Galactic Command Gearing Changes, 5.1 and Beyond

[iFruit]

Well that sucks!!

How exactly should this system promote horizontal progression and altomania?

It basically says "**** and play one damn char".

Very discouraging

[kimiko_tomiyama]

I'm going to finish leveling all my alts and completing their stories (which should consume a few months) before returning to my main. If they haven't come up with a more reasonable solution for gearing by that time, I'll take my gaming money elsewhere.

 

I'm not going to re-iterate the various suggestions made by people but I'm all in favor of a system where those of us who are primarily solo players have a reliable way of getting gear again.

 

I'm pretty much in the same boat. I've found that I can get to about GC 15 or so before I most of the crate contents are repeats. So I've been finishing stories and working on my alliance influence. I did the math and figure that by 1 May I'll be finished and looking for something to do. I'm not optimistic anything will come along by then.

 

Maybe in the fall they will have a reason to sub again...

[Dragondog]

All true, though I apologize for not seeing where you are going with this. Because being good at teamwork, class, role and knowing how to play well with others is how players progress their characters through more varied & increasingly difficult content. Gear is just something that happens along the way and doesn't need Galactic Command's help.

 

We aren't playing SWTOR any more, where fresh content was king ... where intuitive and straightforward progression through it's tiered levels of content difficulty walking hand-in-hand with story was the game from starter planets through Operations. Now we are playing Galactic Command, where fresh content is minimized by comparison (it's almost an afterthought actually) and a wanton Cartel Market lottery crate opening experience is masquerading as the game's loot system.

 

No. Just ... no.

 

Galactic Command sucks as a loot system. I have no problems with crates being a daily or weekly mission completion reward. But I do have a problem with them being anywhere close to a live loot system unless they are occasional loot drop extras that contain nothing more than cosmetic fluff. Loot (not crates) needs a 100% drop rate, with the only randomness being which spec(s). The challenge should be in overcoming advanced content to earn guaranteed loot, not winning some delusional "Thrill of the Hunt" loot lottery crap shoot.

 

Galactic Command sucks as a MMO progression system. Progression through the game's progressively more difficult levels of playable content has been replaced with advancement through Galactic Command's Command Ranks. They tried to subliminally render moot our expectation of receiving ongoing and playable next-progression-level content by removing the old system and hiding it behind Galactic Command. It didn't work. We weren't as stupid as they thought we were so we publicly called them out on it. Now they find themselves wedged between a rock and a hard place as a result.

 

Van Halen pulled this same stunt when they inexplicably tried wiping Michael Anthony from the band's identity, and used Wolfgang Van Halen as their Galactic Command smokescreen. The betrayal cost Van Halen a huge number of their long time fans - to the extent that Van Halen as a band has been largely in maintenance mode since their last release in 2012 bombed. Conversely Michael Anthony's career has blossomed nicely. Most notably since he, Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith formed the super group Chickenfoot. And don't you know ... those betrayed Van Halen fans followed him there.

 

SWTOR directors are narcissistic legends in their own minds whose heads should have already rolled over this but didn't. Which leads me to believe that they're running open loop with no oversight.

 

Lest I digress, you're right, Galactic Command isn't content. Though Bioware would have us believe it is because further convoluting Unassembled Component rates and Command Crate gear allowances (if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance ... baffle 'em with bull ****) is way cheaper than creating actual playable tiered content.

 

My point is that Galactic Command is a way to get gear. It is not content. It isn't working well right now, but the idea of it is awesome. Those, like you, who progress through more and more difficult content to get better and better gear can do that. Those who want to do something else, can do that and still improve their gear. That idea is awsome and allow the players ultimate freedom in what content they play. Certain content will help you gear faster, sure, but those who don't want to play that content don't have to.

 

Having said that, I hope to see Galactic Command work better and I hope to see new content too..

[GalacticKegger]

My point is that Galactic Command is a way to get gear. It is not content. It isn't working well right now, but the idea of it is awesome. Those, like you, who progress through more and more difficult content to get better and better gear can do that. Those who want to do something else, can do that and still improve their gear. That idea is awsome and allow the players ultimate freedom in what content they play. Certain content will help you gear faster, sure, but those who don't want to play that content don't have to.

