Bioware caved in to the forum whines, prepare for the start of a doomed pvp game.

Hahahahahahahaha. 'Metrics' is just developer code word for, 'Whiny Forum Brats'..and that's about it. How can TWO DAY OLD NUMBERS be anywhere NEAR enough time to make this change, good sir? Oh wait, it can't. All of the metrics they might have taken in PvP mean jack all now, because the real reason EVERYONE was hitting so hard (before 50 brackets) was because of all the buff stacking.......which can't be done now. It's been two days, brosephus. There aren't enough PR specialists in the world to try and spin this into a, 'But but but metrics' situation, because the facts just don't add up.

I play a sith assassin, and looking at the nerfs to the operative class, it seems they are bringing the concealment skill tree into line with the deception skill tree of my class. Assassins have a 1.5 second knockdown for an opener that maybe hits for 1k if I pop every cool down I have, then I can follow this up with 2 voltaic slashes ( approx. 1.6-2.5k per) followed by discharge (4k) and shock (3k-7k depending on procs and crits). Seems reasonable to have both stealth classes balanced in their trees dedicated to opening up from stealth.

*note: damage numbers are with full champions, reusable stim, 450 power adrenal and crit/surge relic

The title says it all, Bioware like every other developer caved in to the very vocal forum minority which also usually tends to be some of the very worse MMO players in MMOs. This is the beginning of the end. Scoundrels/Operatives did not need a nerf Bioware, as a healer I say this. You need to test your game and use your own metrics before implementing any class changes in game. Do not go by made up scenarios and imaginary numbers that forum posters use to try to make a point. That's the mistake of past mmo devs that has caused their subscriptions to dwindle in the past and I say that as an MMO veteran since 1997 UO, that has played nearly every MMO since then. You should, if possible release surveys in game to also see how players feel about x and x changes before implementing them. You can also use surveys to see if players think some classes are over the top, currently. You will see that the majority of people that actually play the game at 50, don't feel like the random forum whiners/posers that aren't even 50 yet.

Riddle me this: How do you outplay a class that's invisible and kills you in 3 hits?

The answer is: You don't. You die. There's a reason every Scoundrel and Operative thinks they're a PvP God, because... well... every Scoundrel and Operative *is* a PvP God.

I don't think you have played many MMOs in the past, have you? Devs rarely test their own game/use their own metrics before implementing class nerfs. They mainly go by what they see on the forums. If they see a huge thread about x class is OPd, they don't even bother to read the whole thread, they just assume there are so many posts in it because the majority of the posts agree with the OP. When it clearly isn't the case, if Bioware and other Devs read the entirety of every huge nerf x class thread, they would see that the majority of the posts disagree with the original poster; sadly they don't.