SWTOR General Discussion

[Nauplius]

Originally Posted by Heropsychodreamer

So, as a brand new 50 who is not really into PVP, would it be wise for me to spend the 50-60K to get Recruit gear for level 50 Pve? Would it be better for the daily missions? Is it better than my orange gear with all mods from the last few levels?

Is so, where exactly do I buy this recruit gear? And is it available for my companion(s) as well?

If you are only going to do PvE then skip the recruit gear and start doing dailies to upgrade your orange gear with new armoring/mods/enhancements. This is your first step on the gear treadmill. If you are going to PvP then definitely get the recruit stuff.

[Heropsychodreamer]

Originally Posted by Nauplius

If you are only going to do PvE then skip the recruit gear and start doing dailies to upgrade your orange gear with new armoring/mods/enhancements. This is your first step on the gear treadmill. If you are going to PvP then definitely get the recruit stuff.

If I am being honest with myself, I'll probably just roll another toon.

But if I wanted to continue playing this 50, if the recruit gear is good enough that it is worth upgrading to for PvP, why wouldn't you want it for PvE? It is not like 50-60K is that much money at level 50.

[Headrush042]

The big deal about the recruit gear is that it gives you a baseline amount of +Expertise, which does absolutely nothing in PvE but is all but essential in PvP (lowers damage by other players, increases damage to other players). A same-level PvE piece will have more raw stats due to the stat budget not being taken up by a useless (in PvE) stat.

[Cyberhwk]

Originally Posted by Heropsychodreamer

But if I wanted to continue playing this 50, if the recruit gear is good enough that it is worth upgrading to for PvP, why wouldn't you want it for PvE? It is not like 50-60K is that much money at level 50.

Some very bad news. I checked for Skammer, and Recruit gear is WAY more expensive than when I bought it (or I think I might have just bought the big ones at first). I think it might have increased in 1.2. This says the full set is now closer to 320K(!!!) if you want the absolute full set. I'm guessing that probably makes your decision for you. I'm not sure I'd spend that kind of money either if I wasn't into it.*

You buy it in the PvP section at Fleet. There will be a kiosk with PvP Armor, Recruit Armor, Battlemaster Armor, and War Hero Armor. It might be an upgrade over a Level 45 piece, but probably not much more. Lets put it this way, I take my Columi headpiece off in favor of Recruit when I PvP.

And it is utterly useless for your companion since Expertise means literally nothing outside of PvP. Recruit gear has inferior stats to PvE gear, however the Expertise bonus is so significant it more than makes up for the difference in PvP situations.

*Rumor is you can find Recruit gear for free by grinding boxes in Devil's Den on Tatooine though.

[Skammer]

Well I had toyed with the idea of trying PvP with my Vanguard or Sorcerer, but I think I'll hold off. I haven't played them much since hitting 50 except to do some crafting and loan money to my low-level alts so I don't have near enough money to bankroll the Recruit set, although it wouldn't take that long to acquire that much through dailies. But since I'm now leveling three alts simulaneously (a knight, bounty hunter and sith warrior) PvP is pretty low on my priority list. I didn't get into WoW PvP until I had been playing for several years.

[Cyberhwk]

Speaking of your Bounty Hunter Skammer, Ananke finally got to 22 last night and is heading to Nar Shadda (I think). We'd have to do the CQs twice, but if you wanted to pick him back up I'm finally there.

[martu]

Is anyone else hitting a wall sometime after the end of Act 1, mid 30s or so? I now have 3 characters in that level range with little desire to play any of them even though the stories, especially the IA, are compelling. It is odd.

[Quimby]

Originally Posted by martu

Is anyone else hitting a wall sometime after the end of Act 1, mid 30s or so? I now have 3 characters in that level range with little desire to play any of them even though the stories, especially the IA, are compelling. It is odd.

I agree. I finding that repeating the worlds over and over is starting to wear on me. At least the dialog is different for each class if the quests aren't.

[Cyberhwk]

I usually hit mine right after the second planet. I love creating the character, getting to know them, setting them up, choosing advanced classes, etc. But right about the time I start scurrying off to the Trainer when I ding to see if I have any new toys and all I get is "Surge Level 3 -> Surge Level 4" it starts to lose it's luster.

