@Darkestmonty .. Yeah I kind of knew that! Part of what I posted was somewhat rhetorical (sorry ... totally my bad. I should have said something about it). BUT ... again you are quite correct. BTW... thanks again for the screen shots. I'm quite certain it will benefit a lot of other folks. The QOL stuff is the best thing IF it functional (and it seems to be). The debate over who get stuck with the processing bill will more than likely never get resolved. IMO many of the upcoming changes are probably beneficial. (Although there might be a couple I would personally change). I'm not on the team so that is not for me to decide. BTW... (my last time I'll bring this up since very few will like it) ... Heavy taxation being paid by those who are buying ASSUMES that EVERYONE who IS buying (expensive items) is a whale and NEEDS to be taxed. (NOT GOOD) !! I appreciate your post by the way!

[/reads more stuff on thread... shakes head negatively] Good grief: ** Regardless of the ongoing debate over the philosophy of the "stick-it-to-the-rich" (because I hate and blame them for all of the GTN problems) VS "My idea is better"... that will NOT change what is being released. ** The format will remain the same. ** What MIGHT change will be the numbers actually controlling the GTN (taxation percentages ... fees charged). ** QOL stuff (such as easy to read / manage) items that consolidate entries (in stead of pages and pages of on piece items or STACKS and STACKS flooding the market (all at the same price from the same individual) IMO ... THAT is a "maybe" something can and will be done about it. I have said before (and at the risk of sounding like a broken record) will repeat what I've said in the past: ** Stupid high taxation will never solve anything. (I'll add: it only pisses people off. Period) ** Non refundable fees: This helps prevent the massive pages posting which floods the market with volumes of merchandise for fear of being constantly undercut. Frankly ... welcome to the market. That is how it should be. If someone wants to list THAT MUCH product (at whatever price) .. then that is a part of selling. That will NEVER change. WHY? Simple: you're not the only one in the game who wants to sell stuff. So get over it! Working the market can be fun and rewarding! It can also be a royal pain in the tailfeathers! A part of selling larger quantities is to understand how to release said products at a price that will sell AND doing so in the correct quantities that will not hurt the market (as well as your own objective). I honestly believe that the team already knows what they are going to do! (If the past 2 years is ANY indication). The BEST thing we can (and should do) is to look at QOL issues, accessibility, clarity of pricing (and applied fees). ** Does the new system work? ** Can any player post an item to sell and easily understand what they are actually selling an entire stack of product for (including the actual selling price for EACH as well as the total selling price for an entire stack (where applicable). ** Does the buyer clearly see what the total selling price is (BTW... IMO this whole tax thing is a mistake ... BUT no one is going to listen. I'm only upsetting some when I say this. BUT I refuse to be less than honest about this matter. It is what it is. I will never change (and neither will those who oppose me). Done and Done. I'm out!

For me it was simply accessibility to items (and Mods) that allowed me to tweak my stats that worked better for me personally. Not everyone utilizes the style or rotation when playing. (Heck some folks don't even look for doing things in a certain order anymore). But for me ... I find it extremely annoying when someone else tries to tell me HOW to play and HOW to gear my character in order for me to play the game correctly. Good grief ... I can tell every time they start messing with the stats on WoW. And that usually translates into finding another piece of gear to compensate. BTW... That stupid game has mastered the art of gating ... griding and getting people to chase after gear. The only difference is that this time around what I need ... I CAN GET !! (Current status i-rating is 422 without doing raids. Dishing out damage in excess of 180K is not uncommon for me personally. And I don't even pretend to be that good at it). SWTOR??? 6.0 WHEN it first STARTED was pretty decent. BY the END it was horrible. The drop rates for actual USEABLE stuff was just ridiculous!!! Hense the bombardment of complaints about RNG (both before / during / and AFTER the initial release of 6.0). It was almost as bad (if not worse) than JUS on Ossus. And for the record ... IMO there are MORE people who pay attention to STATS that some might want the audience at large to believe! That is also one of the reasons so many ARE unhappy with 7.0 and following! Having access to and the ability to EARN what I need to play a game makes a LOT of difference!! (At least to some of us).

out of reaction thingies again .. I owe ya one! [/unworthy emote]

