As an mmo/gamer of many years, im disturbed to see most of the cool models of SWTOR being made availible to people through cartel coins. There are no legitimate ways to get these items outside of the cartel shop save off the GTM.

As a weekly raider who spends most of my time killing bosses and not farming credits...whats the point? Sure, its fun and i enjoy the content, but half the fun is getting to look cool as well.

I really think Swtor is killing this long understood rule and incentive to actually play the game.

Are you bailing on making fun content and reward incentivised raiding, and instead moving towards Cartel Clowns and Freeloaders?

I'm seriously questioning my subscription value here...

There is a cash shop.

There are lock boxes.

They are focusing on the lock boxes.

Its over dude.

As an mmo/gamer of many years, im disturbed to see most of the cool models of SWTOR being made availible to people through cartel coins. There are no legitimate ways to get these items outside of the cartel shop save off the GTM.

 

As a weekly raider who spends most of my time killing bosses and not farming credits...whats the point?

So buy them off the gtn. If you spend most of your time raiding then you can sell stabilizers. Then just purchase whatever you want, most of the cartel armor is not terribly expensive.

I'm seriously questioning my subscription value here...

You've been questioning it for around 7 months now Garb...

PvE

Tier 1

Tionese, Columi, Rakata

Tier 2

Campaign, Dread Guard, ???

PvP

Tier 1

Centurion, Champion, Battlemaster

Tier 2

War Hero, Exalted War Hero, ???

That was their intentional design decision for the first two tiers. They might shift away from that, they might not, but those pieces of gear are recolors to show which tier they belong to.

We made a post a little while back that has some relevance to your concerns. The original post was made in response to worries that new Operation armor art would be used as part of Cartel Packs.

 

Here's a quote with some relevant information from Jason Attard (Senior Game Balance Designer):

 

I believe what people are trying to tell you is that they do not want recolored versions of old armor sets, period. When you release a new set, players want it to look original. Hopefully, that message is getting through.

And on this note, what people actually do want is color dyes, which makes these recolored armor sets pointless.

-Macheath.

And on this note, what people actually do want is color dyes, which makes these recolored armor sets pointless.

 

-Macheath.

We have been pouring over this since Beta and BioWare used to be quite vocal about how we wouldn't get dyes.. hence the match to chest option. Along the same lines of the "match to chest" would be to allow us to match our color to any piece, whether it be chest, helm, boots, etc. That would at least give us more options. You could then match your entire outfit to match your gloves or something.

Yes, however, dyes would've been the best option along with an Appearance tab. But what do I know.. I'm just a player. I apparently don't know what I want and have to be told.

The next new operation won't be for another 3 updates, at least....

Figure the next one will be the end of January/Feb, the time they've targeted for the unveiling of the new ilum.

After that, April/may is presumably Mekeb, which leaves august of 2013 unless they package an operation with mekeb. Seeing as we got previews of TfB 6 months before it dropped, is it possible we'd see an operation sooner without all the promotion starting already?

My point is that we're in for a wait of greater than 1-year between new operations models.

Given the general sentiment towards the first new tier, this was probably a bad decision. They should have bucked up and given new appearances with Tfb, the game was already losing subs like a sieve, was withholding customization really going to hurt anyone?

We have been pouring over this since Beta and BioWare used to be quite vocal about how we wouldn't get dyes.. hence the match to chest option. Along the same lines of the "match to chest" would be to allow us to match our color to any piece, whether it be chest, helm, boots, etc. That would at least give us more options. You could then match your entire outfit to match your gloves or something.

 

Yes, however, dyes would've been the best option along with an Appearance tab. But what do I know.. I'm just a player. I apparently don't know what I want and have to be told.

Even a "match to anything" system is pretty terrible. That still means you have to luck out and find a piece of gear with the right color combinations, in the right pattern; then hope that that pattern translates well onto the rest of your armor. We all know this isn't always the case.

