Galactic Seasons is a Cash Shop Front

[Phazonfreak]

So basically you admit you are doing something against the ToS, all because you didn't get some, and you begrudge others who have. Most the people who have had a signature with a ref link, have a long history of helping people on these forums, and deserve some recognition , they don't get any from the team or company, so the ref link was a nice way for people to say thanks.

 

No, I have more than enough credits and Cartel Coins in my pockets through subscribing and actually playing the game almost every day for a lot of years now. I also have a history of helping the people on the forums here, ingame and on Steam. I don't need acknowledgement in the form of Cartel Coins, which are given out under the disguise of referring a friend to the game and the ulterior hope that some of these clicks are from people who don't really understand what the referrer actually gets out of it. I also don't need recognition from the devs.

 

I do all this because I really like this game with all its faults and its flaws. I am glad that the days of the totally misused Referral Link scheme are finally over and we have a much better way now to earn Cartel Coins through playing the game.

 

Are there things that could be improved upon? Most certainly. Are there things that can be criticized about the new mechanic? Definitely. For example that the credit unlocks for the levels will only be added 30 days later to give the players the chance to "experience the new system", which is rather hypocritical considering the fact that you can already unlock those levels with Cartel Coins and there will be several players out there who already spend them, because they don't know that a credit unlock option will come some time later.

 

Still, this whole new mechanic is a big step in the right direction.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Phazonfreak

[DarkTergon]

You're joking, right? Re-rolled yesterday's daily and weekly because they were things I wasn't going to play. Total cost: 0. Today's daily objectives were heroics and mobs on Alderaan, so I just did them. Total cost: 0. Finishing today's dailies gave me a "claim" button for a speeder and a new comp. Total cost: 20 CC, to unlock them both for my entire Legacy. Amount of cash laid out specifically for the unlocks: 0. Again, if it's a cash grab, it's a poor one.

 

except, some people rerolled and got stuff they didn't like, and all you get is one reroll, (was kinds hoping you'd get one for the weekly each day, but it doesn't seem to have happened)

The cash grab is not about one day, or one week, if you want to skip the last 20 levels or so, you can ONLY do it by CC's, if it's the same as the PTS. Maybe the cc's you get will balance it out, and by the end of the season when we've seen how it actually works, people might be more accepting, who knows.

And if you are unlucky enough to get stuff you don't want often enough, it could add up.

[Batwer]

I was hoping for a bigger challenge. More points to complete a level and more quests. Better rewards and not the ten thousandth companion. The shops are stupid too. I already have most of the things.

 

I hope BW thinks of something better for the next round. Maybe story quest with the love interest to unlock.

[TrixxieTriss]

You're joking, right? Re-rolled yesterday's daily and weekly because they were things I wasn't going to play. Total cost: 0. Today's daily objectives were heroics and mobs on Alderaan, so I just did them. Total cost: 0. Finishing today's dailies gave me a "claim" button for a speeder and a new comp. Total cost: 20 CC, to unlock them both for my entire Legacy. Amount of cash laid out specifically for the unlocks: 0. Again, if it's a cash grab, it's a poor one.

 

Sigh, read my other posts that flesh out my reasoning. I dont want to get into a back and forth with you.

[TrixxieTriss]

I also have a history of helping the people on the forums here, ingame.

 

I do all this because I really like this game with all its faults and its flaws

 

 

I was the same until someone suggested I put my signature referral on my posts because they wanted to reward me for contributing. Even after that, it took me 6 months till I did it. What it allowed me to do is use the CCs to open up my collections instead of waiting 12 months for Bioware to put half price sales on opening things, I never buy direct from the CM, all of my CCs go towards opening up stuff in the game.

[robertthebard]

except, some people rerolled and got stuff they didn't like, and all you get is one reroll, (was kinds hoping you'd get one for the weekly each day, but it doesn't seem to have happened)

The cash grab is not about one day, or one week, if you want to skip the last 20 levels or so, you can ONLY do it by CC's, if it's the same as the PTS. Maybe the cc's you get will balance it out, and by the end of the season when we've seen how it actually works, people might be more accepting, who knows.

