Gearing Changes in 5.1.1 and 5.1.2

[Wayshuba]

This is pretty disappointing. In particular the fact that this issue wasn't even addressed in the original post - still seems like an afterthought if that. Not even mentioned in the "in the future" section. And even here, the only commitment is to "look" into the issue further. You still have not actually committed, even in principle (and even without detail), to radically improving the quality of crate contents. I'm at a loss as to how this isn't the PRIMARY issue you're addressing at this point...

 

Because they have no intention of fixing it for.... reasons.

[Avicii]

This should have been better done. The largest cry I saw for was a reduction in the pain that is RNG. Most wanted that way before any change to the speed of cxp gain. I really thought it was a clear message. It was both sides even those who might have been seen as white knights seemed to agree that reduction in RNG would really be the big help and increasing the speed of cxp without that was a bad idea......

 

I am shocked and unhappy they didn't understand that or accept that.

 

Concur if these changes are all that's being done why does it take so long? They clearly are not listening to the community and have no intention of doing anything close to what's been asked despite the please give us your feedback, we hear you. No clearly they don't.

 

They have very simple actions to appease the players yet they are taking the most painful path possible and dragging it out in a way that really won't stop people leaving. This is a cluster **** at its finest.

[jedcjedcjedc]

Do not introduce another boost exclusive to the CM. Make the 100% boost from command tokens usable at any level, just shorter. It's a mark of BWA's greed to have the CM actively be required for optimal gearing. This is pay to win and inexcusable.

 

you realize it says right in your quote you can buy them with command tokens as well, right? the only thing idifferent from the ones on the cartel market is it lasts longer because they used actual money for it. if you do not want to do this, you can use the 2 hour ones (still doubling your xp rate ffs) or buy the 3 hour ones off the gtn if and when they're being sold.

 

Seriously people, you can BUY the EXACT piece you need from the vendor whether with aan unassembled gear piece from Ops or components from PvP. I really think people need to switch this around in their minds and treat the vendors like the primary and the GC like the secondary. Especially considering coming not that long from now you can almost triple or quadruple the speed at which the crates are dropping (250% with the 100% boost and the 10% from legacy). With the increased components and such you are getting your gear faster while getting EXTRA. One of the biggest things I hear from the "gear shouldn't matter" people is rewarding cosmetics instead. You're getting those cosmetics in just about every crate. You also have gear in those crates that even if they're not set bonus pieces, they have enhancements, mods, hilts, and barrels you can use to gear alts. I probably have enough to fully gear out an alt in 230's-236's just from ripping out pieces and trading in the shells.

[GrandLordMenace]

what do you mean exclusive to the CM? if you read the post, it was said the 100% can be gotten from Command Tokens, or from the CM. this is not a pay to win.

 

Removed

Edited February 3, 2017 by GrandLordMenace

[Kirtastropohe]

disintegration returns are abysmal, especially for the crap we get from these crap crates in galactic command. Reputation items... pets...empty shells of armor pieces....really? When we're going through galactic command, no one cares about these things if get them in a crate. If we were interested in pets, reputation, and cosmetic stuff, we'd be opening cartel market crates. With command crates, we want the good gear or we want as much disintegration credit as possible for getting rid of the junk we got. Edited February 3, 2017 by Kirtastropohe

[EricMusco]

Do not introduce another boost exclusive to the CM. Make the 100% boost from command tokens usable at any level, just shorter. It's a mark of BWA's greed to have the CM actively be required for optimal gearing. This is pay to win and inexcusable.

 

Just to clear up any confusion, it actually works very similarly to how you have described it. The boost only works through Tier 1 and 2 and it gives a 100% bonus. The only difference between the MTX and Token version is that the MTX version lasts 1-hour longer, which is in line with the current CXP boosts in game.

 

MTX Boost

100% CXP bonus up to Command Rank 179

3-hour duration

 

Token Boost

100%CXP bonus up to Command Rank 179

2-hour duration

 

Hope that clears up any confusion!

