As a returning player I am baffled to all the details that have changed during my absence.

Mainly the talent system.

I am literally surprised they went for a more simplistic styled talent system.

It is almost as if they were trying to emulate World of Warcraft revamped talent system with hopes of attracting a wider audience. Sadly they seem to forget that the new talent system was one of the biggest mistakes Blizzard made.

It feels too simplistic and leveling feels like a chore now with no real sense of progression.

In the past you were rewarded 1 talent point for each level that you gained creating a sense of progression as you would specialize your character in depth along the grind to max level.

I know Blizzard based their decision on preventing people from playing "cookie cutter builds" but that did not work out, as even a more simplistic system won't change that, people will always calculate the most rewarding talent tree setup. But that's not the biggest unappealing feature of it all, the biggest problem I have and many other people had was the fact that you're no longer able to creating a unique hybrid build.

As I always liked the idea of having a unique build that concentrated on certain aspects rather than the meta this always gave a certain edge in pvp as people weren't able to anticipate your moves making it more immersive than it currently is.

Further more..

I really don't see the logic in removing the classic role selection for flash point groups anymore.

Sure it does provide quicker queue's, but what is the point of having 4 DPS/DD continuously dying on elite trash mobs due to a lack of tanking and healing?

Besides that fact enabling DPS to have quicker queues by pairing them up with other dps will eventually lead to an even bigger concentration of dps players rendering unique roles such as tanks and healers even more rare.

I am also curious to why the new NPC dialogue sequences from side quests nog longer provide audio?

I get that the player base has shrunk and the game is no longer generating large quantities of profit.

But I am almost certain this can still be done with the currently generated profits from micro transactions.

It is after all the most used feature in the game based on the never ending RNG and 0,01% drop chances.

Besides that fact, the game never truly got any proper updates other than new content and system alterations.

New expansion still make use of the outdated textures and stock models slightly altered.

One might actually wonder if the current 27 ,- per 60 days is a fair price for the product quality in its current state of the game.

Granted they do add new items on a annual basis via loot boxes but those are locked behind micro transactions and do not add value to the subscription plan based on a game that was released in December 2011 ( 7 years ago )

I might come extremely negative and skeptical but do not mistake me for a "hater" I think the game still is enjoyable to a certain extend and I will always have soft spot for it.

It is just that it no longer validates the full price of admission without actually updating the core of the game it self.

For example I have looked over multiple new armor and weapon models and you look closely at them you can see they are still using a relatively outdated resolution and many models look very similar to one another which does not validates as a new product that required any hard work or effort.

So in my opinion they should put more work in to them provide a visually improved version of the game or lift the subscription based barrier all together and solely rely on micro transactions and expansion purchases.

Granted 1 month of subscription will unlock the current expansion permanently and all previous ones but still with severe limitations once your subscription is over. Limitation such as: 350,000 credit cap, restriction to artifact grade gear, limited access to OPS, PVP, FP and Star Fighter, reduced experience gains and limited character slots.

What do you guys and galls think?

Am I right or just over analyzing?

I will never question the value of a MMORPG monthly subscription regardless of the game (SWTOR...WoW...etc...).

For $13-$15 a month...or the price of attending a single movie (ticket/popcorn/soda) you unlock unlimited play...zero restrictions...if you play as little as 10 hours a month it is the greatest entertainment value you can find.

As far as armors and weapon skins...I mean...how many ways can you spruce up a blaster or lightsaber?

I find the re-playability of this particular game to be amazing. For $15 a month I get to lose myself in the Star Wars universe for hours and hours...way too much fun...for me at least.

You are overanalyzing and might want to rethink your priorities. This game has some real problems and those are none of the ones you mention. It is like you were playing with a pen and paper on the side, thinking "lets see what I can find to be critical about so I can make a post about it because I regret paying 60 days sub", but because you haven't been obviously playing the game since it was launched, you see only the trees, not the forest and not even that, you concentrate on sticks.

For example, you rant about visuals, and how the engine hasn't been upgraded when it comes to visuals. It has been. When we got 4.0, engine was updated too, and few times after that. Game looks much better now than four yeas ago when I started. But you don't see that because you haven't been playing since who knows when, and you have nothing to compare at. You don't remember how it looked at launch, you have just some vague imaginary of it and now you think that what you remember is truth, when it is far from it. Play through Kofte and Kotet and come back tell us how bad the game looks like. Poster before me said everything there is to say about models, so I don't go there.

