Pretty much this.

 

This forum has a large percentage of group players that use the term "solo" like some people pronounce the word "negro".

 

I like doing master story chapter mode, so I need good gear to do it, the best if preferable. So there you go, as a solo player I need BiS gear.

 

Solo players need a reason to repeat content the same as group players do. Yeah yeah, raiders raid for the challenge, with friends, the rush blah blah blah, but we all know it's for the shinies. Everybody needs a carrot at the end of the stick or they will just not bother.

 

I don't think group players ever have to worry about being without content ever again with the current management.

 

And what is the problem? You get BiS by doing mm chapters? You clearly don't except it will be dropping the same gear rewards with izax or dxun right?

 

Seriously what is the problem? You play any content you want, you will get gear. You do conquest you get a gear, pvp gear, mm chapters gear. It's just hardest content will reward the players more, which of course it should! Come on

How are you not able to play solo? You don't need to BiS to play solo (which you already getting by the way, playing solo), heroics and planetary quest is a joke, leave the game and come back later 2 hours you still will be alive. Companions are that good, mobs are that bad.

 

Well, for some of us solo play means soloing stuff (with a companion) for which others need a group. Our tanky dps try to beat enrage timers that are balanced for groups. So yes, we need the gear for our play style.

 

I'm fine as long as PVP is a path to gear that helps us meet the (admittetly low) expectations BW has for group players. I'm not opposed to group PVE, I just prefer doing it at my pace. When I feel like it, I list on GF and I will play along with the team, but I also won't blindly follow purple-shield-guy in content I can do alone.

 

As for those looking for greener pastures: ESO has a lot to offer for solo players.

Edited October 6, 2019 by Mubrak

Seriously what is the problem? You play any content you want, you will get gear.

Question here was if the speed of acquiring the gear is too slow. If RXP crates come too slow for story players, there is no carrot on the stick and it doesn't feel rewarding.

I'm sub since 2012 with no interrupts. I have been paying subscription even not playing for a long time... years. A clear statement: I DON'T like grouping. Just a matter of personal preference while gaming cause of knowing perfectly human psicology. If I'm being diminished in any form, being not considered or being discriminated in any form, the subscription will be cancelled instantly. This is NOT an opinion, this will be a fact. Even loving Star Wars universe I will not support any entertainment making differences and/or discrimination between different styles of play: solo or group. Edited October 5, 2019 by Lscarlet

And what is the problem? You get BiS by doing mm chapters? You clearly don't except it will be dropping the same gear rewards with izax or dxun right?

 

Seriously what is the problem? You play any content you want, you will get gear. You do conquest you get a gear, pvp gear, mm chapters gear. It's just hardest content will reward the players more, which of course it should! Come on

The CXP rates were, by no means, friendly towards Story players and is soon to be a very distant memory. This topic tho, questions the upcoming Renown and whether the story players would get fair rates or be ignored again.

Maybe they should change their slogan to GROUPING NOW MANDATORY, or something else a bit more accurate, lest they drive even more paying customers away. The game really can't afford to bleed many more people.

 

It seems there goal is to drive away solo and story players. I hope this Group of Players will consequent and cancel there subscriptions. We will see how long they could survive with their raider / grouping friendly strategy.

Everything on PTS is against the large group of story / solo players:

- conquest points for personal goal is increased

- recieving renown chests with dramatical lower rate than conquest chests

- rewards from the renown chest simply crap

- healing companions nerfed

- difficulty increased so soloing flashpoints much harder to imposible

Short answer: Worst than CXP, you will get crates a lot less often.

 

Long Answer: It does not matter. Renown crates are a joke and not even a secondary means to gear, more like tertiary or even less.

Well currently they're useless and it's a chore to open all those crates they throw at you with mostly useless crap anyway. Ever since Ossus you can just get to 70 and get 230 gear with the superfluous amounts of command tokens that you tend to have and then go straight to Ossus with that to get 252 gear and you're done really. I mean you can then get 258 gear if you're really bored but nobody needs that for anything really.

 

And that makes it that command crates are utterly useless today and only when you get to 300 you get the occasional 252 item that you probably already have by then.

 

So in essence command crates, from my point of view, are completely useless today and tertiary is still better than useless.

- conquest points for personal goal is increased

This not a real issue. Currently the thresholds are too low and so easy to get that it's stupid.

- recieving renown chests with dramatical lower rate than conquest chests

As per my other post, currently command crates are completely useless and I welcome not having to open as many chests and be disappointed so many times

- rewards from the renown chest simply crap

So that changes nothing

- healing companions nerfed

They currently are so powerful compared to content that it's not even a challenge anymore. This is a good thing really

- difficulty increased so soloing flashpoints much harder to imposible

You mean soloing veteran FPs? That's a good thing then. There are plenty of solo FPs and group content, for some reason, is meant for groups. I see no issue there.

This not a real issue. Currently the thresholds are too low and so easy to get that it's stupid.

