What then...?

[ENVISIONocity]

I'll begin by saying that I don't really understand the RNG debate and its relationship with gearing for those players who consider gearing an essential part of their SWTOR experience.

 

However, the one question I have wanted to ask goes something like this:

 

Let's, for the sake of argument, say that Bioware makes the changes which would allow players to work toward the gear they feel would complete their gearing experience. And let's say that this allows the average Joe to get fully geared with the highest tier in, oh, let's say 3-4 months; if there are 3 tiers, then figure a tier of gear in a month's time.

 

So, the players are now fully geared to whatever the current max stats are— now what?

 

I mean, what happens after you're fully geared along with hundreds or thousands of other players all striving to max out their armor, etc.? Where does one go after they've maxxed?

 

At that point, you're pretty much the same as everyone else, apart from subtle reflex speeds and ability rotations, so wouldn't the complaints that I read everyday on here go from RNG to demanding more something else to once again raise the bar-- and then people maxxing out again, and rinse, repeat?

 

Disclaimer: Anyone who has seen my thread on "SWTOR in the life of a casual" will know that I'm quite happy with my SWTOR experience (enough to have remained a subscriber since the beginning), but I'm not so delusional as to think that my casual play is the only way to play, either, so I really am just curious as to what players do when everyone they match up with is max geared like they are, and everyone is statistically in a cookie-cutter environment where the differences are in personal choices of look for their character and respective armoring.

 

I'm not even sure I'm wording what I'm trying to say/ask accurately here, so I'll defer to those who respond in wording things better. I'm just wondering, really.

 

[Kurj]

I'll begin by saying that I don't really understand the RNG debate and its relationship with gearing for those players who consider gearing an essential part of their SWTOR experience.

 

However, the one question I have wanted to ask goes something like this:

 

Let's, for the sake of argument, say that Bioware makes the changes which would allow players to work toward the gear they feel would complete their gearing experience. And let's say that this allows the average Joe to get fully geared with the highest tier in, oh, let's say 3-4 months; if there are 3 tiers, then figure a tier of gear in a month's time.

 

So, the players are now fully geared to whatever the current max stats are— now what?

 

I mean, what happens after you're fully geared along with hundreds or thousands of other players all striving to max out their armor, etc.? Where does one go after they've maxxed?

 

At that point, you're pretty much the same as everyone else, apart from subtle reflex speeds and ability rotations, so wouldn't the complaints that I read everyday on here go from RNG to demanding more something else to once again raise the bar-- and then people maxxing out again, and rinse, repeat?

 

Disclaimer: Anyone who has seen my thread on "SWTOR in the life of a casual" will know that I'm quite happy with my SWTOR experience (enough to have remained a subscriber since the beginning), but I'm not so delusional as to think that my casual play is the only way to play, either, so I really am just curious as to what players do when everyone they match up with is max geared like they are, and everyone is statistically in a cookie-cutter environment where the differences are in personal choices of look for their character and respective armoring.

 

I'm not even sure I'm wording what I'm trying to say/ask accurately here, so I'll defer to those who respond in wording things better. I'm just wondering, really.

 

 

It's a mixture of content and psychology. PVE has gear checks to some extent for the average player, so there is a need for better gear to progress for the majority of players. The way PVP was implemented previously, there were no gear checks, so it was purely psychological (i.e., carrots), but with the unified gear system, PVE players will now provide a "gear check" for the average PVP player. All of that said, at the end of the day it's mostly psychology - I want my Shiny New Toys .

[psandak]

The answer to "Now what?" is in fact quite simple: those who are in progression groups can resume their progression.

 

With previous expansions it went something like this:

 

"OK expansion hit new tier of gear get to the level cap folks"

"OK we're at the level cap, let's run some SM Ops to get some gear"

"OK we've cleared a bunch of SM Ops and geared up, now let's move to HM Ops"

"OK relatively speaking we are back to where we were before the expansion we can now resume progression in tougher HM Ops and/or NiM Ops"

 

Now it is...

