I personally fail to see how my doing more work giving greater rewards constitutes an unfair advantage. It's not like I had a week head start on everyone, I just did the same routine anyone else is capable of. If the real problem is the potential hoarding of OEMs and RPMs, then maybe attaching them to tech fragments is a bad idea, and another currency, or just having them cost flat-out tens of millions of credits would be better. I don't understand how it's even logical for them to impose such a small cap and penalize us for quite easily reaching it. The limit needs to be increased, Zykken should be open all week, and these OEMs and RPMs should either cost a lot of credits or cost way more than 10k tech frags, so people who just want to gear and do their normal activities don't have to feel restricted.

I understand you and others don't like the 10K tech fragments cap and perceive it as "punishment" and too low. What I think players in your position and probably players in general often fail to consider is the overall balance of the game because you're focused on your own needs and wants. I will again quote Design Director Chris Schmidt.

"The reason behind this change is we observed some unintended behavior where the mechanics of the refund timer were being used to store more resources than intended by limits intentionally set in order to balance the game economy’s inflows and outflows."

It seems quite evident to me that BioWare is changing how the refund timer works because they did not intend for players to have a way to access more than 10K tech fragments at a time and can readily predict that some players will use this banking technique to acquire multiple high value OEMs and/or RPMs when 6.3 goes live, giving these players an advantage over the players that do not use this unintended banking technique.

Now you want to suggest that BioWare should use something other than tech fragments to acquire OEMs and RPMs as well as increase the number of tech fragments that can be stored. Obviously that is something you'll need to convince BioWare of as there is nothing I can do in that regard. It seems OEMs are currently only obtainable from master mode operations and RPMs thru ranked PvP. The 6.3 update appears poised to make those two items more readily available by allowing a player to purchase them with capped bank of tech fragments.

From my point of view I would like to know when BioWare became aware of this "unintended behavior" and how long did it take between the time they became aware of this behavior and now when they decided to take action to curb it. I suppose it is unlikely BioWare will reveal this info though. I just wonder if BioWare chose to ignore this unintended behavior until they decided that they couldn't ignore it any longer now that they are going to make these high value items available for purchase via tech fragments.

I’d like to add a few to your list that have put me off the game since 6.0

 

- lock out timer for reg pvp

- requiring wins to advance your missions in pvp

- crafting Nerfed in conquest

- refund timer change with no change to tech frag storage or extending Kai Zykken availability

- amplifier lotto

- excessive RNG trying to get BiS gear

- crafting mats gated behind ranked and NiM operations

- zero communication from the dev team (not Jackie) since the pvp changes were made over 9 months ago (we still wondering if they’ve collected enough data yet to warrant tweaking what they did or if they’ve actually improved pvp from Biowares perspective)

- more, but can’t be bothered to go and find all the things.

Yes, I remembered the crafting mats as soon as I had posted mine. I do nim ops and win the roll every now and then, but I don't touch any kind of pvp anymore. And not only the sources of the mats is why I don't even consider getting the new augments, it's also the amount of them needed to craft just one. It's an impossible situation for people who play several classes and roles.

The other reasons you listed are good too. I'd add lockout timer on anything, not just pvp, but that part of the game was ruined way before 6.0 on pve. At least pvp and pve are now treated equally bad, if that's any consolation...

It might have been unintended. It might sabotage the plans to make the crafting mats available for tech fragments. I get that. Not a big deal? Maybe. But it is the little things, the sum of them, that is making me tired and wearing me down, and I am not exxagerating.

I used to make most of my credits selling crafting stuff. Dried out. I used to finish off the small gaps in conquest per char with gathering or crafting. Gone. I wait for Kai Zykken for my last 22% of gear achievements and prepare by storing my last (!) excess fragments via the token vendor. The other times I just buy ember, so it is not hoarding per se. Will be removed.

So again, not a big deal, still I keep asking myself, why BW continuously solves the wrong problems. I might adapt/accept, or play less, we will see, no drama here, just tired.

