I have said multiple places why the new gearing system along with the other changes is a bad idea.

 

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The new gear system isn't just saying that group content should be the focus. It is saying that Master Mode Ops is the best way to play the game. That type of raiding has always been for a select few.

 

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In answer to the question, yes it is doing just that. People are going to vote with their wallets. Swtor is a product. The changes reduces the value of that product to a large amount of players.

While I've expressed my CONCERNS in various PTS thread's along with General Discussion or Suggestion Box; I try to remain HOPEFUL they FIX or revise at least some things before LAUNCH. Yet many of my friends who got me into this game 1.5+ years ago, have said they'll give it at most a month. They've already started playing ESO far more than they LOG into SWTOR just in the last 1-2 months, barely see them online.

Like I said above, they need to REVISE the Master Flashpoint / Operation Weekly Missions to only 75-80 Content!

♦ So BOTH Master Weekly FP/OPS Missions, award a 75-80 Crate with Gear based on Players Item Level.

♦ They should also do that for VET Mode Weekly's as well (75-80 Content exclusive), focus on newest content!

♦ As with Renown gone we'll likely loose several Gear Creates--yet it's now GONE, I'm fine with that though!

♦ 80 Level Gear should include rewards for PvP / GSF to keep them current, that may not come to 7.2 however!

The ONLY real good news from 7.0 has been Weapons being added to Outfit's, and far too many things LOST! I was just really enjoying SWTOR, now I'm greatly concerned for it.

. Now we will be forced to use gear with what they thought were the right stats?

I raised this in another thread. Will BW force us to stack power which is worthless beyond a certain number due to the hard cap which forced me to make all my healers pray-for-crit. Due to buffs, different classes have different numbers for, let's say alacrity, will the gear account for that? Of course, I heard ALL stats will now be hard-capped, so what's the point of ANY gearing system besides NiM raiding?

I raised this in another thread. Will BW force us to stack power which is worthless beyond a certain number due to the hard cap which forced me to make all my healers pray-for-crit. Due to buffs, different classes have different numbers for, let's say alacrity, will the gear account for that? Of course, I heard ALL stats will now be hard-capped, so what's the point of ANY gearing system besides NiM raiding?

They are likely already started on 7.1 and at least planning 7.2 by now, as DEVs often where BLINDERs like Race Horses as they focus on what they have to do. That didn't work out well for WoW, so I can only hope that's not going to happen to Bioware!

Especially with another Company working on a Star Wars Title currently, as the exclusivity license expires in near future.

So because you can't have top gear (something you don't need as a solo player) you believe the expansion is killing solo play? That makes no sense.

Does it suck that we wont be able to have the honor of wearing top gear? Sure. But when you play in a world that is just you and NPCs.... Why does that matter? The NPCs wont judge you, I promise. Unless you lose.

So because you can't have top gear (something you don't need as a solo player) you believe the expansion is killing solo play? That makes no sense.

 

Does it suck that we wont be able to have the honor of wearing top gear? Sure. But when you play in a world that is just you and NPCs.... Why does that matter? The NPCs wont judge you, I promise. Unless you lose.

2387th person pretending raiders get the gear beause they "need" it, how many times do people have to point out that nim gear rewards are not needed by raiders either since they are rewards.

Or do you believe only raiders are special and should be "honored" with the best gear while everyone else is stuck with weak inferior gear. (While ranked pvp is the far harder activity that any pve raid will ever be so raiders arent doing the hardest content either and by your logic dont deserve the best gear)

2387th person pretending raiders get the gear beause they "need" it, how many times do people have to point out that nim gear rewards are not needed by raiders either since they are rewards.

 

Or do you believe only raiders are special and should be "honored" with the best gear while everyone else is stuck with weak inferior gear. (While ranked pvp is the far harder activity that any pve raid will ever be so raiders arent doing the hardest content either and by your logic dont deserve the best gear)

Idk if they NEED it or not. I rarely ever raid so I likely wont know even when the update goes live.

What I do know is that solo players definitely do not NEED the gear. Want it? Sure. But if you want it that bad, you know how to get it.

I still don't understand how this kills solo players.

Everything you can do now as a solo player will be available to you in the new update... except have the best gear. Maybe this will kill off greedy entitled solo players.... But no big loss there.

