Stupid F2P Restrictions

[Tim-ONeil]

Regarding forums access, it's pretty simple.

 

Give completely F2P players access to a special Free forum. Anyone that's actually paid for content or has had a subscription should get full access. That keeps out the "trolls".

 

I think the way they are going to set it up with no forum access works even better. If you want to post here you can, buy a subscription. It's an incentive.

[erichough]

From their various statements, it seems Bioware is going to take things away if you go from sub to free. Unlike other games where what you have you keep at the time. Even STO's restrictions can be unlocked like their EC limit on free accounts. Bioware seems like they are really playing hardball and we'll see how that works out for them. CoX had the more hardball approach too and we see what good that did them and Bioware is being harder than they were.

 

CoX isn't being shut down because the f2p options where to restricted - it actually took off and was expanding hugely after freedom was released. It is being shut down because while it made a profit and had a steady customer base, it didn't make a huge enough profit and got cut in favor of potential A List games like GW2.

 

The premium (thier name for the f2p if you where an ex-VIP or bought stuff in the store) option in CoX was actually pretty good -quite excellent if you were a long time vet. As a 8 year vet I could have stopped paying my subscription and the ONLY thing I would have lost access to was the incarnate end game and a few new powersets that had been released since freedom (and not even all of them, since many of those I had to buy even as a VIP player).

 

So far the f2p vs subscriber options in SWTOR look mostly sensible to me, charging for QoL stuff and vanity makes a lot of sense, and rezzing on the spot, L1 access to sprint and other stuff like that IS QoL. My only worry is the restriction on flash points - it might be a bit strict, at least at lower levels. If you want to suck folks into the full game you need to give them more options to group. I would think that it would make more sense to allow unlimited access to certain flashpoints as you level, not all of them but 2-4 of them that give the f2p players a better taste of the full game.

[Kyban]

I agree that some of the restrictions are pretty tough, but i think the game can live with it.

 

The kicker is the 5 deaths. Free to play is supposed to attract new players to the game and get them interested, and eventually sub up. If they die a 5th time what will happen? Will they get a prompt saying they need to pay up? or make another character?

 

That's awful! Free to play is supposed to create friction points, not cheap attempts at asking for money.

 

Imagine yourself as a person who's skeptic, on the fence, and not quite sure if they want to invest time in an MMO. So now imagine you die the 5th time, for whatever reason it may be (bad playing, PVP, bugs, afk, etc). It rests on the game's shoulders whether or not you will pay money. Did you have fun? Was your experience so far annoying? easy? appealing? If too many negative notes are hit on those last questions, chances are you'll quit and uninstall.

 

That doesn't bring business into the game. Sure you might have more unique logins and/or accounts, but what about income and recurring subs? That latter is the important part.

 

There's a reason why this game is going free to play, and the current subs aren't enough to keep it afloat.

[Draekos]

I agree that some of the restrictions are pretty tough, but i think the game can live with it.

 

The kicker is the 5 deaths. Free to play is supposed to attract new players to the game and get them interested, and eventually sub up. If they die a 5th time what will happen? Will they get a prompt saying they need to pay up? or make another character?

 

That's awful! Free to play is supposed to create friction points, not cheap attempts at asking for money.

 

Imagine yourself as a person who's skeptic, on the fence, and not quite sure if they want to invest time in an MMO. So now imagine you die the 5th time, for whatever reason it may be (bad playing, PVP, bugs, afk, etc). It rests on the game's shoulders whether or not you will pay money. Did you have fun? Was your experience so far annoying? easy? appealing? If too many negative notes are hit on those last questions, chances are you'll quit and uninstall.

 

That doesn't bring business into the game. Sure you might have more unique logins and/or accounts, but what about income and recurring subs? That latter is the important part.

 

There's a reason why this game is going free to play, and the current subs aren't enough to keep it afloat.

 

It's not hardcore mode. They just get 5 revives on the spot, not the port to med center and run back. Now I think it is odd that it is 5 total deaths rather than say 5 a week, but whatever.

[Apaolo]

I'm so enjoying this, and wish I could smile upon those "raving" about F2P & how it will "save" TOR.

 

Lol

[Kyban]

It's not hardcore mode. They just get 5 revives on the spot, not the port to med center and run back. Now I think it is odd that it is 5 total deaths rather than say 5 a week, but whatever.

 

Oh, well don't I feel silly.

 

I thought it was 5 deaths and you're done unless you pay up. Which got me really worried.

 

I hope no one misunderstands me as some complainer. I do really want this game to succeed, as i enjoy playing it. My concerns were for that of the games lifespan, and bringing in new players.

[chuixupu]

Yeah....seriously, how often have you had to field rez more than a few times in a day? Because you know what, the timer goes up so much that after a few revives you want to go to the medcenter anyway because it takes less time

 

No you aren't going to have to pay to revive. Just go to the med center. It'll be only slight less annoying than dying in WoW this way.

[Draekos]

I'm so enjoying this, and wish I could smile upon those "raving" about F2P & how it will "save" TOR.