I never experienced skill trees so I don't miss them. To my understanding developers felt they were too hard to balance, and changed the system. This is a real problem in most MMO's with PVP-elements. One class can't over power others, yet players constantly find ways to do it. I don't know if any MMO nowadays have real skill trees if they also have PVP, I at least can't remember even one. In ESO you can expand your skills to two direction, but you can use so limited amount ot skills and you can choose only from two upgareds it isn't even worth mentioning, but I did anyway.

Logic behind moving trinity in flashpoints is to make queues pop faster, of course. Other games have done that too (TERA is one where I experienced the same). You might not find any logic in that, but people also have no interest in waiting in a queue for an hour. From developers side it is then very logical to remove the trinity so lack of tanks isn't bottle necking the whole system. There are healers, there are DPS's, but there is never enough tanks. Everyone is free to make their own parties with trinity.

Yes, they made the special traits selection much easier, but we do still have quite a few abilities to use in combat. I've certainly seen some people that can't handle the complexity we do have.

Leveling is lightning fast these days, it's not a "chore".

We don't have enough developers to maintain balance with hybrid builds in the mix. You can argue that hybrids might be more important that balance, but most people wouldn't agree.

If you're dying in group finder, then 1 or more of you are very bad players.

We've been here 7 years and the tank/healer/dps ratio hasn't really changed.

NPC dialogue for side quests was an unpopular feature that has been steered away from. So now, they just don't give many side quests. careful what you wish for.

Lack of new content is due to lack of paying customers in the 1st year of the game. The people who bailed in the first few months directly led to EA marginalizing the game.

Yes, the subscription price is still worth it for many players. If I get 5 hours a month out of a game, that's a pretty fair price for a subscription. On good months, I get exponentially more hours out of it.

Frankly, I could understand your points more if you had played this game 1000's of hours over the years. But if you really haven't been around for any of the things you mention above, you should have at least 100's of hours of exciting new content ahead of you. Go enjoy what is here.

You are overanalyzing and might want to rethink your priorities. This game has some real problems and those are none of the ones you mention. It is like you were playing with a pen and paper on the side, thinking "lets see what I can find to be critical about so I can make a post about it because I regret paying 60 days sub", but because you haven't been obviously playing the game since it was launched, you see only the trees, not the forest and not even that, you concentrate on sticks.

 

For example, you rant about visuals, and how the engine hasn't been upgraded when it comes to visuals. It has been. When we got 4.0, engine was updated too, and few times after that. Game looks much better now than four yeas ago when I started. But you don't see that because you haven't been playing since who knows when, and you have nothing to compare at. You don't remember how it looked at launch, you have just some vague imaginary of it and now you think that what you remember is truth, when it is far from it. Play through Kofte and Kotet and come back tell us how bad the game looks like. Poster before me said everything there is to say about models, so I don't go there.

 

I never experienced skill trees so I don't miss them. To my understanding developers felt they were too hard to balance, and changed the system. This is a real problem in most MMO's with PVP-elements. One class can't over power others, yet players constantly find ways to do it. I don't know if any MMO nowadays have real skill trees if they also have PVP, I at least can't remember even one. In ESO you can expand your skills to two direction, but you can use so limited amount ot skills and you can choose only from two upgareds it isn't even worth mentioning, but I did anyway.

 

Logic behind moving trinity in flashpoints is to make queues pop faster, of course. Other games have done that too (TERA is one where I experienced the same). You might not find any logic in that, but people also have no interest in waiting in a queue for an hour. From developers side it is then very logical to remove the trinity so lack of tanks isn't bottle necking the whole system. There are healers, there are DPS's, but there is never enough tanks. Everyone is free to make their own parties with trinity.

Can you address your point instead of making assumption that would portray me as a simpleton.

The problems I described are valid and relative.

The game has been dumbeddown.

The quality has dropped

Etc.

Most of the changes you're complaining about were already present the last time you posted on the forums, in 2017. Not sure why you're bringing them up now, as though they are "new" to you.

I barely played at that moment in time and never got around to address these points.

Besides that they're not complaints they are things I noticed why do people always enter anti-social flame mode when some one shares a different opinion or view.

Yes, they made the special traits selection much easier, but we do still have quite a few abilities to use in combat. I've certainly seen some people that can't handle the complexity we do have.

 

Leveling is lightning fast these days, it's not a "chore".

 

We don't have enough developers to maintain balance with hybrid builds in the mix. You can argue that hybrids might be more important that balance, but most people wouldn't agree.

