Generic:

Give us more missions to send, and at least one of each target. Focus the targets to an actual resource. I can't tell you how many times I've sold stacks of one artifact/crystal/metal/compound/sample/etc./etc, because I was trying to replenish the other(or more) same tier'ed item. To use actual examples, noone needs to send M1-4X out for Desh... but it's always nice to send him out while you're doing laps under Coruscant. If he'd bring back Aluminum rather than Desh. Likewise, it's annoying wihtout end having to send people our for Tier 2 gifts just to cycle in some Underworld Metal, or Light/Dark (as the case may be) medical supplies...

Give us harder to finish Artifact level missions.. i.e. when you hit 400 it unlocks randomly available purple metal/fabric/gem/etc missions that DON'T have to be there all teh time, but will cycle in from time to time.

Archaeology: This, and the skills based on seem less valuable than the Scavenging based skills. Having three skills feed off of Scavenging and Underworld Trading makes them huge skills and unbalanced the value of their results compared to the other skill results.

Armortech: Decent. Overall can't complain, other than the lack of diverse looks available, and the work involved in getting a full set of a customizable suit. Painful. If we hate mix and matching colors, why would you think we wouldn't hate mix and matching pants and shirts, hats and boots? Certain recipes are entirely too common, while others are entirely too rare. Smooth out those recipe rewards.

Armstech: Can't complain. Not writing home either. Which probably means it's just about right. Investigation is not a real winner, but it's nice to only have to have (Researched Compounds) to worry about, your mission log isn't clumped with a buncha crappy fabric or Lockbox missions. It's one of the quickest and least headachy crafts to master.

Artifice: The lightsabers you can make with the raid/Heroic drop ingredients need a boost. They're just not worth it.

Bio-Analysis: Too many green level materials. They extend beyond a full row. Everything else is a full 10 slot bank row or less. Only Bio Analysis has so many to extend into another row.

Biochem All in all not bad... only gripe I have is that it's too much work to generate medpacks for sale. This should be a bread and butter business that just isn't there. Needs a 5pack recipe. Takes the resources for 2-4 medpacks/stims/whatever consumable and takes 2.5 times the time cost of 1 item to make a stack of 5. Batch processing should provide a benefit for this stuff.

Cybertech: Arguably going to be one of the single most in demand tradeskills as people start making alts, and "demand" a steady stream of mods to swap into orange gear. Almost everything you make is low cost, but you have to make so so many, it jus feels like you're always standing around working the systems. This skill and Biochem could definitely use a 5pack time/resource boost recipe... i.e. for the cost of 2-4 items, and the time of 2.5 you can make 5, but you only get 5 after the full time period, if you cancel you get bupkiss.

Diplomacy: Frustrating when the light/dark option you prefer is the one that's under-represented. Rarely do you see both light and dark gift and medical missions.

Investigation: This skill is the biggest disappointment. It ONLY feeds Armstech. And Armstech isn't nearly the skill Biochem is. Biochem is the skill you pick when you already have one of everyhting else. Making a Rakata Belt and Bracer isn't nearly the equivalent of leveling up with reusable stims. Try price checking the Tier 6 340 skill mission skill missions. People are all but selling the Investigation missions at cost trying to give them away.

Scavenging: One of the best money making skills for people willing to mine for money. 3 crafts are fed by this skill as such there's a much bigger demand for it than most others.

Slicing: Good for money making while you're out and about... but a good way to make a small fortune, is to start with a large fortune and send your crew out to collect lockboxes. In other words the crew missions don't pay for themselves in any way shape or form. It's slightly better now with the sliced tech parts, but still...

Synthweaving: Gigantic hole in the Heavy Armor robes for customizable gear early. Heavy Armor robes almost universally are ugly and until the late 30's or early 40's look neither armored nor heavy. Only skill that uses the fabric for Underworld Trading.

Treasure Hunting: The artifact pieces were a nice little idea. This skill however definitely needs those targeted missions. I have collected stacks and stacks of yellow gems I don't need and can't possibly use trying to get the normal recipe gems. Also only feeds one skill. But the missions are worth more because everyone wants purple artificed bits.

Underworld Trading: The single biggest mission skill out there. Feeds three crafts. Fabrics are woefully under-utilised. Again often see the "good" mission in what you're NOT currently looking for. Need to see more missions, and at least one metal, and one fabric mission in each tier at all times. Cybertechers should not be forced to go after gifts or fabrics they don't want to get metals. Armormechers should be able to use the fabrics on medium armors.

Two simple things would do a lot to help pull crafting out of the death spiral it's been in since 1.2:

(1) Remove all gift missions from all the mission skills and put in a completely separate "Professional Shopper" mission skill that ONLY returns companion gifts.

(2) Make all craftable orange sets adaptive weight and remove the class locks (this is sort of a backhanded way to deliver on the long-standing request for an "appearance tab" people have had since launch, and would make all the orange sets available for companions as well, which would be very nice at low levels).

Two simple things would do a lot to help pull crafting out of the death spiral it's been in since 1.2:

 

(1) Remove all gift missions from all the mission skills and put in a completely separate "Professional Shopper" mission skill that ONLY returns companion gifts.

 

(2) Make all craftable orange sets adaptive weight and remove the class locks (this is sort of a backhanded way to deliver on the long-standing request for an "appearance tab" people have had since launch, and would make all the orange sets available for companions as well, which would be very nice at low levels).