[martu]

Originally Posted by Quimby

I agree. I finding that repeating the worlds over and over is starting to wear on me. At least the dialog is different for each class if the quests aren't.

Originally Posted by Cyberhwk

I usually hit mine right after the second planet. I love creating the character, getting to know them, setting them up, choosing advanced classes, etc. But right about the time I start scurrying off to the Trainer when I ding to see if I have any new toys and all I get is "Surge Level 3 -> Surge Level 4" it starts to lose it's luster.

It is Taris (Empire) for me something about that planet makes me want to stop. I need a group finder so I can PuG instances to avoid those planets I dislike, patch 1.3 can't come soon enough.

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by martu

It is Taris (Empire) for me something about that planet makes me want to stop. I need a group finder so I can PuG instances to avoid those planets I dislike, patch 1.3 can't come soon enough.

The worst thing about Taris is that after the long sequence of quests, the Bonus Series (with endless side quests) snags you right as you're finally about to leave that place. I think if you got a summons back after you finish the next planet, I'd be OK with it. The other night I burst out with, "This is the planet that never ends, it just goes on and on, my friends..." and without missing a beat, my husband just said, "Taris, eh?"

[dzeiger]

Originally Posted by martu

It is Taris (Empire) for me something about that planet makes me want to stop. I need a group finder so I can PuG instances to avoid those planets I dislike, patch 1.3 can't come soon enough.

Uhg, it's as bad for Empire as it is for Republic? Was hoping that since they switch Taris and Balmorra around, it might be more interesting in the mid-30s.

So far, I've avoided too much burnout by having my other Republic toon levelling on space missions only, doing class missions when they go deep green or grey (as gear kinda falls behind when you never leave your ship) and working on an Imp. By the time I'm finished with those, it'll have been many, many months and I can work on a Pub toon again, probably taking dark side options to see the differences.

[Infovore]

Originally Posted by dzeiger

Uhg, it's as bad for Empire as it is for Republic? Was hoping that since they switch Taris and Balmorra around, it might be more interesting in the mid-30s.

I found Balmorra to be absolutely interminable on my Republic toon, but not as bad on the Empire toon. Vice versa for Taris. I think for me, whichever faction has more control of the world makes for a more pleasant experience. I still hate both planets, though. My favorite is Nar Shaddaa, followed Dromund Kaas and Corellia. I guess I like the city planets better than the wide open spaces (although I don't like Coruscant that much, so maybe not).

[Skammer]

Originally Posted by dzeiger

Uhg, it's as bad for Empire as it is for Republic? Was hoping that since they switch Taris and Balmorra around, it might be more interesting in the mid-30s.

The worst thing about Taris -- what makes it worse than the Empire experience - is that you don't have a vehicle yet. It's a very huge planet with lots of running around. I was never so glad to see Nar Shadda.

I still have two more Imp alts that have Taris to look forward to...

[Runestar]

My Jedi Knight seems to have proposed marriage to his companion Kira last night.

I wonder where you register for china patterns in the Star Wars universe?

[Infovore]

Originally Posted by Runestar

My Jedi Knight seems to have proposed marriage to his companion Kira last night.

I wonder where you register for china patterns in the Star Wars universe?

Neiman Malgus?

(sorry, sorry...)

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by Runestar

My Jedi Knight seems to have proposed marriage to his companion Kira last night.

I wonder where you register for china patterns in the Star Wars universe?

My female Jedi Knight actually got married in a very small, quiet ceremony!

SPOILER:

Doc had stashed a protocol droid with a marriage ceremony program on board the ship a few weeks prior, which appeared at his summons right after she said yes. Talk about being very sure he wanted to stop playing the field!

(/groan at Infovore...)

[Ferret Herder]

Double-post.

[Cyberhwk]

For the 4-5 of us that are still active in the Doper guilds, 1.3 is rumored to be hitting the testing server tomorrow which means server transfers will likely be available soon. I have no idea of Master Zhar Lestin will end up being the Carpathia or the Titanic, but sooner or later we'll have to decide what we want to do in the worst case scenario.

[Cyberhwk]

Holy patchnotes batman!

Looks like server transfers are going to be starting in less than a week. 6/12. They said they won't be giving details on who gets to transfer where and when until the last second, but did say, as many thought, they're going to have targeted "destination servers." The QQ from everybody who thought they were transferring to Fatman is going to be immense.

