The Future of SWTOR: Don't bother trying anymore

[Darcmoon]

13 minutes ago, Whykara said:

I'm also not for completely splitting stories, and now it would be too late anyway. This is also just purely hypothetical, since you and I both know that Broadsword doesn't care what the players want. What I think would be a good solution is to keep the basic story for all classes, in this case the Mandalorian conflict. But have tech and force classes experience different parts of the same story. For example force sensitives could have focused more on the holocron part, tracking down Sa'har, talking to Malgus. While tech classes would have worked closer with Heta, discussed battle strategies and fought the Hidden Chain. This way the basic story is the same, but we see it from different aspects. Kinda like the vanilla stories were.

One of the problems with that is KOTFE shoehorned us into the same role for both force sensitives and tech classes.  They have thankfully diverged a bit when doing the Imp/Pub stories.  Trying to divide it between FS and tech similar to vanilla is the people who would immediately complain that their light side Jedi has the exact same story as their dark side Sith.  Additionally, in vanilla, all 8 origin stories coexisted at the same time.  Trying to do the same thing now seems like it would just make the story even more watered down than it has already gotten. 

[Toraak]

On 10/23/2023 at 7:36 PM, TrixxieTriss said:

The gearing system is one of the worst since the game launched. Only the 1.x gearing system was worse. 
Even though the 6.x gearing system had issues & there were way to many stat variations of each item (19 of each 🤦‍♀️), it was still a way better gearing system than 7.x will ever be.

This is a matter of Opinion. 7.x gearing system is far from perfect, but the 6.x gearing system was pure ****.

[BulbulusTheGreat]

8 minutes ago, Whykara said:

I'm also not for completely splitting stories, and now it would be too late anyway. This is also just purely hypothetical, since you and I both know that Broadsword doesn't care what the players want. What I think would be a good solution is to keep the basic story for all classes, in this case the Mandalorian conflict. But have tech and force classes experience different parts of the same story. For example force sensitives could have focused more on the holocron part, tracking down Sa'har, talking to Malgus. While tech classes would have worked closer with Heta, discussed battle strategies and fought the Hidden Chain. This way the basic story is the same, but we see it from different aspects. Kinda like the vanilla stories were.

thing is though despite maining bh i am interested in force stuff, this is one of reasons im so opposed to it, not being force sensitive doesn't mean i don't find it fascinating, like i've said earlier im the one hunting for datacron for the empress, whos a sith, lana is my main romance and shes a sith, darth nul fp update wasn't the most popular for various reasons but i actually enjoyed elom fp, i generally enjoy old sith/jedi ruins, i don't think its fair that someone misses out on this becuse they're not force sensitive, i am also interested in what Malgus has to say, im really not trying to be a nay sayer here but im just saying i don't want to miss these things out becuse im very very involved in it all whether its heta or malgus.

however, like i've said earlier some special dialogue or even side quests on planets being exclusive to force sensitives or non force sensitives to give us some of our old personality back would be pretty sweet im not fully opposed to being unique depending on your class but i do not want to miss out on force stuff (within the main plot) just cause im playing bh and tbh i wouldn't even call my bh a bounty hunter anymore ever since KOTET on Voss i became loyalist to acina, i captured malgus so idk what sense would it make if i talked to malgus any less becuse i can't shoot lightning from my finger tips. 

[JakRoanin]

I suppose my two credits aren't any more or less valuable than any others, so, I'll toss them in...

1. I think even the most devoted KOTFE and KOTET lover (me) can agree with the fact being a non-Force Sensitive PC was awkward! Certain chapters were perfect not only for Tech PC's but also classes; eg. Jorgun for Troopers, Kaliyo for Agents... But as a whole, it just doesn't make sense for The Outlander plot.

However, and this is big one, as the story has progressed to where we are it's much easier to fill in the blanks with how you play different PC's. My BH is singing in this Mando update, but the tie in with renewed war with the Empire lets my Trooper, Agents, Smugglers, do what they do, and the holocron and Malgus and the Children of the Emperor thematically connect with my Jedi. 

It's far too costly to go back to fully separate and individual Class Stories, the resources just aren't there, and thematically we're to entwined with the larger galactic story now. I'm looking forward to the new stuff. Anything is better than Manaan.

[BulbulusTheGreat]

7 minutes ago, JakRoanin said:

I suppose my two credits aren't any more or less valuable than any others, so, I'll toss them in...

