Uprisings feel like the old WoW scenarios, where the duration is shorter, but it can be done with any combination of roles. Yet, the soul of SW:TOR is story, and since Uprisings are like Flashpoints without cutscenes, it feels empty to me. Granted I am not interested in group content, but based on that Tatooine Uprising that I did, it feels like a soulless husk compared to Flashpoints.

I have done the Eternal Championship in both this expansion and the previous one. And it is actually much harder in this expansion. Did I get the best gear? No, but neither did I get the best gear in the previous expansion. And I'm a tank. Either bolster isn't tuned right (most likely culprit), or they deliberately made it harder. But it definitely feels overtuned in this expansion.

Doom and gloom threads have existed since 2011.

I assume until a month before the next expansion, where the gear treadmill will be reset. Maybe 3-4 months. Definitely not "2 weeks" like what was suggested. The irony of course, is that for the people threatening to unsub because Command Ranks are too grindy, if they let you get fully geared in 2 weeks, you're gonna be done sooner and unsub anyway due to nothing left to do.

The point of Command ranks has always been to let casuals who don't do Operations, have access to the best gear. By making everyone share the same pool of gear. They just take longer. Like Artifact Power in WoW, this change can be... unintuitive. You cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. People are used to farming for tokens to exchange for gear, and Command ranks is quite the change from the norm. Most of the complaints are from people who want things handed to them on a silver platter. Complaining about not getting an upgrade from rank 26 to 27, about not getting gear from 1 week after the expansion, etc. Last time I checked, this couldn't happen in the previous expansion either. It is a perception issue. They don't like this change, so they make up excuses. But the perception issue is valid. It really is hard to gauge how far away you are from the next upgrade. Tokens at least is cold hard currency that you can count and work towards. But as always, I appreciate them making content even more accessible to casual players, and command ranks are clearly the next step where they make loot more accessible. Obviously it is not polished enough and I rather they refine it instead of changing it like what some people on the forums are suggesting.

Same, I'm only subbing for the story, as there is not enough to keep me playing. I've already consumed the solo content that they've streamlined since around 4.0. Finished the chapter stories of the past 2 expansions. Enjoyed level scaling on planets when I leveled a new character to max. I always level a new "main" whenever I come back because I enjoyed the class story. Enjoyed "solo mode" for flashpoints. Maxed a companion's influence to 50. Got HK-51. Finished Eternal Championship. Completed a few Planetary Conquests for the mats to craft good gear. Crafted the best gear that a non-raider could craft in the previous expansion. Finished almost all Star Fortress achievements. Just didn't get the secret ones. Grinded enough heroics to almost complete all cosmetic gear from the alliance crates. Unlocked all 4 Strongholds to 100%. So if I am unsubbing, it isn't out of spite, or because I don't like the changes. It's because there is nothing left for me to do that I haven't done, as I've consumed most of the solo content that they have enabled. I may be back once there is more soloable group content. But I do appreciate the streamlining of the game to cater to casuals more. It's why I came back to begin with.

I am generally happy with the idea of Command Ranks, where casuals have access to the best gear, just that they take longer. In practice, the system has worked, I got 2 set pieces and a few upgrades. And I am only command rank 18.

Cosmetic gear. Stronghold Decorations. Companions. Personally I do chase better gear, but the above are the few non-gear things I would take. I don't want new mounts or pets.

Veteran chapters should definitely be worth more than 350 CXP. It feels like a [HEROIC 2+] Star Fortress that you are trying to solo. Similarly [HEROIC 2+] Star Fortresses should also be worth more. Both Veteran Chapters and [HEROIC 2+] Star Fortresses are more challenging than heroics.

Did you even read the last paragraph? I already said story chapters should award more CXP, but it should be compared to other solo content.

Well I already don't do them, but only because I'm more interested in solo content, rather than a form of protest. But I feel like Uprisings are a poor-man's flashpoint due to lack of story and cutscenes. I know people are annoyed by cutscenes in flashpoints, and some flashpoints are too long. Uprisings both do not have cutscenes plus they are short. But, it feels like Uprisings do not have a soul, due to lack of story.

Probably poor optimization. Grassy areas in Taris used to lower my fps, but I haven't been in those places in some time.

The devs have stated that harder content should award more CXP. There would be something wrong if solo content awards more CXP than group content. So you can't compare story chapters to warzones. However, you can compare story chapters to another solo content, heroics. Veteran chapters, even as a tank there is danger in me dying. But despite being challenging, it still awards less CXP than the easier heroics for example.