And if you are unlucky enough to get stuff you don't want often enough, it could add up.

 

Yeah, happened to me yesterday, replaced a single PvP match with the PvP weekly. So I just didn't do it, total cost, 0. You see, the problem is, you can skip it, or play it as you like, and don't have to spend anything on it. You be sure to let me know when cash is required, instead of an option. Those weeklies that I didn't like? They're still there, and will be all week, and I'm still not required to spend. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I'll find out then. In the meantime, I'm just going to do what I always do, play the game.

 

Some people will be impatient, and spend, some people are always going to do that. It's not removing any money from my wallet, or CC from my account. So not very effective, if it's a cash grab. Those same people might be the ones that'll buy hypercrates too. I don't buy them either, not even off the GTN.

[DarkTergon]

Yeah, happened to me yesterday, replaced a single PvP match with the PvP weekly. So I just didn't do it, total cost, 0. You see, the problem is, you can skip it, or play it as you like, and don't have to spend anything on it. .

 

True, you can skip it, but how does it effect the prize line (or whatever it is...lol) Will it matter later on, etc.

 

You be sure to let me know when cash is required, instead of an option. Those weeklies that I didn't like? They're still there, and will be all week, and I'm still not required to spend. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I'll find out then. In the meantime, I'm just going to do what I always do, play the game.

 

 

It's cc's at the moment, to skip through the prizes, etc, but will be available for credits. But as I said in another post, will it affect anything later on? (Probably not, but it's one of the questions that is wondering around my head)

 

 

Some people will be impatient, and spend, some people are always going to do that. It's not removing any money from my wallet, or CC from my account. So not very effective, if it's a cash grab. Those same people might be the ones that'll buy hypercrates too. I don't buy them either, not even off the GTN.

 

Yes, but that's just you, well, me too. I'm keeping my cc's purely for the unlocks, etc. I'll probably use credits if needed as I've more than enough of them to spend. But some people will (and already have) used cc's. That's what people are talking about. Now, to play devils advocate, maybe these people just used their free cc's from playing, or ref links, so BW haven't actually made anything out of it. But we know it's a cash grab, and will net them extra.

[robertthebard]

True, you can skip it, but how does it effect the prize line (or whatever it is...lol) Will it matter later on, etc.

 

 

 

It's cc's at the moment, to skip through the prizes, etc, but will be available for credits. But as I said in another post, will it affect anything later on? (Probably not, but it's one of the questions that is wondering around my head)

 

 

 

Yes, but that's just you, well, me too. I'm keeping my cc's purely for the unlocks, etc. I'll probably use credits if needed as I've more than enough of them to spend. But some people will (and already have) used cc's. That's what people are talking about. Now, to play devils advocate, maybe these people just used their free cc's from playing, or ref links, so BW haven't actually made anything out of it. But we know it's a cash grab, and will net them extra.

 

I don't think so? I only made 3 points yesterday, but I made 6 today, since both dailies were something I'd do, Heroics on Alderaan, with the added bonus of "kill 75 mobs on Alderaan", I did 'em up. There's not a lot anyone can do about whales, they're going to spend, no matter what. I'm more concerned about being forced to spend, as opposed to taking longer in the 5 months we have per season, to make points that are, from all appearance so far, going to be plentiful.

 

Players can progress through all 100 levels of Galactic Seasons by earning Galactic Seasons Points. Each Reward Level will require 8 Galactic Season Points to obtain, for a total of 800 Galactic Season Points over the course of the Season. There are three separate ways that players can earn these points:

 

From their article. So with 9 points in 2 days, I don't think it's going to be real hard to make.

[JediKamo]

Okay, i finally stumbled across what you were talking about. I had some spare CC and gave it a try. Don’t think I’ll try it again.

[Sarova]

What a poke in the eye; Galactic Seasons presents us with dubious grinds, and with every click asks for cash.

 

It's a giant, shameful monetizaiton strategy.

