AstralProjection Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 I get that people are frustrated with this announcement, but there is one thing that I haven't noticed a whole lot of people who are griping about it mention. Yes, it will be free to play up to level 50. However, when they launch this new model, that's when they are increasing the level cap to 55. They might increase the level cap sooner than that, maybe later. The point is, how is this model any different than the current one that's free to play up to level 15? Or that other game's model that is F2P up to level 20, or whatever it is. You will still need a sub for the last 5 levels and that's what's going to matter in terms of getting new gear and playing end game content. I know what most are thinking, and that is, "well what about the cash shop?". There is no confirmation that they will have pay to win items in the cash shop. If they do, then that will most likely be the tipping point for me because personally, I'd rather play a game where you have to earn your items in the game rather than buying them. Vanity and fluff items I have no problem with. Regardless, until pay to win items are in the shop, easy on the qq'ing. Two big issues with F2P for me - 1) It may help EA get more money, but it's never going to get us a real developer team for this game again (if it ever had one outside of storyboarding and art directing). That means you're only going to see updates that support the F2P model - new items like vanity pets and mounts, not actual substance to a game that severely lacks it at end game. You're basically relegated to an update every few months with either a new flashpoint, warzone, operation, or space missions, depending on what you're interested in, and it will probably be one at a time with no developers working on it. Any new content will cost money in the form of an expansion, most likely. A level cap increase is pointless if you're just grinding out 5 or 10 new levels to get to the same lifeless endgame of repeating the same instances and warzones over and over. The galactic conflict will always be a tiny, instanced battle or a backdrop and nothing more. There will be no war in Star Wars. 2) They're giving away the only good part of the game for free. People may buy a few perks along the way, but in a game where the best part of it is the single player story, who would pay for end-game? People are going to read the reviews and not pay to experience what's at the end, when they realize the engrossing story dies with your free class missions. A more intelligent model would be P2P up to level 50, then F2P, because level 50 is all fluff, and the real content comes before it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TalkingDinosaur Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 The difference is that you can play every class story without paying! and then move to another game =D Ah, but when the level cap increases Chapter 4 will be available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorik Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 (edited) The difference is that you can play every class story without paying! and then move to another game =D Ive heard this argument alot and i dont think its a bad one, but i dont see it being a problem as long as bw does it right. Bw can make money off of the extremely casual 1-49 crowd by selling them fluff like slave girl outfits and sparkle ponies. But im hoping that it means bw will have to work extra hard on the end game, like new ops, new fps and modes for fps and ops, world events, pvp. Because in the end that is where their money is going to have to come from if they are giving away 1-49. If this game launched with this model i would have been fine with it, im just scared because after all of the problems swtor has had makes it looks like f2p is a cop out, because lets face it, if a game is worth it people will and do pay $15 a month for it. BW will have to keep the end game fresh and new if they have a chance in hell to get people to sub or buy access to ops/fps/wz's and bring the game up to date with macros, dual specs etc. to make this f2p model work and that is the only hope i have for the future of this game. But then again, if they had just done all of this in the first place we wouldnt be talking about F2p. Edited August 8, 2012 by Mallorik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaniganican Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 In a Dev blog he mentions you can buy "Boost's" in the cash shop...... One can easily take that as P2W... These "boosts" that were mentioned in the dev blog are referring to XP boosts and (hopefully) not boosts to general stat gain. As for everyone else, don't get me wrong, I am not in support of a P2W model. I, too, feel that you should earn everything in the game simply by playing it and not paying for it. While I would rather be able to earn everything outright, I am not totally against being able to buy fluff items in the cash shop. I just hope that if they do this, you will also be able to earn those items in-game as well. All I was saying in my OP is that it would be nice if people complained about this stuff if and when it happens rather than throwing a fit months before it's even implemented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorik Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 In a Dev blog he mentions you can buy "Boost's" in the cash shop...... One can easily take that as P2W... Being afraid of P2W is just silliy, while i think bw totaly screwed up making this game and i have 0 faith in their ability to fix it i dont think any north american mmo company is so stupid that they would introduce p2w to a current mmo, it would mean instant death for this game and i mean instant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthTHC Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Being afraid of P2W is just silliy, while i think bw totaly screwed up making this game and i have 0 faith in their ability to fix it i dont think any north american mmo company is so stupid that they would introduce p2w to a current mmo, it would mean instant death for this game and i mean instant. Star Trek Online would like a word when you have a free moment. It will start innocently enough. An experience boost here, a boost to looting credits there. Once those work, and subscribers are shown to pay extra for those, EA will take the governor off and go full-throttle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarfux Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 This will actually be one of the few games that gets a f2p option that will see the number of players increase dramatically by A LOT because of this. I think it's one of the best things ever for the game. I'm all for it. I know