It'll be a long read, but could have some useful info inside. This July-August we (me and a few friends) where looking for a MMO to go full-in into. Life changes, there is no more time or dedication to play Eve Online or Elite Dangerous the way we would want to play these games. WoW was out of the picture years ago, way too many hopes was spend on that game, from expansion to expansion more and more Hamsterwheels BS, less and less fun game-play. ESO and GW2 weren't something enjoyable for me (controls, responsiveness, lack of classes I would really wanted to play, more like classes in them were not fun to play for me, etc). Albion Online after Eve Online is just no. BDO and other less popular MMOs became not an option not long after launch of each of them. Going back to something really old like Ultima Online, Anarchy Online, OSRS doesn't look like fun since most of nostalgia already evaporated. We are almost exclusively MMO players for the last 15-20 years, going for Single-player or Coop games wasn't something any of us would like to do. We have Chess for that with occasional Among Us, that's enough. One thing tho - I don't like F2P games, subscription and B2P are my thing, because money is something with a possibility to earn more if I overspend, time is something I can't get back, it's better to spend it on something good. My friends share this point of view, so all F2P MMOs weren't considered, with exception of Lost Arc and couple of Private Servers below. The options left were: - SWG Emu / Legends (just a good game + Star Wars) - Return of Reckoning (good game, decent PvP, Warhammer Online private server) - SWTOR (Star Wars + some nostalgia from playing beta/launch..., Good story, lots of missed content over the years, decent PvP, some chances for OK WPvP) - FFXIV (Some of us played it for a short time here and there, some nostalgia for FF games, great game-play systems, great story after initial slug) We'd started with SWG Legends. Great game, was very interesting to get into especially since we'd missed it when it was live. But it was impossible for me to play it for long - controls were killing me. We tried different settings and mods combinations, nothing really worked to make it enjoyable, and so it was off. Next was Warhammer. Decent game, decent PvP, but way too edgy in style and classes, very poor FX (even for it's time), not very enjoyable to press those buttons. It was perceived better when it was live, today - wasn't anybody's cup of tea. We were left with FFXIV or SWTOR. All of us were OK with initial slug through ARR, we knew that slow GCD combat is only at the start and then it's quite fast with off-GCD weaving in between. Plus responsiveness and fluidity is top notch so it's enjoyable to press those buttons. Game-play systems are very good. Nothing like Hamsterwheels "Do your chores that we told you to do and repeat as much as we tell you to" of WoW. Game itself and Devs almost scream - play it for fun. How story sometimes delves into quite deep subjects was very interesting. But. Over the top FX and lack of any even semi-decent PvP was a huge turn off. Mimimi of majority of the game needed some time to get used to. Off we go to SWTOR. Being SW fans, with hype from shows/series, with a smidge of nostalgia from beta/launch times - we immediately felt like home. Something that looked like tons of content to play through, leveling was way too fast, but at max level it became clear that we can play the game anyway that we wanted to and still progress with power of our characters - it was a blast! We were running FPs, OPs, PvP, playing Space Barbie & Space Homes decorator. Fun! Then some of us became weary with the amount of bugs, to the point of - "I don't want to pay for a product that throws minimum 1 bug at me every 15 minutes, no matter what I do, even sorting on GTN can't work reliably and I have to re-click different options, some of the bugs I remember from launch, it's frustrating to say the least". And it got really bad when a few Market items were purchased with money, without prior research for bugs (because who would think that something you buy for extra money to get extra fun could bring extra bugs instead). Then research into bugs situation happened, results were not good - almost all guides for different things in SWTOR have a section with bugs, almost all bugs never get fixed even for Market items, etc. If developer has little to none quality control for it's main money maker system in game it usually doesn't mean anything good for the future. Divide happened. After first examples of how abilities pruning was going to be in 7.0 it became clear that it won't even be the way WoW did it. In WoW with pruning players got options of how to set up a spec that it plays differently. Each spec could have 2-3 quite different single target rotations, 1-2 AoE, and from that there were many options for PvP. So while players lost a lot they also got something. Still remember how good it was to play my Arcane Mage in MoP, golden age of arcane. In what SWTOR is doing in 7.0 - some abilities removed, some put in one or the other options, no customization added, still exactly the same 1 rotation. One by one my friends left. I was having lots of fun with freedom to play the game how I wanted to play every time I