If you just do the dailies/weeklies for GS points you get all the rewards (eventually over the season) and don't need to spend anything. On the PTS the CC prices were extortionate; they are much less live for those who want to spend. Whilst they are initially asking for CC to unlock stuff, in 30 days they will also allow you to pay with in-game credits. I'm hoping those costs will be better than the PTS.

 

It looks that a cash grab but it actually isn't. Plus you can just ignore it as others have said. I find the companion to be very unimpressive as a reward as are some of the other rewards and fed that back on the PTS, but each to their own.

[Jdast]

I'm 100% team Phazonfreak and Robert the Bard,

 

Yes, BW is monetizing cosmetic items. If people want to pay for those items that generates more revenue for SWTOR...

 

How is that bad? They have done so for years through the Cartel Market, which I think is the only reason the game is still alive. It's a win all around.

 

 

Dasty

 

P.S. Time will tell, but where I think BW fails (I call it like I see it) is whether or not players gravitate to Ops, etc., because of cosmetic rewards. Personally, wild wolves couldn't drag me to Nightmare Ops even if the reward is the Lightsaber of 1000 Truths.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Jdast

[pineapple_paula]

I really don't see how this can be a cash grab when they are giving out so many free cc. Lets do a little math here. The season will last 5 months. For simplicity of math lets say each month is 30 days, that is 150 days total. Every 4 days of logging in you get 8 GS points as a sub. so 150/4 days=37.5 log in rewards, so 37 x 8 points = 296 GS points. According to swtorista's guide that will net you 1200 cc....1200 cc for doing nothing but logging in each day (actually less than every day as the last cc grant is at 264 points, so you can easily skip some days). Any objectives you do in addition to that increases that amount. Personally, I play on multiple servers so add that. I don't know why people are complaining so much. Even if you don't care about the cosmetics or rewards you are still getting essentially free money. Yes, there are some objectives that I don't want to do. I am not going to do them for now and I'll see how things go. I don't know how many objectives you can skip and still get to 100 by the end, but I bet I will still get far enough to make this worth my while. None of this is required, it's just a nice bonus (and far more generous than I would have expected in my opinion).

[Spikanor]

100% cash grab. It’s why they Nerfed the referral system at the same time.

 

So instead of making the game better so people don’t leave, they spend the time making this to milk the cash cows one more time.

 

i agree on this part also.

 

only 2 Weekly missions and 2 daly mission to get season points is making from something that is good more worthless.

 

if there have added season points in the Weekly and daly conquest's missions all is it you get 1 season point for the daly's and 2 for the Weekly conquest's missions.

i think that is more better then what there have now.

since if i look to the reward list you need to be lvl 42 to get 5 tokens if you are sub to buy a new companion in the reward vendor.

 

what it needs now is that it needs to chance with earning season points if you wane keep it fun for all type players.

since now it not has become any more fun since its more the same thing as before only you need to do is login each day play a litle to earn season points and you can stop playing all since you have earn your points all for the day.

[OlBuzzard]

Unfortunately one of the issues popping up, is that people are getting content they don't want to do, and shouldn't have to. I like the refresh option, but you only get one, so maybe, a couple of more would help. It's still all RNG, but it might help, if you have more chances.

 

I know you can use cc's, (and credits, eventually) to skip the prizes, and claim them, but I don't understand what happens to the objectives, do you miss out on any achievement for not doing them, does it means you've less points at the end of the season, will it affect anything, etc

 

Nah !! I know the "game" the team is playing! (trust me ... more than they will ever believe). So now I make a choice. I play the game and let the rest go (meaning I could care less about all of this "stuff") or I decide to do something else.

 

The simple fact is that the demographic I represent means nothing to them any ways !!

 

Sooo.. there again I have a choice to make !! Play it as it is .. or not !!

 

I'll continue to play the game (for now at least). That's all they care about !! I'm a subscriber since the first few days this thing came on line !!

 

I LOVE the stories that they have done lately and with the exceptions of a large number of BUGS it's been fun. I even liked the original difficulty level of SoV (but hated the BUGS.

