If they hav set bonuses, I need it for ranked PvP. Running heroics is faster then buying a hypercrate and selling it for 75m? I need to start doing heroics.

OP here You are all looking at this from the perspective of a hardcore player who has put years into the game. You have lots of credits. Crafted top end gear is a pure cash grab for Bioware. If a new player asks on fleet chat, what is the fastest way to get gear? The answer is to buy items on the CM, sell them and then buy gear. I guarantee this descion was made by the devs after they saw an increase in CM sales when they made augment mats much more rare. You can use the most strict definition of P2W if you want, but it does not change the fact that the easiest way to skip all the work you have done for years is to pay real money and skip any type of grind.

I know how to get the mats, farm granked. Take advantage of a dead system. Cool what’s your point? I understand a few people under the system will love it as they will get rich from mat farming and crafting. But that money will be generated from CC purchases. The whole crafted gear system is in place to drive people to the CM. If this was a f2p game that’s fine. But they are driving subs to the CM. That’s not cool.

If the new gear does not have set bonuses then this whole conversation is moot because it will not be BiS. I was working under the assumption that the new gear will have set bonuses. They have never announced a new set of gear without having set bonuses attached. Crafted gear has always been used to fill in the slots in between other gear. It has never been top of the table. My guess is that they saw a big uptick in CM purchases when they made the new augments with rare mats. The prices are very high and people needed more credits to get them. So they are extending the practice to all gear because it drives people to the CM. IMO this is fine if the game is F2P. However the only people, using the high end gear are subs. Therefore you are getting F2P practices within the sub portion of the game. That’s shady.

Great idea

I can pay money to skip all the work you did in game. So yes that is P2W. I don’t need to spend the hours you did to earn your credits. All I need to do is buy and sell things from the cash shop.

In every P2W game you can grind out the items in game. But paying money gets you the items faster. For example: buy a character boost, buy 2 hypercrates, sell hypercrates, buy BiS gear. Look I just got a max level toon paying real money. Call it P2W or pay to skip the grind it is all the same.

My guess is that you will get mats from ranked , not reg. This will lead to even more mat farmers, as gear will be tied to playing ranked not just augments. Best way to get gear will be to buy it with credits on the GTN.

So your argument is that if I have to go through one in game step to buy gear with real money it is not P2W. You are the best customer in the world, and I want all my customers to have that mindset. Credits will be the best way to gear tier 5. Best way to make credits fast will be buying CM items. It is a P2W system. But it keeps the servers running. So that’s good.

I like solo ranked. I need BiS gear to compete. I don’t have 100m credits. I need to raise funds. How do I do that? I buy hypercrates. I paid money to do the content I want to play.

Buy character boost Buy 2 hypercrates BiS gear Never played a mission,wz or class story. P2W = Fun

The easiest way to make money to buy the new gear will be to buy a few rare items off the CM and then sell it. You can buy a character boost off the CM, then spend money on a few hyper crates,sell them, and have a top level toon. Spend an extra hundred bucks and you can have a BiS toon before running one heroic or doing a storyline quest.

It means most people will have to buy CM items to sell on the GTN to make enough credits to buy the gear or the mats. P2W.

We’ll they finally made the game pay to win. New crafted gear will be extremely expensive on the GTN. How are you going to raise money.....grind months of heroics or pay for some rare gear on the CM to raise the funds. I’m just coming back to the game after a few years off. I don’t have 100m credits. Guess I am buying packs.

Rage quitting would be the least of problems if 8v8 ranked came back. When the level cap went to 55 most ranked matches were stalemates, hypergates would go the distance, nobody could cap doors. With lvl 70s in an organized team setting very few games would ever be won. It was a great game mode when it was around, but now it would be a disaster.

Bolster is going to 242, who cares about gear now? Play your alts, get the components as a side bonus.

PVE players are unhappy with the DPS nerfs effecting their content. PvP players are unhappy because all we wanted was utility balances. At least they brought the two communities together....

My guess is 14-18 months. They will do the PVE damage balance, say they need to see the results for a few months, then do something about utilities. Could be longer though...

I don't know why people ever expected a continuation of huge expansions to class stories. The voice acting and development of so many different stories would have been far too costly and taken way to much time to develop. This game changed their entire financial structure a year into the game, obviously there was not going to be huge expenditures on 8 different stories. You are not looking at it through a realistic lens. The problem with the vision of the game is that they have never had a clear vision of what the game is. This has segmented the player base, and they have made choices that have driven each playerbase away. They started as an MMO with story, changed to a single player game with MMO elements, an are now trying to be an MMO again. They also have a lot of limitations with the engine they picked (no big groups for OWpvp, no xserver group finder). With these limitations I understand why they went the direction they did focusing on single player story, but the shift drove away the MMO endgame players. Now going back to focusing on MMO, they are angering the single player crowd. It is a no win situation at this point. The mistakes of the past are too great, and the funding/marketing from EA is long gone. Enjoy the game for what it is now, don't expect to much.

If they open a new server, why would people from the two most populated servers move there? Dead servers have like 20 people on the fleet in prime time, even if everyone moved it would still be about the same as mid sized JC. It is a solution to nothing. There needs to be high pops for the mmo systems to function. Like I said, when the game was a single player story game with MMO elements that was fine. If their identity is to go back to being an MMO, they need to address server populations soon.

Buffing Fury has never caused a problem before....

On the bright side we don't have stun bubbles anymore. Smashmonkeys may be coming back though....

Your talking about basic stuff that the 40 people left in the game who play team ranked know. However, most of this game is casual play with no voice comms. Getting people to target swap, respect mezzs and recognize mechanics is a long shot. Even in solo ranked. In regs it is impossible. I can't tell you how many juggs have leapt to a target I am stealth capping. Or attack into flashbangs cause...well I have not idea...i guess leet deeps numbers. My suggestion, enjoy the game, don't preach and know casual game is casual and of course..... Nerf Operatives

EA has no intention of having this game to keep up, or compete with Battlefront. Notice that SWTOR is not represented at any game expos this year, and marketing is limited to social media. They have a bare bones staff in place to drip content, an keep the cash shop filled. Any big system changes are a pipe dream.

Agreed. The big problem they face going back to being an MMO is that they turned off the MMO players during the KOFE and KOTET eras. Most of the raiding community left during that time, and the ones that remain are a bit salty. I am mostly a PvP player, and my community was lost long before that. There have been so many inconsistencies with the decision making in the game. Like CXP after an event promoting making alts. Just give us a clear and consistent vision. If you are going to be an MMO, make choices that facilitate MMO systems. For instance low pop servers were fine when you were a story first single player game. But if your an MMO, you really need to be looking hard at mergers. Consolidate the player base you have left, and build from there.