theres a difference between constructive criticism and "if you dont make it how I WANT i will QUIT" type posts. And no i havent... i play on TRE...

yeah i could certainly get behind something like that if we absolutely had to have it. I still prefer 1 set of gear cause i do all types of content (PvP, Ops and everything in between) which would allow me to get BiS faster overall. If i had 2 sets of gear id have to grind out both. Imho the more forms of content you engage in the faster it should go. It's a conscious choice to not engage in one form or another... the game should be designed as a whole not seperate for PvP or PvE etc. Besides that it makes no sense flavour wise and there is an RP component to MMORPG... My character should change armor cause blaster fire and lightsaber cuts are somehow different coming from players then NPC's?! For my character they are all "the enemy"... Ofc, either way i'd adapt and still play the game rather then start flooding the forums with rage-quit threads...

Let's just say I disagree... But I will entertain your argument. The answer is right there in your post though... More content, not easier to get/meaningless gear. On that (the need for more content) I agree... And I hope that with the latest ME finished more manpower and resources will be diverted to swtor...

i was used to it from when it was similar in WoW... but personally im not a fan of a PvP specific stat. Like i said, i despair to having to switch between PvP and PvE gear. Also, personally i do all forms of content as i personally think thats the way to go in an MMO... it also maximizes the chance of gear overall...

The problem being that the usual suspects on the forum are hardly representative of the game's community as a whole. Very few people ever enter the forums of any game and fewer still feel compelled to contribute. So while you may not like the direction the game is heading in (and voicing your opinion is ofc your right) do not pretend that you are speaking for the majority of the players

personally i want it very simple gear wise... traditional MMO style. PvP can keep it's component for gear system as far as i am concerned... im not a fan of the PvP specific stat as i enjoy both PvP and PvE and i hate carying around 2 sets of gear... either way these components should eventually enable you to reach BiS quality items. Ops schould also give BiS items. HM Flashpoints should give the tear below and SM the one below that. Simple. Most of the gear should for me be BoP... true to the RPG model as far as i am concerned...

So there is no actual evidence then just a hypothesis. Fair enough. The forums are hardly representative of the whole player base though... What was it, roughly 5% of the players of a game ever contribute or even read the forums?!... I forget... It's one of those game developer things. Also... This grind is too much?... Gotta contest that. Any mmo veteran will tell you that this is hardly the grindyest mmo on the block. Character development is suppose to take a while in an mmo... And no, just because some people are altoholics (or don't want to put in the work) that doesn't mean that the game should cater to that specifically. That's their choice. And even if you do play multiple characters you still have the PvP and Ops routes of faster gearing. Clearly MMOs are not for everyone, but thats not news...

Like I said I agree that swtor needs plenty of group content thrown into the mix... Where did you get the 30% from BTW? Or is that just a guess? Anyway... Personally im enjoying the game (I don't even hate the GC since that's only a bonus to gear I get through group PvE and PvP content) and ofc its everyone's choice whether they fell the game is for them or not (anymore).

I have to wonder how folks think they can construct an argument on empirical evidence all the while dismissing any factual evidence as skewed... And no, not all people that did ops (my guild has a run almost daily) left... And not all people that PvP left since my waiting time was less then a minute for warzones last night. Some people left, true... For whatever reason... Now the question is do you cater to then and try to bring them back or cater to those that are still here?! I'm just making a point mind you, I think new ops and PvP warzones are vital to the survival of any mmo and in glad they are bringing them... But they should not forget that it is the RPG part (i.e. story) that makes swtor what it is...

it is a vocal minority beyond a doubt. Same names popping up with these threads over and over. And relative to the entire player base of the game its a negligible amount anyway. Also, i couldnt care less what those that dont play the game (anymore) have to say... The game is not for them. Fair enough. For my part i log in every day and enjoy my time playing and chatting away with the guildies none of which are on here posting as far as i know... but rather enjoying their game. That tells me that even though the game might not be perfect (and its not), the majority of the players are logged in and playing rather then sitting on the forums. Also for my part i enjoyed going through the KotFE story and i didnt find it particularly unfitting or hard to role-play for my agent (sniper)... not for anyone that has ever had any experience with actual role-playing games (more so table top then virtual ones). As for direct sales... that part is simple, ofc they will want to have as many income sources as possible... but thats fine for a lot of people that would much rather get the item(s) they want straight up then opening packs (and can afford to pay the asking price)... particularly those of us whos playing time is limited by real life work and family commitments and want to enjoy our time in the game to its fullest. For instance i bought the Stalwart Protector Set for 1200CC just a week ago cause 1) i liked the look of it and 2) it added to the roleplay value of my character. By the time i would have had the credits to buy it off of the GTN i would have been done with the story...

ahh... so its a case of the vocal minority fudging it up for everyone. Guess thats in line with everything else the millennial generation is attempting to "revolutionize" out in the world...

yup...pretty much this...thank you sir.

right... what i dont get is why the people saying its dead or that they hate it are still here... i wouldnt buy a product i hated personally. As for myself... i am much happier with where the game is now then when it started (and i was a founder myself) which is why i took a hiatus after RotHC was launched. So atm im happy to play the game with a great bunch folks in my guild and pay my monthly subscription... i completely understand those that say the game is no longer for them... it happens... but why the constant complain threads. Shelf the game at least until such a time you think its worth your money again (if ever) ... thats what i did a couple of years back and even with WoW way back when (didnt like the direction of the game after Lich King was launched and havent played the game since). The devs dont owe me (or any of you) anything... that is the long and short of it.

