Gearing Changes in Eternal Throne

[Lithdox]

Um... No thanks? This cat is out.

[Contristo]

Hey folks,

 

One of the things we talked a bit about on the stream is that there are gearing changes happening with Knights of the Eternal Throne. This thread is meant to give you a few more details on some of the things that will be happening in KOTET, along with being a place that I can address questions or concerns you have with these changes. First, here are the details on how gearing will work at level 70:

• Once you hit level 70, the source of end-game gear will be Command Crates from Galactic Command.
  
• Most activities in the game will earn Command Experience Points (CXP), which will earn you Command Ranks. Each time your Command Rank increases, you earn a Command Crate.
  
• The higher your Command Rank, the better gear that will drop from your Command Crates.
  
• The highest difficulty Operations and Uprisings, along with Ranked Warzones are intended to be the fastest ways to earn CXP. This means they are the fastest way to get the best gear.
  
• Both PvP and PvE gear will come from Command Crates. Their gear is now shared as Expertise is being removed (head to this thread to discuss PvP/PvE itemization specifically).
  
• Gear will no longer drop from bosses as all gear will come from Command Crates. All cosmetic/unique drops will still remain on those bosses (Stronghold Decorations, Wings of the Architect, etc.).
  
• Players will be able to craft comparable item level gear without set bonuses.
  

That should cover most of the basic changes coming to itemization in KOTET. I know this is a lot to take in, so please ask any questions you may have in this thread and I will work to answer what I can!

 

-eric

 

It's very, very, rare I post on these forums & when I do it's normally when I'm extremely pi**ed off due to an incoming epic fail on behalf of Bioware. As a constant subscriber since the release of this game there have been a few occasions whereby I have nearly un-subbed due to certain foolish changes/nerfs etc but I have to say that bringing back RNG for endgame gear is the biggest ever single idiotic mistake you will ever make....for gods sake did you not learn any lessons with the gear rewards that were part of 1.0....!!!!??? No one wants RNG...what ever crossed your minds...??!! What drugs were you all on when you came up with this decision...!!??

Top rewards should be obtained via participation - not LUCK!

My 5 year long sub runs out at the end of this year and this I have to say is the straw that has finally broken the camels back, in fact the vast majority of player-subs I have spoken too in-game are doing exactly the same.

Revert this completely idiotic & foolish decision or I can guarantee SWTOR will be FUBAR. :mad:

[MegaTherions]

Has there even been one slightly positive answer in the forums in this thread? I can't seem to find one.

That is why BW should understand that this gearing idea is a terrible one.

[MegaTherions]

I really hope they change this. Edited October 19, 2016 by MegaTherions

[Dekibra]

well it might be true that no one that was in 1.0 is still at bioware. and that is why they are bringing this back

 

not true respectively not relevant

 

BW + EA just love RNG - they did it in all their multiplayer features - and it looks like they chose the worst RNG-System yet again: you can draw pieces of gear MULTIPLE times which means there is a (high) chance that you NEVER get a full set ... and that p***es beople off (and rightfully so)

[Ylliarus]

Bioware I respectfully beg ans ask of you to NOT, and I repeat, NOT, to include an RNG system for the Command Crates. That is absolutely the worst thing you can do, it will absolutely disencourage people to continue their progress with Galactic Command if they keep getting the same items over and over again and keep disintegrating. The disintegrate option is not the solution to duplicate items Bioware, absolutely not.

 

I am dreading for the future of the game if you do implement this into SWTOR. I literally have friends and people I know unsub and quit the game even. I am not joking Bioware, I am dead serious with this.

 

I am very afraid that if you implement KotET as you intend to now, it may actually be the noose around SWTOR's neck...

[Insidious]

This RNG loot system is just crazy.

 

Players will likely gear up only one or two characters, which means less characters for end game content, which means less chance of getting a decent group for end game content. The RNG system is just counter-intuitive.

 

I have over 30 characters, one from every advanced class. My Trooper is primarily geared for DPS but also has a healer armour set (with bonuses) so I can respec to help my guild in Operations.

 

I doubt that I will have time to gear up all my characters and the gear grind will likely cause players to quit playing.

 

Please reconsider this RNG "reward" system - it will definitely lose you paying customers.

[Dekibra]

What about the vendor gear for crystal coms such as radiant?