 

If you're dying in group finder, then 1 or more of you are very bad players.

 

We've been here 7 years and the tank/healer/dps ratio hasn't really changed.

 

NPC dialogue for side quests was an unpopular feature that has been steered away from. So now, they just don't give many side quests. careful what you wish for.

 

Lack of new content is due to lack of paying customers in the 1st year of the game. The people who bailed in the first few months directly led to EA marginalizing the game.

 

Yes, the subscription price is still worth it for many players. If I get 5 hours a month out of a game, that's a pretty fair price for a subscription. On good months, I get exponentially more hours out of it.

 

Frankly, I could understand your points more if you had played this game 1000's of hours over the years. But if you really haven't been around for any of the things you mention above, you should have at least 100's of hours of exciting new content ahead of you. Go enjoy what is here.

Taking away a rewarding feature that heavily impacted your character's progression renders xp gaining boring and more like a chore despite how fast it has gotten.

Subscriptions are based on the resources required to maintain the product and update the product and a small profit.

Time has passed and tech has been upgraded yet the core of the game remains the same.

It requires less to host and maintain swtor today than it did back in 2011 hence the reason I addressed the topic: "is it still worth the same price of admission?"

And my guess is, no.

And I doubt that audio dialogue deletion was a community wish.

It's more likely they left it out in order to cut back their expanses, as hundreds of hours of voice recording sessions and editing costs quite a lot of money.

If it truly was a wish by the community they would have removed it with the first expansion release which they didn't.

Infact the "diehard fans" played the game for it's uniqueness story driven dialogue with top notch voice acting it was Swtor's selling point back in the day.

1000's, 5 or 100 hours doesn't mean I can't see errors with the current state of the product.

Pre -expansions it took time and effort to progress your character making you invest and emerge more in to the game.

Now you're applying your face to your keyboard and you're done.

Like I said, Swtor Bioware/Ea are following the World of warcraft formula and what have we learned from Blizzard's Wow is that they lost millions of subscribers due to the fact they oversimplified the game to a degree anyone could do anything at anytime with minimum effort.

So what Bioware/EA are doing is they're looking at their competitor's success trying to mimic their product in a unpopular game which ultimately will lead to more players abandoning Swtor.

Hence the reason they merged all the servers together because the servers were practically empty and the few remaining players on each server, were basically playing all by their selves.

Rather than truly experiencing a MMO universe.

And don't get me wrong.

If you're fine with a simplified game that hardly has a sense of progression or reward, outdated textures and models copy pasted til death then be my guest enjoy it to your heart's content, but that doesn't mean the problems aren't there and that I have to like them just because you're okay with them.

I never experienced skill trees so I don't miss them. To my understanding developers felt they were too hard to balance, and changed the system. This is a real problem in most MMO's with PVP-elements. One class can't over power others, yet players constantly find ways to do it. I don't know if any MMO nowadays have real skill trees if they also have PVP, I at least can't remember even one. In ESO you can expand your skills to two direction, but you can use so limited amount ot skills and you can choose only from two upgareds it isn't even worth mentioning, but I did anyway.

Skill trees do require a lot more attention from the developer. Overpowered builds are usually easily spotted and dealt with, however. For instance, the "Iron Fist"-build at launch got swiftly nerfed (

Talent trees are more fun, in my opinion, and I do miss them. I miss them both in SWTOR and in WoW. I get that things might be easier for the developers to balance the game with a more dumbed down progression system, but it is less fun for the player. Also, balancing tends to homogenize which makes them less fun in the long run. I guess this could be seen as some kind of customer paradox; we all want the balance to be perfect but we also want our classes to be unique. The only real unique thing about the classes in WoW and SWTOR today are their animations and their gear, because mechanically they're similar and fulfil the same roles. A support DPS class like the Shadow Priest or the Enhancement Shaman (pre-WLK) are long, long gone. Similarly, the unique utility that once belonged to the Serenity Shadow is now shared with the other specs. For Shadows in SWTOR, picking Serenity or Infiltration is just a matter of deciding whether you want to focus on single target or AoE damage, whereas in the past team support was an integral part of the Serenity spec, which made up for its otherwise less valuable damage in comparison to Infiltration (for pvp, at least).

Mainly the talent system.

I am literally surprised they went for a more simplistic styled talent system.

It is almost as if they were trying to emulate World of Warcraft revamped talent system with hopes of attracting a wider audience. Sadly they seem to forget that the new talent system was one of the biggest mistakes Blizzard made.

