A Balancing Success Story: Learn from Operatives/Scoundrels

I've been complaining on the forums about class balance a lot recently, and I wanted to take a more positive direction and share my thoughts about why Operatives/Scoundrels are the most balanced class in the game, and how the things that make them great can be applied to other classes. Please don't respond to this thread with "Lol, Bioware won't listen". I wanted to show that Bioware has done balancing well, and say why.

1. Loyal to the flavor of the class.
When you play an operative/scoundrel, you feel like a stealthy rogue using dirty tricks to get ahead. The two things that keep people in SWTOR despite the horrible dev track record are enjoying the flavor of their class, and loving Star Wars. Keep it this way.

2. All specs do what they're supposed to.
The AoE heavy HoT spec gives a lot of AoE healing, and has great HoTs. The stealthy burst spec deals high stealthy burst. The delayed burst DoT spec has a great feeling of delayed gratification when attacking a target. All three specs have a role to play, while not performing well at all things. Each has a distinct playstyle that players find enjoyable, there is no "generic DoT spec".

3. The defensives are versatile, but not excessive.
As an operative, you have a purge/dodge skill, the option of a heroic 20% DR skill, a medium/low CD absorb, HoTs, Conc roll, and combat stealth. This gives you a good toolkit to deal with different threats, but you have to use them situationally and skillfully. There is no "I win" button for this class (see: dark stability, force barrier, enraged defense).

4. The class has counters.
The class is vulnerable to F/T damage and roots. It has options to fight such specs, but the operative would have to demonstrate superior skill to beat a good counter class.

5. The class requires and rewards skill.
As an operative, it is very important to not only know all of your abilities, but the abilities of other classes as well. Conc roll requires solid situational awareness and inter-class knowledge, you must know how to LoS and heal up, your CCs must be used situationally. There is no way to faceroll and win against a decent opponent (see: Jugg, AP PT). You feel like you master the class over time, and get a feeling of satisfaction when you defeat a counter class (sorc)

6. The utilities are good on the whole.
While there are some useless utilities (removing cost from CC), there are solid options in all three tiers. Some utilities are used much more heavily than others, but there are still important choices to be made, especially in the heroic tier. There is a good feeling of progression as you move up the tree: you begin with move speed and DR, go into rootbreaks and energy management, and end with major DCD buffs.

7. The community enjoys and appreciates the class as a whole.
You're never going to see zero complaints from an MMO community. But look through the operative forums, you will see people asking for help, wondering how to best use their skills to their fullest potential, how they should build it. You will not see very much "Bioware plz fix", and when you do there will be overwhelming disagreement. People support the class, and the atmosphere is generally very positive. You can even see other classes defending the current state of affairs, and Operatives/Scoundrels will even help other classes who ask for help on defeating operatives. This positive community lets new players learn, and grows the population.

If you apply these lesson to your other classes, nerfing and buffing as needed, you will see your community become far less toxic, and the population increase. That means more $$$ Bioware, so get on it.