But if they were to swap the timer behaviour with an increase of tech fragment capacity to like 200k, that would go a long way. But they will of course only do it (if they do it at all) after the current volume of stored fragments will have been purged for obvious reasons, which would be fine with me (but maybe not others who used it more).

Why do you need a 50k cap? I’m not saying I wouldn’t like one, but where is your argument to take it from 10k to 50k.

People buy the Unidentified Unique Items in hopes of getting the gear pieces they miss for achievements.

 

The reason behind this change is we observed some unintended behavior where the mechanics of the refund timer were being used to store more resources than intended by limits intentionally set in order to balance the game economy’s inflows and outflows.

 

Dear Chris, there are still many ways on how to counter even this change so....

People buy the Unidentified Unique Items in hopes of getting the gear pieces they miss for achievements.

Yes, I do that too. But I don’t see why it needs to be much higher than 30k.

Dear Chris, there are still many ways on how to counter even this change so....

Care to elaborate

Assuming all goes according to plan and anyone still hoarding items to refund for tech fragments get stuck with hundreds of worthless ugly speeders, this is a good change (only in that it prevents some players from being able to buy a crazy amount of the components for the still absurd 300 augments).

The biggest issue with tech fragments has been the combination of some sets only being random drops (and being BiS for a class / discipline) OR available on Kai (both as inventory and as RNG chance) AND Kai only open on weekends while most tech fragment inflows occur on Tues after the reset.

Simple solutions include putting EVERY set on a vendor (why should some class / disciplines be able to buy their BiS set any day off a normal vendor while others have to deal with time-limited vendors and RNG?) with the Kai inventory / RNG simply a way to acquire items cheaper or leaving Kai open at all times (at least for buying random items).

Still, adding an item with a cost of the cap should warrant at least a small increase in the cap, but if a player is able to buy anything on a vendor / play the Kai game at any time, a massive increase isn't needed (no cap will ever help a player who already has everything and won't spend tech fragments).

Care to elaborate

Use pending rewards is one way to at least hold tech fragments until the next time Kai opens.

 

 

Use pending rewards is one way to at least hold tech fragments until the next time Kai opens.

or don't open the cases till he is there, say them for the weekend, etc.

Hi folks,

 

We wanted to give you an early heads up about a change we’re making in the upcoming game update 6.3.

 

Previously, the refund timer for items purchased off of a vendor only counted down while that character was in-game. As of the 6.3 update, this will change to real time. What this means is if you purchase an item off of a vendor, and that item has a refund timer on it, the timer will count down whether that character is logged in or not.

 

This is in-line with how the current timer for Cartel Market items works. The ability to exchange items looted between party members in Flashpoints and Operations, which also uses a timer, will not change and count down via in-game time only.

 

The reason behind this change is we observed some unintended behavior where the mechanics of the refund timer were being used to store more resources than intended by limits intentionally set in order to balance the game economy’s inflows and outflows.

 

-Chris

Hello,

I wish I was informed of this ingame and not while writing my first message here, after the fact... -_-

At least it's nice to discover this forum, I guess.

I'm still relatively new to the game, but I'm one of those criminals who indeed were using the mount vendor on the Fleet to not lose Tech Fragments until I figured out what to buy with them (typically set bonus parts after i could check which part was missing on which character, or sales from the mystery merchant guy when available).

I didn't realize I was being so abusive and troublesome so I don't know... Sorry? Been well punished though : lost 8.4m and 14000 Fragments. Also my will to keep playing, as it takes me weeks to gather that much so yeah I probably won't be seen being a bad boy again anytime soon.

The thing is, I thought that I had caught on in time, reading the changelog while installing the update and waiting for the servers to be back online.

But in the end I still hadn't, because even though i logged back in the minute it was possible, all these 2 hours timers were already over.

So in the end the rules changed (kind of suddenly for people who don't use this forum) but we didn't necessarily get a chance to adapt to them before it's too late. Like "Oh, btw starting from now the team with the lowest score wins. Also the game is over and you lost, lol, kthxbye.".

