Couldn’t stay away from the testing 😳 (FYI, not logged into main game, only PTS)

Did you re-sub? Or as preferred?

I'd be happy to play a Hammer Station with you on PTS. Haven't been able to get into a group via activity finder for quite a while on the PTS.

And, um, regarding Andryah, using a different username on this board now: holy macaroni. I feel empathy for the persons having to be around them in real life.

It seems every time a community thread shows up, where players attempt to express their frustration, this Olag fellow pops in, attempts to derail the conversation with "not all of us", then proceeds to get 'offended' when folks call him out on it. Y'all are correct, the best thing to do is ignore and not engage, so that the discussion can continue. He has no point, other than to make the threads about him instead of the issue at hand.

To me, it seems like the dev team is guilty of group think. How they've come to the conclusion that we want -more- complexity in gearing, it just doesn't fit anything anyone has said. Players are consistently asking for more content. I never recall anything remotely like "you know what would be great, 18 more levels of gear and multiple set bonuses". its like, how did that even become a thing? The guys have no adult supervision. If they release 6 as complex as it appears to be, a) folks will ignore it (like a considerable amount of players have with Ossus) b) get discouraged by it and quit (like so many have after going through Ossus 100 times to get gear for their alts) c) attempt to play it, get one or two chars through the grind, then realize they got the wrong set and rage quit. Hell, as far as tactical items go, folks already have the ability to choose the player activated relics, but vertually no one equips those. They use the automatic versions overwhelmingly. That alone should be an indication that more complexity isn't particularly popular.

I'm just shaking my head at who thought this stuff up? Like, its sooo late in this game's story now, who possibly thinks adding gear complexity is going to be a winning strategy? Guys, c'mon, really? Sigh.

Did you re-sub? Or as preferred?

 

I'd be happy to play a Hammer Station with you on PTS. Haven't been able to get into a group via activity finder for quite a while on the PTS.

 

I resubbed to test. My testing times will vary because I’m in a progression guild in WoW classic at the moment and trying to level 4 toon’s.

When I know my schedule I’ll msg you

To me, it seems like the dev team is guilty of group think. How they've come to the conclusion that we want -more- complexity in gearing, it just doesn't fit anything anyone has said. Players are consistently asking for more content. I never recall anything remotely like "you know what would be great, 18 more levels of gear and multiple set bonuses". its like, how did that even become a thing? The guys have no adult supervision. If they release 6 as complex as it appears to be, a) folks will ignore it (like a considerable amount of players have with Ossus) b) get discouraged by it and quit (like so many have after going through Ossus 100 times to get gear for their alts) c) attempt to play it, get one or two chars through the grind, then realize they got the wrong set and rage quit. Hell, as far as tactical items go, folks already have the ability to choose the player activated relics, but vertually no one equips those. They use the automatic versions overwhelmingly. That alone should be an indication that more complexity isn't particularly popular.

 

I'm just shaking my head at who thought this stuff up? Like, its sooo late in this game's story now, who possibly thinks adding gear complexity is going to be a winning strategy? Guys, c'mon, really? Sigh.

Spot-on! Exactly ^^this. Many players here and elsewhere have mentioned these things. It seems to be a common opinion. Not surprisingly. Except for BW. They must be surprised by it, as it's the opposite of what seems to be their opinion. Maybe their metrics indicated that people want things more difficult and complex? I mean, their plan must come from somewhere.*

When I know my schedule I’ll msg you

I just did some testing again... not sure I want to test again without another patch. The state of the PTS is imho beyond terrible.

*Unless it's like in South Park where we find out that whales are actually writing Family Guy episodes. This would explain quite a bit.

It seems every time a community thread shows up, where players attempt to express their frustration, this Olag fellow pops in, attempts to derail the conversation with "not all of us", then proceeds to get 'offended' when folks call him out on it. Y'all are correct, the best thing to do is ignore and not engage, so that the discussion can continue. He has no point, other than to make the threads about him instead of the issue at hand.

 

To me, it seems like the dev team is guilty of group think. How they've come to the conclusion that we want -more- complexity in gearing, it just doesn't fit anything anyone has said. Players are consistently asking for more content. I never recall anything remotely like "you know what would be great, 18 more levels of gear and multiple set bonuses". its like, how did that even become a thing? The guys have no adult supervision. If they release 6 as complex as it appears to be, a) folks will ignore it (like a considerable amount of players have with Ossus) b) get discouraged by it and quit (like so many have after going through Ossus 100 times to get gear for their alts) c) attempt to play it, get one or two chars through the grind, then realize they got the wrong set and rage quit. Hell, as far as tactical items go, folks already have the ability to choose the player activated relics, but vertually no one equips those. They use the automatic versions overwhelmingly. That alone should be an indication that more complexity isn't particularly popular.