logged in - this way of playing was still fun enough to not bother too much with bugs fiesta and microtransactions galore. Plus there was a shred of hope for better changes since it was only a start of PTS and things could've changed for the better (WoW development hopes & letdowns flashbacks intensify). My friends went to FFXIV, we were waiting for New World and I was trying to get them back to SWTOR with stories how cool something was, how great was that WPvP event I was in, etc, while fighting off jokes like "How many bugs were today? Did you pay extra for some of them? How's game future looking...". Then mix of thing happened. New World went as expected, fun for 20-30 levels, then not good enough as PvP and very bad as PvE. Maybe check back on it in a year. I finally got my friends to consider going back to SWTOR, because fun and... Star Wars, but itemization and curated content were revealed. Everybody instantly new that Hamsterwheels found their way to SWTOR. Some time later it became clear that this game-design approach is here to stay, and with this any desire to login evaporated. I stopped playing SWTOR, everything even somewhat useful was donated to the guild, sub is still running only because I wanted to take part in 10 year celebration and spend all CCs, but chances of that happening going slimmer by the day. We all playing FFXIV. Decided that out of all it is the game to invest our time in. Endwalker expansion looks even better. No Hamsterwheels is a huge plus, and in first patch there will be a big update and changes for PvP that look very promising. Lost Arc could be interesting, as a PvP MMO it's good. Point and click to control a ship is one thing, but with a character I prefer direct control - maybe as a side game from time to time, nothing more. So with this, I recommend to do a research and make a list of MMOs that have even a chance to be interesting for you, since we are all different with different tastes and likes, and once you have it - go through that list to have your own understanding of what you think/like/don't about any of them. Yes, it would require some time investment, but it'll also give you data from your own experience and show what each game has to offer for you. If you was able to associate with anything in this rant - I hope it was helpful in some way.

SWTOR (more so in 7.0 with current plan) - repeat to get something because we told you so. FF - repeat if you like and have fun doing it. Quite a big difference, because it is a player who decides what/when/how much to repeat. Plus, microtransactions are important for SE but not the focus. Game-play is (more below). True. They have different focus. SWTOR has more adventure in dungeons - clear/run around, work your way to the boss... while FF more focused on actual fights with bosses, while adventure mostly happen outside of instances. I hope it's not the case of "Fully-voiced almost everything but mediocre at best game-play features" vs "Fully-voiced main plot and quests, with game-play features focus on fun". Because, imo, right now it sure looks like it. With this ^ you can see how much difference there is between how much SWTOR and FFXIV incentivize microtransactions. FF points to game-play first, then Shops as a real extra. SWTOR points to the Market and Coins as a main go-to. Every company wants to make money, the difference in approach they take. You can see how each company like to do things by simple comparison: Login rewards - FOMO abusive design, FF Veteran rewards for subscription time - additional thank you. Login rewards vs Subscription Thank you. Conquests/Seasons vs Nothing. Curated content to get upgrades (Daily/Weekly bonuses) vs Nothing. Events are FOMO only if player makes them so. They are extra content - not a main feature / system of the game, not something for character progression, not a main game-play or how game is supposed to be played. Ability to purchase one-time only rewards from a cash-shop is a bonus, specifically to accommodate players who couldn't participate in this extra content with an ability to get what they could be interested in. SWTOR players asked for something similar with one-time things for a long time (starting with Collector's Edition). Housing - yes, fully agree. If you want a house in FF you'll need to spend a lot of time at a time that is not in your control, and probably ask a few friends to do the same with you, or you have high chances of missing out. Additionally, if all of you won't login for 45 (not sure how many exactly) days you'll loose the house and it's going to go on a market for somebody else to no-life for a time to buy it. All because FF has a limited amounts of houses for sale, they position it as a feature - owning a house is something you have to put effort in. First part is definitely a FOMO - you want a house, it went on sale, you have to be there to click it or you'll miss out. But there is also workaround - buy a plot / relocate. So there is a 1 FOMO by design, that could be avoided to some extend with preparation. With housing situation - yes, not completely. But not in main game-play / features / systems (progression / choice of content to play / thing like that...), not in player retention systems, where SWTOR does it with FOMO, FF does it with "Play if you want".

