them, all the pieces are in place, you simply need to use them to tell the epic kind of story we your fans have come to expect, and allow those fans to play out how the story takes shape.

Have fun !

/Sign


Devs pay attention

Gentleman it has been an honor!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE7j3...eature=related

True, but it didn't have to be 'meaningful'. Ideas:
- a special teabag emote - sadly half the PvP population would happily spend the rest of their lives in pursuit of this.
- a colour crystal that cycles between green and red or whatever.
- a pet jawa. /drool
- a hoverbike with green stripes.
- standard orange PvE gear between tier 0 and tier 1 etc, that looks fancy. (just don't start with the giant shoulder-pads)
- a 'pvp-special companion' and armour upgrades etc (not usable in pvp - but who cares?). HK-51 isn't in the game... and I think his personality would fit pvper's well (for both sides - don't lumber the pubs with an ewok).

Anyway, it is what it is I guess.

This comes up in every game. It's too late now to majorly overhaul an entire stat like that. The people who mainly PvP will be good no matter the gear simply because they do it more often. There is no logical reason why PvE gear should be equal in effectiveness to PvP gear with little to no time or effort PvP'ing.

I don't get the sense of entitlement PvE players seem to have in regards to PvP in every MMO. I guess they are used to being catered to 24/7 and when they don't get their way, they come out in droves to clog the PvP forums with their tears.

With rated battlegrounds on the horizon, it doesn't seem right that some PvE hero with a sub-40 valor rank would hit as hard/heal as much/mitigate as much damage as someone who put the time in PvP'ing for the proper gear. I have no idea how raiding is now, but I am sure the PvE'rs wouldn't like it if the PvP gear was equal to the top-tier in raiding. If that is the case now, that's an argument FOR expertise to eat up even more of the stat allocation on an item and boost it's effectiveness so it's only good for PvP.

OP is a mixed bag at best. Sure, remove PVP stats, give a debuff in instances. And let's totally forget about world PVP, where people in PVE gear will now have the advantage.

/facepalm

good thread with many constructive thoughts.

most important point i see:

this will fix alot!
i would just add to not completely divide the valor. example:
1v1 kill gives 20 valor
2v1 kill gives 12-15 valor each instead of 10 per player

I read it all, but this is the part I want to quote from the OP ...

^^ This.

I have never played on a PvP server for any game that allowed one to play both factions on the same server.

Oh, and one more thing ...

Let us CHOSE which warzones we enter! I f'in hate Huttball. It's neither PvP nor fun. Let the people who want sport in their game play it, but like pod racing and NASCAR, it's idiotic.

Anything that separates this game from WoW PvP won't be tolerated by the dev team. They want to atteact wow kiddies and keep them, so they needed to do the same things wow does. One of those things is put resilience on their PvP gear.

Its here to stay because they want more money. Get used to it.