 

hey Eric,

 

Did you answer the above question yet? What will happen to the data crystal vendors on the fleet and some planets? Will they sell the gear for credits (same as the mods)?

[TX_Angel]

hey Eric,

 

Did you answer the above question yet? What will happen to the data crystal vendors on the fleet and some planets? Will they sell the gear for credits (same as the mods)?

 

Eric did his three replies, he isn't allowed more!

[Ylliarus]

This RNG loot system is just crazy.

 

Players will likely gear up only one or two characters, which means less characters for end game content, which means less chance of getting a decent group for end game content. The RNG system is just counter-intuitive.

 

I have over 30 characters, one from every advanced class. My Trooper is primarily geared for DPS but also has a healer armour set (with bonuses) so I can respec to help my guild in Operations.

 

I doubt that I will have time to gear up all my characters and the gear grind will likely cause players to quit playing.

 

Please reconsider this RNG "reward" system - it will definitely lose you paying customers.

 

The new RNG system is as if doctors in a hospital implemented a random draw on the medicine their patients need. You need specific medication to regain health again, but day after day you keep drawing the pills you absolutely don't need. You can however turn in the unnecessary pills for a few minutes closer to the next random draw. Sadly, you don't have a lot of time left as your health keeps deteriorating. The patient eventually dies because the medicine he/she needed he didn't get, while it would have been so easy to just give the patient exactly what they required.

 

Do you see how this metaphor is exactly what the RNG feature of Galactic Command will be? It will be a disaster SWTOR may not recover from and I am very afraid for that.

 

I want to see the game be popular and successful, but Bioware has to listen to the playerbase right now in order to let the game be that.

[Desplain]

I believe it's the worst idea ever to change the gear system that way.

 

First I would like to give an example about random box drops.

If you play an H2 with a low toon you'll get these nice boxes and guess what

they drop random gear.

I've never managed to get a full gear, instead I got gloves, gloves,relicts relicts etc.

(same with alliance crates , not one complete armor set)

I fear this will be the same with the end game gear.

 

I don't want a random prefab armor, because I want to determine which are the right

mods for my gear.

 

I fear the decision to change the gearing will drive subscribers away from the game.

(by the way I'm subscriber since 2012)

[robertthebard]

Wow,

 

This is nuts and not in a good way. Why do you need to make changes to make the game less appealing to play for your dedicated players. One of the stupidest things I have ever heard of is taking away Expertise. The benefit of this stat was that committed Ranked players did not have to be concerned with being teamed with characters lacking gear and knowledge of how to PVP. It still allowed all players to hit Warzones but hardcore pvp players could enjoy end game with others with the same liking.

 

LadyTremor

 

Yes, because requiring a specific Valor rank won't separate the wheat from the chaff?

[Tanitha]

Since my sub ends in February, and I still will have time to get this command screwed up system, I am going to count what kind of stuff I get, and how much of each. I'll post every 50 crates per toon what I get. If after 50 crates I don't have a full set of gear, then the system will be totally utterly flawed.

[rnmedic]

After 77 pages of basically telling you its a bad idea, BW you might want to listen and hit the drawing board again. FTP not being able to gear except through crafting, + "craps" system for gear+ more grind= BIG FAIL. Also ranked getting more CXP than regular pvp is crap, I cant stand arena. There is no reason you cant make 8v8 ranked, or just give same CXP for all pvp, if you go through with this terrible system

[Sareeph]

What a lot of people seem to be forgetting is that you can supplement missing gear pieces with crafted gear. Yes it's not moddable and has no set bonus, but it will have the highest rating and you can just buy it from the GTN (or craft it yourself).

 

With a mix of crafted and GC gear I'm sure most people will be more than capable of competing in warzones. Or in any content really.

 

Currently to craft those items you plan to buy off the GTN to supplement your missing gear takes materials that come from Operations or by spending coms at a com Vendor. When less and less people are doing those Op's because they don't like the return they are getting from RGN loot boxes, where do you suppose the mats will be coming from? Ah yes, they will include those mats in the RNG boxes making participating in Op's totally useless. They would have to do this because the PvP community will be getting zero drops doing WZ's and zero coms so how do they get their fair share? Oh yes, the new 4 man content that a lot of the PvP community want nothing to do with. Btw, have you looked at the prices on the GTN lately? Where do you suppose the PvP community will get enough credits to buy said gear? They certainly aren't getting the millions of credits necessary to buy those crafted items or high end mats off the GTN in WZ's.

