Rethink these Restrictions Bioware

[NostalGeek]

Potential resub here. Well actually not a potential resub in truth, more a potential enhanced FTP player here. I really prefer throwing my money at the secret world in truth and playing thsi game part time, which genuinely means that im exactly the kind of player that they should be marketing towards.

 

Unfortunately it feels a little overly restrictive. Please, for the love of all things, before i continue, hold back the need to flame me with the "well, subscribe then!" misnomer. Im not going to subscribe. Ive already got a game im thoroughly enjoying paying my subscription fee on. Im not paying for two.

 

What i am willing to do though is pay for the one i like best and throw a bit of cash to the one i dont like as much but still kinda like. The game isnt trash, so thats the first thing. Im not here to hate on the game. I want to play it, but in a straight subscription war for my $15 it loses out to TSW. (FOR ME, not necessarily for you - i can appreciate and understand you might prefer this game - i like it too).

 

But let me just mention a few things that a FTP brings in an attempt to help the conversation progress along a bit:

 

1. Money. Not as much as a subscriber likely (though some will spend a fortune, most probably wont). Still, we will drop cash on some things now and again when we want something. The whole pull back to FTP for a lot of lapsed subs is of course that we like the game, but dont necessarily want to throw out $15 on it. I like warzones. They break up the monotony of questing. I like the stories. And i like popping into flashpoints now and again. Im sure id like operations, but cant seem to get into endgame. What FTP brings is customisation and a sense of fairness. I dont have to pay for all the stuff i dont want to do, but i am more than willing to pay for the things i do want to do. Im getting a nice deal and bioware are getting at least some money from me rather than the zero money theyd definitely be receiving if the option didnt exist. Free to Play brings CHOICE and options. This is great for the entire playerbase.

 

2. We bring atmosphere just by our presence. A few threads on the forums have already remarked how the hubs are feeling livelier and more interesting. This creates a positive environment for all players which mean a) subs are happier with a less stagnant set of players, and b) non subs might be more inclined to sub or at least stick around because the atmosphere is fun. This is win win for everyone, and all it requires is bodies on the ground (assuming of course that no ones stuck in a queue to log on).

 

3. We pop queue times. I guess this might be more warzones, but more people means more warzones going off which means less waiting for PVPers. Assuming again that the server caps arent being breached, then this shoudl mean lots of happy players.

 

4. We buy stuff and sell stuff by actually being a part of the game economy. This helps to foster a healthy market where everyone benefits (though omg, when will the GTN improve its search?).

 

Im sure there are others, but im er, slightly half cut at the moment happy playing the game with my 2 action bars.

 

What i want to stress though is that the above is a virtuous cycle of (un)intended consequences. And it should be part of the aim of a good FTP system. Unfortunately i dont see this one working and heres the top three reasons i can think of as to why:

 

1. Overly restrictive. UI restrictions which honestly should be taken for granted, make just everyday stuff a chore. I know, please, i know... its only THREE DOLLARS!!!! etc, but the point is that its a first impression and its going to drive people away immediately. NOT, and i stress this, because they cant afford $3 but because theyll feel that a PTP game style isnt really a long term option in this game.

 

2. Character unlocks. People invested time in their characters. Deleting them to play through a new storyline every time you hit 50 means that FTP is not a long term play style that is being catered for in this game.

 

3. Restricting core parts of the game is fine. Making you pay the same as a full subscription (when you factor in teh cartel coins for subbing) to play one aspect of the game means you might as well just sub. Some people will argue thats exactly the point. Argue away, but again, this simply means that PTP is not a long term optional play style that is being catered for by this game.

 

The key point in this is that this is supposed to be a hybrid option. You can pay the sub, or you can pay for the bits and time you actually want to play. The problem is NOT (and again, i have to stress this because people really arent digesting it) that restrictions exist at all. The problem is that it is simply *too* restrictive to retain former subs in the alternative paying model. If they wanted a subscription theyd obviously still be paying for a subscription. They do however have an interest in the game or they wouldnt even be on these forums or taking advantage of the FTP features.

 

The problem is really that you have little more than an extended trial, with an option for subscription at the end of it. I know you may disagree, but i urge you to make a new account and see how long you enjoy running without a sprint, or having your xp massively curtailed and very limited means to increase it outside of grinding through tunnels of mobs, or having 2 hotbars, or having mismatched clown gears, or having to wear some fugly helmets or whatever else youll find annoying. The point is that instead of looking at the free fun parts and the very fact they can play the game at all, theyll naturally be looking at how constricted their character feels, and how ultimately useless it is to even reach end game on their character let alone remain moderately competitive thereafter.

