SOE deserves every customer they lose with this. What was once a unique and flexible game has become a rigid waste.
This is why I am furious at them:
Recently, the PTB at SOE decided New Game "Enhancements" were needed. They made MASSIVE changes to the game and NOT for the better.
Before the NG"E", my character was a shipwright who could build the ships he flew in service to the Rebellion. But, when the need arose, he could strap on the armor and pound the ground with the rest of his unit. In his time off he enjoyed playing the Nalargon in cantinas and making up funny Star Wars parodies of RL songs.
Well-rounded character, yes? Not all one thing. Diversified. Kinda like a person is in real life.
The NG"E" took all that away.
I can't play in the cantinas anymore. No more, "What? The Empire is attacking our front gates? I'm on my way!" Instead I can now build armor and weapons that I will never be able to wear and use. As a Trader, I am 100% non-combatant.
They say they changed the professions to make them more like key figures in the movies.
I disagree.
In the movies, Han Solo is a Smuggler, a Commando, a Trader (Starship repair), a Squad Leader, and a Pilot. In the NG"E" he would be regulated to only one thing. "Sorry, Solo. You can't lead the Rebel assault force on Endor, you're just a mechanic!"
How about Lando Calrissian? A Trader, a Pilot, a Commando, A Squad Leader, and a Politician. In the NG"E" which is supposed to mimic him, he would only be a Trader. "Leia! I know the stormtroopers are shooting at us as we are trying to escape Cloud City BUT I CAN'T USE A BLASTER, I'M A POLITICIAN!"
They have "improved" game content by taking it away from the characters and they don't CARE how much it hurts their player base.