For #1 they could also just allow selection from a full list of ALL available missions within a grade instead of having to do the log on and off the ship mission shuffle routine.

I agree with #2, they could even keep it faction specific if they really cared, though with all the current adaptive gear from social and the cash shop, I don't see it as a problem letting everyone wear whatever they want.

I'd add the following (assuming we are talking about 'simple' changes, not a complete update like it really needs).

1 - Add basic schematics for 23 / 24 / 25 level items. Put them on the trainers or allow RE of 23 / 24 / 25 to provide schematics. Remove the BOP restriction to current schematics in this range.

2 - Add more metals missions to UWT (or bump up the returns) as UWT metals are used at least twice as much as any other mission skill crafting material in the game.

3 - Provide a way to improve RE chance and the ability to direct the path of RE with items that follow the prefix model.

4 - Do a quick pass through of all the crew skills / mission skills and balance returns against demands, possibly eliminating some materials or changing the materials requirements for crafted items. Goal should be that all items require similar amounts of materials that all have similar availability through missions.

3 - Provide a way to improve RE chance and the ability to direct the path of RE with items that follow the prefix model.

I suggested in a separate thread to just kill the RNG and let crafters craft schematics using a new component that they can accumulate from RE; so making a particular schematic would require X number of this RE output + the knowledge of the "base" item that the blue or purple schematic you want to make relates to.

I've also seen the suggestion of "Research Missions," which is not exactly a trivial change, but not inconceivable either and possible to imagine using the existing UI for, if it had a separate tab. The idea there I think would be that you have a separate mission tab for "research," and you have a selection of missions there that are based on whatever you have already unlocked. So if you learned the green Resolve Augment 2, then you can start a research mission for the blue Resolve Augment 2. They could make them take a certain number of special research components that we get 1 of from each RE of any craftable item, plus a credit cost, and with a significant run time. The output would be a schematic for the blue or purple item that you selected to research; so it removes the RNG idiocy, while preserving the (now precisely controllable rather than glitchy, random, and annoying) time and money sink aspect of learning premium patterns.

(2) Make all craftable orange sets adaptive weight and remove the class locks (this is sort of a backhanded way to deliver on the long-standing request for an "appearance tab" people have had since launch, and would make all the orange sets available for companions as well, which would be very nice at low levels).

This, for the love of god this. While I might not stand so firmly on making the shells adaptive (weight is one of two things that set Armormech and Synthweaving apart from each other), please please please please please please pretty please with whatever your sweet tooth so desires on top, REMOVE THE DAFFY CLASS RESTRICTIONS. I play Republic, and as such, have a Republic armormech who unfortunately keeps finding/learning Sith Warrior, Bounty Hunter (ok, not as frequently there) and Imperial Agent only shells. Sure I can go spend a small fortune buying similar shells for Republic only characters off the GTN, but that's a fortune I don't have, and I lose the look of the class restricted sets.

I suggested in a separate thread to just kill the RNG and let crafters craft schematics using a new component that they can accumulate from RE; so making a particular schematic would require X number of this RE output + the knowledge of the "base" item that the blue or purple schematic you want to make relates to.

This, for the love of god this. While I might not stand so firmly on making the shells adaptive (weight is one of two things that set Armormech and Synthweaving apart from each other), please please please please please please pretty please with whatever your sweet tooth so desires on top, REMOVE THE DAFFY CLASS RESTRICTIONS. I play Republic, and as such, have a Republic armormech who unfortunately keeps finding/learning Sith Warrior, Bounty Hunter (ok, not as frequently there) and Imperial Agent only shells. Sure I can go spend a small fortune buying similar shells for Republic only characters off the GTN, but that's a fortune I don't have, and I lose the look of the class restricted sets.

I think Synthweaving loses in this comparison, since its only real advantage is making light armor, which is only worn by two of eight classes and a handful of companions (and even they can't wear most of the sets because of the class locks). You can't make low level heavy armor, and most of what you can make looks pretty lousy compared with the Armormech catalog. Either way, it's obvious that the class locks are just silly, because they already allow JKs to wear Trooper gear, so there is no effort to even pretend that each class has a designated "look."

They also already know how to make one set that has two different faction specific looks depending on who puts it on, so there is no reason not to just collapse the class locked sets into each other, make them wearable by both sides, and just change the look when equipped. The class locks seem more than anything like they're just a holdover from when the art people were struggling to figure out how to manage faction specific looks; it's even clear on the faction locked ones that they have both skins "attached" behind the scenes, because if you learn the pattern for Dark Acolyte's Robe on a republic toon, the icon for it looks just like the one for the same level Republic sided item.

I actually HAVE spent a small fortune collecting a nearly complete set of orange patterns for BOTH armormech and synthweaving, and I would be perfectly happy for half of those sets to go away if it meant I'd be left with one nice adaptive weight, neutral, NON-class locked set at each level range that anyone and anything could wear. It would also have the nice side effect of meaning I'd probably have some sets completed, where now I have one or two complementary gaps in the two faction specific sets.

So this would be similar to the augmentation kits? Basically REs return "junk" items, that can in turn be crafted into prefix materials used during the crafting of a blue or purple to give the appropriate prefix? Because that would be a genius system, that's already half *** implemented, so it wouldn't be that hard to develop completely.

Pretty much. The idea is it's still a "progressive" learning system, and it still requires money, time, and crafting "work," but it's all predicatable and controllable, so you know exactly what it takes to get what you want.