So, how many months, posts, and unsubbed subscribers is enough feedback? Apparently there wasn't enough feedback during Beta when just about everyone said don't do this. Then it wasn't enough feedback when 5.0 launched and people complained and quit. It's never enough feedback, like somehow it's the player's fault for not telling you enough times. People have been posting the same things over and over and over. Stop saying you need more feedback. Get rid of the RNG. Not too hard. Every so many crates you are guaranteed Item X, then Item Y, then Item Z.

So, here's the rub. With the boost in CXP gains, you will reach GC rank 300 faster. However, you still have the same % chance of getting anything from a crate. So, when you hit GC rank 300, you will look at your gear and most likely will have less than a full set of tier 3 gear given most people's experiences. At that point, the character is subject to completing their set via the alternative gearing system, which is extremely tedious. In other words, if the WHOLE POINT of Galactic Command was to provide a path to top-end gear, simply increasing CXP isn't solving the problem. Then later, you'll probably change the drop rates in the crates, but by then many people will have already achieved GC rank 300 on their main characters, which makes the change in the drop rates pointless for those characters. So, in this regard, it would almost be better to not gain GXP until the drop rates from the crates are adjusted (or the RNG is removed completely), AND THEN start leveling in GC rank. So how does one not gain GXP? Well, either play a non-level 70 character or simply cancel one's subscription until the drop rates in the crates are drastically changed or RNG completely removed.

Well, I'm done trolling this forum. The GC is a total disaster, and my hopes that a drastic reduction in subscriptions would result in the developers quickly changing their stance on GC and the RNG gearing policy. I suspect subs have cratered and this "roadmap" of tuning GXP just overlays the foundation of RNG. To believe that a "roadmap" promise is enough to stem the tide or give people reason to come back from a cancelled subscription is silly. The only way is to dismantle the RNG. You'll never get rid of GC once implemented, that's obvious, but keeping this horrible gearing system in place is silly. You were told prior to 5.0 in Beta that this was the worst idea ever. You were told it would lead many people to cancel their subscriptions. I wasn't just one or two people saying it. Almost everyone in Beta told you don't do this, it will destroy the game. You did it anyway, and despite seeing what we all told you would happen, you continue down this retarded path of RNG gearing. This game is done. All you are doing is keeping the patient alive just a little while longer with band-aids over the wounds you have inflicted. The only thing that could save SWTOR at this point is a removal of RNG crates. Drop crates but get rid of RNG....you were told this many times before 5.0. I hope when the game closes, you will go back and think about what your paying customers told you what would happen. I will never understand the hubris of developers in every MMO that seem to think they know the game better than the players.

Instead of trolling, since you put a lot of thought into it, I'll actually respond in a normal manner. I know SWTOR is a computer program, and so you can't make a story THAT open ended, but it became clear in many instances that choices simply didn't matter. Even in the class story, you'd make a light side choice that SHOULD have resulted in a benefit for the Empire, but then you never see the benefit or have it mentioned again. All it was about was changing your light or dark side focus, which of course had no impact on your powers like they did in the console game version. Then came budget cuts, and the story had to be merged into one. I liked Rise of the Hutt Cartel, at least they mention the special isotope helping the Imperial ships in KOFE, but of course not enough to make a difference. Everywhere I turned, I made this choice, or that choice, and it just never mattered beyond a few NPC phrases and a light or dark gain, which mattered only to a vendor and some gear restrictions. All these choices, and the outcomes are almost identical and you can barely notice what impact it had. What happens if you give an inspiring speech or not? Besides different words, do things turn out differently? Why does my wife not really care about seeing me after five years? And to the point about the voice actors saying something different than the choice shown, I don't expect them to go hire the voice actors and fix it, they should just change the text shown (it's a lot faster, easier and cheaper to do). That way, i know what the true options are. In the end, I think the developers were surprised to what customers expected when they said "choices matter", and we really expected it to matter. I think they were also surprised how much players liked their companions and the story behind them. Look at how often people complain about losing some of them, others not returning or some not remembering their romance/marriage.

How about playing the game for fun, and get gear as a side benefit? That's why most people enjoy the new system. Only forum warriors with their calculators are trying to decipher CXP/hour and components/hour. You guys really need to relax and enjoy the game like everyone else.

I've purchased things for 75m before. It's not that hard to accumulate credits.

Somehow I don't think the supposed mass quitting protest is going to help the staff budget. If you want them to have a bigger budget, you should stop people who pretend that they are quitting.

Why is your fast PvP fight fun factor based upon CXP? You only do it for the CXP?

My five words: "Nobody ever quits this game."

I think CXP gains should actually be slowed down. Lots of people are already level 300. For us to enjoy it, it should be probably 20-30% slower. I don't know why everyone wants instant gratification.

