Announcing a Free-to-Play Option

[Yaners]

Well this is just a downer for me. I loved this game since i first heard about it 3 years ago to just see it fail. The free to play option will just make the game worse in my opinion and i will probably unsub in the first week of f2p launch. Guess its back to WoW for me.

[DarkSaberMaster]

Get it through your thick heads, BioWare and EA!

 

If you stopped worrying about numbers and started caring about...

- Quality content to do at maximum level

- Smoother game engine

- Responding better and more regularly to customer feedback

- Better environments to explore

 

...you'd recieve better press about SWTOR and the subscribers would have flocked to you!

 

Instead, you crave subscriber numbers, Legacy "perks" and a myriad of other things that don't develop the game at all! You relied too much on the Star Wars title and didn't develop an immersive, enjoyable game. THAT'S why people are leaving. NOT because it cost them money, but because the game's content wasn't WORTH paying for!

 

Yeah. Pretty much this. But you'll have all the cheerleaders soon jumping in telling you that you are wrong and that F2P is the lord and savior for this game.

[tolaf]

the CE owners get 1000 more and items while DDE owners are the @@ for ya, nice unfairness

1 of the reasons that this game goes f2p so soon

give the half coins and some of those items to DDE owners

 

DDE owners are getting something you greedy ****.

[envelence]

Why is the Sub remaining $15 when 50% of the game is free?

 

If I buy a Big Mac and Fries and the Fries are F2P I'm only going to pay for the Big Mac right?

 

What benefits does a subscription give? Full WZ and Ops is not worth $15 a month. Even less so with the obvious slowing of patches due to focus on maintaining F2P players.

 

 

I definitely agree with you, understanding that we get more benefits from having a subscription, but not enough to be worth $15 when F2P gets a decent chunk of the game for free. I feel like it's more or less paying for just those cartel coins like how games from gPotato have their currency to purchase stuff for in game.

[HolyFath]

I definitely agree with you, understanding that we get more benefits from having a subscription, but not enough to be worth $15 when F2P gets a decent chunk of the game for free. I feel like it's more or less paying for just those cartel coins like how games from gPotato have their currency to purchase stuff for in game.

 

talk about not getting it...

 

The first ferrari out the door is 10 million $. The second is 7, the third is 5, ... 3 , 2, 1, etc.

That is just how it goes .. now that the lvl50 market is being milked in the position they're at, they'¨re bringin in new blood with discounts .. makes perfect sense... AND is not "evil", its business.

[Mcbeefy]

I hope the next update comes before F2P.... or there will be another massive loss of subscribers. That's why there was the loss of people already!!

[Macemesomesith]

Works for Guild Wars. 'Tis still a fairly successful game with expansions, and the sequel looks like it will do just as well if not better.

 

WoW is Free 2Play are u serious wow didn't know that.....and don't start hating If I'm the only one worth remembering where I came from then so be it yeah WOW is cool and the imagination behind it is sick hence the years still running and " NUMBERS DON'T LIE" anyways hey maybe someone wants to play but are hurting in the pockets shucks seeing as those stuck with little entertainment will be fathom'd if not by watching old SW movies to pass the time of a low economy yeah yeah brag I have no problem sup neither do I shucks it's coming off my PayPal which I update yearly point is not everyone is fortunate and as much as I'd like to help some of my friends who want to realistically I can't do that??!!? so hats off again though I really feel you should speed up the F2P before numbers decrease from loss of sup-losers though if I do lose everything from taking a break once I decide to inscribe I to will be among the losers for that my friends is worse than how you had service price'd in the beginning. enjoy

[Macemesomesith]

God I hope this doesn't ruin the community......

 

And this will make or break this game being greedy or making the experience having u pulling out your wallet EA hope your listening BioWare hope ur listening F2P is cool but if the experience sucks F2P will be Free2Pissoff'd people but now that I know WoW is F2P It's on like donkeys song forget the dong bring the Bong!!!

[darkstarman]

"Starting today, you’ll be earning rewards as part of our new rewards program, making your current subscription more valuable than ever. Current and lapsed subscribers will earn 150 Cartel Coins for every paid month prior to today (July 31, 2012) and then 200 Cartel points from August 1st until the Free-to-Play option launches. For those who purchased the Collector’s Edition, we have an additional bonus reward of 1000 Cartel Coins for you."

 

So those of us that purchased the Digital Deluxe Edition are chopped liver I guess. If the CE get 1000 Cartel Coins, then the DDE should receive at least half of that. Or maybe you should upgrade DDE subscribers to CE but without all the perks the original purchasers received.

[Skullncross]

Well I will be still paying for swtor that part from me wont change at all as I have this phalocity that all mmos play better when the devs are earning a proper wage but nowerdays most mmos are starting to go to the free to play option but offering ingame perks and to all those wow fanboys wow is also going down that route as well in 2014.......and on that note keeps his mouth shut.

