Even PVE-ers think bolster is broken, read this and have a laugh

[Helig]

PvE is cooperative, not competitive. Someone else I'm playing with having super gear can only HELP me.

PvE is not competitive? Geez, All this "server first" BS was for nothing. I feel awful now, thanks.

Edited July 7, 2013 by Helig

[kweassa]

Bolster's a surprisingly elegant system that does a very good job in (namely) "catching both rabbits that run at opposite directions" It benefits almost every PvPer except the select few who have already finished the gear-grind, and simply do not need any more help.

 

It benefits the following people:

 

(1) People who are of wide range of levels, in the Under-55 brackets.

(2) People who have just reached the max-level, and set foot on the 55 max-level bracket.

(3) PvEers -- who would have been discouraged from entering PvP, if there existed a too deep seperation between PvP-PvE gear.

 

Incidentally, the above simply means that basically EVERYONE and ANYONE who ever plays WZs, more or less benefit from it in one way or another.

 

It is actually a very rare thing to see such a balancing tool really work in the first place, because almost every MMOG that ever came into existence all tried to come up with the solution of keeping a delicate balance between performance balance and gear progression. If the former is viewed more important, the developers usually choose to remove the influence of gear from PvP as a whole -- as seen in cases like GW or City of Heroes... if the latter is viewed more important, the developers choose to just give up on any balancing attempt as a whole, and just let the harsh rule of Laissez-Faire take its course with PvP -- as seen in cases like WoW.

 

In my experience during the last 18 years of online-gaming, SWTOR is probably the first game I've seen that chose a middle-ground that balances both needs, and thus provides reasonable performance boosts to newcomers, and yet still maintains distinct differences in performances as to motivate people to get better gear. People who benefit from bolster may be able to enjoy the game without too much disadvantages, but still they are never good enough to really go toe-to-toe with the best-geared people.

 

The only instances where they become good enough to stand toe-to-toe against Conqueror/aug geared people, is when they start acquiring very-high end PvP gear, or highly expensive crafted gear which often takes millions of credits and hours of time investment whether you craft it your self, or buy it from someone else. And even then, the performance differences are negligible. At this very-high end level of gearing, whether they acquired their gear from PvE or PvP doesn't really matter, as they are set on mostly equal grounds, and it truly becomes a competition of skill, rather than gearing.

 

So in essence, bolster's a system that helps you along when you are just a teeney weeney tadpole and gives you some extra juice for your under-performing gear, but the differences goes away little by little until you reach the end of the line, where things are equal whatever the player type you are. PvP, PvE, it don't matter no more. No more "you have higher specced gear" excuses. Only skill determines the outcome.

 

Geez, its a PvP player's dream come true, ain't it not? People so fiercely try to defend that somehow, PvP players are in disadvantage here or something... but coming from a guy who used to PvP when they didn't even have the term "PvP" invented yet, I see nothing wrong with it. Its about the best balancing tool I've seen in any MMOG out there.

 

I would think back at the days like SWTOR 1.3... or those days when I used to play wow, would just reach level 60, and would enter a battelground and see someone with 10k higher health than me that chunks off 1/3rd of my health with a single hit and despair. Compared to that, Bolster is brilliant.

 

Think about that please.

Edited July 7, 2013 by kweassa

[AlrikFassbauer]

And ofc i should roflstomp players without gear,..imagine getting into the ring with a heavyweight boxer who has trained all his life, yes he knows what to do better then you (tactics) but he will probably be in far better shape and hit harder (gear) then you. What would you ask of in that situation? to have him blindfolded,..as your small window of opurtunity to train leaves you in a disadvantage?

 

He would outright refuse to fight against this newish boxer. There's at least SOME kind of fairness still out in RL.

 

And the audience would just refuse witnessing this slaughter as well.

 

@kweassa : Good post. I can resonate with that.

Edited July 7, 2013 by AlrikFassbauer

[MidichIorian]

PvE is cooperative, not competitive. Someone else I'm playing with having super gear can only HELP me.

Both yes and no. Your statement is correct when dealing with guilds. However, when pugging you're expected to be in the gear the operation your about to play drops. It's one hell of a catch 22, especially for a PvP'er who most likely doesnt have a PvE guild. So there is competitiveness involved in PvE too and it's worse than in PvP because in PvP you're atleast allowed to play, regardless of what gear you have. Edited July 7, 2013 by MidichIorian

[AlrikFassbauer]

So there is competitiveness involved in PvE too and it's worse than in PvP because in PvP you're atleast allowed to play, regardless of what gear you have.

 

In Raids, FPs & OPs, one receives a vote-kick if one isn't geared accordingly to the FP's difficulty level - and especially according to what people believe is right.

 

In PvP, this doesn't happen. The system allows you to play PvP even if you are undergaread quite a lot.

Edited July 7, 2013 by AlrikFassbauer

[schranz]

Bolster's a surprisingly elegant system that does a very good job in (namely) "catching both rabbits that run at opposite directions" It benefits almost every PvPer except the select few who have already finished the gear-grind, and simply do not need any more help.

 

It benefits the following people:

 

(1) People who are of wide range of levels, in the Under-55 brackets.

(2) People who have just reached the max-level, and set foot on the 55 max-level bracket.

(3) PvEers -- who would have been discouraged from entering PvP, if there existed a too deep seperation between PvP-PvE gear.

 

.

 

This might be how it was intended but it is not how it is implemented at all, level 53 mh and oh outperform my augmented partisan weapons even.

 

Bolster should make it so that you dont have a 60% damage gap between you and the geared and i could live with bolster putting pve gear like 20% under that of PVP gear but this is just ******** on biowares part.

 

I do not want a fair playing field where everybody gets even stats out of the box, i like to min/max and get the best gear and when i do so after months of work then yes, maybe i'm crazy but hear this,.. i want it to be better then what i had before...

 

This is an MMO the mechanic you are seeking is called FPS or 3rd person shooter

Edited July 7, 2013 by schranz