So, in 11 days, you'll resubscribe like all the other quitters?

I think this is an excellent new way to introduce a new Operation. It gives players a way to enjoy something new every couple of months, rather than racing through the new operation then unsubscribing and complaining about lack of content. I hope in the future they do it this way.

1. I completely agree with Bioware's response. Do not change bolster. In fact, I think we should get rid of bolster entirely. Gear should matter. 2. The rate are fine as an EXTRA method of gaining gear. People complaining seem to think it is the primary method. I hope you clarify it for people who seem confused. 3. Everyone who has played this game knows to save the shell. People who didn't save the shell are careless or perhaps trying to game the system. 4. Bug fixes are always good. 5. Glad you guys keep thinking about this possibility. 6. I don't think any kind of legacy deal should be done at this point. Many people play alts and have already earned GC XP on different alts. No need to change this.

I also believe that the changes with 5.0 and 5.1 are really spot on. I know most people are happy with the new direction, but there are always the forum warriors who seem to think they are the majority. They are the same people saying they are going to quit, or whatever, but you still see them in game and posting months later. Only a handful of people quit and I suspect subscriptions are even higher now than they were pre-5.0.

I really like the PvP changes. It makes CXP gains more even across content.

I hope they talk about how forums are not representative of what players actually want. I'd like them to say that RNG and command crates are here to stay.

They are, the 99% of happy players in the game. They are ignoring the 1% forum warriors posting the same thing over and over by the same people.

Yep, Harb is where I play and we are still very busy. Not sure what people are saying. But the mad people on the forums want to believe their is some kind of wild wave of cancelled subscriptions. If that were true, Bioware would have made drastic changes already.

Why don't we talk about server closings since 5.0? None. Server population since 5.0? Steady to rising. Total population since 5.0? Well, if lots of people were quitting, I'm sure they would have actually changed something. So, I'd guess things are fine. The decline revenue in SWTOR is why they made the changes. This new method is to stop the decline. All you folks seem to think is going back to a system that had a decline would be a good idea.

Yep, this game is great and only a handful of people who have quit continue to spam the boards about what they don't like.

Why can't you play your alts? I just don't get it. 5.0 or 5.1 didn't stop anyone from playing an alt.

I'm glad they removed bolster. Why else get gear if it is negated by bolster? Shouldn't I have an advantage because I've put in the time and effort to get the gear? I think this is yet another good change..

The vocal forum warriors don't represent the vast majority of players. They have access to metrics to show them if it is successful or not.

I see this kind of post quite a bit, so it's not just to you personally but all the posts like it. You say "I think a dev roadmap is very important." And then you say, "Wasn't there one for 2013 and 2014 (can't say if there was one for 2015 and 2016 since I was gone around that time)?" So, if it's so critical, why can't you recall the information? What I mean is, why is it so important? Either you like the current game, or you don't. If you like the game enough, you pay the sub fee. If you don't, you either go F2P or stop playing. Why would you play a game you don't like because the developers promise that in the future they will work on stuff you care about? Why wouldn't you just start playing the game when they release what you want? And then the classic complaint "The studio doesn't have a really good track record of communication." How many livestreams do you need? What you probably mean is that they don't say what you want them to say or don't comment on stuff you think is important. Well, let me help you with that: they can't because it's not finalized, and what do you want them to do? Say that they might do something and then not do it? You guys would go crazy. The other possibility is that they aren't commenting on what you want to hear on purpose. In other words, if you think they are purposefully ignoring you, you might be right. If you are being purposefully ignored, that means what you want to talk about is so unimportant that it doesn't merit a response. So, you in effect have your answer. So, this whole "we need communication" is just a fig leaf to hide behind. Why does what the developers say or think actually affect your happiness so much in the present? Because you have this need to be cool and say in chat that you were playing the game BEFORE the cool stuff came along and you were down with the struggle? I don't get it. When I go out to eat and order some food and it comes back bad, I don't wonder what the cook is going to do in the future and if he tells me that he's going to cook something different in the future, I start to enjoy his bad food more? How about I stop going there and just wait for the new stuff? But I guess you'd go back and keep eating the bad food because you know the chef knows and that in the future they plan to do something different. Doesn't that sound odd?

All this does is give you the option on the low possibility that after getting lots of command crates you are still missing one or two particular items. I don't see anything wrong with it as a SUPPLEMENTAL gearing option. The command crates are the PRIMARY method of gearing and it is extremely easy to understand: open crate, get gear. I mean, with all the complaining about RNG and gearing, I can't believe you guys are complaining about the system that the forum warriors have been begging for, even though they represent probably just 1% of the game's population.