1. I think even the most devoted KOTFE and KOTET lover (me) can agree with the fact being a non-Force Sensitive PC was awkward! Certain chapters were perfect not only for Tech PC's but also classes; eg. Jorgun for Troopers, Kaliyo for Agents... But as a whole, it just doesn't make sense for The Outlander plot.

However, and this is big one, as the story has progressed to where we are it's much easier to fill in the blanks with how you play different PC's. My BH is singing in this Mando update, but the tie in with renewed war with the Empire lets my Trooper, Agents, Smugglers, do what they do, and the holocron and Malgus and the Children of the Emperor thematically connect with my Jedi. 

It's far too costly to go back to fully separate and individual Class Stories, the resources just aren't there, and thematically we're to entwined with the larger galactic story now. I'm looking forward to the new stuff. Anything is better than Manaan.

one of many parts i liked about KOTFE is how some chapters were for force sensitives and some for non force sensitives, it was intentional and fair and gave us both chance to play it, it was one of many pluses the DLC had for me but yeah like you've said even us KOTFE/ET lovers can agree that some parts didn't really make sense for non force sensitive, i'd lie if i said i didn't enjoy them all the same though. 

to me all this ties in to my (now loyal imperial) bh becuse its simply my mission to get the datacron, force or no force powers.

Edited October 27, 2023 by BulbulusTheGreat

[OlBuzzard]

35 minutes ago, Darcmoon said:

One of the problems with that is KOTFE shoehorned us into the same role for both force sensitives and tech classes.  They have thankfully diverged a bit when doing the Imp/Pub stories.  Trying to divide it between FS and tech similar to vanilla is the people who would immediately complain that their light side Jedi has the exact same story as their dark side Sith.  Additionally, in vanilla, all 8 origin stories coexisted at the same time.  Trying to do the same thing now seems like it would just make the story even more watered down than it has already gotten. 

We don't have to have 8 different versions of the same story.. but a recognition that a particular character is a JK or Sith or the background of a smuggler or even a military background does add a different perspective on the story from time to time.  And (from time to time) we do see a "tip of the hat" (so-to-speak) to the background of our character in the story.  IMO that does add more to the story.  BTW.. it should be noted that I enjoyed the story behind KOTFE / ET ... but you are essentially correct.  The same dialogue(s) were used almost regardless of what background any of our characters were from.  IMO that was a legitimate concern.  However, rehashing the old issues of the past aside ... we are needing to look at what was FUN: missions we ran, dialogues with our companions ...  specific attributes. WHAT gets things moving forward? Rewards?  Activities? People?

Frankly right now I spend as much time here (if not more) interacting with many of you!  (Yeah... I know.) 

That being said ... IMO we are needing a lot more than just the story to the game.  Otherwise, many players will continue to lose interest in SWTOR .. the numbers will continue to spiral downward and finally the lights will be turned off for good.  BTW... maintenance mode is just one step short of turning the lights off (IMO).

 

 

 

[Whykara]

4 minutes ago, OlBuzzard said:

Frankly right now I spend as much time here (if not more) interacting with many of you!  (Yeah... I know.) 

Same, I spend more time on the forums than in the game. The characters here are just more interesting.

[Darcmoon]

8 minutes ago, OlBuzzard said:

We don't have to have 8 different versions of the same story.. but a recognition that a particular character is a JK or Sith or the background of a smuggler or even a military background does add a different perspective on the story from time to time.  And (from time to time) we do see a "tip of the hat" (so-to-speak) to the background of our character in the story.  IMO that does add more to the story.  BTW.. it should be noted that I enjoyed the story behind KOTFE / ET ... but you are essentially correct.  The same dialogue(s) were used almost regardless of what background any of our characters were from.  IMO that was a legitimate concern.  However, rehashing the old issues of the past aside ... we are needing to look at what was FUN: missions we ran, dialogues with our companions ...  specific attributes. WHAT gets things moving forward? Rewards?  Activities? People?

Frankly right now I spend as much time here (if not more) interacting with many of you!  (Yeah... I know.) 

That being said ... IMO we are needing a lot more than just the story to the game.  Otherwise, many players will continue to lose interest in SWTOR .. the numbers will continue to spiral downward and finally the lights will be turned off for good.  BTW... maintenance mode is just one step short of turning the lights off (IMO).

