QOL is laughable.....

Warp3dM1nd

I'm a relative newish player been playing for awhile. How do you expect to retain a new player base that doesnt have access to dad's wallet or is a hedge fund manager.

Early on the hearing for toons is getting out of hand . I have roughly 74 characters unlocked ranging from 7 to 2 star. Out of those 74 25 of them need 28 sub kehpads and some need them as early as gear level4 it's not like it is just high gear level here. Th at is 560 parts that have to be grinded. I know I know some veteran will come in here and way blah blah suck it up we did it with our dad's wallet or our hedge fund or I grinded 28 out of the 24hrs to get mine. Dont worry about telling me about how much worse the stuncuff or garbunkle. The veterans are saying that to the new people everything they say something about the gear grind. Ironically they are now on here screaming about ship 2.0 forcing them to get back into grind or spend more money.

You guys have a great game but you are killing your retention rate with these ridiculous gear layouts. I have 600 of some hear need 560 of another. Do you guys up top honestly not see how unbalanced the gear system is? Please fix it before you no longer have a new player base to try retention moves. I like the grind ad much as the next and don't mind spending a little bit of change here and there and so does the kids when they can sneak and do it

TL:DR The screwed up gear system in this game is killing player retention and needs to be one of the top WIL changes.

DavidSPumpkins

There's a problem but I don't see it the same way.

I think the big problem is that there is no way to "catch up" new players with established players. MMOs would periodically raise level caps and release new content which sort of functions as a soft reset. Obviously this isn't an MMO, and catching up can be argued to only matter on one's own shard, but I still think that over time it should become easier (faster) for the the average player to gear up a robust roster to say g8 or g9

ARougeRogue

I played this game in my spare time and just concentrated on unlocking and starring as many characters as I could, all the while doing the daily challenges and progressing as far as possible in the LS/DS PVE tables. After awhile, I had a pretty decent roster of characters, but indeed most were at G8 if that high. I then picked a good team to work on, focused on gearing them, then made that my Arena team and rose in ranks, until I managed to save up crystals and could pick another team to work on.

I've done this over and over, and here we are. I have teams that can solo the HPit, HAAT, and I can bring in 20+million damage on the Sith Raid. All this and I'm 100% F2P. It takes a great deal of patience, and accepting that you're not going to be on par with people who have played for months/years. Why would you realistically expect to be? Even so, that doesn't mean you can't still contribute. Get in a good guild, help them and they'll help you.

All this said, I still do not envy a new player. This game is one very steep mountain to climb.

Swordd

DavidSPumpkins wrote: »

There's a problem but I don't see it the same way.

I think the big problem is that there is no way to "catch up" new players with established players. MMOs would periodically raise level caps and release new content which sort of functions as a soft reset. Obviously this isn't an MMO, and catching up can be argued to only matter on one's own shard, but I still think that over time it should become easier (faster) for the the average player to gear up a robust roster to say g8 or g9

It has become faster. Much faster. Guild currency and guild event currency are godsends compared to just a year ago before the guild store was reworked and when there was no way to get raid gear except, you know, raids.

It doesn't need to be possible for a new player to ever catch up to me without spending a lot of money. Even with new content and level cap increases I am still going to lap you because I already have most my chars at 85 with good gear. I am more likely to have a decent version of the next meta squad than you. I can sit on tens of millions of credits and multiple zetas because I have no pressing needs. I can beat pretty much every event upon release. There is no way to give those bonuses to newer players without just devaluing anything.

It's already gotten much easier for new players. The grind is real. If mk4 keypads get your goat, you are going to quit at first sight of a carbanti.

EventineElessedil

Warp3dM1nd wrote: »

I'm a relative newish player been playing for awhile. How do you expect to retain a new player base that doesnt have access to dad's wallet or is a hedge fund manager.

<< complaints about mk4 laptops >>

We all understand your frustration. What you are experiencing here is the end of the game's introductory period. Collecting needed gear has been pretty easy up until now. When you needed gear, you just went out and got it. Now is when you need to start managing your resources. The mk4 laptops are only the tip of the iceberg. This is where you decide whether or not you enjoy the game enough to start the real grinding.

Believe it or not (you won't of course, you just want to vent), some of us did not need dad's wallet or a hedge fund to play the game. But there is nothing wrong with paying the developers for a game you enjoy. How much you pay is up to you.

EventineElessedil

Oh, and you don't have to unlock characters if you are not or cannot gear them. Food for thought.

Kyno

as stated above. the game is a grind, which it seems you are ok with, but there is also resource management. Resource management tends to be the harder part as you start to move up in the early -> mid game.

Set up for the marathon, and pace yourself the only way to get there fast is to $$ and the only way to stay flexible without $$ is to hoard and make smart choices. There are several gear "humps" you dont need everyone to get through each hump all at the same time. get the ones you need through it and the rest will follow.

Vinny_Vader_Vedi

100 percent it’s a grind. My suggestions -
Don’t worry about missing out (this is tough)
There’s probably always an event you cannot beat or maybe even enter.

There are a lot of great guides on who to farm and when and why. PHX allieviates a lot. And at least you don’t have to go through the devs triple downing on rebels. (Wiggs, PHX, CLS)

Gear sucks. I once had hope it would get better, it didn’t for a long time. Now it’s a bit better after 2 and a half years.

Guilds. Guilds are probably the main reason why a lot of people still play. I feel like they don’t get the credit they should. Get a good guild that fits you. Build and grow with them.

Complain away. It’s your right. Complain and then suggest things to make it better.

Warp3dM1nd

No I do get it and have several solid teams phoenix, FO, and Sith. I still have to farm a multitude of other characters to decently high level just to be able to compete come end game. I just reached level 80 and I started the game off wrong and in a bad guild so mid game I basically did a full reboot. I can handle the grind and again I dont mind spending a few dollars. Thats not the issue here the issue is at this point with the way gear is set up new players have no hope and so all but the die hards will quit before mid game. Then the game will enter a state of attrition where the vets slowly lose interest and new players dont stay and the game goes down the toilet. It has happened in 2 other games I played for 3+ years. I play another game who realized much of my rant and have now made it much easier for new players to catch up to a point with vets without just giving it to them. The gear that would have taken a year in the beginning to get now takes a 3rd of the time allowing them some sense of accomplishment.

How long do you think a player will stay around when you tell them it will be a good 2 years before they can join in on all of these events they see? I can tell you exactly how long maybe a month. This game has a huge vet base so it will take longer but what I wrote above will inevitably happen unless something is done. Obviously this is something they want to keep people from shouting about in the open hence the movement of my post. I blame all of the issues on EA because they have done this in every popular game they have had their hands in. They will milk it until they cant anymore then suddenly a new swhog 2 will come out. Oh did I hear a dev say they had plans but it required them making hard changes to the game engine almost sounds like swhog2 too me.

Yeah im venting and ranting but it still doesnt change the fact that the gear system needs a huge overhaul. You have some gear that is never used ever. I have 600 to 1000 of some gear pieces. Why not introduce a gear crafting system where we can use the gear that is just pilling up to craft better or different gear that would work as a stop gap to the power creep happening atm.