For those of you that were thinking about getting Recruit Gear you're in luck! It looks like Recruit gear will be free after the patch. For those that already have it it appears as though there is a "cash option." Get thee some more legacy perks!

[Skammer]

Yeah, I was looking at the patch notes earlier today -- there's a lot of stuff. I was even pondering having my tank copied to the PTR so I could play with the group finder, but I probably won't .

I wonder if a guildmaster can move the guild with him to a new server, or if we'd have to re-form our guild(s) if we transferred. Also I assume the transfers will be free? I don't really want to pay for one...

BTW I may or may not be online tonight and the rest of this week - my folks are in town so my itinerary is in constant flux.

[dzeiger]

Looks like its going to require a guild re-form, and a ticket to customer service to restore the guild bank.

Since it's targeted servers, there shouldn't be any question about which server to move to, at least.

I suspect they're keeping the specific moves close to the vest in order to prevent people from trying to jump on early and "reserve" their names (or the name of someone they don't like)

[Nauplius]

Originally Posted by dzeiger

(or the name of someone they don't like)

I don't think that would be possible. The person with the highest legacy level gets the name. So someone who just created a toon won't be able to block someone else who has been playing for a while.

[Skammer]

Originally Posted by Nauplius

I don't think that would be possible. The person with the highest legacy level gets the name. So someone who just created a toon won't be able to block someone else who has been playing for a while.

Wait, what? You mean if there is a name conflict during a server move the player with the highest legacy level gets the name? Is that true even if the toon with the lower legacy is already on that server? That would seem like an opportunity for high-legacy players to "name shop" on a new server.

Non-patch related comment:
Hit 25 on my BH last night; Nar Shadda is so much better once you get your speeder. Oddly, though, while my trooper is probably my favorite toon, I'm having a little trouble getting into my hunter. Of all my non-50 alts I'm liking the Warrior best so far I think.

[dzeiger]

Originally Posted by Nauplius

I don't think that would be possible. The person with the highest legacy level gets the name. So someone who just created a toon won't be able to block someone else who has been playing for a while.

That's not what they said in their news post

If your transferred character’s name conflicts with an existing name on a destination server, you will be asked to rename your character. In the case of Legacy names, unless you have unlocked your Legacy on your destination server, you will need to rename your Legacy upon transfer (although you may pick the same Legacy name as on your origin server, if available).

It would be...pretty difficult to have incoming toons displace the names of existing ones--hat would happen with friends lists, guild memberships, etc?

[FlightlessBird]

So I saw this on youtube. It's basically the entire story-cutscenes by class. I'm rewatching the trooper videos now, just to see how much I remember.

While I liked the experience, this is the stuff I liked. I don't think I'll watch the Consular ones until I'm done, (since I'm playing my Consular now) but I may watch the imperial side ones instead of playing them out.

Class Quests Story

[Nauplius]

Ignore what I said before. I mixed up several different things there. The legacy level only applies if you already have a character on the server you're moving too. Then the higher legacy between your characters becomes your legacy name on the new server.

[Runestar]

I discovered earlier this week that the reason Kira Carsen's voice has sounded so strange since the previous patch wasn't due to some sort of bug (as I thought), but due to the headgear she was wearing. Even though the headgear didn't cover her mouth, it gave her voice a remote, walked-talkie kind of tone. When I took the headpiece off of her, her voice returned to normal.

After equipping her with a different piece of head armor, her voice returned to normal.

Also, I gained another level of Legacy experience this morning. Still haven't been able to figure what it's all supposed to get me.

[Ferret Herder]

Originally Posted by Runestar

I discovered earlier this week that the reason Kira Carsen's voice has sounded so strange since the previous patch wasn't due to some sort of bug (as I thought), but due to the headgear she was wearing. Even though the headgear didn't cover her mouth, it gave her voice a remote, walked-talkie kind of tone. When I took the headpiece off of her, her voice returned to normal.

After equipping her with a different piece of head armor, her voice returned to normal.

That's a feature, not a bug. The same thing happens to your character's voice if you equip certain helmets. My husband intentionally picked one for one of his Sith characters that did this because he liked the sound.

