So, at the beginning of 7.x, Tech Fragments were rebalanced to a trickle instead of a flood. Now, instead of a Solo Player being able to get 100,000 Tech Fragments very quickly, a Solo Player earns 11,000 Tech Fragments very slowly. On any one character, I can have more than enough Credits to buy a Tactical or Legendary Implant, but I'll only ever have ~3,000 TechFrags. So I started looking into this. Swtorista has a fairly comprehensive list of each source of TechFrags, but I want to know exactly how much you can grind for as a Solo Player. And that's when I started counting Heroics.

The following list assumes that one player is playing all 8 Origin Stories, with each character at Lvl80.

Unless I miscalculated, a Solo Player, with just Heroics (minus GSI, I'm not sure if those count), can earn 19,380 Tech Fragments. This is not counting the 4,000 from Conquest or the variable amount from deconstructing dropped gear.

That's a huge amount of grind for one person to do! I understand retention time and all, but still! You need to be able to one-shot an entire group of Heroic-level enemies on every OS if you want to have a chance of doing this quickly!

So, how do we bring Solo Play up to the same level as Group Play, in terms of TechFrag grind (not that you earn too much more when doing all group content outside of Ops)? And is 11k too low of a cap?

I wouldn't mind if they narrowed the gap a little, but I don't think they should be equal. Group activities should reward tech fragments at a greater rate than solo activities. It's better for the game to have some incentives to group up. When you group up, you're more likely to make friends in the game and join a guild. For the player, it's more fun to play with friends, even if you're each doing separate solo stuff and chatting with each other. When players have more fun, they subscribe more, so it's also better for Bioware.

I think Onslaught was actually slower for getting tech fragments solo only because dailies/heroics didn't award any except Onderon Weekly/Daily Patrol. You had to rely on Renown Crates and breaking down gear, but you didn't get a whole lot of gear doing solo stuff. Now in 7.0, you get tech fragments from all dailies/heroics plus Systech gear you can break down for tech fragments plus the occasional bag of tech fragments.

IMO ... the entire matter surrounds the whole "solo" player matter. If you are playing solo it's somewhat frowned upon.

The idea is to ummm .. "persuade" players to "want" to engage in "group" therapy. Supposedly this is the definition of "MMO". That sort of thing died with the dinosaurs (actually). Surprisingly enough though, I'm still around!!

To be perfectly candid about this whole thing ...

** I personally don't have a problem "earing" the stuff to get the gear I want. Unfortunately, there seems to be several "roadblocks" deliberately in place to drag that process out much longer than is necessary.

** constantly loosing tech fragments or Conquest Commendations OR Daily Resource due to low-level caps.

** Drops in the "green bag" we get at the end of completing "dailies" ... etc are every bit as bad as it was while on Ossus. By that I mean: (for example) ... I have as many as 4 Chest pieces (328's) ALL Targeter's. ALL received on the same day! UGH!! Most of the day was a waste. The only thing I was able to salvage from the entire day's efforts was the "upgrades" I was able to purchase.

There again ... no problem earing stuff EXCEPT for the fact that the cap levels on Daily Resource Matrix got in the way... UGH!!

Never mind!! (Talk about frustrating!!!)

I have actually spent entire days where most (if not all) Resource Matrix AND Conquest Commendations were lost due to caps (I needed more fragments to pay for implant upgrades just so I could claim Conquest Commendations.)

Yes, the Tech Fragments will help ... BUT only if the caps are raised a bit in all three major categories that are a part of equipment upgrades and other related items.

IMO ... the entire matter surrounds the whole "solo" player matter. If you are playing solo it's somewhat frowned upon.

 

The idea is to ummm .. "persuade" players to "want" to engage in "group" therapy. Supposedly this is the definition of "MMO". That sort of thing died with the dinosaurs (actually). Surprisingly enough though, I'm still around!!

So far their brilliant strategy "persuaded" half of the playerbase to take a break so I believe any attempt to persuade the devs to make the game more solo-friendly is valuable.

So, at the beginning of 7.x, Tech Fragments were rebalanced

They weren't rebalanced. And thats exactly the problem.

The number of tech fragments stayed the same, but the loot was reduced by 80%.