 

 

 

I agree we don’t need to divide it back into 8 different stories.  I was more talking about having the FS and tech being seperate stories.  At least IMO, it makes more sense to have the Imp/Pub be seperate/intertwined stories than otherwise.   Now having nods to the toons origin is always great and something I do support.  There have been a few instances where something an NPC has said or done makes me feel that they should have made that distinction more often. 
 

As for what we need to keep the lights on?  That is a minefield IMO.  Ask 100 people what’s required and you’ll get a 100 different answers.  Something one person says is an absolute requirement, no ands, ifs, or buts about it will be something another person says won’t make any difference.  I’m not sure what would be needed just what I’d like to see.  

[OlBuzzard]

18 minutes ago, Darcmoon said:

I agree we don’t need to divide it back into 8 different stories.  I was more talking about having the FS and tech being seperate stories.  At least IMO, it makes more sense to have the Imp/Pub be seperate/intertwined stories than otherwise.   Now having nods to the toons origin is always great and something I do support.  There have been a few instances where something an NPC has said or done makes me feel that they should have made that distinction more often. 
 

As for what we need to keep the lights on?  That is a minefield IMO.  Ask 100 people what’s required and you’ll get a 100 different answers.  Something one person says is an absolute requirement, no ands, ifs, or buts about it will be something another person says won’t make any difference.  I’m not sure what would be needed just what I’d like to see.  

You're absolutely right!  And the whole minefield thing .. that's probably true too!  But ... you know me!  "Aim at nothing and you're guaranteed to hit it every time!"

Soooo  what do we have to lose?  It beats the heck out of sitting on our hands griping all the time!

(But that's just me)

😉

[TrixxieTriss]

1 hour ago, Toraak said:

This is a matter of Opinion. 7.x gearing system is far from perfect, but the 6.x gearing system was pure ****.

Would love to see a poll on wether the player population thinks 6.x or 7.x gearing was better. From reading feedback, I would say the majority of players would agree with me & prefer the 6.x gearing over the 7.x gearing system. 

Of course both could be drastically improved.

There was only 2 draw backs with 6.x. Too many variations (not really an issue) & no direct way to purchase without RNG (kinda sucked). But we could play our own preferred ways to acquire BiS gear & min max 

With 7.x, it’s too convoluted with multiple currencies & there was no way to buy mods or min max for nearly 12+months for most of the player base. And even now you have to jump through multiple hoops to be able to buy mods. Which actually stopped many people from playing or subbing for those 12 months & lots have not bothered to return to the game. It actually made people quit 😞.

The gearing system in 6.x was much easier to understand & acquire for the entire player base than 7.x currently is. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by TrixxieTriss

[Spikanor]

16 minutes ago, TrixxieTriss said:

The gearing system in 6.x was much easier to understand & acquire for the entire player base than 7.x currently is. 

the 6.x gearing system was not easier to understand but also fair.

since the only thing you need to do was to craft some mods so any type of player can do that since it was also easy to farm craft materials for it.

with the 7.0 gearing system is has become unfair more.

since players that not play PVP or run ops/ flashpoints only get there upgrade tokens from the daily area's or heroic's random drops

so see the difrend all between the player style's what first was fair and now has become unfair more.

and there can chance it like there wane but in the end its still staying unfair.

crafting mods was the best way still to have a fair plain field.

 

19 minutes ago, TrixxieTriss said:

Would love to see a poll on wether the player population thinks 6.x or 7.x gearing was better. From reading feedback, I would say the majority of players would agree with me & prefer the 6.x gearing over the 7.x gearing system.

i think a poll is a good idea then the devs can see it with there own eye's what there community thinks about there new gearing system.

[TrixxieTriss]

11 minutes ago, Spikanor said:

i think a poll is a good idea then the devs can see it with there own eye's what there community thinks about there new gearing system

They should have been using these sorts of polls during the life of the game to find out what players liked or didn’t like about certain aspects of the game. Especially as they seem to ignore PTS feedback.

Edited October 27, 2023 by TrixxieTriss

[Spikanor]

Just now, TrixxieTriss said:

They should have been using these sorts of polls during the life of the game to find out what players liked or didn’t like about certain aspects of the game.

