Wait, what? Hardmode flashpoints are not new content. The start of a new PVP season isn't either. The Gree returning is....well, returning content that is anything but new. There's really no way to downplay this... they seriously have released a content patch without content. This bodes awfully well for the rest of the year, now that content cycles have moved from nine to TWELVE weeks. My new Sage is level 21 now. If there's not anything exciting by the time she's 60, she may well be the last character I level.

So already the discussion has started. Is this 'costume designer' something that will allow us to create and /or modify different looks, or is it more like an appearence tab, which will allow you to quickly change your look regardless of stats on gear? NOW would be a good time for the devs to come forward, and give us an indication of what it is they're making for us. In fact, yesterday would have been a good time, too. The problem is, again, silence. And that's an error they've been making for a long, long time now.

Screw the market. The real issue here that the people who actually owned a slot machine or had access to one? Never had to run another crew skill, ever again. Because the slots would always be economically better as long as the top tier mats were sold by the Jawas. Always. Well, except for supplements missions. But you get the idea. The slots were nerfed because they trumped the use of crew skills.

Oh there were surely stockpiles, but that was nothing compared what incessant clicking on the machine could accomplish. However the decision to provide access to the top tier mats through the Jawa vendors and provide an infinite stream of Jawa Scrap at the same time really led to a collapse of the market. It started to slowly recover, with Midlithes doing around 13000, when the slots were nerfed.

That's what I initially thought what it was gonna be, too. Game mechanics over lore, and now with the Revanite faction you might as well be fighting a mix of imp/rep toons, there's absolutely no reason NOT to do this.

Limiting the number of coins would have been an easy and painless solution. Wouldn't even have needed a price increase on the coins. Goes to show how little thought went into just maing the mats uber rare drops.

I don't see why this thing can't be made to cough up randomized mats. 750 credits might be uneconomic for five desh or five dielectic tendrils, but roll a Midlithe crystal and you've got a happy player.

We don't know yet. There was a rumor they were actually previewing it during the event but I'm not too sure about that. Either way, we haven't seen a video about it yet, nor a blog. We'll have to wait and see. Most people are concerned it'll be another Cartel Coin eater. It's also unclear if this has anything to do with the rumored appearance tab that would eliminate the need to pull mods from your armor if you want to change your look.

I honestly don't get it. There are a hundred ways one could use the slot machine mechanic and release slot machines that are actually fun to play. What they did now was the complete opposite, as it gave players who had a machine a direct advantage over those that didn't: any crafting mission run is trumped by converting the same amount of credits into chips and hitting the machine. If this had kept on ALL crafting mats would have ended up completely worthless. Conversely, all crafted items would be worthless, as well. It would have destroyed crafting completely. That said, I love the idea of the slot machine decoration and how it can be made to give our reputation, cartel certificates, ultra rare mounts and other prizes. But instead of making those, the devs chose to put out a bonkers-broken machine for a week and after telling everyone it was working as intended....TURN IT OFF. The chances to get a scrap now are so low they might have removed them completely. But just having a slot machine that provides rep tokens gets boring really quickly, so people who invested in getting one, let alone multiples, feel cheated. For good reason. Best thing? Redesign them completely. The concept is good, just make sure they are interesting to play consistently and don't give out crafting materials as a prize. If you do, randomize them.

I find it most disturbing they're not communicating about this.... AT ALL.... for days now. The number of threads alone should be at least some sort of indication there's a lot of ticked-off people here about this. And yet. It's Friday night now here in my time zone, and if past experiences count for something, the first dev response we'll see will be tuesday night. This is a disaster.

It's not a bad suggestion. I suggested something similar that would work as well. Instead of having the slot machine award the jawa scrap, let it do a roll from all the mats in the game. So you could roll five desh, or five genetic anomaly.... but you could also roll a Midlithe Crystal or Adaptive Circ. The point is this keeps the rolls random, luck based and fun, without allowing for systematic grinding that destroys the economy. This way, the slot machines could still provide the specific rep, nobody could destroy the economy overnight.

double post, oopsie.

Because customers bought into this expecting one thing and then had that thing taken away from them. Consider this: Bioware advertises a new mount as a rare drop from a Cartel pack. It's cool as hell, allows for 150 % speed. allows for gathering nodes while mounted and shoots AoE missles that oblitherate mobs. We all want it. Everyone buys packs for it. Hypercrates upon hypercrates. The mount sells for millions. We buy it off the GTN anyway. Then, something happens. Bioware assesses the situation. Nerfs the mount. It's now 110 speed like every other mount, doesn't shoot missles anymore and won't allow for gathering. As compensation, it now gives the Meirm's 'HONK-HONK' when mounting, as to provide an incentive to still get it. That's, roughly, what happened here.

They should just redesign the entire thing. I sincerely HOPE that's what they're doing now. I was one of the people who thought that a nerf really WAS necessary, because having a slot machine trumped ALL crew skill missions... but they didn't nerf it, they turned it off. All it's really good for it getting to legend rep. After that one might as well take it out of the Stronghold.

It would have been more fun if it was a totally random loot roll. Here's what I would have done. Remove all the scraps. Instead, keep the odds and at a hit, allow for a roll of ALL the mats that are currently in game. So you could win a single piece of desh, but you could also get an Adaptive Circ. Maybe even include credit boxes into the pool. Why not, seeing as Confiscated Artwork (purple rep) sells for 2500 credits anyway. Grand prize is still a cartel certificate. Ultra Mega Power Rare could be a reskinned mount like the Voranticus or whatever's in the pack. A slot machine like this would be awesome and well worth the 500 credits for a roll. It'd be FUN, would NEVER flood the market with anything and wouldn't give the player the feeling they're throwing their credits away for a loss. The machine was too powerful. Now, it's a short trip to Legend rep at best.

Dear Bioware, Please tell me in advance if we can expect an UN-NERF of this thing before I flush my remaining tokens down the toilet. Thanks.

Looks like they're back in the loot table, boys. Did the weekly on Yavin today and got TWO inheritance/birthright kits as rare drops from mobs. First time ever I got a purple drop on Yavin, and it's a silly BIRTHRIGHT kit .

I think you're reading too much into that quote. The 'storyline' is Forged Alliances, the 'EPIC' is nothing more than the return of Revan, and the 'announcement' is nothing more than 3.0. That be all.

Oh please, if you're trying to sell cartel items for 7 credits you're way better off just giving them away. Go to a starter planet and treat some newbies to some fresh gear.

That's definitely an Ishi Tib. First seen in Return of the Jedi and introduced in SWTOR with the Nightlife event =)

Just trade one of your four crate-o-matics for it, no biggie.

The reputation vendors are for the entire shipment. This is only the very first pack and it's in demand. I'll wager you can buy TONS of these packs for as little as 120-130 K credits each on the GTN in a month or two. That level of reputation only seems daunting for the I WANT IT NAO folks. If you are willing to fork over the cash, be my guest...but I myself treat cartel gear as those sticker books you can complete by buying random packs of stickers. There's no NEED to complete the whole book in one afternoon. It'ls called collecting for a reason.

Well, lookin' forward to the patch notes, for sure!

What's particularly funny is that the initial end game gear sets were ALL deemed hideously ugly until Bioware removed them from the game...then the clamoring for them to return began and now the cartel versions are quite expensive on the GTN.

Now would be good. Thanks.