Yep, the 500 UCs thing is only for the first crystal bought that way for the day.

Thanks. Wow, what a horrible way to run things. I swear, anything to just gank us along.

Yep, the 500 UCs thing is only for the first crystal bought that way for the day.

Pretty sure its per week, not day. She will need to wait till next week to buy another at 500UCs

@Grim

The easiest solution to fix everyone’s problems and play style was to split gear to pvp, pve and high end raid gear.

You personally could then grind 2-3 sets of gear and be happy (because grinding the current gear means playing pvp anyway)

Pvp players who hate grind or playing pve could gear faster by only playing pvp (this is the major issue for me. I don’t want to play pve content to get gear for pvp)

Raiders could aim for the highest set they need to clear content for Master Mode.

Pve players could aim for the highest set needed for regular to veteran mode pve.

This is exactly how it was before 5.0 and it should never have changed and we wouldn’t have all the problems we do.

The old system also rewarded pvpers for lvling in pvp or allowing them to work towards gear while lvling. This was perfect for the majority of pvpers. But I know you like to grind, so you could easily wait till lvl 70 to start grinding gear, while the rest of us could grind on the way there and get our gear faster when we reached lvl 70.

BioWare once said before 3.0 that they recognised that pvpers were gearing up too slow and that we wanted less gear gap and more skill pvp. So they made changes to the gearing to allow us to gear much faster and had bolster adjusted so it closed the gap more.

I’ve tried for over an hour to find these dev posts, but google isn’t being co-operative and I’ve given up searching (google really has turned to ****).

Anyway my point is, pvp should never be about gear at all. It should always be skill based. Those of us that complained about gear gaps weren’t complaining about the grind so much, we were complaining about how big the gap actually was (too big compared to the old system of 204 reg gear and 208 ranked gear. Both of which were also bolstered above 208.

In 5.0x this changed and we always had “reg gear / bolstered gear to 236-242” (for lack of a better term) that was 2 gear lvls below the top gear. 242 to 248 is a bigger gap than 204 to 208 and when consider the game has 244 and 246 gear, they could have made Bolster 244 or 246 and bumped 248 gear up to 250 with Bolster (like they use to do it in 3.x to 4.x.

They also made Augments part of the Bolster system, which they hadn’t been before 5.0. This means that if you use Augments before the Bolster cap, they are basically a waste of credits and don’t give you much of anything or they actually reduce some stats. Under the old 3.x to 4.x system, you could still wear Augments to boost stats the same as non bolstered players. This could often help lvl the playing field till you could get better gear.

But with the bolstered augment change in 5.0, that meant that non bolstered players got a benefit from the Augments and the bolstered players didn’t. Essentially a non bolstered player was even higher than another 2-4 gear lvls above bolstered players.

Here is an example :

You could where 236 gear bolstered to 242 with Augments and your gear lvl wouldn’t reach 242 (maybe 238-240), so you essentially got nothing from those Augments because Bolster was capped at 242 till they started to work.

But you could be 248 geared and have those 236-240 Augments add even higher stats than 242 Bolster. That would essentially take you to 250-252 gearing.

That’s 242 bolstered people against 250-252 people. Which obviously isn’t fair because the gear gap is nolonger 242 to 248, it was 242 to 252.

Slow gearing and big gear gaps is what kills skill based pvp. People mostly hate it as they try to gear and they either leave or those that stay find pvp gets easier and easier until they are smashing people because of gear and not skill.

That’s not fun for most people on either side of the equation. Those that say they love the gear gap are those that “need” the gear to beat people. (That doesn’t relate to grind. Gear gap and grind are two different things).

5.x gearing system has driven so many pvpers from this game. It’s a travesty they let it go on for so long and it’s ridiculously incompetent to then make it worse with 5.10 gearing. They have no idea about the pvpers in this game or most other players either. It’s why it’s dying slowly of gear grind cancer that has started to spread faster and killing the game quicker,

In my opinion the current gap in pvp is still too high, but better than they originally announced for 5,10 (248 Bolster). The best thing they could do for pvp until they split the gear system again is to make gear Bolster 258. This would allow for skill based pvp and those that do like the grind to 258 would still actually get more stats because of how Bolster actually works as well as how bolstered Augments work. So they would still have an advantage and a reason to grind. But the gap would be smaller and people who hate the grind or pve content, wouldn’t be as disadvantaged as they will be when more people have 258 gear.