"OK expansion hit new tier of gear get to the level cap folks"

"OK we're at the level cap, OK how do we get gear again? oh yeah its random, let's grind Vet Fractured"

...50CLs later, "Man this sucks I've spent hours working GC and getting CXP and CLs and crates and what do I have to show for it?....*A* set bonus piece (of which I got three of), a decent ear piece, a clicky relic, and main hand. I am still using all the old 224 set bonus armorings"

"OK well let's run some SM Ops"

"But SM Ops CXP sucks compared to Vet Fractured"

"OK well do you want to have fun or 'grind'?"

another hundred CLs later..."Man this REALLY sucks I have yet to get another set bonus piece, but at least my mods and enhancements are all 230 (from blues and duplicates), and I FINALLY got a proc relic and an implant"

"OK well would rating 228 crafted stuff be better?"

"not really the stat distribution is worse than the 224 I have"

"OK then well we are mostly 228+ with 224 armorings let's try some HM Ops."

...HM EV is a cake walk (run multiple lockouts to get ear and implants)

...HM KP is a cake walk (run multiple lockouts to get relics)

...HM TfB is doable up to TfB but we can't past phase 1 of the final boss"

 

What I just described is what happened with my guild raid group. Only through guild members who ground out 250+ CLs do we have sufficient schematics to get 240 mods and enhancements. Most of us are STILL using 224 armorings.

Edited February 9, 2017 by psandak

[TUXs]

So, the players are now fully geared to whatever the current max stats are— now what?

Now we run the content we want to run. We PvP without a disadvantage in gear. We work on alts. We help groups fill roles they need filled to do other activities.

[GalacticKegger]

Now we run the content we want to run. We PvP without a disadvantage in gear. We work on alts. We help groups fill roles they need filled to do other activities.

QFT. We play the game ... not Galactic Command.

 

We progress through content difficulty levels with item levels and cleared end boss achievements being the gateway to more difficult content ... not some misplaced RPG-centric and promiscuously-focused XP grind.

 

We engage a progression system designed around level appropriate and farmable loot tables supplemented with comm distribution (not unassemled parts) throughout the entire progression chain from BT & Esseles to end game ... without a single crate or whiff of RNG. This way players arrive at end game prepared and with half a clue how to play well with others as well as their class.

 

If dev wants to double the length of time it takes for a character to clear end game, then they double the amount of playable end game content and make the boss fights more intricate and difficult to master. Adding road blocks and detours that have nothing to do with playable content just to string the process out is, well ... stupid.

Edited February 9, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Toast_and_Tea]

For my guild, us gearing quickly (in hard mode gear) was for us to start running the hardest content in the game I.E. Nightmare/Master ops, and as we progressed through the op we got Nightmare level gear with every downed boss along the way to help give the team a boost to down the next boss, however this system now takes away our ability to quickly get the gear we need in order to actually play it. Even with the devs putting one type of gear piece in each ops gearing is now very slow, and unrewarding to the majority of players who are in the ops as only 2 out of the 8 will get gear, 4 out 16 if it's a 16 player group.

 

With pvp people want to get fully geared out quickly so they aren't stomped into oblivion by someone who is already in full gear, like you said in your post "you're pretty much the same as everyone else" that way skill then determines the outcome not the gear.

 

I respect your opinion that you seem in favor of the RNG system, and that gear doesn't matter much to you, but I have to disagree, because as a player that has been here since launch I can tell you the most fun I've had was running nightmare content and ranked PVP without out having to worry about the group lacking anything other then bad coordination. Many members in my guild actually left the game when they heard RNG would determine what gear you would get in the game because the grind was not worth it, and I would have left too if it wasn't for some of my fellow guild members who I'm good friends with and are still playing and trying to salvage a team to get Nightmare/Master ops running again.

 

Again I respect your opinion on this subject, but if the game is going in a direction I don't support I can do 1 of 2 things: I leave like a lot of players have or I can voice my own opinion in order to try and convince the devs and fellow players that this new system makes the game a chore to play rather then fun.

 

Sorry for the long post I was just trying to explain the gearing issue to the best of my abblities.

[ENVISIONocity]

I respect your opinion that you seem in favor of the RNG system, and that gear doesn't matter much to you, but I have to disagree...

 

I don't believe I have an opinion one way or another, as I don't fully understand it since it doesn't seem to impact my time in SWTOR, but I have seen MANY posts by others about it. I do know that the gear I picked up through Classic SWTOR has been more than sufficient to help me through to where I am in the second expansion right now.

 

because as a player that has been here since launch I can tell you the most fun I've had was running nightmare content and ranked PVP without out having to worry about the group lacking anything other then bad coordination.

