SWTOR "looking at free-to-play"?

[Darth_Urtani]

Oh, so you work for both companies to know this? Yeah, I think not.

 

You don't need to work for both companies to understand this, it's not too hard unless you have zero common sense or don't know how to use google.

 

Try taking off those rose coloured glasses and you'll see for yourself.

[discosoc]

You sure that isn't just some false hoping?

 

I'm a pretty harsh critic of this game, and have very little interest in playing once my 6 month is up, so don't confuse me with some fanboy grasping at straws.

 

I call it like I see it, and in this case, I see an interview with someone talking about options for people to play for free "someday" like WoW has. Not once does he even hint at things like in game cash shops where you have to pay to access quests or whatever. He's talking about making the game more accessible to people who haven't tried it yet, not changing the whole business model.

 

At any rate, by the time Bioware ever gets around to implementing anything resembling actual F2P stuff beyond a trial period, I expect to be long gone from this game.

[Tenceriker]

F2P could save this game if Bioware does it right. I think how successful the 15 level trial is and how transfers turn out will make or break this idea. Frankly I think after both are less than successful it will trigger F2P.

[Valkirus]

=)

 

Let them officially come out then, but between all the news the last month or so, this is all adding up that the game is dying and I'm no longer paying for on faith. They've had my faith for over 6 months. They've lost it.

 

I'm not even sure if I can post anymore after my sub is done, but it's over on 06/23

 

I think you can only post on the forums if you have a active sub. But...they may change that too when they go FTP. lol.

[Galbatorrix]

Yeah cause "embracing a free model" means a free trial... Not.

 

 

And him saying "someday" and "We have a great business right now and we're not looking to make any abrupt changes" means this will likely happen what? Tomorrow?

 

 

[Divona]

If you look all the latest MMO's released i say majority of them eventually went FTP. The question is how premium or sub based access will be. I think they (EA) udnerstood they loose in long run alot money by staying only sub based or PTP based. New MMo's coming out and i can tell many games will have better designs (modern graphics and what not).

 

If you would be head of EA or owner of this IP would you not consider teasing new players with totally FTP (with hidden money sinks if you like it)?

 

I would say if SWToR would been massive hit and maintained well over 1m subs that EA was hoping, then FTP wouldnt be in discussion. but situation is opposite. I got experience from 3 previous MMO's in my past that i played quite long and all went to FTP with some payed subs (premium and what not). The signs were there and i remember people were undoubtful also. Also same thing happened servers got merged before FTP was announced half year later. Exactly same same thing on all those MMO's.

 

Think out of box....

Edited June 15, 2012 by Divona

[discosoc]

F2P could save this game if Bioware does it right. I think how successful the 15 level trial is and how transfers turn out will make or break this idea. Frankly I think after both are less than successful it will trigger F2P.

 

Unfortunately, they're being a little underhanded with the trial thing as it's been announced. Levels 1-15 and only the first Flashpoint... Honestly, that's probably the best part of the game when you're new. Esseles and Black Talon are pretty amazing when you first run them, so I imagine there will be some players who purchase it expecting the rest of the game to be the same.

[Darth_Urtani]

Yes, there have been more players since the F2P change, but they're all of a low "quality". They play for 10, maybe 20 levels, then never come back.

 

 

Doesn't really matter, even without those particular people, you still find plenty more players than this game, hell, I there was not a single time I couldn't group up. Not to mention the fact that it's not that hard to find the "quality" players, SWTOR has plenty of

low "quality"

(mostly the people who are playing the MMO for the single player aspect). Edited June 15, 2012 by Darth_Urtani

[chuixupu]

Oh, so you work for both companies to know this? Yeah, I think not.

 

I recall hearing a quote that's LOTRO's profits went up 400% by going FTP.

 

In any case, there's been a lot of talk about this stuff on gaming podcasts, and as much as people are having a hard time getting used to the idea, FTP model seems to be the wave of the future....because it actually works well. Don't be surprised to see even WoW embrace this model in the near future as well, beyond the level 20 one they're doing now. They're already making a killing on selling pets/mounts alone.