 

If people want to pay out cash in order to cut corners ... let them ! In the mean time this cranky old man will just continue to save a few dollars here and there the way we have for the last 40 years or so .. and in a few more weeks (hopefully) will move into my new "office".

 

There's a lot to be said about the game right now and what's been unfolding the last few months. Yes Covid has hurt. On the other hand there is something to be said about the quality of production as well. (yes meaning BUGS. The stories are good !! Looks like that end of the program is doing well. On the other hand ... we run into some other stuff that just does NOT make any sense !!

 

We all have choices to make. I know where I'm headed. If the team chooses to listen to our feed back and make a few changes in the Galactic Seasons rewards system .. then cool !! If not ... then it is what it is !! Someone else posted some really good ideas on making the choices for the overall GS points systems !! (I believe that it was in the "Galactic Seasons - Daily Priority Objectives - More Options Please! .thread.) Time will tell.

 

As I've mentioned in another thread: The potential for this game is yet untapped !! I would also suggest that the game is at a cross road ! The next few months will reveal the truth. It will either bring excitement and applause for unveiling a new chapter in the story of SWTOR (in more ways than one) ... or it will see the final hope of the games future falter and weaken what is left !!

 

In any case... I've probably wasted too much of everyone's time rambling again !! (so what else is new ) !!

[DawnAskham]

Wait - a game that makes most of its revenue off microtransactions because they couldn't hold onto paying subscribers added a new feature designed to monetize the game further, who would believe that?

[TrixxieTriss]

Wait - a game that makes most of its revenue off microtransactions because they couldn't hold onto paying subscribers added a new feature designed to monetize the game further, who would believe that?

 

This is what I’ve been saying, just with more words

[JohunMorlish]

100% agree and I am thankful for it. I don't have time to grind 100 levels of a season pass. So thankful I can just jump to the end of the line and be done with it and enjoy the game.

[GeneralGyro]

i spent 10k and unlocked everything. i keep this game afloat!

[JohunMorlish]

i spent 10k and unlocked everything. i keep this game afloat!

 

Nice to know I am not the only one.

[Jdast]

Sooo.. there again I have a choice to make !! Play it as it is .. or not !!

 

We all have choices to make.

 

I'm also Team Ol' Buzzie it seems. It will not alter my playstyle one bit.

 

As long as BW keeps the rewards cosmetic, I have zero problem with them monetizing the items. What if, for example, they put all the rewards simply on the Cartel Market? And, in this case, people have a chance to get CC's back, albeit not all. But as the Buzzard says...it's about choice.

 

I have a pretty good track record of being neutral and an equal opportunity critic (I would like to think) of BW, but this criticism is not one I get. And, even if the accusation is that this is a Cash Grab / Shop Front my response would be and is...

 

And?

 

If people want to throw money at BW for cosmetic items, I say -- fill your boots. Master Yoda knows I've done it on the Cartel Market for cosmetic items. But if it helps so that Keith can go show EA that SWTOR is profitable and warrants more support: Make it rain I say! After all, a fool and his / her money are often parted.

 

<<sips ridiculously overpriced Alderannian Nectar Martini>>

 

 

Dasty

Edited April 29, 2021 by Jdast

[OlBuzzard]

I'm also Team Ol' Buzzie it seems. It will not alter my playstyle one bit.

 

As long as BW keeps the rewards cosmetic, I have zero problem with them monetizing the items. What if, for example, they put all the rewards simply on the Cartel Market? And, in this case, people have a chance to get CC's back, albeit not all. But as the Buzzard says...it's about choice.

 

I have a pretty good track record of being neutral and an equal opportunity critic (I would like to think) of BW, but this criticism is not one I get. And, even if the accusation is that this is a Cash Grab / Shop Front my response would be and is...

 

And?

 

If people want to throw money at BW for cosmetic items, I say -- fill your boots. Master Yoda knows I've done it on the Cartel Market for cosmetic items. But if tt helps so that Keith can go show EA that SWTOR is profitable and warrants more support: Make it rain I say! After all, a fool and his / her money are often parted.

 

<<sips ridiculously overpriced Alderannian Nectar Martini>>

 

 

Dasty

 

YUP !! Pretty much !