 

As per my other post, currently command crates are completely useless and I welcome not having to open as many chests and be disappointed so many times

 

So that changes nothing

 

They currently are so powerful compared to content that it's not even a challenge anymore. This is a good thing really

 

You mean soloing veteran FPs? That's a good thing then. There are plenty of solo FPs and group content, for some reason, is meant for groups. I see no issue there.

 

All these answers are purely dogmatic and based on a personal criteria.

 

And this is a fact:

For achievement hunting purposes (there are people who likes achievement hunting) this is clearly NOT fair: 'difficulty increased so soloing flashpoints much harder to imposible'. ¿Why? Because achievements will NOT reflect in wich state of the game those achievements were earned, if in a earlier/easier season of the game or in a later/harder season of the game. For those coming too late it will be unfairly harder, for those who got them earlier they will reflect achievements (but truly not deserved).

 

I have only taken one point as an example... not just "..."I hate this because it sucks" and then fail to explain WHY it sucks..."

Edited October 6, 2019 by Lscarlet

Well currently they're useless and it's a chore to open all those crates they throw at you with mostly useless crap anyway. Ever since Ossus you can just get to 70 and get 230 gear with the superfluous amounts of command tokens that you tend to have and then go straight to Ossus with that to get 252 gear and you're done really. I mean you can then get 258 gear if you're really bored but nobody needs that for anything really.

 

And that makes it that command crates are utterly useless today and only when you get to 300 you get the occasional 252 item that you probably already have by then.

 

So in essence command crates, from my point of view, are completely useless today and tertiary is still better than useless.

 

It's a "your mileage may vary" scenario.

 

I find Command Crates to be very useful. They are my primary way of gearing, so being bumped down to a distant tertiary is a great big step down, especially since the new primary way is just hoping I get lucky when I kill mobs.

 

I always enjoy getting command crates, the more the merrier. Since I predominantly solo they don't rain out of the sky for me, so getting a lot of them is not a problem, what so ever. I like the mounts and pets. I'm still collecting the higher tier outfits, so those are still fun. And I have a never ending need for companion gifts. Plus I'm so bored of Ossus that I'd rather go naked than go back there ever again.

 

Renown crates on the other hand, are one step away from completely useless. They are nothing more than a vestigial limb. Getting them is slower than molasses in January and when you do it's going to be junk like the vast majority of gear drops in 6.0 and there is no fluff. No pets, no mounts, no cosmetics, no companion gifts. Boring!

Whether the Command Crates are "useless" is very subjective. I like them. I use them to gear. I like getting the gold companion gifts that help increase influence quickly and the pets and speeders. I'm a story player so I have no interest in skipping from Ziost to Ossus; I play the actual story, and getting a few things from the crates helps along the way.

 

My concern with the 6.0 gearing and the RXP crates is not that I won't get BiS (I haven't had BiS gear on any toons since Ossus was released), but that I won't even be able to get through the story and Corellia flashpoint with my existing 248/252 gear. This is where the Renown crates could come in handy but from what has been said, they don't provide much.

Short answer: Worst than CXP, you will get crates a lot less often.

 

I just can't understand the BioWare logic on this.

 

The best time during the CXP era was when the CXP return rates were either bugged or when they were running a CXP / XP event, it felt like real progression once you factored in the RNG of the crates.

 

Making something overly grindy or forcing players into types of content they don't enjoy, so they can play content they do enjoy simply isn't going to work I suspect. I unsubbed for most of the CXP era, grinding multiple alts to 300 CXP simply seemed too much effort for something that I'm playing to have fun.

 

This isn't work, I don't get paid for this. I will pay for this game if they get it right, I will not pay for some convoluted gearing system that requires grinding day in day out for the next 10 years just to gear to play the content I enjoy.

 

3.0 era PvP gearing was great, it found that balance between time and effort required to gear to enjoy the content, a little bit longer for BiS but not horrendous. What do BioWare not understand about very basic game design keeping players enjoying the game?

Just to clarify, would someone be please so kind and explain me how i will acquire my gear in Onslaught when this is what i do:

 

• Story and quests related to it that are soloable on bad gear as medium skilled player.
  
• Strongholds.
  
• Professions (with mats available on open world content).
  
• Daily quests (heroics) that are soloable on bad gear as medium skilled player.
  

 

I am entering expansion with my main on gear that is between 242-252 and my alts mostly are in 230 range.

 

So question is: What sources does my gear come from with my playstyle?

It seems there goal is to drive away solo and story players. I hope this Group of Players will consequent and cancel there subscriptions. We will see how long they could survive with their raider / grouping friendly strategy.

 

I agree. And I already made my decision after thoroughly testing on the PTS: This new direction of the game is not for me. Sub ends in November. Unless the new story is so great that it keeps me wanting to play, I will not continue my sub. So, after 8 years that would be it then.

 

Just to clarify, would someone be please so kind and explain me how i will acquire my gear in Onslaught when this is what i do:

 

• Story and quests related to it that are soloable on bad gear as medium skilled player.
  
