I don't think gear will matter... a lot of 50 mains are kitted in the Ops gear which goes as high as Level 63 for Dread Guard. Will we start seeing Orange/Purples drop up to 55? Probably, but its not necessarily such a bad thing as we're only looking at Tionese/Columni equivalent... stuff people can easily enough farm from story-mode ops anyway.

What the level cap will do is give a boost to your character stats as well as 5 more skill points for the tree, so it's a first step towards the clamoured for 'dual spec'.

Hi everyone! While we can't address every concern raised in this thread right now, we can reassure you that the gear you've obtained in our current endgame will continue to be relevant after the expansion is released, and it will provide a great bootstrap into the higher-level content offered by Rise of the Hutt Cartel. You won't be replacing your Dread Guard gear with gear you pick up as you level, and thanks to improvements in the way item power is calculated, we won't be handing out any entry-level gear at the new level cap. You'll hear more about RotHC as we approach its launch, and we'll continue to answer questions and provide more details!

This to me implies that Makeb is going to provide gear somewhere between Tionese and Campaign/Dreadguard, to ensure there is still a viable endgame progression from the operations.

The gear has to be better than Tionese, as they've just given that to everyone who hits 50, but from Allison's post, worse than what you get from Operations.

improvements to the way item power is calculated?

i smell a combat design dev blog coming.

so we are going to do this planet chain and we wont be getting new gear... or we are getting some weird new stat...?

Smartest idea I've seen in an mmo if I understand where they're going with it:

"You won't be replacing your Dread Guard gear with gear you pick up as you level, and thanks to improvements in the way item power is calculated, we won't be handing out any entry-level gear at the new level cap."

I take this to mean that the first tier after the expansion will be tuned to dread guard gear. This means the old operation content will not be obsoleted as it can still be used to get gear that is useful after the expansion. It also might mean that leveling up to the new level cap by operations may be viable. This is something other games have been afraid to do (Oh yeah, your Naxx gear is worse than this quest green in hellfire) and this really excites me.

One scary thought though: Does this mean we won't see another operation until Makeb? Now that would be a slap in the face.

Still, why exactly are level caps needed?

 

New content can still be generated, new gear be given out, new shineys

 

People would play new operations and warzones for other reasons. Suppose they offered new ships, new companions (people are doing HK content), new TITLES (people love that stuff), New emotes, There are so many new toys that we could get as drops and stuff or purchasable items, i just dont see why level increases are needed to enjoy new content. People love to show off there junk items as long as they are rare or have to be acheived. Just look at the money people paid to get that flying throne, now what if there was a rare flying mount at the end of EV, people would love to get that thing.

 

Again, i could be missing something. I suppose it would be neat to have 5 more points to go in a skill tree.

We have a lot more abilities in our skill trees to obtain. Giving us another 5 levels of advancement allows us all to add 5 extra skills to our repertoire. This will have some pretty interesting effects in the game, not only in PVE but especially in PVP.

I can't wait. I have felt like I needed just a few more points on my trees to make a nice build, and I'm looking forward to it. Toons with a healing spec can add a little more healing abilities into their mix. Or healers can add a little more dps to their mix. DPS toons can just overkill with more DPS. Tanking toons can add more DPS in, or can add more tanking abilities in.

We'll be seeing some new interesting hybrids. Again... can't wait!

Smartest idea I've seen in an mmo if I understand where they're going with it:

 

"You won't be replacing your Dread Guard gear with gear you pick up as you level, and thanks to improvements in the way item power is calculated, we won't be handing out any entry-level gear at the new level cap."

 

I take this to mean that the first tier after the expansion will be tuned to dread guard gear. This means the old operation content will not be obsoleted as it can still be used to get gear that is useful after the expansion. It also might mean that leveling up to the new level cap by operations may be viable. This is something other games have been afraid to do (Oh yeah, your Naxx gear is worse than this quest green in hellfire) and this really excites me.

 

One scary thought though: Does this mean we won't see another operation until Makeb? Now that would be a slap in the face.

If you think you will see an operation coming out with Makeb you may well be disappointed.

Hi everyone! While we can't address every concern raised in this thread right now, we can reassure you that the gear you've obtained in our current endgame will continue to be relevant after the expansion is released, and it will provide a great bootstrap into the higher-level content offered by Rise of the Hutt Cartel. You won't be replacing your Dread Guard gear with gear you pick up as you level, and thanks to improvements in the way item power is calculated, we won't be handing out any entry-level gear at the new level cap. You'll hear more about RotHC as we approach its launch, and we'll continue to answer questions and provide more details!

