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The rune system in many was was better pre-f2p. I optimally runed my gear pre-f2p for around 10p total. I and others have explained this repeatedly in other threads, but here's the gist:
 
- The color of your rune (and the color of the rune slot) mattered less
- Exceptionals were far easier to come by (could be earned through contracts - both a source of gearing and a source of income)
- You did not have to buy runes off the CX. I don't know why you spent 40p on a shadowburst rune, but that was totally unnecessary.
- Unlocking a rune slot was cheaper
- Though runic fluxes were expensive if you bought them outright, there was zero need to do so, as you could get far more than you'd ever need just by running vet shiphands and doing contracts.
 
The new system streamlined rune sets in a positive way (I like how they're tied to a single piece of gear now), but it also added in tons of additional pay walls and other access barriers that the old system did not have.
			
				
	Edited November 19, 2015 by Naunet	
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- You did not have to buy runes off the CX. I don't know why you spent 40p on a shadowburst rune, but that was totally unnecessary.
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The rune system in many was was better pre-f2p. I optimally runed my gear pre-f2p for around 10p total. I and others have explained this repeatedly in other threads, but here's the gist:
 
- The color of your rune (and the color of the rune slot) mattered less
- Exceptionals were far easier to come by (could be earned through contracts - both a source of gearing and a source of income)
- You did not have to buy runes off the CX. I don't know why you spent 40p on a shadowburst rune, but that was totally unnecessary.
- Unlocking a rune slot was cheaper
- Though runic fluxes were expensive if you bought them outright, there was zero need to do so, as you could get far more than you'd ever need just by running vet shiphands and doing contracts.
 
The new system streamlined rune sets in a positive way (I like how they're tied to a single piece of gear now), but it also added in tons of additional pay walls and other access barriers that the old system did not have.
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Spectre runes were the top dps ones and those couldn't be crafted, you had to play rng roulette and salvage a bunch of high end gear to get any. Or buy them from the auction house or do without.
 
They did give a nice edge in the meters but were hardly a requirement at least not through GA or even System Daemons. These days? Sure the blues are ok-ish, but if you're even remotely serious you better figure out how to get Exceptionals. The problem isn't about the Cadillac runes, it's the bread-and-butter ones.
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The rune system in many was was better pre-f2p. I optimally runed my gear pre-f2p for around 10p total. I and others have explained this repeatedly in other threads, but here's the gist:
 
- The color of your rune (and the color of the rune slot) mattered less
- Exceptionals were far easier to come by (could be earned through contracts - both a source of gearing and a source of income)
- You did not have to buy runes off the CX. I don't know why you spent 40p on a shadowburst rune, but that was totally unnecessary.
- Unlocking a rune slot was cheaper
- Though runic fluxes were expensive if you bought them outright, there was zero need to do so, as you could get far more than you'd ever need just by running vet shiphands and doing contracts.
 
The new system streamlined rune sets in a positive way (I like how they're tied to a single piece of gear now), but it also added in tons of additional pay walls and other access barriers that the old system did not have.
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I think you're misunderstanding Sly's point, Yas.
 
The key is that they priced Service Tokens so low while simultaneously making rune extraction (and other things) cost painful amounts of plat. That is what he means by it drives more people toward Service Tokens. When it was just CREDD, it was very easy to brush off spending money on gear because who the heck would drop $100+ for a single raid BoE? Not to mention everything else was pretty affordable. But now the pay wall for Service Tokens is very low, while the pay wall in game is very high, which is absolutely intentional to make people feel the need to spend real money instead of their in game money.
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Comparing the broken system at launch to the current system is no use at all.
 