 

Oh, I'll be the first to admit I'd be terrified to even entertain the idea of running the nightmare content, lol! It took me this long to really venture into the GC expansions beyond the first few chapters of KOTFE. I can't imagine how long it will take before I explore the other aspects of the game: PVP, Operations, etc. But it IS great to hear that there are those players who are willing to help nurture newer players through those facets of SWTOR until they, too, find their footing and can run with the ball!

 

Sorry for the long post I was just trying to explain the gearing issue to the best of my abblities.

 

No, I've been enjoying all these responses, actually. I'm only trying to understand and appreciate better the controversy and the reasonings behind each side, since I don't feel like I've personally been impacted by more than the missing character voice acting under the new conversation system, which I miss terribly! It's why I'm holding off on the alliance alerts at this point, and focusing on the primary storyline.

[Deewe]

So, the players are now fully geared to whatever the current max stats are— now what?

• Do PvP, especially ranked, wihout being hindered by lower stats
  
• Enjoy hardest content.
  
• Gear up alts
  
• Carry others so they can gear up
  

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Now we run the content we want to run. We PvP without a disadvantage in gear. We work on alts. We help groups fill roles they need filled to do other activities.

 

Why are people complaining about gearing then? Why not just start a "scrap gearing" campaign?

 

In terms of an MMO I actually wouldn't care too much if I didn't have to worry about gearing.

[eriksarcasm]

Why are people complaining about gearing then? Why not just start a "scrap gearing" campaign?

 

In terms of an MMO I actually wouldn't care too much if I didn't have to worry about gearing.

 

He meant "now" in the context of being fully geared and max level, and therein lies the problem.

 

OP, the outcry is due to the fact that many raiders and PvP'ers could compete at the highest level before they raised the gear cap with 5.0. You needed the top level of gear to do the highest level Operations, Nightmare (NiM), and to be fuly effective in PvP.

 

Now, in order to do content they were enjoying before, they had to work to get new top level gear. No one would have a problem with that, except they made getting top level gear a total crap-shoot with the random gearing system that is Galactic Command. Short version: you have to be lucky to be able to do the same content you were able to do before.

[GalacticKegger]

He meant "now" in the context of being fully geared and max level, and therein lies the problem.

 

OP, the outcry is due to the fact that many raiders and PvP'ers could compete at the highest level before they raised the gear cap with 5.0. You needed the top level of gear to do the highest level Operations, Nightmare (NiM), and to be fuly effective in PvP.

 

Now, in order to do content they were enjoying before, they had to work to get new top level gear. No one would have a problem with that, except they made getting top level gear a total crap-shoot with the random gearing system that is Galactic Command. Short version: you have to be lucky to be able to do the same content you were able to do before.

There is a raiding term that for whatever reason seems to be eluding some ... "on farm." On farm means knowing what you're hunting, knowing where to find what you're hunting, knowing what the trophy will be for completing the hunt, and then becoming adept enough over time to execute the hunt so as to come away with the trophy with increasing ease. There is nothing RNG about any of it. It's called practice makes perfect and is how non-lazy people advance. Which is why Galactic Command and end game progression are mutually exclusive in scope, scale and purpose.

 

Having content "on farm" is one of the greatest progression measuring sticks for raiders ... guilds in particular. It takes months to do, clearing the way for alts to engage the entire process themselves. Their only advantage is that that the player has prior knowledge of the fights. They still have to adapt their alt character to its roll(s) ... to the environment ... to the fight mechanics ... to team strengths and weaknesses ... rinse and repeat for each & every class and each & every build.

 

CXP thrill of the hunt? Balogna. Someone has been spending too much time working on Cartel Market crates.

Edited February 10, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Fleurdelis]

Balogna.

 

Cause Oscar Mayer has a way with BOLOGNA

[GalacticKegger]

Cause Oscar Mayer has a way with BOLOGNA

Hehe ... nailed by the spelling police again. Curse my French roots! Edited February 10, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[MeNaCe-NZ]

He meant "now" in the context of being fully geared and max level, and therein lies the problem.

 

I get that hence why I was replying directly to TUXs in the context that was posted. If once geared those are all the things people enjoy doing ( not arguing that ) then why bother having gearing in the first place? Is the whole notion that it keeps people playing and paying for longer possible completely misplaced and it actually has the opposite effect by driving people away sooner ( certainly with the current system )?