 

I'm just shaking my head at who thought this stuff up? Like, its sooo late in this game's story now, who possibly thinks adding gear complexity is going to be a winning strategy? Guys, c'mon, really? Sigh.

Your Right, BW has asked for our FeedBack on this many times and now in multiple threads offering any "FeedBack" about "Not Liking it exactly As Is" gets an attack; get attacked for offering the feedback BW asked for. It's crazy. Once I saw that starting, I just stopped, ESO, Skyrim, X-Wing Alliance, Jedi Outcast and soon Fallen Order too many other games old & new to get wrapped up in this. Until this mess (Gearing 6.0, Crafting more) is resolved I'm going to play something else. Why did BW want to combine a totally new system *And start a new story same time??? 6.0 is important for BW; I hope this doesnt kill the new story and turn 6.0 into another failure.

Your Right, BW has asked for our FeedBack on this many times and now in multiple threads offering any "FeedBack" about "Not Liking it exactly As Is" gets an attack; get attacked for offering the feedback BW asked for. It's crazy. Once I saw that starting, I just stopped, ESO, Skyrim, X-Wing Alliance, Jedi Outcast and soon Fallen Order too many other games old & new to get wrapped up in this. Until this mess (Gearing 6.0, Crafting more) is resolved I'm going to play something else. Why did BW want to combine a totally new system *And start a new story same time??? 6.0 is important for BW; I hope this doesnt kill the new story and turn 6.0 into another failure.

The problem is that they cannot afford to halve the community again. Every time they make some major change like this, even if they do eventually fix things, half of the players vanish. We're down to 5 servers. If they don't get this right, it is over.

Maybe they should just stop, call this new thing they're doing with 6, and call it SWTOR II. Update the game engine, do the new gearing, whatever they want to really. I think if they called it II, they'd have a lot more freedom to re-introduce difficulty and complexity.

Maybe they should just stop, call this new thing they're doing with 6, and call it SWTOR II. Update the game engine, do the new gearing, whatever they want to really. I think if they called it II, they'd have a lot more freedom to re-introduce difficulty and complexity.

Well, sadly we know they'd never do something like that. I agree with your posts too. I agree another cataclysmic update will crush the game. Oh, sure it won't "die" but what will be left will be a shell of what the game is, even now.

You just have to marvel at how dumb this studio is. That's right, dumb. Only they view the RNG train as a viable main vehicle for gearing. Only they think it encourages more gameplay by punishing alts.

Since they began punishing alts, I stopped gearing all my toons, I have played far less, and i take far more frequent breaks from the game.

I also find it less fun because all my toons are in random pieces of gears now except for 2. How does this encourage me to want to play other toons when I look at their gears and determine it aint worth the time gearing them? I just play my "main" and couldn't care less now about my "alts."

All the feedback in the world won't convince this studio that they are clueless with what it's own playerbase wants. What studio after failing with RNG when the game started, would pull it back out a few years later, only to have a mass exodus of players leave the game due to RNG again, only to stick with it and force it down the playerbase's throats, AGAIN??? After all the rage with GCXP and loot boxes, and RNG? You can't make this up!

It's like taking a hammer and smashing my thumb, then smashing it two more times because surely what I felt the first time was a mistaken feeling. That didn't hurt the first time, let's try it again surely it will feel good on the second try or third! Idiots.

The best thing would be to ditch RNG altogether and only use it for exceptionally rare items. No one wants to waste time grinding items on top of having a RNG factor involved. It's bad enough to grind for progression gears, but we are used to MMOs doing that. It's normal, in fact.

The problem is adding a frustrating RNG facet to a gear grind for progression gears. It's like putting turd pudding on a giant turd. Why? It's already a giant ball of crap, does it really need turd icing on it, too? The RNG is just redundant and adds nothing to the experience of the player except time wasting, and unless the item you are wasting time on is something really unique and rare it's effing dumb to add RNG to it's drop rate.

TL;DR

Progression gears should never see RNG, period.

 

To me, it seems like the dev team is guilty of group think. How they've come to the conclusion that we want -more- complexity in gearing, it just doesn't fit anything anyone has said. Players are consistently asking for more content. I never recall anything remotely like "you know what would be great, 18 more levels of gear and multiple set bonuses". its like, how did that even become a thing? The guys have no adult supervision. If they release 6 as complex as it appears to be, a) folks will ignore it (like a considerable amount of players have with Ossus) b) get discouraged by it and quit (like so many have after going through Ossus 100 times to get gear for their alts) c) attempt to play it, get one or two chars through the grind, then realize they got the wrong set and rage quit. Hell, as far as tactical items go, folks already have the ability to choose the player activated relics, but vertually no one equips those. They use the automatic versions overwhelmingly. That alone should be an indication that more complexity isn't particularly popular.

