Rethink these Restrictions Bioware

[Galbatorrix]

Statements like this make the whole discussion a waste of time. Most of the quests give the full rewards that subscribers get. My understanding, and correct me if I am wrong, but it is basically lockboxes that F2Pers don't get. Big deal. They usually aren't worth picking if you have choices and you'll make up for not getting them by doing all the bonus quests and killing more mobs than needed to keep up with the XP. But saying "no rewards" mean you got bad info from someone or are misleading people to make things look worse than they are, when just sticking to what is being removed from the rewards is enough to make a point about.

 

 

Yeah, they're only denied lock boxes. Which no one ever chooses until end game dailies anyway.

[Urael]

There are a few restrictions I believe shouldn't be there for Free To Play players. And this is me talking as a subscriber. This is just a list:

 

UI Needs to Be Fixed (Customization and more quickbars)

Unlimited access to all Operations, Flashpoints and Warzones (except on Section X DLCs and further content that can be paid for via Cartel Coins)

Sprint and Quick Travel need to be accessible

 

Other than that, I believe it is completely fair for both camps. The gear option from Ops needs to be purchased as it gives subscribers a little something, something. No Cartel Coins should be earned in game (also a little nod to subscribers). All caps on money and banks should exist, but have a way of buying your way out via Cartel Coins. I believe this is the fairest system the game should go with to continue to have players come in (or back) and make this game the best it can be.

 

No. Already been discussed. Please review this thread to find out why:

 

If subscriptions were driving people away, why are they the goal for the F2P model?

[nriemupah]

Lock boxes & credit boxes

[jorill]

The horse is already out of the barn at this point. This was the time to make the most impact and they screwed it up. Even if they do change it now its really too late to really affect the incoming f2p crowd.

 

Well at any rate here is what i would of done.

 

I think give 4 hotbars and the 2 extra you can buy. Story wise i would have it where you have to buy each chapter beyond the first one. Then you can either buy the next 2 as a pack or seperately. The flashpoints would be sold seperately but in packs according to where in the chapters they fall. I would then sell ops seperately. For the pvp warzones i would offer a weekly, monthly, 3 month pack for those with price going slightly down. Then the normal boost and comsetic stuff they already have.

 

I would also get rid of the random box stuff as well but people actually spend more money that way and people dont have the discipline not to spend alot on those.

 

My overall point being is game features should not be bought, the content and cosmetic gear and convenience are what should be bought by f2p players

[MadBlue]

And you didnt woth LOTRO , you forget their endgame was just before the mines of Moria Expansion , which is all F2P till that point , Content wise LOTRO has nearly 2x more before the "pay expansion" system , and we have to wonder what BW/EA's act will be for future content. as LOTRO started out with more content and less restrictions that there are for F2P's here.

 

Well, LotRO has a good "Preferred" model, but their F2P model is pretty restrictive without spending any money. You get one character slot, 3 (out of 6 bags), no access to the shared bank, limited trait slots (imagine only having access to the first few tiers of your talent trees) , and access to only four quest zones. That last one is a biggie. The three lvl 1-20 zones are included in their entirety, but beyond that, only one zone, The Lone-Lands, has quests for F2P players. That'll take you to 30-35 at most (no rested XP as well, so you might very well run out of quests before hitting 35) and Vanilla LotRO goes up to 50. The epic storyline quests are available to F2P players, and you have access to the entire world from level 1 to 85, even if you don't buy the expansions,, but if you go F2P, you'll be grinding from level 35 on.

 

What is good about LotRO's "Preferred" model is that a lot of what you unlock while you were subbed is kept (bags, no cap on gold, traits, crafting guild, unlimited mail, two extra character slots). Another nice thing about LotRO is that you can earn that game's version of Cartel Coins in game through quests and deeds (regardless of your status).

 

That being said, I don't think the Cartel Shop and the F2P experience in SWTOR is set in stone. I wouldn't be surprised if we were able to earn CC in game, and get 2 more character slots for Preferred status players, as things develop.

[Codek]

The horse is already out of the barn at this point. This was the time to make the most impact and they screwed it up. Even if they do change it now its really too late to really affect the incoming f2p crowd.

 

Well at any rate here is what i would of done.

