Infinite_Burnout Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 How do you feel about this? Personally, I'm disappointed that the game hasn't been doing that well to the point where they have to do more free trials, but hopefully this will bring in more fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfninjajedi Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 (edited) Its not that uncommon for an MMO to have FTP to a certain level. It is doing well, so they wanna give new players a chance to get their feet wet, let em its only lvl 15. Edited June 4, 2012 by Wolfninjajedi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forgon Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Considering WoW and Rift do this as well (as far as I am aware), it implies they are doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlom Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 WoW has the same thing. So does Diablo 3 and Rift. Not a big deal and it's pretty much expected with MMOs now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tricky-Ha Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Yay! Now all the idiots can stand around on the starter planets showing off their endgame gear hoping that the F2P newbs bow to their feet & worship the ground they walk on, alright! That's exactly what BioWare wanted, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temad Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Considering WoW and Rift do this as well (as far as I am aware), it implies they are doing well. Wow did it after 5 years and multiple expansions that made giving away the early content easy. Rift? You really want to tag SWTOR with Rift? Rift crashed and burned to a few servers in less than 10 months. Well, I guess that would actually make Rift and SWTOR similar. Going to free after 6 months for scrub MMOs is expected, not the Star Wars IP and not Bioware/EA's baby. Disastrous they have to do this so soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infinite_Burnout Posted June 4, 2012 Author Share Posted June 4, 2012 Considering WoW and Rift do this as well (as far as I am aware), it implies they are doing well. But took WoW a long time to go F2P. ToR has only been out for 4 months. That doesn't seem all that successful to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dosadnik Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I think it's a great way to get new players in the game and they never said for how long, so for all we know it might just last for a week or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoFrenzy Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 But took WoW a long time to go F2P. ToR has only been out for 4 months. That doesn't seem all that successful to me. Encouraging trial is a basic strategy when trying to achieve a build objective. Also: it has been over five months since it was released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amendial Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 (edited) I think it is a good move. There are probably a ton of people on the fence about SWTOR due to all of hte unfair negitive press this game has recieved. This gives players a chance to get in and try the game and realize that it is a really great and fun game and should lead to an increase in subs; at least until those players get to level 50 and realize that there is virtually no PvP and their only real option is to roll an alt. Edited June 4, 2012 by Amendial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthshnooky Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 But took WoW a long time to go F2P. ToR has only been out for 4 months. That doesn't seem all that successful to me. But WoW has it -- it doesn't matter that it took them so long. They are still the MMO industry leader, so it makes sense for BW to compete at the same level. Restricted weekend events only work if it's a big deal and thousands of people are clamoring to get into them. A simpler model lets people try out the game and decide if they want to pay for it -- it's a very successful method which is why games do it (such as D3 which just came out!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreySix Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 (edited) I downloaded the free version of WoW, which gave me a feel for what to expect with this game (didn't go beyond the free version). I imagine there are some Star Wars fans out there who've been intrigued by this game and wanted to try it - but balked at the price and subscription. Could see them giving this a try. Edited June 4, 2012 by GreySix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temad Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 But WoW has it -- it doesn't matter that it took them so long. They are still the MMO industry leader, so it makes sense for BW to compete at the same level. Restricted weekend events only work if it's a big deal and thousands of people are clamoring to get into them. A simpler model lets people try out the game and decide if they want to pay for it -- it's a very successful method which is why games do it (such as D3 which just came out!). You give away stuff when it isn't worth as much. Using WOW, a game that is now 8 years old sitting on cruise control until Titan comes out, as an example for your 5 month old game that cost more than any MMO in history is...stupid. This is huge news for them and not good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fubarge Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 I think it is great. I didnt buy the game untill my friend gave m the 1 week trial and i was hooked. WoW didnt have ranked BG's and group finder for how many years? but you guys (myself included) demanded it was necessary tech for a modern MMO. I for one support this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthshnooky Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 You give away stuff when it isn't worth as much. Using WOW, a game that is now 8 years old sitting on cruise control until Titan comes out, as an example for your 5 month old game that cost more than any MMO in history is...stupid. This is huge news for them and not good news. Once again -- D3, the fastest selling PC game in history -- was released with guest passes that could be used to play a free to level 13 version of the game. It's becoming a standard move for online games (such as MMOs) as a replacement for demos that single-player games typically have. The industry