The point is, extracting runes is valuable now and necessary in some cases- whereas it wasn't immediatly preceeding F2P. So tying a necessary feature to real-world money is problematic, at least it was until there was a plat solution.	
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OK, I get that you want a sub. I get that you like subs. They tried to make this game work with subs. It didn't work. In fact, it failed disastrously. Whether you personally like it or not, this game cannot survive off of subs--and it will not survive if it makes the cash shop into an overpriced whaling expedition to make its "subscription ONLY" players happy.
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I'm not misunderstanding anything, Nau. Sly's point is that if service tokens were really expensive, then he wouldn't feel like they're a good value. And then he wouldn't be tempted to buy them.
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But pushing the idea that the problem is that the cash shop is cheap and convenient is incredibly short-sighted and just about the worst idea I've ever heard for this game's viability.
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The $100 figure was what it would cost today if somebody used CREDD to generate the plat necessary to remove all the runes from a 5-slot piece.
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Here's the deal. Your argument is worthless because you didn't play when the game was LAUNCHED and the system it had then is a world different than the system they have now. When the game LAUNCHED it was it's farthest from f2p so explain how it was easier then than it is now? Haha "unlock rune slots" "didn't matter what color rune" you CLEARLY didn't play the time period of the game I'm talking about so why are you trying to tell me how it WAS when you didn't play it then?
 
"Yeah in my grandads school kids had to walk miles in the snow" "WHY HERPTY DERP, YOU CAN JUST USE THE UBER APP L.M.A.O. DID HE EVEN HAVE AN IPAD?"
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Oh right. Competitive PvP requires every edge you can get. Thankfully PvE gearing is a bit more forgiving at least for the current tiers.
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Do I properly understand you to be making the argument that the problem here is that the service tokens are cheaper than CREDD so the service tokens are a bigger problem? Because they're cheap?  
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So if I understand your repeated clarification of your point correctly, the real issue isn't just the cost and convenience but hinges on pretending that extracting runes is essential to progress--which it isn't--or that high iLevel gear isn't essential to progress--which it is. Does that sound about right?
 
If so, I think I'm gonna stick with my restatement of your point as completely correct.
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So if I understand your repeated clarification of your point correctly, the real issue isn't just the cost and convenience but hinges on pretending that extracting runes is essential to progress--which it isn't--or that high iLevel gear isn't essential to progress--which it is. Does that sound about right?
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You can have all ilvl 120 and still be a derp. The gear doesn't make the player. It helps you do more damage, but if you are someone with high DPS (derps per second) then the gear is worthless to you.
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			ask the original gangsters who downed world firsts how essential having BiS was to downing the boss... if you're downing avatus do you NEED the DS runeset? or do you just WANT it at that point. you technically NEED enough gear to beat the bosses, which were designed for you to NOT have their gear before you beat them.so there's that​	
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Then he's arguing that you need to slot and then extract class set runes from suboptimal gear, even though what you really need is gear with good high iLevel runes and there's other good high iLevel runes you can get.
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So I'll probably get flamed and a lot of heat for asking this question...
Why is the cost of picking a specific rune slot type on an item cheaper than it is to pick a random? Shouldn't that be reverse or am i nutty?
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So I'll probably get flamed and a lot of heat for asking this question...
Why is the cost of picking a specific rune slot type on an item cheaper than it is to pick a random? Shouldn't that be reverse or am i nutty?
			
				
	Edited November 19, 2015 by Typrop	
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When I went to change my rune slots I was given an option to use service tokens to get a random reroll for example of 25 while getting a specific reroll cost 6
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The 25 is plat (or sliver?), whereas the 6 is service tokens.
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What do you mean? The cost of a specif runes slot is service tokens, whereas the random is plat. I don't believe there is a conversion between the two to really say which is "cheaper" because it's complex.
 
For me, since I refused to buy service tokens, they are a limited resource. So I tend to random a few slots in the gear until I get it close to being in shape, and then use service tokens on the last one or two slots.
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Well it kind of is relevant, because people think you MUST get the highest ilvl and you MUST get all of the best runes to stand a chance at progression.
 
At risk of creating a rabbit trail... people need to STOP talking about ilvl. It's really NOT important (the only 'important' factor is what lvl rune can go in what piece based on ilvl). Just look at it as GA and DS gear and remove ilvl from your thought process. A good example is Eldan Gauntlets (before imbuing with an augmentor kill) are arguably a BIS piece right now, and will definitely be a BIS when you kill augmentors. The main reason is the bonus you get from the ohmna imbuement.
 