Before 7.0 you left, lets say a FP, with ~15 looted items/mods which gave you ~150+ tech fragments. After 7.0 due to the new loot system, you leave a FP with 3-4 items, which will give you ~15 tech fragments.

Next thing is now you need tech fragments to upgrade every step from 326 to 334 implants. Even with the new 2500 techs per piece/upgrade you'll need 25.000+ tech fragments instead of 18.000 for a full set bonus before 7.0. Its an increase in fragments >30%.

So far their brilliant strategy "persuaded" half of the playerbase to take a break so I believe any attempt to persuade the devs to make the game more solo-friendly is valuable.

You'll get no argument from me on that point ... as long as:

** We don't forget that there are others who DO enjoy groups stuff. IMO I would be just as guilty if I acted poorly toward them. ( I hope that makes sense).

** We get a bit more room in the "caps" of each of the items needed to actually pursue gearing more efficiently.

** Better gearing means we can do more in game.

It should also be noted that even it we received a lot more "fragments" it would only mean a lot more would be "lost" unless there is something to spend them on AND a little more "storage" capacity to get what we REALLY would like to get.

Who knows... find enough really cool stuff purchased with tech fragments earned in game (not credits) that might help solve some other issues too!

Yeah ... Tech Fragments probably needs some work (rebalancing) ... in more ways than we realize. IMO OP has the right idea (sort of) ... Just needs a little work on how to get there!

I wouldn't mind if they narrowed the gap a little, but I don't think they should be equal. Group activities should reward tech fragments at a greater rate than solo activities. It's better for the game to have some incentives to group up. When you group up, you're more likely to make friends in the game and join a guild. For the player, it's more fun to play with friends, even if you're each doing separate solo stuff and chatting with each other. When players have more fun, they subscribe more, so it's also better for Bioware.

I would agree, if not for the fact that many currently active guilds have strict requirements like logging on and earning your Daily Conquest every single day, and not everyone has the time or desire to do that.

You could get new friends into the game, but it's been 10 years. Most people who want to play are already playing. And a friend group I'm currently a part of, for example, has no interest in the game.

You could make new friends from the current playerbase, but that in and of itself requires social navigation skills that Solo players may not have (thus why they play solo).

What I'm saying is: forcing players to do something they don't want to do is a fast way to lose players.

I think Onslaught was actually slower for getting tech fragments solo only because dailies/heroics didn't award any except Onderon Weekly/Daily Patrol. You had to rely on Renown Crates and breaking down gear, but you didn't get a whole lot of gear doing solo stuff. Now in 7.0, you get tech fragments from all dailies/heroics plus Systech gear you can break down for tech fragments plus the occasional bag of tech fragments.

Really? I remember being so flooded with the things that I couldn't get rid of them fast enough. And I'm a pure Solo player.

IMO ... the entire matter surrounds the whole "solo" player matter. If you are playing solo it's somewhat frowned upon.

Then why does everything post-SoR cater almost exclusively to Solo play?

The idea is to ummm .. "persuade" players to "want" to engage in "group" therapy. Supposedly this is the definition of "MMO". That sort of thing died with the dinosaurs (actually). Surprisingly enough though, I'm still around!!

The arrogance your post exudes is staggering. I'm rewatching The Clone Wars, currently in the D-Squad arc, and I seriously cannot read your posts in anything but Meebur Gascon's voice.

I don't group specifically because of people like you. I'd almost rather cancel my Subscription and wait until 8.0 is almost out than be forced to play with someone like you.

Yes, the Tech Fragments will help ... BUT only if the caps are raised a bit in all three major categories that are a part of equipment upgrades and other related items.

Finally, the only thing of any actual worth in your post.

With resources like Tech Fragments, Daily Matrices, and Conquest Commendations, I'd rather the cap or even the resources themselves be removed altogether; seeing as we're meant to go through this stuff as fast as we go through Credits. I can easily hit, for example, a million Credits for the purpose of buying a Tactical I need for my build. I cannot, on the other hand, quickly gain the thee thousand TechFrags required for that same purchase without spending an entire day grinding out two or more characters.

So far their brilliant strategy "persuaded" half of the playerbase to take a break so I believe any attempt to persuade the devs to make the game more solo-friendly is valuable.

Well said.

They weren't rebalanced. And thats exactly the problem.

 

The number of tech fragments stayed the same, but the loot was reduced by 80%.