I’m refusing to grind gear on Ossus. I don’t like the area that much and after the first couple of run throughs I was bored because I don’t like pve anymore. That means I have no way to gear up to 258 unless I convert 1500UCs a week to buy crystals and that will take over 6 months to gear one Alt 258.

So I’m using Bolster per gear at moment. But when too many people have 258 gear, I will probably call it quits because 252 Bolster gear vs 258 gear with Augments will be like 252 vs 260-262 geared players and that is just dumb.

With no other way to gear up an Alt in under 6 weeks (which IMO should be the max to gear for pvp) I will have no other recourse but to leave the game for good this time.

The gearing system isn’t fair for people who only want to pvp. It’s also bugged so even if you do grind it, you won’t get what you need most of the time.

IMO, this is actually worse than the first gearing system this game had and that is saying something. BioWare don’t learn from previous mistakes or successes. They keep making the same mistakes over and over like they don’t know the history of their own game or the successes they had to designs that made it fun.

BioWare are the cancer and are the ones killing the game from within. Until they find cure for their memeory loss, this game will continue to die faster everytime they release another mistake or don’t fix one that needs fixing urgently.

I will probably call it quits because 252 Bolster gear vs 258 gear with Augments will be like 252 vs 260-262 geared players and that is just dumb.

You and I both know you will never quit SWTOR!

Pretty sure its per week, not day. She will need to wait till next week to buy another at 500UCs

Wait, what? That's so not cool.

You and I both know you will never quit SWTOR!

Pretty close to it.

It's totally your fault here..

With 8 alts and enough UC"s stacked you can get to 258 in a couple of weeks.

What? How it is the guy's fault for expecting to actually get a decent spread of things from RNG?

As for enough UC's only taking a couple of weeks to get to 258, I'm calling bull on that. You can get 4 crystals per week and if you're doing it purely with crystals then it takes 63 of them, which is over 8 weeks.

This system is broken as all hell. Two of my characters are completely at opposite ends of the spectrum; One took almost no time to get a full set of 252 gear, the other took the best part of a month, and that was down to a similar issue. This system isn't fun or fair.

What? How it is the guy's fault for expecting to actually get a decent spread of things from RNG?

 

As for enough UC's only taking a couple of weeks to get to 258, I'm calling bull on that. You can get 4 crystals per week and if you're doing it purely with crystals then it takes 63 of them, which is over 8 weeks.

 

This system is broken as all hell. Two of my characters are completely at opposite ends of the spectrum; One took almost no time to get a full set of 252 gear, the other took the best part of a month, and that was down to a similar issue. This system isn't fun or fair.

You're saying that 20 minutes of easy solo content isn't worth the 175 UC, and that's not fair?

At ten minutes a match, winning every single game, it takes 87.5 minutes of pvp to get 175 UC.

Losing, it would take 218 minutes. Most pve is going to be on par or worse than that.

You can "call bull" all you want, but with enough alts, buying pieces that can be put into legacy gear, 2 weeks is all you would need, as long as you had the rep and the UC. You do know what legacy gear is, right?

If you strip out all the BS, outright lies, and complaints, gearing in 5.10 is pretty solid. It's about 25% rng, and 75% progressive gearing. I think that's a good mix for an mmo. You need solid rewards for time spent, but you need a little bit of uncertainty too. It's not perfect, obviously, but it is fair.

The only changes to 5.10 I would make, would be to find a different throttle than the rep system, and to have the world bosses drop random 252 pieces, (on a timer to avoid spawn "ownership") and instead have the weekly for doing the dailies give out a crystal. That and reworking the random weekly crystal for more parity among activity types.

If you want to talk about how you "feel" it's not fair, fine. But don't dress it up as an objective statement.

You're saying that 20 minutes of easy solo content isn't worth the 175 UC, and that's not fair?