[Polstar]

One question I've not seen asked (it may have but I've not seen it) is will the Galactic Command Rank be tied to the armouring like level restriction is.

 

I.E. If a piece of gear is gotten at GC rank 30 for example will the character have to be both level 70 AND GC Rank 30 to be able to equip it?

 

If this is so then yes you'll be able to rip out armouring mods and place into legacy gear but then you need to have done the rank grind to equip it.

[Rheshalea]

Lots of flames coming from those that think casual players don't need end game gear. Maybe I don't raid because I can never get into them because I cannot commit to a one time a week group. I like to raid when time comes available but it is a blue moon when I can get into one.

 

It is not that I lack the skill. It is because I cant raid all the time I don't have the gear when I do have the time. So getting in to a group is next to impossible. I might not need 224s because I don't ever plan on NM raids but it would be nice to at least be able to jump into HM or SM content from time to time and that still requires gear.

 

lock outs don't allow for members who would love to help other guild members get gear but cant because content is only doable once a week.

 

On a positive note I might actually have gear and be able to jump into a group to do some SM or HM raids that will be nice. This will also help others like me that have the skill but not the time to devote to raids on a consistent basis. That you would also think would be beneficial to guilds that would be able to pull more of a pool of their guild in to raids without the constant grind of lower raids to gear guild members up. I see this increasing the amount of players that are raid ready and will potentially be able to fill that missing spot when a permanent raid member is out sick or on a family vacation.

 

I don't think anyone said anything about casual players not getting any loot at all? I know I said casuals do not need Best in Slot gear, and that's exactly what I meant.

We do NOT need Best in Slot gear. We DO need DECENT gear. Just NOT Best in Slot.

 

....but you already said that much yourself.

[Thufir_Hawat]

Will there be a weekly or monthly cap to ensure subscribers, sorry, I mean platinum players, have to keep paying for months and months before they get max CXP, regardless of how much they play? Cause that would be an awesome way to milk what's left of your player base.

[Tanitha]

Will there be a weekly or monthly cap to ensure subscribers, sorry, I mean platinum players, have to keep paying for months and months before they get max CXP, regardless of how much they play? Cause that would be an awesome way to milk what's left of your player base.

 

i am definitely waiting there will be a weekly cap for GCX so we are even more screwed.

[Timtheheloguy]

Eric, the gear that we've collected that is currently Bound to Legacy, will it remain that way or will it change to Bind on Equip in the way that the Level 60 starting gear did in KOFTE? I don't want to lose my KOFTE Jedi Knight gear that I've gathered through H+2 missions and is currently Bound to Legacy.

[FlavivsAetivs]

Eric, will there be a weekly cap on Command XP?

 

~ Eudoxia

[Katai_Makoto]

I'm going to start by saying, I am not an end game player in this game. I have never reached end game in this game and only reached level 65 with my first toon yesterday, even though i have been on and off playing this game for many years. This is infact, as far as I can remember, my first ever post on these forums.

 

What I am however, is a Games Designer. I have been one for years, having worked in several AAA studios, including EA, and even with all of my experience, I cannot comprehend why this system has been even considered, let alone designed, into an MMO title. It literally makes no sense.

 

One of the key factors in MMO design is the upgrading of gear. Players work towards gear by completing quests, killing mobs and participating and conquering group content. The gear is their rewards for doing these things, It makes them want to do this content and play the game. Why would you want to lock this behind an RNG wall? It literally rewards nothing and only promotes anger at receiving unneeded/unwanted gear or relief at not being cheated by the system and finally getting something useful. These are not feelings you want a player to feel when you are rewarding them for something, they have experienced the anger, the relief and many other emotions through the challenge/task they just went through, the reward is a joyous, happy moment of triumph, why would you want to ruin that? I am genuinely amazed that I have to explain this to a team that has been creating content for this game for over 5 years.

 

These changes wont affect me, I have no desire to do top tier raids, I'll do the lowest levels one possible for the lore and be done with it, but that's just how I play. Don't dismiss what I've said because of that, listen to it, listen to the feedback from everyone else. Drop the RNG, reward the difficult content, don't make any aspect of your game feel like a waste of time, nothing kills the want to play a game like making it feel like it was a waste. I could go on about the grinding aspect, or the PVP, but in my opinion, they are secondary to this. Don't ruin what you you worked so hard to improve upon for so many years. Please.

