RNG is perfect for SWTOR and I'll explain why.

[Aowin]

Ok, I hope this gets read. Some good points made. Here's my take, and I hope it is read:

 

I really like the new system of RNG, but at the same time I hate it. Why? Because you don't get rewarded immediately for your time spent. For example, I spent 1.5hrs just today doing the final chapter of KOTET. I enjoyed it, but when I saw I got 240 cxp for it, I was disappointed. THAT is the key problem and why so many people are annoyed in my opinion.

 

Let me first point out that getting good gear by doing whatever in game is cool and I like the idea (if you spend the time to get it). The problem is that everyone wants the best end-gear level now.

 

My proposed solution.. create tears of achievement. So tier 1 would be cxp level 100. By that level, you will get a whole bunch of stuff (like you do today), but maybe guarantee 1 set-bonus item at 230. Then, at 200, you'd get a couple set-bonus items at the next level, etc.

 

Then, at least people would know what to expect (setting expectations), whilst giving people goals to go for (the higher level gear still). I know this 'sort of exists', but it needs to be shown to players. Basically show them how much they are advancing or they will think they aren't achieving anything for the time they are spending working on the goal.

 

Also, spending 1.5hrs working on a story chapter for 240cxp where you can get (I don't know), but maybe 1000cxp (guess) in wz's for the same amount of time, seems wrong. It should be time-based (with a little bit of skill for sure).

 

Just my two cents anyways. I love the game and KOTET and want to see more people playing

 

Chapters definitely should provide more CXP. I'd also recommend playing chapters on at least veteran mode, as story mode is pointless.

 

I think 5.1 will alleviate a lot of issues as it will provide certainty and players can work towards certain gear pieces. Whenever the patch is coming this month, I believe most negative criticisms that are reasonable will be silenced.

 

I believe BioWare is on the right track and as people adjust to the new expansion they'll get used to Galactic Command and come to accept it as the norm.

[DisIzMe]

You and I clearly played a different 4.0. Gear progression in 4.0 was a joke. There was no satisfaction. Effort was so minimal it ultimately didn't even matter. There was no sense of achievement because gear was too easy to come by.

 

If the game truly upsets you that much, then I would vote with your wallet and move on to something else unless BioWare reverts course. That's unlikely to happen, but obviously you aren't happy with any of BioWare's decisions. Why suffer?

 

What was wrong with gear progression in 3.0?

[Frenesi]

What was wrong with gear progression in 3.0?

 

Siths deal only in absolutes.

[DarthSpuds]

f the game truly upsets you that much, then I would vote with your wallet and move on to something else unless BioWare reverts course. That's unlikely to happen, but obviously you aren't happy with any of BioWare's decisions. Why suffer?

 

Read my sig. My Sub expired 23rd December. Only reason I can still post is the forums have not reset yet.

 

Don't even have the game installed anymore. I can not see this game being financially successful, or worth subscribing to as long as Ben is lead producer. He is clearly way, way out of his depth.

 

All The Best

[curulz]

The percentages are an example. You are familiar with a bell curve and how numbers are generally distributed in a random scenario? Yes? Most players will always fall in the middle of the curve while a minority will be in the front and a minority will be in the back. Again, while some may have absolutely horrible luck, a majority of players will not.

 

You didn't state it as an example of bell curve though. Instead of qualifying it as such, you said "is" not "could be". So once again you presented something as factual, but it is still just a guess on your part.

 

There is no opinion here. It is true that KOTFE was the most successful expansion for SWTOR to date and ushered in a new generation of fans. The expansion also saw the return of many former players who decided to give the game another chance after the disappointing results of ROTHC and SOR.

 

That isn't the part I quoted and you know it. I quoted where you said that many players didn't raid because of a bad gear progression system. If you had stopped with "many never raided", I could buy that. But you took it one step further and gave an exact cause for why they didn't raid which IS your opinion, unless you have some data to back it up.

 

The problem is you, as well as other raiders, continue to assume that you represent the majority. To you, all of this is old content being recycled. For others? It's brand new content they either never got to experience or never had the ability to experience..

 

I never once put forward that I or raiders in any way represent a majority. I'm not conceited enough to think that I know what the majority of players want or enjoy. You however have no qualms speaking for the majority with nothing more than your own theories to support it.

