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[Morn]

No dual specs, and there is some kind of bizarre segment of the testers who are vehemently against it for some reason.

It doesn't need to be like Rift with five different specs, but at least give us two so we can switch between a leveling/PVP spec and a group/PVE spec.

 

[Einbroch]

No dual specs, and there is some kind of bizarre segment of the testers who are vehemently against it for some reason.

It doesn't need to be like Rift with five different specs, but at least give us two so we can switch between a leveling/PVP spec and a group/PVE spec.

What? What?

You can't be serious.

 

[border]

I didn't include it in my summary of the video interview, but there is bad news for people who hate instant travel to dungeons. He says there will be a main hub area ("spaceport") where people gather to get shuttles straight to the dungeons and raids.

It sounds like the sort of compromise that pleases nobody. The people who like instant teleports will be annoyed that they can't just be teleported from any location, and the people who hate teleports will be annoyed that they don't have to travel 10-20 minutes to get to a dungeon.

 

[Morn]

I didn't include it in my summary of the video interview, but there is bad news for people who hate instant travel to dungeons. He says there will be a main hub area ("spaceport") where people gather to get shuttles straight to the dungeons and raids.

It sounds like the sort of compromise that pleases nobody. The people who like instant teleports will be annoyed that they can't just be teleported from any location, and the people who hate teleports will be annoyed that they don't have to travel 10-20 minutes to get to a dungeon.

And he says you'll cross paths with players...but doesn't mention it's as long as they're in the same instance as you.

 

[Fonds]

I didn't include it in my summary of the video interview, but there is bad news for people who hate instant travel to dungeons. He says there will be a main hub area ("spaceport") where people gather to get shuttles straight to the dungeons and raids.

It sounds like the sort of compromise that pleases nobody. The people who like instant teleports will be annoyed that they can't just be teleported from any location, and the people who hate teleports will be annoyed that they don't have to travel 10-20 minutes to get to a dungeon.

First thing I've heard about this game that bummed me out.

 

[Dakota47]

First thing I've heard about this game that bummed me out.

I kinda like the idea of a hub to be honest.

And did anyone else get creeped out by this dude?

 

[Emitan]

Cross Server dungeon finder eliminates individual server communities. It makes it much more difficult to find who the good players are in your community to build a guild with if you aren't even playing them. Keep it restricted to players on your server and it becomes a much different type of tool, particularly in a game like SWTOR where teleporting to operation entrances isn't going to break immersion because they're scattered across the galaxy anyhow.

I was talking about dungeon finders just being restricted to your server. I understand why a cross server one is dumb.

 

[MaddenNFL64]

I'm sure they'll plop a trainer, and a bank & all that at the endgame spaceport. You can respec there, and grab the gear you need.

the ability to switch specs on the fly whenever you want seems unnecessary right now.

 

[Dakota47]

Off-topic. Do want!

 

[MaddenNFL64]

Off-topic. Do want!

lol holy shit. I do want that.

 

[BattleMonkey]

No dual specs, and there is some kind of bizarre segment of the testers who are vehemently against it for some reason.

It doesn't need to be like Rift with five different specs, but at least give us two so we can switch between a leveling/PVP spec and a group/PVE spec.

Dual specs are horrible, completely dilute the purpose of the class trees. They do make sense though for PVP and something most games should have instead of bothering to have to balance everything for both PVE and PVP and failing.

I didn't include it in my summary of the video interview, but there is bad news for people who hate instant travel to dungeons. He says there will be a main hub area ("spaceport") where people gather to get shuttles straight to the dungeons and raids.

It sounds like the sort of compromise that pleases nobody. The people who like instant teleports will be annoyed that they can't just be teleported from any location, and the people who hate teleports will be annoyed that they don't have to travel 10-20 minutes to get to a dungeon.

It's kind of hard though to do instanced dungeons in such a game that makes lots of sense when your dealing with so many different planets and stations. From what we have seen from the "dungeons" in the game, they take place usually in remote or very special locations generally not on any of the games current planets. SWG did similar for stuff like instances that took place on space ships and such.

 

[Cystm]

Everything I've seen thus far makes me believe that the tank/heals/DPS trinity is at least as rigid as it is in WoW.

Beta Tester Q&A:

Q: I'm curious how rigid BW is making their trinity system. Do tanks mitigate a ton of damage and anything else won't stand a chance? Is it at all feasible to have a Jedi Sentinel tank a flashpoint or would you absolutely rely on a true tank for any group content?

