I have written my own thread because I can and I want to. If you're only here to say "There are other threads about this" then you might as well not bother.

I first started playing SWTOR in April of 2012 after seven long years of playing World of Warcraft. When I first began playing, I enjoyed it a lot and still do to this day, but there are certain things which have become more and more of a nuisance, the Cartel Market. When it first arrived I was excited to see what would be released and what effect it would have on the game itself. Needless to say, it arrived with mixed views amongst the players and a lot of those views still linger to this day. At launch Bioware - or EAware as I've taken to calling them - didn't reach the estimated sales figures they thought they would and thus found themselves in a lot of debt because of it. It was only a matter of time before a EA money making scheme like the Cartel Market was thought up. So, fast forward to the present and the Cartel Market is now in full swing with people purchasing Cartel Coins everyday.

As I stated before, I was a fan of the Cartel Market when it was released, but have now come to hate it. EA have become too greedy and are almost forcing people to purchase Cartel Coins. I don't care if "You don't have to buy them". The fact is, EA has a sales stratagem which does indeed force people to purchase these Cartel Coins in the end. Most MMO's release a new race or class with every other new expansion and SWTOR was to be no different or that is what EAware lead us to believe. The Cathar race was announced and a lot of people became very excited about being able to play as the Cathar race - me not so much. So we waited and they were pushed back to become a part of the ROTHC expansion. Ok, that is fine. So we all waited again and on release found no Cathar and were told they had been pushed back to the next patch. Ok, that is annoying, but we'll go along with it. And then finally, when released, we were expected to fork out 600 Cartel Coins to purchase them. Disgusting. Now, to be honest, I wasn't too excited about the Cathar anyway, but what EAware had done got me angry and the forums, general chat and fan sites lit up with rage comments about it.

The final tipping point for me was the much anticipated customization patch. When it was announced I was more than excited, I was ecstatic with joy. The forums quickly lit up after the announcement and people were not as excited as myself. A lot of people said it was all going to cost Cartel Coins and would be way over priced. Part of me wanted to disagree, but I knew it would turn out that way and so my excitement vanished. And it did. I logged in after downloading the patch and found the insane prices EAware had implemented for simple little changes to a character. A race change is understandable, but not a hair colour change. It was then I decided to cancel my subscription and quit playing for a while.

Since coming back a few days ago, I've noticed nothing has changed and EA are still the terrible company they will always be. I want your opinions, though. I want your views on the Cartel Market and the good or bad experiences you've had with it or what annoys you about it. This is not a chance to flame me for my views nor is it a chance to use vulgar language to make fun of someone else's opinion or views. Thank you for reading this and I hope I'm not the only one who thinks the Cartel Market has become an awful idea.

Well, in my view it is fantastic with a few flaws.

First, no way to buy coins in the game. That's silly IMO.

Second, the overall cost of the armor is far too high (about 20 percent too high), and there should be no mods sold in armor on the market IMO...instead it would have been better to sell the mod packs separate and have all armor at level 1.

Third, the setup is not as intuitive as it should be. The categories would be served to be better organized IMO.

Overall I think it's a boon for the game. Though it is a disappointment that so much has gone to market (they have not thrown that many bones to subs lately) I am still very happy with it and the direction the game is going in.

I like Cartel Market and for me its an excellent development.

Personally im a cosmetic addict

I have written my own thread because I can and I want to. If you're only here to say "There are other threads about this" then you might as well not bother.

 

TROLLS NOT WELCOME

Funny... you are stating that trolls are not welcome, yet you are opening your post with a statement, that I would call trolling

Since coming back a few days ago, I've noticed nothing has changed and EA are still the terrible company they will always be. I want your opinions, though. I want your views on the Cartel Market and the good or bad experiences you've had with it or what annoys you about it. This is not a chance to flame me for my views nor is it a chance to use vulgar language to make fun of someone else's opinion or views. Thank you for reading this and I hope I'm not the only one who thinks the Cartel Market has become an awful idea.

And you also finish your post with a very biased statement, which clearly states, that you are not really asking for an answer to your topics question, but rather want people to agree with you.... which I will not.

