There is a lot of truly fantastic armor on the Cartel Market now. Stuff I could’ve only dreamt of from 2013-2017. Yet now, when it’s available, I’m not a subscriber and don’t have a consistent influx of Cartel Coins.
The problem is, in those four years when I was regularly getting coins, most of the good gear came in those Cartel Pack gambling bags. And, because that was the nicest looking gear available at the time, of course I went for it. And since it was random chance, I of course ended up with tons of gear I didn’t actually care for all that much.
Around the time I stopped playing (2017-ish) they stopped the gambling bags and started putting the gear directly onto the Market. And of course now, it’s all much nicer and better textured than anything that was in those grab bags. But now that I’m back, I play F2P/preferred, and I don’t have a supply of coins on a regular basis, so what I’ve got is a collection tab full of mediocre stuff (75-80%, with some genuinely nice stuff sprinkled throughout) and a Cartel Market of beautiful gear I can’t afford.
All because of grab bags (and to be fair, my own inclination to buy them at the time).