Daily reminder that some characters have been hard-nodes-only since 2015
Ewok Scout
Clone Sergeant
FOST
FOTP
Lobot
Veers
Urr'o'uur
Hoth Rebel Soldier
Isn't it time to do something? These characters are gated for no reason at all, especially For ES and CS, who are beginners toons, and should be available to them.
Edit 1: Here are a few arguments for WHY they should be added in shipments:
1) Consistency. It's important for a game to offer consistency, especially in a subject such as character farming. Pretty much all characters in the game got more available as time went on. Not those ones, for no apparent reason.
Examples of hard-nodes only characters that got added in shipments:
Rey, Resistance Trooper, Ewok Elder, Jedi Knight Anakin, Royal Guard, Dooku.
RG and Ewok Elder were also common Bronzium drops, but that didn't stop them from being added anyway, because Bronziums are random and can't be seen as a relevant farming tool.
2) It drastically reduces the possible strategies for newer players: Remember that First Order, Ewoks, Clones and Imperial Troopers can't be a complete squad without the missing hard-nodes only character(s) (though that'll change for Ewoks)
You'll probably say that they can still use them at 3 or 4*, but a new player only has room for 1 squad until later in the game, which means that they will not be able to effectively participate in Raids, which are a MAJOR aspect of the game.
3) None of these characters are special in any way. They're not important characters, and there's no reason to gate them that way. I could understand that characters like Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Anakin, Leia or Han Solo would be gated that way, because they are important characters in the Star Wars lore. Clone Sergeant isn't. Ewok Scout isn't. There's no justification behind their non-availability.
4) Hard-nodes only farming isn't rewarding or satisfying. As I explained previously, you don't have to actually do something (reach a high Arena rank, win GW consistently, succeed in Raids...) to get them. It's the most boring, uninteractive way to get a character.
Edit 2: A few arguments for those against it:
1) Making these characters available would not allow new players to have raid teams faster. The best Rancor team is Wiggs, Bistan, Jyn and Cassian, all of which are easily farmable. Zader is also an option. The best AAT team is Resistance, which also is easily farmable.
2) FOTP and Clone Sergeant are pilots, yet are not available in the Fleet Store, while characters like Chirrut or Tuskens Shaman are.
3) These characters are not exclusive in any way. They are generic and non-iconic. Even Vader and Grievous, the hardest characters to farm back then were moved to the Fleet Store. Nobody said anything, because it felt normal that these characters, after being restricted for so long, were made available.
4) This is mostly aimed at newer players. Why would a new player be denied the ability to create a FO team? Or a Clone team? There's no reasoning behind this.
5) It doesn't devaluate other people's farm. If you already have these characters at 7*, noone is taking them from you. It just gives more option for people to try out new teams.
6) Bronziums are random and can't be considered a relevant way to farm a character. Keep in mind that new players weren't there when tournaments were around and did not buy millions of Ally Points in GW.
7) The current bottleneck is NOT stars, it's gear and mods. Making these characters more available would only allow new players to have more branching paths, and would enable them to select a starting team from a more diverse pool. It wouldn't speed up anything. It would merely allow people to choose how they want to play the game.
8) If your argument starts with "I don't think they should be made farmable", don't. This isn't an issue about what you feel or believe. This is a game consistency issue that hinders new players for no actual reason. Yes, we get it, you got them to 7* and don't want other people to do so. You're selfish, but it's a normal behaviour. Just don't expose it that much.
9) Wether you like it or not, new players are the future of this game. If the game doesn't ensure player retention, its playerbase will start diminishing. We wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?
10) Finally, if you use the "I farmed them and so should you" argument, think about what you'd think if a whale said "I paid for this character, so he shouldn't be made farmable. You have to pay for him because I did." It's exactly the same thing. Would you be happy if the Legendary events never returned because "It devaluates people's efforts"? I don't think so.
Once again, this isn't an issue about me, you or anyone. This is a game consistency and game health issue. We need to start looking closer at the new player experience. Lots of people disregard that, when it's really a core aspect of the game.
