vandana_ Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I would like to ask if the subscribers will have to pay for Makeb and new level cap content. The Gamesom interview answer from Mr Jeff Hickman was unclear which is quite surprising given what he said in free-to-play announcement blog: First, you can continue as a subscriber, which gives you unlimited access to all game features and future Game Updates at no additional charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavell Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Yes, they will. Of course they will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazzer Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 So long as I'm not paying the same price as the F2P players then probably, if they sell the subscribers the entire package at a single low price and the F2P players the expansion in pieces so that if they want all of it it will cost 4 times what a subscriber pays then I won't have too much of a problem with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazzer Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 There will also be limitations in the new content as like the level raise with Makeb, the F2P player will have to buy the right to go above level 50 etc, so it maybe a case of we all pay and then the F2P players have to pay extra to access a lot of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkiii Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 If I have to pay for Makeb, as a full time subscription paying-player, I will walk away from this game and never come back. Why? Because EA needs to realize that they are more about quantity rather than quality these days ... and the only way they realize this is if more and more players walk away and never come back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidatwood Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 they are undecided as of now so we will have to wait and see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomla Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Well I won't be paying I can tell you that much. Unless someone from EA or BioWare is going to come round and clean my house then there is nothing they will release that will make me want to part with any more money than a monthly sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psandak Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 It depends on how they treat the content. If it is a true "expansion" then paying something for it is not unheard of - most MMOs charge for access to "expansion" content; they tend to treat it as a new title. So you have to buy another box and install it. If it is only a content patch, like all the others that have preceded it, then it should be free to subscribers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 they are undecided as of now so we will have to wait and see! kidatwood just won the thread. And since they are undecided, there is likely no possible way to get an answer OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VegaPhone Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) If they consider it an expansion then they can charge for it. At this point they are also playing with the perception of their customers and charging to what can be justified as an expansion or not. The problem with their Makeb content is that it is not enough in terms of the wanted content by a lot of the other players. Then to charge them for an expansion while waiting for the other content is not going to make people too happy. So in other words the 'expansion' came too early. Since the other content is not really expansion content exclusively such as more WZs, more OPs, or swoop racing/Pazaak mini games, 3d space combat (this can be exclusive to expansion players), For example, I would guess players would pay for - An expansion that had exclusive open world pvp, race tracks for swoop racing - lets say that each planet offers exclusive tracks, Story for the classes, more companion dialogue, a replay of character stories, more levels, Planet ops/Planet WZ which are exclusive to the planet, vendors which sell items exclusive to the planet and sold for an easy profit to the regular market, new skills/items for crafting, gear which is exclusive to the higher lvls. However as far as we know Makeb is a large planet that allows for a lot of confrontation between the factions, but is more story and leveling. Normally customers pay more for that, but it seems the perception by some is to not pay for that with a monthly sub. The pricing model, with the released content at launch, and the updates in between, which were the best part of their update system, but was not really that great of a deal since it was the missing content needed for launch with not enough ops for raiders or not enough WZ, UI customization, ranked WZ, lfg tool, serve merge to save the game from segregating too many players etc so the updates were not really a justification to pay $15 monthly for something that was mostly a single player game and the updates adding to what should have already been in the game. So you arleady have a lot of people who paid for seomthing they feel was rushed and they helped to bring the game up to speed with the needed content, and still have missing content like large WZs, and open world pvp, and other important MMO features like chat bubbles, and quality of life features... and really paid for several months of below MMO standard features with the only thing worth mentioning was the events which rarely happened being only two times... so it makes sense that they initially mentioned Makeb was not an expansion... but things have changed with F2P. So, they should somehow release more content with Makeb other that the small hints of what we heard... also, the problem with perception is that swtor has so many planets, and releasing one more planet will not feel like it is an expansion. Thats probably another factor as looking at another planet as a small expansion when normally in games like WoW a new area is a big addition to the game. Edited August 21, 2012 by VegaPhone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultramecha Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 The fact that they would even consider charging for this new planet makes me sick to my stomach. Its complete BS! How can anyone be okay with them charging for 1 planet, when we haven't seen any content updates since 1.2! As a subscriber, you should not have to drop another 10 or 20 dollars on a "chunk" of content unless its as massive as a brand new game, this is unacceptable. This should be a no-brainer, if they have the nerve to charge me for a small chunk of new content after months of seeing nothing I know for a fact me and my entire guild and all of my swtor friends will be long gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripster Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 On one hand I am ready to be done with BW. I don't know where they are headed with this, but if they can't even stick by their previous statements of free (which it was supposed to be before F2P) and free (all new content was still supposed to be free for subscribers, pretty much the big reason to keep paying) then what can I take them at their word for? I mean is everything BW says just smoke until the EA money guys get wind of it and figure out how to make more money on it? On the other hand maybe they have made this a bigger project worthy of an expansion. Housing, guild ships, level cap, etc. Something worth it that when subscribers drop to F2P after some point for however long, they still have access to those system because they had to have already bought them. So the real issue is BW/EA are just horrible at this PR stuff it seems. They announce stuff like it is set in stone and avoid other stuff because it is unknown, but then let slip some stuff that contradicts something else, and then ignore what they said or spin it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Yes, they will. Of course they will. This. Even though they said Makeb would be free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
