Yesterday's interview with Jeff Hickman - lots of answers

[HammersteinSW]

 

CARTEL COINS - A NEW SORT OF CURRENCY

 

All F2P games wind up with some sort of RMT currency, and SWTOR's will be "Cartel Coins". Basically, all subscribers (still at $15 a month after the conversion) will receive a not-yet-set cache of coins to spend on goods each month, while free players will have to open up their wallets to get some bank in this new type of intergalactic money. I asked the guys what sorts of stuff CC will buy, knowing just how terrified we all are of Pay-to-Win models, and they assured me they have been paying close attention to what's okay business practice with RMT and what's not. Essentially, Cartel Coins will buy a few things: actual in-game content (beyond the 1-50 experience that comes with the game now), vanity items, and convenience items (bank slots, bag slots, character slots, etc). There will be nothing you can buy with CC that will give you an advantage over other players in a competitive arena.

 

And what is the conversion gonna be like ? 10$ for 100 Cartel Points ? Will 1/10 of a Darth Nihilus mask cost 1000 Cartel Points ? How far does your greed go ?

 

CONTENT UPDATES ON AN AGGRESSIVE SCHEDULE

 

One of the chief things Jeff and Matt expect folks to spend money on if they're not subscribed (subscribers will always receive every bit of new content, regardless of CC) are content updates. They plan on releasing these every six weeks, and they'll include different sorts of content each time: warzones, operations, public events, and so on (even a mix of all three might be possible). And while there's no set price point for each update, they plan to break it down into different options enough so that PVP folks can focus on buying the content they want, and dungeon folks can focus on what they want, while others can buy everything in one package if they want as well. Again the goal with this model, they stress, is to give options to everyone and to open the game up to get the most people playing.

 

So now you promise us content updates every 6 weeks and you want us to believe that after Bioware Austin saw 2 rounds of layoffs which cost them a ton of manpower. All of a sudden a reduced team should be capable of doing what a full team could not. Also how much of this content will be old stuff that was promised and then cut for some reason - see armor models..

 

Or maybe by "content" you mean a new cash shop item every 6 weeks.

 

MAKEB AND OTHER CONTENT = FREE?

 

I asked Matt and Jeff then if the planned content we learned about at E3 would be some of the first "Content Updates" to be purchased, and they couldn't go into much more detail than "yes and no". For instance, HK51 is something they really want to get in the game sooner rather than later, while Makeb is further down the line. They also have a brand new event for all subscribers coming in August which is a public world event like the Rhakgoul Invasion. I asked if HK51 would then be free for everyone, if he came before the F2P launch, and Jeff said they really haven't decided because they're not even sure when he's going to launch just yet. The goal is to work on the content and get it out as soon as they can, and if some comes after the F2P transition, then they'll evaluate what is free and what is paid.

 

So HK51 is somewhere down the line and Makeb is even further away. Do you think another useless companion will get you back subscribers ? In the previous paragraph you promised updates every 6 weeks and now you can't even name a timeframe for HK51 and Makeb.

 

STAFFING AND CONTENT OUTPUT AS F2P?

 

I didn't ask the guys directly about layoffs, as it's a bit of a tough subject, but indirectly I asked how the transition to a F2P hybrid model is going to affect their staffing and their content output. Are they equipped to meet a seemingly more aggressive content push? Their answer was simple: any shift in staff they've made over the past few months has been to sort of rebuild the studio for this new F2P venture. They have more focused content teams in place now than they did before, and they're more confident now that they can meet their goals with this altered approach.

 

More focused content teams ? Then I wonder what you had before when you had twice the manpower and guys who were onboard for years.

 

DOES BIOWARE THINK F2P IS THE FUTURE?

 

I then asked Jeff and Matt if they knew now, what they had known then about the MMO market in the West, would SWTOR have been built as a F2P game to begin with? Their answer, in so many words was yes. They freely admitted that hindsight is 20/20, and that they were wrong in predicting the sub model would be perfect for SWTOR, because such things are difficult to gauge over the long multi-year pre-launch lifespan of a project as massive as an MMORPG. Both gentlemen agreed that they see the F2P and hybrid models as the way the market is going, and they feel that this change for SWTOR is reactive and timely to change now rather than later. Matt said, "We're reacting because the players want it this way. There are folks who have been telling us they want it F2P since trying it, since buying it, and they see the subscription as a needless barrier... and we agree. In general, consumers today want flexibility and we're going to give it to them."

