I stopped playing a while ago, but kept the sub active as some kind of carrot to the devs to keep working on this. I've been off enjoying many other games, and really haven't looked back. This was my first MMO, but I've since been loving FFXIV and, to a lesser extent, ESO. Also a slew of single-player games. And so much has changed in my life since I first logged in there. Still, there has never been anything as magical as SWTOR was for me - just a magical moment in time that's probably not reproducible. I'll always cherish that. Now, I have to decide whether I want to --on principle -- continue to pay AAA prices for a maintenance mode game that doesn't even support the devs I've grown with all these years. I have 10 days to decide...

And it will be difficult to implement any of this now -- not without a credit purge (which could lead to riots, lol). The credit sink concept really needs to be part of the game design from the beginning. The later it's added, the harder it is for new players to catch up. Additionally, proper credit sinks go hand-in-hand with deflationary concepts such as limiting means for generating credits (e.g. drastically limiting credit rewards) early in the game life. In general, managing inflation in a game like this -- if desired at all -- has to be a long-term, intentional, continuously monitored and adjusted process.

Pretty much. While it's certainly possible that some influx of credits came into the game via exploits and hacks, it's unlikely that this represents the vast majority. Credit farming (via bots or raw time/sweat) has been far too easy. And with 11 years of players and no thoughtful mechanisms to remove these credits, the inflation we're seeing was bound to happen. The inflation problem is all about an excessive amount of credits in the game (almost entirely from in-game activities) with no way to get them out....

Every credit - each and every one in the game - originated from "legit" in-game activities at some point (for the sake of discussion, I'm assuming no "hacks"). There is no way (see assumption previously) for a credit seller to net add credits to the game. So as much as we want to blame credit sellers (and yes, they are bad for the game), it's the game design decisions that ultimately caused the inflation, not credit sellers. Credit sellers could not have caused inflation even if they wanted to. So what did? Put simply, for the interests of time, the game never designed a way to meaningfully remove credits from the game, once generated, i.e. meaningful credit sinks. A SWTOR credit, once created, can never be destroyed (again, barring trivial legacy sinks). Adding net new currency to an economy with no way to remove it, is literally the textbook way of causing inflation. (There's a more nuanced explanation, but that would take too long and doesn't really help with the major points.) To further the problem, enabling the player-to-player sale option for cash shop items using in-game credits only accelerates the problem by encouraging credit-farming/new generation of credits, where said credits will never be removed from the economy but will only go to other players. So, even if real sinks were never added, had the player-to-player sale of the most-desired items (i.e. cash shop) never been permitted, the inflation rate would have been slower (we'd still have inflation eventually though, for the reasons above). But this cash shop decision has been a financial boon. There's no (near-term) financial reason for them to change any of this, and so inflation is here to stay...

I suspect this was sarcasm...

Hoping we get a response from the devs on this early this week. Even an acknowledgement that they're looking into it....

I cannot play the game. I know some people don't get this and think it's just personal preference, but I get sick looking at the inventory screen. Hardly ever deal with this issue anywhere else, let alone games. I can't even comment on the main update itself -- haven't had a chance to experience it because I don't want to log in. I suppose I would like most of the changes because I'm story-driven casual with no interest in end-game gear, etc. But I won't be able to play until this is fixed. I hope the devs take a look at this soon....

I want to separate the "I don't like these changes" arguments (valid opinions btw) from the "this UI makes me sick" or "makes my head hurt" crowd. Yes, some of the latter is hyperbole. But I definitely want to bring attention to the fact that for some group of people, these changes actually do cause negative symptoms. I shared why that's true for some earlier (won't reshare b/c even the link itself causes some to feel sick). But I think it's really important that someone on the dev team take a look at some point. Specifically talking about the new inventory UI for now, and only that. And before someone says "can't please everyone," I want to point out that most modern UI approaches intentionally don't do UI the way the new inventory UI is done, for these exact reasons. PM me if you want to understand more...