_______________________________
 
 
I JUST got my GA 8 set last night. There are several reasons for this. The main one was me being unsure if I could be dedicated raider because I have a 3 month old now and had to balance a honey-do list to be able to raid M-W for 3 hours a night :) - I purposefully passed on sets because I was unsure of my status. I still did decent damage without the GA set. And I still don't have any DS sets. So the point that any of the sets are REQUIRED to progress is bogus. Without DS/GA sets, we were still clearing to Avatus (we would kill him this week but Logic/Life is bugged atm, so probably not going to happen this week unfortunately)
 
At the end of the day, for CURRENT progression guilds, the GA set helps in DS, and the DS set helps to clear DS faster. But really... you don't need the sets to progress. I'm not arguing that it doesn't help.	
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Are you sure. Maybe it's a UI bug? Bucause the random re-roll is always for plat and the "pick a color" is always for service tokens.
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At the end of the day, for CURRENT progression guilds, the GA set helps in DS, and the DS set helps to clear DS faster. But really... you don't need the sets to progress. I'm not arguing that it doesn't help.
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service tokens
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Ok, this is not the point.
 
Yes, you do not need the sets to clear content. But they are an enormous upgrade (for a spellslinger, it's like a 10% damage buff). Once you have them, you aren't going to *not* use them. I said extracting them is *essential* for progression, which I stand by. Maybe extraction is not required for killing bosses, but it's a part of your character's progression. These things can fundamentally change how your class plays. Losing a class set when you upgrade would be like losing a tier point (so you can no longer do three T8s) when you upgrade your shoulders to DS gear. Seriously, no raider is going to go from having a GA class set to not having one. Well, maybe an esper since I hear their class set isn't good (no idea if that's true). But yeah, for a slinger where it's something like a 10% damage increase and changes your rotation, of course you are going to keep it.
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my point is why put them on a lower level piece for 10% if you aren't willing to pay the price to move them later when you get an upgrade (not an if, but when).
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I tend to agree with you on most points Slyjeff. And most of that wasn't directed at you because I know you are "okay" with the plat cost. I am "okay" with it too, like you said before, maybe drop it down a bit.
 
My whole point there was people complaining about the cost to move vs the NEED to have the runes. And the "price" I was referring to can be in reference to either plat or service tokens, take your pick. It's not about cash versus plat.
 
If people are THAT upset about [insert Desired Method of Removing Runes] then maybe they should just wait to put their GA set on a DS piece, or wait to move the GA set off a GA piece until they get their BIS piece and KEEP USING the GA piece for the bonus.
			
				
	Edited November 19, 2015 by h4vix	
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If people are THAT upset about [insert Desired Method of Removing Runes] then maybe they should just wait to put their GA set on a DS piece, or wait to move the GA set off a GA piece until they get their BIS piece and KEEP USING the GA piece for the bonus.
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Or they'll just leave the game. Which I know some people did.
 
And this is my point (even if we in general agreement personally)- Carbine can't create "chase sets" and then have even the appearance of requiring cash in order to use them. And I can certainly see how it would appear to be this way. I mean, if it was "to slot the rune set, you need to pay 100 ncoin", I'm sure people would rise up in anger. I can see how the current situation might feel exactly like that to some people.
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I agree with the last bit. However, those people quitting are (in most cases) doing so based on knee jerk reactions to the cash store and aren't digging into it. Most of those people are quitting because they actually have to put in some effort to min/max (OMG, thats a new concept in MMOs).
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			Seriously. If you're going to tell people to wait until they have DS tokens to equip class sets, you may as well be asking Carbine to completely remove class set foci from the GA loot table. They're upgrades. They drop from the bosses we kill. We should feel free to use them and not feel ridiculously punished when we receive a new upgrade.	
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Neveeeeermind, I derped and realized i still had a rune crafting addon thing i never finished still installed. My bad!
 
