Commendations in 3.0

[ghoul_drool]

Well, anyway. With all the toons that are levelling purely by class mission now, they will all have the opportunity to go back and do the planetary side quests and rake in the basics. It's the better deal, assuming that planetary comms don't convert to a 1 = 1 ratio and the basics cap will be higher than 100

[Heezdedjim]

Well, anyway. With all the toons that are levelling purely by class mission now, they will all have the opportunity to go back and do the planetary side quests and rake in the basics. It's the better deal, assuming that planetary comms don't convert to a 1 = 1 ratio and the basics cap will be higher than 100

If steamrolling low content becomes a viable way to farm Basics, it might not be entirely bad, since it would give people a reason to actually go to planets that normally are deserted. They might negate that be removing the comm reward for grey quests though. It depends on what they "want" people to be encouraged to do.

 

The alternative is there might be level 50-60 content that gives Basics at a much higher rate, and people would farm them that way in order to stock up on blue mods for their leveling alts. Either way it probably will encourage people to spend some time doing things they otherwise see as pointless today, since you can farm at "either end" and get anything from leveling gear up to entry level endgame purples.

 

The one thing that actually would be amazing is if they somehow miraculously decided to cut to the chase and just give us a true Legacy Wallet for all currencies in 3.0.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Heezdedjim

[DarthNecromus]

Well, anyway. With all the toons that are levelling purely by class mission now, they will all have the opportunity to go back and do the planetary side quests and rake in the basics. It's the better deal, assuming that planetary comms don't convert to a 1 = 1 ratio and the basics cap will be higher than 100

 

I am betting that ALL of the commendation conversions to Basic commendations will be 1:1. That's what they did going to 2.0 converting centurion and champion comms. I think this is what upsets the people the most, is that they worked hard for the elite and ultimate commendations and to have them be traded straight 1:1 for basic commendations is disheartening. Especially since it's relatively easy to get a basic comm. It's like having a gold coin and being told it's only worth a copper coin. At this point you would be better off amassing basic comms because they will increase in value when 3.0 hits, rather than grind for elites and ultimates (unless the trade ratio is better than 1:1) IMO.

[Heezdedjim]

I am betting that ALL of the commendation conversions to Basic commendations will be 1:1. That's what they did going to 2.0 converting centurion and champion comms.

PvP comms were a special case. With the PvE comms they had variable conversion rates based on the pre-2.0 "level" or "value" of them. The ratios of various comms being converted to Classic were Tionese 6:1, Columi 4:1, Black Hole 1:1, and Daily 4:1.

 

Assuming there is no radical change in the item prices of items that will be priced in Basic Comms instead of Planetary comms after 3.0, they might go with 1:1 for Planetary to Basic conversions, and then have higher conversion ratios for your comms that are any higher tier.

 

Alternatively, they could go 1:1 for Basic to Basic, 2:1 for Planetary to Basic, 1:4 or more for Elite and Ultimate, and then revise all the prices at the old Planetary vendors to make all of the items cost only 1 to 3 Basic comms instead of 2 to 14 Planetary comms.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Heezdedjim

[Brewski]

I am betting that ALL of the commendation conversions to Basic commendations will be 1:1. That's what they did going to 2.0 converting centurion and champion comms. I think this is what upsets the people the most, is that they worked hard for the elite and ultimate commendations and to have them be traded straight 1:1 for basic commendations is disheartening. Especially since it's relatively easy to get a basic comm. It's like having a gold coin and being told it's only worth a copper coin. At this point you would be better off amassing basic comms because they will increase in value when 3.0 hits, rather than grind for elites and ultimates (unless the trade ratio is better than 1:1) IMO.

 

Actually, it's more like converting all your gold coins to copper, and then also reducing the price for all existing items from costing gold to costing copper instead, which in the end nets you exactly the same equipment you would have gotten in either case. Commendations have no real value outside of the equipment you can buy with them. In the end, you can buy the same equipment you could have prior to 3.0, so you've lost nothing.

 

The funny thing is, they could get the same same effect by adding two new levels of commendations to the top ("Elite Ultimate" and "Ultimate Ultimate") and converting all existing commendation to "Ultimate" and people would probably complain less just because there would be no perceived "downgrade". Personally, I'm glad they are sticking with the current names.

[jankiel]

Any news on pvp comms?

[BuriDogshin]

Commendations have no real value outside of the equipment you can buy with them.

Not true. Basic Comms are worth about 2500 credits each, at present. Elites, on the other hand, are nearly worthless to a lot of players, except for gearing companions. Best you can do is buy Elite gear, wait for the buyback period to expire, and sell them to a vendor for around 150 credits, I think, per Elite commendation.