[Valkirus]

And him saying "someday" and "We have a great business right now and we're not looking to make any abrupt changes" means this will likely happen what? Tomorrow?

 

 

 

You are correct there. It may not happen until late this year or maybe not until next year. But if it was not a possibilty of happening..I would think BioWare would have shut this thread down as being off topic. They are interested in the player's reaction to this news I think.

[Jandi]

And him saying "someday" and "We have a great business right now and we're not looking to make any abrupt changes" means this will likely happen what? Tomorrow?

 

 

 

Never said tomorrow. In the next 6 months? Probably. I've followed many games over the years and it's the same thing. It's "we are looking into" or "we are discussing the possibility" until they are ready to release it. They need time to code the changes and set up the cash shops. Admitting it now would be a financial suicide, they aren't that stupid.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Jandi

[LordKOLZ]

I'm a pretty harsh critic of this game, and have very little interest in playing once my 6 month is up, so don't confuse me with some fanboy grasping at straws.

 

I call it like I see it, and in this case, I see an interview with someone talking about options for people to play for free "someday" like WoW has. Not once does he even hint at things like in game cash shops where you have to pay to access quests or whatever. He's talking about making the game more accessible to people who haven't tried it yet, not changing the whole business model.

 

At any rate, by the time Bioware ever gets around to implementing anything resembling actual F2P stuff beyond a trial period, I expect to be long gone from this game.

 

It wouldn't be an issue at all to anyone if it did go that way. But with the last 6 months on how the game did and now with the mejor server merges indicating how bad the game has done I wouldn't really hold on to too much hope of that idea. I was actually considering heavily of getting another pre paid card for my account when it expires in August but with this I am not sure at all. I am not sinking any more money in to a game that eventually will be f2p. If it's just 15 free levels I don't care at all but I am doubting it will just be that due to how the game is doing. Same here though, the moment I hear it's more than a trial I am done. Strange to say such things huh? But I rather being on a paying game than a f2p due to a number of reasons.

[KellyX]

Never said tomorrow. In the next 6 months? Probably. I've followed many games over the years and it's the same thing. It's "we are looking into" or "we are discussing the possibility" until they are ready to release it. They need time to code the changes and set up the cash shops. Admitting it now would be a financial suicide, they aren't that stupid.

 

Yea, kinda confused a tad why people think I'm over reacting. No, I don't think it'll happen for half a year or more, but why should I continue to give them my money when it's obviously heading that direction.

[Galbatorrix]

You are correct there. It may not happen until late this year or maybe not until next year. But if it was not a possibilty of happening..I would think BioWare would have shut this thread down as being off topic. They are interested in the player's reaction to this news I think.

 

 

 

Or, it could happen the year after that... or the year after that..... or the.. you get the picture. They'll likely do the trial and a WOW-like Fluff shop and I'm sure eventually, if subs do dwindle, they'll go F2P. It would likely take the subs to drop below 500K to get them to consider it and I very seriously doubt they will for years to come. Heck, Rift runs off way less subs that TOR right now.

 

 

Transfers, LFG, Ranked Warzones, free trial, etc will likely strengthen subs.

[Kourage]

SWTOR could raise the subscription to $19.99 a month. Anything is possible. That's pretty much all they said.

[gunslingingsam]

EA and bioware are too money hungry to make this game go free to play.

[Dezzi]

EA and bioware are too money hungry to make this game go free to play.

 

That's precisely why they would go F2P with SWTOR.

[FalcoLombardi]

Not going to be happy if this great game go F2P, F2P mean constant grinding and spending lot more than having to pay for a subscription and all extra contents gonna be all focused on getting more people to buy the content .

 

Does not, look at Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2

[Jandi]

Does not, look at Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2

 

Would you people stop bringing up guild wars? It's DESIGNED to be that way. You might as well say "yeah well counter strike is free too!" It's STUPID.

[axtn]

I see your "flawless" logic, a game with 9-10mil subscribers going f2p model because 15$ per month from 10mil players (150mil $ per month) is not a good profit from p2p model... However a game with 1mil subscribers (SWTOR) have not even thinking about going f2p because... well, i don't... common sense lost me here... maybe becasue you hate wow and like swtor? (but as a news for you, global market and game company strategies does't based only on your humble opinion )

 

Actually, your logic whilst correct from a very simple mathematical standpoint, may be incorrect as you have not taken into account several factors.