[curulz]

snip

 

You could be right, I've thought the same thing myself and yet I keep getting sucked in. Its like playing Whack-A-Mole with his posts sometimes, every time you pound one down, another one just pops up. I guess its the frustration of knowing some of them are absurd and when the absurdity is pointed out, he/she just shrugs it off. Probably why I keep coming back for more.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

You could be right, I've thought the same thing myself and yet I keep getting sucked in. Its like playing Whack-A-Mole with his posts sometimes, every time you pound one down, another one just pops up. I guess its the frustration of knowing some of them are absurd and when the absurdity is pointed out, he/she just shrugs it off. Probably why I keep coming back for more.

 

Indeed - it's nice to stop in every now and then rip his arguments to shreds at the very least for others benefits so they don't have to waste pages going around in circles ( though they will anyway because his stance hasn't moved since he started ).

 

I figure you only get 150+ pages on a topic like this if the OP is pushing an agenda beyond the topic itself, he's like the anti-MCB for anyone that recalls that thread.

[Aowin]

What was wrong with gear progression in 3.0?

 

When was 3.0 ever part of this discussion? Some in this thread are calling for a return to 4.0.

[Aowin]

Read my sig. My Sub expired 23rd December. Only reason I can still post is the forums have not reset yet.

 

Don't even have the game installed anymore. I can not see this game being financially successful, or worth subscribing to as long as Ben is lead producer. He is clearly way, way out of his depth.

 

All The Best

 

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. Clearly, BioWare and EA have a different opinion. SWTOR saw a resurgence with KOTFE and now the team's focus is to bring more group content with KOTET. I'd say Ben is doing a respectable job of trying to appeal to as many fans as he can, considering so many have been demanding group content for so long.

[Aowin]

You didn't state it as an example of bell curve though. Instead of qualifying it as such, you said "is" not "could be". So once again you presented something as factual, but it is still just a guess on your part.

 

As I said before, this is basic statistics. BioWare has a marker for how fast it wants players to get gear. This doesn't necessarily mean BioWare wants players having access to set piece gear quickly. Regardless, a majority of fans are gearing as BioWare intended. These changes being implemented in 5.1 are largely being done for the minority who is not so lucky and is struggling to get a particular piece of gear. These new vendors are meant to help supplement Galactic Command as a way of ensuring some control over gear progression.

 

That isn't the part I quoted and you know it. I quoted where you said that many players didn't raid because of a bad gear progression system. If you had stopped with "many never raided", I could buy that. But you took it one step further and gave an exact cause for why they didn't raid which IS your opinion, unless you have some data to back it up.

 

As many of your raiders continue to claim, you need a certain rating of gear to even raid. Truth be told, this is a flat out lie. The most important aspect of raiding is knowing mechanics and situation awareness. The gear is merely a secondary factor that can help. Point being, many players never have the group nor the suggested gear to even get into these operations. Galactic Command is making that process a lot easier and more accessible.

 

I never once put forward that I or raiders in any way represent a majority. I'm not conceited enough to think that I know what the majority of players want or enjoy. You however have no qualms speaking for the majority with nothing more than your own theories to support it.

 

Just because I am pointing out that your perspective comes from that of a minority does not mean I am suggesting I represent the majority. All I am doing is defending Galactic Command, why it was implemented, and why making gear more accessible is actually a benefit rather than a detriment.

[Tsillah]

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. Clearly, BioWare and EA have a different opinion. SWTOR saw a resurgence with KOTFE and now the team's focus is to bring more group content with KOTET. I'd say Ben is doing a respectable job of trying to appeal to as many fans as he can, considering so many have been demanding group content for so long.

 

The resurgence you speak of was after the announcement was made. So it brought in a lot of players (back) to the game. That's the only thing that can be seen as factual in your post. The rest is your opinion. However, another fact that you didn't mention is the financial report we saw not very long ago where SWTOR was the main contributor to the loss of revenue in the digital subscription segment. I think that their move to cut the KotET story shorter than KotFE and then focus on group content seems more a result of the latter fact than the first. And with that, it seems that the current set up of 5.0 making endgame sub-only is an attempt to keep people on board while they address the group content issue. It could equally be argued that BWA have recognised that the lack of group content is hurting their sub model. Also because it was easy to circumvent their sub model with weekly passes, which cost them more money than gained them as far as I'm concerned.

