ETA on Advanced Class change?

oh Ratajack, you and I have gone over this before. and I reserved to stop replying to you, becasue of how pointless it is, but its new years eve and champagne is delicious so what the hell. just this one last time.

one, you completely miss the part where i say "playing the same story twice for a lot of people is not fun" part.

its NOT hard to level a character to 55. but just becasue something is not difficult, doesn't making fun. and someone not keen on doing something unfun for them = that dreaded "lazy"

now here's another not hypothetical for you, becasue I've seen people do that over and over, with respecs. bioware rebalances classes and certain specs lose much of their oomph, while others suddenly become powerful. guess what people do? they SWITCH TO THE CURRENTLY POWERFUL SPEC. the so called FOTM. lazy bastards, how dare they? >_>

there are 8 individual stories in this game. there's quite a bit of end game content. there's no inherent value in forcing people to go through the same story twice, just because bioware arbitrarily (yes, arbitrarily) made AC permanent. well... names used to be permanent. we can change those now. races used to be permanent. we can change that as well. we can change appearance on a whim, we can switch between roles on a whim. what makes advanced class (which is not = to base class no matter how much you wish it was - also something we've butted heads on repeatedly) so damn special that it cannot be changed either? absolutely nothing. advance class change doesn't affect the story, it doesn't affect the game balance anymore then field respec, it doesn't conflict with variety of existing flags. all it is is added flexibility. people who want to play through the same story more than once, will do so with or without AC change. people who are happy with their AC ,flash of the month be damned? will continue to be so unless bioware majorly messes with it (and then we have bigger problems than AC change).

and btw, when it comes to hardcore raiders and FOTM - rolling operative to be a healer then switching to dps? doesn't exactly work like that. why? because its a different raid slot. if raid needs a healer, not another dps, what makes that hypothetical hardcore raider so sure they will still keep theirs? they are more likely to have success in switching FOTM by switching to a different class altogether... like, say sorcs are the most powerful now? they would just switch to a sorc, not a sniper. and even if they did go dps, why are you so against it? so they play their character on their account differently. how is that any concern of yours? how does it affect YOU?

Laziness is defined as an aversion to work or effort. it makes no difference what causes that aversion. Thus, a player's aversion to leveling the class they want to play, no matter the reason for the aversion, IS LAZINESS.

I've never said that AC=base class. I've said that AC's are DIFFERENT classes, no matter how much you wish they were not. This is backed up by the devs in the statements that I have quoted may times in this thread.

That "hypothetical" hardcore raider may well level a sorc, but will need something with which to raid while he does so. Thus the desire to "throw money at BW" to change his class from nerfed operative to OP sniper.

Absolutely, but why argue. The chances of this ever happening are very slim, there are many issues with providing this option to players. Advancement would have a different meaning, what is the point of being level 55 Jedi Guardian if you have no access to level 55 skills? Your companions are not available to you. Nothing is the way it should be unless we just throw away all level gaining process which is equivalent to giving you an option to start your new character at max level. It really does not make sense when you think about this without letting your imagination take over.

Imagine the player who chooses to roll an operative because they are the most overpowered and best healers. Now imagine that operative healing gets nerfed but sniper DPS gets buffed. Now that player wants to play a sniper but doesn't want to invest the time in leveling a sniper. He wants BW to hand him a sniper simply because he leveled an operative. Maybe he is willing to throw a little money at BW if they will cater to his aversion to the time and effort required to actually level the class he now wants to play (ie. his LAZINESS).

If your concern is truly for those players that have items no longer obtainable in game and NOT laziness, then you should have no problem if an AC change:

* reset your character to level 10
* reset all planetary quests, but not story quests.
* all companions remain with current affection
* all currently owned items are retained
* a passive XP gain buff of say 50% to offset the loss of xp from already completed storyline quests

I think this suggested compromise addresses both the concerns regarding those characters with no longer obtainable items and also many of the concerns that those against class changes have. Of course, I am betting that you will dismiss this compromise as meaningless. IMO, this is likely because your concern is NOT truly for those with no longer obtainable items but rather rooted in an aversion to the effort required to level the desired class( ie. LAZINESS).




Imagine some dedicated raider who tanks on his assassin. BW nerfs assassins both in tanking and DPS. This player now wants to play a sorcerer but doesn't want to invest the time to actually level a sorcerer. He wants to throw some money at BW if they will cater to HIS LAZINESS.

Allowing AC changes IS allowing class changes, even if in a limited manner. Yes, allowing class changes WILL cost this game subs. Does BW stand to lose more "guaranteed" and RECURRING money in subs than they may make in "possible" and ONE TIME CM sales to cater to the lazy and allow class changes? We, the players, have no way of knowing. Only BW can make that call.



For starters, the fact that the devs intentionally designed this game so that NO single character could fill all three roles (AT ANY TIME, not just at the same time). Allowing class changes would negate that design intent.

While some may choose to level the same class more than once, most of the players I know who roll alts will roll a different class with each alt. Very few of the players I know will level the same class more than once on the same server, especially if they can change their SPEC, not their class. This is only my experience, as I said.

If, as you claim, those players who will level alts will do so with or without allowing class changes, and will likely unlock all the extra character slots even if they do not allow class changes, then there is no incentive of added income for BW from extra character slot sales to justify catering to the "have to have it now and for as little effort as possible" crowd.



It is a fundamental change to class. Most classes will change weapons, and some will even change armor. Many classes will go from ranged to melee or vice versa.



You are not discouraged from experimentation and changing your spec. Changing your spec is even free for subscribers. With the field respec it can even be done on the fly, with the exception of WZ's and arena, I believe. There is such a thing as too much flexibility, though.

How is that any different then WoW nerfing Ret paladins and buffing Holy paladins? No one wants to play a class/spec thats at the bottom of the chain.

If they nerf ret and buff holy, you can change your spec from ret to holy.

If they nerf paladins across the board and buff warriors, you cannot change your class from pally to warrior.

Changing spec =/= changing class.

Changing AC is changing class, no matter how much you wish it weren't.

but its not.

That's right. I forgot that you know better than the devs. Or, at least you think you do.

That's right. I forgot that you know better than the devs. Or, at least you think you do.

Oh the chances of this ever happening are very slim? Looks like we have someone with bioware connections over here. Please tell us more.