Closer. This is what I was saying about cleaning up the excessive one liners. It absolutely clogged up the GTN with a lot of unnecessary posting. This aspect of the GTN is positive if it consolidates all of the same listing for the same person on one line. BY that I mean: Say one person has a quantity of 500 of one item and wants to sell them individually at 1,000,000 credits each. Then there should be a column that indicates the TOTAL number of units available from that person. (I hope that makes sense). I'm not trying to be negative in this particular reply. I'm just suggesting that cleaning up the GTN entries and making it easier to see multiple listings (and the prices) makes it easier for someone who is purchasing any item to see what is available. (BTW... kudos on the screen shots)

Even WoW right now has more than just one area to pick up gear that can be upgraded. Sone of it starts at 402 ... then goes up to 424 (or higher) ... Some at 415 (and up higher) .. And it's a grind (in different story lines). Some of it through time scape (moving back and forth through old stuff) ... some of it through other themes. Another YET one is about to be released in a few days. The point is that there is a lot of stuff to do! Right now at the center of THAT hub for SWTOR is the GS series. That MUST be kept alive with fresh stuff to do and rewards accordingly: Fun items to use, strongholds, GEAR (that can actually be used). Regardless of what is chosen by the team for rewards it must actually be stimulating to the audience!

IMO the whole matter resembles more of an "in your face" that's what you asked for now live with it... rather than a sensible solution! (I'm probably going to make an enemy out of some members of the team ... but right now that's just how all of this is coming across to me personally).

One of the single most honest answers yet! IMO ... "The more complicated the plumbing the easier it is to stop it up!" The system needs to be easy to understand and use. Cleaning up pages and pages of entries from the same person and consolidating them into a simpler, easy to read and understand system is always beneficial. Other matters that overly complicate the system and how to utilize it will only prove to be yet another source of difficulties for SWTOR.

Oddly enough I agree. IMO there is a big difference between someone who is just after the achievement/acknowledgement or gear piece and someone who is there to play that aspect of SWTOR passionately. That being said it is also EQUALLY important that each aspect be developed with the same commitment to excellence: PvP / PvE / GSF ... Story ? Veteran? Advanced? While some think that might be an unrealistic position to take ... I don't think it's unreasonable at all. Maybe one day someone far enough up the food chain will figure it out ... that the old man ain't off his rocker!

I think you're right (or at least on the right track). Gear and group participation seemed to be the primary motivation behind it!

Kind of what I meant by the "why". It just didn't seem to fit! And YES ... perhaps your suggestion as to HOW to incorporate it would have been much better! (well said)

[/scratches head] ... Yeah .. what was that all about? I kind of got part of it ... but somehow didn't really justify WHY.

(not necessarily in any particular order) ** Strongholds ** Companions ** SEVERAL of the stories (including SOME vanilla, SOME KotFE / ET, SoV (w/o the bugs) / Showdown on Ruhnuk / Onderon ** the encouragement to build several models that we did (they use to be posted) ** Outfitter (a really useful tool in many ways) ** Legacy: banks / weapons / and many other applicable conveniences ** I really enjoyed creating a Smuggler character that was for the most part LS ... (but could be a little naughty from time to time) 😇 ** Numerous really funny one liners throughout the game I'm still remembering the gold heist with Vet in that warhead and later on Gault ... "What are we up to now ... Plan "C"? ** So many places where the artwork is just outstanding (too numerous to mention). ** AND ... the many folks here in forum that put up with a cranky old man !! 😉 AND (of course ... it's all done in a Star Wars setting)

YUP! Kind of like a long horn story (see Texas Longhorn cow). A point here..... . ........................... and a point here ...................... . (with a whole lot of "bull" in between) 😇

Assuming would be your next mistake. I'm just playing by your rules.

IMO this is part of it! And it has been suggested that some of the content in game (from time to time) is done in order to justify said companions. Rather than tell the story (in game story) and let the players choose the right companion to accompany them. I think that the idea was to get the new companion and then boost their rep points up high enough to make sure that they are useful further down the road. [/shrugs] ... personally I'm just too stubborn. (Us old folks have that problem from time to time). I'll still pick my own companion that I want to accompany me! 😜

+1 in the thank you reaction... (I'm out for the day)... 🤦‍♂️ We're on the same page! Well ... almost ... I'd prefer a new outfit for one of my CURRENT companions. (I really don't need another one... not unless she's 5'4" with jet black hair ... kind of like the lady I've been married to for almost 50 years now. I'd go for that one!)

