Guild Summit: Agents/Smuggler Population

There are two things holding the population low.

1) While there is an iconic character (many of them in fact) for the Smuggler its still the least preferred. Star Wars is mostly all about the Jedi/Sith however, while the rest are usually supporting characters. Sure Troopers are more popular but thats probably because

2) Cover sucks. Regular cover is annoying, I dont even use it on my Sniper and on my Scoundrel I dont even have it bound anymore. Cover screen isnt as bad but its still a nuisance. They should just remove the cover requirement for these classes and leave is as an optional buff for more defense. You cant really "fix" everyones favoritism of the Jedi/Sith but they can at least make the Smuggler/IA more appealing.

P.S: Im leveling a Sniper, slowly but surely. I was actually one of the few who was actually looking forward to playing one before release. Now im pretty much leveling it for the amazing story. Dont get me wrong, I generally like the class ... but its no where near as fun as I was hoping. Like I said, its mostly due to the cover system.

I leveled an agent as far as I could. But Kaliyo is a raging pychopathic, habitually lying sociopath. At level 27, I just can't stomach playing the class anymore with such an unpleasant companion.

In short, Kaliyo made me quit the class. In a game where story is everything, the companion makes a difference. Same with BH, I LOVED the BH story til I was forced to take Skadge, who is a total Dbag. I refuse to finish my BH becuz I was forced to take a companion that I would never, ever choose if I had a choice.

I’ve leveled a Gunslinger to 50 and an Operative to 26 (so far).
I really understand why people wouldn’t want to play a gun slinger or a sniper. For one thing they’re one of only two advanced classes that don’t have a different role in off spec (Sentinel/Marauder being the other). As much as I like dual spec it’s not like it really matters that much to me. One of the reasons this is a problem is because of the way group mechanics work in SWTOR. Since parties are only four people that means that the ratio of tank to healer to dps is 1:1:2. So if you have 10 healers and 10 tanks on at a given time that means you can support 20 dps for flashpoints. In WOW it would be more like 30 and in other games it could be as much as 40. So only having one role is much more restricting in SWTOR than it is in other games.
Plus, the cover mechanic is a real pain in the backside. There are lots of ways to knock a gunslinger out of cover and then we have very of our abilities that actually work. We are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to shoot and scoot.
As far as iconic imagery goes, I think Bioware has a point, to a certain extent. For anyone that was introduced to Star Wars by the prequels they have no connection to smugglers. For those of us that grew up with the original Han shoots first Star Wars it’s completely different. The smuggler is much more iconic to us.

I like the operative a lot. He’s a stealthy healer, which is wicked cool. With Dual Spec I’ll be able to make a solid DPS off spec as well. I have no real complaints about my operative.
I like both stories. I just think the mechanics of the gunslinger kind of chow, and I think that’s one of the big things holding them back.

Lastly, I get BW’s statement that they think the smuggler/agent would need to be OP to be played. I think what would work better is to make the gunslinger/sniper (and also Sentinel/Marauder) play a raid buffing role. That way even though they’re dps they would have a number of abilities that benefit a party or a raid. There would still be the 3 basics roles, dps/tank/heals, but these two advance classes would also have a viable role to play as well, as party buffers. The gunslinger is already a little bit down that path; I think it would be a great idea to flesh that out. That way you could make the classes more desirable without making them OP.

^ This, the story is my favorite part of the Agent, I hope they develop it further. It is also the best class choice for a Chiss imo, for canon reasons.

Operative is my first, and only true love in the game. I dont have any fun playing Jedi, and imo the Assassin feels alot weaker than my agent did pre-30.

I loved the mixed kit of the Operative, raged at the nerfs, have slowly climbed my way to valor 54, and will continue to stab all the things.

I don't have issue with the Vknife, but I do wish it was displayable/had different models.

Can't disagree more. When well used, cover is an amazing addition to the Agent's kit. I won't say it's perfect, but completely ignoring a class mechanic is a pretty poor way to play a class, imho.

A good sniper will get him/herself parked in such a way that it's well nigh impossible to uproot them, allowing them to rain hot blaster death down on the opposition more or less unmolested.

A good Operative uses cover to close gaps/hold down a position with covering fire, or can use it in conjunction with their stealth openers to create a sickening amount of burst damage.

You also use it in Huttball a TON to deny charges, nothing is more funny than watching a Warrior rage at the fact he can't charge the squishy blue man pelting him for 2k snipes as an Operative.

My tldr $0.02, cover isn't bad, people just don't know the best way to use it, and Agents have a higher skill cap.

My main is a lvl50 Sniper/Marksman. I never wanted a melee class with lightsaber.. well maybe a caster (Inquisitor/Consular).

I can totally accept the agent in the SW role. I like the Imperial feeling behind it. And i like the rogue agent style like Jack Bauer

Sure the class need a little care like better energy regen or some out of cover skill but i think it's a great class to play with.

No. I would roll a Smuggler today if he could be a Mon Cal. I do want to try a IA/Operative, at some point. (My main is a lvl 47 BH Merc).

I love Han; I've often said that one of the (many) reasons why the Prequels are sub-par, is because they do not have a Han Solo type rogue character. However, Han is always the best example of this type of character, and therefore, I have no desire to make a knock-off of him. For some odd reason, I can't get the idea of a Mon Cal Smug out of my head, though. I don't care if all romance options would be void to me, I just want my Fishy Smuggler.

It's easy to adjust to though and use to advantage once you understand it's little quirks. That is not why they are least played. It's an overall play style thing IMO. These are finesse classes, and many MMO players are not interested in finesse. More people just want to play flash bang explode with a BH or it's counter part OR light up the world with lightening and saber flashes. They want flash over finesse.

I play most of the classes in rotation in the game. When I am in the mood to just blow stuff up, I don't play my Agent (sniper). When I am in the mood for more deliberate and precise play style, I only play my Agent. So, it depends on my mood.

I like the stance that Bioware has taken...... they admit that they cannot force people to play particular factions and particular classes AND DO NOT WANT TO. Does not mean they wont' do things to incent play, but it's nice to see they are not going to do a WoW style make the fotm approach to forcing class switching.

An operative to 50. Was my first class.

Hands down the best storyline I've seen in a while in gaming

As an operative, the only time I'd use cover is to add in the probe bomb for more burst or use it to run away commando style. Otherwise I see alot of QQ from sniper/gunslingers about how broken the cover system is for them.

The agent is something completely new to the SW scene and I feel Bioware did an amazing job integrating this class into the SW universe. You're a mix of Jack Bauer, James Bond and a little of Jason Bourne when going through the storyline.

Not anymore. Been playing my Mercenary and most recently my Jedi Shadow more.

Ranked Warzones will fix it.

I like the idea its just a pain trying to play with other ppl and everything is dead by the time my char gets into cover (and thats running with ppl around my same lvl).