 

(for example) I finished the daily GS OP's ... no problem !! BUT for my weekly stuff:

** Group FP's

** Unranked PvP

 

NOPE ... they can keep what ever rewards went with that stuff !! AND I'm dang sure not spending any CC on any part of it !! (my choice ... I'm a tight wad )

 

Well ... I'm buggin' out for the night !! I have some more "offices" to review before bed !!

Edited April 29, 2021 by OlBuzzard

[mike_carton]

I'm of the same opinion as JDast and OlBuzzard and a few others here. I'm not opposed to people seeking solo activities for Weekly Objectives (they are all group content now) but otherwise BW seems to have done a balanced job here.

 

- No story content

- Completely optional

- All rewards are cosmetic

- Variety of activities

- Can finish season while getting only 55% of the max points available

- Can finish season while doing only logins and daily activities (no weeklies at all) with a 25% buffer

- Free re-rolls for daily and weekly activities

- Free cartel coins for doing content (starting as early as level 3) for a total of 4,000 CC per legacy, 20,000 per account

- Optionally buy progress with cartel coins

- Optionally buy progress with credits (which amounts to buying cartel coins with credits)

Edited April 29, 2021 by mike_carton

[ceryxp]

Per the post on 23 March, Season 1 is supposed to last roughly 150 days, which comes out to approximately 21 weeks.

 

Just for logging in four days per week, no playing required, subscribers will receive 8 GS points.

21 * 8 = 168

For the obnoxiously absurd requirement of just logging into the game four days a week a subscriber will get to level 21 by the end of the season.

 

There are two daily objectives worth 3 points available per day with the option to reroll once per day at no cost.

21 * 3 * 2 * 7 = 882

If you do both daily objectives every day you will reach level 100 by the end of the season on those points alone. But, of course, you will not receive those points alone because you will also receive the 168 points just for logging in for a total of 1050 GS points. 250 points over what is needed to reach level 100, or, put another way, 83 missed daily objects. Miss 83 daily objectives and you still get to level 100 with 801 total points

 

There are two weekly objectives worth 12 points available each week with the option to reroll once per week at no cost.

21 * 12 * 2 = 504

True, all weekly objectives are either story OPs, vet FPs, unranked PVP, and GSF. Understandably, those are not everyone's cup of stimcaf. Good thing you can completely ignore those 504 points and still easily reach level 100.

 

Of course, if you do do everything each week then you will have earned 1554 total points. But some of you have made it abundantly clear that you are not going to do everything and that is okay. I am not going to do everything either. I do not run OPs. I do not run FPs in a group. I do not do PVP. Once in a very, very rare while I will do GSF, but certainly not enough for it to make a different. So, I can forget about those 504 points from the weeklies.

 

BUT, you are already screaming at your screen, the dailies have PVP and GSF (collectively PVP) options in there. Yes, they do. 2 possible objectives out of 8. That means that you are guaranteed to have at least one PVE objective per day. Wait, WHAT!? Okay, this is a bit of an assumption but -- both objectives can not be the same, and I think it is quite likely that if you reroll an objective you are going to get a different objective than the one you started with. Purely anecdotal, true, but every reroll I have done has given a new objective. So, you log in and have both PVP objectives for that day. You reroll and will get a PVE objective. You log in an have 1 PVE and 1 PVP objective. You reroll the PVP objective and you only have a 1:6 chance to get the second PVP objective. Okay, you will have some unlucky days and only have 1 objective for the day. Others you will have 2. You can skip up to 83 daily objectives and still get to level 100 by the end of the season. With 8 daily objective options and only 2 being PVP it is incredibly unlikely that you will not have at least 67 days with two PVE objectives (83 + 67 = 150).

 

And then, there is this tall glass of Juma Juice.

Hi everyone,

 

As mentioned in the Galactic Seasons article “as the season progresses, a catch-up system will unlock, allowing players to spend in-game credits to catch up on season levels” meaning that the Catch Up feature is not yet active. We intend on enabling this mechanic in 30 days to give players a chance to fully experience Galactic Seasons.