I'm really sorry. My only goal here was to validate that this is a "real" thing and not just people being overly sensitive. But it is very much the issue for me, because it's something I deal with and it's why I can't personally look at the inventory screen... edited to add: please don't click the link if you think this is even remotely an issue for you. That's a fair point and I tried to warn, but it wasn't enough. But again, the gaps in the rounded rectangles create a "honeycombing" effect that if you deal with this issue, you will instantly react to and feel quesy from...

Posted this on a similar thread. Reposting because I don't think this is a trivial issue. Should be addressed promptly.... edited to add: please don't click the link if you're even remotely sensitive to things like honeycombs, etc. I only posted it to help with those who may feel their being labeled as nitpicky or emotional. This is a real thing...

And all rejoiced...

Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but there is a medical term for this that I suspect is at play here called "tryphophobia" (warning: the pictures may cause discomfort to some). It's more common than people think, and many people don't realize they suffer from it. However, almost any UI/UX engineer *should* be aware of it -- it's just not acceptable IMO to make this design error in 2022 and it should be immediately fixed....

This is intentional - incentivizes buying crates. That is, for the person buying the outfit to use on their toons, it makes no difference. To the one purchasing to resell on GTN or trade, it will matter. I suspect (I don't by crates and don't have their data, so I don't know) that the vast majority of people who buy crates do so for GTN purposes...

Aces!

Why did I think you would be able to have both sets of abilities, swappable (i.e only one active at any time), on the same toon? Am I mistaken?

I've never had the highest gear, so I'm probably not the best to speak on this. Since launch, I've never been able/willing to grind enough to get the BiS gear. But that said, I think this argument above misses the mark. If you RP and/or are into immersion, it can be really hard to feel immersed when you're taking gear off your character, dismissing companion, gimping yourself, etc. Again, I'm not advocating that the devs make the story mode hard/grindy, only pointing out there there is a block of players -- seemingly a minority -- that gets a thrill from feeling like there are "stakes" and that there could be "consequences" for mistakes or lack of planning...

Those are exactly the purgatory stakes I desperately wanted to avoid. Knowing that a shameful retreat was possibility helped raise the stakes. As it is now, it's just watching a cutscene while I press buttons. Don't get me wrong - I'm a fanboy of this game, but this change to leveling (where I've by far spent most of my questing time here) took something away for me. I recognize I'm in the minority, so just sharing my opinion...

Where I agree with OP completely is on "immersion." I enjoy the 'RP' aspects of an RPG and IMO an RP story without the "G" just is no more immersive than watching reruns of Clone Wars. For me, I feel more immersed when I'm guiding my toon through something that feels impactful -- where it feels I could actually, maybe die. It's that part that raises the immersion stakes for me. But I understand many people don't feel this way, and in any event that ship has long left port... Edit: also "taking off gear and sending away companion" is probably the least immersive "solution" to this (doesn't work anyway). Still, at this point, I'd rather the team focus on other things even though I fully agree with OP...

Played and enjoyed both immensely. Neither has kept me entertained for 10 years...

I believe it's now exceeded Kotor I/II -- great games too, and can't knock someone for preferring those. And again, I'd never argue that this game was perfect -- none are. But what's with the "play more games" everyone is saying? What are these amazingly great games I'm missing? I've played too many titles to even count at this point, and certainly all the ones you'd expect. But always looking for magic. What am I missing? Please share...

I play a ton of games. I suppose I could say that from my POV, what's sad is that you think it's sad that I have this opinion, and that you thought that telling the world how sad this is was necessary. But I don't honestly think that's sad, given that I don't know anything about you. But I can't, and wouldn't try to, stop anyone from posting here. Instead, my thinking -- silly in hindsight -- was that given that there are so many negative threads to post on, that those who didn't share my views here might choose to share that dissent elsewhere. Some of us (and I don't believe it's as small as the threads might imply) are actually looking exactly for a "copefest of praise." I know for myself, if someone said they weren't looking for positive opinions in their negativity thread, I wouldn't post a positive one there, because...well, not even worth explaining further. But I recognize that was foolish of me to expect that across the board...

