Gearing Changes in Eternal Throne

[Ruhun]

That depends on the rate of gaining levels. Since there are several tiers of gear, i'm more concerned with the grinding up to ~70+ rank than the rng. Sure i won't have full set for a long time because of the rng but the difference in ststs won't be that big if i miss one piece. Having to grind heroics flashpoints and dailies to get to the point where the needed gear starts to drop however is a deal breaker for me.

 

 

You have a point, I only pvp though and not having a relec or set bonus can break certain specs.

Grinding for random loot, then grinding again to min max is a nightmare.

[Tsetso]

You have a point, I only pvp though and not having a relec or set bonus can break certain specs.

Grinding for random loot, then grinding again to min max is a nightmare.

 

Yes, and since it's character based we have to do it multiple times.

[Jadescythe]

Yes, and since it's character based we have to do it multiple times.

 

Thanks for all the new content BW!

[Tsetso]

Thanks for all the new content BW!

 

Yes, this is so much better than a new op

[AlienEyeTX]

Thanks for all the new content BW!

 

Why would you insinuate that there is no new content? Nine new chapters and Uprisings are coming very soon. If you're going to complain, at least complain about an actual thing.

[phalczen]

Yes, there will be a weekly cap. However this cap is not being put in place to halt or slow progression in anyway. The purpose of the cap is a safeguard should some exploit or bug crop up which allows people to gain CXP in an unintended way. I can assure that cap will be really, really high!

 

-eric

 

So by really high, you mean well beyond what I could earn by running through all 48 bosses in story and hard mode with 12 weeklies (including the Priority Targets ops weekly) and killing all the trash mobs, plus completing all 67 republic planetary heroics (not including Tython and OM), plus completing the daily random tactical FP, daily random HM FP, weekly for five tactical FPs and five HM FPs, and completeing the pvp weekly, GSF weekly, and pvp and GSF dailies? Oh and completing all the dailies like from Belsavis, Ilum, Black Hole, Section X, CZ-198, Oricon, Rishi, and Yavin 4? I almost forgot the GSI and Makeb dailies. Plus dailies related to any events going on like Bounty Contract Week, Rakghoul Resurgence, or Relics of the Gree.

 

Because someone who could actually do all of that should not be penalized. I personally couldn't do it, but I have no doubt that there are players capable of doing all of that in a given week. That amount of content should be the baseline ABOVE which you should decide on the cap. You have a tendency to forget how much players are actually capable of, and I wanted to remind you of all the possible sources of points.

[KnightOfTython]

Not saying anything that hasn't been said yet, but just want another voice to be heard. Letting a grind be the path to the best gear is a horrible decision.

 

That's fine just give players a reason for what content the best gear is actually required?

Since we grind CXP in OPs we obviously all have the requirements for a succesful raid ...

 

So where is the content that actually requires our obtained gear?

We assume that there is a connection to Uprisings but we don't know it officially ...

Edited October 19, 2016 by KnightOfTython

[Thoniei]

What is being done to address the imbalance of classes that only have one role? My sage is going to take twice as long to gear as my sentinel since half of the gear my sage gets will be for a healer and therefore is worthless. The sentinel will be significantly faster to gear since at least all the pieces will be dps. Ops will be filled with sentinels and gunslingers since they will be the first ones geared.

[DarthDymond]

Well, in theory looks like they'll be "talking through some of the questions and concerns that are being raised about gearing" during tomorrow's live stream. Be interesting to see how that goes.

 

(Realistically, even if they are taking the complaints to heart, I expect we'll probably have another week or two of "we are hearing your feedback and passing it along" being the only answer they can give while they take stock and come up with potential alternatives. They're not going to commit to dropping any aspect of the feature until they have an alternative to that aspect ready to announce in its place.)

As a note since some in the thread are bringing it up. Similar to the structure we used in previous Producer Livestreams, we will open the stream with current community topics. Certainly, we will talk through some of the questions and concerns that are being raised about gearing from Galactic Command. The rest of the stream will focus on Dark vs Light.

