Im sat here reflecting over the changes in this game since beta to launch then over the steady year of decline. I have seen a thousand arguements on these forums were fanbois and haters have stood off against each other about the direction this game is going. Looking at the forums today... Seeing the threads where people are literally justifying price gouging I cant help but wonder if this isn't how America ended up in this sh*t economic disaster that it is today. Greed is wrong. There is no justification for the path EAware is going. They are literally just milking players for every penny they can get. Running a business shouldnt be a charity, but seriously, when is enough profit enough? And when did your reputation mean less than the almighty dollar?

Props to posting. Had a hard time watching once I saw how often you back peddled though.

Wont buy it until I see what its like when it releases... They got me once with the CE, they wont get me again with this.

Just ***... What the flying **** were the design team thinking? Have they even seen a Star Wars Movie?

I like how you call it QQ'ing when I question pricing. (Seems to be a trend on this forum whenever someone says something that isn't unquestionable praise.) I questioned the reasoning why something that takes more man hours cost less than some things that are simply recolored. I am asking for clarification on why the prices in the shop are so high comparable to that of the new expansion. The fact that you have resorted to calling my post a QQ speaks volumes about you. I feel I presented a reasonable argument and your resolved to try and discredit me based on what I have bolded out of your commentary. WHICH I addressed in an earlier post that you obviously did not bother to read. My question still stands, when will the pricing in the market be addressed in relevance to the expansion and pretty much in general. EDIT O WOW Thanks BioWare for merging my thread into the one about you all supposedly lying about subs not having to pay for Makeb. How does the pricing on the cartel market in relevance to the cost of the expansion HAVE anything to do with you all being accused of lying about charging for Makeb? BRAVO.

Find me level 1 orange modifiable gear (not from the cartel market) on the GTN. Some people care about stuff like that. Regardless, Its not just about the vanity portion. The pricing is just not in line with the value of the product, period. As I said earlier. Story is the main selling point, why is it valued less than vanity items? It makes no sense to me unless the story quality they are putting out is sub par and doesn't deserve more than $10? I would gladly pay more for an expansion if it offers everything they are promising. I question why they are charging so little when they have no problem gouging in the market. The pricing is all over the place and really needs to be addressed by the devs and management in my opinion.

Yes, but wasn't Vindictus designed to be a 100% free? Their only source of income is their shop. This game on the contrary has a sub model attached to it to help fund its development, thus nullifying your argument. This game isn't even really a F2P model, its a freemium model. With that in mind, this game went to this model because it was losing subs faster than the Titanic was taking on water as it sunk. The idea was that the Cartel Market and the F2P(Freemium) would refresh and revitalize the game. Instead, the out of balance pricing on the Cartel Market in combination with the new price set on the expansion has actually had a negative impact in my opinion as it seems to be blatant price gouging. How does an expansion with extensive content cost less than recolored mounts and some new armor? The story is suppose to be the selling part of the game yet the management has valued it at less than a vanity item? Its nonsensical.

IMO if they are not going to do holiday events at all then the Life Day items on the cartel market have no place there either.

My complaint is I want the pricing to make sense. In relation to each other it is extremely out of balance. I personally don't care for any of the items on the cartel market much less think they are worth the price tag stuck on them. However, I play with people who do like the items and I understand their frustration when they complain about the pricing. I cant reasonably explain why an armor set costs more than an expansion. What I can question is why the chose to make people have to pay out the butt to customize a character, yet they charge barely anything for an epic story™ which is suppose to be the selling point of the game.

I would contend they would sell more packs if they lowered the price and upped the drop rate of some of the rares (note I did not say super rares) to a reasonable amount to entice players to buy. The problem with the shop now is people do not feel they are getting their monies worth. Thus the fuss. In fact I would say they only get to sell an expansion once whereas they can resell a pack over and over if you can entice the players. But as it stands now, they have put nothing in the shop that is worth the real money value they have placed on it, which is exactly why people are upset. Especially with how cheap the expansion is in comparison.

I am not going to go into a long debate about it as I have just addressed my beef with the cartel market in this thread here http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=574478 The reason I think people are upset is not because they are doing what every other MMO is doing, but the way they are going about it. It just looks terrible and the balance of it is entirely out of whack in comparison to other games. It leaves a bad taste and some people have a hard time addressing things in a civil manner when they care so much and invest so much time into a game.

