No way!!

I for one am much more likely to spend 2600 CC on a new platnium armor set than however much it would be for a crate now with the (very small) chance of getting the enitre set or any of the set.

Stick RNG where the sun don't shine.

I want to know what I am getting for my money.

Considering how many states in the U.S. are working on laws to ban that sort of online "gambling" purchasing, it would be a bad idea for them to get back in the habit of releasing mystery packs.

(Not commenting on whether that's fair or not, just pointing out it's only a matter of time before packs have to go.)

That being said, I completely agree that the GTN has some serious problems.

I used to love to shop the GTN for decorations every day. I had a great time looking for deals and new items.

I can't remember the last time I went looking, now.

The lack of influx of new items has also led to some ridiculous inflation.

Too many of the new decorations (such as Ossus) bind on acquire, so there's no market for them on the GTN.

In the absence of packs, we really need new items to be unbound to keep the GTN fresh.

More random drops of interesting, unbound items from boss kills would help, too.

Due to dilution, it is harder and harder to get the new CM items with the ultimate cartel packs, if we can get some cartel packs that cater to specific themes such as force users/non force users/republic military/imperial military etc and loot tables, it will makes sense for collectors to try to draw those items.

That's a relief, for a second i thought that new items were not being applied to the packs RNGing. I understand the dilution aspect, though I still prefer the all in one place feature that comes with the ultimate cartel pack. This way I don't have to research what pack to buy and if I get a rare item I don't like I can sell/give it to a guild member.

Anyone who buys RNG lootboxes like these with "I want Item X" as a goal is, to be blunt, *wrong*. Doing that will lead (almost(1)) inevitably to disappointment.

What you should be doing:

* Buy the boxes with an eye to selling them (the *boxes*, unopened) on the GTN and use the credits to buy the thing you want.

* Buy the crate of boxes and sell *it* directly on the GTN.

* Buy the boxes and open them for the fun of seeing what you get. As a bonus, sell the stuff you aren't interested in.

(1) I've had a few moments of spectacular good fortune, like the time I dropped Senya's Lightsabre Pike (the dualsabre version) on the third box in the crate (fourth crate, but who's counting), but as noted, the structure of the "Ultimate" packs speaks against this sort of luck being remotely common.

Anyone who buys RNG lootboxes like these with "I want Item X" as a goal is, to be blunt, *wrong*. Doing that will lead (almost(1)) inevitably to disappointment.

 

What you should be doing:

* Buy the boxes with an eye to selling them (the *boxes*, unopened) on the GTN and use the credits to buy the thing you want.

* Buy the crate of boxes and sell *it* directly on the GTN.

* Buy the boxes and open them for the fun of seeing what you get. As a bonus, sell the stuff you aren't interested in.

 

(1) I've had a few moments of spectacular good fortune, like the time I dropped Senya's Lightsabre Pike (the dualsabre version) on the third box in the crate (fourth crate, but who's counting), but as noted, the structure of the "Ultimate" packs speaks against this sort of luck being remotely common.

I love buying the crates then opening the boxes! It's totally an instance of indecisiveness, but if i drop 2000+ CC on a single item/set I tend to feel regret. Like maybe I bought the wrong item ha ha. With the crates I let luck decide. I usually get something interesting or I sell the items to buy something I want. it's usually both!

Anyone who buys RNG lootboxes like these with "I want Item X" as a goal is, to be blunt, *wrong*. Doing that will lead (almost(1)) inevitably to disappointment.

 

What you should be doing:

* Buy the boxes with an eye to selling them (the *boxes*, unopened) on the GTN and use the credits to buy the thing you want.

* Buy the crate of boxes and sell *it* directly on the GTN.

* Buy the boxes and open them for the fun of seeing what you get. As a bonus, sell the stuff you aren't interested in.

 

(1) I've had a few moments of spectacular good fortune, like the time I dropped Senya's Lightsabre Pike (the dualsabre version) on the third box in the crate (fourth crate, but who's counting), but as noted, the structure of the "Ultimate" packs speaks against this sort of luck being remotely common.

I think the OP is referring to a different issue than the one you are talking about. It is less about trying to get a specific item in the old packs as the fact that fewer items are being released over all. With the change to Ultimate packs for old stuff and exorbitant direct buy for new stuff there simply isn't as much new stuff being created and of that new stuff, very little of it is making it to the GTN.