Been reflecting on 10 years, and I gotta say that nothing before or since is better than this "flawed" gem called SWTOR. This was my first MMO, but in the 10 years since launch, I've played all other others. I keep coming back here (never left since launch tbh). I'm a gamer through and through and also play a variety of other genres, including all the RPGs, strategy, open world, sports, etc. games. This game has a number of flaws, bugs, nits -- it's far from perfect. I've shared my thoughts on this in the past at times (always out of love for the game). But this thread isn't about any of that (please put that somewhere else as a courtesy to this homage). Because despite it all, I've never loved any game more than this one and I know I'm not alone. This remains the best ever. Here's a short list of why: 1. Immersive: Too much to cover. But fully voice acted, with Star Wars lore? Um yeah! Whenever you log into this game, you feel instantly transported in the world of Star Wars. No other game makes you feel like you're in a vibrant world the way this one does! 2.Star Wars: kinda like #1, but deserves its own place. Choosing The Old Republic was brilliant, since it opened up even more lore. 3. Accommodating: casual, hardcore, noob? Story-driven. End-gamer? Crafter? Space Barbie? There's something here for you. For example, for the first couple years, I didn't even have a level 50 (old level cap). But I had all crew skills maxed and used to make millions (when that was a big deal) just crafting. Later got into PvP. 4. PvP: best there is in any game. A number of reasons this is so, but for starters it's accessible to casuals and hardcore alike. It's got a varying meta. And it's infinitely replayable. Again, for several years I did just PvP as my main "play" (besides space barbie and crafting) b/c I could jump in and do 20 min and feel like I did something. 5. PvE: I have never done an Operation. It's on my SWTOR Bucket List, but I've just never had the time (and still am not particularly good ). But I love the FPs, world bosses, etc. at various difficulty modes. And if you count the story and side quests (how can you not?), there isn't anything even close. 6. Still Holds Up: How many 10 year old games can you still play and still enjoy as if new? 7. Story: I don't even think this belongs on this list. It's literally it's own post by itself! There isn't even a close contest here when it comes to story. Witcher, Skyrim, FFXIV, WoW -- nothing is in this league. How many games make you care? So much to say here, but if you're reading this, you already know! So take a moment this anniversary and reflect on the marvel Bioware put together here. It's incredible how ambitious this was at the time, and that's showing over the years as many other companies have failed to capture this magic. Also, no other Star Wars licensed product has this magic. Bioware took a major risk and were punished for it early on (by EA mostly) yet, this stands out as a classic, fully holding up after 10 years. Kudos to all the devs and team involved over the years and thank you so much for giving the world this amazing game! What else am I missing? Who else agrees? No haters please...

Long-time sub (since launch) but haven't played in a long while mostly due to time, even though I stay subbed. Even when I played more, I was still "casual" and I barely caught everything, even on forums. These days, I'm not even on forums. So I missed the update announcement originally until I logged in this weekend and saw it on chat. I'm like "that's weird, it still shows on launcher." Not a huge deal, but I imagine I'm far from the only one...

Should probably change that. I imagine a lot of players were like me and didn't have the time to keep up on forums, Twitter, etc., and (like me) still thought the expansion was coming in a couple days ...

Okay, so: 1. Current toon, has an advanced class already. That class is locked in. By "advanced class," I mean "Sith Assassin," "Jedi Sage," "Scoundrel," etc. 2. Said toon, logs in and gets to choose a second advanced class (restricted by Force/Tech). Once chosen, that AC is locked in permanently as well. 3. However, within the AC, users will still be able to swap "combat proficiencies" right? (E.g. Sage can swap heals or DPS, Assassin can swap tank/dps, etc.?)