Devs, thanks for the recent explosion of characters. Could you please now add a way to start getting gear for them? At current gear drop rates and availability people with have these toons geared in 10 years. There are just waaay too many toons coming out and gear drops haven't adjusted to match.
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Think it’s by accident there is a gear bottle neck?
Resource management. Name of the game.
That being said new toons and new G12 pieces require the same gear that has been in such high demand since the game began. The crunch seems so bad because it really is a never ending supply of cuffs/guns/carbantis needed for everything.
I can’t see any new spots for gear to go in anytime soon.
I think the overload of toons has actually hurt their spenders. I know I have stopped buying all the toons to 7 star when they come out. It isn't worth it to me anymore since I can't gear them. I used to instantly get all characters to 7 stars, no more, since the just collect dust at gear lvl 6 and 7
Not anywhere as much though. The advice to non-spenders is to bide your time and make wise choices. That advice applies to you too.
I am a big spender and it has affected me greatly as well
Anyone who has been on the forums for 6+ months has seen this kind of post again and again as new toons are released. CG balances creating new ways to earn gear with the sheer fact that people will spend $$ to acquire more gear. So far, despite the STR rewards debacle, I think they've struck a decent balance between expanding gear availability and letting top spenders gain the advantage. So don't panic
Not nearly as much as a f2p. How can you not understand this?
You just don't have to manage your resources as wisely as a f2p because you have more of them. Perhaps you need to reassess where you put those resources?
It was deliberate, lets just move on and suffer together.
Yes, I know you can also buy carbs from the guild store and shard shop, which I do, but for early stage players they need to be farming toons from the guild store. Yes, need to be. With as many characters as there are now new players need to be focused on gaining toons since they can't gear them fast enough to feel they are making progress. And thus the problem I think CG is encountering, newer players aren't feeling enough progress so they're not engaging enough with the game to become a paying player. Hence why they've released so much content designed specifically to get players "sticky" (e.g., mod set recommendations, beginning guilds, quests, etc.)
Like everything else, manage it. I keep track of the toons I care most about and set a minimum of 100 purples. Every Wed, Sat, and Sun, I look at my list and spend back down to 100 on a toon or two I'm working on.
This one I'm less sympathetic about. Yes, it requires a lot of purple mats. Yes, it probably requires about a year to get 30 - 40 toons abilities maxed. That actually seems reasonable to me. It'll get a lot better later on. I've been playing for over 2 years and I have over 200 purple mats sitting in reserves and will probably have 400+ by the time the new characters drop.
This specific item I can confidently say "hold on, it gets better"
The gear crunch at G8, G9, G10, G11, G12, and now G12+ has been lightened slightly, but never gets better.
I mean do you really see anyone using the BH, Qi’ra, new Lando, Han, Holdo, Rose, the Vets, etc?
You just need to be selective in who you give resources to.
Well, you don't have to like her in the movie, but holdo's a good toon with a great kit.
Yes, this game has a high competence level requirement in resource management. And a higher ceiling for optimal management and planning. But the issue goes beyond that.
On one hand, at the rate that the game is expanding in roster, it is no longer reasonable for anyone but 3+ year veterans to have a complete collection. And Im sure that comes wijth a dollar prixe as well.
But I can see it as an impossibility for most spenders (Bottom 99% of spenders) and I think that is a problem. If you put, say, 5k + per year in to this game, there is ZERO reason you shoudnt be able to maintain G10 + all characters and 7*. I dknt have math to back up this statement, admittedly, but I can almost guarantee this is not possible anymore, when it once was.
I have spent a collective of likely 1500 max, on this game over the past year. I was a casual spender. I have, in the last several months, moved to a free to play style play as Ive realized no matter how much I spend, I will not catch up to the meta, I will always be playing from behind. So I might as well do it for free.
Honestly, I dont think dropping every one of my paychecks would help much. Theres too many characters and gear cap is expanding. The rate of these two factors exceeds gear acquisition expansion, so the problem is continuing to grow, though perhaps at a slower rate than before shop updates.
Requirements for characters and factions of high caliber for faction events, mythic tiers, TB platoons, TB battles, raid optimal teams (STR requiring 5+ top tier faction squads alone for progressing guilds), ship pilots. MANY of these require 7* G9+, which is a heavy investment as is. Let alone mythics. And for any player looking to optimize INCOMING resources, they will have ALL of these things to build for. Lets not forget about the typical 6 month lasting metas which demand G12 7* meta characters that you'll switch like a revolving door or be forced to sit lower than top 500.
THIS ABOVE PARAGRAPH DESCRIBES OUR TRUE PROBLEM!!
The result is a game where we are not realistically allowed to use our imagination and love the game for the fantasy that it could provide without being bottom tier leaches to our guilds. And I think thats very unfortunate. This grind to remain competitive is the very reason I have stopped spending money. The new feel of the game is gone. The fun of maxing a new toon is lackluater, he'll be useless in 12 months. I will contjnue to play. I do love this game and the community that Im involved in. But Id be lying if I said I still find it fun. Its a nice consistent thing in my daily life that has a small satisfaction granted from goal completion. But I can not say I enjoy it enough to warrant spending, unfortunately.
Lol again, I am a big spender and I am complaining about gear drops. They are too slow.
LOL, its being managed, and I am still 2000 short and it will take a year or more to get them, "managing" that makes no difference to the short fall, sure prioritizing is important, doesn't solve a dam thing though
I agree that the gear crunch is MUCH worse, and has a bigger effect for sure, it is just depressing the purple mat shortage and using all these toons, a 100 or more, for Raids, etc at very sub-optimal levels.
I actually find the purple mat crunch is almost worse, or worse, than the credit crunch, both are bad and do effect squads a lot, maybe the credits have a worse effect but I need more purples than credits it seems
If that's how you think, then yeah, it won't solve anything.