Congratulations. You just killed sm ops

[Fordbird]

Exactly what I'm saying. I'm not whining about the lack of ultimate coms. I'm whining about the lack of people interested in participating in the vast majority of available SM content because of lack of incentive. Give them/us back our carrot for not BiS gear and fleet will repopulate and I/we can run the content we enjoy with like minded players whom we also enjoy.

[FlyinSpaghetti]

Exactly what I'm saying. I'm not whining about the lack of ultimate coms. I'm whining about the lack of people interested in participating in the vast majority of available SM content because of lack of incentive. Give them/us back our carrot for not BiS gear and fleet will repopulate and I/we can run the content we enjoy with like minded players whom we also enjoy.

 

I agree with you there needs to be a carrot, but a different carrot.

[agentwx]

Here's what I think they should at least consider planning for the long term:

 

1/ Buff all old 50 & 55 SM ops from EV to DP to 60 (no change in mechanics just straight buffs in HP and damage dealt etc ) when queued for in group finder. That's 7 ops one for every day of the week.

Also something else they should consider but some may not like is:

...

5/ Consider implementing some way to optionally boost up a phase to 60 via the portrait options for HM or NiM content. Make it so when you boost an old HM/NiM progression op to 60 it drops ultimates and abundant mount/pet/vanity item drops but scale the bosses to be tight for well geared level 60's i.e. for a boosted EV HM the XRR 3 droid would be a really tight DPS + healing race or for gharj not getting out of his pounce would mean insta wipe.

 

Players who burnt out on the old ops might not like point 5 but the idea behind that is to introduce newer players to the older HM and NiM without being over levelled or over geared for them and experience the raids to how they should truly be.

This is part of the life cycle of an MMO. Old end-game content eventually is played less frequently by the player base as they move onto current end-game content for current rewards. Old content becomes "Classic," just as EV, KP and EC were Classic operations during the 2.0 - 3.0 stretch. TFB, S&V, DF and DP are also now Classic.

Developers are great in destroying value. Despite having fairly good (in terms of story and mechanics wise interesting and fairly bug free and properly tuned) content available they are happy not just to throw them away but even break them (for example Explosive Conflict Nightmare mode Warlord Kephess' Siege Droids phase). Bioware has shown signs of myopia not just now (change of the cool down of interrupts and cleansing) but in the past too (eliminating 8 vs 8 ranked war zones resulted in the balancing problems (one such example: operatives/scoundrels became the healers for ranked)).

The good news is that Bioware has the tool to keep the full PvE player base interested. The bad news is that Bioware's track record at execution is far from perfect. Therefore I think that the proper way is not that older content get buffed/reworked at each time the level cap is increased, rather using a reversed bolster[1] system. This way there is less chance of introducing new bug(s).

 

Both at level 50 and 55 there were 5 tiers of gear and one could expect the same will be true for level 60. These were:

• tier 5 without set bonus: Xenotech (126) and Energized (126) / Black Market (162) / Massassi (192)
  
• tier 5 with set bonus: Tionese (126) / Arkanian (162) / Resurrected (192)
  
• tier 4 without set bonus: Exotech (136) / Verpine (168) / Deciver (198)
  
• tier 4 with set bonus: Columi (136) / Underworld (168) / Revanite (198)
  
• tier 3 without set bonus: NA / Shadowed (174) / TBA
  
• tier 3 with set bonus: Rakata (140) / Kell Dragon (174) / TBA
  
• tier 2 without set bonus: Black Hole (146) / Oriconian (180) / TBA
  
• tier 2 with set bonus: Campaign (146) / Dread Forged (180) / TBA
  
• tier 1 without set bonus: Hazmat (150) / Dread Touched (186) / TBA
  
• tier 1 with set bonus: Dread Guard (150) / Dread Master (186) / TBA
  

 

With the reversed bolster system in place the loot would be:

Tier 5:

• Story mode operations: Eternity Vault, Karagga's Palace, Terror from Beyond, Scum and Villainy, Golden Fury, Dread Fortress, Dread Palace, The Ravagers, Temple of Sacrifice
  

Tier 4:

• Hard mode operations: Eternity Vault, Karagga's Palace, Terror from Beyond, Scum and Villainy, Golden Fury, The Ravagers, Temple of Sacrifice
  

Tier 3:

• Story mode operation: Explosive Conflict, TBA
  
• Nightmare mode operation: Eternity Vault, Karagga's Palace, Terror from Beyond, Scum and Villainy, The Ravagers, Temple of Sacrifice
  

Tier 2:

• Hard mode operations: Explosive Conflict, Dread Fortress, Dread Palace, TBA
  

Tier 1:

• Nightmare mode operations: Explosive Conflict, Dread Fortress, Dread Palace, TBA
  

 

Also to keep the progression groups' interest new limited time available "untainted" achievements would be introduced. The achievement would be obtainable as long as the highest currently available gear tier matches the highest available tier at the time of the introduction of a given ops.