 

i know some game's that have that sort of system on there forums.

and its something the devs from that game's also have been using to see what for things get the most vote's and what the community like's or not about it.

in some FPS forums i know there use the poll to see what for remake of a old map the community wane see so there give the communnity 5 options and there can select one and the one with the most vote's between some time limit gets a remake and the other maps got bad luck but its still fair to see what are the favoriete maps players like to play on.

 

[DWho]

1 hour ago, OlBuzzard said:

You're absolutely right!  And the whole minefield thing .. that's probably true too!  But ... you know me!  "Aim at nothing and you're guaranteed to hit it every time!"

Soooo  what do we have to lose?  It beats the heck out of sitting on our hands griping all the time!

(But that's just me)

😉

Back when progressing the storyline was more than a couple of cut-scenes in a flashpoint (whether you call it that or not), they could have done something as simple as having one of the "combats/interactions" be slightly different for a specific base class. No need to have the entire series be different, but just a little "personalization" here or there would have gone a long way. Now, with so little "story content", it would be hard to find a place where you could do something like that without effectively duplicating the entire thing. Focusing on group content has led to an increasingly generalized storyline since the released content has to work for all classes (not that as little content as is released now would make a difference with a different focus).

[Spikanor]

3 hours ago, TrixxieTriss said:

Especially as they seem to ignore PTS feedback.

this is something that can mix out with lot of other points that have been post on this thread all and some other threads.

since if you ignore the PTS feedback then you get the same thing what you have point out all few post's back.

that there wasting a lot of time and money for something the community not like's when you can spent it more on other things.

and same go's also to my point i have make on some other threads like.

if there for once stop screwing things up from the start then there not have to fix it later on and can use that time for other things more then fixing things there screw up from the start since there ignore the feedback.

best exenple is the new armor system.

in 7.0 there have screw it big time and look is how manny chance's it not good.

in 7.3 there have chance it and now in 7.4 there going to chance it again.

so thats all 2 update's there waste there time on for something that can be done from the start good if there have listing to the Feedback back then.

the same has happing in 6.0 with the amplifier sheet first ignore the feedback 3 update's later or so fix it right and in 7.0 become's worthless more.

[OlBuzzard]

3 hours ago, DWho said:

Back when progressing the storyline was more than a couple of cut-scenes in a flashpoint (whether you call it that or not), they could have done something as simple as having one of the "combats/interactions" be slightly different for a specific base class. No need to have the entire series be different, but just a little "personalization" here or there would have gone a long way. Now, with so little "story content", it would be hard to find a place where you could do something like that without effectively duplicating the entire thing. Focusing on group content has led to an increasingly generalized storyline since the released content has to work for all classes (not that as little content as is released now would make a difference with a different focus).

Precisely ... attempting to divide what we have now into 8 separate stories would almost be pointless (given the restricted amount of content given to the overall scheme of the entire game.  Still just the same .. there really needs to be some areas in which a slighted variance would be permissible.  Otherwise, we have even less than KotFE / ET.  More like a mini-SWTOR.

Somehow that just seems to have a bit of a sour taste to it!

Also @TrixxieTriss ... you and a number of others have good solid understanding of the real difference between 6.0 and 7.0  IMO we would stand a better chance with a Ouija board.  OK ... maybe that's a tad over the top (but not by much).  ALSO Trixxie ... as far as actually taking poles:  The team already has several good ones (if they would only take the time to recognize all of them as things have unfolded around here for the last 12 to 18 months!)

😉

[Toraak]

13 hours ago, TrixxieTriss said:

Would love to see a poll on wether the player population thinks 6.x or 7.x gearing was better. From reading feedback, I would say the majority of players would agree with me & prefer the 6.x gearing over the 7.x gearing system. 

Of course both could be drastically improved.

There was only 2 draw backs with 6.x. Too many variations (not really an issue) & no direct way to purchase without RNG (kinda sucked). But we could play our own preferred ways to acquire BiS gear & min max 

With 7.x, it’s too convoluted with multiple currencies & there was no way to buy mods or min max for nearly 12+months for most of the player base. And even now you have to jump through multiple hoops to be able to buy mods. Which actually stopped many people from playing or subbing for those 12 months & lots have not bothered to return to the game. It actually made people quit 😞.

The gearing system in 6.x was much easier to understand & acquire for the entire player base than 7.x currently is. 

All of the variations was the issue. while 7.x grind is what most complain about that really isn't much different from 6.x farming HS tho. The difference is doing that was easier for most players. If 6.x dropped all of the armoring, mod and enhancement variations I'd have had no issues with it. That was simply the issue with that gearing system.