 

It's not the business model that hurt Swtor but the rotten gameplay, the imbalanced pvp, the uninspired (and sometimes still buggy) operations. People quit because they no longer had a desire to log into the game and play it, going f2p will not change that. Especially when a brandnew f2p title is just around the corner.

 

Also keep in mind that Swtor has some of the worst word-of-mouth opinions in the mmo genre. You will initially get a few people who haven't checked out Swtor. But they will quit and leave for the same reason why your initial audience has quit.

DID BIOWARE LOOK TO OTHERS FOR GUIDANCE?

 

When I asked the gents whether they looked at companies like SOE, Turbine, and so forth for guidance on how to make this transition, the answer was simply: "Of course." But they also said they're being very careful in making sure that they take the good things others have learned before them, while still realizing that SWTOR has things which make it unique and can't be translated as blankly. They feel the content updates are a perfect way to entice folks to either a.) subscribe if they want it all or b.)buy some Cartel Coins if they just want a little bit here or there. They also want to make sure the entire base game is playable from 1-50, so all classes and story content are free to everyone. The idea is that they hope folks want to spend money on the cosmetic additions, the new content, and convenience stuff to supplement their experience.

 

Making the strong parts of the game - the storylines - free to play and charging for the crappy parts of the game - the pvp and the ops - is the worst idea I have ever heard.

 

 

BEST THING OF F2P AND WORST THING OF F2P?

 

Lastly, I tossed the guys an easy one in what's likely to be a very up and down week-long news cycle. I asked them to tell me the best part they see when it comes to transitioning to F2P and also the hardest or worst part. The best was a clear choice: they're finally going to be able to tell everyone that the game's wide open and waiting to be explored. When the F2P version launches, there will be no more barrier of entry to get in and explore the continuation of the Old Republic mythos. The worst part? The not so easy part? It's a whole lot of work changing the entire game's business model around. Both on the back end, out front where the players see and interact with it, and in the development cycles they are now going to be working with. But Jeff and Matt both sound superbly optimistic that when the dust settles on the announcement and all is said and done... Star Wars: The Old Republic will be better off and so will the players.

 

You really believe that ? It does not matter if the game is wide open when the game is just mediocre and when there are better titles available. Also f2p still carries a huge stigma among casual players, since many of them still have "f2p=dying" in their heads. What you need is fixing the gameplay issues Swtor has and not hoping that a f2p model will suddenly save the sinking ship.

[Daethorz]

I just hope they lower the sub price a little.

[jarjarloves]

Is it really? Before I paid flat rate and enjoyed everything the game has to offer. With f2p, apparently I can't anymore - there are going to be limits and restrictions on content, even for subscribers.

 

based on what??

[Leggomy]

I just hope they lower the sub price a little.

 

Not happening. $15 to stay heh. If you cant pay one month tho or just dont want to pay you can still login and do something anyways. Better than now where you pay $15 and if you stop you lose access to everything.

[Styxx]

Did you enjoy playing the game up untill then?

if yes, why should you get a refund? you can quit once they confirm your fears.

if no, why are you still playing?

 

stop worrying about what they plan to do months from now and pay for what is in the game now.... You can make your decision to re-subscribe when the time comes.

 

You are telling me that my fears are not founded. Say I believe you, which you believe EA... will you pay me back my sub money starting from this month, when, down the road, MY fears become reality? Because, at that time, I would have paid EA/BW for nothing between now and then.

 

And what is the game now? Withholding patches for the utopic "each 6 weeks" new content? With less staff than what we had so far? Yep.. what`s there not to believe?

Edited August 1, 2012 by Styxx

[Soluss]

This is a funny article with the same PR spin that we've had all along. They say they are doing F2P because thats what people wanted. Im sorry... thats not what people wanted. Its what people were saying is going to happen due to lowsy service. If they had 2 million subs, they never would have considered FTP.

