ETA on Advanced Class change?

Eventually.... it's what killed WoW and Rift. 1 spec, the end. GO GO GO

I believe it so strongly that I would give serious thoughts to quitting on the spot if they implemented it.

But I see no reason to go over the same points over and over again when the people who want this will just say "no that's not valid because I want it". Really that is their only argument. They want it.

This thread, and all the ones that have come before it on the same subject, are just going in circles.

In all the time you guys have spent whining about this you could have just leveled up the character that you want and legacy geared them.

PS achievements are account wide.

And you decided to choose a game that's barely been out for what, a month as your example? I have nothing against ESO but frankly, the jury is still out whether it is going to be a viable MMO. I know it's got a lot of hype but then again, so did SWTOR so there is not a whole lot of substance behind it. On the other hand, I would rather look at established MMOs and see which one has actually allowed for class (not skill) respec.

I didn't actually say "to experience *everything* that SWTOR had to offer" did I? You should also probably re-think your argument considering even BW has decided to drop expanding class stories for the time being. Why would they do that? Oh I don't know, maybe it is because they realized that building an MMO with storyline as its core foundation is not exactly a viable business plan after all. Instead they are focusing on class balancing, level cap increase, new operation/FP/pvp content, and of course the cartel market, with the former three falling squarely into that "mechanics" category. Any way you slice and dice it, gameplay experience is the most important element by far when it comes to keeping players interested in an MMO and allowing players to change their AC (or just "class" in more generic MMO terminology) will have a significant impact on that experience.

I cannot believe this thread is still going after almost a year. But it does amuse me that enough angry people care about what someone else does with their character to downvote it to 2 stars, hahaha.

I think I'm prouder of that than any 5-star thread I've made — so few threads incite people enough to actually bother downvoting. That's some serious passion, misplaced though it may be.

Anyway. Personally, ironically, I don't care that much any more — after being away from the game for almost 8 months I feel perfectly happy rolling a new set of characters to finish out my AC 'collection' and round up all my mirrors. Quite fun designing personalities and stories again.

That said. I still do not comprehend the issue. If someone else wants to change from Sniper to Operative and learn to heal or whatever, I really don't care. Every single issue or complaint is pretty much the same for re-rolling, you're just inflicting more tedium on the person (because not everyone enjoys leveling — I do, because of the stories and FPs, but I'm not everyone and neither are you).

But, oh well. I guess I'm just putting down my final stance — it's not soul-crushing to re-level a character, honestly. Just potentially boring / tedious. But it gets done eventually. Pragmatically-speaking, the game doesn't need AC changes (it doesn't need Field Respec either, though...).

But releveling is also quite annoying and unpleasant for some people. And since AC is a subset of the class system which does not change your missions or leveling story, I don't think AC deserves the same protection as true class.

So, neutral. If it never goes in, well, eh. Doesn't affect me that much. If it does go in — good. It would be a positive feature, as long as it's designed responsibly.

eg, At-will AC change is probably pushing it. Why have ACs at all? There is something cool to that sense of deciding "I'm going to be THIS kind of Jedi." On the other hand, 3000 CC (it's BioWare, guys) or 3 million credits + 30 day cooldown, etc. sounds completely reasonable.

The option is not a problem, and it's quite fair to people who may make oblivious choices because the decision comes far too early in the leveling process to actually understand what you're doing. The only problem would be removing the sense of decision, and you can control that by making the choice to swap AC something a player would not do lightly.

I chose that MMO because its the one I played most recently, personally. its not the only MMO that does that and some of the examples were given here - they just get dismissed.

moreover. lets be perfectly honest. how many characters you actively play at end game? how many characters any one average person actively plays at end game? your average person picks out the character they enjoy playing the most? and focus on them. so gameplay balancing - again doesn't mean that content for people is reduced. even if you play multiple alts actively like I do - you STILL can only play one character at a time, and not every class/spec works equally well for everyone - becasue personal preference, people just chose to focus on the one or several they like best. allowing AC switch will NOT change that. what it WILl do is allow people more flexibility WITHIN their favorite character or characters, hell it may even extend content for them becasue of it. hell... if AC switch is limited (expensive and has 30 day cooldown for example - though having an option to switch back once before cooldown starts could be good, I think... in case you didn't like it and aren't stuck with AC you don't like for a month), but they end up enjoying the other AC - it may even inspire them to roll another character of the same class, but different AC, so that they could play both interchangeably without cooldown, whereas they may not bother now, becasue - hey, already played through the story and no idea if will like the game style.

