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What I learned from the First Galactic Seasons


Zarahemla

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When I saw the rewards for the first galactic seasons, I added up all the galactic seasons tokens I would need to get all the previous subscriber rewards I missed out on. Even though I had only unsubbed for about 9 months out of the almost 10 years this game has been out, I would need 19 tokens to get all the previous subscriber rewards I missed out on. I would need an additional 16 tokens to get both strongholds, for a total of 35 galactic season tokens.

 

Because you can only get 15 tokens per galactic seasons, I checked the other servers to see if the galactic seasons was account wide, or legacy wide. I learned that Galactic Seasons is server specific, so I could earn tokens on other servers. I was then able to buy things like pets and mounts, with galactic season tokens on other servers, and then unlock them for my main server with just a few cartel coins.

 

I also saw that you could earn $40 worth of cartel coins for completing the Galactic Seasons per server, so if you did it on all five servers, you would make $200.00 worth of cartel coins. I heard this was to replace the cartel coins players would miss out on with the removal of the refer-a-friend program. The week the refer-a-friend program ended, I offered players 50 million credits to use my refer-a-friend link. I know that some people were offering 100 million per click, but I didn't know if they were actually paying, or if they were scamming. I felt 50 million was fair, and when people asked for more, because the referral program was going away, I asked them why I should pay more for milk that is about to spoil. If they used my link, great, they got 50 million credits. plus a free character transfer, and a goodie bag of account unlocks. If they don't use any link, then they get nothing. In one week, I got $200.00 worth of cartel coins from people using my refer-a-friend link. This was probably a few hours of /played time. I wanted to see how that compared to the cartel coins you could earn from the Galactic Seasons.

 

I finished the Galactic Seasons (Battle Pass) on my main server first (Star Forge), but it is hard to keep track on how long that took, as I was doing the Priority Objectives (POs) on multiple characters, so we will have to speculate how long it took, based on how long it took to do the battle pass on the other servers.

 

I finished the battle pass next on the English speaking European server (Darth Malgus), and it took me 2 days, 15 hours and 24 minutes of /played time to complete. I didn't spend time doing the starter world (can't do the battle pass until you are level 10), as I was able to find someone to power level me to level 10 - doing the stronghold trick. I finished the battle pass with $134.9 million credits, having never spent credits to buy any tiers of the battle pass. I also had a renown rank of 49 and gear score item level of 283. I also earned 2,535 achievement points. Valor rank 34.

 

I next finished the battle pass on the West Coast American server (Satele Shan), and it took me 2 days, 16 hours and 42 minutes of /played time. I again, didn't spend time doing the starter world, as I found someone who was willing to power level me to level 10, with the stronghold trick. I finished the battle pass on this server with $117.1 milion credits, again having never spent credits to buy any tiers of the battle pass. I also had a renown rank of 49 and a gear score item level of 304. I suspect that the difference in item level (despite being the same renown level) was because I got some 306 boots from another player who got them from the last boss of a flashpoint. That player gave them to me, as they were a bigger upgrade for me than for them. This leads me to believe that it is worth it for players to buy the 306 crafted gear from the GTN if they want to gear up quickly, and do not already have a character in 306 gear. I finished Satele Shan's battle pass with 2,890 achievement points. Valor rank 38.

 

I then finished the battle pass on the German server (Tulak Hord), which took 2 days and 21 hours and 1 minute of /played time to complete. I was unable to find someone to do the stronghold trick for me, so I had to waste time doing the starter world, but I stopped doing the class quest once I got to the fleet. I finished the battle pass on that server with $115.7 million credits, and renown rank 59 and item level 283. I was not sure, if the cost of buying a tier in the battle pass would go down on reset day, like how the price of rerolling amplifiers goes down on reset day. I failed to complete a few weekly POs, so I bought 1-2 tiers of the battle pass to help "catch up." I also had 2,965 achievement points on that server, when I finished the battle pass. Valor rank 33.

 

The last server to finish the battle pass was the French server (The Leviathan), which took 2 days, 20 hours and 0 minutes of /played time to complete. I again was unable to find someone to do the stronghold trick for me, so I again had to waste time doing the starter world to get to the fleet (estimated 2 hours wasted). I finished the battle pass on this final server, with $221.2 million credits, even though I bought so many tiers of the battle pass, that the cost of buying the next tier was over $10 million credits. I assume that even though I spent a lot of credits buying tiers, yet finished the battle pass with more credits than any other server was because so few people people play on the French server. What I mean by that is if I was unable to do the weekly POs, because all weekly POs are group content, and group content can't happen without people to play with, I would buy a tier of the battle pass. However, with few people playing on the French server not only had the effect of not being able to get weekly POs done, it also made it so that prices on the GTN were higher than other servers because there were few people farming the items I sold (legendary embers were selling for twice as much on the French server as on the German server, at the time I wrote this). I also finished the battle pass on the French server, with a renown rank of 46 and an item level of 295, with 2,655 achievement points. Valor rank 26.

