I’m not sure what the “core” of the player base is, and neither does BW, which has been the major problem of the game development. They launched as an story driven MMO then spent two and a half years focusing on single player RPG aspects of the game, and are now slow dripping MMO content again. The focus of the game has been one of the major issues with the game since launch. They never quite figured out what the game was.

Correct me if I’m wrong we had experience in gear during the time frame he is talking about. Crafted gear was not usable in PvP. Even so it did not have set bonuses which is a huge disadvantage in PvP. Even in PVE for progression raiding nodoby would choose a full set of crafted gear over the 2nd highest level gear with set bonuses.

Not to mention the wasted stats in PvP like accuracy we will be forced to carry... But we can change them if we use credits to buy the crafted gear. Damn I am going to want to get rid of my accuracy enchantments, maybe I should buy and sell a hypercrate to get the money quick or someone else may buy one of the two that are on the gtn....

I’m not sure most people care enough to complain anymore. Look at the forums, most gameplay posts are the same 10-15 people arguing the same points over and over to each other. Most posts at this point are about companions or cosmetics. The actual “MMO” players on the forums or in the game is relatively small. Most people who play this game now are here for the solo content. Nothing wrong with that, and the studio push their customer base in that direction. The fleet is where PvPers and people looking for raids hung out. That is a very small population at this point. I used to know a bunch of players who never had ships, they got to lvl 10 to access PvP and flash points and went from there. Those players are long gone.

Trixxie’s post just made me sad.....

One added point, bolster to 258 would be the best thing for the health of solo ranked PvP. It would allow more people to play it. Keeping pops “healthy” should be the main focus of any design decision going forward by the devs.

Andryah is right on this one. Ranked should be fully bolstered. Two main arguments for this: 1. Ranked should be about skill, gear should have nothing to do with it. 2. We need more people playing. Putting gear restrictions or further barriers at this point of the games lifecycle is a terrible idea. Pops are relegated to basically one NA server and one EU server st this point. Just get people in queues. Group ranked (the only real competitive mode) is a lost cause at this point. It will never be a viable game mode. However solo can keep its popularity. Right now, with a widening gear gap there will be far fewer people in queue. Up bolster and solo queue may survive until 6.0. Right now it will not.

Not me who started the tread. Again Andryah, time and effort are not the only way this gear is available. I can never use an action on my keyboard and have a BiS max level character.

Ok, I think that is a terrible argument, but I will move on. The last time they made huge changes to gear, and put it through random loot boxes. People hated the idea, made it known....then they saw a decline in the playerbase and spent the rest of the year fixing the gearing system and made the loot boxes a side way to get gear instead of the focus. The playerbase told them it did not want the change, they pushed it live but waited until they saw a decline in people playing. This new gear change could see a similar exodus to the one that happened with command crates, and the game can not afford a similar steep decline.

When bolster was introduced, the community listed several different bugs. None were addressed before it hit live servers. It took several months before playing with no mods and just augments were BiS. How is naked PvP best for the entire game?

I was thinking more gameplay changes, not cosmetic.

Name 3 times changes from the PTS have been made before their launch due to player feedback. I can think of one PvP change around 1.4 and that’s about it. They make a descion, launch it then wait and see how it effects their player metrics. Feedback on the forums has little impact on the direction of the game. Totem has been very vocal about a change that will directly impact the amount of players in his community. Sometimes negative feedback is necessary. To say you give a lot of constructive criticism is not true. Most of the posts I see is you criticizing others for their opinions, and labeling them constant complainers. Look around, this is not a healthy game. Most of it is from bad decisions by the studio.

Better keep that sub running for a long time....

It does not matter if it is tedious for everyone. BiS gear has an actual effect of 2 game modes, Ranked PvP and MM Ops. For everyone not participating in those two modes the gear is overkill. The gear will give an advantage to players who do both game modes. Some may say this is fair, others would say that they are the top difficulty content for two different play styles that should be rewarded separately. Both are valid opinions. But to say it does not matter because it is tedious for everyone is not.

Not once did he claim others were not “real PvPers”. It is a silly term, and I do not see it being thrown around the forums often. The main distinction on the forums is ranked vs unranked players. For someone who dabbles in unranked WZs to claim gear does not matter in PvP is silly. They are looking to stir up stuff on the forums (that is not a shot at you, I have no idea how or what game modes you play). Gear has a huge impact on PvP. I’m not sure what math you want to see. Others have posted how long it will take to gear through PvP, I know I saw a totem post somewhere on it. It will be long and tedious. And I will share a secret, at this point in the game many of the top ranked players are also MM Ops players. They will have the gear quick. And all the pretty costumes because they will be rich from selling the mats. How am I supposed to compete against the best gear, in a dazzling shell?

Without New Coke we might not have gotten Crystal Pepsi....and who wants to live in that world!

Because EA has no track record of putting P2W mechanics in their games? Your right it has never worked for them in the past.

This would end all complaints from PvPers if announced. Will it happen? Nah

The future.....live servers for 2 more years

Anyone else want to believe me that it is a pure financial descion? They want everyone who is not a NiM raider to get the new gear via credits and crafting. They want the CM sales bump. Cause this ish is going to be expensive.

I don’t get this response from people who don’t like PvPers, it is just silly. Crafting is not difficult, or a skill you need to learn in game, it is one of the many grinds. You can get a toon max crafting in like 2 days. For most PvPers crafting augments is their primary source of income. Since I came back to the game, I have had more money in the bank then I hav ever had before because of the mats you get in ranked. The complaint is adding a new gear system which actively punishes PvP as your primary game mode. It also prioritizes credits, which apart from augments have always been just for cosmetics. Many PvPers have never made gaining millions and millions of credits a priority, as it has had little effect on how they play the game. I have a few outfits I like, I bought a few SHs but other then that credits are not all that important to me. I likely spent to much on SHs as I still spend most of my time on the fleet. I am now very much a casual player now, but when I was more hardcore, I never had more then a few million in the bank at one time. But I put many hours a week into the game. It never occurred to me to horde credits as they did not get me anything I really needed. All I needed was my augments and I was cool. Now I am going to either need to grind a ton of credits for this gear, or buy off the CM to raise funds. Not a great system in my book. The new gear will require me to completely change the playstyle I have had for years.

Honestly we are looking at the end lifecycle of the game. They are setting up for pure maintenance mode. It is a long gear grind, very little content and a push to grab every dollar from the CM on the way out. At least the new planet has a great color scheme. The guild challenge system would have been a cool thing if it was supported with rewards and a ladder system, but it looks like it is set up for PvPers who can’t get a game in queues. In a few months when ranked is gone, it will be the competitive mode where people will have to track their own progress. The forums are basically dead at this point. It is the same 10 people talking about game mechanics, and a few others who talk about companions and cosmetics. The game is what it is at this point. I have enjoyed it for a long time. A good game, with some huge flaws. Players always dreaming of what it could have been. The new gearing system sucks. Will they adjust it in the future? Maybe? Will they do it to service the PvP community....no. The PvP community at this point is like 4 guys and one of their little brothers who tag along. Not big enough to make a significant difference when planning game design. We got our last goodbye with the new huttball and the guild challenge system.

Cool story....one question why is playing PvP not playing the game? Is an hour in a raid slower then an hour playing ranked PvP?

This Or up bolster to max

My guess is that they will be keeping the UC cost very high, and make it difficult to gear view PvP. They want everyone except NiM raiders to gear mainly via credits.