"So let me get this right, you want my sub + more money" Just one example: When Turbine laid out its plans to add f2p and item shop to LOTRO, they did it planning on subscribers paying 75% more than with the then-existing subscriber option. [source: Game Developer's Conference presentation by Turbine] This is a nice fact to point out to those who insist a game going to f2p won't change anything for subscribers. Of course, this isn't announced in a company's marketing. So to answer your question: Yes - as every other game with a sub and item shop is set up to do.

Congratulations. Your wisdom should now be higher than before.

All depends on what you like in the game. If by now you haven't started doing the repetitive things (PvP, Heroics, Space, etc.) then you need to be prepared for those being the main points of endgame and story isn't.

The developer's blog detailed changes are to adding to the existing space missions, adding to existing space gear, and adding a displayed counter. That is not anyone's idea of a super-secret space project.

Which do you mean by "Heroic": "what a hero does" or "SWTOR term for multiple players doing a mission as a group"? Hope the second use makes it in the game before I finish the story.

are you kidding me, have you read our posts? The biggest issue has bean PVP. The most ignored issue in the game and posts. Its bean almost a week and no word from the Devs. Not evan to aknowledge what we are saying with some excuse about getting back to us. Read every one. Almost a week? Yep, that's bad, but not as bad as better space flight's months/years. No need to jostle for position between PvP and Space though. He did say "biggest unresolved questions" with a "s" on the end. There's room and demand for both to be answered.

I feel there is enough mandatory already and the game would be better by going to more options instead of fewer.

No, my accusation is quite true. As your very next sentence states, they are selling gear with stats. No myth chasing at all; we both agree they are subpar. However, the quality of the gear isn't what diverts dev time from gamplay to the item shop. The question was: What's the worst thing a cash shop can try to sell you? You're expected to -- and welcome to -- have a different answer than mine.

Where the money comes from is where game effort goes. Selling any item with stats is the worst thing for dev gameplay effort.

1. Our game is awesome. People love it and want to play it. If EA were happy with that statement and with the numbers many months wouldn't be spent on the F2P conversion. 2. The subscription requirement was driving away huge numbers of people who do not want to commit to paying monthly. How does this statement address that more than 2 million bought the box and knew when they bought it that a subscription was required? Please elaborate. 3. The frequency of our Game Updates was way too slow. People were leaving because we were not releasing new content fast enough to keep up with the pace at which it was being consumed. Agreed, yet this is nothing new in an MMO. However, please never forget the "no worries, we have 1600 hours of story" remarks which EA/BioWare Division announced repeatedly before the game released. ... and we are dedicated to getting Game Updates out to you every 6 weeks or so. ... Just curious: When did "every 6 weeks" get changed to "every 6 weeks or so?" Topic #1: Staff: Why are some developers leaving The Old Republic™? How will the game be affected? Reading this got me thinking how many times before I received CS responses in a few hours; however, my latest ticket wasn't acknowledged for 2 weeks; the announced pace of game updates has gone from every 4 weeks to "every 6 weeks or so." With those in mind, I'm a bit puzzled as to how reducing the number of staff has helped this game thrive. Topic #2: Bugs: How does testing work? Why do bugs get through? Why did Game Update 1.4 have so many of them? What are we doing to improve the process? When will there be a character copy to the test server so testing will be more thorough? Topic #3: Oceanic populations. Are we doing anything about them? Thanks for acknowledging there is at least an issue there. ... Please keep your comments and questions coming and I will try to answer the biggest, unresolved questions in these “State-of-the-Game” posts ... Biggest. Unresolved. By post count since before game launch and with the same questions since then to now still being unanswered, this question seems to fit both criteria: What changes to the current use of spaceships/space flight are coming, and when? Thanks for the feedback and the chance to reply to it.

In Hollywoodland "consulting" means they pay you but they don't HAVE to do anything you say and oftentimes don't. What to follow is to see if Disney keeps Kathleen Kennedy as Lucas head past 2013. It's pretty normal that during a company merger the "old guard" stays on long enough to wrap up current projects (for example, SWTOR and the 2 doctors), then the new company bids them bye-bye -- IF the new company wants to radically change direction or simply that the new company doesn't want any former CEOs hanging around (there can only be one emperor). Ms. Kennedy is indeed old guard for Lucas, co-producer of original Indiana Jones, etc. No need to be scared -- until and unless she's no longer there. Then all bets are off.

Ep. 7: "Snow White & The 7 Jawas" Ep. 8: "A New Mickey" Ep. 9: "Revenge of Huey, Dewey and Louie"

Hi! I'm looking for a very laid-back polite Republic guild. Been playing the PvE game soooooo s-l-o-w-l-y -- never want to hit that endgame wall! Not only is enjoying the journey better than racing to the destination, I'm also buying time until my fiancee joins the game: We've just started on KOTOR 2, her *second-ever* computer game. From that, you can guess the first! Taking a lot of pains to NOT know the SWTOR Revan or Consular (her KOTOR playstyle) storylines, and need a guild that would not spoil those for either of us. To that end I've dabbled in a few Imp chars. and just got my Smuggler up to level 50 without doing flashpoints and the like. Other chars. are my slicing slaves. For guild, I'd be playing a JK and a Trooper, both about lvl 20. Haven't done any PvP in any game for about a dozen years; easier to avoid the rude people that way and also because it's more enjoyable to work with people than against them. Essentially we're hoping the game adds some controllable spaceflight/Pazaak/etc. before we reach story's end. (At this pace, that might be sometime in the year ... 2038.) What I offer to a guild: No drama. Polite helping hand on normal quests. Upbeat attitude. What I ask from a guild: No drama. Polite helping hand on normal quests. Upbeat attitude. No story spoilers (my fingers are crossed!) Hope this works out for us all. Please drop a line. I play a lot but on no set schedule due to real life; will check this mail in a few days. Thanks for the consideration!