 

From this data, I can say that was way easier to get cartel coins from doing the refer-a-friend link ($200.00 in a few hours vs. $200.00 in over a week). I can also say that if your only goal is to get cartel coins from the battle pass, and you don't care about the tokens, like I was, to get the subscriber rewards I missed out on, then your best bet is to get a second job, and use that real life money to buy the cartel coins. Even at $15 an hour, you would have earned $4,920 dollars worth of real life (RL) money after working the estimated 328 hours of /played time from doing the battle pass on all 5 servers.

 

Even though I have played this game for almost 10 years, I never felt like I had to grind in this game, until I participated in the battle pass, and that feels bad.

 

We will have to see what kind of rewards the second battle pass will bring, but the TL;DR of this is, stop doing the battle pass for the free cartel coins, and get a RL job (even if it is a second job).

Edited by Zarahemla
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But you chose to do all that stuff. You could have waited to get Seasons tokens over a longer period of time, over several seasons, instead of trying to get everything over one season. You made the grind as intense as you wanted because you set the terms, you set the goals.

 

Furthermore working a second job at a RL place of employment is a lot harder than “working” at a video game.

 

I don’t understand why you are complaining.

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....... to get the subscriber rewards I missed out on, then your best bet is to get a second job, and use that real life money to buy the cartel coins. ......stop doing the battle pass for the free cartel coins, and get a RL job (even if it is a second job).

 

 

Ok, I guess we are talking somewhat Alternative Reality here.

 

"get a 2nd job"?? what do you actually mean by that?

 

Because if the "1st job" being supposed to be your main dailty activity, hopefully providing you with enough means to cover your basic needs (house rent/loan, water, electricity/gas, grocieries/aphoteek) and some extra for cinema/books/tv/internet, etc) and that "1st job" takes about 40 hours per working week, then HOW are you supposed to manage the 2nd job??

Because if you work minimum 8 hours per day, spend another 8 hrs on private activites (provided you are mega healthy, as well as your family, etc) and are left with another 8 hrs to sleep, HOW and WHEN ARE you suppose to work the 2nd job??????

 

Unless that 2nd job is some side activity mounting about 2 extra hours BESIDE the1st job, then I cannot see that as viable option.

 

But then again, if your 1st (and MAIN) job is not providing you enough support to subscribe to the game and play it, then perhaps you should reconsider your priorities.

 

I am subscribing to this game since it started. The cost is similar to the cost of 2 lunches in a cantine (or any "outside" place) .

 

I do not spend any extra money on Cartel Market, only accumulate the montly subscriber's rewards.

 

I was able to get all the items i wanted from Galactic Season 1 - minus the other stornghold - that will become available when the 2nd season starts.

 

So, i must admit, I have troubles to understand why would you even suggest to playes that the need "a second job" just to get items that will become naturally available in the couse of playing the game???

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"get a 2nd job"?? what do you actually mean by that?

 

I think maybe you're getting a tad hung up on the 2nd job part. I believe what he means is that the grind is so bad, you may as well just be working extra hours on top of your 40 hour work week instead of playing the game, because it's not that fun (feels like work).

 

As for the actual point of the post, I do agree that Galactic Seasons is quite the grind, even for subscribers. The data the OP has collected there is pretty interesting, and I think it would be valuable for the devs to look into as a reference point for some of their more driven/hardcore players.

 

As a "fairly" casual player myself, I did manage to complete the Season on one server, but I was stressing about it the entire time, trying to make sure I was getting my weekly POs done every week, and my dailies every day I could manage to get a chance to play. Unfortunately, it did mean I was spending about 90% of my available playtime doing POs, instead of the content I actually WANTED to be playing. It certainly is a grind, and honestly the rewards didn't really seem worth it in hindsight (in my opinion).

 

I would much prefer it if the previously-existing Conquest rewards contributed to a daily Season point cap, because a lot of those are activities that I actually do end up doing as part of content I want to play. As long as it keeps players logging on 4/7 days a week, surely that achieves the purpose of Galactic Seasons, right? Just let players do what they want to do, instead of forcing them to kill x amount of bugs on Balmorra for no other reason than because that was the random PO that popped up on that day.

 

At the very least, give players a way to pick and acquire the same POs so they can group up and share progress (because an MMO is about playing with other people, I would have thought...)

Edited by Farlo
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Ah, the age old problem of diversified, pseudo-randomized, unfamiliar, yet compelling content...that's repeatable.

 

The strife for infinite satiety.

Not quite there yet with games, and most definitely not MMO's, but soon my friends, soon...