Before 7.0 you left, lets say a FP, with ~15 looted items/mods which gave you ~150+ tech fragments. After 7.0 due to the new loot system, you leave a FP with 3-4 items, which will give you ~15 tech fragments.

 

Next thing is now you need tech fragments to upgrade every step from 326 to 334 implants. Even with the new 2500 techs per piece/upgrade you'll need 25.000+ tech fragments instead of 18.000 for a full set bonus before 7.0. Its an increase in fragments >30%.

I swear, I remember being so flooded with the things that I couldn't get rid of them fast enough. And I'm a pure Solo player. I was having a harder time gaining Credits just so I could offload TechFrags on the Vehicle/Pet vendors.

You'll get no argument from me on that point ... as long as:

** We don't forget that there are others who DO enjoy groups stuff. IMO I would be just as guilty if I acted poorly toward them. ( I hope that makes sense).

** We get a bit more room in the "caps" of each of the items needed to actually pursue gearing more efficiently.

** Better gearing means we can do more in game.

 

It should also be noted that even it we received a lot more "fragments" it would only mean a lot more would be "lost" unless there is something to spend them on AND a little more "storage" capacity to get what we REALLY would like to get.

Seriously, stop with the random quotation marks. It makes you come off as so arrogant and full of yourself.

Who knows... find enough really cool stuff purchased with tech fragments earned in game (not credits) that might help solve some other issues too!

There are already vendors in the Spoils of War section of the Fleets specifically for Mounts, Pets, and now Cosmetic Armor/Weapons that you can only get with Tech Fragments in addition to Credits.

Yeah ... Tech Fragments probably needs some work (rebalancing) ... in more ways than we realize. IMO OP has the right idea (sort of) ... Just needs a little work on how to get there!

My only idea is that we buff dismantled armor to give a flat 10, buff the Heroics to give 50 instead of 30, make the "Complete X Heroics" quests give 100, and limit the amount of Dailies you can perform to per Legacy instead of per Character. Might not be the best way to do it over all, but that's what posting about it in the forum is for.

I would agree, if not for the fact that many currently active guilds have strict requirements like logging on and earning your Daily Conquest every single day, and not everyone has the time or desire to do that.

You could get new friends into the game, but it's been 10 years. Most people who want to play are already playing. And a friend group I'm currently a part of, for example, has no interest in the game.

You could make new friends from the current playerbase, but that in and of itself requires social navigation skills that Solo players may not have (thus why they play solo).

 

What I'm saying is: forcing players to do something they don't want to do is a fast way to lose players.

Yeah, I'm fine with everyone getting the gear, but I do think it's best for the game if grouping provides faster progression. For example, they could make it so everyone can get 340 gear but ops players get it in 2 weeks while solo players have to go 8 weeks. Sorry, if I wasn't clear on that. I don't think solo players should be shut out of the best gear.

Really? I remember being so flooded with the things that I couldn't get rid of them fast enough. And I'm a pure Solo player.

Well, it depends on the activities you did. If by solo, you mean only solo content like daily areas, heroics, and story flahspoints, yeah it was slower than now. If your definition of solo also includes anything you can queue solo like warzones and veteran flashpoints, then it was quite a bit faster than now. This is for tech fragment gains only. As far as upgrading gear, it was much faster in Onslaught than now just because there were no caps to deal with. I do seem to remember story flashpoints capping out around 290 or so, but you could quickly get to 306 if you were willing to do a few veteran flashpoints. Then you could use your 306 character to buy gear for alts from the random gear vendor.

Yeah, I'm fine with everyone getting the gear, but I do think it's best for the game if grouping provides faster progression. For example, they could make it so everyone can get 340 gear but ops players get it in 2 weeks while solo players have to go 8 weeks. Sorry, if I wasn't clear on that. I don't think solo players should be shut out of the best gear.

I agree that there should be incentives to group. That promotes community within the playerbase, and community is what ensures a game lives or dies. But for those that don't see any benefit to grouping, they shouldn't be punished with snail's pace progression.

