Back for 7.0 after 5 years away this is what i noticed,

 

cheating is rampant and has ruined the swtor pve/pvp community.

Every part of it, pve, pvp, gsf - there is a current meta cheat for each,

 

Time, like a sieve has strained out much of the good honest community, the game population is now the smallest I've ever seen and those left are of a certain type that multiply and create the current community problems to the point of the game being unplayable as it is.

 

GSF is all the worst because anyone can participate without a sub, on a free email address there's zero consequences for a troll to make an account and cheat using speed hacks, aimbots, and complex macros - all against the ToS but not actionable due to their not caring if that account is banned, they just make a new one, spoof an IP and troll again. This is commonplace and it has ruined GSF for the subbed players who are trying to play and enjoy it.

 

PVP is all about the FOM and finding the latest bug in the bolster system to exploit for quad dmg - which happens constantly; this along with the win-trading discord gangs make pvp both ranked and unranked a complete joke -

 

OPS there are many cheat spots and cheat strategies, a good example is the cave strat for Dash (which was fixed thankfully) - that is 1 of dozens that discord gangs do and then parade around achieves as if they are good players; sadly they perhaps are good, or rather, the best that remains of what was once a massive and thriving ops community of actually talented players

 

Toxic Chat - the game is overrun with the most toxic chat I've seen in any game; it's like being privy to the rantings of a criminal psych ward in a dystopian lockdown; if it is at all not for base comedy and reflects actuality, i sigh that the once great community has devolved into this - it's like all the lovely water drained out, and all that remains are the dregs that have not yet gone down the drain.

 

Can EA fix this? I doubt it. From what I've seen of their other games, they run them like candy machines just making necessary updates to refill the candy, but doing very little to actually; it is a money generating machine plain and simple selling vastly overprice pixels in a store of objects that are at best ok at worst completely ugly and lame (a great example is the lightsaber that has a bear trap on it - what a marvel of artistic vision there)

 

of course, this is all my opinion, but for a first step EA needs to get rid of the cheaters by making GSF sub only, and by monitoring the bolster system in pvp as well as monitoring for win-trading; and ban the toxic names and toxic chat from chat on fleet, though i doubt they will i don't think they care.

PVP is truly a joke.

Because of exactly what you just said. Which is true. I have very little interaction with most in a MMORPG. I play only for the story which I find is OK. Chat and other interactive activities just ruin it for me. So I Ignore them and have them turned off. I definitely don't que for any FP or OPS anymore (2 years). There is 30 people in my guild and only about 4 of us talk to each other the rest never say anything.

 

just sad. How to ruin decent game.

GSF is all the worst because anyone can participate without a sub, on a free email address there's zero consequences for a troll to make an account and cheat using speed hacks, aimbots, and complex macros - all against the ToS but not actionable due to their not caring if that account is banned, they just make a new one, spoof an IP and troll again. This is commonplace and it has ruined GSF for the subbed players who are trying to play and enjoy it.

 

Fact Check: Misleading or False.

If the cheater is creating brand new free-to-play accounts to queue for GSF, then they would only have four specific ships unlocked in their bars (three of which are relatively ineffective in stock unupgraded hands), which would distinguish them easily.

 

 

Its far more likely that the players you think are using aimbots are simply better shots/more accurate than you, because by your own admission you are five years away from GSF, plus a lot changed in those five years to make certain ships and components more viable. Practice makes perfect.

 

I'm not sure what evidence you have for complex macros being at work in GSF. Video evidence submitted via PM to Jackie Ko or the email pvpreports@swtor.com would be the best, but any evidence would be helpful. I'm not sure how a macro can fly the ship for you since you need a combination of the mouse and keyboard to steer, and you need to steer in response to the terrain, as well as the match dynamics. For example, in TDM a powerup might show up, and you may need to navigate towards it, something that requires human input. In DOM you would need to react to different satellites coming under attack. Even activating a missile break at the right time is something that a macro cannot do, especially since some missile breaks require you to adjust orientation before you execute them so you don't fly into an object.

 

I agree with the criticism that says GSF has a very steep learning curve. It can be frustrating, even for someone experienced like me, to lose over and over again. And, I'm not naive enough to think there is no possibility whatsoever for cheating in GSF. But what the OP is describing, at least regarding GSF, seems to be more of an issue of being rusty rather than rampant cheating. As I said above, evidence is essential in diagnosing and treating the problem.

Complex macros being at work in all PVP is nothing new. Been going on forever.

I agree with all of that except the toxicity. You got legacy ignore for a reason. Use it. If people are never allowed to air out their thoughts online. Then they'll either A: Bottle it up and become the next mass murderer or B: Go be toxic in real life and either get themselves harmed or another person. Toxic chat is something the community can tolerate because you have ignore. Unless someone threatens someone or is performing illicit transactions in chat then I'd report that person straight away. But beyond that. I just sit on fleet and laugh at the people who waste their time on politics in fleet chat. It's not a game breaking thing. People must learn to coexist somehow with one another and if not. Then we should no longer live together as a people.

Complex macros being at work in all PVP is nothing new. Been going on forever.

 

You have 4 buttons in GSF what could you possibly macro there.

 

Everything OP said is false and misleading.

I agree with the criticism that says GSF has a very steep learning curve. It can be frustrating, even for someone experienced like me, to lose over and over again. And, I'm not naive enough to think there is no possibility whatsoever for cheating in GSF. But what the OP is describing, at least regarding GSF, seems to be more of an issue of being rusty rather than rampant cheating. As I said above, evidence is essential in diagnosing and treating the problem.

 

Sometimes i've seen player ships jink and jank so much that it's impossible to aim at them. I'm not sure how they're doing it; maybe it's a graphics problem on my end, but it's consistently one opposing player, not all of them. In those instances, i've considered it might be cheating because I don't know how to replicate that behavior.

 

But tbh despite playing GS consistently through the last two Galactic Seasons i'm still not great at it and even a great player will get steamrolled by a premade--very much like in warzones. Sometimes the matches are so one-sided it can feel like cheating--on either side--but I agree, it has more to do with skill or the lack thereof.

I'm not going to claim cheating never occurs, but it's very odd to me that the vast majority of posts complaining about cheating do not actually provide any evidence these occur.

I stopped reading when he started talking about macros.

 

What a joke. The game has a lot of problems. But macros are not one of them.

Edited July 3, 2022 by septru

All this sounds like a learn to play issue, game is fine.

All this sounds like a learn to play issue, game is fine.

 

I hated GSF for the longest time. The very 1st time I played everyone was using aim bots and counter-aim bots.

The only reason I can see why I was ALWAYS dying and NEVER could hit anyone.

After a few weeks people must have been caught using these bots and banned because I was dying less and hitting more.

Sometimes i've seen player ships jink and jank so much that it's impossible to aim at them. I'm not sure how they're doing it; maybe it's a graphics problem on my end, but it's consistently one opposing player, not all of them. In those instances, i've considered it might be cheating because I don't know how to replicate that behavior.

That's a product of lag. If you ever notice unusual lag affecting you during a match, what you describe is probably what people see your ship doing on their screen.