About one year ago, CG_Carrie declared a very ambitious five-year plan that they were planning releases and content for. In the last year we have seen the release of Jedi Knight Revan and Darth Revan w/ Malak, and General Grievous' rework declared to be the "Revan Killer" which fell flat on it's face until gear level 13 debuted. We also saw the release of Padme Amidala and the Mon Calamari clone of Jolee Bindo in her event, the release of Geonosian Territory Battle which saw several guilds collapse....

A lot has happened, including relic levels being added to the gear tables, which are essentially an inflated gear level 14 - 20, as well as the rework of Finn and HK-47's leader abilities to increase design space and stop infinite loops/interactions. We even saw several teams or strategies that allowed you to "auto" phase 3 of the Sith Triumvirate raid be completely torn down.... except for the brutally simple "Jedi Knight Anakin w/ Nightsisters on auto basic mode" which has yet to be addressed. This last point is especially sore, as it creates a lot of in-fighting among guild members for the coveted top 10 spots in the Sith Triumvirate leaderboard, which is the only way to receive fully-crafted gear 12 pieces. Guild members should not be positioned against each other for the same progress we all need individually.

Really, we have seen so much this year that great differences of things are both good and bad. Squad arena has been an undeniable mess directly after a healthy period of "rock-paper-scissors" consisting of Bastila Shan - Darth Traya - Emperor Palpatine. Fleet Arena has been a Millennium Falcon coin-flip for at least the last eight months... and Grand Arena has been rife with issues, exploits, and even some failed implementation.

But I don't want this closing note to be about listing every good and bad part and quantifying everything.... Rather a summation of general sentiment following all of these things, and I hope you readers, as players, can identify them and draw your own conclusions. I hope that those reading who are frustrated can find the good in what EA has done, and those overly-optimistic can see things for what they are and how they affect such a diverse community as this one, with players ranging from all age ranges, account time, and overall "gp size",

I am resolutely worried for this game, because I have loved it so much for so long. I have made lifelong friends, and have received many opportunities, and have been able to do so much for this community that I felt that I would never want to leave. I feel that this game has brought more of a sense of togetherness or solidarity among its players than almost any other, rather than constant top-quality game content. No game is perfect; no game can be without fault, and at the end of the day, a game must profit or die. I am worried that EA may be making too many invariably strong efforts in order to profit, when the Star Wars franchise as a whole feels like its in a strange state of transition. I also feel that EA needs to really take a step back and re-evaluate what has happened since Jedi Knight Revan, as that marked one of the sharper declines in player sentiment, and it has been a struggle for many of us since, as we try to remain competitive, relevant, or up to par for what we want to get out of our game time.

Ever since JKR, every character released has had to have been so much more powerful than this one that carries 16 keyworded abilities. His kit had to be entirely redesigned after it tested poorly with an internal focus group, and it happened over the course of a two-day overtime grind for EA. They were under the gun, they had to perform, and it had to be the best ever. They nailed it, but it was too hard and too on the head. They've painted themselves into a corner, and they've sent the goalpost flying backwards in an attempt to prolong the lifespan of content or the game, but they've sent it too far. Instead of a steady rate of progression, things are more gated, with more inflated stats; each release having more strict or difficult requirements. Inflated stats do not make for challenging content, it makes frustrating types of content, and frustrated players pay for it. This is something I truly believe, and I don't think that I am alone in saying.

As a player who still loves this game, who has made an emotional commitment to your players and community, I am asking you to listen to our frustrations, EA. Don't bend backwards, and don't give in to all these crazy demands, but we are all saying the same thing...

We don't want this game to die just yet, and we need you to help us feel better about how much time this game demands of its players. We want success as much as you. We're all Star Wars nerds, and we can't ever go back to being anything else.

May the force be with all of us... and I hope to see you all on the Holotables.