 

Lol

 

Me too, but for a different reason I imagine. I don't own any EA stock or work for BW so don't care about "saving" a video game. Seeing all the folks who thought they could keep playing for free in shock that a business is actually trying to make money though is priceless.

[DarthMeerkat]

I'm so enjoying this, and wish I could smile upon those "raving" about F2P & how it will "save" TOR.

 

Lol

 

I'm bringing 6 personal friends who wouldn't have touched this game if it didn't have a f2p option and I doubt I am the only one.

 

Couple that with the fact that every other western MMO that went F2P has experienced plenty of success and I would question your "Lol".

[Ifrica]

Weekly unlimited access to end game content is a joke.

 

It will quickly be changed. You've not introduced a f2p model. You've introduced a gimped game mode with a stupid payment model.

 

so where is the official news that they were introducing a 'f2p' model. the only official statements that have been published clearly said is will be a 'restricted f2p option' on top of the subscriber model. and it has been communicated like that from the start. you sir failed at comprehensive reading and should go back to school.

[Alduinsm]

It has always been advertised as this "expanding Free-to-Play option up to level 50"

[DarthYutz]

While I dont have an issue with most of the restrictions, the one that doesnt make any sense at all is not being able to wear your purple gear.

 

Why would anyone buy an ops ticket, when on the other side, they cant wear the items they need to be effective in the operation? So they have to spend more?

 

Loot is a primary goal in MMO's, high end gear is needed to succeed in ops and pvp. And I cant imagine any of my former guild mates coming back to the game with that restriction in place. Thats one step to far.

[Durasturan]

It has always been advertised as this "expanding Free-to-Play option up to level 50"

 

The problem with this is that they already have a free to play model up to 15. So if the point of F2P is to encourage people to sub, than why do they think this HEAVILY monetized super watered down version of the game is going to encourage more people than the nearly full and complete access to systems and content that the current trial gives you?

 

It seems that most people make up their mind about whether they are going to keep playing a game by the second or third day. I honestly don't see many people sticking around under the new super draconian F2P trial version to even get to level 15.

 

No warzones, no quick travel no purples no crafting only one toon, if you hate it you have to delete it and reroll another, no trying other classes out to see if you like them, limited choices, and that's supposed to ATTRACT AND RETAIN players?

 

I understand that they're counting on F2P bringing in millions and millions of people that haven't played this game before or maybe haven't tried MMO's before. But the game has had free to 15 for months now and every report out there says the MMO market is as saturated and big as it's likely ever going to get. Anyone that's remotely interested in this game has likely already tried it. And even if they keep 10% of the people that are likely to take advantage of F2P (and I think 10% is crazy generous, the real number is likely to be closer to 1%) F2P is likely to have far more negative impact on the community than benefit.

 

TLDR:

There's no way in hell F2P is going to attract as many new faces or return players as they hope and only a very tiny fraction of those people are going to come back for good as subs.

[mothear]

No warzones, no quick travel no purples no crafting only one toon, if you hate it you have to delete it and reroll another, no trying other classes out to see if you like them, limited choices, and that's supposed to ATTRACT AND RETAIN players?

 

 

I agree that the crafting restrictions are stupid but have they said you can only have one character anywhere as I've never seen that stipulated?

[Goretzu]

I agree that the crafting restrictions are stupid but have they said you can only have one character anywhere as I've never seen that stipulated?

 

 

Crafting restrictions are needed in a F2P economy, otherwise it hurts the in game economy, and much more importantly (for Bioware EA) it badly hurts the Cashshop (which is the only thing that really matters in "F2P").

[mothear]

Crafting restrictions are needed in a F2P economy, otherwise it hurts the in game economy, and much more importantly (for Bioware EA) it badly hurts the Cashshop (which is the only thing that really matters in "F2P").

 

I see your point but would think that reducing the recipe drop chances for orange gear would cure that. I would not expect stat gear while levelling to be a big seller in the cash shop, but who knows?

[Goretzu]

I see your point but would think that reducing the recipe drop chances for orange gear would cure that. I would not expect stat gear while levelling to be a big seller in the cash shop, but who knows?

 

They expect green and blue levelling gear to be a BIG seller on the Cashshop, they've already said so.

[mothear]

They expect green and blue levelling gear to be a BIG seller on the Cashshop, they've already said so.

 

Then I expect that they will be truly disappointed unless the stats are so out of kilter with crafted/dropped gear that it is effectively P2W gear in the 10-49 PvP bracket.

[Goretzu]

Then I expect that they will be truly disappointed unless the stats are so out of kilter with crafted/dropped gear that it is effectively P2W gear in the 10-49 PvP bracket.

 

All they need to do is sell blue gear at slightly above the drop rate level (and remember they can - and who knows maybe already have - nerf drops again, just like they did with Orange drops) and it will pay.

 

Remember Cashshop sales are basically "free" money to Bioware EA, it's just they have to incentivise them enough to sell (the F2P model is a very morally dubious model in the tenents it relies upon to pay for itself).