I have renewed hope that, with the addition of the cash shop, BioWare will rethink their policy on armor dyes. After all, "random dye packs" would be a great way to milk their players for even more money, am I right?

-Macheath.

We made a post a little while back that has some relevance to your concerns. The original post was made in response to worries that new Operation armor art would be used as part of Cartel Packs.

 

Here's a quote with some relevant information from Jason Attard (Senior Game Balance Designer):

 

It's not about the new ops models going into cartel packs but the fact that within a year we only had only ONE set of end game armor models added while Cartel Market received at least 4 (nearly) brand new sets within a month (Spymaster, Trailblazer, Preceptor, Phantom, loungewear).

Any bets that the next gear tier wil be just recoulours?

They've already acknowledged that they're sticking with a triple-tier of recolors and then a new design for the next, fourth tier.

They already had this with Tionese, Columi, and Rakata. Now the Black Hole, Campaign, and Dread Guard armors are the same triple set, and then the next tier after Dread Guard will be a new and different design.

I believe what people are trying to tell you is that they do not want recolored versions of old armor sets, period. When you release a new set, players want it to look original. Hopefully, that message is getting through.

 

And on this note, what people actually do want is color dyes, which makes these recolored armor sets pointless.

 

-Macheath.

Just to add in agreement to what you wrote....

Bioware,

Please sell coloring dyes at the Cartel Market. I am pretty confident you will not be disappointing with the absurd amounts of revenue you would generate.

I believe what people are trying to tell you is that they do not want recolored versions of old armor sets, period. When you release a new set, players want it to look original. Hopefully, that message is getting through.

 

And on this note, what people actually do want is color dyes, which makes these recolored armor sets pointless.

 

-Macheath.

No one at bioware or ea cares what people want.

The question is what will they pay for.

We've been letting them know what we'd pay for for awhile now. Threads like this are an example of what happens when they ask us what we want, then ignore us for a year.

The problem isn't that they only care about what we'd pay for, it's that they're completely out of touch and have no idea (or ignore) what we're telling them we'd pay for.

After all the negative feedback about gear over the past year, and after all the Dev's talk about what they're planning on doing, the only new appearances we've gotten since the 1.2 debacle are 3 sexy armors, 2 recolors of a flight suit, and a recolored chest piece they're calling "Revan's", despite it being just a recolor.

It's shameful, especially since they've shown us the other stuff they've got. The stuff on the NPCs, the stuff in their advertisements, etc.

It's not about the new ops models going into cartel packs but the fact that within a year we only had only ONE set of end game armor models added while Cartel Market received at least 4 (nearly) brand new sets within a month (Spymaster, Trailblazer, Preceptor, Phantom, loungewear).

Don't forget that the only unique looking lightsabers in the game come from the gambling boxes too.

It's not about the new ops models going into cartel packs but the fact that within a year we only had only ONE set of end game armor models added while Cartel Market received at least 4 (nearly) brand new sets within a month (Spymaster, Trailblazer, Preceptor, Phantom, loungewear).

Only 2 of these are new sets and they are not even entirely new sets 50% of them is borrowed from other sets or re colorings. Its just easier to get via CCs for some.

They've already acknowledged that they're sticking with a triple-tier of recolors and then a new design for the next, fourth tier.

 

They already had this with Tionese, Columi, and Rakata. Now the Black Hole, Campaign, and Dread Guard armors are the same triple set, and then the next tier after Dread Guard will be a new and different design.

That's slightly off. Black Hole is to Campaign what Exotech is to Columi. Hazmat is not considered as part of the tier for example. After Dread Guard is the last part of the recolor, assuming they stick to the same system to finish off tier 2.

We made a post a little while back that has some relevance to your concerns. The original post was made in response to worries that new Operation armor art would be used as part of Cartel Packs.

 

Here's a quote with some relevant information from Jason Attard (Senior Game Balance Designer):

 

Facta non verba guys. So far, the coolest of the cool is in the cartel market. Until you prove there's better armor coming out, there isn't - because your word is mud these days.