 

Now that its F2P, they can all of a sudden whip out content on a 6 week basis? See my sig. If they whipped up content on a 6 week basis, from launch, they probably would have maintained most of those 2 million subs to begin with.

 

Smaller team, less subscriptions somehow = content comming out 5 times as fast.

 

Dont get me wrong, Im not all that mad about F2P. Its the only thing they can do to try and save this game. But the BS that they feed us still is just that... BS. I dont know what is sadder... the fact that we believe this BS or that they themselves believe this BS.

[Styxx]

if you are a paid subscriber then yes you can buy anything in the cash shop with out spending any extra money. Each month they will give you a certain amount of "cartel coins" so you can purchase the fluff items you want.

 

Depends on the pricing. And they won`t make any money if everybody can buy everything from handouts. This is borderline scam, but in no way a guarantee.

[Cavell]

he meant an official statement - not some behind the scenes interview.

 

No, I actually wanted him to grab that exact quote. It's a perfect example. He reads it as, "No pay to win, ever!" That's not what it says, of course. What it says is actually very vague.

 

It could mean there will be no pay to win, ever. It could also simply mean pay to win won't be allowed in ranked warzones, for example. Both would be factually true by that statement, yet miles apart in terms of effect.

 

Of course, I'm not sure why I'm bothering; this is a guy who's arguing that EA is actually a trustworthy company that's great to consumers and doesn't use every trick it can think of to squeeze money out of people. How do you deal with that level of denial?

[jarjarloves]

This is a funny article with the same PR spin that we've had all along. They say they are doing F2P because thats what people wanted. Im sorry... thats not what people wanted. Its what people were saying is going to happen due to lowsy service. If they had 2 million subs, they never would have considered FTP.

 

Now that its F2P, they can all of a sudden whip out content on a 6 week basis? See my sig. If they whipped up content on a 6 week basis, from launch, they probably would have maintained most of those 2 million subs to begin with.

 

Smaller team, less subscriptions somehow = content comming out 5 times as fast.

 

Dont get me wrong, Im not all that mad about F2P. Its the only thing they can do to try and save this game. But the BS that they feed us still is just that... BS. I dont know what is sadder... the fact that we believe this BS or that they themselves believe this BS.

exactly if they had 2 million subs the people wouldn't want that. But the fact is over 1 million people left the game because they didnt' feel it was worth $15 a month.

[HammersteinSW]

This is a funny article with the same PR spin that we've had all along. They say they are doing F2P because thats what people wanted. Im sorry... thats not what people wanted. Its what people were saying is going to happen due to lowsy service. If they had 2 million subs, they never would have considered FTP.

.

 

Thank you, couldn't have said it better myself.

 

They refuse to understand that it is their game that is the problem and not the business model. All my ex guildmates who have quit, have quit because they didn't enjoy themselves. Making the game free will not change that, if you give me free cinema tickets to a movie I don't want to see I still won't go.

[Typeslice]

Not happening. $15 to stay heh. If you cant pay one month tho or just dont want to pay you can still login and do something anyways. Better than now where you pay $15 and if you stop you lose access to everything.

 

This is a game, it shouldnt be a life decision for you. Pay for it if you enjoy it now, or don't and wait and see.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Typeslice

[Soluss]

Not happening. $15 to stay heh. If you cant pay one month tho or just dont want to pay you can still login and do something anyways. Better than now where you pay $15 and if you stop you lose access to everything.

 

Anybody that flip flops between sub and F2P as stupid. If you sub now, you have access to everything (I bet that changes down the road). When you go F2P, you lose access to alot of stuff. So youre going to want atleast some of that stuff back... so you go buy it... then you decide to pay a sub again. You get all your stuff back and then wasted money on opening it up when you were F2P

[jarjarloves]

Depends on the pricing. And they won`t make any money if everybody can buy everything from handouts. This is borderline scam, but in no way a guarantee.

 

no they still make money. Bioware still gets the $15 a month from subscribers.

 

This is how the F2P system works and it has done wonders for Turbine.

[Codek]

Is it really? Before I paid flat rate and enjoyed everything the game has to offer. With f2p, apparently I can't anymore - there are going to be limits and restrictions on content, even for subscribers.