A: Non-Tanks ACs can tank the lower stuff, but once you get into the 20's it's pointless, the damage they take is much more then the healing the group can put out unless you run Sent/3 Healers.

It sounds almost exactly like WoW, where any mail-wearing class could get away with tanking at low levels, but eventually you needed both plate and a mitigation spec to stand a chance......then eventually you needed plate, mitigation spec, and a lot of defense gear.

The difficulty of finding people for particular roles will probably depend on itemization and how easy it is for people to switch their talent specs. Bioware hasn't said anything about dual specs, but I don't think it's in the beta at all.

Even still, comparatively speaking, the tank / healer to dps ratio is a lot better in TOR than in WoW, IMO.

These are off the top of my head, so please correct me if I am wrong.

• 4 tanks (prot war, blood dk, feral druid, prot pall)
• 4 heals (Holy priest, resto druid/sham, holy pally) + Disc
• 20+ DPS specs (more or less. Not going to look them all up)

• 4 tanks (trooper / BH and sentinel / juggernaught
• 4 Heals sage / sorcerer smuggler / IA
• 8+ DPS specs

Which is really per faction, so I think in terms of finding certain roles for your groups you will have an easier time with TOR

 

[BattleMonkey]

The trinity is there, no one said it was removed, the classes are just designed that they are not usually going to be purely a specific role and feature hybrid functions.

 

[cackhyena]

This is odd for me. I'm not really an mmo player, I don't have any particular affection for SW anymore, and I have no compulsion to pay a monthly fee for games...yet I want to play this one.

 

[Moaradin]

Even still, comparatively speaking, the tank / healer to dps ratio is a lot better in TOR than in WoW, IMO.

These are off the top of my head, so please correct me if I am wrong.

• 4 tanks (prot war, blood dk, feral druid, prot pall)
• 4 heals (Holy priest, resto druid/sham, holy pally) + Disc
• 20+ DPS specs (more or less. Not going to look them all up)

• 4 tanks (trooper / BH and sentinel / juggernaught
• 4 Heals sage / sorcerer smuggler / IA
• 8+ DPS specs

Which is really per faction, so I think in terms of finding certain roles for your groups you will have an easier time with TOR

Jedi Consulars and Sith Inquisitors can tank as well. Troopers/Bounty Hunters can heal.

 

[Cystm]

Jedi Consulars and Sith Inquisitors can tank as well. Troopers/Bounty Hunters can heal.

Excellent, thank you.

Off-topic. Do want!

That is so win. I must have that haha.

 

[Giolon]

Even still, comparatively speaking, the tank / healer to dps ratio is a lot better in TOR than in WoW, IMO.

<snip>

• 4 tanks (trooper / BH and sentinel / juggernaught
• 4 Heals sage / sorcerer smuggler / IA
• 8+ DPS specs

Which is really per faction, so I think in terms of finding certain roles for your groups you will have an easier time with TOR

That's slightly off.

For TOR, per-side it's:

3 Tanks: JK Guardian / SW Juggernaught, JC Shadow / SI Assassin, TR Vanguard / BH Powertech
3 Healers: JC Sage / SI Sorceror, SM Scoundrel / IA Operative, TR Commando / BH Mercenary
2(+6) DPS: JK Sentinel / SW Mauler, SM Gunslinger / IA Sniper, plus all above ACs

I'm still expecting to see healer and tank shortages come launch. Lots of people want to be the Sorc throwing lightning around or the Jedi Knight who has two lightsabers, or the Imperial Agent with the really big gun.

 

[Dakota47]

I'm still expecting to see healer and tank shortages come launch. Lots of people want to be the Sorc throwing lightning around or the Jedi Knight who has two lightsabers, or the Imperial Agent with the really big gun.

And that is why I will either go for an Imperial Agent Operative or a Bounty Hunter Powertech.

 

[Moaradin]

I didn't like playing healing classes in WoW but I'm really enjoying Operative right now, plus they have other incentives like Stealth that Sniper's don't have.

 

[border]

Even still, comparatively speaking, the tank / healer to dps ratio is a lot better in TOR than in WoW, IMO.

Keep in mind that those are just the ratios presented in the game system. Finding a healer or tank is entirely dependent on how much of the population takes up those tanking and healing specs. Those ratios will change completely depending on the population's class/spec choices. Just because 1/3 of available specs are tanks and healers doesn't really mean that 1/3 of the population is going to be a tank or a healer.

