Hook us up with some dual spec.

^^ Bingo. This isnt WoW get over it. NO to dual spec, even more so if you mean dual AC....NO to add ons, NO to elitism, NO to trolling chat etc. Macros, if you really think you need them or are just too damn lazy to actually hit the buttons (as sad as that is) but come on people just because there are more than one spec doesnt mean you NEED dual spec. I think people REALLY need to learn the difference between NEED and WANT.

From my experience, when WoW introduced dual spec, a lot of people who would have normally never tried to tank or heal tried it out and ended up being very good at it.

Some people are really attached to their character. They don't want to level another character up just to try tanking or healing. Dual spec allows those people to try new things while keeping the same character.

I think there are more positive than negatives to the feature. I'm looking forward to its implementation soon.

ALSO: I see a lot of people in this thread who seem to be under the impression that dual spec hasn't already been confirmed.

It is coming, that is a fact: http://www.swtor.com/news/news-article/20110916

Q: Since it has been clearly stated that there will not be dual specs for characters in the game, can you explain your philosophy behind the skill trees and how you are taking into account players that want to be able to play PvP and PvE content on the same character? - illumineart

A: Dual Speccing is something we want to add soon after launch. Also, features like Guard, PvP Taunt, Resolve, etc. work to narrow the gap between PvP and PvE specialized skills (i.e. a +Block skill would be helpful in both PvE and PvP).

If you're against dual spec, feel free to continue railing against it, but "hahahaha go back to WoW, TOR will never have dual spec" is no longer effective.

I knew a guy in another game who had 10 lvl 85s, all blinged out in raid gear. Not only did he play a lot, he knew how to play every single one of those characters to near perfection.

Any decent MMOer will be able to play mutiple classes, no problem. So the major counter arguement is essentially based on worries about PuGers messing up? Lol! Wait until problems arise when people will be requesting PvE specced players instead, just to make this arguement even more messy.

"LFM for X FP! No PvP specs!"

But I digress, they did mention there will be dual specs eventually. Unless of course they go back on their word like the whole pre-release debacle which would not suprise me in the least. Heh.

You can do that by respecing and you can level just as easily as tank or heals in this game. Its not like WoW where if you played a tankadin you couldnt level for **** because you dps was so low.

Respeccing can get expensive, though, when you're switching back and forth often.

^^^^
This

Which reinforces what I said. The tank in question has not had a few hours to learn how their class tanks. They've been playing DPS up until this point. Perhaps they have tanked with their current class previously; perhaps not. But even if they have tanked before, they likely have not had "a few hours" of experience.

That isn't what I said, either. Each class plays differently (taking into account the mirror classes, but that isn't what I am referring to). Yes, it is easy to switch from playing a DPS Sorc to a Tank Powertech to a Healer Sage. But that isn't what the thread is about; it's out of the blue switching roles on the same class. It's randomly changing the way a given class plays because the role is different.

Which goes back to the post I replied to - having two sets of gear that has to be switched based on role. I will admit that TOR does not have quite that issue since a given class will use a given type of weapon or armor. But even then, roles will impact requirements. A DPS Oprative is going to need higher armor than a healer, simply because the healer is not going to be in melee range.

No. I am saying I don't want a useless game feature, just because some people can't make up their minds.

I've seen off-spec healers do fine. But they knew they were off-spec, were playing a build they had been playing with all along, and knew how that build worked.

And how am I supposed to know that the "tank" in my PUG was a DPS 5 minutes ago? Especially if all they put in chat is that they are a tank? I have enough problems keeping track of everyone in my guild; now I'm supposed to know the normal class of everyone on my server?

You seem to be missing my point. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. My issue isn't with off-spec. As I said, I've seen a DPS-specced Oprative heal through flashpoints and do fine. My comment was directed at people who (for example) specced DPS-Sage who switched to Healer just before joining the group. Someone running an off-spec role at least knows how their build works. The person who respecced 5 minutes ago very likely does not, especially if (as you stated able) they have not had "a few hours" to play with their build to get a feel for it.

I wish people would clarify what they mean by dual spec, do you mean within AC or being able to change AC also? I'm perfectly fine with dual spec within your AC, In fact I think it's pretty much required. I also wouldn't mind if you had to pick your AC at the create a character part, I think there would be less complaining about it that way.

Or you could just wait a few months until TOR has it.

OMG this guy can't play multiple specs in a mmo! HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAA

OMG, this is too funny. I'm simply amazed that anyone would think tanking healing or dpsing is hard.

OMG tanks have to taunt and back pedal. OMG too hard.

I played all 3 rolls in rift. Sorry man but if playing multiple roles in a mmo is hard for you that just means your special.

Any pc gamer worth his salt can tank or heal easily in a mmo within an hour of learning hotkey's

I had 5 spec in Rift and after 6 months All 5 sets of hotkey's felt like second nature.