Only for starfighters. Trooper and hero cards generally only offer advantages that are incremental (slightly wider blast radius for explosives) or non-combat based (faster ability cooldowns). There are a few exceptions for heroes, but they're very limited in use. Boba Fett potentially being invincible during his ~3 second rocket barrage animation or whatever.
I see that the argument of "it's only cosmetic, not gameplay affecting" is now steadily being replaced with "it's only incremental gameplay advantages". Sigh, further down the hole we go.
FFS, this thread. Read the article. You can only unlock and upgrade Star Cards when you get to a high enough rank, so you have to play the game to progress. Before you reach that point, Star Cards are at base level. No one is having an advantage right from the start.
EDIT: There will be a option to play in which Star Cards are at base level.
Upgrade, yes. Unlock, no:
And lastly, you have to earn the right to be able to upgrade Star Cards and unlock most Weapons. You can only upgrade or unlock them if you have reached a high enough rank, which is determined by playing the game.
The wording for the second sentence here is vague, as it could be read that unlocking Star Cards is tied to player rank. But the first sentence clearly says "...earn the right to be able to upgrade Star Cards", not unlock - based on the first sentence all Star Cards are available for unlocking at the starting player rank, with upgrading tied to rank progression.
Two base rank players in which one of them has $99 of crate box purchases (and thus more Star Card to cuctomise their character with) still results in a gameplay advantage for the crate box purchaser. It remains pay to win.
Also, the option to play in which Star Cards are at base level isn't actually stated here. It says:
We also have heard some players are looking for a way to play where all players will have the same set of Star Cards with flattened values. Like everything else, we will be continually making necessary changes to ensure the game is fun for everyone. We will work to make sure the system is balanced both for players who want to earn everything, as well as for players who are short on time and would like to move faster in their progress towards various rewards.
Nowhere does this say that they're providing the option to flatten the value of Star Cards, just that they've heard player feedback and that they're *insert fluffy PR about making an awesome experience #4theplayers*. The final decision as to whether such an option is included at some point in the game will ultimately come down to the developer/publisher deciding that it's in their best business interest to provide it.