 

With that, KotFE and KotET as releases where by far the least impressive content wise. Although opinions vary on the quality of the story, particularly in KotFE, there is no denying the fact that it's a single story line for all 8 classes and it's not always a good fit. But beyond the story, whatever your opinion of it, there is just less and less being added to the game. That indicates a shortage in resources, especially demonstrated in KotET which has 9 chapters and a handful of uprisings made up of things that already existed in the game. I didn't even think they were all that bad, but as group content it's rather a snack where an operation is a full meal if you will. As such they suffer from diminishing returns more quickly as well.

 

As for 3.0 gearing. You say it wasn't part of the discussion, but that's not an argument. It's a valid point that was brought in and for you to simply dismiss it cause it wasn't mentioned before is a poor reply. Take it on board now. When people get trenched in they stick to the main slogans. Step away from that and consider 3.0 instead. I also was fine with gearing in 3.0. Were you not?

[Hichitsuki-hime]

While it's nice to win, the whole point of the unpredictable nature is to make every crate opening a surprise. If everything was just expected and designated in an obvious path, there would be no unpredictability or excitement.

as people above have already pointed out, it is a surprise if you find something nice inside than you're like 'yay! lucky!' and continue grinding.... but if you get UNlucky say 50 times in a row, that feeling of hopeful interest will have long since evaporated.

 

A system of achievement and quality effort is obviously a major part of the MMORPG experience. That's not just exclusive to gear, however. Creating that sense of satisfaction can be done in a multitude of ways. Gear has never truly been difficult to acquire in this game. It was very awkwardly implemented and frustrating at launch, but never really hard compared to many other MMOs.

can't argue there, but seriously. what we have now is WAY worse than anything i've experienced in MMO lol, you say it was awkward at launch. and maybe it really was. but do you seriously think that THIS is actually better???

 

I think the level of excitement with regard to command crates could be bolstered if there were more interesting items to discover in them. Perhaps BioWare could consider throwing in old CM packs in command crates. Give players a small chance at getting something incredibly rare that they could either use or sell on the GTN. Again, a sense of achievement doesn't have to be exclusive to gear. There certainly was no sense of achievement in getting gear during 4.0, as it was far too easy and lacked challenge.

 

yes, 4.0 was too quick and easy. 5.0 however is WORSE. because it hinges on LUCK and GRIND. which is in way better. just plain silly imo. Your skill doesn't matter, just the amount of hours you play. i'm certainly looking forward to 5.1 though =) that' certainly a step in the right direction.:D

[benmas]

4.0 gearing allowed a complete clown to get 220 gear and i agree it wasn't a good move by BW.

However 3.0 and 2.0 gearing was perfect. it clearly segmented the gear into skill and capability brackets. SM and HM raiders got enough gear so they could, if they wanted progress into the next tier instead of arriving and getting showered in shiny stuff.

 

Also if there is going to be nim gear it should be left at nim level not bought down into HM like they did in 4.0.

Edited January 2, 2017 by benmas

[curulz]

As I said before, this is basic statistics. BioWare has a marker for how fast it wants players to get gear. This doesn't necessarily mean BioWare wants players having access to set piece gear quickly. Regardless, a majority of fans are gearing as BioWare intended. These changes being implemented in 5.1 are largely being done for the minority who is not so lucky and is struggling to get a particular piece of gear. These new vendors are meant to help supplement Galactic Command as a way of ensuring some control over gear progression.

 

and as I said before, you have NO idea if players are getting gear as BW intended. For one, you have NO idea what BW intended. and Second, you have NO idea the gear people are actually getting. YOU are theorizing this is happening, based on normal distribution. But you do not know if there is actually a normal distribution at play in this case. It may be a guess, it even be a good guess, it may even be an educated guess....but its still a guess.

 

As many of your raiders continue to claim, you need a certain rating of gear to even raid. Truth be told, this is a flat out lie. The most important aspect of raiding is knowing mechanics and situation awareness. The gear is merely a secondary factor that can help. Point being, many players never have the group nor the suggested gear to even get into these operations. Galactic Command is making that process a lot easier and more accessible..

 

You said casuals didn't raid because of a bad gear progression system, now you're saying that gear is secondary. Skill is what is most important. I agree that skill is important, a good player is lousy gear is going to be better than a lousy player in good gear. But if skill is the most important factor in raiding, how exactly is GC increasing a players skill to make raiding more accessible? Isn't it just giving them access to gear without having to raid? And if its not increasing their skill in anyway, how is it making raiding more accessible to them?