They were very, very clear about why they dropped ability trees and replaced them with disciplines. Hybrid builds were obviously possible in the ability trees version of the game, and aren't possible (or are much harder) in the disciplines version, but hybrid builds made balancing classes for PvP a nightmare. OK, they are less than perfect in their management of PvP balance even now, but deliberately making it harder than it could be is not conducive to making them better at it. There's no need to invent minor conspiracy theories about it.

I started with this game just before f2p happened and have bounced between subbing/unsubbing over the years for a variety of reasons. A load of changes they've made over the years have been really good like not having to pay for training, streamlining the quests, choosing a role for your companion, and making traveling less painful. I do also feel they need to reevaluate the f2p model since so much has changed since it was implemented to take into account how f2p in MMOs is offered currently.

I remember the old talent trees and the more streamlined disciplines just suits me better. I've played hybrid classes and they've been a mixed bag of workable and mess. I was happy when Secret Word revamped thiers to the streamlined version for Secret World Legends because it was easy to make a choice which made questing more difficult than it should be and make it a chore to work your way out of it.

I wouldn't mind seeing some graphics updating, particularly for the Vanilla content but that's still not a deal breaker for me.

The trinity model for groups has always been hinged on if there's enough healers/tanks and I've yet to come across a MMO where there's not a shortage of one or the other if not both. Yeah, it can be frustrating if the group's all DPS but if everyone knows thier class and prepares in advance, it's doable.

Is this game still worth a sub, well that depends on what you feel's worth it. It is to me compared to what time I have for fun with the cost being far more reasonable to my budget compared to hitting the clubs or going to any movie that's not at the dollar show.

I would prefer to have the skill trees back; mind you, it's A LOT easier to respec for pvp/pve under the current system. I would also prefer the AAs to be voiced, but tbh, the AAs are frequently terrible anyway. I did them three times apiece for three characters, and that's more than enough. I don't GAF about the trinity system, but as others mentioned, it makes more sense for queues and the disparity between healers, tanks and dps.

As tahol said, these are rather minor complaints which don't adequately justify the textwall it took you to highlight them. The game is worth paying for, however, I also feel that the game can be played just fine as a pref, so I see no reason to continue to sub indefinitely. Note that I saw no particular reason to sub when you were originally around either, meaning that my reasoning to pay a sub or not doesn't depend on these critiques, or anything other than my own playstyle.

I find it...ironic [Well, it's one word to describe it] that you would end your OP with this

What do you guys and galls think?

Am I right or just over analyzing?

...Which suggests you're interested in feedback, even if it disagrees with you, and yet you respond to said disagreements with this

I barely played at that moment in time and never got around to address these points.

Besides that they're not complaints they are things I noticed why do people always enter anti-social flame mode when some one shares a different opinion or view.

 

 

So think before you speak.

 

Query google for tips on how to communicate on a socially accepted level.

Protip: This is the internet. If you post a thread, expect disagreement. These other posters are not being anti-social or flaming. They are critiquing your criticisms. If you want to criticize without getting critiqued, start a blog.

Skill trees do require a lot more attention from the developer. Overpowered builds are usually easily spotted and dealt with, however. For instance, the "Iron Fist"-build at launch got swiftly nerfed (

). But most hybrid-specs are niche and not overpowered.

 

Talent trees are more fun, in my opinion, and I do miss them. I miss them both in SWTOR and in WoW. I get that things might be easier for the developers to balance the game with a more dumbed down progression system, but it is less fun for the player. Also, balancing tends to homogenize which makes them less fun in the long run. I guess this could be seen as some kind of customer paradox; we all want the balance to be perfect but we also want our classes to be unique. The only real unique thing about the classes in WoW and SWTOR today are their animations and their gear, because mechanically they're similar and fulfil the same roles. A support DPS class like the Shadow Priest or the Enhancement Shaman (pre-WLK) are long, long gone. Similarly, the unique utility that once belonged to the Serenity Shadow is now shared with the other specs. For Shadows in SWTOR, picking Serenity or Infiltration is just a matter of deciding whether you want to focus on single target or AoE damage, whereas in the past team support was an integral part of the Serenity spec, which made up for its otherwise less valuable damage in comparison to Infiltration (for pvp, at least).

OMG this video made me cry with laughter, thanks so much

What was the unique utility of serenity shadows back then ?

Agree with most of this and also with most of what the OP said. On the other hand, it's true that a critique gets to be criticized too..