We used to get the old packs nearly monthly and they contained between 26-40 new items in each one. Compare that to now. Now we get half dozen items now and then, and even then half of them seem to be re-skins. I, for one, miss having the steady influx of new things to collect. I love titles and pets and toys and companion cutomizations. All of the little cheap stuff was fun and now it's gone.

Now that the Ultimate pack has a chance of dropping virtually anything, the chance of getting something you can use is very small. Sure, you can sell the pack or the unwanted items in the GTN, but that doesn't solve your problem. You just converted CC to credits. Everyone else opening a pack had the same terrible chances of getting the item you want, and they might want to keep it, so you won't be able to find it in the GTN. If you do happen to find one or two, the price will be astronomical due to rarity.

Imagine you have a Nar Shaddaa stronghold with 425 hooks. Each decoration costs, on average, 100k. Obviously there are a lot of cheaper decorations, but there are many more very expensive ones. Unless you want the Palace Of Identical Chairs or the Themeless Stronghold of Random Decos, you're going to be spending a pretty penny on a number of those hooks. That means you need about 42.5 million credits to do a fairly good job of decorating your stronghold, plus 6.5 million to unlock the stronghold itself. That's assuming you grind FPs and Ops and events and PvP matches and Light/Dark side points to unlock as many cheap and free decorations as you can.

So... packs may be a nice way to get a fun new outfit or weapon, but when it comes to decorations, IMHO they're a real flop.

That's a relief, for a second i thought that new items were not being applied to the packs RNGing. I understand the dilution aspect, though I still prefer the all in one place feature that comes with the ultimate cartel pack. This way I don't have to research what pack to buy and if I get a rare item I don't like I can sell/give it to a guild member.

Due to dilution, it is way cheaper to just buy the latest CM items directly on CM or GTN rather than trying to get new drops from the packs. The odds are insanely low to get new items.

No way!!

 

I for one am much more likely to spend 2600 CC on a new platnium armor set than however much it would be for a crate now with the (very small) chance of getting the enitre set or any of the set.

Stick RNG where the sun don't shine.

 

I want to know what I am getting for my money.

Yes 2600CC to get the new armor is better than spending 26,000 CC trying to draw the new item from the RNG pack.

Anyone who buys RNG lootboxes like these with "I want Item X" as a goal is, to be blunt, *wrong*. Doing that will lead (almost(1)) inevitably to disappointment.

 

What you should be doing:

* Buy the boxes with an eye to selling them (the *boxes*, unopened) on the GTN and use the credits to buy the thing you want.

* Buy the crate of boxes and sell *it* directly on the GTN.

* Buy the boxes and open them for the fun of seeing what you get. As a bonus, sell the stuff you aren't interested in.

 

(1) I've had a few moments of spectacular good fortune, like the time I dropped Senya's Lightsabre Pike (the dualsabre version) on the third box in the crate (fourth crate, but who's counting), but as noted, the structure of the "Ultimate" packs speaks against this sort of luck being remotely common.

Exact-o-mundo. Keep what u want; sell what you don't, and/ or sell unopened packs, which can fund buying what else you want off the GTN (if u can't get it off opening crates). Any other scope, in regards to packs, is a rookie mistake.

Keep what u want; sell what you don't, and/ or sell unopened packs, which can fund buying what else you want off the GTN (if u can't get it off opening crates).

Except the way that packs work now, you may not find what you want on the GTN or it may cost hundreds of millions of credits due to increased rarity. What you're describing is how things used to work, which was fine. They don't work that way anymore, except for common items.

Except the way that packs work now, you may not find what you want on the GTN or it may cost hundreds of millions of credits due to increased rarity. What you're describing is how things used to work, which was fine. They don't work that way anymore, except for common items.

This has been my problem. There are half a dozen outfits I've been trying to collect, but I haven't seen any of them on the GTN for months and months now. The brand new ones will show up for awhile for crazy prices, but the not so new ones just disappear entirely. I've had more luck picking them up off of the daily 50% sale than off of the GTN.

This has been my problem. There are half a dozen outfits I've been trying to collect, but I haven't seen any of them on the GTN for months and months now. The brand new ones will show up for awhile for crazy prices, but the not so new ones just disappear entirely. I've had more luck picking them up off of the daily 50% sale than off of the GTN.