I'm just going to try and get the class/role ratio thing sorted out in my head by listing them here. I'm not trying to prove anything, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong:

TANKS (3):
Powertech Shield Tech
Sith Juggernaut Immortal
Sith Assassin Darkness


HEALERS (3):
Mercenary Bodyguard
Sith Sorcerer Corruption
Imperial Medic

DPS (14):
Sith Juggernaut Vengeance
Sith Juggernaut/Marauder Rage (shared spec)
Sith Marauder Annhilation
Sith Marauder Carnage
Powertech Advanced Prototype
Mercenary Arsenal
Powertech/Mercenary Firebug (shared spec)
Sith Assassin Deception
Sith Assassin/Sorcerer Madness (shared spec)
Sith Sorcerer Lightning
Imperial Operative Concelment
Imperial Agent Lethality (shared spec)
Imperial Sniper Marksmanship
Imperial Sniper Engineering

I'm not sure if the "Shared" talent tree of each main class is really meant to be a big spec that gets the majority of talent points, or if it's just meant as a supplement for a few essential talents).

 

[Xiaoki]

Cross Server dungeon finder eliminates individual server communities. It makes it much more difficult to find who the good players are in your community to build a guild with if you aren't even playing them. Keep it restricted to players on your server and it becomes a much different type of tool, particularly in a game like SWTOR where teleporting to operation entrances isn't going to break immersion because they're scattered across the galaxy anyhow.

Rift did have their Dungeon Finder system to server only then they realized it was stupid and made it cross server.

If you are on a low population server or on at an odd time the Dungeon Finder is useless.

Also, it seems like people only support "server community" and "immersion" when it is detrimental to the gameplay.

Spamming "DPS LFG for VH" for hours while standing in a capitol city doing nothing is neither immersive or adds to the server's community.

 

[border]

I wouldn't think that a cross-server Dungeon Finder would be necessary for at least the first 6 months of the game. The reason WoW needed it was because they had so many people at the endgame it was impossible to find a group for anything but endgame dungeons, so they had all this content that was completely inaccessible to players trying to level.

 

[CzarTim]

Instead of Dual Specs, I'd rather every class just be made viable for PVP. Even if that means some abilities working different in PVP than PVE.

 

[Giolon]

Instead of Dual Specs, I'd rather every class just be made viable for PVP. Even if that means some abilities working different in PVP than PVE.

This. I sincerely hope that dual specs never show up in TOR. With everybody getting NPC companions to help fill in the shortcomings of their specific spec (at least for PvE), it's completely unnecessary. That said, I recognize that PvP and PvE specs have different needs, and if a system could be reached that doesn't have people flip/flopping their role every 5 minutes I'd support it.

 

[Dresden]

People against dual specs puzzle me. They have this dumb idea about the 'purity' of classes and shit. Destroying server communities with cross-server LFG tools is one thing, just letting players have the convenience of fulfilling two roles is another.

Also, they'll never balance every spec of every class for pvp. It's just impossible in a game where gear disparities exist.

 

[Morn]

I think it's pretty certain the game is going to be out before November based on what they're going to be doing with the beta.

 

[Giolon]

People against dual specs puzzle me. They have this dumb idea about the 'purity' of classes and shit. Destroying server communities with cross-server LFG tools is one thing, just letting players have the convenience of fulfilling two roles is another.

Also, they'll never balance every spec of every class for pvp. It's just impossible in a game where gear disparities exist.

I don't have any 'purity' concerns. I think it diminishes the importance of choice, personally. Even though I use the feature in WoW for my Resto Shaman to change to Elemental while soloing, I'd much rather see Resto be made into a viable soloing spec.

Companions in TOR turn every class basically into a pet class - where your companion can help you in areas where your character is deficient. Playing a caster spec? Bring along a companion who can take the hits for you. Playing a tank spec? Bring a companion that's going to pour out the damage while you hold onto everything, or a healer companion if you think you'd prefer that.

At least when you have to go to a skill trainer to respec, you've got an in-universe fiction that's plausible, rather than flipping a switch at the drop of a hat and suddenly go from ProTank to ProHeals.

My objection is more along the line of frequent role swapping - rather than being able to have a PvP spec and a PvE spec. I understand PvP needs are different - though ideally I'd like to see any given spec work about equally as well for both PvE and PvP. A neat compromise would be to have a spec that is active when you're out in the world and a different spec that is active while you're in a PvP Warzone or something.

