If SWTOR goes free to play it may save the ship from exploding

[Tickdoff-Tank]

I'm glad you're not a marketing stategist.

 

The day this game goes Free to play is the day I unsub and uninstall.

 

Guarenteed.

 

I would say "As soon as 15.00 per month does not give me access to everything that the rest of the player base has access to, that is the day that I cancel my account.".

 

Even if it went to a hybrid F2P, but everything that is available in the game (at that time) cost only 15.00 oer month, I would stay. As soon as they add *extras* that increase character performance for cash, then I leave. I would be ok with extra "fluff" like expanded looks for armor and weapons costing more cash (if and only if it was already a hybrid), but that is just me. I care much less than most people I know about the look of my toon.

[Monoth]

Look most people dont even want to pay subscriptions anymore and free to play mmos are more appealing. This game will only suceed if very soon they move it to free to play, because look at what coming and you really think with the bad press this game has anyone is going to want to sub to it with better games coming out. Free to play would let people play swtor while they playing other games and raise populations so that it becomes more a sucess, the sub model is failing and that the reason why it didnt sell as many as it could off.

 

What Bad Press?!? every LEGIT gaming publication has given this game high scores, the only people bashing it are basically glorified bloggers with there wanna be gaming sites that nobody has heard of....

 

Going Pay to win is a fail IMO and only happens in MMO's when their populations drop below 100k players.... SWTOR is hardly at that point, their biggest issue is they need to merge servers ASAP.... All the QQ'ing when the game came out about waiting in Que's forced Bioware to put to many servers out, although this has happen to all MMO's...

[lowflyingmeat]

is going "F2P" totally out of the question? No.

 

But is it feasible so long as there are 500k-1million subscribers? No.

The game is still selling alot of boxes on origin and the retail shelf. Until you stop seeing SWTOR on GameStop/BestBuy shelves, the game will not go F2P. At this point, going F2P would piss the existing player base off. They are doing a work around by having free weekends every other week.

 

I hope you guys realize, to this day, EQ and Asherons call still demand a $14.99 subscription fee. Yes Everquest also went to free to play, after 12+ years of financial and critical success. The game still needs $14.99 a month if you want to enjoy the entire game.

[DevonDs]

I prefer subscription were I know what my cost is and I am not competing with people buying xp boosts better equipment or powers etc. I don't want to have to buy the next update . Free to play and forced pvp on pve servers are pretty much the only reasons I can see motivating me to leave.

[Eddizel]

I will never play a F2P MMO.

 

I prefer a subscription format because it is more pure.

 

We all pay our flat rate and we all get whatever we earn in game, not by how much money we spend.

 

Our character's are built by how much time we spend on them, not how much money we spend on them.

[PuddingHead]

I will only play an MMO if it REQUIRES a sub fee. Not F2P with optional sub for extras like many are doing, because they still tend to compel their subscribers to spend more to get the cool new stuff they develop. It has to be sub fee exclusive. If this one goes F2P, I will move on to the next one with a sub, then the one after that, then the one after that. If it ever reaches a point that there are no subscription MMOs left, I guess i'll have to switch genres, because F2P makes me physically ill.

[Tatebomb]

I will only play an MMO if it REQUIRES a sub fee. Not F2P with optional sub for extras like many are doing, because they still tend to compel their subscribers to spend more to get the cool new stuff they develop. It has to be sub fee exclusive. If this one goes F2P, I will move on to the next one with a sub, then the one after that, then the one after that. If it ever reaches a point that there are no subscription MMOs left, I guess i'll have to switch genres, because F2P makes me physically ill.

 

QFT. Some people actually tend to spend MORE with F2P. Those MT's are the devil straight up. Think about it companies are trying to make money right? Well if F2P made them LESS money why would they do it?

[Ricktur]

F2P games are not free to play... all of them still charge the equivalent of a normal subscription fee for things like bank space and character slots. Moreover you still have to pay for DLC things that are now "free" with a subscription. Imagine having to pay for the rakghoul event access, that's the "F2P" model.

 

$0.50 a day, that's it. You can't even buy a can of coke for that price. I used to blow greater than $10.00 in a night at an arcade back in the day. I'm more than happy to pay the fee.

 

my 2 cp.