 

So even if you do have an unlucky streak you can spend credits to catch up. No cash grab involved.

 

So, I guess, all of that was just me saying that I agree with Phazonfreak, robertthebard, Jdast, OlBuzzard, and mike_carton. The proportion has not just been blown out. It has been completely obliterated. It has been torn asunder molecule by molecule. It has fallen into the event horizon of a black hole, been compressed into a point singularity, been blown out faster than the speed of light into a new universe of hyperbole, and lost all semblance of its former self.

 

Maybe, just log in and play the game.

[TrixxieTriss]

Per the post on 23 March, Season 1 is supposed to last roughly 150 days, which comes out to approximately 21 weeks.

 

Just for logging in four days per week, no playing required, subscribers will receive 8 GS points.

21 * 8 = 168

For the obnoxiously absurd requirement of just logging into the game four days a week a subscriber will get to level 21 by the end of the season.

 

There are two daily objectives worth 3 points available per day with the option to reroll once per day at no cost.

21 * 3 * 2 * 7 = 882

If you do both daily objectives every day you will reach level 100 by the end of the season on those points alone. But, of course, you will not receive those points alone because you will also receive the 168 points just for logging in for a total of 1050 GS points. 250 points over what is needed to reach level 100, or, put another way, 83 missed daily objects. Miss 83 daily objectives and you still get to level 100 with 801 total points

 

There are two weekly objectives worth 12 points available each week with the option to reroll once per week at no cost.

21 * 12 * 2 = 504

True, all weekly objectives are either story OPs, vet FPs, unranked PVP, and GSF. Understandably, those are not everyone's cup of stimcaf. Good thing you can completely ignore those 504 points and still easily reach level 100.

 

Of course, if you do do everything each week then you will have earned 1554 total points. But some of you have made it abundantly clear that you are not going to do everything and that is okay. I am not going to do everything either. I do not run OPs. I do not run FPs in a group. I do not do PVP. Once in a very, very rare while I will do GSF, but certainly not enough for it to make a different. So, I can forget about those 504 points from the weeklies.

 

BUT, you are already screaming at your screen, the dailies have PVP and GSF (collectively PVP) options in there. Yes, they do. 2 possible objectives out of 8. That means that you are guaranteed to have at least one PVE objective per day. Wait, WHAT!? Okay, this is a bit of an assumption but -- both objectives can not be the same, and I think it is quite likely that if you reroll an objective you are going to get a different objective than the one you started with. Purely anecdotal, true, but every reroll I have done has given a new objective. So, you log in and have both PVP objectives for that day. You reroll and will get a PVE objective. You log in an have 1 PVE and 1 PVP objective. You reroll the PVP objective and you only have a 1:6 chance to get the second PVP objective. Okay, you will have some unlucky days and only have 1 objective for the day. Others you will have 2. You can skip up to 83 daily objectives and still get to level 100 by the end of the season. With 8 daily objective options and only 2 being PVP it is incredibly unlikely that you will not have at least 67 days with two PVE objectives (83 + 67 = 150).

 

And then, there is this tall glass of Juma Juice.

 

 

So even if you do have an unlucky streak you can spend credits to catch up. No cash grab involved.

 

So, I guess, all of that was just me saying that I agree with Phazonfreak, robertthebard, Jdast, OlBuzzard, and mike_carton. The proportion has not just been blown out. It has been completely obliterated. It has been torn asunder molecule by molecule. It has fallen into the event horizon of a black hole, been compressed into a point singularity, been blown out faster than the speed of light into a new universe of hyperbole, and lost all semblance of its former self.

 

Maybe, just log in and play the game.

 

Your kind of off topic here. Did you mean to post in this thread or the one where people are asking for more choice? http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=992523&page=3

Cause this thread is about it being a cash shop.

Edited April 29, 2021 by TrixxieTriss

[ceryxp]

Your kind of off topic here. Did you mean to post in this thread or the one where people are asking for more choice? http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=992523&page=3

Cause this thread is about it being a cash shop.

 

No cash grab involved.

 

/5char