 

I love gearing in single player RPGs but I've never seen the point in MMOs because I don't get the same sense of excitement of getting a super rare drop or hard to get item that I do from solo RPGs ( which I assume the concept of MMO gearing was trying to recreate ). MMO gearing is just too regimented, you know what to do to get what you want long before you get it.

Hell maybe that's the angle BWA were taking with RNG gear drops but unfortunately that's not going to work in an established MMO like this because you are effectively cutting people off from content they could do before.

 

Maybe if a game launched with such a system as GC and where all content is fresh it might actually be quite popular ( except to the MMO die hards who would be quick to point out "that's not how you gear in an MMO! You can't do that!" ) but not at this time after so much time where it comes across as more a punishment than a reward system.

 

So if then gearing can't be exciting or even interesting why even bother having it?

 

With all the complaints about "RNG" I see no point in having gearing. I personally never got excited about getting a planned piece from set raiding or buying something new with crystals. I DID get excited from winning a roll on a set bonus main hand I didn't have after a long trudge through a raid - that RNG did indeed make it exciting for me.

 

So again, if we can't make it exciting with that same RNG why even bother having it?

 

I also wonder if perhaps this GC didn't have tiers and you could be getting 242 drops in your very first crate ( perhaps your chance would go up over time ) would it be as universally hated?

 

#GetRidOfGear

[GalacticKegger]

Why are people complaining about gearing then? Why not just start a "scrap gearing" campaign?

Actually, the people who are complaining about Galactic Command would start a "whole gearing" campaign. If anyone was to start a "scrap gearing" campaign it would be the GC supporters because that's the compromise dev is trying sell to keep the peace. And it's not working because the audience they're trying to convince knows better.

 

In terms of an MMO I actually wouldn't care too much if I didn't have to worry about gearing.

Then what you are really looking for is a single player tablet RPG you can play on your computer ... not a full-blown PC master race MMO. Might I suggest Knights of the Old Republic and The Sith Lords.

 

With all the complaints about "RNG" I see no point in having gearing.

Excellent idea. BWA should get rid of gear altogether. In fact they should just pull the damn plug on all the open world combat, flashpoints, operations, PvP, hell ... nuke the entire recycled MMO portion of the game (which is everything but the recent Uprisings at this point) since they all rely on gear; and hack it down into a reclusive single player KOTOR III cinematic RPG that does nothing but pump out a KotFE / KotET style solo story chapter each month, some Star Fortresses thrown in for elder game and a seasonal Eternal Championship for end game. Basically where they were taking the game before a very pissed off veteran player base scared them into holding 4 damage control Livestreams within 8 weeks of 5.0's release to save MMO face.

 

This way Disney can find a real MMO developer - one who truly wants to create, maintain and sustain a full blown Star Wars MMORPG like we had before Ben Irving one-shotted it - and give them the keys to the Ferrari. Because BWA on Ben's watch deliberately drove this once high-speed low-drag MMO Ferrari off a cliff.

 

BWA never should have committed to anything other than solo story once they started down that road. It is intuitively obvious they really don't want to be in the MMO business any more, and they're in over their heads now because of it.

Edited February 10, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[AscendingSky]

He meant "now" in the context of being fully geared and max level, and therein lies the problem.

 

OP, the outcry is due to the fact that many raiders and PvP'ers could compete at the highest level before they raised the gear cap with 5.0. You needed the top level of gear to do the highest level Operations, Nightmare (NiM), and to be fuly effective in PvP.

 

Now, in order to do content they were enjoying before, they had to work to get new top level gear. No one would have a problem with that, except they made getting top level gear a total crap-shoot with the random gearing system that is Galactic Command. Short version: you have to be lucky to be able to do the same content you were able to do before.

 

Exactly this. And the cherry on top is that they set up a gear treadmill to be able to work on the exact same content we've had to run for three straight expansions now! Competent developers of MMOs worth a damn don't just keep levelling up content from 2, 3, 4, 5 years ago and make people go through the months of gearing all over again just to reach the exact same place they were before the expansion. THEY ADD NEW END GAME CONTENT TO WORK ON PROGRESSING THROUGH.