• Strongholds.
  
• Professions (with mats available on open world content).
  
• Daily quests (heroics) that are soloable on bad gear as medium skilled player.
  

 

I am entering expansion with my main on gear that is between 242-252 and my alts mostly are in 230 range.

 

So question is: What sources does my gear come from with my playstyle?

 

You will have a hard time getting good gear with your playing style. I assume you will get random gear drops everywhere which are useless, so you deconstruct them for tech fragments. And with those tech fragments you eventually - very slowly - will be able to buy some - random - gear from the gear vendor on the fleet. At least that's how I understand what I witness on the PTS.

 

Haven't tested heroics on the PTS. They might yield gear as mission rewards?

 

In general, gear is pretty much the only thing which drops in 6.0. From everything. Everywhere. That's my understanding of their "play your way" statement.

 

Regarding renown command: I just played 10 regular warzones on the PTS. That included 2 daily missions and some conquest missions. I got one renown level. One! That box dropped me a 272 green ear piece (which was at least better than the 270 ear piece I wore).

Edited October 6, 2019 by JattaGin

Thanks, JattaGin! Doesn't sound too promising for me. I was really hyped from "play your way" approach but seems it was just scam.

 

I really want to keep playing this game. I hope they make adjustments needed for it to be rewarding experience for us story players when expansion comes.

Just to clarify, would someone be please so kind and explain me how i will acquire my gear in Onslaught when this is what i do:

 

• Story and quests related to it that are soloable on bad gear as medium skilled player.
  
• Strongholds.
  
• Professions (with mats available on open world content).
  
• Daily quests (heroics) that are soloable on bad gear as medium skilled player.
  

 

I am entering expansion with my main on gear that is between 242-252 and my alts mostly are in 230 range.

 

So question is: What sources does my gear come from with my playstyle?

 

I will be largely in the same boat - I mostly solo/duo though I have enjoyed grouping fro the WBs in Ossus and event heroics

 

It is my understanding that the new story (which is not on PTS) will reward 268 gear, which is the entry level gear at 75. Your current gear should hopefully be enough to run the story, especially if you equip anything you get as you go.

 

How do you feel about story mode FPs? You haven't listed them but they should fit in with your playstyle.

Bosses there will drop gear, I mean gear can drop randomly from any mob, but the FP bosses will always drop some.

 

When loot drops it will be within a few levels of your current average item level, so if you get anything that is of a higher item level than what you have you should equip it even if not ideal so as to improve your loot drops. Playing solo you should be able to improve your gear over time, though it will be very slow. When you finally get enough tech fragments you can gamble at the vendor for random items (based on your item level) or save even more for 1 empty piece of set armour.

 

Crafting - it is unlikely you will be doing any crafting. Even basic green items require blue mats from MM FP or Ops (Story or higher) and purple mats from Conquest (different from the current conquest mats on live). That is to get 268. RE chances have been nerfed so getting blue or purple schematics will be extremely costly.

I will be largely in the same boat - I mostly solo/duo though I have enjoyed grouping fro the WBs in Ossus and event heroics

 

It is my understanding that the new story (which is not on PTS) will reward 268 gear, which is the entry level gear at 75. Your current gear should hopefully be enough to run the story, especially if you equip anything you get as you go.

 

How do you feel about story mode FPs? You haven't listed them but they should fit in with your playstyle.

Bosses there will drop gear, I mean gear can drop randomly from any mob, but the FP bosses will always drop some.

 

When loot drops it will be within a few levels of your current average item level, so if you get anything that is of a higher item level than what you have you should equip it even if not ideal so as to improve your loot drops. Playing solo you should be able to improve your gear over time, though it will be very slow. When you finally get enough tech fragments you can gamble at the vendor for random items (based on your item level) or save even more for 1 empty piece of set armour.

 

Crafting - it is unlikely you will be doing any crafting. Even basic green items require blue mats from MM FP or Ops (Story or higher) and purple mats from Conquest (different from the current conquest mats on live). That is to get 268. RE chances have been nerfed so getting blue or purple schematics will be extremely costly.

 

Thanks for the long and detailed explanation! How you describe gear acquiring sounds ok to me. I don't need best gear, i am just happy if i get upgrades. I don't do much story mode (solo) flashpoints unless i have to (story forcing me to). Nothing against them in general but i prefer doing things where i can step out any time (same reason i wasn't fan of chapters either) and continue when i want again. If those story FPs are doable on bad gear i might give them some go for gear then. I also play duo and even trio sometimes, but that is depending whether my friends happen to be online same time so very rarely.

 

Crafting thing worries me now though. I like to craft and it is game activity for me, not so much way to get gear than fun activity. It sounds like one part of my gaming experience is not available for me then at all. That makes me bit sad.

 

Will try Onslaught anyway and see how it feels. If it's not fun for solo/story playstyle, i just unsub and play other games until it's fixed (if ever). It's pretty good autumn on mmorpg gaming front so everything is not depending on SWTOR.