Holy crap! At launch, we had a 10-50 bracket and it was horrible for anyone below 50! If we didn't have a 50 on our team back then, we would quit the wz because we simply couldn't win - bolster or not. The 10-50 bracket was scrapped about 4 week later because no bolster can make up for the lack of leveled abilities! As expected, Bioware learned nothing and is about to fail yet again! Sad.

That's correct. The overwhelming majority plays for scoreboard and MVP votes, that's why so many are claymoring for DM warzones and arenas. Button-mashing > strategy (and much easier on the brain too). But that's just a sign of the times, and nothing BW can really fix. The average MMO player does not care for balanced PVP or for competitive matches. They want to gear up fast and/or steamroll thug-style. That's why we have premades in the pug queue and that's why premades are opposed to having their own separate queue. Ranked warzones are a quagmire as well: What is the point of an Imperial guild trading wins with their Pub-side mirror guild (and vice versa)? Collusion is what killed Open-world PVP (valor trading on Ilum) and collusion is what is killing Ranked PVP now. In response to other posters: The resolve system was better before the overhaul in 1.3. The players wanted simple changes, but Bioware ignored us as usual and messed up. At launch, when the top tier gear was unaugmented, non-optimized Battlemaster, TTK was reasonable. But today, for fully augmented, optimized EWH, it is simply too short. Over one year without adjustments will do that. But Bioware's worst mistake was and still is that their Developers are not playing their own game! Many, many bugs and imbalances would have long been fixed if they ever did, instead of solely relying on "metrics". Nope. The image is ruined and it would take a miracle to undo that...and Bioware ain't Jesus.

Game Update 1.2 - Legacy 4/12/2012 •Modifiable items now have repair costs based on the level of their base modification. Prior to 1.7, repairs were calculated by the level of the armorings, NOT the sales price of shell. I can say that was indeed the case, since I had a mixture of gear pieces, all 63, but some PVP, some orange, some PVE shells and all of them costs about the same to repair. But it is entirely possible that enhancements were not factored in, I cannot say either way. Also, we have no way to verify that now, so we have to take Bioware's word for it. However, if enhancements were indeed not factored in, our repair bills should only be 7-17% higher than prior to 1.7., because that's the percentage range an enhancement contributes to the total repair cost (see table). I think most people would have been ok with a 7-17% increase, but clearly, that is not the case! Many people experience much, much higher repair bills now! My tests show that the additional cost comes from shells (see table): Shells with high sales value make repair costs jump up dramatically! Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree 2/12/2013 •Item sell values and item repair costs now reflect the value of the items and any enhancements attached to them. Previously, items were incorrectly being valued without their enhancements. Hence, Bioware's claim that they just included the value of the enhancements omitted in 1.2 is simply false!

Ecomony? What economy? Lets be honest here, SWTOR has become Pay-2-Win because of two factors: 1. Crafters are now able to create endgame mods and items (they weren't able to at launch) 2. F2P brought us the Cartel Packs which transform real money into credits via GTN The profits from 2. are used to purchase 1. Good or bad, the result is that you can simply buy yourself an endgame toon now. Bioware approved!

5) Use profits to gear your toons with endgame items from the GTN/crafters Yes, that's SWTOR's Pay-to-Win model. (P.S. nice necro HiCalibre)

Exactly - thanks for the addition, tdgesq!

After reading a few dozen pages, I have to chime in because there are a lot of incorrect numbers thrown out (by the supporters of the repair costs as well as the opponents): Please check this thread for some genuine test values (yes, I'm shamelessly promoting my own work ): http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=598636 As it is, my recommendation to everyone who wants to save on repair costs: Re-mod to PVP shells or cheap (by sales price) crafted Orange shells for weapons/armor. If you are a fresh 50 with no resources, use free Recruit Gear rather than free Tionese. DO NOT use Cartel Armor, DO NOT use high-end PVE armor (Dread, etc) and DO NOT use Legacy armor!

I'm bumping this thread because I've added an important (at least I think it is) update! I tested the medium armor Recruit Gear chest, with some interesting results (see table, page 1). I advise every fresh 50 (who needs to save money) to use the FREE Recruit Gear instead of the FREE Tionese. The difference in repair cost is HUGE!

Please don't troll this thread with political rants that have nothing to do with repair costs or SWTOR. Thanks to everyone else for your kind words!

Yes, it is definitely not the solution I would prefer. If Bioware would have just included the enhancements, as they claimed in the patch notes 1.7, repairs would have gone up by only 7-17%. That's the percentage range an enhancement contributes currently to the repair cost. I think most people would have accepted that. My solution is a band-aid at best, but at least it allows people to raid and do FPs without the sticker shock. And you are right, it does come at the sacrifice of how your toon looks. Alternatively of course, you could keep using your current gear and pay the significant higher repair costs. Or you could stop PVE, save your credits and hope that BW will fix the problem - which they may or may not do. Personally, I'm not holding my breath that they ever will.