and btw... even though technically classes are mirrored between factions? they do NOT feel the same. animations, sounds, weapons, names, it may not seem like much, but it does make a difference. hell.. I have a lot of AC's mirrored between factions across my alts... and playing a powertech tank has a bit of a different feel from a vanguard... even though they are technically the same playstyle. as people who play sorcs and who play sages. what is more fun - pebbles or lightning and you get many different answers. even though mechanically - lightning and pebbles do exactly the same thing. or hell - gunslinger vs sniper. just these minor variances could mean the difference between enjoying your character or not, and it can also mean - you cannot reliably tell by playing a mirror class if you will enjoy it on the opposite faction.

I can't see how this option is possibly a bad one. every single reason against it - has been refuted multiple times.

The quote you are looking for is in the OP of this thread.

It was well more than a few months ago, it was November 2012 IIRC.

Well, we are now a pretty good distance down that road, the last time I was really involved in this particular thread (not topic, this actual thread) was in July/August 2013.

Given the multi-thousand posts generated in this thread alone, the dev team's complete lack of even acknowledging this as an issue speaks volumes as to their intentions.

Would I enjoy and use the feature? Certainly. I have 16 toons at 55, and 6 others on their way up on my home server. I am not a fan of Mara/Sent - so that would give me another Warrior/Guardian; my Operative/Scoundrel might become Snipe/Slinger. But ....

People need to stop comparing this game with other games. There is a difference, a major difference. All other games make you pick your class at level 1 before you enter the world. Whereas we pick a Story at level one and we pick our class around level 10.

Your AC *is* your class, your archetype is your story. Bounty Hunter is not a class, it is a story. Mercenary is a class, Powertech is a class. Sure they share some abilities but they play completely differently.

Just in the time that this thread has been in existence, I have personally leveled 6 toons to 55. I have a (more than) full time job, a wife, kids and other hobbies.

There is no time limit on leveling up - and quite frankly, you can level a character to 50 in about 50 hours. That's without skipping content, planetary leveling, not farming FPs or Heroics. Just doing your story, the planet main line and the planet side quests. 50 playing hours from start to level 50. Is that really so much to ask?

It's pretty terrible that we don't have the option to switch ACs. This game's been out now for a bit. We should have the AC switch, double and triple specs, etc.

LOL@not listing a single freaking one. Typical! That's typical of every person who is against it.

Me: "Gimme a good convincing reason why it's bad"
Them: "Uh...go find it ur self

I find it so intriguing that you anti AC swap people can't come up with even ONE good reason why lol.

If that's all it takes to keep someone happy and playing SWTOR, who the hell cares? Only nosy Nellie's like you seem to care. Only people who seem to think THEY should be allowed to dictate what someone plays. If "MY" AC had any impact at all on you, I'd be open to your argument against it...but the AC any other player chooses, is simply none of your ******* business.

The crux of the issue is how that player learns the new AC. If that player has a guild and his/her guildies are willing to run through several FPs to give the player the chance to learn, that's fine. But not everyone has or will take advantage of that option; most will use the GF and group with three random players. And that's the problem: that player inflicts his/her lack of knowledge of how to play the AC and spec on those he/she groups with randomly. Is that fair to the strangers he/she is grouped with through the GF? At least through re-rolling the player gets into groups where it is expected that the players involved are still learning and the content is more forgiving so mistakes are more tolerated.

this argument has been refuted multiple times.

becasue with spec changes we are already dealing with this. a bad player will remain bad. a good player will figure it out before setting out into a group content. and a mediocre player will remain mediocre.

becasue you see... its not about learning AC. its about learning a specific spec/tree. within any given AC - all 3 specs plays very differently. more so when you changes roles with them. not everyone levels through a role they plan on playing at end game. in fact, I'd bet a lot of people do NOT. some people change their minds at end game too. and guess what? they have to learn how to play a completely unfamiliar spec. at lvl 55. we have this. we have this right now. allowing people to switch between 6 talent trees instead of current 3? is not going to change the gist of it.

P.S. 50 playing hours IS too much to ask, if the person playing is not having fun with it. and/or if that person has less time to play. lets take someone like MY SO for example. who maybe has about an hour to play a day, sometimes less. it would take them probably 2 months JUSt to level a single character not even to max level. to lvl 50.