Since they are coming out with new content as we speak I wouldn't call it maintenance mode at all. As for "milking" anyone... You are not qualified to judge what something is worth to me or anyone else. And yes, I do think it will survive the summer...

goes both ways... music use to be sang live with live instruments... now its all computer generated voice modded etc. ... doesnt meant its better now...

which is part of what is wrong with it imho. And i mean that in the sense that it was the lack of content that made them create this system to encourage people to play multiple characters through the same content. Now that (hopefully) they are going back to the MMO-RPG roots with new content (and hopefully more to come) they can go back towards a more clasical MMO gearing style as well as one more true to the RPG roots... hence why i mentioned "character development" even though we have that "family tree" stuff... and yes i was aware we had those, hence my use of the term "family tree development" in the first place... i just think its crap. (note that i say that "I think" rather then make a definitive and general statement).

Quite frankly I don't care who the devs agree with or not... This isn't a pissing contest... I've stated my opinion. Unlike others I don't claim to be the font of all knowledge... I'll be playing the game either way. In principle I agree partially... I don't really think any part of character development (which includes end game gearing) should be legacy wide... It's not called "family tree development" and there's no reason why playing your sage should help you gear your bounty hunter... But if anything is shared I'd prefer it to be cxp.

Agree with this completely... Command rank legacy wide is fine... Unassembled components and part drops (from ops) to remain bound to the character that got them...

Wasn't there a thread about this started less then 24 hours ago?! ...sigh... It's a nay from me either way...

personally i like direct sales... for instance i got my Stalwart Protector Set for my trooper for 1200CC via direct buy... that was well worth the cost for me. I have no interest in unlocking it cause each of my toons is geared to look his part. The smuggler in a customized Shrewd Rascal set, the sage in Thexan set and so on. But the fact that i could get this so easily for my trooper was a big plus... i dont have the time to grind credits all day due to work and family commitments and accept that stat wise it will take me a long time to get BiS... but at least appearance wise i can RP my characters properly. I dunno how high i would have been willing to go price wise but at that price there was no doubt in my mind. It's fluff so people can either buy it or not... nobody is forcing their hand. Dont think the UA Lightsaber is worth its price? ... then dont freaking buy it... its that simple.

THIS... Thank you Sir. There's a reason why gearing takes time in an MMO... It's a time sink between expansions and gives you something to work for (the operative word being work). No, your alts shouldn't be all geared up in BiS within a couple of months... It should take you that long to get your MAIN in BiS. There's a reason why the concept of main and alts appeared and why back in the day guilds would prioritize raid invites to people looking to raid on their mains rather then those looking to great alts. I swear I dunno where this whole "gear should be easy to get" mentality has come from but the fact that it's never easy enough for some people should tell everyone all they need to know about what it leads to...

funnily enough two guildies were saying that they like the new gearing system just tonight... especially so with the coming changes in 5.2... to each his own I guess... personally I'm enjoying the stuff I get for free with cxp. naturally Ill do ops and PvP to gear up with BiS as it should be in any MMO... but a free piece here and there without doing anything special (since I'll be playing the game anyway) doesn't hurt.

my trooper is in the "there is no excuse for treason" camp and is all about the military hierarchy. Sure he dislikes senatorial bureaucracy as much as the next soldier... so while hed hardly ever question an order from a ranking military officer (unless it made no sense from a military perspective) he would certainly question the know-how of senators trying to enforce their will over the military. I think my trooper secretly prefers a more militarized form of government (without the Sith, racial prejudices and the like you find in the Empire)... but efficiency is paramount and he dislikes politicians on principle alone... lol. Anyway, that is the sort of character and background ive build for him at least... trying to fit him in the overall story. Havent gotten to that part yet but will look out for it...

actually im liking the trooper more and more as i play... originally i had trouble RPing the character (i even made a post about it) but i soon realized that it's the republic planetary arcs that were destroying my RP more so then the trooper story itself... because some of the planetary choices are idiotic (save the puppies vs kill the puppies style) more so then the choices in the trooper class story... for instance, killing them traitors from the class story was a no brainer for my dark sided trooper... but then you have some planetary quests where taking the DS option would border on not doing your duty properly as a soldier which makes RPing a DS trooper a bit difficult... i want a ruthless soldier not a bloodthirsty brute. Anyway... currently going through chapter 2 so we'll see how it feels going forward.

come on... we both know the forums aren't representative of the player base. As with most cases the forums are packed with the loud minority... there are always the same few dozen names in the forums yet there are thousands of players just playing the game. Sure the system they initially tried to go with in 5.0 was bad (i wasnt aware how bad initially having only come back a month ago) ... but with 5.2 it will be good imho. There will be plenty of options and with crates even the solo player will get a couple of BiS items... Raiders and PvPers shouldnt really rely on them naturally... but a bonus item or two never hurt anyone. Anyway... life i said, for me in any MMO gear should be gated by content... as you progress through harder content you get even better gear enabling you to do even harder content.... and so on. Back when i started on WoW as it launched and then in the first couple of expansions you had your OPS group run the same over and over until everyone was sufficiently geared to go to the next raid in the progression... that is the typical MMO grind and remember WoW was subscription based at the time too. Handing out top gear for a mere flashpoint?! ... not for me. Ofc all this requires BW to come out with new content on a regular basis and i am all for that...