Stop whining and just have fun. It's a video game, not real world politics. My lord.

This is a very very good post. Thank you for this one.

I also appreciated what he said, and why I wished they had considered this at least.

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I'm OK they removed RENOWN, despite it will produce far less drops of Gear each week; especially Higher Level.

Really wished they would revise Weekly Missions to include (only) 75 - 80 newest Content!

╘ then at least offer one Item Level appropriate Gear Crate for each weekly.

♫ It also allow QUEUE to focus players on more the RECENT content released in the game!

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There's just going to be too little 80 Level Content at first, that will allow progression especially with Renown gone!

So because you can't have top gear (something you don't need as a solo player) you believe the expansion is killing solo play? That makes no sense.

 

Does it suck that we wont be able to have the honor of wearing top gear? Sure. But when you play in a world that is just you and NPCs.... Why does that matter? The NPCs wont judge you, I promise. Unless you lose.

Everyone wants to see Gear Progression! It's the one of the few things people can do to advance or progress their characters more!

Everyone wants to see Gear Progression! It's the one of the few things people can do to advance or progress their characters more!

But in solo play you will be at the max gear level. Congrats, you've done it! Any better gear will be for a mode you don't even play. So again, how is it killing solo players?

But in solo play you will be at the max gear level. Congrats, you've done it! Any better gear will be for a mode you don't even play. So again, how is it killing solo players?

If some solo players are planning on VM/MM KotFE/ET chapters, Eternal Championship, or VM Star Fortresses, which are IMO the primary solo content that could require a higher level of gear than 270 (currently) or 318 (in 7.0), what would they need to do then?

Sure they may not be that numerous, but these could be the primary content a player that complains about 7.0 limiting solo players using gear for.

I have said multiple places why the new gearing system along with the other changes is a bad idea.

 

It is going to drive casual players away. Firstly the change is taking something from them (ie access to the best gear). The lowered conquest rewards mean people are going to do it less. Not only is the solo gear going to be worse, the grind to get it has been limited. Modding gear is even out for a solo player. All of this means casual players are going to put less time in the game. Less investment means less players and less money flowing in. This is bad for Swtor. It doesn't matter if you think the system is how Swtor ought to be. It is going to hurt the game. Casual players are the majority of players. Just like in every other game. Bioware is literally giving them reasons not to play the game.

 

This is further compounded by how light the launch is in content. One fp and no raid at launch is just not enough if you want layers to focus on group content.

 

The new gear system isn't just saying that group content should be the focus. It is saying that Master Mode Ops is the best way to play the game. That type of raiding has always been for a select few. I think I saw where "interruptive storytelling" (ie playing alts) is not what Bioware wants to do. In short they want to really focus the players base in a few characters at most and doing one activity. In other words, Bioware wants to seriously control how players play the game. No longer is it play your way, it is play our way or we will toss you crumbs. This isn't just a slap in the face to casuals but Pvpers as well.

 

In answer to the question, yes it is doing just that. People are going to vote with their wallets. Swtor is a product. The changes reduces the value of that product to a large amount of players. Doesn't matter how any of us thinks the game ought to run. Swtor is a business and it is going to loose customers over this. That isn't good for anyone.

As a solo player I don't need the best gear. All I care about is being able to complete the stories with whatever gear the game does give me, in Story Mode. I was able to do that until Spirit of Vengeance. They fixed Spirit of Vengeance so that now it can be finished with the gear the game gave you, but it's still very hard and you are much better off upgrading at Fleet to at least 278. As long as they don't make that same mistake again I'm happy. As for mods, I'm not into that. I don't collect sets. Whether I get static or moddable gear I don't care. I simply prefer getting better than I have, and I'm fine it's not the best gear possible. It is a little annoying playing at level 75 now and most gear drops do not improve anything, but as long I get to finish the stories I'm enjoying playing.

If some solo players are planning on VM/MM KotFE/ET chapters, Eternal Championship, or VM Star Fortresses, which are IMO the primary solo content that could require a higher level of gear than 270 (currently) or 318 (in 7.0), what would they need to do then?

 

Sure they may not be that numerous, but these could be the primary content a player that complains about 7.0 limiting solo players using gear for.

Ta-da! We have a winner!

