Both sides of the AC respec debate have legitimate points. So what's the answer?

This is what I told the last person who thought they were a mind reader.

I'm happy you think you know my intent. It must be wonderful to go through life with such an insightful mind. In reality, I'm not personally greatly invested in the idea of AC respecs. Whether AC respec is added will have no bearing on my enjoyment of the game or my decision to continue giving BioWare my money. This is simply an issue that I've seen brought up numerous times in threads that invariably degenerate into back and forth arguments about the same few points. Through my readings of these threads though I have gleaned a some legitimately stated concerns from both sides. I would simply like to make sure there isn't anything I'm missing before I rework my original suggestion.

If I find that new concerns are raised that make the idea of AC respec completely untenable I am more than happy to write that conclusion into my new post. I practice science in the real world, and as such I am always willing to change my mind in the face of new evidence.

Warlocks and Mages don't start as the same root class in WoW either... and if you are going to use "just re-roll" for the AC issue, then it should be the same for the respec issue.

I heard that Chevy copied Ford and has 4 tires on their cars! Why are they copying them!!!!

"Absolutely no replay value" is overstating it but, if you read closely, I am speaking more to the paradigm BioWare is operating under than stating the point of view as unimpeachable fact or a the right philosophy.

That said, the plot differences you can have through gender, race, alignment, filling your levelling with space runs, additional bonus quests or PvP apparently amount to little to you, which I can respect. Coupled with your signature though, I do sort of wonder if you are hung up on judging SWTOR based on other games or the game you want as opposed to what it is trying to be.

If you really think it's not being considered for a down the road option you're not really thinking. Enough QQ has hit the forums since beta to make it a consideration. I'm not saying they will, I'm not saying they won't, I am saying they will be and most likely already are looking at it. A thread with a true, viable pros and cons list is a logical approach to figuring out whether or not this really is a great idea or a horrible idea, i.e. no knee jerk emotional reactions, no the game will be doomed if posts, etc.

To the OP: sorry I don't have much to add to your original query. If I was BW I'd try it out on the test server with a big post about how respec is an experimental option and we're checking to see how it impacts the game etc. and then sit back and watch for 3-6 months. That way you know what the headaches will be and how much players will actually enjoy or hate it before going fully live with it.

Class balance. MMOs have a history rife with nerfs made in the name of class balance. Opening up AC respecs makes it even harder to balance the classes.

Some boundaries do need to be maintained to keep basic gameplay mechanics viable. Class structure in an MMO designed around class structure needs to maintain the boundaries of class structure.

/thread

This is a point I've not read before. Would you please elaborate on how an AC respec would effect class balance? It seems to me that class balance would be the same with or without AC respec because the eight AC's would still exist, and the player base would still be utilizing all of them concurrently.

Why is this still being debated? BW said before launch that AC will never be able to be changed. End of story. They make the game, they ultimately decide the rules. Having 15 threads of the same topic does not change that. Choosing your class is something that happens at level 10 in this game, not at the character creation like other MMO's. Get used to it, or perish. Thats the bottom line.

That's odd. Others have claimed BioWare stated they wanted to allow AC respec sometime after launch, but they weren't sure how to implement it. Can you site a source for your claim? And even if what you say is true it doesn't mean BioWare can't decide to change their mind down the road.

I am against AC respeccing. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand why it's convenient to be able to respec and I even share many of the reasons, but I just don't feel that it's necessary. Choosing your AC should be as important as choosing your class. What you're basically doing when you choose your class is: you pick a base, then you pick a playstyle specialization (AC), then you pick how you want to specify that specialization (talent tree).
Being able to redo your talent trees is one thing, but your AC is just a massive part of your character and it's supposed to change the entire feel of the gameplay for each base-class. Whether you feel BW manage to portray that or not, is irrelevant, but that is at least what they mean by having ACs. If that was not the point, then they wouldn't have ACs in the first place.