Clone Sergeant
FOST
FOTP
Lobot
Veers
Urr'o'uur
Hoth Rebel Soldier
Isn't it time to do something? These characters are gated for no reason at all, especially For ES and CS, who are beginners toons, and should be available to them.
Edit 1: Here are a few arguments for WHY they should be added in shipments:
1) Consistency. It's important for a game to offer consistency, especially in a subject such as character farming. Pretty much all characters in the game got more available as time went on. Not those ones, for no apparent reason.
Examples of hard-nodes only characters that got added in shipments:
Rey, Resistance Trooper, Ewok Elder, Jedi Knight Anakin, Royal Guard, Dooku.
RG and Ewok Elder were also common Bronzium drops, but that didn't stop them from being added anyway, because Bronziums are random and can't be seen as a relevant farming tool.
2) It drastically reduces the possible strategies for newer players: Remember that First Order, Ewoks, Clones and Imperial Troopers can't be a complete squad without the missing hard-nodes only character(s) (though that'll change for Ewoks)
You'll probably say that they can still use them at 3 or 4*, but a new player only has room for 1 squad until later in the game, which means that they will not be able to effectively participate in Raids, which are a MAJOR aspect of the game.
3) None of these characters are special in any way. They're not important characters, and there's no reason to gate them that way. I could understand that characters like Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Anakin, Leia or Han Solo would be gated that way, because they are important characters in the Star Wars lore. Clone Sergeant isn't. Ewok Scout isn't. There's no justification behind their non-availability.
4) Hard-nodes only farming isn't rewarding or satisfying. As I explained previously, you don't have to actually do something (reach a high Arena rank, win GW consistently, succeed in Raids...) to get them. It's the most boring, uninteractive way to get a character.
Edit 2: A few arguments for those against it:
1) Making these characters available would not allow new players to have raid teams faster. The best Rancor team is Wiggs, Bistan, Jyn and Cassian, all of which are easily farmable. Zader is also an option. The best AAT team is Resistance, which also is easily farmable.
2) FOTP and Clone Sergeant are pilots, yet are not available in the Fleet Store, while characters like Chirrut or Tuskens Shaman are.
3) These characters are not exclusive in any way. They are generic and non-iconic. Even Vader and Grievous, the hardest characters to farm back then were moved to the Fleet Store. Nobody said anything, because it felt normal that these characters, after being restricted for so long, were made available.
4) This is mostly aimed at newer players. Why would a new player be denied the ability to create a FO team? Or a Clone team? There's no reasoning behind this.
5) It doesn't devaluate other people's farm. If you already have these characters at 7*, noone is taking them from you. It just gives more option for people to try out new teams.
6) Bronziums are random and can't be considered a relevant way to farm a character. Keep in mind that new players weren't there when tournaments were around and did not buy millions of Ally Points in GW.
7) The current bottleneck is NOT stars, it's gear and mods. Making these characters more available would only allow new players to have more branching paths, and would enable them to select a starting team from a more diverse pool. It wouldn't speed up anything. It would merely allow people to choose how they want to play the game.
8) If your argument starts with "I don't think they should be made farmable", don't. This isn't an issue about what you feel or believe. This is a game consistency issue that hinders new players for no actual reason. Yes, we get it, you got them to 7* and don't want other people to do so. You're selfish, but it's a normal behaviour. Just don't expose it that much.
9) Wether you like it or not, new players are the future of this game. If the game doesn't ensure player retention, its playerbase will start diminishing. We wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?
10) Finally, if you use the "I farmed them and so should you" argument, think about what you'd think if a whale said "I paid for this character, so he shouldn't be made farmable. You have to pay for him because I did." It's exactly the same thing. Would you be happy if the Legendary events never returned because "It devaluates people's efforts"? I don't think so.
Once again, this isn't an issue about me, you or anyone. This is a game consistency and game health issue. We need to start looking closer at the new player experience. Lots of people disregard that, when it's really a core aspect of the game.
