The slot machine debacle was the first time I questioned why I played this game. Happens rather a lot now. I found the slot machine deco suddenly made the game considerably more enjoyable - I could gear up alts, I could buy stronghold decos I had wanted, people were visiting my stronghold to use my slot machine. The game was suddenly a lot more social than it had ever been. I thought it was great fun. Was the slot machine spitting out too much good stuff. Maybe. But it also made the game a blast to play. And I was logging in more than I ever did. And playing the game for longer periods of time than I ever did. Then it was all completely removed. And it got me to thinking about the basic design strategy of this game. Which seems to be - make it as hard and tedious as possible so that people *have* to play for long periods of time. Which is a stupid design for a leisure activity. I clearly wanted to play more when the game was briefly much easier. Easier at least in terms of gearing and decorating strongholds. I enjoy hard boss battles and such - but making it a pain to get decent gear for multiple alts and a pain even to just decorate your stronghold seems wildly counter-productive. It's not like mounts and gear and decos are a finite commodity. What not shower your customers with loot? The game now seems just to become increasingly stingy, frustrating and tedious. So I don't think it started with the slot machine fiasco. But I think the slot machine offered people a glimpse of how fun the game could be without Monty Burns at the helm.

Ha! This ^^^^

Maybe I will just hang out on Makeb this summer! I hear Makeb is lovely in July. So not ironic at all. You do like to argue - I grant you that. With all sincerity - enjoy the event.

I never said the event was "evil". And you call *me* out for being provocative? Ha! Good one. The argument you and MeNaCe present is just not valid. An MMO is *not* tedious by definition. By definition it is simply massive, multiplayer and online. Many MMO games certainly have tedious game elements. But to argue that all MMO's are tedious, you play an MMO - therefore you should enjoy participating in a tedious MMO event is complete nonsense. I play aspects of one MMO that I enjoy playing. I skip the parts I don't enjoy playing. My opinion, and that is all it is, is that this event is more task than entertainment. More a payoff to boost metrics than anything fun and game-like. If you have nothing better to do - have at it. (Being deliberately provocative there....) I will be sitting on the sidelines during this event. And I don't think I will be alone.

I have no idea what point you are trying to make here. A bit of a rambling mess. Are you arguing that monotony can indeed be fun? Really? Because by definition - it isn't. Check the dictionary. Are you arguing that doing something more than once equates to monotony? That also isn't true. There are many things people greatly enjoy doing repeatedly (i.e. sex). Are you arguing that because I play parts of a game that I do enjoy, I am somehow tacitly endorsing all monotonous aspects of a game? That seems an odd and flawed assumption. I pay to play the parts I enjoy playing. Nothing more. Are you arguing that because I have avoided participating in some content that I found tedious and monotonous in the past - that I should therefore now enjoy this event because it requires me to participate in that content? Because I guess it would still be "fresh" content to me? Really? You are really grasping here. Monotonous content repackaged does not become less monotonous. I enjoy quite a lot of this game. An event that would allow us to use our main characters and re-run missions that we enjoy as part of a light side points vs dark side points contest would have been awesome. As presented, this event is far from awesome. Good luck in your continued efforts to defend it.

Really? Here are some synonyms for the word "monotonous": tedious, boring, dull, uninteresting, unexciting, wearisome, tiresome, uninvolving, repetitive, repetitious, unvarying, unchanging, unvaried, humdrum, ho-hum, routine, mechanical, mind-numbing, soul-destroying; colorless, featureless, dreary; dullsville I don't see the word "enjoyable" in that list. My only point is that this particular "event" is structured more like a job than a game. We will give you stuff if you run low level content you don't really want to do to help our metrics. I have no intention of participating and just wondering out loud why anyone would really find this fun. Or why you would defend it is as fun since even you admit it is monotonous.

Huh? A monotonous activity that compensates you for performing tedious and time consuming tasks, many of which you would prefer not to do, sure sounds more like a job than a game. But that's just me. Enjoy!!

Next time I need my employees to do boring and tedious work - I think I shall just call the day an EVENT! Folks, we're going to have a "Clean the Warehouse Event"!! Wear your party clothes!! At the end of the year we will have an "Inventory Event"!! Free calculators for all!! Work hard enough and you can earn "Legendary Status'!! There are so many ways they could have made this really fun. And as a video game - this should be fun. Compensating us with packs and mounts so that we will boost low level content metrics - that's not fun. That's just a paycheck for work. If BW *really* needs us to crank through all these old flashpoints and such to help keep the game alive - well, then let me run the flashpoints I enjoy and do the game content I like doing. I could still crank out light side points in a way that wasn't so forced and ridiculously rigid in structure. This should not be about "earning" stuff. The event should be entertaining in and of itself. A true battle between light side points and dark side points would be awesome. With freebies thrown in as frosting on the cake. I'm not going to work for Bioware 4-6 hours a day all summer and get paid a mount and companion for my efforts. That is laughable. MeNaCe - I usually enjoy your posts. But you are on the wrong side of the fence here.