 

-A fellow developer and a fan

[ZambedosNB]

I can appreciate giving ways to gear to more casual/solo playstyles but why does it have to be in a way that alienates or takes away from other play styles? Sure there are a lot of loot-focused lone wolf raiders, but for others it is presently possible to look at raiding as a team sport. I'm the type to gear outside my raid teams because I just enjoy doing a lot of ops and also want to bring my best to a raid, but there are others who are good raiders who don't have that kind of time. Sometimes I don't either and the weekly raid is all I can do. I'm worried about the guy who doesn't have time for anything but a weekly raid or two. In the present system the team can simply toss gear his way and if he's a good player he doesn't hold the team back at all. In the newly proposed system such a player who can't invest the same amount of time into his command rank could now start to hold back a team.

 

Simple solution: Keep the new system, but also elements of the old. Allow gear to drop in operations even if you change how that works slightly. Maybe only the last boss is a guaranteed loot drop. Maybe each operation has a piece (I know, 9 ops, 12 pieces but they could work it somehow. Maybe make less important pieces random drops like Star fortress legacy sets did with bracers). Or, you know, don't change the old system at all, but only add the new system Also, even if it's not gear, every boss should drop something (vanity items, crafting mats, etc). That lovely loot line after a fun boss fight is definitely part of the appeal to raiding. Another element that need not go away is tokens: Have the command crates drop tokens and concerns based on multi-role classes evaporate. There are a few different ways to address that concern and I'd like to think you we're already planning to do so in one way or another.

 

To make it fair this would also require PVP comms to remain in the game, even if their values are tweaked due to earning both comms and CXP simultaneously. In my opinion, Basic comms/Common Crystals should stay regardless since they are currency for more than just endgame gear. The other two kinds are mostly useless already to the serious raider anyway so I doubt people would miss them too much. Non-serious raiders have this new system so they should be okay too.

 

This would allow solo players to earn gear without completely alienating the end game communities. It would seriously diminish if not eliminate the concerns over RNG, since there are ways to fill in the gaps. It would allow groups of friends and raid teams to continue playing together even if they have varying amounts of play time. I think it would appeal to a larger number of players and that that can only be good for SWTOR as a whole.

 

Long story short/ TL;DR Have the new system give additional sources for gear rather than replace those sources, so as to appeal to more players without simultaneously alienating other players.

 

That's my opinion/suggestion on the new gearing system. Now for some questions:

 

1) Will all armor-type gear that drops from command crates have set bonus or will you need to progress to a certain Command level before you can start getting those?

2) Will the bolster remain in SM ops? Will level 50 players still be able to enter SM ops?

3) Currently if you're going into an operation there is about a 5/8 chance of getting a piece of gear, since the ratio of piece to players is 5:8. Can we expect anything near 5/8th of a Command crate for completing an op or is it much more/less? I'd imagine it will be tweaked some since before you could do SM ops all day long and not be working towards 224s and in this system you would be. However, if you can do two complete HM operations and still not get a single gear drop, I'd say the system is failing. While this can happen in the current system the odds are against it happening and there is also the chance for a better than average result: getting 2(+) pieces of gear from two ops. A sort of bell-curve type scenario whereas this new system is much more linear.

 

Kinda long, thanks for reading if you did.

Edited October 19, 2016 by ZambedosNB

[demotivator]

Will the gear from command crates only be relative to the players current advanced class discipline?

 

I'll take a crack at these!

It is based on Advanced Class, not Discipline.

 

So if I am a dedicated healer I might spend endless time trying to get worthy gear if RNG is not with me and I keep getting DPS gear, especially when you are making it BoP? How fair is that? Seriously who came up with probably the most stupid decision ever made?!

[Simpanx]

Let's take a moment to understand why they have RNG loot and maybe even a weekly cap of CXP. Obiously they want us to stay subscribed for longer as it takes more time to get full gear. This is due to they not having enough "new" content to engage players in anyway, hence they need to implement stupid restrictions like those in order to slow down our progression.

 

For me personally I would rather have it that it takes 10x longer to reach max Command rank and at least by then choose whichever loot I want instead of this RNG nonsense. I know a few downsides to this, like players whom can't play a lot, but in some sense which MMORPG isn't time consuming anyway?

 

Of course, optimal solution is to just let bosses drop gear. Don't fix something that isn't broken.