Sorry, but you couldn't be more wrong! Aside from newbies in greens and blues, the people who get punished the most are the ones who raid! You cannot buy Dread or Campaign shells, but those are the shells that cost the most to repair. Whereas people who just buy the mods from crafters and put them into cheap orange or PVP shells are ones punished the least by the new repair costs.

Thanks! Yes, I can include it or you could just post another table in this thread yourself. The more info we gather, the more options people will have to choose the best (cheapest) gear set. Yes, I'm certain that each item was at 95/100 (115/120 for the adaptive). I tested each item twice, just to be sure that I get reproducible numbers. Correct! The Warrior Vest (lvl 15) I used in my test was a crafted item and that shell vendored for only 65 credits. That's not true for all Orange gear - some of the higher level orange stuff from FPs sells for a lot more. Hence I recommended to re-mod to the cheapest (sales price) Orange gear possible, because only that ensures lower repair costs. Naturally, PVP gear is still the best option, but that's only available at level 50.

As requested by several posters, I have incuded a Blue and Green Chest piece in the original table. These new results are not kind to newbies... Lesson: Use PVP shells and cheap (sales price) Orange gear if you want to save on repair costs!

Heh, I agree - but there should be a fine line between capitalism and fraud, or in this case false advertisement. Anyway, my test was meant to explain where the increase in repair costs is coming from (NOT from enhancements) and perhaps to help people lower their costs by picking the right gear (PVP and cheap Orange).

After a week, Bioware has still not apologized giving blatantly false information in the patch notes, so there is little hope that they will actually fix the repair costs. What we may think of Bioware for lying to their customers is a topic for a different thread. So, rather than perpetuating the complaints, I offer a real solution to anyone who wants to save repair costs: Level 50: Re-mod all your gear to PVP shells (armor and weapons) Pre-level 50: Re-mod all your gear to the cheapest (sales price of the item) orange shells that you can find. DO NOT use Cartel gear, DO NOT use Tionese or higher, and especially DO NOT use legacy gear! I remodded Dread gloves, boots and a Campaign off-hand last night. Those were the only expensive pieces I had, everything else was already cheap orange or PVP shells. My costs per wipe went from 17K to 6.9K (down 60%) Here is the link to the test that I've done a few days ago, it will explain why this is the best way to go: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=598636 Enjoy!

Yes, the random disconnects have returned. I would bet real money that it's BW's fault again! They had the same issues after 1.3. It got better again with subsequent patches and I expect the same to happen now.

Sorry, your theory is wrong. People who get punished the most, are the ones with the most expensive armor shells (i.e. Dread, Legacy). People with the cheapest orange armor shells or with PVP armor (1 credit sales price) don't notice much of an increase, even if they are fully 63 modded. I agree with you, but the actual increase should only be somewhere between 7-17% for enhancements. That is the percentage that an enhancement contributes to the repair cost - which would also be very reasonable. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=598636 (actual test of repair costs in 1.7) If Bioware doesn't fix this soon, I advise every 50 to re-mod their gear to PVP shells and everyone below 50 to use the cheapest orange shells they can find. Do not use Cartel Armor and definitely do not use Legacy Armor, if you want to save repair costs.

Next patch? We will get more Cartel crap, that's for sure. Bioware will also introduce more bugs because the Developers here don't play their own game. Then we will have more downtime to fix the stuff that they didn't test in the first place. Then there will be more disappointed players quitting for one reason or another. Otherwise, it will be business as usual...EA makes money, customers get screwed.

I'm amazed that Bioware did not fix the repair costs in the last patch. At least they could have apologized for posting false information in the 1.7 patch notes, if they truly intend repair to work as it is now. Very disappointing! Anyway, I will re-mod my entire PVE gear to PVP shells, anything else is just a waste of credits, including their hyped Cartel stuff.

As you can imagine, this test costs me about 100K in mod-swapping. I can afford that and I could afford these new repair costs too, but many people cannot, especially not fresh 50's in Tionese with no alts. If Bioware does not change this, it will be detrimental to the game. But regardless how you feel about the costs, the point of this test was to show that Bioware's claim in the patch notes is plainly false! I don't know about you, but I do not enjoy being lied to when I pay for something.

Not sure if I understand you correctly, but Bioware claimed that they fixed a bug regarding enhancements not being calculated into the repair costs. Prior to 1.7, repair costs were calculated as follows: Game Update 1.2 - Legacy 4/12/2012 •Modifiable items now have repair costs based on the level of their base modification. I can say that was true, since I use PVP, PVE and Orange shells for my gear with 63 armorings and each item had approximately the same repair costs. However, I do not know if the enhancements were included in that. If they were indeed not included, repair costs after 1.7 should have increased by approximately 10-15%. However, many people experience repair costs double, triple or even more after this latest patch! Hence, Bioware's claim in the patch notes is obviously incorrect. Sure, as soon as I can dig up some greens and blues, I'll add that to the table.