Actually thats another thing i forgot to mention above. End game doesnt exist in this game for a FTP player. You cant work it anywhere near the cost of a sub, so once again, sub or leave.

 

The whole function of a FTP system is supposed to be that it sits alongside the subscription model and offers the player a choice of playing style. If i want to remain competitive ill certainly have to pay for some features, but not necessarily for the whole thing. It should require a bit more of a challenge and subscribers would necessarily have some essential advantages, but im not completely locked out of end game and of final progression. As it currently stands though, even just unlocking one core feature is the equivalent of the sub price making it a straight choice NOT between a FTP style and a sub style (the supposed aim of this FTP system), but between subbing and not subbing.

 

FTPers simply lack any real playstyle choice. If they want to play the game long term, they are frankly compelled to buy a sub. But by biowares own admission, they dont want one. So FTP, the apparent solution to bringing down the barriers to access (the very thing bioware talked about in their reasoning for introducing a FTP alternative) offers no constructive solution, and under the current conditions therefore likely restates the very problem (barriers to access) and thus cannot succeed.

 

Which of course begs the question, why spend so much time and development money in creating a FTP system at all then if its simply going to reproduce the exact same conditions as the allegedly failing game (no alternative to a subscription)? Since the restrictions make it an inevitable choice between subbing and not subbing for anything outside of story grinding, and since a trial already existed for new players to familiarise themselves with the game, this leaves one very cynical reason for its existence. And im genuinely surprised subscribers arent more mad that theyre now expected to pay extra for things which their subscription is supposed to already be paying for (the ongoing development of new features, races, items, and areas).

 

 

I'll quote this because it's the most unbiased and well thought-out post in 40 pages.

 

The biggest point is that subbers says "then pay for a sub" but most if not all F2P players are NEVER going to no matter what so the whole point is to entice them to play the game so they spend money on upgrades; that way EA/BW gets 'some' $ as opposed to no $.

 

My biggest gripe honestly is with the "preferred" status. I can understand most of, if not all, the restrictions for new players who haven't spent a dime on the game. They start from scratch so they don't 'need' 10 character slots or more than 2 quickbars at first, even those I'd concede.

But for preferred status??? People keep replying to the Guild Wars 2 comparison with the fact that "it's not F2P, you paid $60 for it!" well I'm sorry but I spent $150 on the SWTOR Collectors Edition and then subbed for 3 months. Some Collectors Edition when you can't even get more than 2 quickbars.

People say you can earn CP in game (though at what rate remains to be seen) but I'm sorry I tried playing my 43 Sniper for 30 minutes and gave up. The game is meant to be fun (and it can be, that's the infuriating part!) but this just frustrates and pisses off so it fails at its intent and just makes people give up and leave.

 

So I'll wait and see what they do.

 

PS: and now people who actually do bother to buy a new sub get locked out of the game so this F2P really feels like a clusterF so far.

Edited November 18, 2012 by NostalGeek

[mefit]

I never played a P2P MMO that went F2P that offered up all of its content to F2P players .

STO

Champions Online

........etc

Charge for extras that Paying players get for free , with the ability to unlock everything through buying Game Money.

 

You want everything unlocked , simply buy it ..........then you will never need to be a sub player .

Can't afford it ?

Well , I wanted to buy a Hot tub lastyear for my House like my friend has for his . I live in a Gated Community and atleast 90% of the people who live here have either a swimming Pool that was already built in when they bought their homes or a Hot Tube they themselves Bought .

Saddly I could not afford it and had to live without one for sometime .

Live within your means or get another job to support your habbits .

I have a Job that pays for my Habbits and there for can afford to pay a mere 15dollars a month without worrying about how my family and I will eat or bills that need to be paid .

 

I am happy there is a F2P option and people who use it , but seriously if you got everything than why would anyone pay for anything?

 

As a Free to Play Player you get

Basic Content with teh Ability to unlock the rest with either Real Money or Subbing

Full Story

Access to every Planet on the game

 

All can be unlocked by basicly buying Coins and then you would never need to sub or just sub ..............

 

Bioware/EA/LA are not Charity Companies , they are in fact for Profit . Always have and always will be .

 

EDIT: By the way , these threads are on every F2P MMO out there besides GW and GW2 , which to be honest are not doing any Better than SWTOR or any MMO that went F2P with Content needing to be bought .

