DesAnvos Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 We've just been told that SWTOR will be F2P up to level 15 in July. What is your honest opinion of this move by EA? I can't imagine BioWare are happy with it and personally I see it as one step away from a move to a full Free To Play business model. For me, that would lead to me to leave the game. I really liked LOTRO, but as soon as it went F2P I realised that the 'short-cut' option offered by the store would be too tempting, and I'd spend more than my £8.99 a month in frivolous purchases (have disposable income, will spend it ) Which is why F2P and associated micro transactions are so popular with EA titles, unfortunately What's your take on it? (Disclaimer: I know there have been other similar threads on this, but none have been targeted specifically at the community's opinions on the F2P news) Not bothering to read rest of thread as I doubt it is that interesting, but my opinion it is basically pointless as that is seriously only a few hours of play time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greyhaws Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Game should have been launched with this already in place. Its good they wasted little time getting F2P options into the game. F2P level 1-50 should be implemented as soon as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catch_TwentyTwo Posted June 9, 2012 Share Posted June 9, 2012 Free to play to level 15 is not a big deal at all.Agreed. Level 15 can be achieved in a few hours, without power playing, just by following quests. You're basically talking about completing the starter planet and getting to the Space Station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MbaxterBeau Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 No mmo should be F2P as long as people are still paying a sub for World of Restarts. OP it's 15 bucks for the love of god that's cheap. If you want F2P go play Skyrim :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllanGand Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 it's a trial wow has one to lvl 20. Stop making such a big deal of every little tiny thing they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomyne Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 We've just been told that SWTOR will be F2P up to level 15 in July. What is your honest opinion of this move by EA? I can't imagine BioWare are happy with it and personally I see it as one step away from a move to a full Free To Play business model. For me, that would lead to me to leave the game. I really liked LOTRO, but as soon as it went F2P I realised that the 'short-cut' option offered by the store would be too tempting, and I'd spend more than my £8.99 a month in frivolous purchases (have disposable income, will spend it ) Which is why F2P and associated micro transactions are so popular with EA titles, unfortunately What's your take on it? Wow has been F2P until level 20 for a while now and its working for them. It gives people a fully functional demo that they can explore without time restraint. It doesnt mean full F2P is coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inzuher Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Dude a trail to a certian level is very common for mmos... The point is to let people try the start of the game, and then hopefully the ones trying the trail will start subscribting. It has nothing to do with going free to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krenzik Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Most MMO's have been thriving for years before giving out the first 10+ levels for free. They have laid off developers, admitted they had no clue people wanted to pvp, have tried to bully people into warzone only pvp, made this game a hacker's playpen and now the first 15 levels for free. I signed up for the first six months and i'll give the game a full year and sign up for another six. It won't be worth it after that because apparently EA and Bioware don't think so. Their actions show this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlbo_Nabbins Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 (edited) Most MMO's have been thriving for years before giving out the first 10+ levels for free. They have laid off developers, admitted they had no clue people wanted to pvp, have tried to bully people into warzone only pvp, made this game a hacker's playpen and now the first 15 levels for free. I signed up for the first six months and i'll give the game a full year and sign up for another six. It won't be worth it after that because apparently EA and Bioware don't think so. Their actions show this. Not true, most MMOs went for years before handing out free trials until the biggest player in the field (i.e. WoW) started handing out free trials, since then more and more have been adding free trials in the early days. D3 launched with free trials for those with a trial key from a friend who purchased the game and the statement is that after the 1st month they will offer free trials to all. Free trials within 6 months of launch are going to be the norm in MMOs now because the market has changed. Edited June 10, 2012 by Arlbo_Nabbins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggomy Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 (edited) It is irrelevant to say WoW didnt have f2p to lvl 20 6 months in. The fact is a lot of games NOW are f2p to a certain level. To compete NOW they need to follow suit. Games in this day and age (its not 2004 anymore like when WoW came out) without some sort of trial and a $50 price tag are likely to fail. Noone wants to pay money to see if they like it first. Since TODAY most games offer this why wouldn't swtor want to also? Edited June 10, 2012 by Leggomy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Agreed. Level 15 can be achieved in a few hours, without power playing, just by following quests. You're basically talking about completing the starter planet and getting to the Space Station. Actually, you're talking about completing the starter planet and the capital planet and getting your ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 It is irrelevant to say WoW didnt have f2p to lvl 20 6 months in. The fact is a lot of games NOW are f2p to a certain level. To compete NOW they need to follow suit. Games in this day and age (its not 2004 anymore like when WoW came out) without some sort of trial and a $50 price tag are likely to fail. Noone wants to pay money to see if they like it first. Since TODAY most games offer this why wouldn't swtor want to also? ^^This. If WoW launched today instead of 8 years ago, guess what they would do? Offer F2P to 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erictlewis Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Actually, you're talking about completing the starter planet and the capital planet and getting your ship. Maybee half your home plenet, there is no way you will have your ship by 15, unless you had a 50 drag you though stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stovokor Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 This is entirely a non-issue. Limited free-to-play is practically a staple of the industry now. It's healthy for both this game as well as gaming in general. ^ Pretty much this. This has more to do with letting more players test out the game then any change in model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeramieCrowe Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Maybee half your home plenet, there is no way you will have your ship by 15, unless you had a 50 drag you though stuff. I do it all the time. In fact, I've gotten it at 14 on several occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evanezar Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) Here's