announcerharris Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) Every single MMO makes you pay for expansions. Not that we know what's in Makeb, but if its 5 new levels, a new planet, a continuation of all the class stories, new companions, a new race, plus flashpoints, operations, warzones, etc...well, that sounds like an expansion to me. Honestly, I imagine the best approach Bioware could take would be to offer the expansion for Cartel Coins at price that lets those of us who purchased and subscribe to the game (and thus get a bunch of coins whenever F2P launches) to get it for free. Keep loyal customers happy, get revenue from those who will come back. Inb4 "off to GW2 comments" - they're going to hit you with a $40 expansion in 6 months, too. Edited August 21, 2012 by announcerharris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
announcerharris Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 This. Even though they said Makeb would be free. When? Where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vandana_ Posted August 21, 2012 Author Share Posted August 21, 2012 (edited) When? Where? Free-to-play announcement. To all the guys who defend Bioware's every single decision including going free-to-play and charging for content on top of subscriptions. Please understand you are not helping the company you support and the game you love. People will leave over this (I know I will and I know others that will) . You may tell me "good riddance" and ask me if you can have my stuff but understand that there aren't that many of you that will buy everything that is sold to them without a thought and without a shadow of critical view. You will end up on empty servers again. It really is the worst possible moment to **** things up again with GW2 and MoP behind the corner. Edited August 21, 2012 by vandana_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andryah Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 So the real issue is BW/EA are just horrible at this PR stuff it seems. While I agree with you to a degree, you have to take into account the audience they are dealing with. It's a giant bucket of special interest groups (each of which pretends they are the only interest group that counts), often divisive with each other. All PR will fail with this audience. It's more a question of how broadly they fail. Do they fail with specific interest groups, or broadly with all interest groups. Though I will agree that there are some PR failures that could be avoided, even with the cynical and divided audience they have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuckKing Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 As a three month Subscriber to this game, I'm still willing to pay for Makeb. Why? Well because I rather not be playing a fossilized game like Free 2 Play players will lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comebui Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 This is really a grey area at the moment . F2P vs S2P is not clear at the moment. Even I have doubts that will it be worth keeping subscription. I will keep my Subscription alive till F2P is launched and then decide on it. Advise for EA and Bioware , please don't try to impose more charges on subscribed users. We like the game and that's why we pay for it, if you had enough subscribed users I guess you won't have launched F2P. So please don't make any decision which will make you loose the existing subscribers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Free-to-play announcement. To all the guys who defend Bioware's every single decision including going free-to-play and charging for content on top of subscriptions. Please understand you are not helping the company you support and the game you love. People will leave over this (I know I will and I know others that will) . You may tell me "good riddance" and ask me if you can have my stuff but understand that there aren't that many of you that will buy everything that is sold to them without a thought and without a shadow of critical view. You will end up on empty servers again. It really is the worst possible moment to **** things up again with GW2 and MoP behind the corner. Indeed all the people now claiming "P2W will be great!" (who also mostly seem to be the same ones that were claiming SWTOR was perfect, the game wasn't losing subs, it was gaining them, that SWTOR would never go F2P, that going F2P is the best possible thing SWTOR could have done, don't seem to understand what these things will do to the game long-term. If you want to be playing anything but a ghost-ship of a game in 2-3 years time, there's lots of things Bioware should NOT be doing now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashlack Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 If Makeb is part of big pack, a 2.0 version of the game, I agree to pay extra money for it as a subscriber. It's the same as in a subscription mmo, you pay for expansion. In the case of it is just a new planet to pay for, like a patch for a new operation for example, i don't agree. In both case, I hope subscribers could spare cartel coins to buy the expansion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 If Makeb is part of big pack, a 2.0 version of the game, I agree to pay extra money for it as a subscriber. It's the same as in a subscription mmo, you pay for expansion. In the case of it is just a new planet to pay for, like a patch for a new operation for example, i don't agree. In both case, I hope subscribers could spare cartel coins to buy the expansion... Their model needs serious clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaLeX Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 I am already disheartened with this f2p move and credibility problems with EA, a charge for the expansion pack would be a death sentence for them. I would leave same day and use that money to buy gw2 or some other game. Why would i pay to open one planet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soluss Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 Every single MMO makes you pay for expansions. Not that we know what's in Makeb, but if its 5 new levels, a new planet, a continuation of all the class stories, new companions, a new race, plus flashpoints, operations, warzones, etc...well, that sounds like an expansion to me. Honestly, I imagine the best approach Bioware could take would be to offer the expansion for Cartel Coins at price that lets those of us who purchased and subscribe to the game (and thus get a bunch of coins whenever F2P launches) to get it for free. Keep loyal customers happy, get revenue from those who will come back. Inb4 "off to GW2 comments" - they're going to hit you with a $40 expansion in 6 months, too. Even if GW2 does... i never pay a sub fee there. 15x6 =90 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soluss Posted August 22, 2012 Share Posted August 22, 2012 (edited) While I agree with you to a degree, you have to take into account the audience they are dealing with. It's a giant bucket of special interest groups (each of which pretends they are the only interest group that counts), often divisive with each other. All PR will fail with this audience. It's more a question of how broadly they fail. Do they fail with specific interest groups, or broadly with all interest groups. Though I will agree that there are some PR failures that could be avoided, even with the cynical and divided audience they have. They already lost about 75% of the audience they were dealing with. They are very thin as it is. Even if they lost half of what was left, it would kill them. You are already seeing effects of a subscriber base that is not enough to pay the bills. Makeb is suppose to have a 5 level increase....and no class specific story. Do you think they would not have class story if they still had 2 million subs? The only actual content we have had, in 5 months is a week long event that was half baked. Its what I have been trying to tell people from day 1. Sub numbers directly relate to quantity and quality of content. Noone wants to hear it though and you get 200 fans that say.... go back to WoW. No fan cares now.... down the road you will question why there is no further content. Sub numbers = revenue for new content. Edited August 22, 2012 by Soluss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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