For example: I know that there are repeatable Daily/Weekly quests that gain you more Tech Fragments by playing Flashpoints/Uprisings/Operations/PvP through the Group Finder. But none of those bonuses feel worthwhile enough to me as a solo player, because I don't enjoy sitting in the queues and especially don't enjoy PvP (with the exception of Operations, but that sparks a completely separate problem I have with the game). Why should I do all that on one character when I can put on a podcast/archived livestream and blast out enough Heroics to get my Daily Conquest across 8 characters? It's still tedious, but I don't have to wrangle together a group that understands that I may not know what I'm doing.

Well, it depends on the activities you did. If by solo, you mean only solo content like daily areas, heroics, and story flahspoints, yeah it was slower than now. If your definition of solo also includes anything you can queue solo like warzones and veteran flashpoints, then it was quite a bit faster than now. This is for tech fragment gains only. As far as upgrading gear, it was much faster in Onslaught than now just because there were no caps to deal with. I do seem to remember story flashpoints capping out around 290 or so, but you could quickly get to 306 if you were willing to do a few veteran flashpoints. Then you could use your 306 character to buy gear for alts from the random gear vendor.

I did all Daily/Weekly repeatables (minus group-focused stuff), stacked Renown Crates, and deconstructed all the gear I got from drops. I swear on my life that even with the 100k resource cap I couldn't get rid of the things fast enough because my roadblock was actually Credits.

I’ll never understand the solo player that absolutely refuses to do group content. You need tech fragments and you just refuse to do the fastest and easiest way to get them. Story mode Dread Fort takes about 20 minutes and you get 2k fragments from it. Groups for this pretty much run all day on fleet.

No changes need to be made to tech fragment drops.

I’ll never understand the solo player that absolutely refuses to do group content. You need tech fragments and you just refuse to do the fastest and easiest way to get them. Story mode Dread Fort takes about 20 minutes and you get 2k fragments from it. Groups for this pretty much run all day on fleet.

 

No changes need to be made to tech fragment drops.

Let me try to give you some perspective from my point of view.

for flashpoints - veteran level

1. the queue system occaional takes awhile for a DPS player.

2. If you get a level 10-18 player it's almost a guarantee to get black talon / esseles. you cancel because you don't want that one and get a group with the same lowbie toon. you then have to put the lowbie toon on IGNORE just to not get matched with that toon anymore. It sucks, but it's how to not get stuck in cutscene purgatory where someone doesn't want to spacebar through it.

3. You get stuck with a player who knows every single shortcut in every single FP and expects everyone else to not only automatically know them, but to skip all mobs as the standard way to do them. Sorry, I don't know all the shortcuts and occasionally I like to kill the mobs, especially if I'm on a toon that isn't 80.

That's just the first 3 that come to mind.

I've even tried doing group finder for MM flashpoints, again as a DPS....I've never been patient enough for the queue to actually pop. Not ONCE. I don't mind doing heroics while waiting, but they often have phases that you can't get in while in the GF queue, so it's one of the other at that point.

As for the OP point that tech frag drops need to be enhanced for solo players...

As a solo player I agree.

However, I have an ungodly number of alts so I can just switch toons and run cz-198 until my eyes bleed.

Although, my roadblock is generally the DRMs more so than the tech frags.

I spend the conquest commendations, which I cap out on faster than tech frags, to buy tech frags when I need them.

I’ll never understand the solo player that absolutely refuses to do group content. You need tech fragments and you just refuse to do the fastest and easiest way to get them. Story mode Dread Fort takes about 20 minutes and you get 2k fragments from it. Groups for this pretty much run all day on fleet.

 

No changes need to be made to tech fragment drops.

BUT I'VE NEVER PLAYED DREAD FORT OR ANY OTHER OPERATION. So not only would I inconvenience others by watching cutscenes, I also would have no idea of how to do anything. And don't say to "look up a video". Most videos of it are gonna be crusty piles of dung from 5 years ago made by people that know how to blast through it, thus losing the point of teaching people how to do it.

Your entire post only reinforces my desire to avoid group content.

However, I have an ungodly number of alts so I can just switch toons and run cz-198 until my eyes bleed.

 

I spend the conquest commendations, which I cap out on faster than tech frags, to buy tech frags when I need them.

The point of bringing this up is to try and get enough momentum for a change so we can avoid playing the same content until we hate the game.

But 50 Com for 50 Frag? At max, that's only an extra 250. That's still a drop in the bucket compared to how many you actually need.