[Runestar]

Right, I understand that now. But because her voice change occurred with the 1.2 patch, and I hadn't seen a patch note that they were implementing that change, I've been mistakenly thinking all this time that it was a bug.

It wasn't until I'd recently bought and equipped a different piece of head armor for her, and discovered that her voice was back to normal, that I realized what must be happening. A little time swapping between the two pieces of headgear as an experiment confirmed it.

I still don't understand why that piece of headgear would change her voice - it's not as if it covered her face or mouth or anything.

[Cyberhwk]

Server Transfers started this morning (and were then curbed due to a rare bug that will be patched tonight).

We haven't had our number come up yet, but looking at the servers that are being transferred, looks like those of us in Burning Womp Rats and Ninteen-Twenties Death Ray might have to start boxing up our junk. All the "Destination Servers" so far have already been in the Top 10 in server population.

I think we're going to be left with no choice but to transfer and reform because as low as it is now, last person out is going to have to turn off the light once our name gets called (unless we end up a destination through pure dumb luck, but at this point I highly doubt that's going to happen). But with so few active players do we even have enough people to reform anymore? We rarely get more than two on at a time and I think you need four to found your Guild.

Any ideas? If and when we get the call?

[BunnyTVS]

I've just read that from next month the games going F2P for the first 15 levels. I was wondering how many worlds that would give access to? I was in one of the closed betas. There you dinged around lvl 10 by the time you completed the opening quest sequence.

[dzeiger]

First two worlds and the first flashpoint.

[Raza]

Originally Posted by Cyberhwk

But with so few active players do we even have enough people to reform anymore? We rarely get more than two on at a time and I think you need four to found your Guild.

I've let my subscription lapse, not because I now hate the game, but I was starting to burn out and didn't want to reach that point. That said, I can re-sub for a month if need be in order to help with guild work.

[dzeiger]

MZL move has been announced, going to Drooga's Pleasure Barge.

I've got some crafting alts that I've never bothered to join in with my guild on the server, so I can help get you guy's re-established if you need it.

[BunnyTVS]

Originally Posted by dzeiger

First two worlds and the first flashpoint.

Cheers, I'm getting the MMO craving again. Giving the Secret World beta a run at the weekend. Will probably try SWTOR a go when the F2P rolls around.

[Cyberhwk]

I'm going to transfer a few of my toons now, then the rest later. I play the GTN heavily. It didn't occur to me to not list things in the few days before transfers . Now I gotta wait until everything ends. I'll also be around to try to round up some more casual players in our Guilds.

Originally Posted by BunnyTVS

Cheers, I'm getting the MMO craving again. Giving the Secret World beta a run at the weekend. Will probably try SWTOR a go when the F2P rolls around.

1.3 is supposed to include F2P to Level 15 or so (in addition to Ranked WZs and new content).

Originally Posted by dzeiger

MZL move has been announced, going to Drooga's Pleasure Barge.

I've got some crafting alts that I've never bothered to join in with my guild on the server, so I can help get you guy's re-established if you need it.

That would help actually. Everyone joining /SDMB chat at our new digs would make it easy to get ahold of people if we needed the help.

[Death of Rats]

Originally Posted by dzeiger

MZL move has been announced, going to Drooga's Pleasure Barge.

I've got some crafting alts that I've never bothered to join in with my guild on the server, so I can help get you guy's re-established if you need it.

Drooga's Pleasure Barge is where my primary Republic toons are so I can join the reformed guild and help with the setup.

[wolfman]

I've been caught up with Tons of work lately, and a back that is discouraging me from sitting at my desk in my off time, so I haven't been on much the last few weeks, But I fully plan to be active again soon, so I will be available to help setup as well.

[Cyberhwk]

Burning Womp Rats has reformed on Drooga's Pleasure Barge!

I helped a few guys with their Guilds so they helped me create. Get on /SDMB to see if I'm on for invites is probably easiest. So far I've got Charshaw, Balvenie, Smicks, and Apricandy on Pleasure Barge. Charshaw is GM now, but I'll change it back to Cyberhwk when I port him over once all the GTN auctions end.

200 Rep-side/280 Imp-side at the moment. Lag is bad though.

[martu]

Originally Posted by Cyberhwk

Burning Womp Rats has reformed on Drooga's Pleasure Barge!

