Hello,
I want to start this by saying this is intended for the Dev's. I have played this game since Release and always thought SWTOR was a good game. At a time I even thought it spanked WoW when it was still popular. What has always hindered SWTOR is having a smaller player base. I will proceed to explain why this loot system rejects new players, rejects returning players, and ruins end game.
When I first started leveling SWTOR's end game was lacking. However the story was so good I was leveling so many characters up I didn't notice this issue that those who live and die by end game did. They surged to max level and quit. Those players gave the feedback and a large percentage of players did not try SWTOR and another large percentage never made it to max level. I know those who were there will remember the level 14 on a starter world talking crap about end game.
MMORPGs through history have always had a wonderful nitch for those who like to earn things that give clout. Clout alone has never been enough. Rewards for completing something combined with the prestige of what you took from that experience lasts decades. SWTOR did great with Decorations, Mounts and for a long time Loot. A brilliant thing was also keeping all of the raids tuned to max level so that they did not lose difficulty and also rewarded a decent reward for doing them. Loot is the most prominent thing people seek when running Ops/Raids. A percentage of Raiders came just for the loot. Every Raid team had that guy. When you take loot away as a reward for difficult content. Difficult content stops becoming worth it. The harder it becomes to create a team, the less likely the content will be conquered. There is a huge community of PVE players who love to Raid. This is part of why WoW died in its last expansion. They messed up loot in raids and PVP became the easiest way to achieve a high item level.
The importance of having PVER's is simple to me. I have raided since I was 13 years old. I am now 31. PVER's bring a consistency to your player base. They are always playing and progressing through content. The fact you keep Ops current gives SWTOR a HUGE advantage. When I brought my guild over in December 2011 to join our community in SWTOR (on Bastion) this fact kept us busy clearing content from all of the past expansions. We raided for over a year nonstop and was clearing Nightmare difficulty and we did not finish all the Ops. PVERs giving a consistency to the game and access for new players, returning players, and PVE specific players more access to the content. The game feels more lively do to a consistency of activity. It also keeps the market alive as PVERs of all the different levels will buy consumables or various types. This increases over all interactions in the community which increases sustainability of subscribers/players. PVE Guilds of various levels also increases interactions. The more communities the better for the health of the game as a whole.
A clear and effective loot system bring prestige and rewards to end game content. A typical loot system has leveling up loot at a certain item level lets toss a number out there to make it easier to follow (200 ivl) then as you progress through a 5 level zone the Ilvl should increase subtlety as you level up. So it increases depending on scaling which is a much more complicated thing to get into. By the time you get to max level lets say you're at 200 ilvl. Flash points on a story level should give 205-210, just above leveling up items. The reason for this is to give players a incentive to want to run these flashpoints. its not going to be a large increase in power because it is only a story mode flashpoint. decorations should be rarer drops as well as all other cosmetic and cool bonus items. The reason why you want to increase power levels slowly with each difficulty and increase the chance for bonus rewards, rarer rewards and special only obtainable rewards from the hardest content is because you want to give rewards based on achievement. They're not unobtainable from a casual player who doesn't care nor want nor need high ilvl gear. They will the the individuals farming story mode and veteran flashpoints for decorations every lock out. To a PVER the decorations are a big bonus and the gear is a stepping stone of progression to get to harder and harder content where the gear is needed which makes the gear and content wanted. When the content is wanted the dev's have done a good job and the player base will grow through word of mouth and interactions. For the PVP these follow a very similar process. The vendors of old are a perfect example. Currency from PVP participation, wins, and performance turn into player choice and gearing through PVP. We need a effective loot system back.
I have never seen the game so dead. the channels are quiet. the same 5 guilds spam invite any new players they see. Nearly all if not all guilds are casual guilds. They run a story mode Ops here or there and that's it. The common response is its not worth doing veteran difficulty because you can get loot from pretty much anything else so why go through progression? the answer is repeated and its sad because so many people are returning to the game and finding End Game isn't worth it. It is a sincere plea from a hungry raider who misses being a evil Sith Lord and a heartless Mercenary whos loyalties are to the highest bidder. SWTOR needs a concrete loot system. Masterloot combined with a loot system that gives us rewards for conquering the content. Power has to be involved with the rewards otherwise it doesn't make sense.
Save us Bioware, Lucasarts, EA you are only hope!
Best regards,
Tarnish