Where exactly did I complain about the in-game snow blower mount? Please, quote me. I dare you to.

I'm lol'ing. Your pulling at straws at best. It isn't an edge, mounts are dirt cheap. Seriously... dirt cheap. No one is being denied anything and it isn't an edge. You may get the mount from level one but you cant use it till you train @ the same level as everyone else. You still have to pay for the training your literally saving something like 20 silver its a laughable amount.

I totally get how paying money for something useful that doesn't give you an edge over other players AND benefits a charity is worse...

^ This

I agree with this 100% but it really is sending a terrible message to their potential and current player base. It just is so outrageous that it leaves a horrible distaste for the game in general. I do enjoy playing the game, (even with the plethora of flaws) the concept is good, and after all it is Star Wars. But every time I launch the game and see the Cartel Market item push it literally makes me nauseous, not to mention the CM icon now in the UI as a perpetual reminder of the blatant money grabbing that has become the main focus of a good portion of the game at the moment.

I am not writing this thread to start a complain-a-thon, seriously. I would just like a little feedback from the devs regarding their logic on the cartel market. Currently with the announcement of their new expansion at only $9.99 for subscribers and $19.99 for F2P players I have to ask myself why do items in the cartel market cost so much? Lets look at the numbers... given the benefit of the doubt that consumers are buying the "Best Value" package at 5500 coins for 39.99. That means that each dollar is worth about 137 coins. So just to keep it simple lets leave it at that. Translate that into items on the market and lets look at the prices. One armor set is 1200 coins which means at the "Best Price" it cost a player $8.76 ($13.20 at the highest price.) Your Life Day Mount at the "Best Price" cost a player about $13. 14. The new armor sets are 1440 coins which means that at the "Best Price" it cost the player $10.51 This is just a couple prices you can do the math for the rest if you truly desire on your own. My point is who is crunching the numbers in your office? How is it possible that you guys in management consider a EXPANSION with a whole new planet of epic voiced over stories, a level cap increase, and lots more information coming soon™ less valuable than a mount in the Cartel Shop? Did it take you more man hours to create the armor and the mounts than it did the expansion? Seriously? I dont understand who is making these numbers up... In relation to each other the prices are totally out of whack and imply the the items on the Cartel Market are blatant money grabs if the expansion is only valued at $10.00. What I am asking is that you guys at BioWare stop and take a serious look at what your putting out to your consumers. We are not blind we see these things. Would you please reconsider your pricing in the future because right now it seems like a horrible money grab aimed at players who desire some of the flash or new cool items. (Or even to players who are F2P who are getting nickeled and dimed at every corner.) Right now the reason there seems to be so much unrest about the choices that are being made is that your Cartel Shop and launch of F2P was designed to draw in new players. Instead what it seems to have actually done is put off your loyal subscriber base that you have managed to keep by placing all the 'new' items into the Cartel Market instead of adding to the game and giving players cool things to achieve without having to dump money into your market. PLEASE reconsider the choices you are making. We want the game to succeed but your not helping your own cause here.

EAWare is setting records with ToR on things future MMO's shouldnt do... Why would this be different?

Heres a novel thought dont buy it yet. You could do like what a lot of people are doing and wait. I personally am not buying it yet. I will wait until I get more information or until it releases to make a decision. In the mean time I will watch the forums with my bag of popcorn whilst people freak out over a preorder that they dont HAVE to buy yet.

Cel Cawdo has an excellent thread on this with polls... No one on those polls pointed out Cathar as a wanted race as I can recall, but you should take a look at his thread its amazing. Heres the link incase you wanna eyeball it OP http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=479757

IMO, this game is really bad about releasing 'new' gear. Even the cash shop is full of mostly recoloreds. Honestly it saddens me, this is Star Wars so much could be done with armor models. But BW is failing here... Hard.

Not to my knowledge, I think you have to be subbed to create threads, but you can be F2P and post in any.

^ This. And it really is silly that the limited rare items dont come from actual work, but how much your willing to spend.

TY! To OP, sorry you're mad. Its how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

TL; DR anyone?