 

At ten minutes a match, winning every single game, it takes 87.5 minutes of pvp to get 175 UC.

Losing, it would take 218 minutes. Most pve is going to be on par or worse than that.

 

You can "call bull" all you want, but with enough alts, buying pieces that can be put into legacy gear, 2 weeks is all you would need, as long as you had the rep and the UC. You do know what legacy gear is, right?

 

If you strip out all the BS, outright lies, and complaints, gearing in 5.10 is pretty solid. It's about 25% rng, and 75% progressive gearing. I think that's a good mix for an mmo. You need solid rewards for time spent, but you need a little bit of uncertainty too. It's not perfect, obviously, but it is fair.

 

The only changes to 5.10 I would make, would be to find a different throttle than the rep system, and to have the world bosses drop random 252 pieces, (on a timer to avoid spawn "ownership") and instead have the weekly for doing the dailies give out a crystal. That and reworking the random weekly crystal for more parity among activity types.

 

If you want to talk about how you "feel" it's not fair, fine. But don't dress it up as an objective statement.

How about left side? They aren’t legacy bound and you can’t swap? If the RNG isn’t working correctly, can you swap them for different ones at the vendor when upgrading to 258?

Wait, what? That's so not cool.

You're right. It's not cool at all. Trixxie was right, it is PER WEEK before the price of the crystal drops back to 500. So you can only buy one per week, which is the lousiest, bag over the head, kick in the arse and makes me really believe this game is on its last legs as they're just ganking us along to milk us for sub money. I don't want to believe it, but this kind of bull **** is ridiculous and no healthy game would go to such measures.

How about left side? They aren’t legacy bound and you can’t swap? If the RNG isn’t working correctly, can you swap them for different ones at the vendor when upgrading to 258?

The left side of your gear you need to buy 1 by 1 for your main char you are currently gearing and you cannot exchange with another one. Think ahead of your stat build and what kind of relics implants you need....

crit 252 earpiece will buy only crit 258 earpiece.

You're saying that 20 minutes of easy solo content isn't worth the 175 UC, and that's not fair?

 

At ten minutes a match, winning every single game, it takes 87.5 minutes of pvp to get 175 UC.

Losing, it would take 218 minutes. Most pve is going to be on par or worse than that.

 

You can "call bull" all you want, but with enough alts, buying pieces that can be put into legacy gear, 2 weeks is all you would need, as long as you had the rep and the UC. You do know what legacy gear is, right?

 

If you strip out all the BS, outright lies, and complaints, gearing in 5.10 is pretty solid. It's about 25% rng, and 75% progressive gearing. I think that's a good mix for an mmo. You need solid rewards for time spent, but you need a little bit of uncertainty too. It's not perfect, obviously, but it is fair.

 

The only changes to 5.10 I would make, would be to find a different throttle than the rep system, and to have the world bosses drop random 252 pieces, (on a timer to avoid spawn "ownership") and instead have the weekly for doing the dailies give out a crystal. That and reworking the random weekly crystal for more parity among activity types.

 

If you want to talk about how you "feel" it's not fair, fine. But don't dress it up as an objective statement.

This week I got like 2000+ UC in total. So... that shouldn't be a problem if you play content that gives it.

The left side of your gear you need to buy 1 by 1 for your main char you are currently gearing and you cannot exchange with another one. Think ahead of your stat build and what kind of relics implants you need....

 

crit 252 earpiece will buy only crit 258 earpiece.

That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t sure.

I’ve decided to not play Ossus since the first few times. I really did try, but I don’t like it and I’m not going to play it just so I can gear to play pvp. What an absolute load of crap of a system that is.

I’m basically over the bull **** BioWare try to heap on us as players. They are either incompetent or don’t give a crap about the majority of us having fun.

I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it till we get a good reason (explanation from Musco or Keith) for the changes to all the gear issues. The changes and the MM op were for the raiders and Keith and his guild. Not for the rest of us. It’s nepotism and it’s wrong what he did.

So, It's-100%-RNG guys, congratulations, they say this is a bug.

