Battlemaster Bag Solution

[Emew]

I’ve been seeing a lot of discontent about the way Battlemaster Gear is acquired, and frankly I’m inclined to agree.

 

Leaving anything to RNG (Random Number Generator) is like trying to have a water balloon fight with one of those OVERLY RESILIANT water balloons… you know, the ones that you throw 3 times before it friggen pops and all it does is drain the water out from a tiny hole it procured on the third lob at your friends head? The moral of this anecdote is that, it WILL inevitably pop, it is just a question of “how long until I actually get to enjoy this POS?”

 

Now Battlemaster bags are very much the same way, however if you play Republic on a PVP server, it means you spent 6 hours in line at the DMV before they mailed you your water balloon via the Pony Express.

So in light of this situation, I have come up with 2 possible SOLUTIONS to the problem at hand.

 

1) Up the price of all BM Gear by 300% but put 1 BM Commendation in every bag, and allow for Unassembled BM Tokens to drop.

a. This means that a piece that previously cost 1 BM Comm will now cost 3 and will thus require 3 bags. Not too incredibly hard to do but also not throwing it at people.

b. This also means that it will take a total of 54 Comms to get a full set of gear if a player gets NO unassembled token drops, which comes to a little under 2 months to complete.

 

2) Keep the price of BM Gear the same as it currently is, keep the CHANCE to get a BM Comm in each bag, do not allow Unassembled BM Tokens to drop, but allow players to PURCHASE BM Comms in exchange for Champion Comms at a rate of 30 to 1

a. This means that you can exchange 30 Champion Comms for a single BM Comm

b. This means that it will take 2 bags to get a BM Comm

c. This also means that if a player gets NO BM Comms from their bags, it will take 36 days to get a full set of BM gear.

 

NOTE: I did not include the implants and ear pieces in this equation for “time required to get a ‘full set’”

 

The Valor grind (since the patch to Ilum valor gains) is quite a task as is. It will take a casual player well over 2 months if not 3 to achieve rank 60, and that is with 3 hours a day of PVP (rough estimate). But putting an RNG on the water balloon fight you worked so damn hard on is not fair to the players.

 

These are just 2 possibilities, and I know there is a solution that Bioware can come to that will keep the players happy without taking away from quality of the game as a whole.

 

Azshar

Edited February 14, 2012 by Emew

[Jodou]

Once you have all your BM gear though, the argument changes to where's the content.

[Emew]

True, but that is where expanded content and expansions comes into play. Its not really fair to say "Okay, we are going to keep players interested for the next 6 months by giving them a single goal that is really really hard to achieve and only a slight upgrade from the Tier 2 version" ... Fair really doesnt come into question I guess, seeing as how it is "Bioware's game" but it sure as hell wont keep people subbing.

 

scatch that. If it were actually "really really 'HARD'" to achieve that would be another matter entirely. But its not. It is just a random RNG time sink and THAT is not what keeps people interested. People want to be rewarded for a job well done, not given a 'mystery box' to see if they get anything for their efforts.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Emew

[NanomanGT]

I do feel there should be a change. however i would like to see one implemented slightly differently. I believe we should be able to buy the Mods and customize the gear in any way we feel fit. This would make progression feel a lot smoother through a bunch of smaller, incremental upgrades, than a few large upgrades every week or so.

[CitizenFry]

It is just a random RNG time sink and THAT is not what keeps people interested. People want to be rewarded for a job well done, not given a 'mystery box' to see if they get anything for their efforts.

 

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

[MiaRB]

blah. same people who complain about getting their BM gear will be the same people who come on forums you complain they have nothing to play for once they get their BM gear.

 

just play the game. BM gear isnt going to make anyone a pvp god so its no big deal to have anyway.

[SpiritofSWTOR]

True, but that is where expanded content and expansions comes into play.

 

So true.

 

[Tattum]

b. This also means that it will take a total of 54 Comms to get a full set of gear if a player gets NO unassembled token drops, which comes to a little under 2 months to complete.

 

 

skipped math ? you could get 54 commendations in 24 days ...

Edited February 14, 2012 by Tattum

[Emew]

blah. same people who complain about getting their BM gear will be the same people who come on forums you complain they have nothing to play for once they get their BM gear.

 

just play the game. BM gear isnt going to make anyone a pvp god so its no big deal to have anyway.

 

No, I played wow for 6 years and spent 4 of those years having nothing to do, I am well versed in the art of "pissing my time away." When I do finally get in full BM gear (god willing they will have optimized Ilum by then) I will continue to make PVP vids, run guild premades, organize world PVP and PVP events (duel tournaments, etc.) ... its about making your own fun.

 

But it is incredibly hard to make my own fun when the Champion gear for a Jedi Shadow is optimized for... tbh I'm not really sure WHAT class it is optimized for. But all 3 of my specs rely heavily on crit, and the Champion gear gives almost none. Ive actually restored to picking up the Centurion Sage gear mods and enhancements, sacking accuracy for Alacrity JUST so I can keep some form of crit on me. Granted I will change them out with Champ mods and enhancements once I get enough comms for that as well.

[Cruxe]

Battlemaster = Rakata

 

Therefore the probability to get BM should be equal to that of Rakata, yes?

 

BM doesn't require 7 other people to get, but takes longer (grinding valor 60). So a wash there, imo.

 

BM ear/implant can be bought with WZ commendations, Rakata with daily commendations. Equal there.

 

Only hard/NM ops drop rakata currently. You can only do these once a week each. 5 bosses per instance (I think that's right). 25% drop chance for your class. Let's say 2 of each class, just for ease of calculations. So 12.5% chance per boss, 62.5% for an item each run, 2 runs a week.

 

BM bags, 2 a day, 2 a week. 16 a week. 25% chance every bag.