A StarWars feel: - Exciting cantinas - Piloting a ship with friends - Choices that mattered - Intelligent and varied battle AI - Built-in voice chat - Open exploration

Oh, well. For the crafting mats issue, now we wait for the patch after the patch after the patch. Hope there won't need to be a patch after that.

Just pointing out with tongue firmly in cheek: It's still months away from the start of summer -- if you live in the Southern Hemisphere.

My opinion is specifically requesting a response from Devs is a good way to not get a response from the Devs. Coming up with my own reason, you answered it above: they'd be stretched far too thin. They've cut large numbers of staff. Large enough to curtail attending game promotion events. Yep, that's scary. First, the Cash Shop was announced as only convenience and cosmetic items. Now, we hear plans are to add items with stats. While not unexpected, contradicting/changing what they say leads me to believe not hearing from the Devs on many important issues is better than them changing what they said earlier. Glass half empty isn't a bad thing when what's being served is poison. Just my own opinion and others are welcome to theirs.

1. Better "Space" -- 3D, Ship Decoration, Pilotable, Multiplayer Co-Op in ships and turrets 2. Better Crafting UI -- Hierarchy Grouping, Mouseover item name on left side of screen to show item stats 3. In-game Voice Chat -- Without it meeting/playing with new people is short, curt, and difficult to know them. Vent. etc. is fine for existing guildies, terrible for meeting future ones.

for WulfSolaris: That remark about the "limited amount of schematics" was later clarified to say the "limited amount" was about 20 times larger than all the schematics currently in the game. for the Devs: I hope when the UI for schematics is revamped they will add a much-needed secondary sort: alphabetically by "normal" item description. For example, my Armormech currently has 17 schematics for level 13 heavy armor. I usually sort by level; that groups all 17 schematics in the same spot, then secondarily sorted alphabetically like this: Ballistic Shield Belt Critical Ballistic Shield Belt Hardened Assault Vambraces Heavy Military Leggings Overkill Ballistic Shield Belt Overkill Heavy Military Leggings The problem lies in trying to find if I've already learned schematics for improved versions (blue/purple) of an item. Then I have to search one by one in other areas instead of having ALL the versions of a particular item AT A SINGLE GLANCE. In the example listing above, all the Ballistic Shield Belt versions (green/blue/purple) are scattered in the listing, not grouped. The culprit is the "secondary alphabetical sort" uses the first letter of the first word for sorting (which is the adjective common to many schematics) instead of alpha sorting on what is AFTER the adjective: the normal item name. So, with the first sort being by level, and the secondary sort being alpha AFTER the adjective, we would have: Ballistic Shield Belt Critical Ballistic Shield Belt Overkill Ballistic Shield Belt Hardened Assault Vambraces Heavy Military Leggings Overkill Heavy Military Leggings which I find easier to use. Even better would be to place the Critical/Overkill/etc. item adjectives AFTER the normal item name. That would result in: Ballistic Shield Belt Ballistic Shield Belt, Critical Ballistic Shield Belt, Overkill Hardened Assault Vambraces Heavy Military Leggings Heavy Military Leggings, Overkill which easily tells at one glance which items have reached full research and which can yield further research. Thanks for the feedback chance.

Why are people complaining about F2P? I'll use the LotRO example. At a GDC presentation Turbine announced their business plans included lifetime revenue per subscriber to increase 75% over what subscribers were paying under the old (sub-only) model. So my answer as a susbcriber to SWTOR? Paying more for the same thing.

Removing current limited dev responses (the Q&A) BEFORE starting the promised future "more dev responses" is a mistake. For the future, please consider reversing the order: Take a promised step forward before taking a step back. Actions speak very loudly and until the "more dev responses" kick in the only action we see takes you in a direction away from your stated goal. This works against the confidence and good will you want to have. Thanks for the feedback chance.

Either September through November (Northern Hemisphere) or March through May (Southern Hemisphere). "Fall" lets them be quite vague.

Answers in caps.

All successful businesses give more attention to what brings in more profit. That's what keeps them in business. Some people may not like that approach. Like it or not, EA's intention is pretty clearly spelled out in my sig.

BioWare's founding doctors came out not in favor of Pay-For-Better-Progression (aka F2P). Here it is happening anyway. Maybe it will finally sink in with people that the founders don't get to make the big decisions anymore. Those really pulling the strings of direction with EA's BioWare Division don't have the title of Vice-President.