there are A LOT of Star Wars fans out there that want to play this game, but don't want to pay 15 dollars a month! They just want to experience the story 1-50 with one or two characters. That's all Doesn't really matter about gloating about subscriber numbers, it matter how many people actually PLAY your game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthTHC Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 This will actually be one of the few games that gets a f2p option that will see the number of players increase dramatically by A LOT because of this. I think it's one of the best things ever for the game. I'm all for it. I know there are A LOT of Star Wars fans out there that want to play this game, but don't want to pay 15 dollars a month! They just want to experience the story 1-50 with one or two characters. That's all Doesn't really matter about gloating about subscriber numbers, it matter how many people actually PLAY your game. Except, you know, the whole revenue thing you need to offset the cost of running the game and adding more content to it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackavaar Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 (edited) Um, yeah, since the main draw of this game is story and many F2P players couldn't give a fart about playing end-game Ops, PvP, crafting or working the GTN at all, I think the choice to make those the limitations for F2P was a bad idea. Most F2P players will likely just play to max level, annoying everyone on their way there (random team invites, spamming general chat with nonsense, etc.) and then move on to the next game, because there is actually no lure to get them to sub. EA is going to strangle this cow to death trying to squeeze as much cash as they can out of it. Edited August 8, 2012 by Blackavaar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alavastre Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 P2W covers more than just PvP. Why do they care if a $15/month subscriber quits if he's replaced by a $23/month cash shop buy-to-win guy? This isn't BW any more. It's EA. Might be BW on the box, but it's EA management, direction, decision-making. Very simple. If get a $23/month guy, and lose two $15/month guy then you're out $7 dollars. That is probably less speculation on my part than P2W $23/month guy you made up. Even if you get a one for one change, then the game is more profitable that way, and in a market that would be the correct model. However, since I don't see anyone that advocates P2W games ever, I doubt you would be able to sustain a viable population that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorik Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Star Trek Online would like a word when you have a free moment. It will start innocently enough. An experience boost here, a boost to looting credits there. Once those work, and subscribers are shown to pay extra for those, EA will take the governor off and go full-throttle. I havent played sto f2p since swtor came out, what p2w stuff have they added? allods online(i think that was it) tried p2w and lost like 80% of their player base in a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakazia Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 All I was saying in my OP is that it would be nice if people complained about this stuff if and when it happens rather than throwing a fit months before it's even implemented. The concept alone makes the future of this game bleak for some people. It's not what they signed up for and certainly isn't something they would have supported if they knew this would be the outcome. The lack of content, the waiting for basic features... all the while they're developing F2P and a cash shop. It's just a greedy way for EA to bleed the subscribers out of more cash monthly... and for what exactly? Subscribers get an allowance, like a child who gets a buck for the candy store. Good luck if you wanted a soda or chips with your candy bar, (Big daddy EA isn't going to let you have your cake and eat it too just for your sub fee) it'll cost you. Also, have fun sitting on the fleet more... waiting to spend your precious cartel coins because their resources went towards this and not anything that will provide people with something meaningful to do when you hit that magical level 50. This game is great for those that have limited amount of time to play. If you want a captivating, immersive, entertaining game at max level it's not here and won't be for months if not years assuming EA still finds it profitable to keep it minimally staffed and running that long. I personally don't want to support the implementation of F2P or this game any longer than I have. I feel like a fool looking back, that I kept believing that they were doing the best they could and they would finally give the players something other than what was expected at launch with a little fluff.... The announcement of F2P and more fluff for players in a cash shop soon™ was a giant slap in the face for a lot of people who have diligently played and paid since December. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elyx Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 I get that people are frustrated with this announcement, but there is one thing that I haven't noticed a whole lot of people who are griping about it mention. Yes, it will be free to play up to level 50. However, when they launch this new model, that's when they are increasing the level cap to 55. They might increase the level cap sooner than that, maybe later. The point is, how is this model any different than the current one that's free to play up to level 15? Or that other game's model that is F2P up to level 20, or whatever it is. You will still need a sub for the last 5 levels and that's what's going to matter in terms of getting new gear and playing end game content. I know what most are thinking, and that is, "well what about the cash shop?". There is no confirmation that they will have pay to win items in the cash shop. If they do, then that will most likely be the tipping point for me because personally, I'd rather play a game where you have to earn your items in the game rather than buying them. Vanity and fluff items I have no problem with. Regardless, until pay to win items are in the shop, easy on the qq'ing. also keep in mind that the bulk (not all, but most) of those against it are really unsatisfied with the game anyways. they will use whatever fuel is sent their way to continue trolling the forums about how "horrible" the game is. The few that are genuinely concerned have decent concerns, but for the most part I don't mirror them. My only concern is how it will eventually play out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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