I helped a few guys with their Guilds so they helped me create. Get on /SDMB to see if I'm on for invites is probably easiest. So far I've got Charshaw, Balvenie, Smicks, and Apricandy on Pleasure Barge. Charshaw is GM now, but I'll change it back to Cyberhwk when I port him over once all the GTN auctions end.

200 Rep-side/280 Imp-side at the moment. Lag is bad though.

Good luck hope you find more success on your new home.

I have unsubbed and gone back to wow, enjoyed my time in SWTOR and will be back no doubt but at the moment the missing things, specifically LFG and community tools like an Armory, are a pain.

[mlees]

At what point will they force character transfers?

[Death of Rats]

When I was on this morning transfering my toons MZL was down to 3 people, including me, on the Fleet. I think the lack of people will force most of the moves on its own. Once the crafters are gone and the GTN market dries up people will have to move or quit.

[Quimby]

If my Server is one of the ones that you can move off of, should I assume it is being eliminated? I actually prefer less crowds as I solo.

[Drunky Smurf]

Are they doing the moves to get low pop. server people onto high pop. servers?

Or the other way around?

Are they going to turn off the low pop. servers if the first question is true?

Normally I'd check the website and forums but I don't have access at work.

[dzeiger]

They have not said that they are going to eliminate any servers, however, if you're in a situation where an entire server has only a dozen people running around at primetime, it's a good bet that it will eventually be turned off. Could be months, could be years, but someone will count the pennies eventually.

[Pleonast]

Sorry I haven't been on much lately, but I've been choosing sleep over playing.

I've transferred 7 of my 8 characters. For some reason, it won't let me move my last character.

I will be extremely disappointed if I'm forced to rename any of my characters.

[Skammer]

I've moved all my toons from MZL to Doogie's Barge or whatever. My sorc Xet was GM of our Imp guild, and you can't move a guild GM. I didn't want to disband the guild in case someone in it chooses to stay, so I created a new random level 1 toon and transfered the guild to her so I could move Xet.

If anyone is planning to remain active in the guild, let me know and I will gladly hand it over to you while we re-form a Doper Imp guild on the new server.

ETA: I did have to rename a toon, my trooper named Konner. Kind of a disappointment but I was able to use Konn'er so it could have been worse. I kind of wish I had used K'onner though.

[Cyberhwk]

Tonight once my GTN listings are done I will be doing the same thing to Cyberhwk as Skammer did to Xet. Burning Womp Rats is already formed. We haven't reformed Imp-side yet though.

Maru, LFG tool is one of the major features of the upcoming 1.3 Patch due out probably some time in July.

[Cyberhwk]

Originally Posted by Cyberhwk

Tonight once my GTN listings are done I will be doing the same thing to Cyberhwk as Skammer did to Xet.

OK, so that didn't exactly go as planned. I didn't realize I was actually on to invite Skammer's puppet toon into the Guild and I need a 2nd to invite mine. Gonna have to figure out how to get that to work. Unless someone is staying and wants the job? If everyone's coming over, eventually we'll want to move the Guild Bank with us.

Anyway, got all but Sisheesh ported over now. I'm seeing good and bad. Tried to run a FP and two idiots ninja'd everything. So I AFK'd right before a conversation they needed . On the plus side, I was invited into an OPS group doing the final stage of Eternity Vault. We wiped multiple times but they were probably the coolest group I've ever teamed up with. A stupid death was a chance to laugh rather than get into a huff. And my crystals are selling like WILDFIRE! Played the market heavily when we were at MZL. Treading carefully thus far.

I've been wondering about the viability of Armstech, Armormech and Synthweaving lately though. They're already widely considered to be rather weak crafting skills and with 1.3, anyone will be able to add Augments to their gear by REing enough pieces to get Augment Kits (at least that's how I understand it). However, augmented gear is currently about the only Armormech/Armstech items that are in demand at all. They can also make the Augments themselves, but I think they all make the same items, correct? So you really only need one.

So basically I'm just considering abandoning Synthweaving and Armormech for two more gathering toons. Bulb'ulous is currently a gathering toon and, while I try not to hold Skammer up while we're leveling/annihilating people, I can see it being quite lucrative once I get him leveled higher. At least more than trying to RE and sell blue items at dirt cheap prices since so much stuff just drops as loot.