[ArcadioBuenida]

I apologize if I wasn't clear. I was speaking on current nightmare level gear (186). The belief going around the swtor community is that 186 will become obtainable through basic gear. My point is that Bioware has never allowed Nightmare level gear to be purchaseable with comms because they have specifically stated that NiM level gear would be only obtainable via Nightmare Ops. So if that is the case then the highest basic level 55 gear obtainable through comms would be 180 Dread Forge gear. I was asking why is everyone quick to assume 186 will be purchaseable with comms?

 

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the basic gear vendors started selling blue 186s, but no one is suggesting that the comms vendor will be selling Dread Master gear. I think it will either be Oriconian 180s, blue 186s, or Dead Touched mods in new shells given some kind of Riishi, piratey name. Nightmare gear hasn't been sold because of the shells more than anything.

[ArcadioBuenida]

False. When 2.0 launched you could get 156 rated gear for Basic comms, which you started to earn as soon as you hit the leveling content on Makeb. Before 2.0 the last current Nightmare level gear was Dread Guard, which was 150 rated. The level 50 FM FPs also started dropping Black Hole gear, which had been, at one time, nightmare level in an earlier release. Later on you can now get 156 rated gear from doing solo missions on Oricon, so you don't even need to farm comms to get a full set of gear that is better than anything you could get pre-2.0.

 

You also could (and still can) just buy 156 rated purple mods straight off the GTN for cheap, because they were craftable from ordinary reverse engineered purple patterns with no exotic mats required. The old NiM craftables, or the closest you could get, all required RE'ing raid drop mods and farming exotic mats.

 

The historical fact is that when they raised the level cap ALL previously high end ratings of gear became substantially easier to get, either becoming drops from level 50 instances, or becoming buyable with low end commendations. The pieces with the set bonuses still needed tokens to get, but you could get the same or better rated gear for commendations directly when 2.0 launched as that which you only could get from NiM ops before 2.0.

 

The NEW NiM mode obviously only will be obtainable from the NEW NiM ops. The OLD (current) NiM gear will be yesterdays news, and equal rating gear will be cheap as chips, which is exactly what happened the last time.

 

I think that what he means is that, just as you described in your post, their prior philosophy would have them put 192 mods in the basic gear vendor, not 186. They dont make the old NiM gear available. They go one step ahead of it. But, to make sure people dont have another period of gearing before they start their gearing, 180 or 186 would make sense.

[ArcadioBuenida]

Thanks.

 

While you're all looking at conversion rates etc etc.... do you think you can increase the absolutely abysmal weekly caps on commendations for subscribers, like the atrocious 200 limit on Elites Commendations and the really pathetic 150 limit on Ultimate Commendations?

 

I know it's there to prevent burning through content, but this is a complete and utter fallacy when most of us will flip to an alt. and shove stuff into legacy gear to send to a main character. Just up the weekly limits for subscribers, we pay for the game because a few of us play it a lot.

 

Thanks.

 

When there are only two ops to do, it's gonna be really hard to hit the Elite and Ultimate limits. Basically you're gonna have to do SM and HM of both ops, plus the flashpoint weekly, plus the Classic op to even have a chance of touching the cap. This question will be more relevant in 3.4 or whenever the second set of 60 ops comes out.

[Xekz]

I just want to add my 2 cents on this and say it is a bad idea.

 

If the logic behind this is that people with max ultimate comms will be able to buy the Ultimate Gear 1 minute after 3.0 is launched, you are mistaken. As of right now on the live servers, you cannot buy any of the Basic, Elite, or Ultimate gear until you reach level 55. it is not too far of a stretch to assume the same will happen in 3.0. So, when 3.0 goes live in December, no one will be able to buy any of the commendations gear until they reach level 60. And if they keep the prices the same, you will only be able to buy a couple of pieces of Ultimate Gear. Then you would have to level all of your alts to level 60 in order to do the legacy move of the gear. To get a fully geared toon in ultimate gear will cost 1180 ultimate comms (at the current prices). This means you will need to get four toons to level 60 in order to get one toon fully geared in ultimate gear (minus the relics and man hand weapons).

 

People put in a lot of work to earn those comms whether it be through flashpoints or operations. To tell them, all of your hard work is going to be for nothing better than basic gear is a slap in the face especially for those who earned the 186 gear doing NiM operations. If you crunch the numbers, people will still have to work to get the ultimate gear, granted through leveling four toons to 60. I think those people have earned the ultimate gear in 3.0 regardless if they did it pre-3.0 or post 3.0.