 

I'm just shaking my head at who thought this stuff up? Like, its sooo late in this game's story now, who possibly thinks adding gear complexity is going to be a winning strategy? Guys, c'mon, really? Sigh.

I wonder if it is the dev's answer to all the requests for a new class.

Personally, I like the customizations. It might make my 3 scoundrels and 2 operatives more interesting. But you're right, nobody really asked for complex gearing.

The problem is that they cannot afford to halve the community again. Every time they make some major change like this, even if they do eventually fix things, half of the players vanish. We're down to 5 servers. If they don't get this right, it is over.

 

Maybe they should just stop, call this new thing they're doing with 6, and call it SWTOR II. Update the game engine, do the new gearing, whatever they want to really. I think if they called it II, they'd have a lot more freedom to re-introduce difficulty and complexity.

I believe this is correct. These system changes don't seem to have alot of fans but the story does. Onderon, Mek-Sha and Dxun all look great and most do seem to like the story as we know it thus far. The *Traitor part also seems popular to some (that's also part of the story). The System changes crafting, gearing, gearing especially and others however Do Not seem to well accepted across the board.

*Maybe add the story changes on the selected date and gearing changes *Later*. For whatever reason they want to change the system "Again" but don't try to do everything at once, one step at a time. Don't let these changes derail the big important 6.0, the story should be great, why should that suffer from the systems issues aswell? Looking at the Pictures of the locations and most of the *Chatter about Malgus, Tau, Anri and Arn seemed good but when the system changes were announced, all that good syneragy quickly ... Changed.

Well, sadly we know they'd never do something like that. I agree with your posts too. I agree another cataclysmic update will crush the game. Oh, sure it won't "die" but what will be left will be a shell of what the game is, even now.

 

You just have to marvel at how dumb this studio is. That's right, dumb. Only they view the RNG train as a viable main vehicle for gearing. Only they think it encourages more gameplay by punishing alts.

 

Since they began punishing alts, I stopped gearing all my toons, I have played far less, and i take far more frequent breaks from the game.

 

I also find it less fun because all my toons are in random pieces of gears now except for 2. How does this encourage me to want to play other toons when I look at their gears and determine it aint worth the time gearing them? I just play my "main" and couldn't care less now about my "alts."

 

All the feedback in the world won't convince this studio that they are clueless with what it's own playerbase wants. What studio after failing with RNG when the game started, would pull it back out a few years later, only to have a mass exodus of players leave the game due to RNG again, only to stick with it and force it down the playerbase's throats, AGAIN??? After all the rage with GCXP and loot boxes, and RNG? You can't make this up!

 

It's like taking a hammer and smashing my thumb, then smashing it two more times because surely what I felt the first time was a mistaken feeling. That didn't hurt the first time, let's try it again surely it will feel good on the second try or third! Idiots.

 

The best thing would be to ditch RNG altogether and only use it for exceptionally rare items. No one wants to waste time grinding items on top of having a RNG factor involved. It's bad enough to grind for progression gears, but we are used to MMOs doing that. It's normal, in fact.

 

The problem is adding a frustrating RNG facet to a gear grind for progression gears. It's like putting turd pudding on a giant turd. Why? It's already a giant ball of crap, does it really need turd icing on it, too? The RNG is just redundant and adds nothing to the experience of the player except time wasting, and unless the item you are wasting time on is something really unique and rare it's effing dumb to add RNG to it's drop rate.

 

 

 

TL;DR

 

Progression gears should never see RNG, period.

If you think the small story and content this game receives with 6.0 is enough to keep players in the long run, you are mistaken.... Most new content will be completed in like 1 -2 weeks and what happens after that ? You are left with gearing up your char to bis with RNG designed to take as looong as possible.

And yes, as crazy as it sounds, they might think RNG and gearing that punishes even those who play a lot by slowing their gearing down as much as possible is the way for a long term commitment to SWTOR.

But like I said in other posts. I really believe it's EA"s policy here. If you look at their recent/past games it's not hard to see why SWTOR is down on the same lootbox rng everything path.

I still believe they will do the right thing in the end..

If you think the small story and content this game receives with 6.0 is enough to keep players in the long run, you are mistaken.... Most new content will be completed in like 1 -2 weeks and what happens after that ? You are left with gearing up your char to bis with RNG designed to take as looong as possible.