Thanks. I hope that there will be a mechanism that alows for an easy transition at level 50 from Correllia to Makeb gearwise and that there won't be a long grind in between ( thinking about alt progression here ). To support this will quest reward gear and or comm mods make up for any gear level gap?

Thanks. I hope that there will be a mechanism that alows for an easy transition at level 50 from Correllia to Makeb gearwise and that there won't be a long grind in between ( thinking about alt progression here ). To support this will quest reward gear and or comm mods make up for any gear level gap?

No doubt you'll be able to purchase T7 Ship Ge...err...rather, Super Duper Cartel Gear to get you started on Makeb from the Cartel Store for a "reasonable monetary investment".

And this is the rise of the level cap. I see two pitfalls (potential) with it

1)The level cap is not game-changing IE you do not gain new abilites or talents. The boss just hit harder, you can just equip 55 gear. According to the game designers, you can thus keep doing current content with ''non expansion'' players, even if you are not geared up to the task.

2)The new level cap is indeed like a mini expansion. It's like Burning Crusade. There is no realist way to keep playing without buying it. Which would be nice...if there was new content. And honestly, ''a new flashpoint'' or '' a new operation'' should have been among the first thing to announced about the expansion.

No doubt you'll be able to purchase T7 Ship Ge...err...rather, Super Duper Cartel Gear to get you started on Makeb from the Cartel Store for a "reasonable monetary investment".

It's probably going to be very simple. You finish Corellia, go to the Fleet, part of your Chapter 3 Quest Reward is a full set of Tionese gear/mods. Then you get the quest to 'report in to Makeb' or whatever.

Hi everyone! While we can't address every concern raised in this thread right now, we can reassure you that the gear you've obtained in our current endgame will continue to be relevant after the expansion is released, and it will provide a great bootstrap into the higher-level content offered by Rise of the Hutt Cartel. You won't be replacing your Dread Guard gear with gear you pick up as you level, and thanks to improvements in the way item power is calculated, we won't be handing out any entry-level gear at the new level cap. You'll hear more about RotHC as we approach its launch, and we'll continue to answer questions and provide more details!

Yup, which pretty much means that you can't level in the area with just greens and that you probably need somewhere around Rakata/Black Hole to just do them. Awesome!

Yup, which pretty much means that you can't level in the area with just greens and that you probably need somewhere around Rakata/Black Hole to just do them. Awesome!

Who said that? It most likely means it will start out being turned for people in quest greens and blues off of corellia plus the free recruit or TIonese gear and end up with you getting green and blue equivalents to either campaign or dread guard. It makes a lot of sense actually.

Yup, which pretty much means that you can't level in the area with just greens and that you probably need somewhere around Rakata/Black Hole to just do them. Awesome!

If this is the case they will see a drop in subs. There needs to be some parady moving into an expansion gearwise. Something needs to be done ( a la WoW ) via quest drops or vendor items to get an set of "expansion" level starting gear or there is no way to even start on the expansion. By the time you get done grinding the gear necessary to gear for the current "end game" you will most likely be well into the new 5 levels experience and timewise before you can even enter the new content. Not what I want to do (grind) for levels to get gear just so I can use the expansion ( think alt progression here ).

If this is the case they will see a drop in subs. There needs to be some parady moving into an expansion gearwise. Something needs to be done ( a la WoW ) via quest drops or vendor items to get an set of "expansion" level starting gear or there is no way to even start on the expansion. By the time you get done grinding the gear necessary to gear for the current "end game" you will most likely be well into the new 5 levels experience and timewise before you can even enter the new content. Not what I want to do (grind) for levels to get gear just so I can use the expansion ( think alt progression here ).

I'm not sure if you agree or disagree. But my point is that, there's no way you can just get into Makeb and think it will be a cake walk even with Tionese gear.

I just want to point out that the difficulty in the new daily area Section X was no joke and you couldn't steamroll through some of the mobs even if you wanted to in full BH gear. So based off of that experience, I am projecting that this new planet will be challenging to players.

You spelled frustrated incorrectly.

Too funny, OP must be to spell it wrong LOL

Who said that? It most likely means it will start out being turned for people in quest greens and blues off of corellia plus the free recruit or TIonese gear and end up with you getting green and blue equivalents to either campaign or dread guard. It makes a lot of sense actually.

