It doesn't do much, but it is psychological. The renown system lets me know that anything I do, regardless or where, has a chance, albeit very small, to contribute to my gearing. It's usually junk in a box, but if I got it from killing mooks on Korriban at lvl 75 I shouldn't be super upset about that. Renown and conquest to me are a unified system that ensures all of the content of the game at any point in a characters progression is worth investigating. They provide a layer of infinite replay ability that is being excised and replaced with nothing, even if that layer is mostly in ones perception. +I just like seeing exp numbers rolling in and levels increasing, makes me feel like the game isn't over...and now those things are gone too.

To me the removal of the renown system and gutting of the conquest system seems like they have invalidated/removed the vast majority of content in the game. Where previously ANYTHING I did contributed to my advancement, now only a couple things do, and only one of those things actually leads to the peak.

This thread is vaguely encouraging me to finish the story before heading out. I've been wondering why there isn't actually challenging single player content? I mean we have the companions? Could you imagine FPs being balanced to use more than one?

I second every word of this and is the main reason I am against OPs only gearing. If they came out with harder solo content that had a bigger reward, I wouldn't object because then I'd still be playing a game instead of navigating a social media website.

I'm curious what the justification for capping it is. Given you aren't farming for the highest tier gear through conquest and they cut the exp/renown/credit rewards out.. Has conquest gained...anything?

I would say 1 in 16 people is still a *******. I base this on (2) completion cycles of Veteran and master weeklies, However, most people are just quiet and seem to expect you to know whats up. And the smallest group the people who talk are just the best.

For me it simple, there is far more being removed from the game than being added. If I thought the game was worth a subscription before, I'm struggling too now when there is just less for me in the newest patch.

I see this a lot and it feels disingenuous every time. Why do you need better gear as a raid reward for raids? What happened to all the challenge and skill raiders keep talking about? Why do you want a reward that permanently reduces how much of those things are required for the content that you play? If thats true, why does everyone need to be on discord? Why do you expect people to have read guides for content they haven't even experienced? The first time you play a raid is the hardest it will ever be. I don't see any raiders saying, we want a super hard instance, with interesting mechanics, fun boss callouts and a title that says Best Raider that doesn't offer any new stat upgrades. No, they deflect about skill and challenge and difficulty to cover for their lust, not only for their own gear progression, but for other people to have none. Limiting solo/non-group players increases the difficulty and challenge of your raids, how exactly? Why is your thirst for gear progression more valid than a solo players? These people are being dishonest as far as I'm concerned.

I waited to see the itemization post and then desubbed. I have no interest in my ability to get gear being gated behind other players. It's not that I dislike raiding, it's that I dislike people management which is the route of all raiding. Get on discord at a specific time, make sure everyone is there, wait 15 minutes for late people, oh your MT has wife aggro? Good luck with you backup you don't have. Oh your two best healers are having a spat and won't raid together? Sure hope you have more. Oh man, your best DPS had a power/internet outage, well, hopefully that guy sitting on the Bench showed up on the off chance he actually got to participate. Raiding is not about skill, never has been, it's about management. I see all these posts on reddit about challenge and skill expression being a justification for better gear. Except those things are permanently reduced every time you get top end gear. So that argument feels like raw deflection from just wanting something to lord over other people who don't want to jump through social hoops. I just got this game and absolutely love the freedom, that's why I subbed in the first place. But now, I'm not sure I even see the point of continuing to play until the expansion is released since I have no desire to go through the social crucible required to participate in the game.