 

 

 

I'm sure Bioware EA knows only too well that its biggest Cashshop seller in Warhammer Online was thei P2W pet they made (I wonder now if it wasn't them testing the water for SWTOR).

Edited October 18, 2012 by Goretzu

[mothear]

All they need to do is sell blue gear at slightly above the drop rate level (and remember they can - and who knows maybe already have - nerf drops again, just like they did with Orange drops) and it will pay.

 

Remember Cashshop sales are basically "free" money to Bioware EA, it's just they have to incentivise them enough to sell (the F2P model is a very morally dubious model in the tenents it relies upon to pay for itself).

 

 

 

I'm sure Bioware EA knows only too well that its biggest Cashshop seller in Warhammer Online was thei P2W pet they made (I wonder now if it wasn't them testing the water for SWTOR).

 

I don't disagree. I for one will be unsubbing if they introduce P2W at any level because I don't do end game, therefore all the complaints from end gamers apply to me for levelling when it becomes P2W

[amnie]

well, what I wonder is if they can just not wear the purple gear or if this includes purple mods as well... because if it doesn't include the mods I guess f2p folks can just mod their orange stuff like there's no tomorrow.

 

I mean... I don't know about you guys.. but I'm not running around in the actual campaign gear (even though the smuggler version doesn't look nearly as bad as some other classes. haha)

 

granted that means they will have to do a lot of dailies to be able to buy the mods off of other people. and I think there will be a restriction on how many credits they will be able to carry around....

 

there .are. enough ways to get good enough gear for ops without having actual purple gear. SM EV is a joke, really, and KP isn't much harder either....

Edited October 18, 2012 by amnie

[Maviarab]

So many of you missing the point completely. Especially the op's point. All qq and whine and moan and 'sub or sod off' elitists attitude.

 

All you subbers (I am currently one, just subbed before F2P hits)....you NEED the F2P players or your game will DIE. Are you so far up your own righteousness you cannot see this?

 

The game has NO real content past the story line. Why do you think the game has lost 3/4 of it's paying players? With the very harsh (and sorry, they are compared to many other successful MMO's) restrictions, really, what incentives are there for a F2P player to subscribe?

 

As has been mentioned. Let's take Lotro (I've played since release). You can play the ENTIRE game for FREE. Is it hard work? Yes. Is it damn time consuming? Hell yes. Is it 'doable'....for sure. Is it easier to sub? Hell yes again. Can I pay for all the unlocks earning in-game tokens? Yes. Is that also a royal pain in the rear? Yes.

 

A month sub alone...unlocks so many game features. and they are ACCOUNT wide.

 

Sunscribing should just be a time saver, making the game easier, save grinding countless hours for in game unlocks when you get them all for subbing. it should not be so limiting that you have to sub in order to really play the game. And in this games case, it is not worth the sub cost. The very fact the dev's have stated that cartel coins will not be earnable in game, is already enough to sign this games death warrant.

 

Can any of that be applied here? So far from the information, that is a fat no. Again, let me remind you, you need the free to play players in this game, or it will sink as the biggest waste of time of an MMO ever. The main and only reason I got this, was because it was ToR and I got it dirt cheap new and for the class story. Also, to get a few coins before it went F2P. This game sure as hell has no content to interest me in paying for a sub past the class story line. (re what I said before about content).

 

Will I sub after it goes F2P? No I won't. Simple as that. Will I keep playing depending on the restrictions? We shall have to wait and see. Currently, it's unlikely.

 

Proof right there, the F2P model that EAWare seems to be wanting to roll out is NOT going to keep people playing this game. Even the OP, who 'is' a subber, can see this. Hence, you will have no game to play, because your subs alone are not enough to keep this game in business. So, you will still be sat on the fleet twiddling your thumbs waiting for something to do.

 

Want to deride the free to play players (and I will be one), go right ahead...enjoy your next MMO when this ones servers are switched off

Edited October 18, 2012 by Maviarab

[SweKaiser]

The whole point of this f2p model is too attract people into subbing after they have tried and liekd the game. Its that simple really. So why should they give away things that are obvious too paying subscribers to the f2p people? No, keep the restrictions as they are and let people decide if they wanna sub or not., if they dont want to sub, then fine, have the restrictions.

[HarleysRule]

Really tired of people getting stuff for free complaining they aren't getting enough free stuff...both in games and in society at large.

 

If you like game and don't want to worry about the restrictions, then stay subbed. If the game isn't worth $15 a month for unlimited playtime/access, then it's not worth playing for free with restrictions. Either pony up the whopping $0.50 a day, or quit complaining about how you're not getting enough free stuff.

Edited October 18, 2012 by HarleysRule

[Durasturan]

I agree that the crafting restrictions are stupid but have they said you can only have one character anywhere as I've never seen that stipulated?

 

Yes. There have been Dev posts about it. If you're a subber going to the F2P model basically all your toons will be locked except for one, you will get to choose which one is unlocked. In order to play one of your other toons you will have to either sub or pay to alternate to a new one using a revolving door kind of scheme.

 

If you were not previously subbed and a full f2p you can only have one toon per account.