 

Fear not, we are reading your feedback and will continue to address it when we can either on the livestream or here on the forums.

 

-eric

[micmitja]

Why would you insinuate that there is no new content? Nine new chapters and Uprisings are coming very soon. If you're going to complain, at least complain about an actual thing.

 

Yes thats gone keep us busy for a month top on multiple characters, then what, what ever else is old and over grinded in past 2 years and now we should grind same old stuff for another year. For what for those few achievements that we are missing, for few end contents ops bosses like Revan or Coratanni that required months of focus from entire group just to have a chance to finish it. Ppl don't have will to do that now and with new expansion there wont be any hard group left just tons of over geared casuals that wants to do NIM and wipe groups on SM.

I don't mind grinding just give me something new to grind not stuff that am already tired of. Got 34 alts total done story with 21 of them, didn't finish with all. 28 of them are 65. So don't tell me how grinding and doing old content is new content when have already done it. My main char got 160+ days played time since last time i checked. And thats just one out of army of alts that i got and use all the time when need it.

 

And yes will wait till expansion hit and after that will see if its worth to stay.

As the say goes been there done that now give me something new to do.

Edited October 19, 2016 by micmitja

[CountryGentleman]

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

 

I PVP in this game, almost exclusively. PVE is very boring to me.

 

I've read all Bioware posts in this thread, and this is what it looks like to me:

 

Currently, a person can get to max level PVP gear in a very short time period, with only PVP after level 10. Maybe 20 hours of winning Warzones back to back, I would guess off of the top of my head.

 

It looks like the change would make that at least 2 months of having no job and grinding PVE or PVP to get to max level PVP gear and get competitive in PVP.

 

I've subscribed for 4 or 5 years now. I've started a guild that has conquered 40% of the galaxy. I'm a Manhunter, etc. I don't believe that I have ever posted on the forums, especially to complain. But, I chose PVP in this game over a game like WOW because WOW seemed to require me to grind ridiculously boring PVE before I could PVP competitively. I see no redeeming features of SWTOR that makes it different, now.

 

So, here is the deal: Either Bioware or a company representative responds to me about why I am wrong about what I posted above within 18 hours, about a required 2 month full-time grind to get to max PVP gear, or I unsubscribe immediately. I am not going to whine for 2 months and keep paying you while waiting for you to wreck the game. I don't know how many members of my guild will leave, but if they don't, they will have to find new leadership.

[Leinadirak]

BW:

As a father of an 8 year old who plays this game with my wife and I, I want to address the current loot changes.

 

He's 8. He's not getting a spot on an op to get top tier gear any time soon.

 

I think it's amazing that you are giving him a way to get geared. It's also amazing that you figured out a way to do this for people who have jobs and can't regularly raid.

 

It's also amazing that you found a way to give gear to solo players that is top tier.

 

However,

 

If you haven't seen the vitriol online since this announcement, you need to seriously wake up. The goals are good - the execution is horrendous. This seems to be par for the course from a lot of what you have done in the past.

 

Please don't double down on this - listen to your fan base and at the very least remove the RNG element for specialization. I think if you kept everything else the same and just made sure people got gear for their spec, you would turn this whole thing around.

 

Be smart....please.

[Leinadirak]

I PVP in this game, almost exclusively. PVE is very boring to me.

 

I've read all Bioware posts in this thread, and this is what it looks like to me:

 

Currently, a person can get to max level PVP gear in a very short time period, with only PVP after level 10. Maybe 20 hours of winning Warzones back to back, I would guess off of the top of my head.

 

It looks like the change would make that at least 2 months of having no job and grinding PVE or PVP to get to max level PVP gear and get competitive in PVP.

 

I've subscribed for 4 or 5 years now. I've started a guild that has conquered 40% of the galaxy. I'm a Manhunter, etc. I don't believe that I have ever posted on the forums, especially to complain. But, I chose PVP in this game over a game like WOW because WOW seemed to require me to grind ridiculously boring PVE before I could PVP competitively. I see no redeeming features of SWTOR that makes it different, now.