 

[Giolon]

I think it's pretty certain the game is going to be out before November based on what they're going to be doing with the beta.

What are they doing with the beta that leads you to believe this?

 

[MaddenNFL64]

Wouldn't mind an insta spec swap for PVP. I think thats a fair one. But soloing with a healer, or tank in tor is viable. They all do quite a bit of damage without the dps spec. Plus companions.

 

[Morn]

What are they doing with the beta that leads you to believe this?

If you're in it, read the forums or patch notes. They wouldn't be rushing to test that stuff if they weren't under pressure to ship in a month and a half.

 

[Dakota47]

If you're in it, read the forums or patch notes. They wouldn't be rushing to test that stuff if they weren't under pressure to ship in a month and a half.

But BF3! For the love of god release it at least a month after that game.

 

[Giolon]

If you're in it, read the forums or patch notes. They wouldn't be rushing to test that stuff if they weren't under pressure to ship in a month and a half.

I am, and I have. These things don't imply that to me.

 

[Cystm]

Keep in mind that those are just the ratios presented in the game system. Finding a healer or tank is entirely dependent on how much of the population takes up those tanking and healing specs. Those ratios will change completely depending on the population's class/spec choices. Just because 1/3 of available specs are tanks and healers doesn't really mean that 1/3 of the population is going to be a tank or a healer.

I'm just going to try and get the class/role ratio thing sorted out in my head by listing them here. I'm not trying to prove anything, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong:

TANKS (3):
Powertech Shield Tech
Sith Juggernaut Immortal
Sith Assassin Darkness


HEALERS (3):
Mercenary Bodyguard
Sith Sorcerer Corruption
Imperial Medic

DPS (14):
Sith Juggernaut Vengeance
Sith Juggernaut/Marauder Rage (shared spec)
Sith Marauder Annhilatio
Sith Marauder Carnage
Powertech Advanced Prototype
Mercenary Arsenal
Powertech/Mercenary Firebug (shared spec)
Sith Assassin Deception
Sith Assassin/Sorcerer Madness (shared spec)
Sith Sorcerer Lightning
Imperial Operative Concelment
Imperial Agent Lethality (shared spec)
Imperial Sniper Marksmanship
Imperial Sniper Engineering

I'm not sure if the "Shared" talent tree of each main class is really meant to be a big spec that gets the majority of talent points, or if it's just meant as a supplement for a few essential talents).

Yeah, that is significantly more DPS to tank/heals than I thought. Thanks for posting more accurate info.

 

[Jira]

Don't understand why people are against dungeon finders. It's not "immersive" to hunt through chat logs looking for a party.

Your server community means absolutely nothing with a dungeon finder, you don't know anyone outside of your guild, the whole thing destroys any community a server might have. Take WoW's PvP in 04/05 for example, when I PvP'd I knew the people I was going in with on both sides, there was fear in who you fought if you knew they were really good, you had actual rivalries with players because of this. That all died when Blizzard put Battlegroups into PvP, similar stuff happened when the dungeon finder made its way into WoW. Soon you'll be doing cross-server raids in WoW, literally killing ALL community in that game, it will then be nothing more than a chat lobby in which you never have to leave a city at all. Now that's not to say it will happen to TOR, BUT it's very likely that it will if they want to keep up with what Blizzard is doing since it is the "standard".

 

[Giolon]

Yeah, that is significantly more DPS to tank/heals than I thought. Thanks for posting more accurate info.

It certainly looks like about the same ratio of tank vs heal vs dps specs that WoW has. I think there's a couple key differences though:

1) The most popular class has a tank AC: Jedi Knight

2) The most iconic version of this class (single lightsaber) is a tank class (albeit with a couple DPS specs available too).

Also, SWTOR has the chance to make tanking more attractive and more fun than it is in WoW by offering options like ranged tanking (Troopers!) and extreme cool factor (Bounty Hunter Flamethrowers & jet packs (hopefully)!).

I mean look at Shae Vizla in the Jedi Temple attack cinematic? Total badass.

 

[hgplayer1]

This is odd for me. I'm not really an mmo player, I don't have any particular affection for SW anymore, and I have no compulsion to pay a monthly fee for games...yet I want to play this one.

That's GAF hype thats got a hold of your soul.

Coincidentally its very much like the dark side of the force.

Dont give in.

 

[border]

It certainly looks like about the same ratio of tank vs heal vs dps specs that WoW has. I think there's a couple key differences though:

1) The most popular class has a tank AC: Jedi Knight

2) The most iconic version of this class (single lightsaber) is a tank class (albeit with a couple DPS specs available too).

