It saddens me that SOE has done this to everyone who has spent so much time playing and perfecting their style in a most unique environment. Did the game have issues? Yes it did some professions were highly powered, some were not. With the installation of the CU this was supposed to give everyone an even footing and make the game more enjoyable. Did CU do this, was it a vast improvement to the old system? I must give a definitive HELL NO.
Let me explain a bit
SOE promised that we would have a combat systen that was Faster, More Tactical, and FAIR to all. What we got was Slower, mind numbing play which totally excluded a large portion of the population. Crafters, Entertainers and Hybrids of the above professios have been utterly destroyed. People who have spent hours upon end honing their skills and making their players the best they could be, are no afraid to leave their in-game houses or cities because if they do, they DIE just trying to do the things that HAVE to be done to do their professions. And instead of addressing these concerns, SOE's official stance and reply to them is basically "Hire Bodyguards."
There are also others who play the game at differentiating times that used to solo because they never are on at the same time as most of their friends ingame to group up and do things together. Now grouping is MANDATORY if you are to survive in the world. This is WRONG. People should be able to play however they wish and enjoy the game, but sony's stance is forced grouping to do the smallest things in the game. It's sad really.
Example:
Before CU:
Could go out and make money without worry of getting mobbed and killed by EVERYTHING ingame. Grinding was tedious and money was slow coming but you HAD to do it to be able to survive in the world, the economy of the game was out of hand and people had to have millions upon millions of credits to survive. Maintenance fees for properties were high and the small amount of storage versus the lot and maintenance usage was disproportionate and made it where you had to have several houses, factories, and such just to be able to hold the thousands of items you could acquire.
After CU:
Cannot go out and make money without grouping so you don't die constantly. Grinding is MORE tedious and money is very slow now because the lairs are spawning 3 to 5 times the old spawns, the economy of the game is STILL of hand and people have to have the same amount of credits to survive. Maintenance fees for properties ate still high and the small amount of storage versus the lot and maintenance usage is still disproportionate. AND, on top of this all, the Crafters can't get the required resources to make the things we need ingame, most are droppint those skills just to survive and soon our ability to have player crafted items will be gone. Then the laws of supply and demand will go up exponentially. What used to cost us hundreds of thousands of credits to have; Armor,homes, the things we need every day; will now cost into the millions of credits. Armor has been changed to a degree of the fact that it takes upwards to 3 times the resources it used to and most of the new ones are NAMED, which meant they are from certain planets with a certain type and category to them. MOST are from planets that a crafter CANNOT go to now as they would be one shotted in 2 seconds flat from landing.
I realize that this rant has gone on for way topo long, but this is just a small part of the reasons the Combat Upgrade should have been treated in a better manner. This coupled with the fact that it wasn't wanted by 80% of the players polled, was pushed to live too early with so many bugs in it it surpasses the original in it's unreadiness to be released, and is only a tactic to push veterans away and draw the eyes of a field of adoloescents who haven't even considered a game like SWG a viable prospect because it was NOT like WOW or Everquest. But most of all, it is a thin veil covering SOE's innate greed to profit off of a group of people who will buy this game
Slashdot Mirror
Let me explain a bit
SOE promised that we would have a combat systen that was Faster, More Tactical, and FAIR to all. What we got was Slower, mind numbing play which totally excluded a large portion of the population. Crafters, Entertainers and Hybrids of the above professios have been utterly destroyed. People who have spent hours upon end honing their skills and making their players the best they could be, are no afraid to leave their in-game houses or cities because if they do, they DIE just trying to do the things that HAVE to be done to do their professions. And instead of addressing these concerns, SOE's official stance and reply to them is basically "Hire Bodyguards."
There are also others who play the game at differentiating times that used to solo because they never are on at the same time as most of their friends ingame to group up and do things together. Now grouping is MANDATORY if you are to survive in the world. This is WRONG. People should be able to play however they wish and enjoy the game, but sony's stance is forced grouping to do the smallest things in the game. It's sad really.
Example:
Before CU:
Could go out and make money without worry of getting mobbed and killed by EVERYTHING ingame. Grinding was tedious and money was slow coming but you HAD to do it to be able to survive in the world, the economy of the game was out of hand and people had to have millions upon millions of credits to survive. Maintenance fees for properties were high and the small amount of storage versus the lot and maintenance usage was disproportionate and made it where you had to have several houses, factories, and such just to be able to hold the thousands of items you could acquire.
After CU:
Cannot go out and make money without grouping so you don't die constantly. Grinding is MORE tedious and money is very slow now because the lairs are spawning 3 to 5 times the old spawns, the economy of the game is STILL of hand and people have to have the same amount of credits to survive. Maintenance fees for properties ate still high and the small amount of storage versus the lot and maintenance usage is still disproportionate. AND, on top of this all, the Crafters can't get the required resources to make the things we need ingame, most are droppint those skills just to survive and soon our ability to have player crafted items will be gone. Then the laws of supply and demand will go up exponentially. What used to cost us hundreds of thousands of credits to have; Armor,homes, the things we need every day; will now cost into the millions of credits. Armor has been changed to a degree of the fact that it takes upwards to 3 times the resources it used to and most of the new ones are NAMED, which meant they are from certain planets with a certain type and category to them. MOST are from planets that a crafter CANNOT go to now as they would be one shotted in 2 seconds flat from landing.
I realize that this rant has gone on for way topo long, but this is just a small part of the reasons the Combat Upgrade should have been treated in a better manner. This coupled with the fact that it wasn't wanted by 80% of the players polled, was pushed to live too early with so many bugs in it it surpasses the original in it's unreadiness to be released, and is only a tactic to push veterans away and draw the eyes of a field of adoloescents who haven't even considered a game like SWG a viable prospect because it was NOT like WOW or Everquest. But most of all, it is a thin veil covering SOE's innate greed to profit off of a group of people who will buy this game