 

Just because I am pointing out that your perspective comes from that of a minority does not mean I am suggesting I represent the majority. All I am doing is defending Galactic Command, why it was implemented, and why making gear more accessible is actually a benefit rather than a detriment.

 

You are though, even if you don't want to admit it. You have stated time and time again that RNG is good for SWTOR because it helps the majority of the players, and that is why its a good thing. You may or may not have specifically said you speak for the majority, but your stance is that it is good for the majority of players. So you are assuming you know who the majority is, and what they want. You are advocating on their behalf.

[Rabenschwinge]

I see things pretty much like the OP. The thing is, I enjoy playing the game in its own right. It may take me a year until I get the best gear in game, or might not make it before it becomes obsolete before the next extension, but I don't mind. My character is massively more powerful in the 228 and 230 gear with 228 augments than I ever was before, much more than a mere five levels would suggest. I don't know about operations, but Master Flashpoints feel simpler than Hard Modes did before the addition (primarily due to the massive global cooldown and cooldown reduction due to alacrity, but also in critical rating, base damage and damage reduction). I don't have the feeling I am being too weak.

 

I can't help but wonder why so many folks seem to think of their characters as being to weak to do the things they like, just because they don't have the very best equipment in game.

Edited January 2, 2017 by Rabenschwinge

[curulz]

I see things pretty much like the OP. The thing is, I enjoy playing the game in its own right. It may take me a year until I get the best gear in game, or might not make it before it becomes obsolete before the next extension, but I don't mind. My character is massively more powerful in the 228 and 230 gear with 228 augments than I ever was before, much more than a mere five levels would suggest. I don't know about operations, but Master Flashpoints feel simpler than Hard Modes did before the addition. I don't have the feeling I am being too weak.

 

I can't help but wonder why so many folks seem to think of their characters as being to weak to do the things they like, just because they don't have the very best equipment in game.

 

The gear you're talking about is also craftable, so that could have been gained by you without GC or RNG. But in any event, i'm glad you are enjoying it! It feels good when you're able to increase your stats and improve your gear, thru any means. The issue at hand is how that gear is obtained.

 

in the pre-5.0 systems, the best PVE gear was obtained thru doing operations. Now it is get a crate and roll the dice. For me, there isn't a clear path to increasing gear. Its like knowing you want to go from New York to California. You can fly, take a train, take a bus, drive yourself, ride a bike or walk. Instead of you deciding your mode of travel, you roll the dice. If it lands on walk, you're in for a long trip. An hour into your journey, you can roll the dice again, hey now you get a bike! an hour later you get to roll again, and you now can hop on a train. You have a goal, but no plan. So your trip is left up to the fates. Perhaps not the best analogy, but that is why I do not like the RNG aspect of GC.

[Rabenschwinge]

The gear you're talking about is also craftable, so that could have been gained by you without GC or RNG. But in any event, i'm glad you are enjoying it! It feels good when you're able to increase your stats and improve your gear, thru any means. The issue at hand is how that gear is obtained.

 

I know... My main character is a synthweaver and the first thing I did after playing through the levels of Knights of the Eternal Thrones was going to the swamp on Zakuul and getting the resources to level up my crafting skills, re the 220s and then created a set of 228s. I sold a crafted 230 chest piece yesterday for 1.5 million credits, those schematics are amongst my favourite content in those crates.

 

Too bad they bind to the legacy. I'd rather have them bind on use, that way I could focus on two crafting professions, and buy the recipes I am missing from the money I'd get from selling those that I don't need.

 

Even though I like that the games fixation on operations is lifted, it would mitigate the problem a little if you could generally trade the stuff you find. And if there were a few crafting resources in those crates - purple Jawa scrap, mk-10 slot components and tier 2 exotic crafting materials. I have no idea why they put green Jawa scrap into them, I still have about 1k of them in stock. (Note to self: Use them up when lifting the next crafter to crafting level 600.)

Edited January 2, 2017 by Rabenschwinge

[Hichitsuki-hime]

I know... My main character is a synthweaver and the first thing I did after playing through the levels of Knights of the Eternal Thrones was going to the swamp on Zakuul and getting the resources to level up my crafting skills, re the 220s and then created a set of 228s. I sold a crafted 230 chest piece yesterday for 1.5 million credits, those schematics are amongst my favourite content in those crates.

 

Too bad they bind to the legacy. I'd rather have them bind on use, that way I could focus on two crafting professions, and buy the recipes I am missing from the money I'd get from selling those that I don't need.

