This kind of structure is a fancy kitten. I'm sorry but it is. The people making these decisions are pinning them on the license here and players just let them do it. If any other game in this genre was pulling @#$& like this it would die.
You guys to need to walk your butts over to visit your co-workers at Heroes of Dragon Age to learn how to keep a game going.
If you want to focus on events, fine. Create a Marquee event for a top toon in every faction, Talzin - Nightsisters, Nilihus - Sith, Thrawn - Empire, GG - Separatist, Wicket - Ewoks, Ashoka Fulcrum - Rebels, etc. Rotate them once a week. And run them in tandem with a relative assault battle, flash event, and whatever else. And maybe don't run it like each tier equals one * level, just put shards on each tier. 10, 15, 20, 25....40. And let people that have cleared them continue to play. If you want shard shop gear only, fine, but put finished pieces in there too at really high shard costs. Players can actually decide who they want to focus on for specific events. The testing ground is raids, galactic war, arena, and territory battles. Put the best rewards there, in those areas.
The players struggle should be in the proving ground areas of the game, not the acquisition.