I personally do not buy any cartel coins. All purchases I make on the cartel market, I pay for with my monthly stipend. If that is not sufficient to buy what I would like, then I wait.

So while not being a customer of the CM, who really brings money to the system, I still like it for the overall effect it has on the game.

If SWTOR had not switched to a hybrid system, we would have a lot less players than we currently have. I doubt that anyone challenges this statement.

More players are in general a good thing to have for a MMO.

Some kind of cash shop is the normal thing to have when going full or partially f2p.

The cartel shop does not offer any kind of gameplay advantage, which would make it pay to win...

So in total: Yes, to me the cartel shop is a good thing.

Funny... you are stating that trolls are not welcome, yet you are opening your post with a statement, that I would call trolling

 

 

And you also finish your post with a very biased statement, which clearly states, that you are not really asking for an answer to your topics question, but rather want people to agree with you.... which I will not.

 

I personally do not buy any cartel coins. All purchases I make on the cartel market, I pay for with my monthly stipend. If that is not sufficient to buy what I would like, then I wait.

So while not being a customer of the CM, who really brings money to the system, I still like it for the overall effect it has on the game.

If SWTOR had not switched to a hybrid system, we would have a lot less players than we currently have. I doubt that anyone challenges this statement.

More players are in general a good thing to have for a MMO.

Some kind of cash shop is the normal thing to have when going full or partially f2p.

The cartel shop does not offer any kind of gameplay advantage, which would make it pay to win...

 

So in total: Yes, to me the cartel shop is a good thing.

The Cartel Market is good for players who don't subscribe, but when EAware don't add any new armour to the game except for what they put on the Cartel Market then it isn't. If EAware spent as much time designing new content as they do designing Cartel Market items, more people would subscribe. It's a shame you can't delete posts because I didn't want people like you talking down to people.

I like Cartel Market and for me its an excellent development.

Personally im a cosmetic addict

I used to be a cosmetic addict too, mate. It was only after purchasing hundreds of Cartel Coins that I realised everything was being made for the Cartel Market and that there was almost no new content for subscribers. I don't care what people say; species should be for subscribers.

Well, in my view it is fantastic with a few flaws.

 

First, no way to buy coins in the game. That's silly IMO.

 

Second, the overall cost of the armor is far too high (about 20 percent too high), and there should be no mods sold in armor on the market IMO...instead it would have been better to sell the mod packs separate and have all armor at level 1.

 

Third, the setup is not as intuitive as it should be. The categories would be served to be better organized IMO.

 

Overall I think it's a boon for the game. Though it is a disappointment that so much has gone to market (they have not thrown that many bones to subs lately) I am still very happy with it and the direction the game is going in.

Your idea about modification packs is a good idea, mate. I remember the Inquisitor armour they released on the Cartel Market. I was going to buy it, but when I worked out the price, it was no where near worth it.

The Cartel Market is good for players who don't subscribe, but when EAware don't add any new armour to the game except for what they put on the Cartel Market then it isn't. If EAware spent as much time designing new content as they do designing Cartel Market items, more people would subscribe.

You apparently believe, that content design and cartel market item design is done by the same team. Which I do not think it is. For new content you do need authors, coder and designer. For just another armor set, you only need designer. It is not the same thing. Also there is other armors added to the game. The reputation vendors offer stuff. Many times I read complaints, that "all" in the cartel market is just a recolored version of the stuff, that we already got in game... Well, recoloring surely cannot take up all that much time, can it? Also with the upcoming two new flashpoints, I am sure, that there actually is a team working on new content... while another is working on addind stuff to the cartel market.

It's a shame you can't delete posts because I didn't want people like you talking down to people.

Yeah, a real shame that you need to accept other opinions to be part of an open discussion that you started

I used to be a cosmetic addict too, mate. It was only after purchasing hundreds of Cartel Coins that I realised everything was being made for the Cartel Market and that there was almost no new content for subscribers. I don't care what people say; species should be for subscribers.