 

Even though I like that the games fixation on operations is lifted, it would mitigate the problem a little if you could generally trade the stuff you find. And if there were a few crafting resources in those crates - purple Jawa scrap, mk-10 slot components and tier 2 exotic crafting materials. I have no idea why they put green Jawa scrap into them, I still have about 1k of them in stock. (Note to self: Use them up when lifting the next crafter to crafting level 600.)

 

while it's nice that they pay attention to different aspects of the game, the way they do it in is ridiculous. It's been 2+ years since we had a new raid, over a year since we had a new warzone. Heck, this time we didn't get a new plane tot explore and do dailies on. so ...... we got absolute ZERO new endgame content.... and that makes it pretty boring to those people who have been around for 3-5 years.

[Khevar]

When was 3.0 ever part of this discussion?

It's been brought up to you many times to counter your point that the easy acquisition of gear in 4.0 was one the reasons for GC/RNG.

Some in this thread are calling for a return to 4.0.

And many more have expressed that they would be happy with a change to 3.x, or 2.x or even 1.x. These people (if you check their posting history), disagreed with the Highlighted Hard Modes implementation in 4.0 and felt that gear acquisition was poorly implemented. And are how in disagreement with 5.0's hammer swinging too far in the opposite direction (as Bioware tends to do).

 

Note that I myself have made this exact argument to you before. And others have made similar arguments to you.

 

And yet, you are pretending that this hasn't happened by saying "when was 3.0 ever part of this discussion?".

 

Why is that, exactly?

Edited January 2, 2017 by Khevar

[AbsolutGrndZero]

You forgot people like me. I don't think the game will end but I do think RNG gearing is a bad idea.

 

Yes, people like you were present more at the beginning of the thread, but the past few pages it's really just been constant back and forth of Aowin vs. doomsayers.

[giorob]

Look I have only been here since late april, sub since mayish, smack dab in the middle of 4.0. I haven't done every single operation yet. I PvP, I do story, and I have started doing RP. I guess I consider myself a semi-casual player. That all said, I think the RNG gearing is terrible. I hate the randomness, the gambling that this whole system relies on. I wouldn't have minded the grind if they had kept the token system in place and we would get a gaurenteed token every 20 command levels or so. Look in all honesty I don't need BiS to do everything in the game I want to do, but I recognize that others need it. I would rather have the maximum number of players happy in the game versus me. I want the addtion of alll types of content. If one part of the community is not being supported, we all suffer. The more people that unsub, this game becomes a little less fun to play. I know most likely that my words will fall on deaf ears, but I can't simply keep quiet any longer: For the sake of the peeps who love this game please, Stop the RNG.

[Aowin]

...

 

We can speculate why BioWare decided to change their plans with KOTET to be different from KOTFE. Ultimately, it's nothing more than speculation. I have a hard time believing raiders were the major catalyst for the change in tactics, considering BioWare hasn't been catering to that demographic for over two years. Without all the facts and the metrics has at its disposal, it's difficult to understand fully what those financial reports mean and what BioWare is doing to effectively mend them.

 

"Content" is a broad and vague term. SWTOR, like every other studio, has to pick and choose what it invests money in. One of the major investments for KOTET was the overhaul of gear progression. It wasn't cheap and I guarantee you it took a lot of time and resources. The inclusion of repeatable chapters also likely required a decent amount of investment and resources.

 

As far as actual activities, I wouldn't say we had any less than KOTFE had at its launch. KOTFE had nine chapters, star fortresses (which are essentially uprisings), and grinding influence with the various alliance officers. New PvP maps, TEC, and other content wasn't added until many months after the initial launch. If anything, KOTET, with more uprisings on the way, will have much more content than KOTFE.

 

We can talk about 3.0 gearing. It's still bad. Acquiring gear in PvP was still too easy. For raiding, if you weren't part of a raid group it was difficult to even have access to better gear. The whole point of 4.0 was to make gear more accessible than ever before. In some regards it worked, but in many other regards it failed horribly. Galactic Command was meant to tackle the shortcomings of 3.0 and 4.0 at a completely different angle. BioWare wished to accomplish this by removing gear out of completing certain content. Due to the nature of RNG, that cause some frustration and BioWare is looking for ways to better refine the system.

[Aowin]

and as I said before, you have NO idea if players are getting gear as BW intended. For one, you have NO idea what BW intended. and Second, you have NO idea the gear people are actually getting. YOU are theorizing this is happening, based on normal distribution. But you do not know if there is actually a normal distribution at play in this case. It may be a guess, it even be a good guess, it may even be an educated guess....but its still a guess.