 

So, here is the deal: Either Bioware or a company representative responds to me about why I am wrong about what I posted above within 18 hours, about a required 2 month full-time grind to get to max PVP gear, or I unsubscribe immediately. I am not going to whine for 2 months and keep paying you while waiting for you to wreck the game. I don't know how many members of my guild will leave, but if they don't, they will have to find new leadership.

 

I don't think that you are correct in the time frame. The problem is the RNG system...you COULD take that long to get to the final gear you want, or you COULD get it relatively quickly.

 

The weekly limits on the amount of points really won't be a problem for someone who plays like you. You may not get the top tier of gear immediately but you will always be geared equally to the best geared players on the server.

[Kai-Del_Serromis]

If Bioware wants RNG that badly, all they need to change is what drops. Make it tokens that you trade in instead of actual gear pieces. In this case, even if you get a duplicate, you can send the mods from a chosen piece through legacy gear to another toon. This would also prevent people from getting tank stuff when they are DPS, and vice versa.

[Caulderone]

You will still get gear from all of the normal sources pre-70. Flashpoint bosses, Mission drops, etc. The only exception is that you can no longer get gear for Commendations. The planetary vendors which sold mods for Commendations will now do so for credits instead.

 

-eric

 

 

To tack on another related question...

 

What will replace Comms/Crystals in quest reward popups? More often than not, I take the Crystals because the other offered items just aren't worth it. Will we get lockboxes of credits as an option in place of Crystals?

[Deewe]

BW:

As a father of an 8 year old who plays this game with my wife and I, I want to address the current loot changes.

 

He's 8. He's not getting a spot on an op to get top tier gear any time soon.

 

I think it's amazing that you are giving him a way to get geared. It's also amazing that you figured out a way to do this for people who have jobs and can't regularly raid.

 

It's also amazing that you found a way to give gear to solo players that is top tier.

 

However,

 

If you haven't seen the vitriol online since this announcement, you need to seriously wake up. The goals are good - the execution is horrendous. This seems to be par for the course from a lot of what you have done in the past.

 

Please don't double down on this - listen to your fan base and at the very least remove the RNG element for specialization. I think if you kept everything else the same and just made sure people got gear for their spec, you would turn this whole thing around.

 

Be smart....please.

^ Thank you. (I can relate... also have young children that love SW)

[Icykill_]

First off, keep the posts coming everyone! I am still going to try to answer as many questions as I can and I am continuing to pass your feedback on to the dev team. Now, for your questions:

 

1) You can get gear that has your set bonus as early as the very first Command Crate you receive at Command Rank 1.

2) Bolster will still exist in SM. If someone under level 70 is in an Operation they can still loot gear from the boss as they did before. It is when they hit level 70 that they will begin earning CXP instead towards Command Crates.

3) That is a fairly complicated question to answer, so, a few caveats. First, how many Command Crates you would earn from playing an Operation, for example, is dependent on a few factors. What is your current Command Rank, what difficulty is the Op, how many players are in the Op, etc. It is faster to level from Command Rank 1-2 than it will be at higher Command levels. The team is still turning the dials on CXP, but as we get closer to launch I will try to provide a more exact example of how much CXP you could earn in an Op/how many Crates.

 

-eric

 

Hi Eric,

 

I noticed you said to keep the questions coming. But lots of us have asked many questions around gearing for pvp. As of now, you've glossed over or not replied to any questions about pvp. The only thing you've said is there will be a gear gap.

Could you please go through the other thread you created and answer some of those gearing concerns

[DarthCasual]

So why limit and destroy the current system to make this new lottery system of gear? The 5.0 changes that are coming have no chased away more raiding guilds, more pvpers. Turning hard work into a lottery system within the game that one has to level up on every character. Completely dumbing down of all the classes. Are you trying to force us out ?

[LostStormTrooper]

Why are you making it so F2P and Pref players can't compete with Subs? Like, I can't be subbed all the time because money is an issue, so I'm not going to have access to gear that's able to compete with subs in PvP and no one is going to want me in their Ops groups or FPs because theres some else with better gear who can do my job better than me. Even removing expertise takes away my slight chance of beating an endgame Sub player with the gear I have now.