Edited February 10, 2017 by AscendingSky

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Actually, the people who are complaining about Galactic Command would start a "whole gearing" campaign. If anyone was to start a "scrap gearing" campaign it would be the GC supporters because that's the compromise dev is trying sell to keep the peace. And it's not working because the audience they're trying to convince knows better.

 

Huh? That sort of doesn't make sense.

 

 

Then what you are really looking for is a single player tablet RPG you can play on your computer ... not a full-blown PC master race MMO. Might I suggest Knights of the Old Republic and The Sith Lords.

 

Because gearing = MMO

 

 

-rant snip-.

 

Pretty sure everything you just said has nothing to do with what I suggested but hope you feel better after that.

[GalacticKegger]

Huh? That sort of doesn't make sense.

Under the old system we got full gear pieces and full tier tokens ... not unassembled parts. So it made perfect sense.

 

Because gearing = MMO

If you say so. Please allow me to recap what role I believe gear plays in a MMO:

 

There is a raiding term that for whatever reason seems to be eluding some ... "on farm." On farm means knowing what you're hunting, knowing where to find what you're hunting, knowing what the trophy will be for completing the hunt, and then becoming adept enough over time to execute the hunt so as to come away with the trophy with increasing ease. There is nothing RNG about any of it. It's called practice makes perfect and is how non-lazy people advance. Which is why Galactic Command and end game progression are mutually exclusive in scope, scale and purpose.

 

Having content "on farm" is one of the greatest progression measuring sticks for raiders ... guilds in particular. It takes months to do, clearing the way for alts to engage the entire process themselves. Their only advantage is that that the player has prior knowledge of the fights. They still have to adapt their alt character to its roll(s) ... to the environment ... to the fight mechanics ... to team strengths and weaknesses ... rinse and repeat for each & every class and each & every build.

 

CXP thrill of the hunt? Balogna. Someone has been spending too much time working on Cartel Market crates.

We progress through content difficulty levels with item levels and cleared end boss achievements being the gateway to more difficult content ... not some misplaced RPG-centric and promiscuously-focused XP grind.

 

We engage a progression system designed around level appropriate and farmable loot tables supplemented with comm distribution (not unassemled parts) throughout the entire progression chain from BT & Esseles to end game ... without a single crate or whiff of RNG. This way players arrive at end game prepared and with half a clue how to play well with others as well as their class.

 

Pretty sure everything you just said has nothing to do with what I suggested but hope you feel better after that.

My monologue merely expounded on your comment. All you had to do is state that I took it in a direction you didn't agree with and explain why. And for the record I felt no different after I wrote it than I did before I wrote it. Edited February 10, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[Razofdead]

i miss schematics and looking for rare "materials" to craft...

[Velgar]

Right now there is no reason to pursue the gear from the crates unless you are heavy into pvp or higher difficulty levels of OPs (old OPS you already beat at 65 and 60) and pvp is only booming because of the people who feel compelled to jump on the gear grind treadmill and see pvp giving the best cxp payout. If there is no reason to get the gear and the only real content to run is the new story, why even bother grinding out crates? And you don't need the gear you might, remotely, possibly get from crates to finish the new story. Why run years old content to grind cxp if the gear means nothing, assuming you get it at all? Edited February 10, 2017 by Velgar

[TUXs]

He meant "now" in the context of being fully geared and max level, and therein lies the problem.

 

OP, the outcry is due to the fact that many raiders and PvP'ers could compete at the highest level before they raised the gear cap with 5.0. You needed the top level of gear to do the highest level Operations, Nightmare (NiM), and to be fuly effective in PvP.

 

Now, in order to do content they were enjoying before, they had to work to get new top level gear. No one would have a problem with that, except they made getting top level gear a total crap-shoot with the random gearing system that is Galactic Command. Short version: you have to be lucky to be able to do the same content you were able to do before.

EXACTLY!!! GalacticKegger has it nailed as well.

[Ryenke]

• Do PvP, especially ranked, wihout being hindered by lower stats
  
• Enjoy hardest content.
  
• Gear up alts
  
• Carry others so they can gear up
  

 

This.

[MeNaCe-NZ]

Under the old system we got full gear pieces and full tier tokens ... not unassembled parts. So it made perfect sense.

 

Well that sentence made sense though I'm still not entirely sure what your argument is to the post I made?

The text I quoted still does not make sense.

