That's just a flat out lie. Show me a game on Xbox that gives you any of that for unlocking an achievement, let alone MOST of them. So they pop up for your friends when you do something? That happens here when it's spammed to guild chat. If you want to directly compare achievement you have to look at your friend's profile, same as here. I'm sure you have some proof that the VAST MAJORITY of players turn this off? Why does almost everyone have a title displayed if you think no one will see them?

Wait, you said it was because of Xbox's visibility. Now you're talking about specific games. Stick to the point. Xbox achievements and gamer score don't give tangible rewards as an overall system. People like to get them because aside from having fun playing the game you can also get a little score that signifies you've achieved something in the game and long after you've finished playing you can look up the things you did. This does nothing other than give a history of things you've done. You get nothing else. People love it. Some people play games they don't even like just to get the achievements. If you're incapable of understanding why someone would do this without getting a cookie for it then it's not a feature for you. Some people play the game for fun and not for the rewards they get. I'm going to be playing the game anyway, this just gives me something to look over and see all the things I've done and possibly wear a title to signify I did them to others. Just like I see multitudes of people running around with Gree event titles.

If there is a leaderboard for Xbox gamer scores I've never seen one. Where exactly is it visible? Also what happened to tangible rewards such as items from the cartel market? Now you're asking for something completely different.

Yeah, I read those posts, I don't agree with you at all. The cartel market items were created to sell cartel packs. The first 11 months of the game provides no evidence of your theory. I don't understand how that is even relevant. You're asking why people would want to get achievement with no reward, well there's your example. How many Xboxs there are doesn't matter in the least.

So you're predicting that achievements for the new Xbox console coming this year will give tangible game rewards for completing them?

Well many people disagree with you. That's why we have things like Xbox achievements, PS3 trophies and steam achievements. It gives you an easy way to see all the things you've done and for completionists it gives them something to do even without tangible rewards. On the other side if they gave powerful gear for doing these things then people would complain they HAD to grind achievements to get the good gear.

Does everything you do in life require a cookie at the end as a reward? Some people just like to do things to do them. You may have the illusion that you're accomplishing things in game by getting something at the end but it's all just a waste of time. None of the rewards are tangible, if the servers are shut down tomorrow you get nothing for all the time you spent playing. You don't get anything for adding to your Xbox gamer score either, it just gives people another reason to play the game.

Maybe if your posts were more measured and polite you wouldn't be getting such sarcastic replies?

The app is free. It will require you to put in a random set of numbers any time you log you in. However your account will never be hacked and you'll get 100 CCs a month. I've been using it since launch.

I'm not misrepresenting anything. Most of these items were specifically designed for and financed by the cartel market. Bioware has a cartel team who's sole job it is to create unique content for people to spend money on because this is a big part of their business model at this point. You simply have to accept that as fact, MMOs in general are moving in this direction. Now, the vast majority of the items of interest to subscribers are cosmetic and vanity items. You have plenty of vehicles and armor that are only available from achieving things that you can show off. Since clearly your interest in these items is because of vanity I don't buy the excuse that you'll only appreciate them if you "earned" them. You should be thankful that other people are willing to spend money on these items to help support the game while you still have access to them because Bioware made all the CM items BOE.

Certainly isn't a degree in English, the word is "piqued" just teasing

They ARE. I'm not sure why some people cannot comprehend this basic truth but the cash shop system that Bioware implemented absolutely allows for this to happen. 99% of the items that you get from the Cartel Market are tradeable and therefore sellable. There have been almost no items that you could buy on the CM that I wasn't able to acquire with credits. I have been able to get everything I have wanted from the CM without spending ANY real world money. Now, I have actually spent money. When the last set of packs came out I topped up the 2500 free coins I had with the 5500 CC pack and bought a hypercrate of the new packs. I got most of the stuff I wanted and sold what I didn't want and was able to the buy the items I was missing from the packs. It's no secret that subs alone were not keeping this game on solid financial ground. The move to free to play and the addition of a cash shop was required to keep development of the game going. However instead of making items on the CM bound to you, thereby forcing people who want any item from there to pay for it if they ran out of free coins, they made all the items BOE. This allows them to make money from people who don't have the time or desire to accumulate lots of credits in game and just want to pay real cash for the items they want while still making all those items available for those don't wish to spend real money and simply use in-game means to generate the credits required to purchase them from the GTN. Are the items cheap? Sometimes no, but that is the case with everything. You think if Revan's mask was an in-game drop that it would part of a fetch quest and not a rare drop from an Op that would cost millions in trade?