5.0 might be the end of SWtor for me and I don't want that. I want to be able to play but if there's nothing I can do because I'm not subbed, then what's the point?

[Sundragon]

I'm an avid PvP player with multiple alts. I hate the RNG system. I hate competing with PvE players, why will by definition gear faster than me.

 

I don't mind the streamlined design changes, but jeez, no more RNG. Just no more. Make it token based or something. No more RNG!

 

I also have spread across my alts about 500,000 WZ coms. What do I do with them?

[americanaussie]

I have a question that I'd love to be addressed. It was stated that crystals would be removed and that credits would be used to purchase mods. I actually liked not spending all of my little credits on armor as I leveled and using those credits for legacy unlocks, or dyes, or the occasional relic/implant. If we will need to use credits, will lower levels get more credits to help allow for purchasing of mods for armor and weapons? #creditpoorpve

[Icykill_]

I'm an avid PvP player with multiple alts. I hate the RNG system. I hate competing with PvE players, why will by definition gear faster than me.

 

I don't mind the streamlined design changes, but jeez, no more RNG. Just no more. Make it token based or something. No more RNG!

 

I also have spread across my alts about 500,000 WZ coms. What do I do with them?

 

I've asked the Comms question, they said they'll be converted... but to what is anyone's guess.. if they are going to be fair, they should convert them 1-1 with CXP

Edited October 20, 2016 by Icykill_

[HyperAxiom]

I've been playing for about 4 years now, and used to raid and pvp a lot. These days I login maybe a couple times a week to pvp, but besides that my interest in the game I once loved [over]playing has basically gone out the door. It'd be easy to say I've just played the game too much etc, but I've seen hundreds of people I used to see and play with walk away from the game with the same feeling. I blame your (BW) decisions.You're taking this game down a pretty stupid pathway.

 

The 'hey day' for this game was 2.0-3.0. Somewhere after Oricon dropped was when it felt at it's best. I feel like the decisions and choices you were making back then were right for the game and right for building and maintaining a strong community of players. 4.0 is the worst shape I've ever seen the game in and my gut is telling me you're about to hit rock bottom with 5.0.

 

Please take a look back historically at what was working, because honestly, the majority of us are missing this game pre-4.0.

Edited October 20, 2016 by HyperAxiom

[OneHit]

I've been playing for about 4 years now, and used to raid and pvp a lot. These days I login maybe a couple times a week to pvp, but besides that my interest in the game I once loved [over]playing has basically gone out the door. It'd be easy to say I've just played the game too much etc, but I've seen hundreds of people I used to see and play with walk away from the game with the same feeling. I blame your (BW) decisions.You're taking this game down a pretty stupid pathway.

 

The 'hey day' for this game was 2.0-3.0. Somewhere after Oricon dropped was when it felt at it's best. I feel like the decisions and choices you were making back then were right for the game and right for building and maintaining a strong community of players. 4.0 is the worst shape I've ever seen the game in and my gut is telling me you're about to hit rock bottom with 5.0.

 

Please take a look back historically at what was working, because honestly, the majority of us are missing this game pre-4.0.

 

Its not like we haven't tried to warn them. The community has been pretty vocal about what works and doesn't. It all come down to the fact that they don't care. Its almost like we hurt their feelings and they want to punish us for it.

 

Really unbelievable how you can take a garunteed money making IP like star wars an make it un fun to play and ruin it.

 

I agree. About the time of oricon was the highlight of this game. Awesome content. Since then its been a steep drop downhill

[Nebdar]

need gear outside of operations is beyond me,

 

The greedy need that OPSers should have the best things in every game update is beyond me

 

I have a question for Eric.

 

Is this new gearing system intended to be a grind backed by RNG to artificially give people "something to do" in place of real content?

 

The new content is the uprising and everything that you skipped and you never did because it won't give you BIS gear you can play too because it will give you BIS gear now

Edited October 20, 2016 by Nebdar