Seriously though, it's not just about the gear, it's about what we have to do to get the gear. No more doing what we want at our own pace, it's doing what the devs want at their pace. That annoys me much more than being a couple of IR below raiders (although I'll be the first one complaining if they release another SoV that you need raiding gear to clear in solo mode).

To me the removal of the renown system and gutting of the conquest system seems like they have invalidated/removed the vast majority of content in the game. Where previously ANYTHING I did contributed to my advancement, now only a couple things do, and only one of those things actually leads to the peak.

This right here is my exact feeling.

I was just talking about this to a group of people the other day.

I LOVE games that have season passes or some variation of that (Conquest), where i can do ANYTHING in the game and still be working towards that "pass". When SWTOR added the first season pass and you have to do these tedious, daily/weekly checkboxes to complete it. A season pass or variation of should never be an "alternative" to actual content, that you mean to simply keep people busy with. To be fair they did generously give us the ability to pay them real-life money to skip the daily/weekly box-checking, an alternative to the inconvenience that they created for us.

I'm not happy with the direction this decade-old game is headed, and that statement alone is depressing.

If some solo players are planning on VM/MM KotFE/ET chapters, Eternal Championship, or VM Star Fortresses, which are IMO the primary solo content that could require a higher level of gear than 270 (currently) or 318 (in 7.0), what would they need to do then?

 

Sure they may not be that numerous, but these could be the primary content a player that complains about 7.0 limiting solo players using gear for.

That Kotet chapter 2 boss is gonna be interesting, if it is impossible to kill due to lack of tertiaries, we suddenly have solo players NEEDING best gear while OPS players dont need best gear since NIM ops can be beat without that.

Quite ironic xD

The argument I see is "why solo player needs the highest i-rating gears????"

But let me ask, why SHOULDN'T"T they?

If anything, having the highest i-rating gears make SOLO contents easier, and because solo players only play, well, solo stuffs, even though you don't *need* the highest i-rating gears and set bonuses to clear most stuffs, it WILL make many solo contents/achievements and even solo-story easier *cough* look at SoV and how many people had been struggling until they grind to 306 gear*cough*.

And giving solo players the same i-rating gears could ease the transition and adopting time for them to try and get used to group contents. At the very least they don't feel double inferior because they are inexperienced AND under-geared.

306 gear for everyone that play doesn't hurt the ranked PvP and NiM raiders. Why would a bunch of solo players who don't even play their "endgame" hurt them? What is being hurt? Their precious superiority complex? I though their skills are what they are proud of? Because that can't be gained through grind/credits/whatever?

So, why 7.0 divide and hurt a certain player base by gating the gears you can get through contents?

It’s not just the gearing system alone that is making people unsub. Alone its probably not enough of a negative affect to make that happen en-mass.

The issue is ALL of the other changes that go along with it that will limit players enjoyment, wether they are solo or group players.

ie, multiple Conquest changes, Ability pruning, resetting dailies and weeklies (which will be linked to gearing), removal of renowned system, etc…. and that’s before we get to the inevitable bugs all these new changes will create.

Alone, each one of these is cringe worthy development, but compounded together and then add an unpopular gearing system and you will see players decide its not worth subscribing or possibly even playing.

This hits the nail on the head. I play solo and could not care what happens for raids or ops. I play storyline and dailies/weeklies. If this goes live as it appears to be, I will not be able to make (more precisely, re-make, every single one) my characters as I enjoy them now. I think that the new pruning and skill advancement tree is a horrid abomination. That along with all of the myriad of other changes for the worse mean that after this launches and I confirm how bad it is, I will be taking my money elsewhere. I will be disappointed if they can't fix the mess I am expecting this to create and it kills the game, but as it appears that they have lost the plot I won't lose any sleep over it. This update will not draw in many new players, but I believe it will bring back old ones for a month to see. The key will be subscription rates in March and June. But, I expect mine will not be in that count.

Group players said the same thing for years now. You cant please everyone so while they might lose you they will get group players instead.

Why, you think people will want to run 1 80 Level Flashpoint endlessly, and then maybe a month or so later the 1 single Operation?

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They REALLY should have REVISED all Weekly Missions at least for Flashpoints / Operations / Uprising to 75-80 Level Content that's the most recent.