 

Lets face it. 6.x Farm HS, 7.x Farm ev/kp HM. Let's face it that is what will happen when 7.4 comes out, as it was for 7.0. The only difference in gear grind for 7.x is that if you want BiS your forced to actually be a sub, and be able to do Operations now.

 

Edit: At least they did fix much with the Hyde/Zeek quests. That did fix most of the gearing problem with 7.x. I don't see anywhere near as many complaints since they added that.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Toraak

[TheVoyant]

1 hour ago, Toraak said:

All of the variations was the issue. while 7.x grind is what most complain about that really isn't much different from 6.x farming HS tho. The difference is doing that was easier for most players. If 6.x dropped all of the armoring, mod and enhancement variations I'd have had no issues with it. That was simply the issue with that gearing system.

 

Lets face it. 6.x Farm HS, 7.x Farm ev/kp HM. Let's face it that is what will happen when 7.4 comes out, as it was for 7.0. The only difference in gear grind for 7.x is that if you want BiS your forced to actually be a sub, and be able to do Operations now.

 

Edit: At least they did fix much with the Hyde/Zeek quests. That did fix most of the gearing problem with 7.x. I don't see anywhere near as many complaints since they added that.

To each their own though, the variations were precisely what most of the people I ran with liked the most. Gave us something to do/sense of reward for re-running content. Getting an extra bit mastery or power here and there was a nice bonus anytime you saw a good R series mod. 

Never gonna make everyone happy, but 6.0 to me was a near perfect version of the game. Gear/Actually having meaningful loot was part of the reason why. 

I respect its not your cup of tea. Some aren't into the loot style systems and hate RNG, I'd of been cool with them making a system to work around that in conjunction.

Now we have the worst of both worlds, no loot & a bad gear token system. 

But what do you expect from Devs who don't treat the player base with basic respect.

[Toraak]

46 minutes ago, TheVoyant said:

To each their own though, the variations were precisely what most of the people I ran with liked the most. Gave us something to do/sense of reward for re-running content. Getting an extra bit mastery or power here and there was a nice bonus anytime you saw a good R series mod. 

Never gonna make everyone happy, but 6.0 to me was a near perfect version of the game. Gear/Actually having meaningful loot was part of the reason why. 

I respect its not your cup of tea. Some aren't into the loot style systems and hate RNG, I'd of been cool with them making a system to work around that in conjunction.

Now we have the worst of both worlds, no loot & a bad gear token system. 

But what do you expect from Devs who don't treat the player base with basic respect.

That's the thing. The gear had no meaning. 99% of it was Disintegration trash in 6.x..

[xxSHOONYxx]

1 hour ago, TheVoyant said:

To each their own though, the variations were precisely what most of the people I ran with liked the most. Gave us something to do/sense of reward for re-running content. Getting an extra bit mastery or power here and there was a nice bonus anytime you saw a good R series mod. 

Never gonna make everyone happy, but 6.0 to me was a near perfect version of the game. Gear/Actually having meaningful loot was part of the reason why. 

I respect its not your cup of tea. Some aren't into the loot style systems and hate RNG, I'd of been cool with them making a system to work around that in conjunction.

Now we have the worst of both worlds, no loot & a bad gear token system. 

But what do you expect from Devs who don't treat the player base with basic respect.

To each their own that is right, but to me 6.0 gearing was an illusion. Anything RNG is set to extend the grind not to make it easy on anyone, the famous "thrill of the hunt" that i forgot which dev was it that said it and got clowned and a big backlash at the time.

People that don't like hard content are usually the ones praising 6.0 gearing but since those people are usually the least knowledgeable in game mechanics (as was i at the beginning when i played in casual guilds) and with so many options to choose from they can end with godawful gear that would be even MUCH worse than 7.0 conquest gear stat allocation if it reached 340 now, yet they would be happy because their gear iRating was the same and everyone else that does care about BiS, and people that care about BiS gets hard trolled BioWare because not only the rng was hell with each armor/mod/enhancement for each piece having... 21 variants? I don't remember how many exactly. And the shells had the bonuses so you either took off mods armoring and enhancements to play a different class (if you were lucky enough the amplifier it had worked on the spec you wanted to play) or good luck starting the grind again, if you even managed to get BiS on one set to begin with.