GuildWars doesn't give away its content for free either , you get a starter pack and then as they make new stuff you have to buy it.

Both GW and GW2 made player buy the endgame content . I am player Gw2 and SWTOR and GW2 really is lacking in story and endgame .

Edited November 18, 2012 by mefit

[aeterno]

Well one thing is sure, the start of the f2p adventure has been reasonably successful, pretty much all the EU and NA servers are hitting full or very heavy levels. So there seems to be decent interest in playing TOR as a 2nd/freebie MMO.

 

Now is the time for new guy in charge of monetization to start really sweating. There's no passing the buck this time, if player numbers drop like flies again it's clear what the problem is.

 

 

 

I hate to bring up SE but gotta give them props for one thing, at a certain stage with ffxiv they acknowledged what everyone knew, that they botched up. Made personnel changes and started over.

 

TOR isn't nearly as bad but some humble pie and tactical retreats wouldn't do BW bad. For instance I know it's a pipedream to expect different, but mid to long term sticking with just patching the current hero engine won't really cut it imo.

In my wildest dreams I hope that they're atleast building an optimized 64bit client for release in the future but given the last dev blog, and the fact they apparently have programmers touching up "foliage lighting", doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence lol.

Edited November 18, 2012 by aeterno

[VonKretschmer]

I can't believe I am making my first post in the forums after being reading them since September -first time I heard this was going F2P-.

 

I speak as a F2P having done the trial to bypass the race and sprint restrictions, so that isn't much of an issue for me. I can offer the perspective of a player not easily enticed by MMOs because of their grindy nature, but willing to play in a more casual manner without the stress that a sub implies.

As a SW fan I was looking forward to this game but the subscription has always been the reason why I never bothered. I simply don't have time nor willingness to sink into an MMO, I have a life, family, and a pretty demanding university. F2P is the casual way I can enjoy the game, or so I thought.

I like this game, dont get my wrong. I like the games Bioware does, I like SW, and as I never played Wow as you can guess, everything feels new to me. I felt sorry after reading that people were leaving the game massively. I have experience with LTRO and DDO, and I was looking forward to this game F2P.

As it stands, however, I do not feel like spending a dime on it... I just feel I´m being milked. Before knowing the prices I had already made a list of things I was looking forward to buy: Artifact equipment, speeder, quest rewards (i thought you had to buy them separatedly)... I really thought this was going to be the move that saved the game. I was willing to spend money on it, and whether that was 5$ or 15$, that was new money BW was making out of anywhere. As there has to be many people like me, I thought, this was going to be the way to success.

 

But the game does not make want to spend anything. It simply takes quest rewards away from me, reminds me I am having less xp than a sub, and that I have to pay for the UI...Please dont answer with "you don't like, then sub!". This is the problem BW/EA is facing: I am a potential consumer, the one this F2P is aimed for, and though the game is great, I am being turned off by the way I feel they want to make money out of me. It is not friendly, at all... that's all. I had talked about this game to 3 of my friends and my brother, only my brother was willing to try after I told them the restrictions...and he is as pissed as I am. I dont feel like recomendig this f2p to anyone. In fact my cousin was home yesterday, he saw me playing and after half and hour asked me why was I playing because it was one of the worst f2p conversions he had ever seen...

I wish to thank the community all the support they've given to f2p however. People inside the game have been friendly and the community is probably the best this game has to offer.

I hope this helps the community and the dev's to see how the game is doing and what steps they can make to take it in the right direction

[KnighteStar]

Well one thing is sure, the start of the f2p adventure has been reasonably successful, pretty much all the EU and NA servers are hitting full or very heavy levels. So there seems to be decent interest in playing TOR as a 2nd/freebie MMO.

 

Now is the time for new guy in charge of monetization to start really sweating. There's no passing the buck this time, if player numbers drop like flies again it's clear what the problem is.

 

 

 

I hate to bring up SE but gotta give them props for one thing, at a certain stage with ffxiv they acknowledged what everyone knew, that they botched up. Made personnel changes and started over.

 

TOR isn't nearly as bad but some humble pie and tactical retreats wouldn't do BW bad. For instance I know it's a pipedream to expect different, but mid to long term sticking with just patching the current hero engine won't really cut it imo.

In my wildest dreams I hope that they're atleast building an optimized 64bit client for release in the future but given the last dev blog, and the fact they apparently have programmers touching up "foliage lighting", doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence lol.

 

Exactly.