 

Having said that, I hope to see Galactic Command work better and I hope to see new content too..

I wish that were true. I wish Bioware wasn't trying to pass Galactic Command off as a reliable loot system ... and an end game progression system ... and a content substitute. But they are. So I shall recap ...

 

Galactic Command's crate system sucks as a loot system. Crates should have stayed in the Cartel Market and the fixed, balanced and farmable loot-only loot system we had before KotFE should never have been removed. Gearing in GC is a vastly inferior lottery-based crap shoot whose sole benefit is that it's cheaper to maintain than the real loot tables we already had. Crates need to be removed from loot tables entirely and relegated to being a mission success reward option.

 

Crystal ball ... Command Crates or Command Rank unlocks going on sale in the Cartel Market will be the fire sale that signals the beginning of the end. Speaking of Command Ranks ...

 

Galactic Command's Command ranks and CXP suck as a MMO progression system. Skill-based progression through difficulty tiers of playable new group content has been replaced with one-size-fits-all XP advancement through Galactic Command's promiscuous Command Ranks. Command Ranks are now the means to acquiring crates which are the new end game.

 

Galactic Command sucks as a content substitute. The thrill of the hunt was once defined as conquering content. Now Bioware brazenly defines thrill of the hunt as opening Command Crates. The only players who haven't noticed are still sauced on BW's koolaid. Coming full circle, content is no longer king in this game ... Crates are.

 

Galactic Command offers nothing new in the way of allowing players ultimate freedom in what aspects of the game they want to play because that freedom is inherent - with or without Galactic Command. Having said that, GC would work great in a solo track leveling capacity that included an Eternal Championship-type end game. But it absolutely sucks balls in the MMO space for the reasons mentioned above.

Edited March 1, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Danery]

I am trying not to be overly negative about Galactic Command because its not really going to change anyone's mind and its not worth getting irritated about but honestly there have got to be some ways to improve the current system. Some items off my personal wish list of changes I would like to see:

 

1. Bring back guaranteed drops off of all bosses, with a set loot table so people know exactly what operations they can do to get specific pieces of gear, without having to wait until the last boss or pray to RNGsus that they get drops off other bosses. Barring that, at least significantly increase the chances of gear dropping from each boss. Right now it is extremely unlikely you will see a piece of gear dropping.

 

2. Either reduce the amount of Unassembled Components it costs to get gear from the vendors or significantly increase the amount you get from wins and losses. Right now, if you do your daily every day and the weekly, you are still not going to have enough to buy 1 piece of gear. Even if you get lucky and win every match you play, thats still only gonna be around 216 Unassembled Components in a week which isnt even enough to buy and upgrade to tier 2 one piece of gear. Which means doing a lot of pvp every week just to get 1 piece of gear upgraded every week or a long time waiting.

 

3. Find a way to deal with the fact that people can open hundreds of boxes in Tier 3 and never, or rarely, see a 242 Set piece drop. I've gotten 1 so far after around 250 boxes since hitting Tier 3. Everything else I have upgraded using components and the old 230/236 shells I had or won in ops runs. You could give an unassembled token every x levels, or put a buff on that increased the % of getting a set piece of the highest rank for your tier every time you opened a crate and didnt get a set piece. There has to be some way to fix this and it should be done sooner rather than later. Waiting until 5.2 and fixing it after adding a new tier for us to grind is just idiotic. People have to have the gear to do the new content, which as it stands wont be for weeks or months after the new content is released.

[Dragondog]

I wish that were true. I wish Bioware wasn't trying to pass Galactic Command off as a reliable loot system ... and an end game progression system ... and a content substitute. But they are. So I shall recap ...

 

Galactic Command's crate system sucks as a loot system. Crates should have stayed in the Cartel Market and the fixed, balanced and farmable loot-only loot system we had before KotFE should never have been removed. Gearing in GC is a vastly inferior lottery-based crap shoot whose sole benefit is that it's cheaper to maintain than the real loot tables we already had. Crates need to be removed from loot tables entirely and relegated to being a mission success reward option.

 

Crystal ball ... Command Crates or Command Rank unlocks going on sale in the Cartel Market will be the fire sale that signals the beginning of the end. Speaking of Command Ranks ...