I wish I were not out of those reaction thingies (we need that increased please). [/two thumbs up] I may not agree with all of it ... but well written!

And who do you think will be paying those taxes? Before you answer that ... let me kind of help you with MY answer: If I'm selling something (particularly several stacks of crafted items or mats) ... I will know the market well enough to make sure I'm getting my cut. Period! Someone else will pick up the tab! That may sound harsh ... but that's life! Otherwise ... this old man stands pat with what he has. I'll take my time and cherry pick away until I have what I'm after. And I'll do it without too many people noticing it until I'm done!

Agreed! And ... ( I'm really pushing my luck even asking about this) ... what would be your top 3 rewards? ** Space station (not a flat in a space station) strong hold ** A new customized ship for one of our characters (Might even be used in the GSF area?????) ** A new mount that my companion can ride with me. Addendum: I ran out of reaction thingies!! (sorry about that)

Not necessarily. In fact usually quite the opposite. The higher end taxation will unquestionably push higher end products out of the hands of newer players! Those taxes will (just for example) fall on items that are in greater demand. If this unfolds the way it currently appears to .. ** There will be fewer people crafting... since there is less interest and less profit . (almost sounds like a Ferengi!) Prices will in turn gradually increase making the market less accessible for newer players. ** Usually most people will also increase their prices in order to help compensate for fees or taxation. ( I AWAYS DO ). Frankly a lot of people think that flat fees means the same cost regardless. It does not. It should be based on a percentage of the value of the item. I use 10% since it's easy to calculate. The cost / taxation (percentage wise) is the same regardless of whether it costs 100 or 1,000,000,000 credits ... 10 PERCENT .

Agreed... and that is with the provision that season 6 hasn't already been completed OR (at the very least) ... outlined and given to those responsible for the programming aspect of putting it together. These things take time. Probably more than most of us would think. Just the same. IMO it would be WELL WORTH the investment to see the GS series offer more to those who are participating. It really does seem to have become a larger part of SWTOR for some time now. And as such should offer rewards accordingly.

Agreed!! AND (if I might add) ... one of the reasons that the whole GS thing is such a big deal is due to the percentage of time we spend in SWTOR focused on participation in this area? Remove the GS series (and its subsequent rewards) and SWTOR gets a LOT smaller. The smaller the game ... the smaller the audience and those who are willing to shell out the cash to play it! To me, personally, that's pretty straight forward. It is unquestionably in the best interests of the entire community to really hunker down and put some time / resource into the GS series.

Some dyes are considerably higher. (I personally don't spend that on that sort of thing). Just the same ... some people do! IMO overall on this taxation thing ... it's gotten to the point of being ridiculous. Fees for deposit: flat percentage charged regardless of what the item is. Taxation: Flat percentage fee regardless of what the item is (or how much it cost). 1,000,000 x 10% = (tax on the sale) 1,000,000,000 x 10% = .... but it's the same percentage and thereby a fair and equitable charge. (tax on the sale) Gifting: This was being abused by a handful (and laughing about it) ... and it cost everyone else. Somehow, there needs to be a better solution. The problem is that there is and always be a group of players that honestly believe the just about any system can and SHOULD be circumvented. (They also get a bit cranky when they can't). It should also be noted that I have (in the past) warned that this would be a royal pain in the tail feathers before it was over!

Exactly! Well .. pretty close at least! At the end of 6.XXX (whatever the last revision was) ... the RNG was a bit ridiculous! Let's face it 7.0 was a disaster on several fronts. UGH!! I suppose that until the lesson is learned, and the game reflects that we'll probably be discussing this for a bit longer. IMO the team is trying to patch up 7.0 (in an odd sort of way) ... but still holding on to the old foundation and framework. And yes ... you are also correct that they system could have been streamlined as well. In the end ... there has to be a better solution. A nice slice of double chocolate cake to EAT with this fresh pot of BRC dark roast would be excellent!