Please stop doing this

Datacrons are now  keys to GAC and TW wins! All praise to CG’s marketing team! Surely they are the wizards behind the added « s » in fast-food.
Don’t waste years on mods like the early players did. As 20% of mine rolled +20 speed, 65% are MkVI-D or above. But thanks to datacrons, even relic V filler toons crush with the right cron. Relics? Scoff! Basically a footnote too now. Just look at GAC ranks—noticed how GP ranges have ballooned? I’m at 14.4M GP, and I regularly face opponents from 10M to 15M. Why? You guessed it! The only catch is you will need money.. A free-to-play grinder might squeeze out 4 in 3 Conquests, maybe one shiny L15… So yes—great for anyone who enjoys this glorious pay-to-win mode. Your patronage keeps the “upgrades” coming. Thanks!

You absolutely are not a second rank player, that's the moderate spenders. You're a third or fourth rank player.

I'm a free to play "grinder". I squeezed out 2x L15 and 1xL9 last conquest, along with a bunch of L3s. Those I had within 1-2 wks of the old cross expiring. Which means at most they only missed 1 wk of GAC out of the 4 months' time they'll be eligible. 

This conquest I'll bring 10-12 to L6 and depending on what I get, I'll take another 3 to L9 before stocking up on DCron Credits to be able to get the fancy new ones the next time they drop. 

All it takes is a bunch of Shard Shop currency and a willingness to use it to purchase DC Credits combined with simming the end-of-sector DC nodes for mats. 

If ppl spend, they should get an advantage. That makes sense. How else would they pay for the servers and dev time? They're also a for-profit company. I loathe unregulated capitalism, but some level of capitalism seems to be necessary for human flourishing, and there's no exception to food and rent for programmers. 

But whether they get an advantage or not, you're sure as heckfire not locked out of the best DCs by going FtP. 

This post right here by Master Seedy.  It’s resource management.  Do you buy that 520 token 12 Carboniti III with your shard shop currency or buy the 50 datacon tokens to activate level 3 so your Wampa goes berserk?  I’ve found having a surplus of resources is better so if a bright new shiny comes along I want, I can insta gear as best I can the new toon.  Most people can’t master this and when they unlock Bane he sits, unused for weeks or months because the user has no zeta, omega, credits or resources to get him to a usable level.  

best of luck. 

Well said. Depending on your goal, there are many ways to make things happen with this game. If winning GAC and TW is your goal, you have a winning  resources strategy right there.