I thought you said you didn't want people talking talking down to people? I also seek to recall you asking for opinions but instead you have said in two replies you don't care what people say. So therefore this thread isn't about discussing the merits of the CM. But rather an excuse for you to vent about how much you don't like it.

Your idea about modification packs is a good idea, mate. I remember the Inquisitor armour they released on the Cartel Market. I was going to buy it, but when I worked out the price, it was no where near worth it.

Yea, I think an overall price drop, as well as dropping the gate to level 1 by stripping out the mods, then offering the mods as gated packs instead would be best.

I think it would also make many more armor sets collectable.

I thought you said you didn't want people talking talking down to people? I also seek to recall you asking for opinions but instead you have said in two replies you don't care what people say. So therefore this thread isn't about discussing the merits of the CM. But rather an excuse for you to vent about how much you don't like it.

I haven't spoken down to people.

Yea, I think an overall price drop, as well as dropping the gate to level 1 by stripping out the mods, then offering the mods as gated packs instead would be best.

 

I think it would also make many more armor sets collectable.

Most of the armour sets are above 1000 Cartel Coins. If you work that out. It is £5.99 for 1050 Cartel Coins and then another £2.99 for 450 Cartel Coins to make it 1500 Cartel Coins. Spend that on an armour set and you've essentially paid £8.98 for a piece of armour....

I haven't spoken down to people.

Yes you have. "I don't care what others think species should be free to subbers" what this statement means is that anyone who disagrees you don't care to discuss it therefore your speaking down.

Yes you have. "I don't care what others think species should be free to subbers" what this statement means is that anyone who disagrees you don't care to discuss it therefore your speaking down.

If you're going to Troll, get it right. I said; I don't care what people say; species should be for subscribers. And they should. Every MMO which releases a new species gives it to their players for free.

Every MMO which releases a new species gives it to their players for free.

In WoW you can play a Pandaren without buying the Mist of Pandaria expansion? And Blood Elves were available without buying the expansion as well?

i remember when I started some major yammering about the pay 2 rep system.

Then realized that cartel market is only aestethics after all.

can do with, or without. there is no major consequence for either.

anything I require from it? peel off the GTN.

Good.

i remember when I started some major yammering about the pay 2 rep system.

 

Then realized that cartel market is only aestethics after all.

 

can do with, or without. there is no major consequence for either.

 

anything I require from it? peel off the GTN.

 

Good.

That is what I've found myself doing. If there is something I like on the CM, I check GTN first and then try trade chat. Sometimes the items are VERY expensive, though.

I like Cartel Market and for me its an excellent development.

Personally im a cosmetic addict

I agree. The cartel market turn out good at least for me despite being oppose to the cm initially.

The only thing I don't like about it is the RNG of the packs. Everything else I don't mind.

What do you mean by RNG?

What do you mean by RNG?

RNG = random number generator.

It is also a synonym for anything random... in this case the lottery system of cartel packs, where you do not know, what you will really get and it most of the time is not worth your CC (in retrospect).

I think it could use more than a few improvements, but yes, it is a good thing. It is keeping the game alive plus some, as it allows fans of the game to spend more than their subscription fee each month, and therefore pay for some of the FTP players that don't spend money in the cash shop. That being said, here is what I'd like to see improved:

1) Less expensive Cartel Packs

Personally, I find $3.20 a bit much considering what you get in the cartel packs. I'd perhaps cut down on the items and skill them for $1, which is what I'm used to paying for lockboxes. I would buy more packs if they were more affordable.

2) More convenience type items. I like the holostatues that allow you to train or sell, and I would be willing to buy more items like that, if they were made available to purchase in the shop. For example, some sort of beacon that allowed you to teleport directly to your ship, on like a cool down.

3) More iconic styles. I think the developers have to walk a fine line between releasing too many styles in the Cartel shop, and providing additional styles in game for free. Personally, I think that the cartel styles should be more iconic-styles we have seen before from the movies and comics.

Its good that people can buy vanity items with real money

But its bad because they can sell and trade those items for in game credits. And also there is no other way to obtain these items other than to buy them off the CM