♦ Even if 75 level content still drops 306 or < gear, the weekly could have given 1 Level 80 Crate at least.

♦ With Renown we used to get several unless you were 999, and if so switching to ALT earn them.

People have 8, 16, possibly far more TOONs they want to see progress! Not enough 80 Level Content for a least a year!

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Idk if they NEED it or not. I rarely ever raid so I likely wont know even when the update goes live.

 

What I do know is that solo players definitely do not NEED the gear. Want it? Sure. But if you want it that bad, you know how to get it.

 

I still don't understand how this kills solo players.

 

Everything you can do now as a solo player will be available to you in the new update... except have the best gear. Maybe this will kill off greedy entitled solo players.... But no big loss there.

 

Stop whining and just have fun. It's a video game, not real world politics. My lord.

No you miss the point.

If BiS is MM gated, the casual player is going to ignore it. We know this because the hardest difficulty is always the least played. Light content plus a shorter gear chase means they play the game less. Low caps on tokens weekly and how weeklies are going to work means they play the game less.

The less casuals play the game, the less they care about the game. The less they care about the game, the less money it makes.

Also like or not, in 6.0 a casual could earn the best game doing hat they wanted. Bioware is taking that away. You get how this pisses people off right?

Again and again, raiders, Bioware, and others are trying to tell people how to play the game. Myself and others are telling you that it is not going to work. Customers have too many other options.

What is the average profile of a solo player in terms of irating and credit balance? If you have 306 gear already, I do strongly recommend keeping it. How viable is it for solo players to craft augs and aug kits? Is it realistic for them to buy kits and augs to at least get one side of gear fully auged with at least 276s? If you don't have the crafting/gathering skills and/or funds for that, perhaps joining a casual guild could help with asking others to possibly craft them for you for free--or at a discount.

By the time I finish Eternal Throne, all my characters have 270-274 gear with one or two 276 depending on what the game gives me. Playing up to Spirit of Vengeance I may get lucky and have a few upgrade drops to make a 270 gear into a 272 or 274. I never had an issue playing any mandatory story content in Story Mode until Spirit of Vengeance was launched. That was unplayable. It was continuous death to get to the end, and the end fight could never be won. They fixed it. With such gear it can now be finished, but I will die many times anyway and otherwise be close to death after every fight. The final boss can be defeated. If I can upgrade everything to at least 278 gear with some 280 at Fleet Spirit of Vengeance becomes a breeze with tactical play still being advisable, which itself is fine. Only four characters have finished Enclave. They have some 282 gear. I have no 306 gear on any character. In fact no character has anything above even 290.

By the time I finish Eternal Throne, all my characters have 270-274 gear with one or two 276 depending on what the game gives me. Playing up to Spirit of Vengeance I may get lucky and have a few upgrade drops to make a 270 gear into a 272 or 274. I never had an issue playing any mandatory story content in Story Mode until Spirit of Vengeance was launched. That was unplayable. It was continuous death to get to the end, and the end fight could never be won. They fixed it. With such gear it can now be finished, but I will die many times anyway and otherwise be close to death after every fight. The final boss can be defeated. If I can upgrade everything to at least 278 gear with some 280 at Fleet Spirit of Vengeance becomes a breeze with tactical play still being advisable, which itself is fine. Only four characters have finished Enclave. They have some 282 gear. I have no 306 gear on any character. In fact no character has anything above even 290.

Thanks for this reply. Now I need to see about getting some lower-tier gear on another toon and take that toon for a spin on PTS so I can see how comparable the new gear is for myself. I want to get a better feel for what solo players will experience. But, right now, I'd bet that the 7.0 gear will probably be an improvement on your current stuff.

By the time I finish Eternal Throne, all my characters have 270-274 gear with one or two 276 depending on what the game gives me. Playing up to Spirit of Vengeance I may get lucky and have a few upgrade drops to make a 270 gear into a 272 or 274. I never had an issue playing any mandatory story content in Story Mode until Spirit of Vengeance was launched. That was unplayable. It was continuous death to get to the end, and the end fight could never be won. They fixed it. With such gear it can now be finished, but I will die many times anyway and otherwise be close to death after every fight. The final boss can be defeated. If I can upgrade everything to at least 278 gear with some 280 at Fleet Spirit of Vengeance becomes a breeze with tactical play still being advisable, which itself is fine. Only four characters have finished Enclave. They have some 282 gear. I have no 306 gear on any character. In fact no character has anything above even 290.

