The Agent Ship pet - I'm tickled by the way it frolics about, barrel rolling and swooping. It's like you crossed a ship with a flying puppy. You know, a flying puppy would make a super pet

Well, no, they can't. But then, what value does posting have, if this thread is any indication?

Throwing in my thanks as well; I didn't have a lot of time, but I did manage to start two baby alts on a non-APAC server and get them both off the starter planet inside 6 hours (not all at once ... ) which i think is time very well spent. I'm not saying it should happen every weekend, especially since it doesn't come with double credits for levelling and outfitting, but the occasional block of Double XP Madness would be very welcome indeed. It gives a real sense of momentum.

BW/EA: No really, we're in daily conversation about this; we have top men working on it right now. Indy: Who? BW/EA: Top. Men. Closing shot of very large wall'o'crazy with teeny tiny upside-down post-it note in middle LHS. Aaaaand, scene.

No, it's OK for cosmetic stuff, but not for stuff that makes an actual difference to playing the game. And if it's so important that you max out every rep for whatever reason, take the credits you earn maxing out the other reps, and buy packs on the GTN to max out the CC one. Or, you know, don't. It's not like you'll use those credits buying stims or gear for raiding ETA: BTW, for me the endgame isn't The Search for Better Pants. Getting BiS gear isn't the End, it's the Means. The actual Endgame is rocking in a HM FP or an Op with some like-minded folks.

Cool story, bro. What does it have to do with BiS gear?

As I said above in this thread, since they don't give you any advantage over other players, I don't have a problem with them. I would have a problem with BiS PvP gear for the same reason you would, as it would unbalance the game in favour of those with large wallets. And I'd even have a problem with BiS PvE gear, since a lot of people chop and change mods in their top level gear to suit their play style. It's not about whether it's a mini-game or not for me; it's about whether it gives you an advantage over other players that you didn't earn in game. ETA: Besides, they are easy to earn in-game. The only advantage to buying them with CCs is time, even then, if you've been saving up Fleet and Daily Comms for as long as I had, you don't even get that advantage. If you look at the poll Andryah posted, you'll see that your definition of P2W is a minority one. Not wrong, but a minority. But I suspect we would agree more than we would disagree.

Oh, for fate's sake. Read. What. I. Wrote. Here, I'll put it up again, in simple, happy language words. If BiS gear, (BoE, BoP or BoL) were sold on the Cartel Market that would be Pay to Win. And it would suck hard vacuum. But it isn't. Now, where does that indicate that I think selling BiS gear in the CC could be anything other than P2W?

Yes, and I can farm mats for a few hours a day and get credits to buy BiS equipment. And you can run dailies and get comms to get BiS euqipment. And someone else can max out their WZ weeklies and get war comms to buy BiS equipment. And any subscriber can convert their complimentary CCs to lucky dip boxes and sell them to get credits to buy BiS equipment. But I can't buy BiS equipment with real money, or Cartel Coins. That's an important distinction. Especially since in reality, you need comms or crystals or unassembled bits of armour to convert into BiS gear, and -- and this is key -- you Can't. Get. Them. For. Money. You have to get them by playing. By your definition, any system which allows you to sell cartel items in-game is automatically P2W. By mine, and by most people's, it isn't.

How do they give you an advantage over other players? It's not like there are leader boards or anything. It's not like there aren't a grillion other ways to earn comms.

No. Read what I wrote. P2W means that you can lay out real money to get an advantage over other players. If BiS gear, (BoE, BoP or BoL) were sold on the Cartel Market that would be Pay to Win. And it would suck hard vacuum. But it isn't. The stuff on the Cartel Market is not stuff that will give you an advantage over other players in the game. It's Pay to Look Pretty. P2LP, if you will. Not P2W.

That'd be ... um ... never. I suppose, if you were in a generous mood, you could argue that the level 7 ship upgrades are BiS, but they don't have any effect on how you interact with other players, so I still can't see how they'd be classed as P2W.

"Pay to Win" doesn't mean "Pay to have sith-and-glitter that other people don't have." Pay to Win means "I will buy something that gives me a material advantage over other players and unbalances the game in my favour." So, how are these CC rep lucky dips P2W, in any way?

QFT. A hassle and far more discretionary income than I'm willing to spend; more power to those who do, of course.

Is it APAC server transfers? Or a merger? Or ANYTHING?? That'd cause a lot of joy, you know. You could make a lot of people really, really happy.

$800? ... something something fool and hir money something ... So, this is a title that says "more money than sense"? Good to know .

What's that you say? Rep gets you access to Rep Vendors!? Uncanny! Unheard-of! So, do they sell the I Win button? A Hutt? As in "Rise of the ...."? Perhaps in time, there'll be more Rep to be had ... Just saw the Gree Mount. Deeply, madly want one. Time to start that grind, I guess.

This, pretty much. I do think BW/EA is doing the frog-in-boiling-water thing, though. Not in the sense that eventually they will release true P2W into the cash shop, but they are testing the boundaries of what they can sell without alienating the player base. NB: the player base as a whole is a lot bigger, and I suspect more easy-going, than the people who are rending their garments over the rep thing ... it's a Title, for heaven's sake, not a Legacy-Bound I Win button. So far, it's been: -things to make F2P less annoying -pretties -alternatives for Legacy powerups -lucky dip boxes full of same All that stuff has been done before, in other games, and so has only attracted the usual amounts of outrage. Then there's -level 7 ship parts -colour crystals Stuff which gives you a nominal advantage in a limited way, but doesn't affect other players, and which you can acquire through in-game means anyhow. The reaction? Pearl-clutching has been spotted in the wild, but no-one has actually called for a fainting couch, as far as I can tell. Now there's -a CM Rep title Well, I don't PvP, so I guess I should stamp my foot and complain that I'll never get the PvP titles, huh? Still, pearls are being clutched, and at least a few will demand smelling salts before the day is out ... But how long is their list of potential money-spinners, and what will they test out next?

This ^^.

So are most Americans. And Canadians. Although, culturally, these days, we are pretty much our own thing; lots of US influence, a fair bit of Asian and European influence in the big cities and a multicultural Australianness which generally boils down to Celebrating All the Holidays, Eating All the Things and giving people a fair go. There's pockets of ugly racism, as in any diverse society, and problems which boil down to class and cultural differences, again, as in any large society. But as someone who has lives in the US and the EU, I was routinely baffled by both places on a regular basis . The ping rate is better to the US, though, than to the EU; that's the defining factor here .

Naaah - that's not how Aussie nicknames work. We call redheads "Bluey" (among other things) so an all-Chiss guild would be Better Red than Dead, or Red Dead Redemption, or something like that. But an all Sith-pureblood guild? True Blue it is . (Also - nice to see you around, Andryah)

Rendili Nightshade all the way for me; I buy them when I see them cheap on the GTN, and pass them along to all my alts. I just love me the purple. The one that looks like a pod-racer is quite nice, but I'm not of a mind to shell out actual money for it.

And I'll feed you a lamb roast. Why not come down for PAXAus in July? You can make a holiday of it, and get out of the oppressive Northern heat, and experience a frosty Melbourne winter ... ... hmmmmm. Perfect lamb roast weather, though.

I have nothing of substance to say. But I think both your bible-quote Saber-sigs are very cleverly done and wanted to congratulate you on them.

So we've been told. For months. Thanks for the acknowledgment; I'm sure you are doing all you are allowed to. But at this point, even a time-frame would be something.