 

And yes, as crazy as it sounds, they might think RNG and gearing that punishes even those who play a lot by slowing their gearing down as much as possible is the way for a long term commitment to SWTOR.

 

But like I said in other posts. I really believe it's EA"s policy here. If you look at their recent/past games it's not hard to see why SWTOR is down on the same lootbox rng everything path.

 

I still believe they will do the right thing in the end..

If I didnt keep playing because I enjoyed repeating content for sheer pleasure, why would I still be playing this game?

Trying to rephrase - gear for me is not the end, but the beginning. I dont stop playing because I no longer have a dangly bone to chase. I get gear and then do whatever I actually wanted to do to begin with.

At some point I want to catch the darn bone and enjoy it.

I'm expecting a few hours of content with 6.0 and then nothing until at least April. It all comes down 2020 for the future of the game. I don't think people can handle another year of grinding for gear without content.

Well, that's not a long time from now. I can't see them adding what most of us consider content any time soon after 6.0. This update really should have been the big one with content. We already have had quite a drought of content.

As much as I rail on this update, it's a lot of work for the devs to do and I can't see them matching this output for a long while... 2-3 years before they even begin thinking about adding substantial content etc. in a big update.

I guess at this point I am going to just try to enjoy the ride, who knows when it will end. I despise RNG, I hate their stance on gearing, but at least with tactics and gear sets they are adding some new variables in combat.

Personally I would have been happier if they just kept the good parts of the present gearing system, and maybe just improved upon it instead of gutting it and creating a whole new gearing system. Again.

I also would rather see them make changes to class abilities to shake up the present meta instead of adding tactics and new gear sets, I think it would have been easier for them to keep balance without adding so many new variables into combat.

I admit this is quite ambitious on their part.

Looks like Eric posted on PTS and everything for the most part is a step in the right direction.

Sure...a step.

I asked questions in that thread in the PTS forum.

I hope they get answered

or even acknowledged.

Well, that's not a long time from now. I can't see them adding what most of us consider content any time soon after 6.0. This update really should have been the big one with content. We already have had quite a drought of content.

 

As much as I rail on this update, it's a lot of work for the devs to do and I can't see them matching this output for a long while... 2-3 years before they even begin thinking about adding substantial content etc. in a big update.

 

I guess at this point I am going to just try to enjoy the ride, who knows when it will end. I despise RNG, I hate their stance on gearing, but at least with tactics and gear sets they are adding some new variables in combat.

 

Personally I would have been happier if they just kept the good parts of the present gearing system, and maybe just improved upon it instead of gutting it and creating a whole new gearing system. Again.

 

I also would rather see them make changes to class abilities to shake up the present meta instead of adding tactics and new gear sets, I think it would have been easier for them to keep balance without adding so many new variables into combat.

 

I admit this is quite ambitious on their part.

Pretty much everything you said. The word is OVERambitious.

I'm expecting a few hours of content with 6.0 and then nothing until at least April. It all comes down 2020 for the future of the game. I don't think people can handle another year of grinding for gear without content.

Unfortunately this is very close to accurate. We'll blow through the content, then spend weeks or months, depending on your game play, to grind end game gear running the same stuff we've been grinding for years. I know they're doing what they can with what appears to be a skeleton crew, and we appreciate it, but there's only so many times we can run the same content over and over again with a new gear grind.

As mentioned a number of times already, instead of reinventing the wheel, they could have used those resources to add that much more content, especially how they're now revamping what they've been working on for who knows how long. Here's hoping they can sprinkle in some new content here and there after this expansion.

Unfortunately this is very close to accurate. We'll blow through the content, then spend weeks or months, depending on your game play, to grind end game gear running the same stuff we've been grinding for years. I know they're doing what they can with what appears to be a skeleton crew, and we appreciate it, but there's only so many times we can run the same content over and over again with a new gear grind.

 

As mentioned a number of times already, instead of reinventing the wheel, they could have used those resources to add that much more content, especially how they're now revamping what they've been working on for who knows how long. Here's hoping they can sprinkle of some new content here and there after this expansion.

Ever since Kotfe/Kotet I've done content on maybe 2 of my 100+ alts.

Most everything else is meant to work toward leveling my guild (conquest stuff) or the occasional group stuff my the guild I have a couple alts in specifically to run ops once or twice a month.

The story just hasn't been good enough to keep my attention.

Now, with 6.0, I'll do the same. Run the story on my "main" and see what's up.

If the gearing system is as bad as I'm afraid, if my game play is altered enough where I get annoyed, then that's two fewer accounts they'll have.

I don't play for GEAR...I like GEAR...Gear makes what I do play for easier.