And why should Slicing be the only necessary and by far the most profitable skill while others wither away, becoming increasingly useless with each expansion? Players should be able to bypass other players, it happens absolutely all the time in other professions and other parts of the game. You're just angry because it happened specifically to you, and you want the devs to personally protect your profits. There was nothing disproportionate about the machines in theory. It wasn't as if they were particularly easy to obtain, or widespread. The drop rates could have tweaked, but should not have been erased entirely. Now the machines are equally rare, but entirely useless. This is in contrast to Slicing, which was still very useful and profitable, just slightly less so - which was apparently a change on par with the Holocaust according to the whinge brigade that stormed the forums to complain about the slight difficulty they were experiencing in their usual price gouging.

Then why have they been made completely useless with this update? And why have all drops been significantly changed despite what is mentioned in the patch notes? It's one thing to nerf a rare, useful item on account of a minority of vocal, material selling price gougers. That is lamentable, but it happens. It's another thing entirely to grind said item into the dirt. If the lessening of a few players' profits was enough to warrant making the slot machines worthless within days of their implementation, then surely those players who sought out this new item based on its intended function might have some grievance with the fact that it no longer serves that function by any stretch of the imagination. It may have been too good to be true, but now it is entirely incapable of serving any worthwhile purpose. And don't tell me that the mounts make it "an awesome item to strive for". Even if the mount wasn't impossibly rare, it wouldn't begin to make the machine "awesome" or even worthwhile. I don't want to succumb to the middle road fallacy, but we absolutely could have found middle ground here without gutting the whole thing to this extent. The price gougers would have likely quieted down (only to complain about something else, naturally) with a much less severe nerf, and you wouldn't have this large a backlash from everyone else. I sometimes wonder if the extremity with which the devs respond to these sorts of events comes out of spite for the player base. "Oh, are you guys having a problem? FINE, NOW IT'S BROKEN AND NO ONE GETS IT. HAPPY?" Don't get me wrong, I'm really pleased that the entitled minority has gotten its way and protected its profit margin. That is, after all, the American way. But this is simply not a proportionate response. The slot machines should be useful, they should allow you to obtain materials. That isn't game breaking, or economy ruining. The economy isn't ruined or "exploited" every time prices change in a way that you notice. Developer enforced market stagnation is not the best case scenario for an MMO. And there is nothing wrong with having multiple avenues to collect materials. Or should we nerf gathering of mats on the ground on account of it making the comparatively expensive crew missions "pointless"? Every player should not be forced to play only in a way that pleases an extreme minority of the playerbase. Bioware is supposed to be all about player choice. Well then, give us the choice to find alternate methods of obtaining items. Don't become the muscle for a few entitled brats who want to force everyone else to come to them for items necessary to progress in the game.