 

Did you have access to the CE store? (I know it's crap but the point is still their)

How about the friendship speeder thing?

Character transfers to select servers?

 

there will always be limits and restriction on stuff in an MMO....

 

The speculation will involve any pricing or item listings within the store. We don't know them yet and quitting the game now will be solely based on the assumption that it will be bad.

[ReverendAnderson]

You missed my point completely. I`ll spell it for you...

1. I was happily paying 15$, because, well, everybody gets access to EVERYTHING with that - win / win for everybody

2. F2P is announced and TECHNICALLY, I, still paying a sub, am "VIP / Premium"

3. IF I am to believe their sales pitch, I will get all content as a Premium, minus the supposed "fluff" from the Cash Shop.

And here is the thing. From now on, I am paying my sub, fully expecting to receive what they claim I would. What IF all this was a lie and, further down the road, 3 to 6 months later, they add "Super Sword of Earth Shattering SuperYoda", that is +50% better than everything you can get ingame? One day before all mobs in the game get a +50% boost?

Because I didn`t pay for that crap. Nor will I pay one day longer past my then-current sub if that happens.

But the question is : Who`s giving me back the money I`ve spent, believing EA`s PR machine? Will YOU, ReverendAnderson, pay my sub then.. OR guarantee with your next 10 years paychecks that it won`t happen?

"Talk is cheap, Whiskey`s for money".

 

No, I understood what you said.

You aren't investing in some mythical future where SWTOR is always what you want it to be. When your monthly sub rolls around, you're deciding if the game is worth paying another $15 for right NOW. If pay to win is where you draw the line, then stop paying for SWTOR when it goes pay to win, but you wont be owed for all the time it wasn't pay to win.

If you think you're buying something beyond another month of the current game when you pay your subscription, that doesn't make it reality.

 

So, again, if SWTOR isn't worth your $15 now, then stop paying it. If it is then keep playing til its not. Either way, you have nothing to lose by withholding judgement on free to play until its actually arrived.

[Tyrias]

I played DDO - you can't count stat tomes, because they do drop in the game, and while nice, they aren't the difference between beating a raid and not beating it. They aren't the difference between winning and losing a quest. They are for convenience. I had a much better experience with DDO than you had with LOTRO, and thats probably because of the core game - even when I was with DDO, we had LOTRO players coming into DDO because LOTRO was too grindy - just was always that way.

 

Being that I have only played DDO very, very breifly, and by the sound of it, you have had as little experience with Lotro, is it possible that drop rates for stat tomes are notably different between games then? As I said myself, they are available in game, however the idea that I've only seen 3 drop in the entire time since f2p launched (let alone actually won the rolls on) makes me feel like you were never realistically supposed to acquire them in-game. Also, the stat boosts are not as insignificant as you might think.

 

Sure, you've got 2000+ (in top gear) of your main stat, so another 70 won't seem like much (although a lot of stats scale linearly, so it's still nice). But on your off stats it's a substancial incease. Any class is going to want that extra 210-350 morale, and 210 power, the ICMR and ICPR. The small mitigation boosts. The extra crit. The cumulative effect of everyone in the raid having them, and everyone in the raid not having them, is very noticable.

 

While raid content is probably accessible and completable without them and so they're not "technically" pay-to-win, I'd still believe they are in the store as pay-to-be-better style items. Also, don't forget that PvP exists. Such things could be the difference between a win and a loss.

 

I'm not having a go, or trying to be insulting. In the build up to Lotro F2P, I used to be you (well, think like you). I used to think "You know what, they're telling me it'll be cosmetic only, and that NOTHING in the store will make me better, so I'll believe them" I also took a look at the DDO store and was more or less satisfied that it was like they were saying it would be. Perhaps experience has led me to be more cynical than I need to be, but I'd rather be cynical with the chance to be proven wrong than optimistic with the chance for disappointment. Again!

[Eillack]

I just hope F2P players who buy coins can post in the forums, and buy unlimited access via adventure packs to operations and flashpoints.

 

If that much is guaranteed, then I probably will migrate to F2P.

 

Confirmed that F2P will get no access to forums...and thank God on that one..