[Rancidmilkmonkey]

Am I the only one who noticed that the EA suit stated that the licence for Star Wars costs EA three times what they are now charging to purchase the game? To put that simply, a new player will still have to pay $15 for the game initially, but EA has to pay Lucas Arts $45 for the rights to sell the new player that game. So, guess who will be paying that other $30. If they give the F2P game away without people having to even purchase the initial game, that means even more money lost. Subscribers are paying for the F2P players. Gotta love that. Although I am not fond of this, I will be keeping my subscription for now. I am hoping they can pull this game out of the gutters. Besides as much as I don't like it. F2P is the way everything is going. I would not be surprised to see WoW going that route before this time next year. I mean there next expansions is Kung Fu Pandas and Pokemon Tournements. I quit playing WoW earlier this year. I had played for three years and bought the last two CE's, my wife had played for five years and has all three x-pac CE's. This may well be my last MMO. My only regret was not having experienced SWG, as my income was not sufficient when that launched to own a PC.

[Lunablade]

Wow, less than one year out and it's going F2P. How do you take a game with so much potential and screw it up so badly?

 

This, before in past it was funny to me when other gamers called this game " Tortanic " but now I see why they did that , its now totally understandable to me and thats because of incompentent ppl in the management for this game.

 

I also now fully understand why EA is voted for the worst company in America and thats because all their greed, all they care about is making money in fastest way possible without care for their products and about giving them proper support once they have been launched and their customers which they scum along the way with their unfilled promises.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Lunablade

[Selenial]

"Starting today, you’ll be earning rewards as part of our new rewards program, making your current subscription more valuable than ever. Current and lapsed subscribers will earn 150 Cartel Coins for every paid month prior to today (July 31, 2012) and then 200 Cartel points from August 1st until the Free-to-Play option launches. For those who purchased the Collector’s Edition, we have an additional bonus reward of 1000 Cartel Coins for you."

 

So those of us that purchased the Digital Deluxe Edition are chopped liver I guess. If the CE get 1000 Cartel Coins, then the DDE should receive at least half of that. Or maybe you should upgrade DDE subscribers to CE but without all the perks the original purchasers received.

 

If you'd read up on it, instead of deciding to rage the moment an idea popped into your head, youd know theyre still planning things for the DDE owners. Check the developer tracker.

[Naej]

Ok, I must admit that I'm very upset with the move to F2P model after such a short time. I'm trying to be constructive here with a constructive question.

 

I think I like the idea of having more players playing (even for free, they do get limited content after all).

 

I think I like the idea of the Cartel store selling what I call "quality-life" items such as cosmetics, mounts, unlocks as you would see in the legacy system and so on.

 

I'm though uneasy with the store selling permanent bonus to stats, boosts, top tier items and so on.

 

So the question : "Will the store stick to selling those quality-life items, or will it goes into selling boosts, permanent boosts to stats, or anything that would break the balance of the game in any way."

 

Also, I would like to know what kind of publicity we should be expecting for both the paying players and the non-paying players. Will there be options to turn publicity off for subscribers for exemple? This was a real issue for me in other games.

[Iswo]

Just to add my 2 cents worth... I think this could and would work to the benefit of all player sif there is a clear and distinct benefit to sub players. I personally have been playing since Beta and I enjoy the game for what it is. On one side of the token I can see where I will now become bothered by more Trolls, Farmers and other players that just want to join the community to disrupt normal gameplay just because they have nothing better to do and its FREE. On the other side of the token this will allow alot of good people to enjoy the game where as before they couldn't because of an unnecessary financial burden (after all we are still experiencing hard times). I know they will release more information later on what EXACTLY we as sub players will have for paying 2 play but I was hoping they could at least be a little more descriptive about their intentions so as too keep the community itself at ease instead of creating an unnecessary uproar for no reason. The early details I would appreciate would be along the lines of what will be the new level cap for sub players? How many Wz's, Fp's, and Heroics missions will be available for F2P players on a daily/weekly basis? These I feel are important to me and will really factor in on what I do personally. On another note I hope the company doesnt change the achievement process just because players pay a sub over F2P players because that will change some of the enjoyment factor for me personally. I didnt like the fact they changed the light/dark side restrictions on gems because it was a way to really distinguish ourselves as players and our choices in game. I like the fact that I had to hit level 50 with a species to make that species available for other classes (I am proud to have a Twi'lek BH). Seeing a Sith Consular to me is great I know that player has earned it through achievement. If this is removed than I personally will feel slighted when I logg in and every species class mix is available just because I can afford a sub.

[Treworthy]

Hi guys

 

I'm worried about f2p too. There's lots of good points on both sides. The f2p option will give alot of new people the chance to experience the epic storylines for each class. And they are epic! SWTOR has the best, most detailed stories for each character class than I've ever seen in any MMO. So if it gets more people to experience this, then overall I'm glad. But I am concerned about the SWTOR haters who will log in and ruin an otherwise great game. I've seen that happen before.

 

I will stick around and see how it plays out.