That's why I say the availability of healers/tanks depends on how easy it is to switch specs. Paying for spec change in WoW was kind of a hassle, but the maximum you ever had to pay was 50 Gold. That was a lot of money in vanilla, but as the value of gold inflated over expansions and you started to be able to generate money just from doing daily quests, it was pretty much nothing at all. The cost wasn't even the most annoying thing about it -- it was having to go back through your talent tree and carefully re-assign all the points, then fix up your hotbars with all the new spells and abilities.

Dual spec basically just removed the very minor hurdle of a 50g expense. As long as TOR has the same nominal fee for a spec change, I don't see why anyone should be opposed to a Dual Spec system. It basically takes a respec system that is annoying and streamlines it......the actual penalties for respecing are so irrelevant. Which brings me to....

Dual specs are horrible, completely dilute the purpose of the class trees.

If they could create specs that were viable for PvP, raiding, grouping, and solo'ing I would say that there's no need for dual specs. But it's not fair to expect a healer to stay a healer all the time, or a tank to stay a tank all the time. That only makes those classes less and less attractive, which in turn means there will be less and less healers and tanks available when you want to run a dungeon.

If a tank jumps online and can't find a group after 10-20 minutes, he's going to quit and do something else. If a tank jumps online and he can go solo some daily quests in a DPS spec then he could potentially be online for hours, available for any needy group.

I agree with (or at least understand) why Bioware probably won't let you switch your Advanced Class, but locking someone into a single spec is detrimental to everyone.

 

[Giolon]

If a tank jumps online and can't find a group after 10-20 minutes, he's going to quit and do something else. If a tank jumps online and he can go solo some daily quests in a DPS spec then he could potentially be online for hours, available for any needy group.

I'm going to repost what I said before:

Companions in TOR turn every class basically into a pet class - where your companion can help you in areas where your character is deficient. Playing a caster spec? Bring along a companion who can take the hits for you. Playing a tank spec? Bring a companion that's going to pour out the damage while you hold onto everything, or a healer companion if you think you'd prefer that. Because of companions, every spec should be solo-viable.

 

[border]

I guess I don't know enough about the companion system to say whether it can really compliment a tank/healing spec. Do companions have their own talent tree that you can customize? Or do you just pick different ones depending on what you need?

 

[Xiaoki]

Companions in TOR turn every class basically into a pet class - where your companion can help you in areas where your character is deficient. Playing a caster spec? Bring along a companion who can take the hits for you. Playing a tank spec? Bring a companion that's going to pour out the damage while you hold onto everything, or a healer companion if you think you'd prefer that. Because of companions, every spec should be solo-viable.

Every spec in WoW is "solo-viable". Meaning that every spec can solo, even Holy Priest. But a Holy Priest is not optimal for soloing.

Yeah, I could solo as a tank with a heal companion and that would perfectly viable but, again, not optimal. Switching to a DPS spec and having a heal companion would be optimal.

I've soloed in tank spec in other MMOs and with or without pets it is boring. The only thing more boring is soloing as a healer(which Ive also done).

 

[border]

Yeah, it has never been impossible to solo as a tank/support class -- it's just been much slower and duller. You feel second rate because you can't move as quickly as a DPS class.

Companions might help, but don't really solve the problem. Your tank might be able to have a healer or DPS companion that speeds things up, but you still won't be going as fast as a DPS class than has a DPS companion. Plus if they're anything like WoW's pets, they won't really scale that much with gear and they won't be able to pound out damage as fast and effectively as a player character.

 

[FieryBalrog]

It certainly looks like about the same ratio of tank vs heal vs dps specs that WoW has. I think there's a couple key differences though:

1) The most popular class has a tank AC: Jedi Knight

That's not a difference, the most popular class in WoW has been Paladin for a while, who can heal and tank.

I think the incorrect ratio came from the mistaken idea that a JK Guardian counts only as a tank. All the AC's have multiple specs, and the tank/healer ones all have DPS specs too, just like how it works in WoW.

 

[FieryBalrog]

 

[Fonds]

Off-topic. Do want!

Fun, but they hardly fit a standard whisky glass.

And what else would I wanna put ice in?

 

[Giolon]

That's not a difference, the most popular class in WoW has been Paladin for a while, who can heal and tank.