At long last I've received reply to my ticket regarding to my suspicions, where I wrote that all of my toons are getting all the same pieces from Artifact Lockboxes:

"After checking my resources here, this particular case appears to have been caused by a bug within the game that will need to be corrected in a future game update and as such, cannot be corrected by Customer Service on the time being. But do not worry as our development team are reviewing the reports and will investigate the issue to apply a fix.

To allow us to identify and correct these issues, we would request that you submit a Bug Report on this issue. Bug Reports submitted though the In-Game Help Center go directly to our development QA team and not to Customer Service. To submit a bug, you can type /bug in your chat window or select Bug Report from the drop down when creating a new ticket in the In-Game Help Center.

What I can suggest, is for you to check the latest patch notes at http://www.swtor.com/patchnotes every patch for information on any fixes or changes in our game updates or our Known Bug list which can be found at the top of our Bug Forums here: http://www.swtor.com/community/forumdisplay.php?f=417. We regret that we will be unable to provide you with further updates on this issue directly."

I've created new topic in Bug Reports section, let's see what will they reply.

So, It's-100%-RNG guys, congratulations, they say this is a bug.

At long last I've received reply to my ticket regarding to my suspicions, where I wrote that all of my toons are getting all the same pieces from Artifact Lockboxes:

 

"After checking my resources here, this particular case appears to have been caused by a bug within the game that will need to be corrected in a future game update and as such, cannot be corrected by Customer Service on the time being. But do not worry as our development team are reviewing the reports and will investigate the issue to apply a fix."

I've gotten that one before too. Wait, are we playing CS Rep Bingo?

I've gotten that one before too. Wait, are we playing CS Rep Bingo?

He got an automated response and thinks it somehow validates his hopes and dreams that the awful drop rate for gears is just bugged and not RNG.

I don't know if I should feel glad for him, or sad tbh. I probably should have left it alone, no sense in raining on his parade just out of my own resentfulness of this gearing system.

Ruuslaan, you are right. It's not RNG, it's just bugged, if that somehow makes it better for you!

Until I see something written in yellow text from Eric explaining that the lockboxes are bugged, I am going to go with what the devs said which is lockboxes are RNG.

Good luck on your quest

Good luck on your quest

Aww, now that's not fair. you can't use my own material against me.

So, It's-100%-RNG guys, congratulations, they say this is a bug.

At long last I've received reply to my ticket regarding to my suspicions, where I wrote that all of my toons are getting all the same pieces from Artifact Lockboxes:

 

"After checking my resources here, this particular case appears to have been caused by a bug within the game that will need to be corrected in a future game update and as such, cannot be corrected by Customer Service on the time being. But do not worry as our development team are reviewing the reports and will investigate the issue to apply a fix.

 

To allow us to identify and correct these issues, we would request that you submit a Bug Report on this issue. Bug Reports submitted though the In-Game Help Center go directly to our development QA team and not to Customer Service. To submit a bug, you can type /bug in your chat window or select Bug Report from the drop down when creating a new ticket in the In-Game Help Center.

 

What I can suggest, is for you to check the latest patch notes at http://www.swtor.com/patchnotes every patch for information on any fixes or changes in our game updates or our Known Bug list which can be found at the top of our Bug Forums here: http://www.swtor.com/community/forumdisplay.php?f=417. We regret that we will be unable to provide you with further updates on this issue directly."

 

I've created new topic in Bug Reports section, let's see what will they reply.

5.10.1 patch notes released. Nothing in them saying they have fixed this bug.

I have to wonder how CS can 100% determine its a bug with no coding experience or access to the code. Either they are guessing because the randomness doesn’t seem to be in the RNG factor or they’ve been given some inside info.

I’m going with guessing because if it was a known bug and they knew this, you wouldn’t have been told to report it.

It’s good that you have reported it in the bug section. Now let’s see what happens?

Aww, now that's not fair. you can't use my own material against me.

:p:p:p

5.10.1 patch notes released. Nothing in them saying they have fixed this bug.

 

I have to wonder how CS can 100% determine its a bug with no coding experience or access to the code. Either they are guessing because the randomness doesn’t seem to be in the RNG factor or they’ve been given some inside info.