Tested the following medium armor Chest pieces: Tionese Field Tech Jacket Campaign Field Tech Jacket War Hero Field Tech Jacket Warrior's Vest (Orange, level 15) Covert Torse Energy Armor (adaptive Cartel) Green Chest, level 50 Blue Chest, level 50 Recruit Field Tech Jacket All chest pieces had the same standard 51 Tionese Armoring/Mod/Enhancement All chest pieces were tested with and without that enhancement The Green and Blue pieces had LOWER armor ratings (106/116) than Tionese (126), the Recruit had a HIGHER armor rating (132), so the comparison is slightly skewed. The test was done from 100 to 95 durability The Covert Torso was done from 120 to 115 durability My toon was naked except for the chest piece, Fathraa's Thugs were hitting me until 95 durability was reached. Results: Armor type - Sale price of Armor - Repair with Enhancement - Repair without Enhancement Tionese - 5025 creds - 502 creds - 468 creds Campaign - 7220 creds - 612 creds - 568 creds War Hero - 1 credit - 251 creds - 207 creds Orange - 65 creds - 254 creds - 210 creds Cartel - 3105 creds - 338 creds - 302 creds Green - 1380 creds - 68 creds - n/a Blue - 3105 creds - 155 creds - n/a Recruit - 1 credit - 1 credit - n/a Repair Cost / Sales Price Tionese 0.09 Campaign 0.08 War Hero 254.0 Orange 3.85 Cartel 0.11 Green 0.05 Blue 0.05 Recruit 1.0* The higher the sales prices, the worse the ratio becomes, the costlier the repairs will be. Strong incentive to use PVP shells! Notice, that the sales price for Blue and Green is lower, but so is the armor rating. However, the ratio still holds true. Greens and Blues are actually the WORST - poor newbies! *The Recruit Gear is the odd-man-out when it comes to the ratio: at a ratio of 1, it is not quite the best choice, but obviously paying just 1 credit per 5 durability makes this FREE gear set enormously attractive for fresh 50s, unlike the free Tionese which costs a lot to repair! Repair cost percentage contributed by the enhancement: Tionese 6.77% Campaign 7.19% War Hero 17.53% Orange 17.33% Cartel 10.65% Green - N/A Blue - N/A Recruit - N/A For Tionese chest, 5 durability costs 502 credits to repair: 251 credits come from the empty shell (50%) 164 credits from the armoring (32.67%) 53 credits from the mod (10.56%) 44 credits from the enhancement (6.77%) Summary: Repair costs depends overwhelmingly on the sales price of the shell, not on any enhancements! Hence, I stand by what I've said before: The increased repair costs CLEARLY DOES NOT reflect any kind of "bug fix" for enhancement costs. Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree 2/12/2013 •Item sell values and item repair costs now reflect the value of the items and any enhancements attached to them. Previously, items were incorrectly being valued without their enhancements. Shame on you Bioware for lying to your customers! P.S. Many thanks to everyone who contributed ideas and information to this table!

That just means you are not paying attention. Don't feel bad, you are not alone - there are lots of players out there who have no clue what can and cannot be done in PVP by natural means. Unless the hacker is as obvious and persistent as Gingers, most people won't ever notice. Lag or lag switches? You can report, of course, but that has little to no effect. It takes Bioware weeks to ban even the worst offenders, like Gingers, even with video proof, multiple forum threads, and a gazillion reports against him. It has to turn into a public relations issue, before they act at all. Otherwise, they rather keep the cheaters than lose any more subs - it wouldn't look good on EA's quarterly reports.

At least for me, it's foremost about the fact that Bioware is blatantly lying to us, the customers! This is no "bug fix" as they claim! This shows us that the game is now controlled by MBA's instead of Developers.

I would like an explanation from Bioware please: With 1.2, you lowered the repair costs by about 60% and that was generally well received by the community. Game Update 1.2 - Legacy 4/12/2012 •Modifiable items now have repair costs based on the level of their base modification. 10 months later, with 1.7 you claim that was a "bug" Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree 2/12/2013 •Item sell values and item repair costs now reflect the value of the items and any enhancements attached to them. Previously, items were incorrectly being valued without their enhancements. As you can tell from the countless complaints, repair cost matters a lot to your customers! (even those like me, who could afford them). Are you trying to tell us that you need 10 months to fix a "bug" that has such a huge impact on the game? Or is this a Marketing decision in preparation of a "Cartel Market Repair Kit" to be released soon? An honest response would be appreciated!