Carry on cupcakes.	
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not feel ridiculously punished when we receive a new upgrade.
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This unfortunately is how time sinks work... but please, common sense...
 
Before f2p could you take runes out freely? If the answer is no then the game got easier for everyone and even easier for those who buy the devs a cup of coffee.
 
End of discussion
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Pre-f2p runes were silly easy to craft and did not require you to raid to acquire them for 3-4 people per run of GA. That is why no one cared too much about prying them out of your gear. The exceptionals were nice back then, but not required.
 
That's the difference. You either force your entire guild to rerun GA if beyond the point of farming it, or you deal out 130p+ for brand new set, or you blow your hard-earned cash to unrune a set that makes a HUGE difference. It is a gain of 3-4k DPS for a lot of classes. That is not negligible.
 
As a reminder, a vast majority of us already blew 40p PER SPEC on reruning our shit when f2p hit. We HAD our runes, CARBINE took them out and did not compensate us for it. And runing before f2p still cost plenty of cash to do, especially if you min/maxed and went all out on Elemental Runic Fluxes.
 
Power should not come at a massive price, and ensuring that you KEEP (not even improve!) your power by going up a piece of gear should not cost a freaking arm and a leg.	
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			Preach it, Bloodrose.	
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Before F2P, were there chase sets that were only available by people running GA?
 
Again, people feeling punished when they get upgrades is bad for the game and will cause people to stop playing. This is obvious, and if people are feeling that way, Carbine needs to know about it.
 
I don't know about the hardcore folks, but I never felt punished for getting an upgrade pre-F2P.
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granted I don't raid
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so people were clearing GA with regular runes and not even exceptionals. got it.
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			Actually, people were clearing GA before exceptionals were even in the game.	
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There are not "other high ilevel runes you can get" that are equivalent to GA Class set runes.
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Obviously. That doesn't mean they're not important now, though I think you understand that. xD
 
[edit] Ack, Yas, way to ninja post! This was responding to Sly.
			
				
	Edited November 19, 2015 by Naunet	
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I still don't think it's pay to win. It's just pay for convenience, no matter what circumstances you try to put it into.
 
Thing is service tokens can be used for lots of things, it's not ONLY runes. If it was only runes, then yeah I could agree that carbine are being a bit... greedy, but they aren't.
 
I know, it sucks for you raiders but like you've been telling all the rest of us since the beginning of wildstar when we complain about things "suck it up cupcake"	
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I know, it sucks for you raiders but like you've been telling all the rest of us since the beginning of wildstar when we complain about things "suck it up cupcake"
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Haven't really said that at all, but uh... thanks, I guess?
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This explains a lot.
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			To be fair admin, this game's raiding is a lot more than muscle memory and rotation. Even as a pvper I know that :D	
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This has been commonplace in just about every mmo with a pvp pve split.
 
Pvpers get no dev time fixes and then the pvers say it's a pve game go play counterstrike. Bis pve is often times best in slot pvp in alot of games (including this at launch)and even now shields and gadgets are a no brained bis from pve.
 
Just going on record saying that pvpers get no chance to raid without putting in the time but pve'erz in almost every game have either had a nice leg up, cried until their gear was on par, or simply had money to do things like upgrade/enchant because pvp would often cost money instead of make money.
 
 
If you have experienced this you're either new to mmo's or have never been on the other side of it
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That's not how it used to be though, at all :)
At one point, BiS gear for pvp was from raids, it completely killed the arena scene and premades were rampant completely destroying dedicated pvp'ers, only a few kept on trying. (Like meee)
 
Also, reason people are using shields from dungeons etc is because they have better recharge times, shield amount and various other stats that are more preferable that make them "bis" for pvp. Ofc you don't need them to be good at pvp, but if you're min/maxing then it's required to have those items.
 
And I didn't direct my post at you btw, it was an in general remark as it DID happen a lot all the way through the games' life. (Edit, it also used to happen a lot from raiders to more casual players too)
 
I don't think the rune cost is pay to win, too high definitely and need to be reduced to make them more fair.
 
