Remove bolster from ranked and require expertize before Que!

It looks like both of you have a point... but I would like to clarify.

It looks like you are saying it is redundant to do both, correct?

If you make it so people have to have 2018 EXP before they q you will eliminate any PVE gear substitutes and making sure your toon is in full PVP gear. And that is the main point I was trying to make.

Removing bolster also makes sure that once in a match, someone could not change gear to "min/max" inside a WZ. However, as you stated, locking the gear would do the same thing.

Not wrong.
1. Full EXP isn't BiS for the overwhelming majority of ranked viable specs, so take your own advice, do some research. Here is a clue, would you trade a 400 attack delta for 88EXP? PS: Who do you think pointed out to the devs that there was an issue? PSS: There is still an issue....
2. There is no difference between gifting EXP OR grinding EXP. In the end the numbers, due to bolster are close enough to maintain competitviness. Can you say the same thing in a augment v non-augment?
3. You can get full EXP from PvE set boni pieces, some are actually better anyway, and attainable prior to 55.
4. The reason it won't change anything is because even now, PvP gear don't mean ****. You can AFK lowbies, get a full set by 55, and instantly Que for ranked. Is that someone that should be allowed to que? "Real ranked players" want competitve matches based on their skill level. What does any of that have to do with stats?

1) This is irrelevant if the gear requirement is 2018 EXP to play. BiS would then be mandatory PVP gear as without it... you could not join.

2) Yes it is, it would alleviate PVE heroes from grinding relics in Ranked and not caring about rating or other ranked players in the process. Or the multitude of other reasons.

3) Here we go with that PVE gear talk again... However, if no PVE were allowed then what? As that is the point of the thread. It seems like your arguments is to keep PVE gear useful in ranked. Something that is allusively posted in your signature. PVE gear should get pwned in ranked period. It should not be bolstered or allowed.

4) You said: "You can AFK lowbies, get a full set by 55"

This is just BS and you know it. How many max comms do you get? You would not have enough to get full exp after popping 55, and if you did, it would be because you (comm-danced) buying speeders etc and swapping them out and all that work ( I have done this myself in the past, comm-dance I mean). I seriously doubt anyone is AFKing when doing that as you would lose your comms when the timer for the trade-in expires (2 playing hours). causing you to have a ton of expensive things you could never use "bound" to you.

To you, it seems the reason for not doing this is because someone afking lowbies would purposely save comms and pop 55 and ... what exactly? This is just silly rationality.

It is just not logical bro... it sounds more like you like PVE gear getting in ranked and that is your whole issue with fixing it.

Locking the gear is more than likely technically impossible from a Dev point of view. Removing Bolster is far less code intensive and much easier to implement than gear locking. The idea is to maximize effectiveness while maintaining or reducing client/server loads.

So while the addition of gear checks would only require a simple evaluation of a players current stats, effectively not requiring anything that actually interacts with player items, preventing players from changing that gear requires much more coding that could potentially cause issues unforeseen to the average player that does not understand how game coding works.

Removing bolster does the same thing, while simultaneously both penalizing "min/maxing" with PVE gear and reducing the computing needs of the server/client infrastructure

Wow... where to start...?
1. Where the hell are you getting 400 delta for the swapping of a single item? (assuming that is where you are getting the 88 EXP hit). And you know what happened when those players made the issue apparent to the Devs? THEY FIXED IT....
2. Again ignoring the topic of conversation which is to REMOVE Bolster. Your point is moot.
3. Show me these supposed set bonuses and their related EXP losses. I have searched and searched for these supposed min/maxing values and all I can find is their relation to OBROAN set pieces. I hardly call that "min/maxing", using last seasons BiS which is now this seasons starter gear, IN ADDITION to their lowered Bolstered weights
4. Afking lowbies is hardly grounds for rebuttal. These players are so few and far between your point is pointless. The vast majority of players in lowbie WZs don't AFK for several reasons -
1.) It's BORING
2.)ITS REALLY REALLY BORING
3.) Players quickly catch on to this, and blacklist said player, either vote kicking them in the same game, or before the next game even starts.
4.) Do you even realize how ridiculously hard it is to AFK in most warzones and still earn medals, of which are absolutely required to maximize commendation, XP, and Valor gains? Even if the player caps a node and then afks, they are still doing more to contribute to the overall score than the other players mindlessly dying spawn after spawn trying to cap uncap-able nodes. And if they die while afk? No more defense medals, now they have to find another node to afk at. Any way it goes, If they have the stomach to do this from 10-54, well sh*t, they earned those comms.

