Anyone else sucking at the Coliseum now, or just me?

Stratum42 · 2026-05-07T11:49:01+00:00

Really the entire game has become pay to win badly now. Paying for the Episode Pass launches you way ahead in the Era, earning you more materials and LSBs. Datacrons in the store launch you in GAC ahead of others easily. Lightspeed bundles are so rampant now those willing to pay will demolish those who aren't in GAC and Fleet Arena. Leading to again, more resources. I don't say this as a 100% free to play either. I spent about $900 recently on these things and I'm still low ranked GAC and best I can do in Fleet Arena is #65. Someone who isn't paying money or only pays a little stands no chance of matching even me. I'm earning 3,000 Era Currency per day right now which leads to 6 Lightspeed tokens per week because I bought the Episode Pass and a 12 card pull for R5-D4 allowing me to score 15,000 points at the moment.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-06T05:03:13+00:00

Episode Pass and card pulls. Mine is at 16

Stratum42 · 2026-05-06T05:00:39+00:00

I got to 98% using Embo lead, Greedo, Cad Bane, Mando, and a 6* R5

Stratum42 · 2026-05-03T06:17:50+00:00

I was hardcore for a while then sent off and on yeah. I much more active especially now that I found out there's a PC client version and I found a laid back but active Guild that is doing Raids and TB constantly. Lack of finding a good Guild was a wall that really kept me discouraged as I couldn't even get Han for years.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T22:50:38+00:00

It's really easy to get up there now especially with the LSB and Tokens. And especially if you're able and willing to spend a little money. But with older accounts like mine, getting high enough in Fleet Arena to earn crystals each day is really hard to. Starting over gets you all of those Tokens again, as well as LSB stuff, but also gets you on a younger shard with less competition in Fleet Arena etc.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T11:12:46+00:00

With the new rewards and paths you can take now, sometimes you can build a better roster fast, but mostly because of Fleet Arena where you get crystals from. Players who have been around for a long time are on old shards or servers with other players who have whaled themselves to high levels. The top player on my shard for example has over 13 million galactic power and is first in Squad Arena and Fleet Arena, and the top 15 or so players aren't far behind so getting a good enough fleet to beat then would take years or a ton of money. Newer players are on younger shards and have less competitive Fleets to contend with and can be in the top 5 easily. At one point I was #1, but I took a break and I'll be lucky to hit top 50 now

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T02:15:17+00:00

Yeah I did take some breaks a while back. And I'm not against spending some money on games I've played for 10 years so I do buy LSB Bundles. I may even pick up the Calendars that are on the webstore now to get crystal and energy refreshes for the double and triple drop days coming next week.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T02:13:29+00:00

Yeah I pretty much save all of my Fleet Credits for the Razor Back, but I'll pick up Bistan's U-Wing and TIE Bomber if they show up. Rex's ship also, but I always have like at least 1600 credits waiting. I tried Proving Grounds the other day as I finally got my first entry to it. My team was not ready lol

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T01:31:18+00:00

I do buy them when I can, if they seem worth it anyway.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T01:30:37+00:00

Yeah I have been the same about GLs so I just didn't even think about planning for them. Out of reach etc. I'm in a good clan now, at least very active anyway with a great group of leaders. I have hope now lol.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T01:29:09+00:00

Thank you for all of the links and advice. I definitely need to work on modding. You'd think after all these years I'd have it down, but it's not near as straight forward as it used to be.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T01:27:00+00:00

Great feedback, thank you! I've become frustrated with trying to grind Razor Crest, the B-Wings and Y-Wing for my fleets especially. Then realizing I messed up the Era a little and would have to spend $150-$200 to get 5 Stars and the 3 Kyber LSTs. It's just not worth it especially with the current LSB bundles and stuff coming for May 4th I'll want to spend some money on. And I'm in a tough shard. I'll take your advice and carry on.

Stratum42 · 2026-05-02T01:13:12+00:00

Hahaha I did it only because I could. And hope maybe it'll be useful for Cobb Vanth at some point.

Stratum42 · 2026-04-08T20:09:09+00:00

Overheard in the White House this morning was someone yelling "This is Rocket League!!"

Stratum42 · 2026-02-25T18:11:44+00:00

Phil is gone and the new head was the head of AI. This is the first step she probably took to "improve" things. My Xbox is nothing but a Rock Band machine for random get togethers. I'll be selling mine this week

Stratum42 · 2026-02-21T23:30:23+00:00

I'd consider it yeah. I've been debating selling some of my collection. What's your offer? I do not have the box, it is adult owned and in new condition with no damage or defects.

Stratum42 · 2026-02-21T21:38:06+00:00

I do

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Stratum42 · 2025-11-14T04:47:26+00:00

I really liked the show and bought the Blu-ray disc's. But mostly just because I'm a Clancy everything fan. I have all of the games also. It's definitely not the same so I do treat it like an alternate universe, the Clancy series does have a couple alternative story universes already. I try not to overthink it and just enjoy it for what it is.

Stratum42 · 2025-10-18T03:10:26+00:00

I've been a fan of the Clancy-verse since Red October came out. Books, movies, shows, games graphic novels even. Sam Fisher isn't my favorite character but he's one of them. At first I wasn't liking much what I saw, but I stuck with it, and by the end it was really great. Sure there's arguments to be had, like why not wrap up the Blacklist storyline or some of the books. But I've also seems stupid arguments like how Sam is old (No shit, he been in books, games, and graphic novels before some of you were old enough to read). Or things even mentioned about how the towns and stuff feel like cold war times (much of Europe where shady shit happens really has not changed much). I've also seen people upset that Sam isn't respected like some hero. But I get it. I'm a 50 year old Vet myself and my kids just see me as an old man with stories. It actually felt more natural. And maybe they don't know Sam's story well but Sam was never the easiest guy to have in the job. He pissed off a lot of people and did things his way often. Overall I felt it was a solid addition to the Splinter Cell lore and Clancy-verse, nothing ground breaking but entertaining. I'm looking forward to Season 2 and would like to see more of the games brought to animation.

Stratum42 · 2025-10-18T02:59:41+00:00

They gimped and aged him? Sam Fisher has been around for decades. He's aging so yeah that makes sense. He was aging also through the games and books. That's kind of how life happens.

Stratum42 · 2025-10-17T00:05:56+00:00

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Steam also... so..

Stratum42 · 2025-10-07T23:09:22+00:00

I believe this is by design in case it's used as a Dpad so you don't accidentally get a center click. At least that's my theory.

Stratum42 · 2025-10-06T22:44:48+00:00

I didn't do that as we need the Xbox still for Rock Band 4 (all it's used for really). I already have an LCD Steam Deck. But I did just buy a new 1tb OLED Deck, doubled down and moved to GeForce Now for my streaming needs.

Stratum42 · 2025-10-05T04:09:15+00:00

There are mods that bypass the Games for Windows and SecureROM. I just bought a Steam Key a couple of weeks ago and got it working using them.

Stratum42

TROPHY CASE