 

-eric

[EricMusco]

Eric, I see in your post your looking to increase the number of Unassembled components in ranked, and non ranked PvP matches. Does this include GSF as well, since GSF has the same number per match as ranked warzones?

 

In the current plan we are not increasing the Unassembled Component gains for GSF.

 

-eric

[Wayshuba]

One of the biggest things I hear from the "gear shouldn't matter" people is rewarding cosmetics instead. You're getting those cosmetics in just about every crate.

 

Your right. My Jedi Guardian has been dying to get a hold of those cosmetic blaster pistol, sniper rifle, and blaster rifle he has been looking for. Oh, and the trooper armor is just a big bonus.

 

The crate drop junk 95% of the time. Every time you open one you are reminded just how stupid the whole thing is. The only things these "fixes" are going to do, is remind you more frequently how stupid the junk in the crates are.

Edited February 3, 2017 by Wayshuba

[Kyuuu]

Un Nerf WZ CXP payouts...

[OneHit]

Hey folks,

 

As I mentioned earlier this week, we have quite a few changes planned for gearing over the next few Updates. Let’s go over what they are, when they are happening, and why!

 

Game Update 5.1.1 – Coming February 7th

• All Command Experience Points (CXP) gains, CXP Boosts, and CXP Legacy Perks are now additive instead of multiplicative.
  
  • This change is being made to setup for the greatly increased CXP gains that are possible in 5.1.1 (if you love math click the spoiler tag below for what this means in greater detail)

  [*]New CXP leveling event. This event will run until Game Update 5.2 in April. During this event all CXP earned will be increased by 250%.

  • The goal is that you will earn one crate every 30 minutes or less. The 30 minute time-frame is for a Tier 3 crate (meaning 1 and 2 will be even faster).

  [*]All CXP Packs that you earn from drops and Missions are now Bind on Legacy.

  • This change is to help a player distribute CXP around their Legacy if they choose to do so.

  [*]We are introducing a new 100% CXP boost in addition to the existing 15% and 25% boosts. This boost can be purchased from the Command Token vendor or the Cartel Market. This boost only works up to Command Rank 180 and lasts 2 hours (Command Tokens) or 3 hours (Cartel Market).

  • The goal of selling this boost for Command Tokens is that it allows higher Command Rank players to use their Tokens to greatly accelerate leveling their alts (you can also buy them on the CM or GTN).

 

Game Update 5.1.2 – Coming February 28th

• We will be rebalancing the CXP rewards you earn from Operations. Boss kills will now award more CXP than they did previously. The Operations Weekly has had its CXP reward greatly increased.
  
  • Operations CXP rewards are below where we would like them to be and so we are increasing their CXP value from both gameplay and Missions.

  [*]Group Finder Daily CXP Rewards are being added. Completing the Daily Group Finder Bonus will award you with a bonus CXP Pack.

  • We wanted to ensure there were great CXP incentives to participating in Group Finder. By making it a CXP Pack it has the added bonus of being Bind on Legacy so you can use it on whatever character you would like.

  [*]The completion Mission for Flashpoints have had their CXP values greatly increased.

  • Flashpoint CXP rewards are also below where we would like them be to and so we have added a much larger CXP bonus for completing their respective Missions.

  [*]The Flashpoint and Uprising Weekly Missions have had their CXP rewards increased.

  • Our goal is to really encourage players to play multiple types of content for the best rewards. We want to encourage playing a diverse set of content, not a singular activity (although you can always still do that if you prefer)

  [*]The PvP Daily and Weekly Missions now reward a batch of Unassembled Components.

  • This is one of the changes we are making to help players in getting Unassembled Components faster. It also incentivizes dabbling into PvP often.

  [*]We have increased the Unassembled Components that are awarded to players after completing Ranked and Unranked Warzones.

  • Not only did we want to reward playing Warzones through Missions, but we also wanted to ensure that those of you who play primarily Warzones each day could work towards purchasing gear quicker.

 

In the future

• Unassembled Components and Legacy. We understand your Legacy is important to you and we agree with that, we are looking at ways to address that in the future.