And of course you are forgetting one very important factor..... You still need to have the corresponding Unranked piece to redeem it's Ranked equivalent.....

I rather ranked not involve stat deltas at all. I could give a rats *** what gear is BiS and if the point is "moot" then the logic is sound. I can justify it, and its debatable whether PvP gear really matters. Asking for a gear requirement is asking for a forced grind, but a forced grind doesn't equal being a good player. A real PvP should be asking for all stats to be equalized automatically, and bolster is closer approximation than PvP gearing is and will ever be.

Yes there needs to be a gate to PvP, but this has ZERO to do with EXP. And ask any PvE hero, theydont care how boring it is, they will AFK, not play to win, etc and still get awarded the same comms as eveyone else. The ability to Que for ranked should be based on performance, not a useless grind. <----- This is a much more worthy discussion. What metric can be attached to put a feasible gate in place.

I am getting tired of repeating myself so I will just say this one more time: AFK players are so few and far between it becomes a non-issue. The systems in place do plenty to prevent their being given the same rewards as players that participate. And the player culture is developed enough to identify and self regulate these players.

There is a "forced grind" for EVERY aspect of any MMO. Getting your advanced class is a forced grind to level 10. Getting your skill points and extra abilities is a forced grind to level 55. Getting PVP gear is a forced grind to around 10,000 WZ Commendations. Getting Ranked gear is a forced grind to around 26,000 Ranked Commendations, every faction reputation is a forced grind. Everything you do in an MMO, and most certainly THIS MMO, is a forced grind of some sort.... Why should a forced grind to queue for Ranked be any different? No one is forcing you to do it, just like no one is forcing you to join a PVE guild and grind endless SM's for entry into HM Ops, and endless HM's for entry into NiM Ops.... Once again, this will separate the casuals from the dedicated, just like everything else in the endgame...

So you QQ about PvP heroes, yet want gear grind like them? And that's the problem, people automatically use "this is an MMO" fall back. It's irrelevant because PVP/=MMO.

This mini game is a third person shooter. Stats should be equal across the board like Battlefront. No gear grind required. So ill explain it again, real PvPers want even playing fields and ZERO grinds in the context of PVP. The "right to que" should be based on some performance metric, not a participation trophy, where you can easily get 8 medals and sit on a node pressing aswd every few seconds.

LMAO Just stop talking. You have no idea what you are talking about. You get told exactly why you are wrong and how you are wrong and you just stick to your guns even though you are out of bullets..... No one said anything about having ZERO grinds except you. You apparently want everything handed to you on a silver platter. Guess what? That is never going to happen.

Performance metric??? ROFLMAO and please, pray tell, what performance metric should be used instead of EXP rating? Win count? MVP votes? OOH I KNOW! What about arbitrary damage quotients that YOU and ONLY YOU decide? For that matter, how are any of these other metrics not, in themselves, a grind that you are so vehemently against? How about offering solutions instead of tearing other peoples ideas down for no reason but your own epeen?

Stop dragging this real conversation ON THE MERITS OF THE TOPIC BROUGHT UP BY THE ORIGINAL POSTER down into the dirt because you think you know something, when it is clear you do not.

While you are at it, stop hiding behind some stupid notion that AFKers are even an issue. Oh and it is amazing how you think just moving around clears the AFK vote..... Go back to WoW.

Dear PvPers,

If I as an end game PvEer am going to be forced to deal with your ilk in Operations in 2.8 now because your PvP gear gets bolstered to a certain level then you too can deal with the PvEers and their gear being bolstered.

Have fun crackheads!

If you are such an endgame PVEer, then you would know that the buffs in 2.8 are only being applied to Story Mode operations. HM and NiM remain un-Bolstered... just as Ranked Arenas should be