Your opinion and your thread directly goes into recycle bin since you used the name "world of warcraft" in your post. 500+ forum threads about world of warcraft better than swtor.

-different genre

-no cutscenes in wow

-no real voice acting in wow

-20+ years old engine and graphics

-not same level of publisher funding to developer

-different corporate system

So nope, you can't compare swtor to wow, it is like comparing windows to macintosh.

Blizzard is not even a company since long time, Activision Blizzard, they are merged into one. Bungie learned their lesson in a hard way and finally did cut ties with Activision, Blizzard however is not exist anymore.

Enjoy your mobile diablo game soon you have a phone yes?

As a returning player I am baffled to all the details that have changed during my absence.

 

Mainly the talent system.

I am literally surprised they went for a more simplistic styled talent system.

It is almost as if they were trying to emulate World of Warcraft revamped talent system with hopes of attracting a wider audience. Sadly they seem to forget that the new talent system was one of the biggest mistakes Blizzard made.

 

It feels too simplistic and leveling feels like a chore now with no real sense of progression.

In the past you were rewarded 1 talent point for each level that you gained creating a sense of progression as you would specialize your character in depth along the grind to max level.

 

I know Blizzard based their decision on preventing people from playing "cookie cutter builds" but that did not work out, as even a more simplistic system won't change that, people will always calculate the most rewarding talent tree setup. But that's not the biggest unappealing feature of it all, the biggest problem I have and many other people had was the fact that you're no longer able to creating a unique hybrid build.

One word : NGE.

The rule is that ANY MMORPG that has its subscribers dwindling will go into an NGE direction - making everything far more simplistic in the belief that subscribers went away because everything was too complicated.

You can see this rule being applied to most MMORPGs, like SWG.

One word : NGE.

 

The rule is that ANY MMORPG that has its subscribers dwindling will go into an NGE direction - making everything far more simplistic in the belief that subscribers went away because everything was too complicated.

 

You can see this rule being applied to most MMORPGs, like SWG.

True, but here it kind of worked. PvP has largely worked "ok" for years despite the extremely minimal developer interventions towards balance. The lack of hybrids has helped us just make the best of it and fight by developing social norms of who gets attacked first and such.

Could you imagine if some of today's OP classes could hybrid build to be even more durable? shudder

What was the unique utility of serenity shadows back then ?

Instant Force Lift was high up in the Balance Tree, so that was unique to Balance Shadows... and tank/Balance hybrids, which were fairly common back in the day (though not a spec I personally enjoyed). Force in Balance being 30 meters was really good for interruping players cappiong objectives in pvp as well, neither Infiltration nor Kinetic Combat had such an ability. These days it's been nerfed to 10 meters.

For example, you rant about visuals, and how the engine hasn't been upgraded when it comes to visuals. It has been. When we got 4.0, engine was updated too, and few times after that. Game looks much better now than four yeas ago when I started.

I'd actually like to dispute this. I bought my computer when SWTOR came out and I've upgraded it since (for instance, gone from a nvidia GTX560 to an Nvidia GTX1060), and when I look at old screenshots I can't help but think the game looks better back then. I remember them reducing the animation quality of some abilities, such as orbital strike, and I always thought they did this to up the performance. If the engine has been improved then it's probably just in minor details such as lightning and texture surfaces.

As for animations though... they've gotten a lot worse since the original state of the game. I've been levelling a Vanguard recently and it hurts me to see Artillery Blitz. A pink, super flashy mortar volley? Similarly, one of my best friends recently returned to the game and he was gutted to see that his Powertech lost Death from Above. Instead he does a "rocket jingle". Not to mention how much worse Master Strike and Ravage looks these days. The changes are understandable, but they don't feel as good using anymore. Ravage was always an issue at launch because people could simply walk out of its range, but I always thought adding a root to it was a nice change. It gave it some utility in addition to damage, and the only way to counter it would be to pop a cooldown.

And also... the game is just a lot more cluttery these days. That's perhaps what struck me the most when I looked at the video I linked in my previous post. The game was super clean back in the day. Today it can be hard to see what abilities are being used because there are so many effects that compete for attention. Like in WoW, I've fallen back to relying more on audio cues than visual cues. Which is a bad thing.

Also, compare the quality of Force Leap with that of Blade Blitz/Mad Dash and Holotraverse. They actually put a lot of effort into the design of Force Leap whereas Blade Blitz looked like something that wasn't quite done when it left development. And these abilities, Blade Blitz (and others like it, such as exfiltrate) the engine can't even handle, leading to more and more lag in pvp. Long story short; even if the game may look slightly better the animations today are way, way worse and the performance is crap.