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One thing I have noticed to slightly ease the deal with seasons is that roughly 22 of the 100 levels are basically free if you're subbed during that time, based on Season 1 (came out April 27, and IIRC lasts until the end of this month, roughly 5 months, with each month having an average of 4.33 weeks, for 21.66 weeks total, with each week granting 8 points, and each level costing 8 points). That's 2 tokens per server (which are unfortunately locked to that server unless you transfer characters), and 600 cartel coins per server. It's not a ton, mind you, but that's an additional 120 CC per month per server just for the seasons and being a sub (and logging in each server at least 4 days each week). Given 5 servers (2 US, 3 Eurpoean), that basically doubles your free CC for a subscription...before you even play the game.

 

Add to that playing the game, and I'd wager it's pretty easy to complete the other 58-59 levels playing normally over the course of several months, and that's an additional 3400 CC over the 5 months playing the game or 680/month.

 

So, if you stay subbed and play the game, they effectively replaced RAF for subs with just over triple the normal CC grant for the sub (because you're still getting the original sub grant as well, 500-600 CC depending on duration). It's not bad.

 

I wouldn't go the route of grinding out the CCs on other servers, mind you...that isn't why I play the game, but for what it is, I think it's a nice additional benefit.

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  • 4 weeks later...

You chose to set those goals, you chose to do that all in one go, than over the course of multiple seasons. The reason they put this in, is because it was too easy for you to make cartel coins from referral codes. Like you said, 200$ in a few hours vs 200$ in a few weeks. Read what's wrong with that. This is a video game, in which players shouldn't be making money from. Which is exactly why they made a battle pass.

 

You also said you never felt like you had to grind in this game, and now you do and that's "bad" that's not bad, that's a good thing. They finally are making their game more challenging, don't expect to get this stuff for free. The fact that you said the game was never a grind, shows how spoiled that made you, and how bad the games old system was. This system is probably the best system because it now requires you to actually do the work. Not only that, but it actually gives the new players a chance to actually work for cartel coins, because everyone was already used for a referral code.

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The entire premise is flawed. BioWare never intended for anyone to accrue $200 in CC in a few hours, or even per month. The fact that you think that the RAF system was working as intended, and that you have no qualms about min/maxing Galactic Seasons in this way, is very telling.

 

It's straight-up manipulation of the game, that was not intended to make you rich, or anyone else who decided that they are above the game. Being deceitful in this manner, is why things get hotfixed, or outright removed. You have only yourself, and others like you, for the change.

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What I learned:

 

I am perfectly willing to pay $40 to not play GS. Compared to Cartel Market prices, there is well more than $40 worth of fluff for completion.

 

I'm a happier player if I can play the content I like and not feel coerced into content I don't like or find boring just to get my fluff. Being pushed into content I don't like is more likely to get me to quit entirely than to do said disliked or boring content. Whoever chooses activities for GS is determined to coerce/bribe people into group content while only picking the most boring solo content to use (and give lesser rewards for the same time spent.)

 

It's worth any amount of money to not play another round of GSF ever.

 

I might make characters on other servers just to see how far I get with the daily log in.

Edited by Damask_Rose
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What I learned:

 

I am perfectly willing to pay $40 to not play GS. Compared to Cartel Market prices, there is well more than $40 worth of fluff for completion.

 

I'm a happier player if I can play the content I like and not feel coerced into content I don't like or find boring just to get my fluff. Being pushed into content I don't like is more likely to get me to quit entirely than to do said disliked or boring content. Whoever chooses activities for GS is determined to coerce/bribe people into group content while only picking the most boring solo content to use (and give lesser rewards for the same time spent.)

 

It's worth any amount of money to not play another round of GSF ever.

 

I might make characters on other servers just to see how far I get with the daily log in.

 

But you do realise no one is making you do GS. That is your choice if you want the “fluff”. And let’s face it, besides the “free” cartel coins you get from GS, the rest is fluff and mostly useless. It doesn’t impact your performance or game play in anyway. There is no extra story or playable content. You got one annoying companion and a bunch of skins etc.

At the end of the day, you don’t need to participate in GS if you just want to play the game and get enjoyment from content you like. No one is forcing you. And from my perspective, paying real money to finish it is an utter waste and ultimately not required.

Edited by TrixxieTriss
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But you do realise no one is making you do GS. That is your choice if you want the “fluff”. And let’s face it, besides the “free” cartel coins you get from GS, the rest is fluff and mostly useless. It doesn’t impact your performance or game play in anyway. There is no extra story or playable content. You got one annoying companion and a bunch of skins etc.

At the end of the day, you don’t need to participate in GS if you just want to play the game and get enjoyment from content you like. No one is forcing you. And from my perspective, paying real money to finish it is an utter waste and ultimately not required.