 

The reverse bolster system would also make it possible for everyone to enjoy each and every operations as they were originally intended.

 

[1] Reversed bolster system: the accuracy, critical chance, critical multiplier, activation speed, damage reduction, defence chance, shield chance and shield absorption would be kept at current value, while bonus damage, bonus healing, health would be scaled down to be at the same percentage of the maximum attainable at the current level cap (in other words Revanite would scale down to Underworld for level 55 and Columi for level 50 operations and flash points). This way the grinding element of the game would remain intact but keep the players sane (so for example there would be no need to change out pieces with accuracy to reach the required 110% force/tech accuracy).

Having older content with reverse bolster system shouldn't be mandatory. Rather it should be introduced as a new difficulty tier beside the existing (six for operations, two for flash points) ones.

 

 

 

As many have already noted casual players keep the game alive:

Many casual players also have no time due to heavy work schedules and family what my complaint is about as well as many others I just want to join a pug group via groupfinder and complete the damn op already and get some gear on the way and have fun with it not making it a major task out of it.

...

I un subbed because the fact remains they totally ruined it for casual players cause everything that is surrounding us is all basic coms and everyone by a month that this expac has been out were at least in the elite gear already having 2 operations that appears to be impossible to do in 16 man and not enough coms for the weekly to gain any crap ulti gear anyway.

 

My point in this that I am not paying for a game like many others are to stand around in gaining nothing at all.

 

Like buying a coffee and a burger with not what u want in it do you consider that a waste of money or complain about it?

-NiM SnV and TFB drops ultis like DP/DF NiM, or perhaps one or two less per boss, but ultis.

...

Goal is a casual player that every week does a fp every day, every single ops he can do (55 sm and 60 sm) should be darn close to weekly cap.

 

I wouldn't be saying this if ultimates gave access to extremely good gear, but they don't. They're giving access to some gear people that go casually about the game find interesting, and it keeps servers lively. A big improvement from now.

...my point is that use to be able run all week for the weeklies now there no reason...the devs lost the purpose of the game to do and flashpoints...now there no que and no one does df or dp or and thing thats not easy as a sm...so why do i pay 15 dollars a month to play on my couple toons???i think the devs need more content and they need to put balance in the game...till then i'll drop my monthly and check some new mmo's coming out..at lease i'll new story and new challange and be able to play all week in stead of putting credit spams on ignore and wait for a ops to come around...

If one check out the world progression threads it's quite clear that the casual players cross finance the nightmare mode content:

• Dread Fortress (NiM) 8-Man World Progression Tracking
  

  Click Here for the Dread Fortress Nightmare Mode 8-Man Progression Tracking Tool
  

  Fifty-two participating groups (416 players).
  
• 16-man NiM Dread Fortress Progression Tracking
  

  16-man Dread Fortress Nightmare Mode - Progression Tracking
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am7Kaie2gWW_dFpJUm1vbGV5NVFPRWhoLVE2ejREV3c&usp=sharing

  Sixteen participating groups (256 players).
  
• Dread Palace (NiM) 8-Man World Progression Tracking
  

  Click Here for the Dread Palace Nightmare Mode 8-Man Progression Tracking Tool

  Eighteen participating groups (144 players).
  
• 16-man NiM Dread Palace Progression Tracking
  

  16-man Dread Palace Nightmare Mode - Progression Tracking
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am7Kaie2gWW_dHV6bWx5c2dTeXlSMm1sWXdnRnNjQ3c&usp=sharing

  Six participating groups (96 players).
  

Therefore any comments suggesting that these players must get better instead of complaining for too tough content is rather short sighted as if this part of the population decides not to finance the game (with subscription and Cartel Coin purchasing) because it isn't fun for them any more the remaining revenue from progression players would not be enough to finance the game's existence. During the past eighteen months Bioware has managed to let down the overwhelming majority of it's customers (PvP players, casual PvE players, progression players and surprisingly even some role players).

 

Regarding the change in commendation rewards:

The following Operations have had their Commendation rewards revised to coincide with new Level 60 content...