 

These are all of the changes you can expect in 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 for Galactic Command. As you can see there is a lot happening and we want to hear what you think. As we go through these updates we will continue to monitor feedback and data to see what other adjustments may need to be made!

 

-eric

 

 

 

Let’s take a look at what the change from multiplicative to additive means. Warning, if you don’t like math, you’re not going to enjoy this 

 

The way CXP and its respective boosts work right now is that the % increases multiply with each other, hence the term multiplicative. Assuming that normal CXP gains =100%, this is what multiplicative boosting looks like:

 

CXP + legacy boost + CXP boost

100% * 10% * 25% = 137.5% CXP earned

 

Here is a more extreme example to see where this gets complex:

CXP + legacy boost + CXP boost + highlighted activity + DvL Bonus

100% * 10% * 25% * 20% * 15% = 189.75% CXP earned

 

As you can see, the more boosts you add into the equation the more difficult it becomes to tell how much of a bonus you are actually getting. Since we are going to be running a 250% CXP event and adding a 100% boost. We thought this would be a good time to make that math cleaner for players to figure out and so that our % boost wouldn’t get difficult to manage. Now, the same math from above would look like this:

 

CXP + legacy boost + CXP boost

100% + 10% + 25% = 135% CXP earned

 

CXP + legacy boost + CXP boost + highlighted activity + DvL Bonus

100% + 10% + 25% + 20% + 15% = 170% CXP earned

 

One thing you will notice is that the % you earn with additive is lower than that of multiplicative. That is one of the reasons that we are making this change under the new event, so that you aren’t actually losing any CXP earned. We also will factor this into future changes to ensure that the additive change isn’t a nerf to the CXP you earn. Especially since our goal is to ensure you are earning it faster, not slower.

 

Another slap to the face for veteran players. 100% boost till tier 3. And this encourages us to play our alts? Like when you introduced legendary, or when you introduced the dvl event.

 

Another grind? This is pathetic.

 

EA. Bioware. Please listen.

This mmo is run with no direction other than back were you started. Every decision in the last 3 years has weakened this game and I for one vote no confidence in the current leadership. The community has spoke out time and time again. It falls on deaf ears.

[Sundragon]

So, here's the rub. With the boost in CXP gains, you will reach GC rank 300 faster. However, you still have the same % chance of getting anything from a crate. So, when you hit GC rank 300, you will look at your gear and most likely will have less than a full set of tier 3 gear given most people's experiences. At that point, the character is subject to completing their set via the alternative gearing system, which is extremely tedious.

 

In other words, if the WHOLE POINT of Galactic Command was to provide a path to top-end gear, simply increasing CXP isn't solving the problem.

 

Then later, you'll probably change the drop rates in the crates, but by then many people will have already achieved GC rank 300 on their main characters, which makes the change in the drop rates pointless for those characters.

 

So, in this regard, it would almost be better to not gain GXP until the drop rates from the crates are adjusted (or the RNG is removed completely), AND THEN start leveling in GC rank. So how does one not gain GXP? Well, either play a non-level 70 character or simply cancel one's subscription until the drop rates in the crates are drastically changed or RNG completely removed.

[TPooFlinger]

In the current plan we are not increasing the Unassembled Component gains for GSF.

 

-eric

 

You should. As a base for the match. Also, people should get more UCs based on how many medals you get.

 

You should also decrease the cost of using getting gear using the Unassembled Components.

Edited February 3, 2017 by TPooFlinger

[GrandLordMenace]

Just to clear up any confusion, it actually works very similarly to how you have described it. The boost only works through Tier 1 and 2 and it gives a 100% bonus. The only difference between the MTX and Token version is that the MTX version lasts 1-hour longer, which is in line with the current CXP boosts in game.

 

MTX Boost

100% CXP bonus up to Command Rank 179

3-hour duration

 

Token Boost

100%CXP bonus up to Command Rank 179

2-hour duration

 

Hope that clears up any confusion!

 

-eric

 

That's a lot more comforting, it was difficult to discern from the wording that both boosts worked only up to 180.

