I hope I am not the only one who has a headache from the gear number switch today. I'm so used to looking at level. NOW I have to look at rating. Two years of training myself to do something and then a sudden switch... (head to desk). I'll eventually get used to it, but today is not the day.

Anyone else feeling a headache?

Me. I find it really annoying.

I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually and can possibly see why they switched (all FPs and Operations have recommended gear ratings in the values we see now, not the old values), but it's forcing me to have to learn a system I've never touched before and....grah.

Did anyone actually /ask/ for the change? Then why fix what ain't broken? :|

I think they made a mistake with this.

I'm guessing the logic is that lvl 55 hardcore players are more interested in rating, which would be a reason for the change. The trouble is that the new players (which will be paying customers for a long while if you treat them right) will suffer, since it's a headache to level up with the right gear now. You need to check everything in detail, since you can't see with a glance what level your gear is suited for anymore.

Personally, I'm so pissed about this I'm thinking of moving to another game (ESO comes to mind), but that will have no effect on the real problem.

I hate this. I really, really do.

Again, I think it's a mistake.

I don't have much of a problem with it.

It will take me a week or 2 to get used to it but afterwards it won't be a problem at all

I think it's an annoying change and they standardized on the wrong one! They should have standardized on the level, not the rating!

I agree. Most players I know spoke in level or grade and rarely use rating. Furthermore, they got rid of level but kept grade. If they had gone cold turkey and did 100% rating, I could accept it. But converting rating to grade is more difficult than converting level to grade.

But I have a suspicion that they did not eliminate grade due to its integration into every schematic name. It would not surprise me if when the crew skill level cap is increased (presumably when the character level cap increases) the new level of schematics abandons the grade numbering too.

That being said, at least now the rating sort feature in the crafting window is more useful .

Long story short (too late), we'll all adapt eventually.

I think it's a necessary change.

Previously one Mod could have 3 different names:

(probably inaccurate but just an example)

Might mod 31

has a level of 72 (might be wrong again, don't shout at me)

and a rating of 156 (or whatever)

That's 3 names for the same thing now there's just 2.

I think it's a necessary change.

 

Previously one Mod could have 3 different names:

(probably inaccurate but just an example)

 

Might mod 31

 

has a level of 72 (might be wrong again, don't shout at me)

 

and a rating of 156 (or whatever)

 

That's 3 names for the same thing now there's just 2.

Most would agree. But why go with the rating when it is probably the least used? Since the "grade" is imbedded in the name (i.e. Might mod 31; the grade is 31) would it not have made sense to eliminate the level in favor of the grade and left the rating in the tooltip?

The other thing I was thinking about today was the rating doesn't match up with the level. I started crafting to the rating instead of the level yesterday. I wanted a 22 hands ...woops, I got a 24 instead. I can RE lower level gear to pop up to blues, then those blues are rated the same as gear two levels higher that I just learned from the vendor.

When I "inspect player" I just ..ugh...number crunching. I'm so used to seeing 44, 72, 78 ...not this. They need to turn it back to what it was or give a dev post giving a good argument for why they did this out of the blue.

I'm so used to seeing 44, 72, 78 ...not this.

That's the point you're used to it.

Give it a few weeks and you will be used to the new style

It's not a matter of being used to. Level is always relevant to know, unless you're lvl 55, in which case rating is more important.

I always craft gear appropriate to a character's level.

A character can only use gear that has the same or lower level.

etc...

As you can see, level is kinda relevant here... I'm so angry the took it away, but as of now, I have an account on Star Trek Online instead.... :-)

That's the point you're used to it.

Give it a few weeks and you will be used to the new style

It would be better if there were a more obvious correlation between the item in the tooltip and the item level.

Previously, the number was level + 1. Once you figure that out, easiest math in the world. On the other hand, under the currrent system, what is the relationship between level 47 and rating 120?

You seem pretty content with this change. Have you stopped leveling alts (and so don't care about the <50 gear rating weirdness) or have you figured out some easy way to determine what the rating means?

I certainly didn't "memorize" 50 levels of gear. I just looked at the number and subtracted 1. Voila! Item level -- it's time to upgrade.

EDIT:

In fact, the main reason I never paid attention to item rating in all time time with gear in this game is it seemed like a nonsense number. Consider:

Green level 9 mod - rating 26.

Green level 15 mod - rating 38.

Green level 27 mod - rating 62.

Okay, so for green it seems to be the number divided by 2, minus 4. It's a bit weird, but okay.

Blue level 9 mod - rating 32.

Blue level 15 mod - rating 46.

Blue level 27 mod - rating 72.

Eh? The blue level 9 is 6 higher than the green. The level 15 is 8 higher. And the level 27 is 10 higher?

Purple level 9 mod - rating 36.

Purple level 15 mod - rating 50.

Purple level 27 mod - rating 76.

So the purples are 4 rating higher than the blue. So they relate to blue, but not to green, and don't have a simple way to back-convert to level.

Are you telling me this just the same as level + 1, and all you have to do is re-familiarize yourself with the new numbers? Really?

You seem pretty content with this change. Have you stopped leveling alts (and so don't care about the <50 gear rating weirdness) or have you figured out some easy way to determine what the rating means?

I haven't stopped leveling alts (My slinger is 11, Vanguard 40, Sent 28, 2nd Merc 11 ...) but I always compare what I've got with what I aquire so it doesn't matter if I compare the item rating, the item level or the stats (I mostly go for the stats as their the only thing that matters) a comparison doesn't take more than a few seconds in any case

I haven't stopped leveling alts (My slinger is 11, Vanguard 40, Sent 28, 2nd Merc 11 ...) but I always compare what I've got with what I aquire so it doesn't matter if I compare the item rating, the item level or the stats (I mostly go for the stats as their the only thing that matters) a comparison doesn't take more than a few seconds in any case

Too bad we don't get comparative tooltips at the mod vendor.

It's not that I can't work around this issue. It's just a "reverse" Quality of Life change. It doesn't make it easier to upgrade your gear. It adds steps.