I would agree that if you are only level 68 after a year. I started an alt account about 7 or 8 months ago and it is level 85 with dozens of 7 star characters. Also vader, ep, thrawn, jkr, r2d2, and a five star chewie.
I will also have Darth revan shortly.
I have had gw on sim since I hit level 85. I get top 100 in arena and top 20 in fleet arena.
All of that with zero $ spent.
So when you say that you have to spend to get a 5 star character and level 68 in a year, you are simply wrong.
A couple of things point to you not knowing the mechanics.
1. You are using mace. He isn't good. So if you are using mace, you really shouldn't be.
2. You said you have 5 dot mods on your characters but that doesn't mean they are good mods. Understanding modding and correctly modding your teams make a huge difference.