But it IS NOT pay to win. And the people trying to twist it to make it look like that are just being wayyy too picky.
			
				
	Edited November 20, 2015 by Sylqt	
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But it IS NOT pay to win. And the people trying to twist it to make it look like that are just being wayyy too picky.
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Yasfan, arguing that people should hold off on slotting a chase set is ridiculous. You are talking about holding onto a set for months before you even use it. That's just nonsense.
 
People want to use the rewards the get in game. Charging them real life money in order to be able to keep using them is awful (and thankfully, there is another option now).	
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			Admin, I wasn't implying that you haven't raided. I was implying that you do not understand the current rune situation for raiders in this game.	
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I was intending to peace out of this thread when the personal insults got flung, which was pretty classy.
 
That said, if anyone's wondering, no I'm not of the opinion that it's pay to win. I'm of the opinion that they're trying to dig into raider wallets or suffer even more hours of working to maintain raid gear. Leave a price to take out the runes, but 6-7p PER RUNE? That's 30-35p, which is basically like runing out a new set altogether. Halve that and you will not hear me complain for anything except that they forced us to initially pay 40p per spec after drop to get where we already had been.	
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Exceptionals are a million times more important now than they ever were pre-f2p.
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They're more important because of how set bonus works now, but the tone of your post is suggesting they're far more important than they actually are. They are absolutely not required to progress through the instances. The TTK lowered a lot in the f2p conversion and has enabled guilds to completely bypass certain fight mechanics even though they aren't fully geared. 
 
 
If anyone thinks using exceptionals to optimally rune every tier of gear as they progress is necessary, I've got news for you - you have other issues in your raid team.
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Yasfan, arguing that people should hold off on slotting a chase set is ridiculous. You are talking about holding onto a set for months before you even use it. That's just nonsense.
 
People want to use the rewards the get in game. Charging them real life money in order to be able to keep using them is awful (and thankfully, there is another option now).
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Yasfan, arguing that people should hold off on slotting a chase set is ridiculous. You are talking about holding onto a set for months before you even use it. That's just nonsense.
People want to use the rewards the get in game. Charging them real life money in order to be able to keep using them is awful (and thankfully, there is another option now).
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There was always another option, through omnibits and daily login rewards.
Now there's ANOTHER other option, which is plat.
 
So while the game would indeed have been awful to force players to pay real life money to extract a rune that they needed in order to progress, that hasn't been the case here no matter how many different ways you and a few others want to stamp your feet and insist that you feel forced to do something that in fact, nobody is forcing you to do.
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So... if you have a GA set for months (because you are calling the GA set the chase set) then... that's several months of being able to save up money to move the runes...
 
But I still do agree that the cost needs to be reduced slightly.
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^
 
Have basic 1 point runes for my tank. Still able to tank and chill with skeledroid. Basic 1 point runes for my esper. Still afk heal like always. 
 
You dont need to min/max anymore with all the OP raid buffs at the moment
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			Why would anyone put set runes into bad gear?	
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Because we're still progressing and don't have 120 gear yet.
 
ilvl 116 gear would be a nice upgrade for me right now. I currently have my WoP set in ilvl 100 shouders. So probably I'll extract them from my current shoulders if ilvl 116 drops, and then again for ilvl 120.
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Why would anyone put set runes into bad gear?
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Why would anyone put set runes into bad gear?
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I'd assume you super raiders can farm vet dungeons or expeditions for at least
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1. You can't make 5 plat an hour farming vet dungeons or expeditions any more (since they fixed the flask bug)
2. I've been talking, and made this clear through many posts, about the original setup where there was no plat option. Which left a bad taste in the mouths of many. That certainly gave the game a feel of "you need to buy service tokens, even if you are subbed, if you want to Min/Max lower level gear".
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Thats a poor excuse bro.
 