 

 

62.5% chance twice a week. About one a week.

 

OR

 

25% chance 16 times a week. 4 commendations a week. That's about one item a week.

 

 

Seems about right to me. And that's not even taking into account the difference in difficulty of doing Nightmare Ops compared to the joke that is PvP dailies. Really, you shouldn't be complaining about BM drop rate, though I do agree RNG is a stupid system.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Cruxe

[tofu-]

blah. same people who complain about getting their BM gear will be the same people who come on forums you complain they have nothing to play for once they get their BM gear.

 

just play the game. BM gear isnt going to make anyone a pvp god so its no big deal to have anyway.

 

but would they be wrong? what is the incentive to pvp?

 

in order for pvp to flourish without incentive, it needs to actually be fun.

[Emew]

skipped math ? you could get 54 commendations in 24 days ...

 

My bad, forgot about the 2nd daily >< Yes, 24 weeklies 27 w/o

[Emew]

Battlemaster = Rakata

 

Therefore the probability to get BM should be equal to that of Rakata, yes?

 

BM doesn't require 7 other people to get, but takes longer (grinding valor 60). So a wash there, imo.

 

BM ear/implant can be bought with WZ commendations, Rakata with daily commendations. Equal there.

 

Only hard/NM ops drop rakata currently. You can only do these once a week each. 5 bosses per instance (I think that's right). 25% drop chance for your class. Let's say 2 of each class, just for ease of calculations. So 12.5% chance per boss, 62.5% for an item each run, 2 runs a week.

 

BM bags, 2 a day, 2 a week. 16 a week. 25% chance every bag.

 

 

62.5% chance twice a week. About one a week.

 

OR

 

25% chance 16 times a week. 4 commendations a week. That's about one item a week.

 

 

Seems about right to me. And that's not even taking into account the difference in difficulty of doing Nightmare Ops compared to the joke that is PvP dailies. Really, you shouldn't be complaining about BM drop rate, though I do agree RNG is a stupid system.

 

 

yes, but that is in a world where RNG works correctly (not this one). Having a 25% chance for something to happen does NOT mean it will happen 1/4 times. I have certain talents that will proc on a 50% chance of an ability use. The record for the longest it took that ability to proc (personal record) was 27 times. RNG is not perfect, will never be perfect, and does NOT follow the rules of math or logic.

 

And unless you are soloing your WZs or camping Ilum armaments 24 hours a day, it DOES take 7 other people to get your BM gear.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Emew

[MiaRB]

No, I played wow for 6 years and spent 4 of those years having nothing to do, I am well versed in the art of "pissing my time away." When I do finally get in full BM gear (god willing they will have optimized Ilum by then) I will continue to make PVP vids, run guild premades, organize world PVP and PVP events (duel tournaments, etc.) ... its about making your own fun.

 

But it is incredibly hard to make my own fun when the Champion gear for a Jedi Shadow is optimized for... tbh I'm not really sure WHAT class it is optimized for. But all 3 of my specs rely heavily on crit, and the Champion gear gives almost none. Ive actually restored to picking up the Centurion Sage gear mods and enhancements, sacking accuracy for Alacrity JUST so I can keep some form of crit on me. Granted I will change them out with Champ mods and enhancements once I get enough comms for that as well.

 

umm, you know you can actually take mods from one piece and put in another, right?

 

for champion gear, i grab the gear that has the best set bonus for my style, then ill get other pieces and take the mods out and so i have the stats i want. that is how it is intended to work. eventually, i will have dif sets of gear for dif situations all customized to what i want them to be.

[MiaRB]

but would they be wrong? what is the incentive to pvp?

 

in order for pvp to flourish without incentive, it needs to actually be fun.

 

it is fun. if it isnt then why care about gear? why pvp at all if you dont think its fun.

[Cruxe]

And unless you are soloing your WZs or camping Ilum armaments 24 hours a day, it DOES take 7 other people to get your BM gear.

 

 

Sorry, should have stipulated that Rakata takes 7 other competent players cooperating. Joining an op zerg or doing WZs doesn't come anywhere close to that skill it takes to do nightmare ops.

[Emew]

Yeah, plz reread the quote you put up there an you will notice that I said I am taking the mods out... but until I start getting Battlemaster bags (not valor 60 yet) I dont have a plethora of Champ Comms to throw around.

[tofu-]

it is fun. if it isnt then why care about gear? why pvp at all if you dont think its fun.

 

i pvp because i want my matching white battlemaster pants. no other reason.

 

 

in swg, i pvp'd because it was fun. only reward you got was satisfaction of winning and bragging rights on the forums.

[vanicci]

25% haha what a joke.

 

I'm currently 5/64 with Battlemaster Bags, which is around 8%.

 

I would love to see a change with the rng factor, the idea of increasing the price of battlemaster gear and changing the bag drops to always include some battlemaster coms would be a big improvement.

 

Honestly I wouldn't even mind if they removed the token drop all together and only made battlemaster gear available through commendations. At least the grind would be steady.

[DestyOwn]

2 for 38 now

[Duffer]

25% chance 16 times a week. 4 commendations a week. That's about one item a week.

 

Seems about right to me. And that's not even taking into account the difference in difficulty of doing Nightmare Ops compared to the joke that is PvP dailies. Really, you shouldn't be complaining about BM drop rate, though I do agree RNG is a stupid system.

 

I'm 3 out of 33 bags (9%) since I hit rank 60 three weeks ago (3s omg). That's not 1 piece of gear a week, that's ONE TOKEN per week. That's one piece of gear.

[Emew]

The sooner they take RNG out of the equation for things like gear, the better. Every other MMO learned this sooner or later with both raids and PVP related gear. Hoping Bioware will figure it out sooner for the BM gear, rather than later.