 

I think give 4 hotbars and the 2 extra you can buy. Story wise i would have it where you have to buy each chapter beyond the first one. Then you can either buy the next 2 as a pack or seperately. The flashpoints would be sold seperately but in packs according to where in the chapters they fall. I would then sell ops seperately. For the pvp warzones i would offer a weekly, monthly, 3 month pack for those with price going slightly down. Then the normal boost and comsetic stuff they already have.

 

I would also get rid of the random box stuff as well but people actually spend more money that way and people dont have the discipline not to spend alot on those.

 

My overall point being is game features should not be bought, the content and cosmetic gear and convenience are what should be bought by f2p players

 

You line between "game features" and "content/conveniences" is incredibly unclear and most likely highly debatable.

[ImperialSun]

The horse is already out of the barn at this point. This was the time to make the most impact and they screwed it up. Even if they do change it now its really too late to really affect the incoming f2p crowd.

 

Well at any rate here is what i would of done.

 

I think give 4 hotbars and the 2 extra you can buy. Story wise i would have it where you have to buy each chapter beyond the first one. Then you can either buy the next 2 as a pack or seperately. The flashpoints would be sold seperately but in packs according to where in the chapters they fall. I would then sell ops seperately. For the pvp warzones i would offer a weekly, monthly, 3 month pack for those with price going slightly down. Then the normal boost and comsetic stuff they already have.

 

I would also get rid of the random box stuff as well but people actually spend more money that way and people dont have the discipline not to spend alot on those.

 

My overall point being is game features should not be bought, the content and cosmetic gear and convenience are what should be bought by f2p players

 

So in one sentence you state that F2P should have 4 toolbars, then close by saying that convenience items should be chargeable?

 

Interesting...

 

Driz

[lklinga]

All of the people that dumped their account as soon as it went F2P are just trying to bully EAware into giving them more free stuff. They're using the remainder of their forum time to try to accomplish this. Very sneaky F2Pers, very sneaky in deed.

 

Actually i think you are exactly right sir. but they do not want to hear that.

[Arrakeen]

Just my thoughts...

 

Give F2P players access to unify colors - I'm a subscriber and I think it is unfair to my eyes to see rainbows shaped as players. :/

 

Give F2P players the ability to show Legacy - They get to unlock it at Lv 10 so why restrict it anyway?

 

Give F2P players access to Story EV/KP Operations - Getting their feet wet is more incentive to buy an unlock/subscription. Not all players enjoy raiding but many may not have even attempted to try and because of this, they may never want to try if they have to pay for something they may dislike.

 

Preferred Status is where the true ******** starts, imo. They already purchased the game and paid for months of playtime. Give them their UI, unify, Legacy, Titles, etc. Of course, this can't be done with the current setup. You'd need a 4th group. Give loyalty where loyalty is due.

[ImperialSun]

You mean if you want basic game mechanics pay for them. Seriously limited quest rewards for F2P accounts? By far, dumbest idea in an MMO I've ever heard. I expect 90+% of preferred players to not stick around after seeing all the basic stuff that got taken away.

 

No, he means you already have the basic game feaures as part of F2P...he means if you want the rest of the QoL features that a full sub gets then support the game and pay for them. Why is that so unreasonable?

 

"Seriously limited quest rewards"? Oh, you mean you dont get the lock boxes that nobody EVER bothers with anyway?

 

"Seriously limited" indeed lol...

 

Driz

[NerdyIO]

think of it this way

 

develloper are working long and hard hours and need to gain a little tiny bit of money to be able to feed their family.

 

I exagerate of course, but how can you expect in a capital world, that the any fruit of someone else labor be given you for free? this is not a due.

 

They have design their business model. It is you right as a costumer to refuse to purchase any because you don't find the value. But it is their right as a company, to sell their work product at the price they estimate the value.

 

So, how's irritating their customers help them with the money?

 

If they don't know how to make F2P, perhaps they should look at others who have success with it?

Sure it's their right, but it's my right to voice my opinion when I get sub quality product .

[nriemupah]

No, he means you already have the basic game feaures as part of F2P...he means if you want the rest of the QoL features that a full sub gets then support the game and pay for them. Why is that so unreasonable?

 

"Seriously limited quest rewards"? Oh, you mean you dont get the lock boxes that nobody EVER bothers with anyway?

 

"Seriously limited" indeed lol...