Everyone who raids knows what token drop of each boss. If you are progressing on SD then wait or put the set into the eldan gauntlets. If people use them poorly then thats their own fault not the games design.
I have my espers set in its weapon because i dont raid DS on it so i wont get the 120 ( have the 116) so i know i wont replace it anytime soon so they wont be wasted.
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1. You can't make 5 plat an hour farming vet dungeons or expeditions any more (since they fixed the flask bug)
2. I've been talking, and made this clear through many posts, about the original setup where there was no plat option. Which left a bad taste in the mouths of many. That certainly gave the game a feel of "you need to buy service tokens, even if you are subbed, if you want to enjoy your rewards from raiding".
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So you wouldn't put them into ilvl 100 items from GA, and instead wait until a token drop in DS?
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I'm sure you can. I can make around a plat per bg with just signature and no flasks of anything... kill players, get a bag a game and you'll get plenty of superbs..
I can only imagine how much quicker you can get glory, which those bags give like 10 fragments a pop... can you get a glory bag per run (or almost) if so then you're making atleast 5-6p an hour.
 
 
And yeah that's not pvping in a premade, just solo que farming heads
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So you wouldn't put them into ilvl 100 items from GA, and instead wait until a token drop in DS?
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Don't bother arguing with ufa, he doesnt really raid... pfft saying the content is doable in basic runes? Pfff obviously some no skill pvper who has no idea how much the struggle is real.
 
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Don't bother arguing with ufa, he doesnt really raid... pfft saying the content is doable in basic runes? Pfff obviously some no skill pvper who has no idea how much the struggle is real.
 
 
You were saying in another thread that 5-6 runs of stl to farm plat isn't casual, but is raiding supposed to be casual? Bis gear/runes are casual too?
 
 
Odd world
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BTW, I totally respect Ufa and what he has to say. I think he's a little off in just how the average player is going to react to the idea of "here is the awesome thing you've worked hard for, but don't put it in your current gear!"
 
But it's largely immaterial, since there is a plat option now.	
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			testing rotation in vets? everything just goes poof if you go in there with raidgear... :p	
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I didn't say anything about content not being doable in basic runes. I totally agree what what ufa said about that.
 
I also did say that running 5-6 runs of stl in an hour is not typical of casual play. Only raiders are going to be able to farm at that raid because of the gear. It would be causual FOR ME, yes, but only after the time I've put into raiding. Since the context of that thread was the average player (many who do not have gear that enables that kind of run), then it was ill to offer that as a typical activity accessible to anyway.
 
I don't know what any of that has to do with this thread, which isn't about whether you can raid casually or not. I think you are conflating the contexts of these statements.
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in just how the average player is going to react to the idea of "here is the awesome thing you've worked hard for, but don't put it in your current gear!"
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testing rotation in vets? everything just goes poof if you go in there with raidgear... :p
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I didn't say anything about the casual friendliness of slotting bis rines in raid gear. You are arguing against a point I never even tried to make. I'm not here talking about casual players.
 
Look, the bottom line is, are people feeling pressured to pay real money in order to enjoy the power they've earned in the game. If they do not feel theis way, it's all good. If they do, then Carbine has problems, because this will give the game a "P2W" feel that they've been trying hard to avoid. No matter what a definition of P2W is, when a player feels that power is tied to a willingness to spend money, it's bad for the game. That's my concern here.
 
This has nothing to do with casual players and how they feel about BiS runes, or how quickly they can or cannot farm STL.	
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Well, first off, you may get an upgrade a lot sooner than "months". "Months" is how long it would take to get a piece of gear that you wouldn't be replacing at all (a 120 piece in DS), and of course, that's only relevant until a new raid tier comes out. It could in fact be "weeks" if you have an ilvl 96 or an ilvl 116. Before the plat option, it was time gated at about of month to be able to extract a full rune set, with the majority of your service tokens reserved for this one thing. Before the plat option, you had to be incredibly dedicated with your omnibits just to be able to continue to enjoy the rewards of your effort. Not good.
 