So us in full Dread will just roflstomp the new quests? It will be interesting to see which it is. On one hand those of us who raid might be over geared, and if you're a person leveling and hit 50, you might have to go raid for a few months, then do the new content? Interesting questions indeed.

The idea is to keep you busy even if you have got 6 50s...

 

What makes you think you will only have 1 55 then?

You can alt your way to 55 with all of them, less appealing if no personal storyline I agree.

.

Definitely wont be as exciting on the second character of the same faction.

However, people were maxing up alts in EQ, WoW etc etc, and never had any class storylines to do. They did it because they wanted that class as max level. People will do the same here.

So us in full Dread will just roflstomp the new quests?

I think the Black Hole and Section X are good examples of the quest difficulty we'll see at the start of the expansion. It's doable but takes some time on a fresh 50 while it takes less time and less hassle for people in top end gear.

Hi everyone! While we can't address every concern raised in this thread right now, we can reassure you that the gear you've obtained in our current endgame will continue to be relevant after the expansion is released, and it will provide a great bootstrap into the higher-level content offered by Rise of the Hutt Cartel. You won't be replacing your Dread Guard gear with gear you pick up as you level, and thanks to improvements in the way item power is calculated, we won't be handing out any entry-level gear at the new level cap. You'll hear more about RotHC as we approach its launch, and we'll continue to answer questions and provide more details!

Why do I want to believe that they are taking steps to evolutionize MMOs and the way expansions work, but expect they are going to mess it up horribly at launch?

Why do I want to believe that they are taking steps to evolutionize MMOs and the way expansions work, but expect they are going to mess it up horribly at launch?

That's how I felt about WoW's latest talent build...but what can you do.

Hi everyone! While we can't address every concern raised in this thread right now, we can reassure you that the gear you've obtained in our current endgame will continue to be relevant after the expansion is released, and it will provide a great bootstrap into the higher-level content offered by Rise of the Hutt Cartel. You won't be replacing your Dread Guard gear with gear you pick up as you level, and thanks to improvements in the way item power is calculated, we won't be handing out any entry-level gear at the new level cap. You'll hear more about RotHC as we approach its launch, and we'll continue to answer questions and provide more details!

Wish I could believe you but your teams reputation for saying one thing and delivering another is pretty bad.

Oh endgame concept how I hate thee

Why is it so difficult for MMOGs to have a linear progression?

 

I dream for day a MMO don't forces you to level for weeks so than you can compete with other players, and then months later make your efforts become useless

The game you are looking for is called Eve Online.

I'm not sure if you agree or disagree. But my point is that, there's no way you can just get into Makeb and think it will be a cake walk even with Tionese gear.

 

I just want to point out that the difficulty in the new daily area Section X was no joke and you couldn't steamroll through some of the mobs even if you wanted to in full BH gear. So based off of that experience, I am projecting that this new planet will be challenging to players.

Oh, I agree with you. If they make it so that you MUST have the current end game gear to START the next expansion with out puting a vendor in the game that lets you buy gear or mods to come into parady with the gear level of the new expansion, they are going to loose alot of players. Think of the time spent and "experience" you didn't get (because you were capped) grinding up your current end game gear. If that same amount of time must be spent to even START the expansion, you will be accumulating exp (because your experience bar will be unlocked) while doing so. Depending on the rate of experience gain you could be about 2.5 levels into the next level range before you even start the next expansion due to the grind to get the potential gear score needed for the next expansion.

There needs to be a clear way ( like in WoW) to jump an end game grind to start a new expansion. This is important to people that have been away for a while from a particular game AND for playing alts. Imagine if you HAD to do ALL the end game grinds at the end of each WoW expansion just to be at the requisite gear score to get to play through the next expansion. That would be daunting. Blizzard realized this and made a way to effectively get you into the next expansion (via quest rewards and "catch up" gear vendors) so that by the time you were expansion level start +2 levels you would be about equal to the last expansions end game gear level. This served two purposes. One to give returning player, and new players the ability to level and get to the new content, and to make sure the the last expansions gear wasn't made obsolete until about 2 levels into the next expansion so all the hard work doing the last expansions end game wasn't whiped out immediately with a new expansion.

SWTOR simply MUST adopt this same stratagy given that it is following the same theme park, gear chase model.