7.0 is not any good either. Only thing i like is implants having the set bonus so gear is more alt friendly.

[OlBuzzard]

IMO the drop rate in 6.0 devolved.  I remember what it was like when it was first released.  I actually got stuff I could use (and wanted).  By the time we were at the last stages of 6.XX it was a disappointing mess with runaway RNG.  (We DID get rid of MOST of the drops one way or another because they were useless).  IMO this is one of the reasons we see differing opinions of 6.XXX gear system.

7.0 has to be ONE of the biggest calamities of SWTOR...  period!  did the gearing system of 6.XXX need a bit of reworking?  YES!  But with the 10th anniversary of the game at hand all it needed was reworking... not replacing with the sad state of affairs that we have now.

The resources were spent (blown away) foolishly.  So who paid for that?  WE DID !!!  No excuses!  Frankly I'm getting tired of this mess too!  Somehow, we've got to get past all of this and move on!  Yet the simple fact is that we still have to deal with it every day now!  That is so discouraging!!  And frankly the GS series AINT helping that much either!

Edited October 28, 2023 by OlBuzzard
clarification

[Shwarzchild]

The sad truth is that the skill of the current player base is so obnoxiously low that anything outside of solo story has a higher potential for being not fun than fun.  The content could be A+ in quality, but we the players bring this game crashing down. I do blame the developers of old and new for some of this.   There isn't really anything in this game that helps train a player naturally as they progress.  And part I do blame on the players for wanting everything handed to them for free cause free is better than not free.

Also...why bother? There is no reason to bother.  They're literally coming out with a new gear tier with no new content that might require it.  It's insane. None of us should even attempt for that gear.  It literally doesn't matter at all.  

If anyone has something they really enjoy doing still in this game, kudos to you.  I'm very jealous. I miss the days where people could actually play this game by hitting some correct buttons in succession in any form of content. 

Why bother.  It's such an apt title for a thread. Game should be beyond great. Yet, here we are.  Player base that can't play the game, and a new gear tier for no reason at all. 

[xordevoreaux]

44 minutes ago, Shwarzchild said:

the skill of the current player base is so obnoxiously low

I'll be sure to pass that tidbit of insight to my NIM ops folks in my guild

[Shwarzchild]

13 minutes ago, xordevoreaux said:

I'll be sure to pass that tidbit of insight to my NIM ops folks in my guild

Also a NIM raider myself.  There are very very very few of any of us left.  But I do appreciate the attempt at snark. I give it an A.

edit:
All the nim people in your guild or in your circle already know that the player base skill level is super low. It won't be news to them. 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Shwarzchild

[TrixxieTriss]

11 hours ago, xxSHOONYxx said:

To each their own that is right, but to me 6.0 gearing was an illusion. Anything RNG is set to extend the grind not to make it easy on anyone, the famous "thrill of the hunt" that i forgot which dev was it that said it and got clowned and a big backlash at the time.

People that don't like hard content are usually the ones praising 6.0 gearing but since those people are usually the least knowledgeable in game mechanics (as was i at the beginning when i played in casual guilds) and with so many options to choose from they can end with godawful gear that would be even MUCH worse than 7.0 conquest gear stat allocation if it reached 340 now, yet they would be happy because their gear iRating was the same and everyone else that does care about BiS, and people that care about BiS gets hard trolled BioWare because not only the rng was hell with each armor/mod/enhancement for each piece having... 21 variants? I don't remember how many exactly. And the shells had the bonuses so you either took off mods armoring and enhancements to play a different class (if you were lucky enough the amplifier it had worked on the spec you wanted to play) or good luck starting the grind again, if you even managed to get BiS on one set to begin with.

7.0 is not any good either. Only thing i like is implants having the set bonus so gear is more alt friendly.

I think we all agree that 6.x gearing had its issues. Some of them were pretty major too. But there was an easier & better solution to the gearing problem than starting from scratch in 7.0

They could have reduced the variety of mods/armor/enhancements/etc down to a more manageable number of say 8 instead of 19-21 types. 

They could have removed the RNG factor entirely at the vendors. And if they wanted to keep amplifiers, they could have made them grind based instead of RNG based to increase their lvl. 

Of course they would have had to reduce the number of drops because there would be less RNG & less types to extend their “gear grind for content” game design. But they could have solved their time gate problems by reducing Tech frag drops & increasing there costs. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by TrixxieTriss