[Alssaran]

I don't understand where all this hate is coming from. Free to play games aren't certainly bad itself, mostly F2P are just bad by engine. Means: Most free to play games (Any 0815 game out there like RoM, DMO and such) were never made with a big budget and stuff.

 

SW:ToR wasn't quite a success, nobody can really doubt that. However, I think free to play is a good answer to the current market. I mean, let's see it that way:

 

World of Warcraft in fact -has- a subscription model and is doing well, but that was only possible after a solid base and for it's quite universal accessable gameplay. Release Vanilla WoW in it's first form today, and it would undoubtfull fail.

Lord of the Rings Online, while not perfect, sustained itself trough this option. It is not perfect, but it is not bad either.

Star Trek Online went F2P, and everyone made the prohphecy that the game would shut down in not even two months. The game is Free to play now like what,over a year? The Publishers even said that it is: "One of the more successfull and rewarding games." they have currently running.

Guild Wars 2 is releasing in about 3 Weeks, and many people will try it. I mean I read there are over 5 Million Pre-Orders as of now. Guild Wars 2 has such a huge success in pre-orders and propably players since it will be F2P. There is no subscription fee.

 

With all this considered, and the current state of the market which is undoubtfull not so much about subscriptions anymore, I think Bioware made the right decision by going Free to Play. That Free to play drags "Kiddys" to a game is true, but there are also people out there who are kind and "Adulty", but they can't afford a subscription. And now they get the chance to play for less.

 

I think Free to Play is not a perfect decision, but it is the most satisfying decision and propably the best. It will enable SW:ToR to survive, and will give Bioware more financial support to work on the game. And with time, and if Bioware finally keeps their promise of an agressive patch policy, which they said again after the announcement somewhere, then the game will become better. I, for now, will keep my subscription and play a few hours a week, and I will see where it leads.

[Gawlron]

F2P till level 50?.

 

Congrats you've just killed swtor.

 

Agreed... I leave for 2 weeks and this happens!?

[Gawlron]

Great. Now every WOW Fanboy, GW2 Fanboy, and SWTOR Hater has won. -_-

 

Agreed... but on the bright side WoW has lost 1.1 million subs.

 

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/08/02/world-of-warcraft-loses-subscribers

 

That's 1,100,000 subs.

 

If SWTOR dies because of this non-sense I'm going to be extremely pissed off... my CE box is get more tarneshed by the day...

[Gawlron]

Totaly Agree with you my Friend , No matter What some Trolls may say, true Fans Enjoys SWTOR !

 

I would say I'm a true SW fan. What I see happening here is a bunch of brats (more so than we already have) logging into this game and basically ruining the game, or fun factor for the people who pay, and have been paying for this game.

 

I'm completely beside myself... I just have profanity building up inside my brain right now.

[Gawlron]

I don't think anyone will put a gun to your head.

 

Great announcement. Remember EA, a F2P option can't make free players second class citizens. You can do this right or you can be SOE.

 

F2P Players SHOULD be 2nd class citizens. Let them have the story, but the rest should be for paying customers.

[thatghost]

My only real concern about f2p is the cash shop. As long as it remains purely for fluff I have no quibble with it...

 

...although if you think fleet lag is bad now just wait until there are 300+ party jawas doing whatever they do in addition to the usual speeder gridlock etc

[Gawlron]

Show me one game that has gone under since it has gone Free to Play or has less payers then before it was Free to Play, you cant, can you? Because none exist. Free to Play is the new industry standard, if you dont like it, go play checkers because in 2 years you wont fine a single MMO that is still 100% sub based.

 

Can't play checkers... its F2P. (I couldn't resist, even though I feel angry about this decision...)

[Gawlron]

BW, I can't say how I feel about this... I know that profanity is building up inside of me... Pay customers better get A LOT more than those free loaders.

[foxylove]

I'm just concerned how much nickel and diming will be done if you don't subscribe.

 

I love SWTOR so i'll still subscribe but some yellow posts were hinting that f2p players would be limited to the amount of weekly warzones and flashpoints they will be able to do.

 

I wonder how they're going to sell that? OR they'd be features you're turn on a per pay basis?

 

I just hope that if you subscribe you won't need to purchase anything extra beyond character slots or character transfers. The boost items concern me because if they're better than exotech stims then that's pay to win. If they have warzone experience boosters or quest experience boosters I'd love that too.

 

Some ideas I'd like:

1. Reset operation lockouts for X amount of cartel tokens or you buy an item for cartel tokens that does that

2. Item that summons a portable cargo bay hold to allow you bank access anywhere similar to the mail and repair droid

3. Legacy wallet- shared credit pool amongst all of your toons

4. Datacron sharing- datacrons obtained on one toon count for all your others

5. Ability for droid companions to wear tionese, columi, rakata, and campagin gear (they currently can't cause the armorings are slot specific and droids use cores motors senor unit and parts)

6. Rich Slicing nodes can drop cartel tokens

Edited August 4, 2012 by foxylove