 

[EricMusco]

That's a lot more comforting, it was difficult to discern from the wording that both boosts worked only up to 180.

 

 

Fair enough, I am glad you asked the question! This way I could make sure it was clear on how it worked. Good choice in smiley

 

-eric

[Malachi_Bane]

Just to clear up any confusion, it actually works very similarly to how you have described it. The boost only works through Tier 1 and 2 and it gives a 100% bonus. The only difference between the MTX and Token version is that the MTX version lasts 1-hour longer, which is in line with the current CXP boosts in game.

 

The increase of speed at which we gain crates is appreciated. However, with the current loot tables and drop rates you could bring that speed down to ZERO and people would still be unhappy, for good reasons. If you implemented a "Gain 90 Command Levels Instantly" button, people could open 90 crates in a row and most would STILL be short of a complete 230/236/240 set because so many of those 90 pieces will be worthless greens and duplicates of pieces they already have.

 

I'd say that ideally finishing a Tier should give you approximately 2, if not 3, duplicates of a complete 14-piece purple/gold set. That way, people could not only ensure they are not missing a single slot, but also gear for a different discipline if they want to. Then they can improve that full set on the next tier.

 

The crate contents NEED to be addressed by 5.1.2. Either raise drop rates on purples several times over, or - preferably - simply rid of all the greens. Green pieces have no place as a reward for hard and time-consuming end-game content when can be crafted cheaply en masse.

Edited February 3, 2017 by Malachi_Bane

[OneHit]

3.0

 

 

3.0

 

That's the last time you made this game decent. Stop what you're doing now. Cancle your future plans. Its sucks. It's sucked for the last 3 years. Try and mirror what you did in 3.0. When you get to oricon stop.

 

3.0. Thats when you made a decent game. I don't think we can be any clearer

[Pandoras_Jar]

Game Update 5.1.2 – Coming February 28th

• The PvP Daily and Weekly Missions now reward a batch of Unassembled Components.
  
  • This is one of the changes we are making to help players in getting Unassembled Components faster. It also incentivizes dabbling into PvP often.

  [*]We have increased the Unassembled Components that are awarded to players after completing Ranked and Unranked Warzones.

  • Not only did we want to reward playing Warzones through Missions, but we also wanted to ensure that those of you who play primarily Warzones each day could work towards purchasing gear quicker.

These changes for PvP Gearing are certainly a step in the right direction. However, I would still strongly suggest reducing the Unassembled Component cost of Tier 1 (230) gear significantly. This will give everyone who PvPs a much quicker means of catching up gear wise to those in higher tiers of gear. A means of getting rid of the high gearing disparity is urgently needed and simply making 230 gear much cheaper to obtain helps to solve this issue.

 

This change also has the added bonus of making gearing alts (just via Legacy gear for now) a little quicker. Either way I guess the overarching point is to give us more ways of gearing so we don't feel so oppressed by the RNG grind fest! And, make it quicker and easier for all players and their alts to get the 'entry level' 230 gear so they can get into all types of content (and do well) faster.

 

[gabigool]

 

Game Update 5.1.2 – Coming February 28th

• We will be rebalancing the CXP rewards you earn from Operations. Boss kills will now award more CXP than they did previously. The Operations Weekly has had its CXP reward greatly increased.
  
  • Operations CXP rewards are below where we would like them to be and so we are increasing their CXP value from both gameplay and Missions.

  [*]Group Finder Daily CXP Rewards are being added. Completing the Daily Group Finder Bonus will award you with a bonus CXP Pack.

  • We wanted to ensure there were great CXP incentives to participating in Group Finder. By making it a CXP Pack it has the added bonus of being Bind on Legacy so you can use it on whatever character you would like.

  [*]The completion Mission for Flashpoints have had their CXP values greatly increased.

  • Flashpoint CXP rewards are also below where we would like them be to and so we have added a much larger CXP bonus for completing their respective Missions.

  [*]The Flashpoint and Uprising Weekly Missions have had their CXP rewards increased.