 

Having content "on farm" is one of the greatest progression measuring sticks for raiders ... guilds in particular. It takes months to do, clearing the way for alts to engage the entire process themselves. Their only advantage is that that the player has prior knowledge of the fights. They still have to adapt their alt character to its roll(s) ... to the environment ... to the fight mechanics ... to team strengths and weaknesses ... rinse and repeat for each & every class and each & every build.

 

Right but you still haven't managed to explain why that is superior to just not having gear? Who is to say that running NiM and being bolstered to a set of stats ( according to role ) would not be superior and more popular system as to any sort of MMO gearing system?

 

I mean you personally might love grinding gear and the progression that comes along with it. I personally would love to just jump straight into NiM mode content with a group of friends and either succeed or fail on the merits of our skill.

 

I'm yet to see an argument that wholeheartedly says end game MMO gearing would be superior or even more popular than not having it at all. Considering progression raiders are such a niche and small portion of the overall community I would imagine opening up higher difficulty levels to all without "needing to gear" would have to prove the more popular option.

 

It's sort of like the progression raider argument is "we must have a gear grind!" but then when it comes to GC "We must have a gear grind but not that gear, we want the other gear grind!" and I'm not arguing in favour of GC, it's a horrible system, but from my perspective a "no gear system" would actually be far superior. There are then other and better carrots to place at the end of completing the content than just gear as previously mentioned,

 

Consider also less development that needs to go into a gearing system and could instead be put into just making the more challenging content ( mechanic wise ). Knowing you only have a set amount of stats to work against means far easier and faster QA and testing and would ideally lead to far more interesting and frequent content.

 

I don't know about anyone else but I'd happily give up gear grinding entirely if it meant I was getting more content.

[GalacticKegger]

Well that sentence made sense though I'm still not entirely sure what your argument is to the post I made?

The text I quoted still does not make sense.

 

Then I guess I misunderstood what a "scrap gearing campaign" is.

 

Right but you still haven't managed to explain why that is superior to just not having gear? Who is to say that running NiM and being bolstered to a set of stats ( according to role ) would not be superior and more popular system as to any sort of MMO gearing system?

 

I mean you personally might love grinding gear and the progression that comes along with it. I personally would love to just jump straight into NiM mode content with a group of friends and either succeed or fail on the merits of our skill.

 

I want nothing handed to me. I personally not only enjoy but appreciate the challenges of the traditional MMO progression process. A process that relies on increasing content difficulty progression + fixed and predictable farming for gear upgrades to make it work - like this game had prior to 4.0. While I like my characters to look cool, I don't want cosmetics to be the extent of their gearing process. I'll leave that for Ken & Barbie fans.

 

I'm yet to see an argument that wholeheartedly says end game MMO gearing would be superior or even more popular than not having it at all.

And you won't because a MMO without end game gearing doesn't exist. At least to my knowledge. Traditionally a AAA MMO without end game gear progression is no longer a MMO ... or AAA.

 

Considering progression raiders are such a niche and small portion of the overall community I would imagine opening up higher difficulty levels to all without "needing to gear" would have to prove the more popular option.

If raiders are such a niche and small portion of the overall community then Bioware would not have had to put on 4 Livestreams within 8 weeks of KotET's release to all but beg those niche raiders to either not leave or come back.

 

It's sort of like the progression raider argument is "we must have a gear grind!" but then when it comes to GC "We must have a gear grind but not that gear, we want the other gear grind!" and I'm not arguing in favour of GC, it's a horrible system, but from my perspective a "no gear system" would actually be far superior. There are then other and better carrots to place at the end of completing the content than just gear as previously mentioned,

 

Consider also less development that needs to go into a gearing system and could instead be put into just making the more challenging content ( mechanic wise ). Knowing you only have a set amount of stats to work against means far easier and faster QA and testing and would ideally lead to far more interesting and frequent content.

 

I don't know about anyone else but I'd happily give up gear grinding entirely if it meant I was getting more content.

Then it sounds like a MMO without gear requirements would best suit your preferred play style. Is there such a thing? Edited February 10, 2017 by GalacticKegger

[mike_carton]

Then it sounds like a MMO without gear requirements would best suit your preferred play style. Is there such a thing?

 

Guild Wars 1 has gear updates as you play through the story but no end-game gear grind. And there are only 20 player levels which you can reach after doing less than a third of the complete game.