Again, with the plat option, it's better. At least plat is not time gated, and you can grind 20-30 plat quicker than you can 300 omnibits (or whatever the number is to get to 225 service tokens- I save up to buy the max).
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I didn't say anything about the casual friendliness of slotting bis rines in raid gear. You are arguing against a point I never even tried to make. I'm not here talking about casual players.
 
Look, the bottom line is, are people feeling pressured to pay real money in order to enjoy the power they've earned in the game. If they do not feel theis way, it's all good. If they do, then Carbine has problems, because this will give the game a "P2W" feel that they've been trying hard to avoid. No matter what a definition of P2W is, when a player feels that power is tied to a willingness to spend money, it's bad for the game. That's my concern here.
 
This has nothing to do with casual players and how they feel about BiS runes, or how quickly they can or cannot farm STL.
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This tells me that they are most likely a raid logger. This game is not kind to raid loggers.
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A bunch of people that used to hang out IG pre- Drop 6 haven't been around as much and some have quit completely.  We can only speculate why.  What I do know is that in Drop 5 if you did most of the daily T2's and the occasional T3 contract you had no problem being able to afford to run content.  Drop 6 we now have to live in content and make as few mistakes as possible to minimize repair costs.
 
Many people do not find that fun.
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The point being that people who were happy to play the game are no longer logging in regularly.
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Again, pre-F2P. Raid loggers still had issues getting exceptional runes to min/max their stats unless they were sitting on a ton of plat THEY ALREADY GRINDED FOR.
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Don't bother arguing with ufa, he doesnt really raid... pfft saying the content is doable in basic runes? Pfff obviously some no skill pvper who has no idea how much the struggle is real.
 
 
 
 
You were saying in another thread that 5-6 runs of stl to farm plat isn't casual, but is raiding supposed to be casual? Bis gear/runes are casual too?
 
 
Odd world
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I have one alt without a single exceptional, one alt with a lot, but not full, exceptionals, and my main with full exceptionals. My main is obviously the best performing of the three, but the others do well and contribute greatly to whatever we are doing.
 
I believe exceptionals are much more powerful than they were before F2P, and slot colors are much more important. Before, they were largely the difference between rolling a man stat or AP. AP was better, but not by a huge amount. Now, without the right colors, you can't get set bonuses. Dooable? Yeah, but you get a big boost fro the right slots, unlike before F2P.
 
It's just a different system, and re-rolling is pretty important when you start getting better gear. But, you can get by without rerolling, especialy in pre-raid gear, and it's ok not to use exceptionals and work up to exceptionals. I know when SD goes down I wont have the resources to put exceptionals in all the glory gear, but I'll be able to put set runes in and I'm sure my dps will still go up a lot.	
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For PVPers, it also means that gear inflation and power creep are financially incentivized for Carbine, and game/class balance is not.
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At my personal, normal rate of play (no farming), I make about 10p per week.  That's roughly 5 days of play for one raid-level rune extraction.
60 service tokens are 60 omnibits, or about half a weeks play worth.
60 service tokens are 120 ncoins, or about $1.50.
One piece of gear can have 5 rune slots.
One piece of gear can be up to $7.50 worth of slots, or two to three weeks of normal (non grinding) play worth of gold or omnibits.
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A bunch of people that used to hang out IG pre- Drop 6 haven't been around as much and some have quit completely.  We can only speculate why.  What I do know is that in Drop 5 if you did most of the daily T2's and the occasional T3 contract you had no problem being able to afford to run content.  Drop 6 we now have to live in content and make as few mistakes as possible to minimize repair costs.
 
Many people do not find that fun.
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Of course, in your typical play, you get both gold AND omnibits simultaneously as you go. You also get service tokens as daily login rewards. So your 2-3 weeks per gear piece is really 1-1.5 weeks.
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			Imo you pay more if you are lazy. Works perfectly imo. I Personally pay a girl to wash our entire house every week. Thats because I dont like to wash house and I also like the feeling of having house maids. ...I am old fashioned. But I pay for it:) same as I do in game. I pay real money to buy costume to look cool.	
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