 

1) WOW is a 7 year old game. With that, it has amassed years and years of revenue, but also costs to build and maintain the infrastructure. It is safe to say that the wow infra is easily few t imes more than maintaining the swtor infra. How corporates work is they place value in how much revenue growth the game has, rather than what it currently has. Even if wow has 10M subscribers, Blizz wants to know how they have more subscribers, or if sub numbers are not growing, how they can get more from this current 10m subscribers. They know they cannot increase sub fees, so they introduce things such as extra services.

 

2) WOW going f2p is a perfectly conceivable idea, but I would say that its too early. Not until they fully implement a RMAH feature like D3. D3 RMAH is a testbed for Blizz, and personally, I can see that it may be the revenue generator that Blizz is expecting to augment their current subs revenue If it works, implementing the same in WOW wont be too too difficult if D3 works. Also, if Titan is ever going to be released, you can bet that a RMAH type will be included. However, being a wow player

 

SWTOR going completely F2P likewise is conceivable, but by doing so, they will just hasten the demise of the game. While I know a lot of "players" and trolls like the idea of a F2P swtor, as a personal opinion, I see no point in it, because it encourages loads of casuals and you-guessed-it trolls. From an official revenue standpoint, there are no real benefits to such a model, unless you are trying to sell in game items, which they can't atm, or if you are trying to project an image of "success". However, I do encourage a F2P model up to a certain level, this does encourage try outs.

 

Being a Wow player for 6 years, SWTOR has all the underpinnings of a really good MMO. What they fall short, in summary, is actually managing player expectations. Literally, Bioware OVERSOLD it and probably too much to a significantly large wow player base. What happens is that whilst wow players might welcome an interactive voice over missions, quickly they tire and spacebar the entire experience, in order to get to endgame. This unfortunately is a bad habit created by Blizz with their last 3 years expansion, where you get achievements by being first in everything and rubbish nonsensical filler quests. SWTOR didn't expect players to hit level cap so fast, where clearly they should have, and hence fail to cater to endgame hardcore players with raids/operations.

 

BW did everything right for a single player MMO . Their story remains rich and diverse, and the IP can literally go on forever.

 

What BW should do is to while expanding wow-feature like updates, such as group finder, they also need to put more end game content, as in MORE not 1 or 2, and also more iconic END GAME bad-*** characters, along the likes of Arthas or illidan, gives a sense of purpose to the hard core raiders.

 

my 0.02 cents.

[harry_kpotter]

I think the news about TOR going free to play is coming from a lot of sources some of which are quiet reliable. There is no smoke without a fire so there has to be some truth to it.*The question I want answered from the community managers is how true these rumors are and what is the timeframe we are talking about. F2P is a make or break for a lot of people and we want to know the future plans with respect to that. If nothing is changing for the next year or so I am not that worried but I do wanna know if I am investing time and money into something that is going down the F2P path.I understand these decisions are made by people much above the community managers pay grade but you gotta give some info cause this IS a big deal.

[Liokae]

So basically LOTR style, meaning the game is doing horrible.

 

Or CoX, which is doing excellent.

[discosoc]

Does not, look at Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2

 

I can't speak for Guild Wars 2, but the first one was a disappointment for me. It really wasn't an MMO, and the combat wasn't all that fun compared to WoW (this was 3 or 4 years ago). It felt like a first person shooter, in that I paid once to play a single player campaign, and then to do some multiplayer on occasion when I feel like it. Rinse and repeat when the expansion comes out.

 

There's nothing wrong with that, but it certainly doesn't feel like an MMO. Of course neither does this game, which is why I probably won't be staying long.

 

**edit**

 

oh my god, it's been closer to 7 years ago, not "3 or 4"... Time goes by fast.

Edited June 15, 2012 by discosoc

[LordKOLZ]

Or CoX, which is doing excellent.

 

lol...

[pbxsparx]

This game doesn't deserve to be a subscription driven game. Development is pathetic, at least with free-to play players really don't have to expect too much.