I really don't see the logic in removing the classic role selection for flash point groups anymore.

Sure it does provide quicker queue's, but what is the point of having 4 DPS/DD continuously dying on elite trash mobs due to a lack of tanking and healing?

AFAIK, that only applies to "veteran mode" flashpoints. "Master mode" still requires the trinity. Yes, I think the change was done to shorten GF wait times, but keep in mind that besides removing role selection, they also made changes to the FPs, such as putting kolto tanks around boss fights etc.

I, generally speaking, do 1 or 2 vet FPs every day. You can imagine that I've done many, many of them with groups of 4 DPS - and just about any other config you can imagine. If the DPS know what they're doing, there is generally no problem. (Even the occasional team wipe is not really a problem**. )

Tanks are not really needed in vet FPs - a DPS that does more damage may be better (quicker) IMHO.

Basically, the ideal vet FP group is 3 DPS and 1 healer/companion.

**Disclaimer - I'm generally very relaxed in vet FPs and so mistakes, wipes etc, don't usually bother me. I like doing them with a traditional trinity group the best, but that doesn't happen that often.

I do wish people would spacebar through the cutscenes.

OP,

Do you read this far down into your post? If so I'll tell you that your replies are the typical 'Plato's Cave' defending the image projected on the back of the cave. Know that a good number of forum dwellers (subscribers) have rarely stepped out of this game and into another over the years. Your suggestions will immediately be rebuffed. Don't feel bad I had a similar suggestion regarding the guild system and why can't it work more like ESO's being legacy based (2-3 guilds per account).

1. Skill Tree - Yes it used to be more in-depth. You need only look at the players back then. Nightmare raiders and super competitive pvp'ers. They have been replaced by a more fashion conscience RP bunch that pines over companion romance.

2. $15 A Month - Sensitive subject. Outside of Plato's Cave other games seem to be able to get all of their revenue charging for either Expansions (Real Expansions) or Cosmetics. SWTOR cant' seem to do either of these right. One needs to only check Dulfy for the meek weekly updates which are usually recycled random loot crate items from the past.

OP,

 

Do you read this far down into your post? If so I'll tell you that your replies are the typical 'Plato's Cave' defending the image projected on the back of the cave. Know that a good number of forum dwellers (subscribers) have rarely stepped out of this game and into another over the years. Your suggestions will immediately be rebuffed. Don't feel bad I had a similar suggestion regarding the guild system and why can't it work more like ESO's being legacy based (2-3 guilds per account).

 

1. Skill Tree - Yes it used to be more in-depth. You need only look at the players back then. Nightmare raiders and super competitive pvp'ers. They have been replaced by a more fashion conscience RP bunch that pines over companion romance.

 

2. $15 A Month - Sensitive subject. Outside of Plato's Cave other games seem to be able to get all of their revenue charging for either Expansions (Real Expansions) or Cosmetics. SWTOR cant' seem to do either of these right. One needs to only check Dulfy for the meek weekly updates which are usually recycled random loot crate items from the past.

Plato's Cave is not synonymous with the rhetorical fallacy of groupthink, nor is it particularly similar to being in a cultural bubble. You pulled a philosophical concept out of your rear end for little more than to condescend to the forum because your ideas [and OPs] didn't get the instant agreement you were hoping for.

Spare me from PHIL 101 students who think they're philosopher-kings judging the herd by the end of the course.

Agree with the talent system. I would also add saved templates, that also affect the action bars for quick role switching. The old talent system were given a tons of options to go hybrid, and experiment with stuff.

The veteran FP is altered to reduce waiting timers, but only that's affected. Master FP, and other stuff still got the enforced role ratios. Though it seems pretty damn chaotic. I saw parties like 2 healer 2 tank. Now these are rare or not?! I mean if tank, and heal so damn rare, then it should never put 2 in the same group.

Though i think i'm gona test it with only dps selected. And switch to heal, if i get 4 dps.

As a returning person myself i like most of the stuff. New content, stories, replayable chapters. Man that system should be part of the whole game since launch the ability to replay your class story, and alter decisions without new character.

Story mode for flashpoints also great. You can experience their story without bothering others by listening dialogues, and making careful choices.

What this game really needs is a bit of marketing, and some new content to be revived. Maybe an outside founding. Let's face it. Right now this is the only SW themed MMO.