My personal experience was that most PUGs were muscling trough Scum and Villainy Hard Mode (to my great surprise the players suddenly learned not to mess with other team's opponents at Operations Chief - this was causing numerous wipes before 3.0 story mode runs) for easy Ultimate Commendations and only a few touched other operations. Considering the difficulty of each boss I think that the changes in rewards are not in line with the difficulty of the encounters for PUGs. Therefore I suggest the following changes:

• hard mode Operator IX still drops ultimate commendations
  
• hard mode The Terror from Beyond on 16 mode still drops ultimate commendations if Grasping Tentacles one shot level 60 players (as they do level 55 ones)
  
• hard mode Corruptor Zero drops one ultimate commendation (for being wiped by team members not caring about the Concussion Mine)
  
• hard mode Brontes still drops ultimate commendations
  
• nightmare mode Nefra does not drop ultimate commendation
  
• nightmare mode Terror from Beyond and Scum and Villainy still drop ultimate commendations
  

I do know that hard mode Dread Fortress can be cleared with a good group (consisting of players having the Gate Crasher and/or Conquerer of the Dread Fortress title(s)) well under 30 minutes, however most PUGs are made of different players. In fact most PUGs wiped by Energy Spheres in phase 2. On the other hand hard mode Dread Council encounter is one of the easiest level 55 hard mode operation boss fight if the damage dealers are not overzealous in first and third phases.

 

The fleets got much quieter since the patch (well some fleets were already dead silent while others just made large step in that direction). It isn't a good sign considering that this is an MMO after all.

Edited January 24, 2015 by agentwx
typo

[Ardusnyc]

Just scale everything to 60. Or at least let the raid leader have a new option to choose whether he wants to make the instance "classic" (lvl 55) with current commendation set up, or made into lvl 60 for ulti content, for all raids.

[agentwx]

Just scale everything to 60. Or at least let the raid leader have a new option to choose whether he wants to make the instance "classic" (lvl 55) with current commendation set up, or made into lvl 60 for ulti content, for all raids.

The more the developers touch an older content the more they break. See Raptus healing challenge for example, Bioware has managed to break a not that old operation. Imagine what would happen if they need to understand an older operation. It's quite possible that compared to these redone ones the two current level 60 would look like flawless products... Therefore it is better that the players are scaled down to old content (as an option) than the other way around.

[SierraSandman]

Well fleets are dead and we all know why. Bickering amongst ourselves won't fix it either. If it's about comms then EA/Bioware should introduce a remedy to restore interest by rewarding the casual player, I don't know how or with what but at this rate where do you think the casual player base will be a few short weeks from now?

[tomtrz]

Whatever dev's do, casuals will always cry.

 

What's is this all about? Ultimate comms?

It has been said plenty of times - comms gear is pretty much useless. Lower tier token gear is better than higher comms gear. That's actually even better, that people will stop running in high hp setting and then crying, that content is too hard if they are not even geared properly.

 

The questions is why are those people playing this game? What in game progression means to you? Gear or completing harder content?

 

Better gear should be reward for completing more challenging content, to get acces to even harder content. That's pretty much straightforward. Otherwise why do you need better gear, if you will stand in the same place anyway.

[AvatarNL]

Wrong, there are 4 Ops that drop Ultimates. Well, actually 6 technically.

 

Nightmare Dread Fortress

Nightmare Dread Palace

16-Man Story Ravagers

16-Man Story ToS

Hard Mode Ravagers

Hard Mode ToS

 

In addition, clearing any of the following:

HM TFB, HM S&V, HM DF, HM DP

Will complete the "Classic Ops" Weekly and grant Ultimate Comms

 

Whatever dev's do, casuals will always cry.

 

What's is this all about? Ultimate comms?

It has been said plenty of times - comms gear is pretty much useless. Lower tier token gear is better than higher comms gear. That's actually even better, that people will stop running in high hp setting and then crying, that content is too hard if they are not even geared properly.

 

The questions is why are those people playing this game? What in game progression means to you? Gear or completing harder content?

 

Better gear should be reward for completing more challenging content, to get acces to even harder content. That's pretty much straightforward. Otherwise why do you need better gear, if you will stand in the same place anyway.

 

 

and lets see...

first one: Clearly the gear that drops from those places is better than the gear the comms that come from those bosses can provide - result? Exactly what the OP said.

 

second comment: Um i think you literally contradicted yourself to a point that made you look completely stupid and anyone who can read will ignore your statement entirely.