  • Our goal is to really encourage players to play multiple types of content for the best rewards. We want to encourage playing a diverse set of content, not a singular activity (although you can always still do that if you prefer)

  [*]The PvP Daily and Weekly Missions now reward a batch of Unassembled Components.

  • This is one of the changes we are making to help players in getting Unassembled Components faster. It also incentivizes dabbling into PvP often.

 

Why will editing these numbers take one month?

[TopAceOfEarth]

Just to clear up any confusion, [...]

-eric

 

Hey Eric

 

I just wanted to give some feedback after not being subbed for 2 month. (Friend made me come back)

 

It's getting way to complicated with the gearing. I can see what the team is doing, trying to help players, but it's just getting more complicated each time you post updates.

 

I wasn't here for 2 month and the options for gearing are so very complicated now, I just shut the game down after a few minutes. By this point even the RNG from the old Battlemaster PvP gearing felt less random (which is was).

 

From what I understood the whole point of CXP was to make it easier to gear and give everyone a chance at end game gear. You added Unassembled tokens again and currency that goes together with these tokens in addition to the normal CXP gear drops. It seems you are crumbling under peer pressure and trying to be helpful, but are too afraid to go full throttle. Increasing the CXP gain overall, is a right step - but your are not going far enough.

 

Currently what I heard when I came back was - "Ignore the system, just get stuff crafted". At this point I don't even care enough to look up what all the options all are that I have to get gear and upgrade and whatnot.

---

 

"What you are doing now is beating a dead horse [CXP] and laying the innards in a way you think people want them to come out of the horse [un-Tokens, more CXP]."

 

 

If you really want to make it easy to gear, just use "1" (one, uno, eine) currency that is legacy based and put a vendor on the fleet that allows you to buy whatever tokens you want. (Upgrade tokens for shells like the last PvP system if you want it tiered)

 

Make the CXP packs drop that currency and have bosses drop that currency as well instead of all the tokens.

One currency to make it easy, easy to adjust quickly, easy to give everyone equal gear for time spend. You already made everyone who wants to

PLAY THE GAME at end level a FORCED SUB - be nice to your customers, don't waste their time.

 

So what if people gear up quicker? They'll gear an alt or whatever - they'll still play the game - make HARD CONTENT so they even have a reason to gear up in the first place.

 

TL: DR: Too many options now - take the RNG out of the game - give the same currency to spend on any gear - no gear drops. Just the same currency everywhere. Make it reasonable to gear up and just up the overall CXP gain.

 

Sorry if it went of topic, of rails or whatnot, but I thought feedback would be good.

[Eli_Porter]

Time to load up on CXP tokens!

[Vektarulz]

*slow clap followed by standinng ovation* promote eric, fire ben

[PlasmaJohn]

3.0. Thats when you made a decent game. I don't think we can be any clearer

Three dot Oh was a disaster for many of us. I distinctly remember one of the Sentinel theorycrafters saying they retired their sent because they didn't hate their raid team.

 

The pre-3.x content drought chased me away. The gutting of my main class kept me away. The utter contempt that the class dev had for the community as reflected in his posts just so thoroughly disgusted me. Took me a long time to create another one after I came back.

[Augustus]

These are better first steps in optimizing this whole system. One HUGE request remains though, make those Components Legacy bound, and you just incentivized alt character playing and gearing much much more!

[GalacticKegger]

Maybe we'll check back for 6.0 cuz this is not what we asked for ... not even close. What a convoluted waste of what once was a great MMORPG.

[GalacticKegger]

Three dot Oh was a disaster for many of us. I distinctly remember one of the Sentinel theorycrafters saying they retired their sent because they didn't hate their raid team.

 

The pre-3.x content drought chased me away. The gutting of my main class kept me away. The utter contempt that the class dev had for the community as reflected in his posts just so thoroughly disgusted me. Took me a long time to create another one after I came back.

One class having a bad day does not an entire expansion define. And the content drought was 4.0. There was no content drought in 3.0. Edited February 9, 2017 by GalacticKegger