As an mmo/gamer of many years, im disturbed to see most of the cool models of SWTOR being made availible to people through cartel coins. There are no legitimate ways to get these items outside of the cartel shop save off the GTM.

 

As a weekly raider who spends most of my time killing bosses and not farming credits...whats the point? Sure, its fun and i enjoy the content, but half the fun is getting to look cool as well.

 

I really think Swtor is killing this long understood rule and incentive to actually play the game.

 

Are you bailing on making fun content and reward incentivised raiding, and instead moving towards Cartel Clowns and Freeloaders?

 

I'm seriously questioning my subscription value here...

This same complaint, in almost the exact same words shows up in every F2P hybrid conversion. And the same answer always applies. There WILL be cool looking gear in the item shop. The pay to win zealots are constantly on the look out for anything that in their fevered imagination qualifies. Thus, it has been generally accepted that cosmetic items are fair game. Raiding is not an entitlement to look better than everyone else. Raiding's rewards are that you get the best stats. Let that satisfy your desire for a competitive advantage over other players.

Don't forget that the only unique looking lightsabers in the game come from the gambling boxes too.

I honestly can't be bothered to look for links, for a dozenth time, where they speak of quests for legendary weapons beng in works... :l

That's slightly off. Black Hole is to Campaign what Exotech is to Columi. Hazmat is not considered as part of the tier for example. After Dread Guard is the last part of the recolor, assuming they stick to the same system to finish off tier 2.

Tionese (tier 0.33), Columi (tier 0.66), Rakata (Tier 1), Campaign and Black Hole (Tier 2), Dread Guard and Hazmat (Tier 3). Afaik Bioware referred to 1.2 items as second tier and 1.4 brought third tier. That's what it looks like, I know it's weird :L

Unlike in WoW we're not getting "inbetween" sets anymore post-launch but Black Hole and Hazmat already came with equal to Campaign/Denova modifications, lacking only set bonuses.

Anyway, it's really awful that during the whole year only TWO (PvE and PVP) new models were added into the game for each class.

A fundamental problem with the Cartel packs, beyond it trumping in-game gear earnablity, is the perceived VALUE of the packs.

I suggest the powers that are conceiving what goes in these packs take a hard look at what is going into other games' "lockboxes" or equivalent.

The current perceived value of packs is pretty low, considering you have a high-probability to get half your pack being useless.

Everything you get you should be useful, in any situation.

An example of a useless, valueless item: the Droid customization items. Why?

It's bound immediately.

You can't sell it.

You can't send it to others in your legacy.

You can't trade it.

You get a Customization for the droid you can't even have (Imp getting Rep droid.)

Yet... they take up a slot in your pack. A slot that something much more valuable could have taken up. And all you can do is destroy it. It feels incredibly disheartening to just destroy something you just paid a bit of money to get. If I could, sell, trade, etc. the item, it would not have this effect as harsh as it is currently.

Suggestions:

1- take emotes OUT of all future packs. Put them on sale in the Cartel Market. Sell them for 90-180 coins. This includes things like banners, ball throw, etc. Let those who want these, get them directly from Cartel Market.

2- Add more components, gifts, boosts, gear items, mounts, etc. in lieu of #1

3- Create a new "Companion Customization" item that's universal and Version 9 or 10. This would be something, that when slotted into ANY companion, it calls up the new Version 9 or 10 look. This would also make these customizations more vluable, as they are not for only 1 companion. Additionally, don't make them BOP!!! Yes, this would front load with art assets, but if people started getting these we wouldn't necessarily feel completely cheated when we get our 7th droid customization on the same toon.

To recap- boost the perceived value of what is in the packs. P(l)ayers should not have a groan moment when they open a pack (other than not getting that ultra-rare item they wanted.) Everything should be able to help move a progress bar, add credtis directly or indirectly, or enhance the look and power of gear. Nothing should be BOP.

If the item doesn't fit the above criteria, it doesn't go in the pack. Put it in the market- which will bolster direct purchase options and inventory in the market pages.