and market have changed, this is just keeping up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezzi Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 It's not F2P, it's a trial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreySix Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 It's not F2P, it's a trial. Aren't we arguing semantics though? I can play WoW for free up to Level 20. That too is a trial, but I can continue to log in and run around with all kinds of Level 20 characters, for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dezzi Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 (edited) Aren't we arguing semantics though? I can play WoW for free up to Level 20. That too is a trial, but I can continue to log in and run around with all kinds of Level 20 characters, for free. It's not semantics. GW and GW2, STO and CO--those are F2P games. A cap on your experience of free content is a free trial. Edited June 4, 2012 by Dezzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadescythe Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 You give away stuff when it isn't worth as much. Using WOW, a game that is now 8 years old sitting on cruise control until Titan comes out, as an example for your 5 month old game that cost more than any MMO in history is...stupid. This is huge news for them and not good news. As much a I've liked this post you've made 1,000 times on different threads now, SWTOR is not WoW. When WoW launched, there was no WoW already in place to compete with. Allowing people to start playing the game for free is the best way to take players who subscribe to a game in the same genre away. Level 15 is going to put them just short of getting a ship and really getting into the game. I don't see a problem with making the game more accessible. There is a reason that stores offer coupons to stuff and actually sell some products at or even below cost; to get you in the door. If giving players a taste of what the game can offer gets them to sub then well played BW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drom Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Let me tell you just this: I FREAKING TOLD YOU! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatghost Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Yay! Now all the idiots can stand around on the starter planets showing off their endgame gear hoping that the F2P newbs bow to their feet & worship the ground they walk on, alright! That's exactly what BioWare wanted, right? Time to dust off the Founder title /sarcasm At least they'll have something to do and the rest of us can play relatively idiot-free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthOvertone Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Lowbie WZs are going to be a riot! haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluerodian Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Overall, I think it's a positive approach for Bioware, but it remains to be seen how invasive the push to "Buy Now" is from EA. If they sit back and just let the game sell itself without restrictions other than a level 15 cap, then great. That'll work out just fine, but if they start heaping artificial restrictions on the F2P players that could frustrate and drive more potential customers away than it would attract. I don't think Bioware would do something like this, but EA certainly would. Some of the things I would be concerned over, if I were coming in to it as an F2P sub-15 account is: No /tells No crafting No guilding No friends list Species limitation beyond what a new subscribed account gets. Class limitation beyond what a new subscribed account gets. Big invasive "Buy it now!" buttons popping up on the screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmySpy Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 (edited) Once again -- D3, the fastest selling PC game in history -- was released with guest passes that could be used to play a free to level 13 version of the game. It's becoming a standard move for online games (such as MMOs) as a replacement for demos that single-player games typically have. The industry and market have changed, this is just keeping up. This is pretty much it. Trials are becoming very common because developers want as many people to try the game as they can get, in the hope that at least some of them will subscribe (and many do). Many people are on the fence when they're considering buying a full game plus paying monthly to play it, and they want to try it for themselves before committing any money. I enjoy using trials and demos for games to decide if they're worth pursuing in the future; it's a good resource. I bet there are a lot of people who think the game looks cool (and they like Star Wars) but all they've heard about it is how awful it is, so they need to see for themselves. (I know there are a lot of justified complaints, but they sure don't help bring more people in to the game) Trials aren't an automatic sign of failure, WoW and EVE have trials and they're doing fine. It's just a technique to introduce more people to your game, and as everyone has said, we need a larger population. (Also, scroll up and read Jadescythes post, it's great) Edited June 4, 2012 by OmySpy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasgallant Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 This is pretty much it. Trials are becoming very common because developers want as many people to try the game as they can get, in the hope that at least some of them will subscribe (and many do). Many people are on the fence when they're considering buying a full game plus paying monthly to play it, and they want to try it for themselves before committing any money. I enjoy using trials and demos for games to decide if they're worth pursuing in the future; it's a good resource. I bet there are a lot of people who think the game looks cool (and they like Star Wars) but all they've heard about it is how awful it is, so they need to see for themselves. (I know there are a lot of justified complaints, but they sure don't help bring more people in to the game) Trials aren't an automatic sign of failure, WoW and EVE have trials and they're doing fine. It's just a technique to introduce more people to your game, and as everyone has said, we need a larger population. a free trial isnt a bad thing at all . i agree completely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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