You can't really compare SWTOR to FFXIV, because it's like comparing cookies to water for someone dying of thirst. Where SWTOR is lacking in social features, pay for emotes, very little content (almost 0) for socializing, in FF there are tons, starting form simple quests than show you how to use emotes up to a player created social events like Concerts, Nightclubs & Other clubs-like places, etc, created by players for players with tools provided by the game (provided, not curated). Where in SWTOR 1 bug per 15 minutes and 0 optimized engine, in FF there are 0 bugs in 100+ hours and great optimization. Where in SWTOR semi-ok look from in-game loots and microtransaction galore, in FF there is, well.. just the opposite. Where in SWTOR 40$ cosmetics with bugs not fixed for years, in FF there are no such things. Where in SWTOR crafting is mostly meaningless, in FF crafting is relevant for 99% of the game, both in gear and cosmetics/housing, not even talking about how crafting is actually done (much more game-play involved). Etc. But in one aspect both game could be compared - game-design philosophy. FOMO (fear of missing out). In MMO it's used for player retention, MAU (monthly active users) and microtransactions. It works by putting in every player' head a nagging feeling that even if player doesn't want/need something they still have a thought of "If I won't login today/right now I'm going to miss out on something". Quite often game systems are specifically designed to exploit FOMO, so often tbh that many players got used to it being this way and some even defend these exploitative methods. In current SWTOR you can see it in Login rewards, Conquest / Galactic Seasons / Curated set of activities, where it looks like player is gaining something to do or to have, sometimes for free, while the main goal is to exploit FOMO and get players to login or even emotionally invest into your game and not something else. FF doesn't have any FOMO exploitative systems. To go even further - lead producer in various dev blogs and interviews says thing like - "we want our players to play other games" & "if it's fun for you to play FF - play it, because we made it to have fun". The only way for player to have any kind of FOMO in FF is to put themselves in such position, for example - want to finish a story before the next expansion release but don't have time to do that - something that happens because of player' outside of the game situations and not because game systems designed to put players in that state. Unfortunately SWTOR is not copying FFXIV. It might look like it, but it is only because of similarities of new Combat styles system and desire of many players for it to be like FF's Jobs/Class system. Everything else - mostly opposite of FF game-design philosophy, and with direction for many systems in new expansion - even more so. When FOMO is combined with treadmills design, siloing and time gating - it becomes a Hamsterwheels design philosophy. The most advances state for this approach is an addition of curated content that tell players what to play and when, and if players don't do that - they are going to miss out on rewards/progression/etc. It works by additionally exploiting players desire to be superior than others, so those who got with the program have that excuse. FF doesn't have that. In FF it's from all points of view a player's decision to do the hardest content, to prepare for it, organize for it and do it. That's why all the top tier rewards, both gear and cosmetics, for that type of content hold much more value & prestige than any reward from Hamsterwheel design system could even have. Inventors and promoters of Hamsterwheels design was/is Blizzard with WoW, doubling down on it again and again for many expansions. How much it negatively impacted game and community everybody knows, no point in repeating. (from another side there were first mobile games with Login rewards type of hooks) So BW and SWTOR are copying Blizzard and WoW design philosophy, and not FFXIV, and it is (again) unfortunately, because if last half a year showed something in MMO design it one thing for sure - you do not want to copy Blizzard/WoW, it is much better to do what SE/FFXIV were doing for years - learn from WoW's mistakes. In 6.0 SWTOR has (had) a good and quite unique system, they could continue to improve it, innovate with it, fix RNG, slowdown progression for easier content and keep same or little slower for harder content, etc, but instead they flipped and went with a decade old bs (imo) system. The answer to your question (imo) - looks like BW thinks that the only way for them to retain players (and maybe get new ones at least for some time) is to double down on making/forcing players to repeat the same content again and again, while selling on microtransactions in the process. So they've chose what they see as the best game-design system/philosophy for those goals.