The problem with CM outfits is that we have limited GTN slots to put our CM wares. We tend to focus on those which sells well like dyes/latest CM collection sets etc. The older sets especially the bronze/sliver outfits that have very low demand and even if we have all the extra sets, we don't have the GTN slots to simply put it up.

This has been my problem. There are half a dozen outfits I've been trying to collect, but I haven't seen any of them on the GTN for months and months now. The brand new ones will show up for awhile for crazy prices, but the not so new ones just disappear entirely. I've had more luck picking them up off of the daily 50% sale than off of the GTN.

If I understand correctly what you're referring to in how it used to be, I think this is largely because:

1) Population is down, means less people buying stuff period. So less people buying something of the CM to sell it.

2) Since it's so straightforward, people can just buy what they want. And if they want to make a profit, go for something that is guaranteed to have a good payout. Like a level 70 token.

The way it was before wasn't fair to people who are actually paying money to buy stuff in the CM. It was good for people looking to get CM stuff off the GTN at the cost of people paying RL money getting screwed over, essentially.

How to fix this would probably require fixing how horribad the GTN is. Like having price history, so that people have some semblance of a consistency for what stuff is worth. Otherwise, nobody is their right mind is gonna go direct purchase a Horizon Guard set or whatever to try to sell it and get some credits because literally nobody else is selling it, so who knows what it's even worth or if it would sell at all.

The other thing that might help would be to implement a feature where people can put up a buy order for an item that isn't listed (if I'm not imagining it in my memory, I think GW2 has something like this, but idk, maybe in my needing-to-sleep haze I am imagining it). But assuming I'm not off my rocker on this one, as it pertains to this game, the general idea would be that say you're looking for Horizon Guard armor or some other obscure set that is for direct sale. You put up a thing on the GTN that says, "I'll pay 5 mil credits for this set of armor." Maybe somebody else puts up they'll pay 10 mil for it. Somebody who gets ahold of the set can then fill the buy order and they'll get the credits and you get the armor. Or depending on how it works, it might just go to the person with the highest payout in buy order.

This would give people more of a clear incentive to consider going for obscure sets when trying to get some credits for CC. And instead of having to watch the GTN like a hawk for obscure sets, you could just pay some credits for what you think it's worth into the GTN buy order and then if somebody happens to fill it, you get the armor you were looking for.

Edit: Also, buy order would hopefully somewhat bypass the problem of flippers buying each other's stuff because one of them undercut low enough that the other decided to buy it up and sell it for more. The competition would be more in the area of offering to pay more, rather than undercutting to sell, so flippers would not have as much control over the market.

IHow to fix this would probably require fixing how horribad the GTN is. Like having price history, so that people have some semblance of a consistency for what stuff is worth. Otherwise, nobody is their right mind is gonna go direct purchase a Horizon Guard set or whatever to try to sell it and get some credits because literally nobody else is selling it, so who knows what it's even worth or if it would sell at all.

 

The other thing that might help would be to implement a feature where people can put up a buy order for an item that isn't listed (if I'm not imagining it in my memory, I think GW2 has something like this, but idk, maybe in my needing-to-sleep haze I am imagining it). But assuming I'm not off my rocker on this one, as it pertains to this game, the general idea would be that say you're looking for Horizon Guard armor or some other obscure set that is for direct sale. You put up a thing on the GTN that says, "I'll pay 5 mil credits for this set of armor." Maybe somebody else puts up they'll pay 10 mil for it. Somebody who gets ahold of the set can then fill the buy order and they'll get the credits and you get the armor. Or depending on how it works, it might just go to the person with the highest payout in buy order.

 

This would give people more of a clear incentive to consider going for obscure sets when trying to get some credits for CC. And instead of having to watch the GTN like a hawk for obscure sets, you could just pay some credits for what you think it's worth into the GTN buy order and then if somebody happens to fill it, you get the armor you were looking for.

Being able to put up a buy order would certainly help me along with my quest to complete my armor collection. And how did you know Horizon Guard is one of the few sets I don't have 😲

Being able to put up a buy order would certainly help me along with my quest to complete my armor collection. And how did you know Horizon Guard is one of the few sets I don't have 😲

Tbh, I thought of it because it's one of the few sets I don't have. (And I've almost never seen it listed when I look, if I have at all - I don't remember for sure). I would certainly benefit from a buy order setup as well.