The OP CLEARLY is saying EXACTLY what you think you are trying to say but without being a jerk about it. The point of GETTING BETTER GEAR means if you had better gear than before you went in to a place that drops the comms IN that place, WHY WOULD YOU go there to begin with? If the comms it drops are LESS USEFUL than the gear it drops while the content also basically requires you to have better gear than the comms that drop in that place can provide in gear, WHY DO THE COMMS DROP THERE instead of lower level content?

If the comm gear is so useless then why do the comms drop in those areas? Why cant they drop in places that make more sense to the content they drop from? If the gear the comms provide doesn't compare to or is needed in order to do the content its like dropping greens from random world mobs, trash. The comms would then only provide items you can buy with the comms then turn around and sell.

 

a fancy way to "earn" cash.

The OP is saying, why not make the lower level FP drop the comms, then use those comms to do the higher level FP and OPs. THAT WAY when you go to do the Ops and what not you don't have to earn comms that will be useless before you even get them.

 

do you even read your posts before making them?

Edited January 27, 2015 by AvatarNL

[power-alex]

do you?)

[Faardor]

The more the developers touch an older content the more they break. See Raptus healing challenge for example, Bioware has managed to break a not that old operation. Imagine what would happen if they need to understand an older operation. It's quite possible that compared to these redone ones the two current level 60 would look like flawless products... Therefore it is better that the players are scaled down to old content (as an option) than the other way around.

 

Raptus healing challenge however has been broken several times in DPs entire existence (across all difficulty levels too) and DP WAS the newest operation from version 2. (lets call it that, since we are on version 3 now) So that really wasn't a good example you tried to make there. In any case the problem with scaling down is that the current ways to dictate DPS, heals, etc etc are based on being lvl 60. So where someone might now be able to parse 4000 at lvl 60 they probably wouldnt be able to parse 3000 at lvl 55 (just a random example, dont think too much into it)

[tomtrz]

and lets see...

first one: Clearly the gear that drops from those places is better than the gear the comms that come from those bosses can provide - result? Exactly what the OP said.

 

second comment: Um i think you literally contradicted yourself to a point that made you look completely stupid and anyone who can read will ignore your statement entirely.

The OP CLEARLY is saying EXACTLY what you think you are trying to say but without being a jerk about it. The point of GETTING BETTER GEAR means if you had better gear than before you went in to a place that drops the comms IN that place, WHY WOULD YOU go there to begin with? If the comms it drops are LESS USEFUL than the gear it drops while the content also basically requires you to have better gear than the comms that drop in that place can provide in gear, WHY DO THE COMMS DROP THERE instead of lower level content?

If the comm gear is so useless then why do the comms drop in those areas? Why cant they drop in places that make more sense to the content they drop from? If the gear the comms provide doesn't compare to or is needed in order to do the content its like dropping greens from random world mobs, trash. The comms would then only provide items you can buy with the comms then turn around and sell.

 

a fancy way to "earn" cash.

The OP is saying, why not make the lower level FP drop the comms, then use those comms to do the higher level FP and OPs. THAT WAY when you go to do the Ops and what not you don't have to earn comms that will be useless before you even get them.

 

do you even read your posts before making them?

 

Looking at your post I see there's a big difference between reading and understanding.

 

----------

 

In setting before 2.7 you could get top tier (not best, but way too good for SM content drop) from easily farmed comms. It was possible to get fully geared in 2-3 weeks playing with multiple chars. In short time everyone was running SM's in full 180 gear (2-3 tiers higher than recommended) basically facerolling everything on 16 man which is ridiculous. In result people with recommended gear were "undergeared" on SM, not even thinking of HM ops.

 

Because of that gap between SM and HM ops was terrifying (from doing basically nothing to real work) and now, when people are not horribly overgeared we have a problem (content is too hard, we need better gear! - not really, I was succesfully running lvl 60 HM ops with lvl55 gear).

 

Awarding players with better gear scaled with difficulty simply forces people to learn and makes HM content accessible for more players, so we won't reach a point when content is so easy, that is more like watching a movie + clicking buttons.

