A battle hardened Knight once said, “…many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” These are mine.
Min / Maxing gear in your chosen MMO has been around a long time. When a player chooses to Min / Max gear, they are taking an active roll in the stats allocated. They forgo the passive aspect of wearing the gear awarded, and customize it to squeeze every last drop of Stats out for their class. The way this is achieved is different in every MMO, but the results are the same.
Some consider this an important part of the game, separating the Great players from the bad. Given the amount of front-end investment to Min / Maxing, it also could be considered a Road Block.
SWTOR has 8 secondary stats to juggle, besides your Main Class Stat.
- Accuracy (Are you going to hit the target?)
- Power (How hard are you going to hit/heal the target?)
- Critical Rating (How often are you going to hit/heal the target REALLY hard?)
- Surge Rating (How Hard are those Critical Hits going to HIT]?)
- Alacrity (How Fast can you hit/heal the target?)
- Defense (How often can you make the enemy miss you?)
- Shield (How often can you shrug off an enemy hit?)
- Absorb (How much can you shrug off an enemy hit?)
Each of those above secondary stats means something different for the 8 advanced classes.
Example: Tanks don’t care about Alacrity, so why is it even on Tanking gear? Bioware Devs have answered that question.
Source
[Weird stats on some gear, like alacrity on tank stuff, (are) to encourage people to min/max their gear.]
Why?
New tanks have enough to worry about without trying to maximize their Statistical Weights. An Endgame tank could literally be carrying so much Alacrity/Accuracy that their Survive-ability is in question. No matter how good they are mechanically, they don’t realize that there was a Handicap on their gear.
Previously I defended Bioware’s Gearing, until I read the above quote. I still think HP is sexy and has a large place in a tank’s gear, but why would a developer set up a class for failure?
That is like an owner of a professional football team giving their players shoes with no Cleats. They team has shoes, but no traction!
Is Min / Maxing Fun?
It can be for the player that chooses to participate. In SWTOR you have no choice, you must participate.
The percentage of players that quickly grasp the concept of Min / Maxing is small. Any player can be taught the reasoning behind it, but many players are never told. they are Dismissed as ‘Noobs’ and tossed away by the community Elite.
Why is Min / Maxing Expensive?
If there is one thing Bioware got right it’s Credit Sinks. We’ve got plenty of those.
Swapping out Endgame Armorings/Mods/Enhancements cost about 10,000 credits per piece. Not even taking into consideration cosmetic costs, Min / Maxing a full set of gear will start at about 160,000 credits. That is on the side factoring in only one change per Mod/Enhancement.
After that you start adding Augments, which the game doesn’t even tell you to do. It’s a wholly player driven ‘need’ to augment your gear.
Adding an MK-9 Endgame Augment Kit to your gear costs 36,000 credits. That is what the came charges you to add the kit, not what it costs you to acquire the kit. You have 14 pieces of gear to add Kits to, chalk up another 504,000 credits.
To purchase a player made MK-9 kit it will cost you at least 65,000. Tally another 910,000 credits.
At this point you only have empty Augment slots on your gear, they need to be filled. On The Bastion server you can shop around for the best augments, and grab them as as 90,000 credits. Calculate 1,260,000 credits to your augment bill.
A player could learn to make their own MK-9 kits and Augments. Throwing out the cost to learn those schematics, you will ‘spend’ the same amount of credits because you didn’t sell it.
The total cost of fully Min / Maxing your gear in the best Stats will cost you, at least 2,834,000 in-game credits. That’s a credit sink worth talking about.
Is it too expensive for the average player?
To participate in Player Driven Endgame content, it’s a cost you will have to pay.
The Invisible piece of gear
Hunting the Galaxy for Datacrons is a big chunk of Min / Maxing your SWTOR character. They all add up to an invisible piece of gear that players don’t even know they are missing.
Is this system for Min / Maxing fun?
Min / Maxing your gear should be fun. A game should be fun to play, not easy.
Min / Maxing your gear should feel like an accomplishment, something you can be proud of!
Is Bioware making Min / Maxing fun?
In my opinion yes – I’ll tack on a large – BUT…
…but they are setting up new players with a steep learning curve that will cause many to stop trying.
What’s your take on SWTOR Min / Maxing? Leave your comments for the Nation below.
The Silverstrike Legacy can be found on The Bastion’s Vaiken Spacedock and Carrick Station, in the company of his fellow Zergadins and snidagreZ.
The post Point of View – Min / Maxing, is it a good thing? appeared first on JunkiesNation.