A golfer requests use of a cart to skip walking the course. Which reduces the overall difficulty of the endeavor. But perhaps not in an essential way. Serious golfers are very upset. A gamer requests use of a very powerful companion to reduce the time and effort needed to complete a heroic mission. Which reduces the overall difficulty of the endeavor. But perhaps not in an essential way. Serious gamers are very upset. The comparison still seems useful and interesting and perhaps instructive. At least to me. I understand the limits of the comparison. It was not meant to be a perfect analogy.

Respectfully I believe you are missing the point. The debate which occurred within the golfing community about the use of golf carts is similar in many respects to the current forum debate about companions. Does increasing ease and accessibility diminish or enhance a game? Issues like that. I'm not really trying to compare golf to a video game. I just think that it can be instructive to look at how other communities grapple with similar disagreements.

Apples and oranges are similar in many respects. Did not mean to express any bias except that I found the comparison interesting.

A few years ago a professional golfer named Casey Martin, born with a leg defect that makes walking difficult, sued the PGA for access to a golf cart during tournaments. The PGA opposed the request arguing that walking the course was an integral part of the sport. The case eventually made it to the Supreme Court which ruled in Martin’s favor on the grounds that walking was not an essential element of the game of golf. Justice Scalia dissented with the opinion that a game is an artificial construct and can therefore impose any rules no matter how arbitrary. And that the goal of trying to make life “fair and equal” was something of a false quest. A rather simple alternative of allowing all participants to use a golf cart was even more strongly opposed by the PGA. The real issue, it seems to me, is that golfers are a bit defensive about their sport. Playing golf is certainly not as physically demanding as competing in a decathlon. So any attempt to reduce the difficulty (i.e. grind) of the sport reduces the perceived value or merit. Make it too easy and golf becomes a pastime rather than a sport. All of which seems very similar to the companion debate at hand. Serious gamers, like golfers, tend to be a bit defensive about what they do. Make it too easy, reduce barriers of entry, allow anyone to excel at the game and the pursuit has considerably less cachet. Walking the course, the grind to get to the fun, gives the game meaning. If everyone has a golf cart, then what is the point? Sure – you could still walk the course while everyone else whips around on carts but the perceived value and worth of the game is greatly lessened. Casual gamers (siding with Supreme Court justices) don’t feel the grind is an integral part of the game. They just want to swing the club, hit the ball and focus on the storyline. Why make it so difficult to get to the next tee? They don’t want to trudge from hole to hole with a heavy bag of clubs. Fast golf carts are awesome. Who cares if the game has meaning or value? It’s a game – it should be fun, relaxing and enjoyable. Scalia’s arguments to the contrary – a compelling game is more than just some arbitrary rules. Bioware must walk the rather difficult line of giving the game meaning and perceived value while also making it fun and playable. In their defense I believe BW genuinely wants to do that. But changing the game rules so suddenly and dramatically is very disruptive. One day it is full contact tackle golf and the next day we have golf carts faster than Lamborghinis. Then our slot machine and companion Lamborghinis are replaced with pick-up trucks. The game suffers when the rules and structure oscillate between such extremes. Serious gamers, like the PGA, are not looking for fair and balanced solutions - like giving everyone a golf cart. They want a game that has a high level of challenge and that has integrity and “worth”. Casual gamers are hoping for a much different experience. A game that is fun, easy, not stressful – basically miniature golf with windmills and fountains and the possibility of getting a hole in one. To debate which game makes for a “better” experience will not be a simple debate. As evidenced by the hundreds and hundreds of forum posts. But I don’t think either side can claim to be right.

Used to purchase 1 or 2 hypercrates for each new pack but felt completely robbed by the first hypercrate after the change in format. Used to enjoy getting mounts and decos. Got nothing but multiple copies of bad armor. And not even much of that. Will not be purchasing any more packs.

I have also always purchased 1-2 hypercrates per release and will absolutely not purchase any more cartel packs under the current format. It felt like a complete waste of money. I agree with the decision to consolidate armor in crates and remove experience boosts. Companion gifts as the second item are not particularly attractive to me. If BW prefers the 2 item format - then my suggestion would be more targeted packs. A decoration only pack with one guaranteed decoration per pack, an armor only pack with a guaranteed armor crate in each pack and a pet / mount / emote only pack. The second item should be a cartel certificate, jawa junk or reputation item. Something better than a companion gift. A more targeted pack would allow people to at least gamble on the items they *really* want. My preference is always for mounts and pets - so getting zero mounts and zero pets out of a hypercrate irritated the hell out of me. This new format is not good.

What do you think will happen to our unused ultimate coms when the new release hits?