[Fordbird]

Many of us are not interested in "working" toward being NiM raiders. Hence the term "casual." Many of us play for...,fun.... It should be obvious after 3+ years that a good portion of the community feels this way, as evidenced by the extremely small amount of players doing HM/NiM ops, and the spamming of "post achievements" when pugging for them on fleet....which is also extremely rare. My position is, that with no path forward for gear progression the SM PUG has simply become extinct. 99% of the available content now no longer has relevance to an endgame experience. I don't want the comms, I want an active community where I can participate in the content that I/we are paying for. Again...I will mention...that pvp/warzone gear was buffed, while the content stayed SM (basically.) I don't hear/see the "hardcore" community railing about that...how is it different from pve getting a higher tier for SM's?

[Citruzz]

Many of us are not interested in "working" toward being NiM raiders. Hence the term "casual." Many of us play for...,fun.... It should be obvious after 3+ years that a good portion of the community feels this way, as evidenced by the extremely small amount of players doing HM/NiM ops, and the spamming of "post achievements" when pugging for them on fleet....which is also extremely rare. My position is, that with no path forward for gear progression the SM PUG has simply become extinct. 99% of the available content now no longer has relevance to an endgame experience. I don't want the comms, I want an active community where I can participate in the content that I/we are paying for. Again...I will mention...that pvp/warzone gear was buffed, while the content stayed SM (basically.) I don't hear/see the "hardcore" community railing about that...how is it different from pve getting a higher tier for SM's?

 

even casuals can do nim raids properly. a casual is not automatically a bad player.

Edited January 27, 2015 by Citruzz

[tomtrz]

even casuals can do nim raids properly. a casual is not automatically a bad player.

 

It is true. And arguments like:

"My guild doesn't run ops at all" - well, change your guild, there's plenty of them. Ofc NIM raiding guild are closed communities, but do not expect you just jump in straight into nim level, first master SM'S, then HM's etc.. I've seen 300+ players guilds doing nothing more than chatting...I just don't get it

Raiding with guild is 10 times better than PUG's, you don't have to waste your time for waiting, people log in at planned time etc. You play with people you know and obviously raids are more successful.

 

"Nightmare raiding is for no-life's"- not true. Ok, progression guilds fighting for first kills shortly after release - yes, sometimes you even have to take day-off in work . But there are also casual nightmare guilds. All you need is commitment and 1-2 evenings a week.

 

Are not valid

[Fordbird]

While I understand that NiM is achievable, I believe that you're missing my meaning. I don't have a structured time that I can be on, and cannot (would not) commit to raid times. (Family, work, etc..) i don't care about "improving myself as a gamer." I play the game to have fun. While I have completed most content in HM, the groups do not form fast/frequent enough to keep me interested. This is my point. If peeps were spamming lfg HM xyz I would join the HM. But if peeps aren't gonna run SM content because the time:reward ratio doesn't pan out, they/we sure as he'll aren't gonna take twice the time for half of the none existent reward, thereby making running NiM laughable. Also, I do not see fleet being spammed with lfg 16NiM xyz. By the way, the title and reason of/for this post is concerning SM content...not reasons why we should all turn into NiM raiders...

[DarthVengeant]

a) all comm gear is trash with this expansion. even the mods are lettered and inferior to the SM token drops, all of the enhancements are high endurance, low crit/power.

 

b) you shouldn't get ultimate comms from old content. Level 55 Operations are no longer end game content, so they shouldn't give out ultimate commendations.

 

Says you....you don't speak for everyone.

 

A) Comm gear isn't trash. The Mods and armor pieces are just fine. And not everyone has the luxury of getting the drops they need from Ravagers and Temple. Heck, getting past the 3rd boss in Temple right now is pretty much a waste of time trying unless you like wiping 10 times just to get passed it....if you are lucky.

 

B) Yes, they should give Ultimate comms in DF and DP. Even if it is only 1 per boss. You get none from doing the two new ops in 8 man SM, except 10 from the weekly. The new OPs should drop 4 Ultimate's in 8man SM on every boss. Trying to do GF for the two new ops with pugs? Don't even think about it, unless you enjoy stress and are masochistic. Especially Temple. As it is right now it is nearly impossible to get Ultimate's and that just makes me play less. Frankly ALL Ops weekly's should give Ultimate comms, even if it is only 4. Then people would run the classic ops and play more. Win Win.

Edited January 28, 2015 by DarthVengeant

[Fordbird]

EV/EC/KP rewarded ultimates before the expansion. Flashpoint completion rewarded ultimates before the expansion. Group finder rewarded ultimates before the expansion. I don't know where the "old content shouldn't give ultimates" argument comes from, but that has not been the history of the game thus far. Also, if comm gear is crap, why do folks care if SM content drops them?