Yes, just like someone has to craft something that you can't craft before you buy it from the GTN, and someone has to loot something you haven't looted before you can buy it from the GTN. The point is, you'll be able to buy it with credits. I don't know why the original source of the item you're purchasing matters to you as a purchaser. I get 700 coins per month for the same sub fee I've always been paying. I can get the appearance token and sell it to you. Neither of us have paid real money for it. Or, I can buy the unlock with real money because I've spent my free coins on something else, Bioware gets extra cash to help develop new content and you can STILL buy the item with credits, all the while being able to grin with smug satisfaction that you stuck it to the man by not spending any real money on the appearance change.

*sigh* Me - You'll be able to buy it with credits on the GTN You - You don't know that! What if it's not tradeable?!? Me - Which things from the Cartel shop aren't tradeable? You - Legacy unlocks! I can buy those with Cartel coins but I can't trade them! Me - That's because you can buy them with credits directly unlike the appearance change You - Yes! I want to buy appearance change with credits! Me - You'll be able to buy it with credits on the GTN

That the stuff that isn't also able to be purchased directly with credits is tradeable which means it will be on the GTN where you can buy it with credits making your entire complaint moot.

So....all the stuff you can buy with credits except HK which is a quest? Seems like that's exactly what you want.

Which ones?

The sub cost before the cartel market was $15/month. The sub cost post cartel market is $15 and you get 500 coins per month. Those coins are free. Secondly, I downloaded a free security app. That's 100 coins I get a month for $0. I also get 100 coins for recommending a friend. My cost is $0. Your assertion that it wasn't worth $15 is completely irrelevant to the fact that that was the cost. The cost hasn't changed. You second point is merely speculation and FUD. Let's discuss what has actually happened and what has been announced. In the time since free to play new content has been added that cost nothing. Even with the paid expansion coming up they are still adding an achievement system that is free to all. If at some point in the future they add actual content in the cartel market then let's reopen the discussion. As it stands, this is a cosmetic feature and those features are largely reserved for the cartel market. The pay to rep argument is equally silly. It's a rep for buying cartel packs. It has no other reason for it existing. If they added cartel items that gave you rep with the other factions that are based around actual gameplay systems, like Voss faction rep, then it would be "pay to rep". This rep is a reward for people who buy packs, either from buying coins, using their free coins or buying them with credits from the GTN. If feel sorry for people who see a little bar on their legacy page and feel an overwhelming urge to fill it and are disappointed with the method that is required to fill it. They are fixing this by moving that rep to a separate page so people don't have to look at it and feel they aren't complete. Lastly, what has been revealed is not a simple barber. In your example of WoW they only provide the option to change your hair. Anything more extensive, which is what this is, cost $15 with no possibility of doing it aside from spending real cash. In this case I will have 2 options to get this appearance change without spending any additional cash.

Have you been reading this thread? Regardless of whether or not you need to buy this on the cartel market the point stands that you will still be able to buy it with in-game credits on the GTN or use your free monthly coins to get it.

Not related to your post but the word is "moot" not "mute".

Are you people actually looking for a serious answer or are you just here to troll? The obvious answer is "because they haven't been able to find and fix the bug yet". There are literally millions of lines of code in this game. It's not always as easy as people seem to think it is to find and fix a bug.

That would be awesome! Instead of getting a $40 expac every 2 years we get a $10 smaller xpac every 6 months. Especially since beta testers have said Makeb has about 15-20 hours of content plus all the new dailies and weeklies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EverQuest_II_expansions

Other MMOs sell appearance changes in their cash shops, like GW2, Aion and TERA. WoW also only has hair colour and style changes in game. Changing anything more extensive like your faces cost real cash. EDIT - here is the WoW FAQ on their appearance change paid service - https://sea.battle.net/support/en/article/appearance-change-faq Costs $15.

Because they gave players the ability to sell these things on the GTN so that people like you can buy them with credits. Everyone is happy, except for people who think buying things with credits should be bought from BW created NPCs and not other players.