 

Just trying to add numbers to this conversation.

[MillionsKNives]

People put in a lot of work to earn those comms whether it be through flashpoints or operations. To tell them, all of your hard work is going to be for nothing better than basic gear is a slap in the face especially for those who earned the 186 gear doing NiM operations. If you crunch the numbers, people will still have to work to get the ultimate gear, granted through leveling four toons to 60. I think those people have earned the ultimate gear in 3.0 regardless if they did it pre-3.0 or post 3.0.

 

An upgrade in buying power is not a slap in the face. And no, they did not earn level 60 ultimate gear. They earned level 55 ultimate gear, and that's roughly what they'll still be able to buy with it.

 

Also, what do NiM players have to do with this?

[Divona]

The only claim made in the OP was that ENTRY LEVEL 186 RATED GEAR would be buyable with Basic comms. The topic of this thread is what new ratings of gear will be available from what sources when the expac rolls out.

 

Click if you dont mind spoiler for new items.

 

 

 

PVE leveling quest rewards combined rating 172. Item doesnt have level requirement.

example: Resolve Hilt 33: [78] Endurance: 67, Willpower: 81,

 

Higher version combined rating 178

example: Resolve Hilt 34: [81] Endurance: 74, Willpower: 88

Possibly lvl 60 FP

 

PVE OPS lvl 60

combined rating 192

example: Resolve Hilt 35: [84] Endurance: 104, Willpower: 124

This is for SM

 

HM reward

combined rating 198

example: Resolve Hilt 36: [87] Endurance: 113, Willpower: 134

HM obviously

 

 

 

[Rafaman]

Well... change a few numbers and this is very much the same hand wringing we saw before and at the beginning of the last comm conversion. And... after a few weeks of crying about the new comm caps after launch, it will all settle down to status quo.

 

New cap, new gear, new comms. Nothing new here. You can't front load your comms and have a full set of Elites etc. at launch. No problem, you will have the new set soon enough. IF it were otherwise... you would be whining about having nothing to do a day or two after launch. You still may have a few that will cry that mantra anyway.

 

 

I'm happy with the changes because... it is exactly what is supposed to happen.

[Loc_n_lol]

I'm happy with the changes because... it is exactly what is supposed to happen.

Amen to that.

[Musevisa]

This change is a good one and expected.

Post 3.0 comms will get me better gear than pre 3.0 comms do.

 

How people can say that getting Ultimate comms is hard work i dont understand. U get 60'ish for facerolling a GF Operation. Earning 100 ultimate comms in one day is no problem and hardly any work at all. You can even manage that after 8 beers and 4 shots of whiskey.

 

All the rants make no logic

[Brewski]

General rule of forum posting in SWTOR (or any other game forum for that matter): If you use the phrase "slap in the face" no one will take your post seriously. Even if you have a good point, people gloss over and categorize your post as irrelevant. Heck, most of you are probably doing that to this post right now.

 

Back on topic:

 

I think people seem hung up on the terminology. Changing from "Ultimate" to "Basic" sounds like a downgrade, no matter what other details you provide. (Like the fact that you aren't losing anything, and can buy better gear with the same commendations, so it's actually an upgrade.)

 

I think Bioware needs to rename the new basic commendations to "Super Ultimate Basic Commendations" to alleviate this concern. You can then have "Super Ultimate Elite Commendations" and "Super Ultimate Ultimate Commendations" as your next two tiers.

 

Anything else is a slap in the face. (Sorry, couldn't help myself there, but then you aren't really reading this part anyway.)

[DawnAskham]

I just want to add my 2 cents on this and say it is a bad idea.

 

If the logic behind this is that people with max ultimate comms will be able to buy the Ultimate Gear 1 minute after 3.0 is launched, you are mistaken. As of right now on the live servers, you cannot buy any of the Basic, Elite, or Ultimate gear until you reach level 55. it is not too far of a stretch to assume the same will happen in 3.0. So, when 3.0 goes live in December, no one will be able to buy any of the commendations gear until they reach level 60. And if they keep the prices the same, you will only be able to buy a couple of pieces of Ultimate Gear. Then you would have to level all of your alts to level 60 in order to do the legacy move of the gear. To get a fully geared toon in ultimate gear will cost 1180 ultimate comms (at the current prices). This means you will need to get four toons to level 60 in order to get one toon fully geared in ultimate gear (minus the relics and man hand weapons).