 

this is the truth. i spent $60 in one day playing lotro which is "F2P" f2p is not the way to go, you have to pay for content. its f2p in the sense that you can log in a run around for a little bit

[uziforyou]

Look most people dont even want to pay subscriptions anymore and free to play mmos are more appealing. This game will only suceed if very soon they move it to free to play, because look at what coming and you really think with the bad press this game has anyone is going to want to sub to it with better games coming out. Free to play would let people play swtor while they playing other games and raise populations so that it becomes more a sucess, the sub model is failing and that the reason why it didnt sell as many as it could off.

 

Right. Bioware is going to take a game they have 100's of millions of dollars invested in and just give it out to everyone to play out of the goodness of their hearts.

 

That's cool. If only we could convince film makers, musicians and others to do the same. What a wonderful world it would be.

[Balrizangor]

Games shouldnt always be about making money, greedy companys deserve to fall there corrupted foundation can only last so long.

 

Hell yes !! How dare a business try to make money !!!! DAMN THEM !!

[thomasgallant]

Hell yes !! How dare a business try to make money !!!! DAMN THEM !!

 

it isnt like money allows them to make new titles..pay employees..and other things like that... damn them for trying to pay their employees!!! god i hate responsible people and companies:P

[JaxonLuxor]

Define bad press other than a bunch of cry-babies on the forums and a handful of no-name sites....

[Urael]

Look most people dont even want to pay subscriptions anymore and free to play mmos are more appealing. This game will only suceed if very soon they move it to free to play, because look at what coming and you really think with the bad press this game has anyone is going to want to sub to it with better games coming out. Free to play would let people play swtor while they playing other games and raise populations so that it becomes more a sucess, the sub model is failing and that the reason why it didnt sell as many as it could off.

 

Here we go again with the mythical "most people" "majority" made up bull.

 

IN YOUR OPINION maybe.

 

The truth of the matter is that in the LONG RUN one spends more money in the miss-named F2P model. You just don't notice it because you are getting nicked and dimed to death.

 

Its like putting a frog in a pot of water and slowly turning up the heat untill its boiling to death and then it too late for it to hop out.

 

AND many ( not all ) of the F2P games become PLAY 2 WIN.

 

IF SWTOR (or WoW for that matter) goes F2P I won't play either of them.

 

F2P is an act of desperation for an existing company to hold onto and regain a player base ( SOE anyone? ). It really is only effective for NEW gaming companies trying to break into the market from what I can tell.

 

F2P

Edited April 26, 2012 by Urael

[Kaedian]

F2P games are not free to play... all of them still charge the equivalent of a normal subscription fee for things like bank space and character slots. Moreover you still have to pay for DLC things that are now "free" with a subscription. Imagine having to pay for the rakghoul event access, that's the "F2P" model.

 

$0.50 a day, that's it. You can't even buy a can of coke for that price. I used to blow greater than $10.00 in a night at an arcade back in the day. I'm more than happy to pay the fee.

 

my 2 cp.

 

Coke machine in my office is $0.50 a can. Coke, Diet Coke, Nestea, Ginger Ale, and Sprite.

 

 

That said, $15 is nothing IF you have dispensable income. If you don't, then playing a game with a monthly sub should be the least of your concerns.

[Arkerus]

It won't ever go F2P. I don't want it to go F2P either.

F2P doesn't have the constant, even source of funding that is required in a game of this magnitude.

 

Games like Vindictus are good F2P games because they require much less upkeep.

[Urael]

Coke machine in my office is $0.50 a can. Coke, Diet Coke, Nestea, Ginger Ale, and Sprite.

 

Same.

 

That said, $15 is nothing IF you have dispensable income. If you don't, then playing a game with a monthly sub should be the least of your concerns.

 

^QFT This!

[Kurfer]

Games shouldnt always be about making money, greedy companys deserve to fall there corrupted foundation can only last so long.

 

Haha this post, kids say the strangest things.

 

We must NOT make money, we must NOT feed our family!

 

Hey kiddo, where do you think your allowance and lunch money come from? You think mommy grows it on a tree in the back yard?

[Krelios]

F2P is the deathknell of every game that has gone that route after starting as a subscription game. Star Trek Online was okay as a paid game and just terrible now that it's free. You end up having to spend more money in microtransactions to compete because everything beyond the absolute bare bones is a paid (real money) upgrade.

 

If SWTOR goes F2P you know it's really doomed. Thankfully, the doom prophets are WAY exaggerating the state of the game. SWTOR has plenty of subscribers and is getting more all the time (new markets in 38+ countries, anyone?) so it's going to be around for a long time. Look how long SWG stuck around even when lots of people hated the expansion.