[tomtrz]

While I understand that NiM is achievable, I believe that you're missing my meaning. I don't have a structured time that I can be on, and cannot (would not) commit to raid times. (Family, work, etc..) i don't care about "improving myself as a gamer." I play the game to have fun. While I have completed most content in HM, the groups do not form fast/frequent enough to keep me interested. This is my point. If peeps were spamming lfg HM xyz I would join the HM. But if peeps aren't gonna run SM content because the time:reward ratio doesn't pan out, they/we sure as he'll aren't gonna take twice the time for half of the none existent reward, thereby making running NiM laughable. Also, I do not see fleet being spammed with lfg 16NiM xyz. By the way, the title and reason of/for this post is concerning SM content...not reasons why we should all turn into NiM raiders...

 

Why are you talking about PUG's all the time, like it's the only way to access group content? Is it so hard to join a guild? Like you said, we play for fun - isn't it more fun to play with people you know? And obviously such raids are more succesful, bringing even more fun, instead of sticking to pug runs that brings mostly frustration...You also most likely have fixed schedule (that doesn't mean you must attend to all raids), you can manage your time ahead. All your problems solved just by joining a (serious) guild.

 

And obviously there's not a lot of HM/NIM pugs, and even less succesful, because difficulty requires more coordination/skill/knowledge that is not easy to achieve with totally random people, even achievments won't guarantee success.

[Darkknightfk]

Why are you talking about PUG's all the time, like it's the only way to access group content? Is it so hard to join a guild? Like you said, we play for fun - isn't it more fun to play with people you know? And obviously such raids are more succesful, bringing even more fun, instead of sticking to pug runs that brings mostly frustration...You also most likely have fixed schedule (that doesn't mean you must attend to all raids), you can manage your time ahead. All your problems solved just by joining a (serious) guild.

 

And obviously there's not a lot of HM/NIM pugs, and even less succesful, because difficulty requires more coordination/skill/knowledge that is not easy to achieve with totally random people, even achievments won't guarantee success.

 

Not everyone can/wants to join a guild. And it should not be a requirement just to get some gear and get through some *********** SM ops.

[AshlaBoga]

Not everyone can/wants to join a guild. And it should not be a requirement just to get some gear and get through some *********** SM ops.

 

The thing is, that I can't imagine enjoying SWTOR WITHOUT a guild. Half my enjoyment comes from the people I play with, the other half comes from the game itself. Without a guild I'd probably fade away from the game.

[PatT]

a) all comm gear is trash with this expansion. even the mods are lettered and inferior to the SM token drops, all of the enhancements are high endurance, low crit/power.

 

b) you shouldn't get ultimate comms from old content. Level 55 Operations are no longer end game content, so they shouldn't give out ultimate commendations.

 

I personally think, ult comms from NiM Mode TFB and SnV only.

[Almhath]

Congratulations dev team! You just killed sm operations. By removing the ultimate comms from all sm operations, you have eliminated the pug groups that so many of us ran daily. The gear from elite vendors is garbage compared to the set bonuses and ultimate gear we had previous to 3.0. Instead, of the casual sm raiders being able to advance in gear progression through ultimate comms, you have given the ultimate a to the hm/progression raiders that will not use it because to them, ultimate gear is garbage. I am seriously beginning to think that you (the dev team) are trying to invent new ways to make this game suck. Very disappointing.

 

Bless you kind Sir. YES. YES. YES. I agree wholeheartedly!

[Almhath]

not everyone can/wants to join a guild. And it should not be a requirement just to get some gear and get through some *********** sm ops.

 

true! True!

[Almhath]

I personally think, ult comms from NiM Mode TFB and SnV only.

 

I think that's the beauty of diversity in the game. We do not all have to play it the same way. We can go to this business (SWTOR) and each approach it from different directions. Yea! You get to play it for what you want of it, and others can play it how they like... That makes for more sssubscrribers.

[DomiSotto]

I am really sorry to see the briefly added incentives for the SM Ops go. I had hopes to finally try out the end game content, but now I don’t think it is going to happen.

 

I obviously can’t know all the trials and tribulations that the senior players face, but what I certainly know is that nobody wants a new player.

 

BioWARE just keeps adding, and adding the new content without providing any incentive for doing the old, entry-level stuff.

 

On the other hand, the penalties for anyone new and inexperienced are stiff. There is the time cost, credits cost, a very real chance of abject humiliation and a very real possibility of no reward whatsoever.

 

So, yeah, sweetening the deal for the Old Guard was a great idea, imo. Too bad they backed out of it.