 

You missed the point of my post entirely. I obviously know I don't "have" to do GS. There is nothing in the entire game I "have" to do. I like fluff. Collecting fluff is the #1 reason I play. (Story is #2) I do do content I don't enjoy just for fluff. (Hello Feast of Prosperity monotony!) Is paying to get all of the GS fluff required? Absolutely not. It is, however a good option for me. I am fine with spending a little bit of cash here and there for things I want. $40 for all of the GS rewards is a bargain compared to what things sell for on the CM, and given the hyper-inflation, I'm not likely to get any new fluff from the GTN anymore either.

 

If I actually played to earn those nice bits of GS fluff, I would burn out and quit. I was already resenting the design philosophy behind GS and logging in less and less when it first came out. Paying to finish season 1 was like lifting a rock off of my chest! It was utterly liberating! I don't play enough on any given day to get my GS dailies done AND still have time to do something I enjoy. The list for next season is no better. It felt like the designer read our complaints, but either didn't understand them, or the solution undermined his unstated goals so he chose to ignore them.

 

In summery: for $40 I get all of that GS fluff that I want without ever needing to touch GSF again and suffer from building resentment toward a system that treats solo players as an underclass. Totally worth it!

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You missed the point of my post entirely. I obviously know I don't "have" to do GS. There is nothing in the entire game I "have" to do. I like fluff. Collecting fluff is the #1 reason I play. (Story is #2) I do do content I don't enjoy just for fluff. (Hello Feast of Prosperity monotony!) Is paying to get all of the GS fluff required? Absolutely not. It is, however a good option for me. I am fine with spending a little bit of cash here and there for things I want. $40 for all of the GS rewards is a bargain compared to what things sell for on the CM, and given the hyper-inflation, I'm not likely to get any new fluff from the GTN anymore either.

 

If I actually played to earn those nice bits of GS fluff, I would burn out and quit. I was already resenting the design philosophy behind GS and logging in less and less when it first came out. Paying to finish season 1 was like lifting a rock off of my chest! It was utterly liberating! I don't play enough on any given day to get my GS dailies done AND still have time to do something I enjoy. The list for next season is no better. It felt like the designer read our complaints, but either didn't understand them, or the solution undermined his unstated goals so he chose to ignore them.

 

In summery: for $40 I get all of that GS fluff that I want without ever needing to touch GSF again and suffer from building resentment toward a system that treats solo players as an underclass. Totally worth it!

 

Ok, fair points. I guess BioWares knows who it’s target market is to pay for completing GS and have designed it as such.

Edited by TrixxieTriss
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What I learned:

 

I am perfectly willing to pay $40 to not play GS. Compared to Cartel Market prices, there is well more than $40 worth of fluff for completion.

 

I'm a happier player if I can play the content I like and not feel coerced into content I don't like or find boring just to get my fluff. Being pushed into content I don't like is more likely to get me to quit entirely than to do said disliked or boring content. Whoever chooses activities for GS is determined to coerce/bribe people into group content while only picking the most boring solo content to use (and give lesser rewards for the same time spent.)

 

It's worth any amount of money to not play another round of GSF ever.

 

I might make characters on other servers just to see how far I get with the daily log in.

 

On the plus side, they revamped the dailies and weeklies for the next Galactic Seasons. It should be easier to accomplish, with more things available at a time, meaning less undesirable content required per day/week.

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  • 1 month later...
On the plus side, they revamped the dailies and weeklies for the next Galactic Seasons. It should be easier to accomplish, with more things available at a time, meaning less undesirable content required per day/week.

 

Yeah, that is why I am thinking of doing this experiment again, even though I got such negative responses from the SWTOR community about the findings of my research into the first season. That way I can look into the stats of the second season and see how it compares (i.e. time to complete for a solo player).

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Why does this song from Willy Wonka come to mind?

 

Gooses, geeses

I want my geese to lay gold eggs for Easter

At least a hundred a day

And by the way

 

I want a feast

I want a bean feast

Cream buns and doughnuts

And fruitcake with no nuts

So good you could go nuts

No, now

 

I want a ball

I want a party

Pink macaroons

And a million balloons

And performing baboons and

Give it to me now

 

I want the world

I want the whole world

I want to lock it

All up in my pocket

It's my bar of chocolate

Give it to me now

 

I want today

I want tomorrow

I want to wear 'em

Like braids in my hair and

I don't want to share 'em

 

I want a party with roomfuls of laughter

Ten thousand tons of ice cream

And if I don't get the things I am after

I'm going to scream

 

I want the works

I want the whole works

Presents and prizes

And sweets and surprises

Of all shapes and sizes

 

And now

Don't care how, I want it now

Don't care how, I want it now!

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Or this one (just the first part) from Queen:

 

Adventure seeker on an empty street

Just an alley creeper, light on his feet

A young fighter screaming, with no time for doubt

With the pain and anger can't see a way out

It ain't much I'm asking, I heard him say

Gotta find me a future move out of my way

I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now

I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now

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