[NorrinRaddd]

Do you know how many angry fans their would be if this went F2P. I got sucked into a F2P game Dungeons and Dragons online enjoyed it but spent aprox. 150 dollars on DLC packs characrter slots and P2W items, its not worth it. Another example would be champions online which went F2P, played it when it was sub decided to come back and give it another try long behold i could not use all the customization slots unless i purchased it, more character slots had to purchase it, access an event had to purchase it. F2P doesnt attract players you lose more and the game becomes a gimme all your cash because we worded a gaming model diffrently. I'd forever hate this game and Bioware and never look back, 15 dollars for "EVERYTHING" is way more than enough for me. I call that the true F2P model.

[johnduane]

This means that you paid for them.

 

I too have played LOTRO off and on, after it went F2P, and in order to even activate the ability to play specific classes you had to pay for them. Not even mentioning the ability to enter instanced content as well as increase the playable level cap. Can you go make a toon and play the first 20 levels without paying a cent? Sure. But that's something I couldn't do for more than a day or two even if they paid me. In order to play the game in its entirety you have to pay for it.

 

Exactly right. It isn't any different than any other buy to win game, and it's abysmal to endure the game itself. Awful game. At STO, the life time subscribers swore they wouldn't go f2p, and everyone else that got ripped off by buying a copy of that space turd said yeah it will. TOR is so much better, and there's no need ever to go f2p.

[mokkh]

Coke machine in my office is $0.50 a can. Coke, Diet Coke, Nestea, Ginger Ale, and Sprite.

 

 

Congratulations for avoiding the soft drink inflation that I have had to endure, where is your office? I too would like to revel in your lower than national average soft drink wares.

[Darth_Gao_Gao]

thanks for your bad opinion. free 2 play is a blight upon the gaming world. there are only 2 exceptions, being guildwars and team fortress 2. the rest are just garbage, and you're a nerfherder for desiring such a payment model.

[Lokai]

Exactly right. It isn't any different than any other buy to win game, and it's abysmal to endure the game itself. Awful game. At STO, the life time subscribers swore they wouldn't go f2p, and everyone else that got ripped off by buying a copy of that space turd said yeah it will. TOR is so much better, and there's no need ever to go f2p.

 

lotor, DDO, DCUO are not pay win games, they are pay to unlock key features games these have nothing to do with power, or being better then anyone else. SOMETIMES gear you get in the unlocked areas is better BUT you still have to earn said gear, or farm it...

 

But your right nothing worth having is free and if you expect to play those games you best expect to pay something for it. DDO is by far BEST example of a free game though since if your REALLY dedicated =D can earn turbine points in game... but i HOPE you like rerolling alot ^^

 

but i do not see TOR going f2p the starwars fans alone will keep it going.

[Drudenfusz]

but i do not see TOR going f2p the starwars fans alone will keep it going.

But sadly the Star Wars fans are not enough to keep all servers busy, SWTOR as a free to play game would have at least the advantage that more people could play the game, so raising the population on the servers (which is in my humble opinion the best selling point for f2p games).

[Aloro]

this is the truth. i spent $60 in one day playing lotro which is "F2P" f2p is not the way to go, you have to pay for content. its f2p in the sense that you can log in a run around for a little bit

 

I spent a lot of money on DDO and LotRO. Microtransactions are fine, from the point of view of someone with a lot of extra cash and little willingness to put in extra time "working" in the game. But... even then, experience has shown me that the F2P model changes devs' priorities.

 

With a sub, devs want to keep everyone happy to a certain base level. Little quality of life improvements will come with every patch - you want to sprint at lvl 1 and ride your speeder in spaceports and orbital stations? Sure. New content will come at a steady pace.

 

With the F2P model, devs stop worrying about the playerbase as a whole and start "whale hunting" - i.e. they know they can make more money by finding one guy to spend $150 than they can finding a dozen guys willing to cough up a couple of bucks. Suddenly almost all quality of life improvements cost money. You want to sprint at lvl 1? It's $3 to unlock that, per character of course. Riding your speeder in space stations is available for a $5 unlock per character, or the low low rate of 50 cents per day. And so on.

 

And again, I have money, so I could and did afford all the quality of life improvements. Even so, I came to dislike the priorities of the devs. I didn't feel like they were devoted to simply making the best game experience anymore, but rather on making a game that was just shy of being great, so they could charge me to bridge the gap to greatness.

Edited April 26, 2012 by Aloro