my two cents... Free to play up until Level 15 is fine. It's not one step away from a Free to Play model. It's like allowing for someone to test drive the game. This is also probably happening due to new content and consolidating players to less servers in order to improve the liveliness of the game. A true F2P system would definitely drive me away from the game. Why listen to the trolls that left the game in the first place and keep trying to keep those you are already servicing. EA does have pay features to a lot of their games. For some reason Madden comes to mind. I personally hate it with a passion. Lord of the Rings Online has F2P and personally I think that game is garbage and I'm a huge fan of Middle Earth. Whatever BioWare has to do to keep this game profitable I am for as long as the subscription continues. I pay for content and service and not items or perks. Earn those by playing and keep it competitive. It seems like those articles about F2P are written by the same trolls that have more time trolling than they do anything else. Edited June 17, 2012 by Evanezar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senatsu Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 This isn't "Free to play", this is a free demo. You get to experience a small percentage of what the game has to offer, and you get to do it for free. It just took MMOs a little while to catch up to single-player games in the world of demos. Don't get your ovaries in a twist, this is what MMOs do nowadays and I'm glad they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silky_soft_ Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 creation of bulk farming accounts opening world chest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancoisTogruta Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 SWTOR to be Free To Play up to 15 in July..Honest opinions please IMHO, this is a great Idea. Ppl have time to waste, so they pick it up and give it a wirl. Then they might get hooked and decide to join our community. It's a great business model, and level15, even as a total newb without help and limited playtime can get there in a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragamer Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) It's a limited Trial in practice, which, in principle, is healthy for any MMO. Just see a few caveats: - Fleet Chat potential flood with "Kleenex" character/accounts that will be deleted after offending ppl. One possitively surprising thing about SWTOR I like is that I'm not flooded with gold farmer advertising 24/7, meaning that BW is really taking care of them instead of "letting them be" for the sake of "bussiness"... This can be gone if "infinite" accounts can access the same communication channels as paying players. - Low Level Zone saturation with "bored" players can increase disruptive behaviours. On a deeper thought, the way to "brand" this Trial as a "F2P" is worrying... It's probably an EA "probe" to see how much influx of new players this model would bring... If they are enough, it will set a milestone for the future of SWTOR. From my PoV of a sub paying player expecting top notch high end content to be released in decent periods... Recent history on games that are converted to F2P (Notice the BIG difference with a game initially designed with F2P from the beggining) tells me that it will be the death of SWTOR for me... Doesn't matter how much they try to rephrase the change... ALL F2P "migrations" follow the same approach: - The main target is to make the MMO cheaper to keep. - The secondary goal is to replace the current playerbase. They get rid of the same old players seeking new content (expensive to create) and instead they aim for short lived accounts that experience already done content modified to incur in microtransaction costs along the way to reach high end content. Obviously you will never see an honest Dev saying you this (Because the owner of the MMO will fire him ASAP, ofc )... But that's the core of all F2P migrations in the end. The playerbase that helped you to polish your product & balance it is "suddenly" too expensive to keep (Strictly speaking about the costs per ongoing custommer) so you just get rid of it. This is probably the main gripe I have with migrations... When a Dev says "We expect to last 10 years" you go there to put effort on your characters and that effort suddenly is destroyed when the environment you are playing into is abruptly changed. - The rate at which new content is released is dramatically cut down. And when released is just content based on the current technology developed at the moment of the "conversion". You can expect no new groundbreaking features to appear because the senior Devs are too costly to keep. Don't take me wrong, I have my share of fun with F2P MMOs I have played that have been satisfying experiences... But no MMO that has made the "swap" (DDO, AoC, CO, STO) has managed to keep me interested (Because when I go to a sub MMO I expect a long-time experience based on progressing with the same set of characters into a cohesive Community... And ALL of this I like is precissely what a F2P model kills). Edited June 17, 2012 by ragamer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Ravenhurst Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Maybee half your home plenet, there is no way you will have your ship by 15, unless you had a 50 drag you though stuff. What? At 15 I had my ship and were on the third planet with two different characters. Which game are you playing? lvl 15 is a good chunk of the game, like 15-20 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneberry Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Its a free trial. you get your ship, and finish the first real "Twist" in your story line before you have to pay. its just enough to leave you wanting more, and that's the entire point. To get you addicted and them make you have to pay for your fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekhiun Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 As long as they are put in their own pvp tier i don't mind , otherwise none of my will pvp until they reach 50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primetheous Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 well F2P trial is one thing but a Forbes post recently on there websight states that SWTOR devs are looking at a full F2P model and Lead designer Emmanuelle Lusinchi said this in an interview with Games TM magazine Im not sure who is gonna end up making the descision but the interview is pretty damning evidence as to SWTOR going F2P ill post the link and hope this doesnt get removed or banned as this is a dev saying this http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/06/15/star-wars-the-old-republic-looking-at-free-to-play/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baneberry Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 well F2P trial is one thing but a Forbes post recently on there websight states that SWTOR devs are looking at a full F2P model and Lead designer Emmanuelle Lusinchi said this in an interview with Games TM magazine Im not sure who is gonna end up making the descision but the interview is pretty damning evidence as to SWTOR going F2P ill post the link and hope this doesnt get removed or banned as this is a dev saying this http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/06/15/star-wars-the-old-republic-looking-at-free-to-play/ all he said was “We are looking at free-to-play, but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.” that is not the same as "we are going free to play" people like you are the reason this web site is nicknamed "torchan" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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