 

Of course players are acquiring gear as BioWare intended. They had Galactic Command tested internally and on PTS for months. BioWare knew exactly how gear was going to be distributed and how the system turned out is going according to plan. Again, using basic logic and reasoning in a controlled environment, the majority of players will be working within the intended target BioWare was prescribed.

 

You said casuals didn't raid because of a bad gear progression system, now you're saying that gear is secondary. Skill is what is most important. I agree that skill is important, a good player is lousy gear is going to be better than a lousy player in good gear. But if skill is the most important factor in raiding, how exactly is GC increasing a players skill to make raiding more accessible? Isn't it just giving them access to gear without having to raid? And if its not increasing their skill in anyway, how is it making raiding more accessible to them?

 

Casuals couldn't raid because they didn't have the groups and oftentimes didn't have the alleged "gear either." As I said before, gear is secondary. The real issue is that casuals generally have never raided at all, having little to no knowledge about boss mechanics. What Galactic Command does is it's removing gear from being gated behind this content that many have never experienced. Operations, in general, are also just easier to do on lower difficulties, leading to a higher population trying the content. If you want to raid now, you can obtain decent gear through GC and the content is easier and should be easier to understand.

 

You are though, even if you don't want to admit it. You have stated time and time again that RNG is good for SWTOR because it helps the majority of the players, and that is why its a good thing. You may or may not have specifically said you speak for the majority, but your stance is that it is good for the majority of players. So you are assuming you know who the majority is, and what they want. You are advocating on their behalf.

 

Galactic Command is helping many who never ran operations or participated in PvP. That cannot be disputed. I am merely stating a fact that many are actually benefiting from this change. That has little to suggest I'm speaking for the majority. What I do want to stress is why this system is good and try to explain to those who don't like it the benefits of GC.

[DanNV]

We can talk about 3.0 gearing. It's still bad. Acquiring gear in PvP was still too easy. For raiding, if you weren't part of a raid group it was difficult to even have access to better gear. The whole point of 4.0 was to make gear more accessible than ever before. In some regards it worked, but in many other regards it failed horribly. Galactic Command was meant to tackle the shortcomings of 3.0 and 4.0 at a completely different angle. BioWare wished to accomplish this by removing gear out of completing certain content. Due to the nature of RNG, that cause some frustration and BioWare is looking for ways to better refine the system.

 

No, Galactic Command wasn't designed to make gear more accessible or to address any issues with gearing in any previous version. BW told EA shareholders they had a system that would keep subs subbed longer and playing and get more subs. GC and locking F2P and preferred out of endgame is that system. If that was working as intended there would not have been two streams and a survey within 2 weeks of launch. Those streams and the survey tell you they saw an immediate effect on subs, contrary to what they had told EA to expect. So, keep telling yourself all is grand and it's doing what it's supposed to, but you're wrong and your argument is based on false assumptions. All you have to do is read the EA quarterly info and look at the product launched and you can connect the dots. Give it a try.

Edited January 3, 2017 by DanNV

[Aowin]

It's been brought up to you many times to counter your point that the easy acquisition of gear in 4.0 was one the reasons for GC/RNG.

 

And many more have expressed that they would be happy with a change to 3.x, or 2.x or even 1.x. These people (if you check their posting history), disagreed with the Highlighted Hard Modes implementation in 4.0 and felt that gear acquisition was poorly implemented. And are how in disagreement with 5.0's hammer swinging too far in the opposite direction (as Bioware tends to do).

 

Note that I myself have made this exact argument to you before. And others have made similar arguments to you.

 

And yet, you are pretending that this hasn't happened by saying "when was 3.0 ever part of this discussion?".

 

Why is that, exactly?

 

4.0 was meant to resolve the shortcomings of 3.0. GC is meant to resolve the shortcomings of 4.0. You do not go backwards. You go forward. 3.0 still largely had many of the issues 4.0 had with PvP gear being far too easy to access (that's been an issue since before 2.0) and PvE gear being distributed in a non-friendly way for newcomers.

 

Galactic Command took quality gear out of being gated behind certain content, which was the entire point. BioWare is trying to make the game less about getting gear and more about just enjoying the experience. Obviously, it has been successful and not so successful as BioWare looks for common ground with those who are upset.