I would agree, if not for the fact that many currently active guilds have strict requirements like logging on and earning your Daily Conquest every single day, and not everyone has the time or desire to do that.

why would that be a requirement?? the only thing some guilds want is 100k conquest points each week and that is easy enough

BUT I'VE NEVER PLAYED DREAD FORT OR ANY OTHER OPERATION. So not only would I inconvenience others by watching cutscenes, I also would have no idea of how to do anything. And don't say to "look up a video". Most videos of it are gonna be crusty piles of dung from 5 years ago made by people that know how to blast through it, thus losing the point of teaching people how to do it.

 

Your entire post only reinforces my desire to avoid group content.

Then you're missing out. Pretty much all guides (from even years ago) are still good for story mode operations. Most operations have one or two short cutscenes and I don't think I've ever seen people yelling "spacebar" during an ops cutscene.

I don't really know why you say my post reinforces your desire to avoid group content but your not even wanting to try an operation pretty much reinforces mine.

The point of bringing this up is to try and get enough momentum for a change so we can avoid playing the same content until we hate the game.

 

But 50 Com for 50 Frag? At max, that's only an extra 250. That's still a drop in the bucket compared to how many you actually need.

it's enough to get me from 4500 to 6500 to get the next implant.

why would that be a requirement?? the only thing some guilds want is 100k conquest points each week and that is easy enough

Reaching the CQ points is easy enough! I agree!

BUT! frankly the caps on everything else is nearly a juggling act! Frankly I lose a ridiculous amount of at least two of the three important items needed each week to gain the gear items I want to earn!

I have no problem EARNING stuff. That's just part of the whole MMO gig! All to often the caps are low enough to simply slow down the process.

As for "vendors" for other items. IMO many of us have been around long enough we already have pretty much what they are selling (if we want it bad enough).

Yes ... the loss of fragments we use to get is bad enough! BUT the CAP on top of that is additional frustration added!

OH!! For the record: I have nothing against anyone who desires and currently participates in group activities. Heck! years ago I did the same thing! It was a BLAST !!! I have no problem with those engaged in that sort of activity and hope that the rewards they earn is of an appropriate value. IT DOES absolutely aggravate me to no end to have the cap levels where they are currently for stuff I want to earn.

On 9/24/2022 at 8:13 AM, Screaming_Ziva said:

Then you're missing out. Pretty much all guides (from even years ago) are still good for story mode operations. Most operations have one or two short cutscenes and I don't think I've ever seen people yelling "spacebar" during an ops cutscene.

 

I don't really know why you say my post reinforces your desire to avoid group content but your not even wanting to try an operation pretty much reinforces mine.

Okay, found some. Still doesn't address my issue of having nobody to play with. What Guild would take a casual with eight simultaneous characters?

On 9/24/2022 at 8:32 AM, Darev said:

 

it's enough to get me from 4500 to 6500 to get the next implant.

Ah, I misread. ConCom are 2500 max stack.

On 9/24/2022 at 10:40 AM, OlBuzzard said:

 

Reaching the CQ points is easy enough! I agree!

 

BUT! frankly the caps on everything else is nearly a juggling act! Frankly I lose a ridiculous amount of at least two of the three important items needed each week to gain the gear items I want to earn!

 

I have no problem EARNING stuff. That's just part of the whole MMO gig! All to often the caps are low enough to simply slow down the process.

 

As for "vendors" for other items. IMO many of us have been around long enough we already have pretty much what they are selling (if we want it bad enough).

 

Yes ... the loss of fragments we use to get is bad enough! BUT the CAP on top of that is additional frustration added!

 

OH!! For the record: I have nothing against anyone who desires and currently participates in group activities. Heck! years ago I did the same thing! It was a BLAST !!! I have no problem with those engaged in that sort of activity and hope that the rewards they earn is of an appropriate value. IT DOES absolutely aggravate me to no end to have the cap levels where they are currently for stuff I want to earn.

Caps suck. Ban caps.

imo there is no such need, your rate of gaining tech frags depends on what content you are doing which in turn is based on your "need" of tech frags to clear and complete such content, doing operations provides tech frags as a higher rate compared to a solo player, its pretty self explanatory if you just think about it. try to discover other types of content and try it, you might find some new stuff you enjoy at the same time as getting tech frags at a higher rate