[Kil-Gorbane]

This is a funny article with the same PR spin that we've had all along. They say they are doing F2P because thats what people wanted. Im sorry... thats not what people wanted. Its what people were saying is going to happen due to lowsy service. If they had 2 million subs, they never would have considered FTP.

 

Now that its F2P, they can all of a sudden whip out content on a 6 week basis? See my sig. If they whipped up content on a 6 week basis, from launch, they probably would have maintained most of those 2 million subs to begin with.

 

Smaller team, less subscriptions somehow = content comming out 5 times as fast.

 

Dont get me wrong, Im not all that mad about F2P. Its the only thing they can do to try and save this game. But the BS that they feed us still is just that... BS. I dont know what is sadder... the fact that we believe this BS or that they themselves believe this BS.

 

Well the answer to this question is a bit more PR spin... quote from the article: "Are they equipped to meet a seemingly more aggressive content push? Their answer was simple: any shift in staff they've made over the past few months has been to sort of rebuild the studio for this new F2P venture. They have more focused content teams in place now than they did before, and they're more confident now that they can meet their goals with this altered approach."

 

We all want "new content". But the customers version of new content is things like FPs, OPs, WZs. This quote shows that their "new content" is things like new companions, social armors, vanity pets, and other F2P venture items.

[ProsaicProse]

based on what??

Why do I need cartel coins at all? To purchase things my sub apparently doesn't cover. IE: there will be limits/restrictions to what the sub fee covers, where previously the sub fee covered EVERYTHING (including fluff). If you don't understand what I'm saying, I can't explain it any better for you.

Edited August 1, 2012 by ProsaicProse

[Erudain]

To be fair and too put things into perspective, I think most would agree that swtor has a better core game and more potential than any of those games ever did. It also, most likely, has more subs now than any of those games did when they went free to play. I don't believe that swtor is in as big a hole as any of those games were, therefore I think they have more flexibility to not have to resort to p2w; but only time will tell. The people that speak in absolutes on these boards (both haters and supporters alike) are kidding themselves - you have to wait and see.

 

Yeah thats why I sayed only time will tell.....I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and continue playing/paying my sub as long as there are only vanity/convinience items at the cash shop and hoping that they know what they are doing.

 

The moment they add something game-breaking and that you cannot pay with the default CC they'll give you each month, I gonna stop playing.

I'm not going to pay USD 15 for a full sub if besides I have to pay $$$ for a +stats costume, a + expertice amulet and + hp/power/surge/etc scrolls just to compite in a RWZ (spending $50 a month instead of $15)

[Codek]

You are telling me that my fears are not founded. Say I believe you, which you believe EA... will you pay me back my sub money starting from this month, when, down the road, MY fears become reality? Because, at that time, I would have paid EA/BW for nothing between now and then.

 

And what is the game now? Withholding patches for the utopic "each 6 weeks" new content? With less staff than what we had so far? Yep.. what`s there not to believe?

 

If you pay the sub month now I would assume you are paying for what is in the game now....

What does any of that have to do with what comes in November?

Determine if you want to pay for the game in Novemeber when it's October!

[HammersteinSW]

exactly if they had 2 million subs the people wouldn't want that. But the fact is over 1 million people left the game because they didnt' feel it was worth $15 a month.

 

Its not so much about the worth but about the entertainment value. If I played Swtor for 20 hrs/month and have fun in those 20 hours then I will keep on subbing since $15 are not a big deal. I certainly don't roll in money since I'm a student with a part time job, but even to me $15 is nothing.

 

But once I hit the point where I no longer enjoy myself and don't want to log into the game it no longer makes a difference to me if I have to pay $15 or if the game is free, since I don't want to play anyway.

[Soluss]

exactly if they had 2 million subs the people wouldn't want that. But the fact is over 1 million people left the game because they didnt' feel it was worth $15 a month.

 

But dont you think that if we had gotten 6 week updates before... most of those would have stayed? The biggest problem, all along has been not enough content. How is it that they couldnt do that before but now that they can charge the F2P people extra for it, they can?

[LordExozone]

Oh god, what is Hickman doing on the SWTOR team...Bad WAR memories surface...

[Rasticles]

I do not trust BW/EA to keep this real.. no way, no how .....

 

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=514291