I don't really like to run-repeat same static PvE content (FPs/OPs), with same mobs in the same places doing the same thing, over and over and over again till my eyes fall out, it's mind numbing to me, and let's face it - majority of players are running easiest & fastest ones for those exact reasons. I could enjoy it from time to time, and I like to repeat other less scripted activities, like PvP. So I get it, you'd been repeating the same FPs/OPs for years, MMs/NiMs are end-game content, you know them like a back of your hand, players want to feel special for doing (repeating) it more and more (no sarcasm here), especially with all the troubles of organizing groups, so this trivial and old as genre itself solution of having a few ilvls higher gear looks like that tiny shred of special/superior and you are willing to overlook anything not-good these systems/changes bring. I'm not trying to insult anybody, if you feel like it insults you - sincerely sorry. So as not to repeat - overall thoughts on a PTS forum -> a bit more thoughts in General -> a bit more thoughts on a PTS forum -> In addition to those posts (more like closing argument): There are different players playing this game, and (majority at very least) playing it to have fun. Solo players are going to get hit very hard with those changes. There are reasons for people to be solo players (no need to repeat them, all known, there are threads about) and I bet non of them need a reason to feel "less than" when they are playing a game, especially when players' been playing with the one of the most inclusive systems (current / 6.0) and saw/felt/experienced it was possible. For you maybe this inability to get highest ilvl is a minor thing or you're fine with justifying it with "don't need", or just don't care, etc., but for others it could be a disheartening feeling in the back of a head that no matter what they do, no matter how much time they invest they won't ever be able to get it (their character won't be as strong). Takes away enjoyment and replaces it with not a good feeling. Community in SWTOR is one of the best communities I experienced in any MMO. It rivals FFXIV community easy, imo. But it's a game were both spending time and getting loot are very important. Current systems have a safety net (one currency for upgrades, same pool of items...) so when player enters a bad pug or something goes wrong in a group, or anything else that have a change of waste of time - it never feels like a complete waste of time, and some progression towards better gear / power of your character is still possible. New gearing system + curated content/activities take this safety net away, because of separate paths for gear, currencies, weekly/daily activities with bonuses... not even a chance of a backup from crafting (there is no crafting in 7.0). So it's going to be possible to completely 100% waste time. WoW was like this for years (it still had a backup from crafting at least up to a certain point) - there is no need for a long research to see how toxicity levels in it's community were rising. To put it simply - if there is a real possibility of complete waste of time then toxicity you can experience in Ranked will be a minimum across all other activities, "let's go already. faster! FASTER! ..." are going to quite often be a nicest thing players tell each other. Maybe you're OK with it, maybe it's OK other games have it like this... but overall it's not a good thing. In a game where gear ilvls are constantly changing and gear you're getting to become obsolete time and time again - the only real and meaningful rewards for progression and doing hard content - are Cosmetics. Unique Cosmetics. 6.0 system could easily be made more interesting for raiders / end-game content runners by removing RNG boxes, increasing tech fragments prices and tech fragments rewards from OPs to accommodate increased prices for players doing that content. Solo/Casual grinds for a half a year, pro raider for a month, or something like that, but most importantly there is no restrictions on what you can get and there is a freedom of choice of what you want to play every time you log in. Add cool and unique cosmetics to NiM OPs, with a low chance of dropping, each op drops different parts (so there is a need to do them all), make new cosmetics each expansion - there you have it - faster and more meaningful gear progression for raiders and meaningful rewards. It's a pity, Blizzard and WoW are definitely not something you would want to take inspiration from. Learning from their mistakes would be much more beneficial. Especially when you already have a better, much more flexible and improvement-ready system.

Well, I'm a Founder, but only in the name, don't have any experience with SWTOR gearing systems since first expansion. Instead I have a lot of experience with all kinds of systems in MMOs, because that is the only game genre I've been playing for 2 decades. Coming back to SWTOR this August - Gearing systems is what I loved the most - complete freedom of playing a theme-park MMORPG however I want and still being able to progress with power of my character was unexpected, fun and very enjoyable/satisfying to play. Combined with all content I've missed over the years and Star Wars - that was the reason for me not only to stay, but also - want to stick with it for a long time. Hamster-wheel game design of systems in new expansion is quite an old way of going about them, was / is in many games and one in particular - the King and main inventor of Hamster-wheels in MMORPGs. In 6.0 SWTOR already has systems that are more enjoyable to play, and I simply can't understand why would they go back to hamster-wheels & treadmills instead of continuing to evolve and progress a good and quite unique system they have. So as not to repeat - there is a post on PTS forum -> Freedom of playing the game with current (6.0) gearing system is so huge for me that I don't even care much about bug-fest & microtransactions galore. I'm enjoying every time I log in, and I really want to keep doing that. To keep it shorter - (my opinion from my experience and my pov) Don't like hamster-wheels, tried them before, many times, but I'm not a hamster. I want to have fun playing what I want to play every time I log in (progression with character power is a big part of this fun, it's a RPG game still), and that (coupled with playing with other players) is the main attraction of MMO games for me. If it's not there, I'm not there, not a threat by any stretch, just my pov.