I think the incorrect ratio came from the mistaken idea that a JK Guardian counts only as a tank. All the AC's have multiple specs, and the tank/healer ones all have DPS specs too, just like how it works in WoW.

Paladin is not a popular class because it can tank or heal - it's popular bc it's OP in PvP. You always get the FOTM effect going on in an established game. Earlier on you get people who want to play something they think is cool. For fantasy games, that's a whole lot of Legolas leading to the huge population of Hunters you saw for years.

For Star Wars, that's Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Obi Wan Kenobi - the Jedi Knight (unfortunately there's going to be a lot of Darth Maul wannabes too - another class that can also serve as tank). In WoW, tanking also got this rep of being a shitty job that wasn't very fun and meant you solo'd like crap. If TOR can prove differently, by making their tanking classes just as cool, just as fun, and give being a Tank in PvP some meaning, I can easily see things playing out differently. Bioware's got a (relatively) clean slate to work with here.

What if, a tank or a healer could "solo" PvE (with a companion) just as well as a DPS? What if, people could actually play their desired role at all times w/o feeling like they should really be in a DPS spec to make things go faster? What if being a non-DPS spec actually made soloing easier? We all have no idea how Bioware's going to have the game set up to play by the time it launches. Any of these things could become true, and I don't think they're just pie in the sky. Bioware has smart people.

Let's see how the role distribution shakes out once it arrives, yeah?

BTW, that chart above is very awesome, but god that source URL sounds scammy as fuck.

 

[FieryBalrog]

BTW, that chart above is very awesome, but god that source URL sounds scammy as fuck.

The source url is from the Fires of Heaven guild forums where it was uploaded as an attachment...the EQ guild that Furor was in before moving to work on WoW.

Edit: Oh you probably meant the StarWarsMMOLevelingGuide bullshit on the image. lol.

 

[Kinan]

So basically we have more or less balanced role distribution. Modifying the border's list under assumption that shared spec are not meant to be "main spec" I get:


TANKS [3]:

BH Powertech (Shield Tech)
Sith Juggernaut (Immortal)
Sith Assassin (Darkness)


HEALERS [3]:

BH Mercenary (Bodyguard)
Sith Sorcerer (Corruption)
Imperial Operative (Medic)

Pure MeleeDPS [5]:

Sith Juggernaut (Vengeance)
Sith Marauder (Annhilation)
Sith Marauder (Carnage)
BH Powertech (Advanced Prototype)
Sith Assassin (Deception)


Pure Ranged DPS [4]:

BH Mercenary (Arsenal)
Sith Sorcerer (Lightning)
Imperial Sniper (Marksmanship)
Imperial Sniper (Engineering)


Close and long range dps [1]

Imperial Operative (Concelment)


It also seems to me that we basically have only 1 crowd control line - SS Madness. And even that is basically only one spell - Creeping Terror. Pretty boring for pvp, imo.

P.S. The Merry Men are still recruiting - join the dark europe pvp side here.

 

[MaddenNFL64]

Mostly because every single spec has snares, stuns, slows, distance closers (pull, leap, grapple, speed burst etc.), and knockbacks/knockdowns to varying degrees.

I think the cover classes are the only one without a leap/pull mechanic. But they're also the only classes immune to it, so I dunno.

 

[Jackl]

Rift did have their Dungeon Finder system to server only then they realized it was stupid and made it cross server.

If you are on a low population server or on at an odd time the Dungeon Finder is useless.

Also, it seems like people only support "server community" and "immersion" when it is detrimental to the gameplay.

Spamming "DPS LFG for VH" for hours while standing in a capitol city doing nothing is neither immersive or adds to the server's community.

Which brings up a new issue. Server pops. Ghost towns on WoW are caused by two reasons. Migration and population decline. With WoW's infrastructure could not handle more than 100+ people actively doing combat in one zone ever. See TM V SS, PvP zones, etc etc. Servers would die everytime.

So they made dozens of new servers for people to move to keep thing stable, while slowly improving their hardware and code as much as they could. So everyone joined the new servers!....then when they(mostly) fixed the high pop most went back. Whether for easier parties, more guilds, or larger markets.

My point: I pray Bioware can keep as few servers as possible. I know most big launches love to show off how they have 60-100 servers online, only to later cull them to 10 or less. This way every server will have effective density to support itself with no need to cross interaction.

Only thing holding it back is technology. WoW simply couldn't do it, hopefully TOR can.

 

[Jira]

Dungeon finder confined to your server only: fantastic
Dungeon finder with everyone on every server: terrible

This