ETA on Advanced Class change?

You COULD choose not to pick an AC. As you pointed out, though, by doing so, you do not gain any of the skills specific to an AC. Choosing an AC and not allocating skill points will also disadvantage a player, but to nowhere near the extent that not choosing an AC will.

I will ask you how many pug groups do you think will choose to carry a level 35 "bounty hunter"? How many pug groups do you think will choose to carry a level 54 "imperial agent"? I would be very surprised if a pug group did not immediately kick a player over level 10 who has not yet picked a class, or AC.

about as many as would carry a player WITH ac, but wearing completely inappropriate gear/not playing their role the way its intended. some will. others won't

disadvantage=/= impossibility
rarity=/=impossibility

moreover - I've queued for Esseles/black talon on multiple characters, while still finishing up the first planet's quests, so I quite literally haven't had a chance to pick out a class. I've also done that with pvp. guess what? no kick. not even once. I've seen players as high as mid twenties without AC. no they weren't kicked. they just got explanation of how to pick it.

in a class based system - you should not be able to finish an entire game without picking a class.
ergo. AC is NOT a class. its a specialization that at this time is unchangeable.
but
there are
No
mechanical
reasons
why
it should
remain
permanent.

none.

How many skill points can you allocate before you pick an AC? That would be NONE. Why, because you do not even gain access you your skill trees UNTIL you pick a class.

In a class based game with skill trees, there should be NO class(es) without skill trees, ergo, your base class is NOT your class.

If you still need further proof, above and beyond the dev statements which have NEVER been reversed, simply check your guild roster. How many bounty hunters or troopers do you see over level 10? Now, how many commandos, vanguards, mercenaries or powertechs do you see? If powertech is simply a spec, then why is it listed as "your" CLASS?

once.

again

rarity=/=impossibility.

not every class based game requires you to allocate skills. including this one. you are not required, whether you get them or not. you are merely strongly encouraged.

as for your assertion of whatever you are listed as IS your class, not necessarily. it merely makes for faster at a glance identification of your specialization... much like that little shield icon, or green triangle, denoting your role. the ONLY difference is that one you can change, while the other - you cannot.
At
this
time.

however, i will repeat it again and again.
there's nothing in a game that makes it a mechanical impossibility. unlike, say gender switch, or base class or faction. nothing.
making AC choice temporary instead of permanent will NOT change the balance of the game and classes. it doesn't change the playstyle of each individual specialization.

its about as complicated as species change.

your personal beliefs and "but, but" reference to outdated statements doesn't change the above.
people used to stubbornly insist that the earth was flat. becasue that's what they have been taught, told by those in authority. didn't make the earth actually flat.

Ratajack: you seem to be hung up on the word "CLASS" as if it has some immutable holy significance. It does not. As far as I and my arguments/logic are concerned, wow specs could have been called Advanced Classes or ACs here could be called Primary Specs (not as catchy). It's an arbitrary word that is made up and qualified by every game designer differently. It's not an absolute. It's not objectively defined. How is "acs can't switch because classes can't switch" an argument or even a reason? Ac choice in this game is not EQUIVALENT to class choice in other games, regardless of your ancient quote from that BW dev which isn't relevant (no moreso than my youtube video showing lead devs and producers, multiple, not all fired, saying specifically that ac spec will happen no more than 5 mos before release). You need to explain what exactly is so horrificly fundamentally wrong with ac swapping(call it primary spec swapping, for argument's sake) in this game. And don't say "because you read a paragraph of text saying it's final" - Why should it be? Characters should be locked into choices? Why this one in particular? Throwing out the word "class" which has different implications/meanings in other games, EQUIVALENT choices in other games, which may have been "final" initially, were changed to "not final" and those games did not suffer.

You really love W0W huh? I wish you would have your W0Wgasim on their forums...this is a forum to discuss SWTOR.

As you said, "rarity=/=impossibility"

Now let's look at an earlier post of yours:

In your own words "rarity=/=impossibility". In this game, you CAN finish the game while only picking a story line and not your class.

No one is asking to be able switch their druid tank to warrior tank or dps or whatever. Bad straw man. Druids aren't warriors , not because of the word "class" but because of the distinctions between them (what the word "class" means in that game) . In wow, different classes have completely different abilities, completely different gear options, different race options, different origin and class quests, different trainers, etc.. Flipping from one to another has many many issues that don't exist for AC swaps here. The equivalent to that here would be asking to switch between (dps knight) and shadow (dps cons) which, again, no one is seriously asking for.

Wow analogies are good analogies because, for better or worse, these are mechanically very similar games and it's easy to see what works/doesn't.

LOL! No you can't - Class is picked prior to entering the gaming world. Please, explain to me how you think this could possibly be done? Use this chart to help you.

Which doesn't stop the slippery slopists from arguing that if AC change is allowed, class change will soon follow.