 

I’m going with guessing because if it was a known bug and they knew this, you wouldn’t have been told to report it.

 

It’s good that you have reported it in the bug section. Now let’s see what happens?

Knowledge database? No, never heard of it.

And I wouldn't expect a fix in the nearest patch - some bugs I've met recently in this game and googled were from 2013, like ops chat bug or gsf t4-t5 upgrades reset or many-many more annoying bugs.

They still can't fix mission sharing, collected artifacts quest and the bug boss on Ossus which sometimes gives credits and sometimes doesn't, so, may be they will fix the random thing in 5.10.100.

As I said, let's see what devs will reply.

let's see what devs will reply.

Good luck on your quest

From all explanations given by the devs the boxes are indeed RNG. Until I see something written in yellow text from Eric explaining that the lockboxes are bugged, I am going to go with what the devs said which is lockboxes are RNG.

Just curious, what devs said you that boxes are RNG? Could you provide a link or do you hear voices or smth?

From what I've observed from the Ossus crate drops is that they are very likely biased by slot type. And not biased by class, but rather by character with tech, upper, and lower crates usually dropping the same slot type for that character. I say usually because about 15% have been unexpected surprises.

For example, suppose I'm in need of mods for a merc helmet. I can complete the weekly on one of my particular commandos, select the tech crate and will likely get the needed helmet. Its mods can be ripped and transferred via legacy. That commando has seen nothing but head slot gear from 6 tech crates so far. Spec has not influenced the slot bias (of course heals or damage sets what the helmet's stats will be.) The merc has seen 5 offhand blasters and 1 surprise quick savant earpiece so far. Too bad commandos cant use offhand barrels.

I have one vanguard that has opened 9 crates, 3 from each type. Spec hasn't influenced the returned slot type there either. From tech its been 2 bulwark and 1 adept earpieces. From upper: 1 adept and 2 bulwark implants. From lower: 3 relics of devastating vengeance. Nothing transferable via legacy.

My sith assassin has seen nothing but relics from lower crates: 2 relics of devastating vengeance, 1 boundless ages, 1 shrouded crusader, and 2 primeval fatesealer so far. My jedi shadow has also seen nothing but relics from lower crates: 5 relics of devastating vengeance, and 1 relic of focused retribution. I haven't tried tech or upper crates with either of them.

From what I've observed from the Ossus crate drops is that they are very likely biased by slot type. And not biased by class, but rather by character with tech, upper, and lower crates usually dropping the same slot type for that character. I say usually because about 15% have been unexpected surprises.

 

For example, suppose I'm in need of mods for a merc helmet. I can complete the weekly on one of my particular commandos, select the tech crate and will likely get the needed helmet. Its mods can be ripped and transferred via legacy. That commando has seen nothing but head slot gear from 6 tech crates so far. Spec has not influenced the slot bias (of course heals or damage sets what the helmet's stats will be.) The merc has seen 5 offhand blasters and 1 surprise quick savant earpiece so far. Too bad commandos cant use offhand barrels.

 

I have one vanguard that has opened 9 crates, 3 from each type. Spec hasn't influenced the returned slot type there either. From tech its been 2 bulwark and 1 adept earpieces. From upper: 1 adept and 2 bulwark implants. From lower: 3 relics of devastating vengeance. Nothing transferable via legacy.

 

My sith assassin has seen nothing but relics from lower crates: 2 relics of devastating vengeance, 1 boundless ages, 1 shrouded crusader, and 2 primeval fatesealer so far. My jedi shadow has also seen nothing but relics from lower crates: 5 relics of devastating vengeance, and 1 relic of focused retribution. I haven't tried tech or upper crates with either of them.

I asked ppl on my server and many of them were telling that they are getting same pieces from the lockboxes all the time too - just the same issue that we have.

Unfortunately, devs haven't replied yet neither to this topic, nor to the one I created in the "Bugs" section.

I already have several toons fully equipped by 258 except mh/oh - added 8 more toons for farming those masterwork crystals and the new monumental crystals (grind, grind, grind), but still curious - are they gonna fix it or nah.