Inspired, but still different. In WoW you still have to raid to get tier sets. Galactic Command, everyone shares the same loot table. So you can story your way to tier sets.

Yeah it's sad, he was the most compelling character for me with the plot twist in KOTOR 1. Now he's a joke.

Stronghold area.

Veteran Chapters need more CXP. Compared to another solo activity like heroics, Veteran Chapters are harder than heroics. Yet they award less CXP, less credits, no alliance crates, and no rep tokens.

Yes Story Chapters should have more CXP to balance them against heroics. Heroics have more CXP, credits, alliance crates, rep tokens. Sometimes they have a nice amount of champion mobs, and they often have bonus objectives. The CXP keeps increasing. Whereas Story Chapters at most have a elites which only award 1 CXP. Story Chapters should have more CXP to make them more viable.

Hello, I am of the opinion that story chapters in veteran mode should have more than 350 CXP. The first reason is that they are challenging, and the CXP do not match the challenge. I haven't done all of them, but from the first few chapters that I've done, even as a tank in 228s I found it challenging. I can imagine this being harder for dps or healers who do not have their favoured tank companion to help them. Compared to the heroics that we do, heroics are piddly easy, and yet they award 450 CXP. The second reason is that story chapters do not offer gear or much credits. Again compared to heroics, heroics offer more CXP, more credits, rep for certain factions, and even Alliance crates which you can trade for cosmetic gear. The last reason is a bit trivial, but story chapters take longer to complete. Whereas heroics from an easy planet like Coruscant and Taris will take considerably less time to complete. And you do not need to complete all heroics to get 450 CXP, you only need to do a specified number. I understand that solo players should not gain as much CXP as raiders, but both story chapters and heroics are solo content, yet heroics offer more CXP. Therefore I suggest that Veteran Story chapters should award at least 450 CXP or even more, taking into account that they are more difficult yet less rewarding than heroics.

Ok thanks. According to this 4.0 guide: http://dulfy.net/2015/12/30/swtor-4-0-defense-guardian-pve-guide-by-artorias/ May I know which cooldown is he talking about that benefits from defense?

That's another subject. I was arguing the absurdity of the thread, which implied that a system doesn't work because you don't get something in one night. The previous system also didn't do such thing. And if you want to talk about currency, how long would that take to get one item? 1 week? 2 weeks? 1 month? We're not even 2 weeks into the game, and already people expect to be covered in a full set. I say that because it's convenient that the OP did not share the loot drops from rank 1 to 26.

I love streamlining. It's what impressed me about the game, and I approve of the change in direction from a hardcore MMO into more of a solo online RPG. There are plenty of MMOs that cater to the hardcore raider. But very few MMOs like SW:TOR focuses on the casuals and solo players. Level scaling on planets. Changing companions affection system to influence. I miss gearing up companions manually but influence is easier to manage. Amazing story chapters. Interesting "solo group content" like star fortress and Eternal Championship. Being able to craft almost the best gear. And now, solo players can get the best gear without it being locked behind operations, as long as they keep playing. The one glaring content missing from this is a companion content, something like WoW's Garrison missions. What WoW did was obviously a lite version of Mass Effect 3's War Readiness system. We have a plethora of companions. We must be able to do something with them beyond crew missions.

It would be nice if they did it like what they did for the Revan operation. There is a solo mode for story, and operation mode for raiders. For solo players, maybe make us work for it by grinding heroics to increase the War Readiness score (like Mass Effect 3). Once it reaches 100%, then we can access Revan solo mode. This can be a weekly thing.

You will find that in the previous system, it was also possible for you to get nothing from 1 night of ops and flashpoints.

Hey all, We've seen the use of vehicles in the story chapters of the latest expansion. Are we ready for such vehicle combat in the open-world? Since the devs would love us to do heroics, maybe it would be a fresh coat of paint to make it more interesting. The incentive to increase your vehicle strength would be to clear heroics faster, and for tanks and healers to do meaningful dps despite their roles. To balance such firepower, perhaps we could follow the example in Fallout 4, where power armour uses power cores, and is more or less balanced compared to other traditional forms of damage. Cybertech already makes spaceship parts, so the parts to upgrade vehicles could be from the Cybertech profession. What does everyone think?