 

Galactic Command's Command ranks and CXP suck as a MMO progression system. Skill-based progression through difficulty tiers of playable new group content has been replaced with one-size-fits-all XP advancement through Galactic Command's promiscuous Command Ranks. Command Ranks are now the means to acquiring crates which are the new end game.

 

Galactic Command sucks as a content substitute. The thrill of the hunt was once defined as conquering content. Now Bioware brazenly defines thrill of the hunt as opening Command Crates. The only players who haven't noticed are still sauced on BW's koolaid. Coming full circle, content is no longer king in this game ... Crates are.

 

Galactic Command offers nothing new in the way of allowing players ultimate freedom in what aspects of the game they want to play because that freedom is inherent - with or without Galactic Command. Having said that, GC would work great in a solo track leveling capacity that included an Eternal Championship-type end game. But it absolutely sucks balls in the MMO space for the reasons mentioned above.

 

I've never been a fan of kool aid.

 

There are many improvements that need to be made in regards to the loot received from galactic command crates so that there is greater predictability and more useful loot.

 

Gearing isn't content. Whether command rank or op/pvp exclusive. Gearing is gearing. New content is needed either way.

 

This is a more inclusive way to gear. As previously you could only get the best gear by doing ops/pvp. That is no longer the case, which has given players the freedom to play whatever content they like and still progress towards the best gear.

Edited March 1, 2017 by Dragondog

[GalacticKegger]

I've never been a fan of kool aid.

 

There are many improvements that need to be made in regards to the loot received from galactic command crates so that there is greater predictability and more useful loot.

 

Gearing isn't content. Whether command rank or op/pvp exclusive. Gearing is gearing. New content is needed either way.

 

This is a more inclusive way to gear. As previously you could only get the best gear by doing ops/pvp. That is no longer the case, which has given players the freedom to play whatever content they like and still progress towards the best gear.

Patching in another 100 levels of Command Ranks as a "level cap increase grind" is a clear indicator that they are trying to pass Galactic Command off as content. Edited March 1, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Heal-To-Full]

Command Ranks (veteran ranks anyone?) are just "bonus" levels. Not much more or less. So in a way, it's a return to a traditional level-based system. Unassembled Components are the new Commendations, or, prior to that, tokens.

 

Operation loot tables weren't perfect; they were prone to player abuse and an occasional source of frustration, and in PUGs were just as random as the crates, more even.

 

Still, I agree that there needs to be some exclusive award for HM+ content other than merely getting through the ranks a bit faster.

[GalacticKegger]

Command Ranks (veteran ranks anyone?) are just "bonus" levels. Not much more or less. So in a way, it's a return to a traditional level-based system. Unassembled Components are the new Commendations, or, prior to that, tokens.

 

Operation loot tables weren't perfect; they were prone to player abuse and an occasional source of frustration, and in PUGs were just as random as the crates, more even.

 

Still, I agree that there needs to be some exclusive award for HM+ content other than merely getting through the ranks a bit faster.

 

Command Ranks are nowhere near a return to the traditional end game progression system because the traditional end game progression system was discipline-specific and had no XP leveling or bonus levels. It didn't need them. Any next stage of end game progression came in the form of both a next tier of new, higher-difficulty and playable content to conquer, and a new tier of gear to be earned while progressing through it. Command Ranks and traditional end game progression are mutually exclusive in form, fit and function.

 

Unassembled Components are indeed essentially a reincarnation of comms and shards, just not tokens. Tokens were single coins (if you will) that would be redeemed at a tier vendor for a specific (and whole) unit of set-piece tier gear. Which specific piece a token was redeemable for was specific to the boss that dropped it.

 

Any abuse of the old loot tables was fixed when the system was redesigned to compare a drop with a character's class and equipped spec, thus preventing ninjas from need gouging. And any frustration with the old farmable boss-beating reward system sure as hell wasn't anywhere near as frustrating as this blind lottery-based Command Crate crap shoot.

Edited March 2, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Dragondog]

Patching in another 100 levels of Command Ranks as a "level cap increase grind" is a clear indicator that they are trying to pass Galactic Command off as content.

 

As we haven't seen the details yet, I can't say for sure, but to me it seems that they are adding an extra tier of gear. So again, not content, but gear.