Again it's pretty nice that this announcement was published here beforehand.

It would have been great if the same had happened ingame as well, though.

Thank you for your attention.

With all the feed back asking for increased tech frag totals or increasing the time Kai Zykken is available, you’d think Chris would have replied to say he’s heard and will consider some changes.

That would go a long way with the player base.

With all the feed back asking for increased tech frag totals or increasing the time Kai Zykken is available, you’d think Chris would have replied to say he’s heard and will consider some changes.

That would go a long way with the player base.

it would

With all the feed back asking for increased tech frag totals or increasing the time Kai Zykken is available, you’d think Chris would have replied to say he’s heard and will consider some changes.

That would go a long way with the player base.

it would

Has anyone tried asking him in that "community" Discord channel?

( i'm not in that channel anymore, otherwise i'd try asking myself)

Has anyone tried asking him in that "community" Discord channel? -->

 

( i'm not in that channel anymore, otherwise i'd try asking myself)

that would inevitably bring up that discord thread that got shut down when the sith hit the fan....

Mentioning it could cause issues.....

that would inevitably bring up that discord thread that got shut down when the sith hit the fan....

Mentioning it could cause issues.....

ah ok, well i just EDITED my post you quoted ^^ ( to remove the DEV post from 'dev tracker' that i linked)

My mistake.

ah ok, well i just EDITED my post you quoted ^^ ( to remove the DEV post from 'dev tracker' that i linked)

 

My mistake.

I didn't mean you'd get in to trouble for the post, but more along the lines that it's a touchy subject, and could ignite the old argument.

Has anyone tried asking him in that "community" Discord channel?

 

( i'm not in that channel anymore, otherwise i'd try asking myself)

I try not to ask direct questions to Chris there because the mods get upset.

@Chris, this wasn't done properly and needs to be revisited ASAP please. Check my thread below "This game's customer service is becoming seriously bad"

There's a huge issue with how this wasn't communicated DIRECTLY to people and is a huge disappointment and turn-off.

Please correct ASAP.

@ChrisSchmidt, kindly expecting your response.

You'll be left hanging...lol

You'll be left hanging...lol

Well, still going to ask for it.

@Chris, this wasn't done properly and needs to be revisited ASAP please. Check my thread below "This game's customer service is becoming seriously bad"

 

There's a huge issue with how this wasn't communicated DIRECTLY to people and is a huge disappointment and turn-off.

 

Please correct ASAP.

I am sorry, but how is this not communicated directly? This "refund timer change" was announced now more than two weeks ago. You had two weeks to take actions not to end up with stored items that now no longer can be refunded to a vendor or whatever.

I am sorry, but how is this not communicated directly? This "refund timer change" was announced now more than two weeks ago. You had two weeks to take actions not to end up with stored items that now no longer can be refunded to a vendor or whatever.

Agreed, we had plenty of time to catch up.

In honor of May the Fourth, I saved my reply to this nonsense...

I have zero sympathy for anyone who engaged in hoarding of Tech Fragments (TF), much less failed to heed the warnings in advance.

A) You knew stockpiling TF went against BW's design philosophy. You rolled the dice and lost;

B) Had those who were smart enough to exploit the system also been smart enough to read the Official Forums, you would have known WEEKS in advance this change was forthcoming; i.e., they were actually giving exploiters a chance to cash in. You snooze, you lose. (FYI, it's lose, not loose.)

C) Frankly, I would have sprung it on all of the exploiters with no advance warning. The notion that BW was supposed to imprint on every exploited item a new disclaimer is patently absurd.

So, to those who lost out, knowing (or should have) you would potentially (even eventually) get your comeuppance, here is my response:

<<sips martini>>

Dasty

Have you guys even been reading the comments properly?

The writing is plain and simple; the items explicitly said they were refundable for a X amount of hours even before the update took place, without any indication otherwise.

That's in writing. That's a contract. And what BW is doing now is a breach of contract.