 

People put in a lot of work to earn those comms whether it be through flashpoints or operations. To tell them, all of your hard work is going to be for nothing better than basic gear is a slap in the face especially for those who earned the 186 gear doing NiM operations. If you crunch the numbers, people will still have to work to get the ultimate gear, granted through leveling four toons to 60. I think those people have earned the ultimate gear in 3.0 regardless if they did it pre-3.0 or post 3.0.

 

Just trying to add numbers to this conversation.

 

Why is it so hard to understand....

 

Today, players can run year plus old level 55 content tuned for 156 gear and get commendations to buy 168-180 gear.

 

After 3.0, players can run new level 60 content tuned for ~180-186 gear and get commendations to buy ~192-196 gear.

 

Any previous 55 commendation not spent before 3.0 will still buy gear equal to or better than what is available today.

 

The only thing the change does is prevent players from farming year plus old SM 55 content while over-geared to obtain level 60 gear that is intended to be rewards for completing new level 60 content.

 

Its like a large portion of players don't want real progression.

 

With legacy gear shenanigans, whining over loot, and now the 'my 55 comms should buy me BIS 60 gear', the developers might as well bolster all content at a level such that everyone over-gears everything, with gear for looks awarded to everyone who participates.

 

General rule of forum posting in SWTOR (or any other game forum for that matter): If you use the phrase "slap in the face" no one will take your post seriously. Even if you have a good point, people gloss over and categorize your post as irrelevant. Heck, most of you are probably doing that to this post right now.

 

Back on topic:

 

I think people seem hung up on the terminology. Changing from "Ultimate" to "Basic" sounds like a downgrade, no matter what other details you provide. (Like the fact that you aren't losing anything, and can buy better gear with the same commendations, so it's actually an upgrade.)

 

I think Bioware needs to rename the new basic commendations to "Super Ultimate Basic Commendations" to alleviate this concern. You can then have "Super Ultimate Elite Commendations" and "Super Ultimate Ultimate Commendations" as your next two tiers.

 

Anything else is a slap in the face. (Sorry, couldn't help myself there, but then you aren't really reading this part anyway.)

 

If players are too stupid to follow what is really going on and instead get hung up on semantics, that is their problem.

 

Otherwise we are just heading down a path where we'll be doing Super Duper Extreme Nightmare Hard Mode (bolstered) for Ultimate Glorious Uber Super Prestigious Special Snowflake Award Commendations.

 

Edited October 29, 2014 by DawnAskham

[TUXs]

Why wouldn't they change? Did people really expect to cap out 20 of their 22 toons with comms so that on day 1, they'd be able to buy all new top tier gear? That would have been short sighted of Bioware huh?! This had to happen.

[MillionsKNives]

Ultimate Glorious Uber Super Prestigious Special Snowflake Award Commendations.

 

Forget everything I said, I recant my position. I move that we change comms to this.

[well]

This change is a good one and expected.

Post 3.0 comms will get me better gear than pre 3.0 comms do.

 

How people can say that getting Ultimate comms is hard work i dont understand. U get 60'ish for facerolling a GF Operation. Earning 100 ultimate comms in one day is no problem and hardly any work at all. You can even manage that after 8 beers and 4 shots of whiskey.

 

All the rants make no logic

 

I agree. Besides how is sitting at a desk playing something you like work? I don't know about anyone else but I never broke a sweat playing. It is a game. You get to choose what, how, and when you play it. You don't have a boss telling you they expect you have x amount of coms done by this time.

[midianlord]

[...]

 

Its like a large portion of players don't want real progression.

 

 

[cynicism]

 

Who would ever have even imagined that, eh? Inconceivable --inconceivable, I say!

 

[/cynicism]

 

If players are too stupid to follow what is really going on and instead get hung up on semantics, that is their problem.

 

[...]

 

 

And ^that,^ too.

Edited October 29, 2014 by midianlord

[LordArtemis]

I believe that the conversion will allow you buy better gear than you can at the moment. I might be mistaken about that, but it looks as though you will also have more comms to spend.

 

So this actually works out well for those that have the higher comms....access to the same level gear or better, and more comms to use.

 

Unless I am not understanding the conversion and entry level properly....

[Loadsamunny]

Are we going to keep the PvP comms we have now, or will we start at 0 in 3.0?

[Halinalle]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the basic gear vendors started selling blue 186s, but no one is suggesting that the comms vendor will be selling Dread Master gear. I think it will either be Oriconian 180s, blue 186s, or Dead Touched mods in new shells given some kind of Riishi, piratey name. Nightmare gear hasn't been sold because of the shells more than anything.

 

186 is prototype quality? I thought it was artifact.