 

Now having considered what I would like Galactic Command Crates to look like, I only want one reward in them, Galactic Command Coins. You should then be able to take these coins to Galactic Command Vendors, where you can buy anything on the crate loot table. This would create ultimate freedom for the player. The most freedom would be given to the player if they could buy any tier loot at any time, but it would likely be more playable to limit that to your tier of gear.

 

This way all players could buy the loot they would like.

 

Whether that was set bonus gear, cheaper gear for their alts, schematics for crafters, shells for the fashion forward, gifts for their many companions, scrap that can be turned into crafting materials and other things, or whatever else. This way there would be no randomness and everybody would be able to get whatever they wanted to get.

 

That sounds like a very player focused way to gear to me.

[GalacticKegger]

As we haven't seen the details yet, I can't say for sure, but to me it seems that they are adding an extra tier of gear. So again, not content, but gear.

Galactic Command is being used as a content substitute and its command crates are what dispenses the gear. Venue is so moot now that I'm surprised the system doesn't allow characters to earn CXP and eventual Command Crates from node farming. Edited March 2, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Danery]

Galactic Command is being used as a content substitute and its command crates are what dispenses the gear. Venue is so moot now that I'm surprised the system doesn't allow characters to earn CXP and eventual Command Crates from node farming.

 

Dont give them any ideas

[Heal-To-Full]

Command Ranks are nowhere near a return to the traditional end game progression system because the traditional end game progression system was discipline-specific and had no XP leveling or bonus levels.

Correct. Like I said, it's a return to the traditional non-endgame, level-based progression system.

 

Before there was the endgame, there was the game. Traditional RPG progression is based on XP and levels. Progression raiding came later, when there was a need to keep rewarding players who have progressed through all the levels one could reasonably fit into a game. You couldn't have infinite levels because you can't have infinitely powerful character.

 

But XP based progression is still used in virtually all solo RPG, and in MMORPG until the endgame, because, plain and simple, it's the most versatile system - do something, get a cookie. And SWTOR strives to partially replicate solo RPG experience in an online game. CXP ranks are a compromise between XP leveling and gear based stat growth.

 

As for the randomness... yes, it's random, but you'd have to be insanely unlucky not to collect a set bonus by the time you go through the 299 crates to max level.

[GalacticKegger]

Correct. Like I said, it's a return to the traditional non-endgame, level-based progression system.

Incorrect. It's nothing like what you said because SWTOR has never used a non-end game level progression system for end game until Galactic Command. So there's nothing traditional in Galactic Command's past it can return to. And it is nothing like this game's traditional system.

 

Before there was the endgame, there was the game. Traditional RPG progression is based on XP and levels. Progression raiding came later, when there was a need to keep rewarding players who have progressed through all the levels one could reasonably fit into a game. You couldn't have infinite levels because you can't have infinitely powerful character.

 

But XP based progression is still used in virtually all solo RPG, and in MMORPG until the endgame, because, plain and simple, it's the most versatile system - do something, get a cookie. And SWTOR strives to partially replicate solo RPG experience in an online game. CXP ranks are a compromise between XP leveling and gear based stat growth.

 

As for the randomness... yes, it's random, but you'd have to be insanely unlucky not to collect a set bonus by the time you go through the 299 crates to max level.

Again, my focus here remains on Galactic Command's incompatibility with MMO end game. So any correlation made between GC and the leveling game in defense of Galactic Command is irrelevant. Edited March 3, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Heal-To-Full]

...Again, my focus here remains on Galactic Command's incompatibility with MMO end game.

Who cares about whether it qualifies under however established a definition of endgame? What matters is if it's an enjoyable game. And it is.

[GalacticKegger]

Who cares about whether it qualifies under however established a definition of endgame? What matters is if it's an enjoyable game. And it is.

So you are saying that Galactic Command is the game? If so then I find the game to be convoluted, unfriendly and nothing but a blind lottery grind. Hopefully today's announcements are the first steps to removing it from MMO loot tables and progression, and relegating it to being a parallel side-game for achievements and fluff where it belongs.

 

This game deserves way better than Galactic Command. Way better.

Edited March 3, 2017 by GalacticKegger