This is pretty much me as well. I don't have any of my characters in 306 gear - the highest I have so far is 282. I'm quite relieved that the expansion launch has been delayed a couple of months, as this will give me a bit more time to get characters better geared (although none are likely to be at 306 level).

I'm really disappointed in the new gearing system for 7.0, where those of us who only do story are limited to green gear. For all I don't min/max, I do like to progress my characters to as good as I can do, within my limitations. When I get a piece of gear that is blue, or purple, or most excitingly gold, it gives me a huge sense of achievement as I can see I am progressing my character. It's exciting! Being stuck with green only now....I'm not going to get that sense of accomplishment or excitement.

I'll give it a try once it drops. Once it stops being fun though, that will be the end for me.

This is pretty much me as well. I don't have any of my characters in 306 gear - the highest I have so far is 282. I'm quite relieved that the expansion launch has been delayed a couple of months, as this will give me a bit more time to get characters better geared (although none are likely to be at 306 level).

 

I'm really disappointed in the new gearing system for 7.0, where those of us who only do story are limited to green gear. For all I don't min/max, I do like to progress my characters to as good as I can do, within my limitations. When I get a piece of gear that is blue, or purple, or most excitingly gold, it gives me a huge sense of achievement as I can see I am progressing my character. It's exciting! Being stuck with green only now....I'm not going to get that sense of accomplishment or excitement.

 

I'll give it a try once it drops. Once it stops being fun though, that will be the end for me.

Similar situation here, I have only just now hit the 300 mark on some of my characters. And I feel very accomplished and epic because of that: getting gold gear feels like "wow, I am cool". Just like it felt epic to suddenly start getting purple gear a while back.

But a question - is it really supposed to mean that we aren't going to get any of these anymore and just get green gear if we play only solo? I occasionally play other stuff too, but still not often enough that it would supply me with gear under the new system if I understand it correctly. And I for example want to be able to do basic flashpoints without getting my butt kicked all the time.

And what was this thing that the mods are going to become invalid anyway? Like, that it won't be a thing at all? In that case all my tier 300 gear won't be useful anyway.

And worse - just wondering: so are we going to get the highest-tier gear available for solo players only for completing the latest story mission? Because I have a lot of characters who haven't even played through all the expansions. Does it mean that now they will be stuck with some level 180 gear because the last thing they did was some Rishi where you get that level gear and not higher? I hope not!

Could somebody make an understandable, clear summary of how this will be? There are many players who only want to know this one thing because nothing else concerns them.

What is the average profile of a solo player in terms of irating and credit balance? If you have 306 gear already, I do strongly recommend keeping it. How viable is it for solo players to craft augs and aug kits? Is it realistic for them to buy kits and augs to at least get one side of gear fully auged with at least 276s? If you don't have the crafting/gathering skills and/or funds for that, perhaps joining a casual guild could help with asking others to possibly craft them for you for free--or at a discount.

Another data point:

I am a casual, mostly solo player (very tiny guild). Most of the characters I play do have 306 gear, though not necessarily the best set for the class (e.g., obviously no Apex Predator) and not min/maxed in terms of amplifiers (which will be a moot point in 7.0 anyway). For sure, I am keeping that gear because the last round of PTS showed it was better than what I can expect to earn (at a snail's pace, again based on the last round of PTS). I do not have access to gold augments, since I don't do the activities that provide the mats required. I have limited access to mats for the other higher augments past the old 228 (which is what I have equipped). I have the crafting ability, I just don't have the credits/access to mats to do this for everyone in my small guild. And please, do not tell me to abandon the friends I have there for some theoretically greener pasture in another guild. That's not your call to make.

The idea that solo/casual players can make up the stat deficit of the static green/blue gear with augments is also flawed in that the cost of ripping them off and reapplying them is already hefty, and they are removing a major source of solo/casual credits (Conquest) with the expansion. I'm not about to be spending hundreds of thousands of credits on putting them on and then taking them off of several slots' worth of static gear as I 'progress' it. I can't afford it.