 

Driz

 

You mean the purple lock boxes from the fleet vendor from space rewards cause my ship is fully modded? Yes I buy them. How about when I have a ton of left over tokens from a planet? Yes I buy the purple lock boxes. Or do you mean the credit boxes from slicing missions? Yes I use those too.

 

It's more limiting than it seems

[jorill]

So in one sentence you state that F2P should have 4 toolbars, then close by saying that convenience items should be chargeable?

 

Interesting...

 

Driz

 

hotbars aren't convenience. You need them to play they game. There are more skills than two bars allow currenlty. I would consider convenience items to be those like items to be like quick travel, reducing costs to remove mods, that type of thing.

[Urael]

How about when I have a ton of left over tokens from a planet?

 

You know that you can farm planet tokens on your main, buy the mods from that planet for your alt and send to your at to put in your alts gear right?

 

You can do this and at the start of a planet have a fully modified orange armour set for your alt. Then you can use the alts planet tokens to buy/upgrade your companions gear.

 

There are no left over planet tokens.

[Northarrow]

I came back yesterday as a F2P member and I'm extremely disappointed with this Cartel Market.

 

Now I have no problem with EA/Bioware asking me to pay for a lot of the things on the market, boosts, different gear, vanity items, extra zones/quests, etc. Charging me for that stuff is fair.

 

What bothered me is a lot of stuff that should be part of the core game is also on the market. Charging me for another hotbar, charging me to use the titles I already earned, using the unify color option. Really guys? To me that's crossing a line.

 

Give me a complete game, add stuff in the market that I want to buy, don't make it feel like you're nickel and diming me just to play the game

[Galbatorrix]

I came back yesterday as a F2P member and I'm extremely disappointed with this Cartel Market.

 

Now I have no problem with EA/Bioware asking me to pay for a lot of the things on the market, boosts, different gear, vanity items, extra zones/quests, etc. Charging me for that stuff is fair.

 

What bothered me is a lot of stuff that should be part of the core game is also on the market. Charging me for another hotbar, charging me to use the titles I already earned, using the unify color option. Really guys? To me that's crossing a line.

 

Give me a complete game, add stuff in the market that I want to buy, don't make it feel like you're nickel and diming me just to play the game

 

You're complaining about vanity and convenience. They DID give you a complete game. You don't need to hide your helm in order to play the game properly. You also don't need more than two hotbars to fight (which is the only time hotbars are crucial). If you want vanity and convenience, pay for it.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Galbatorrix

[nriemupah]

You know that you can farm planet tokens on your main, buy the mods from that planet for your alt and send to your at to put in your alts gear right?

 

You can do this and at the start of a planet have a fully modified orange armour set for your alt. Then you can use the alts planet tokens to buy/upgrade your companions gear.

 

There are no left over planet tokens.

 

Except I can also craft all the orange stuff and still have tokens

[Urael]

Except I can also craft all the orange stuff and still have tokens

 

Ok I will raise you this.

 

While farming the tokens you gain cash (and potentially gear for your alts). While crafting it costs you cash.

 

Your move ...

 

[ImperialSun]

So, how's irritating their customers help them with the money?

 

If they don't know how to make F2P, perhaps they should look at others who have success with it?

Sure it's their right, but it's my right to voice my opinion when I get sub quality product .

 

Whereas what you are actually doing is QQing that you dont have all of the featuresa that a sub gets for no money and without supporting the game financially in any way....

 

Just how entitled do you want to be?

 

Driz

[hallucigenocide]

just give em a proper ui.. most of the money will most likely come from vanity items anyway(if they can come up with enough attractive stuff to sell)

[LordArtemis]

I would have had 4 bars for returning players...you had to purchase the actual game (either box or digital) and pay for three months. It would have been a fourth tier as I suggested it with a few more perks.

 

I am also for permanent FP/Ops/Wz, but for a substantial cost. My target would be that a person could not reach near sub ability unless they pay out around 9 to 12 months of equal sub cost. There would still be a few items (higher coin allowance, no respec cost, 6 bars, unlimited sale slots, 3 crew skills, etc) that you would have to sub for.

[Crash-X]

You're complaining about vanity and convenience. They DID give you a complete game. You don't need to hide your helm in order to play the game properly. You also don't need more than two hotbars to fight (which is the only time hotbars are crucial). If you want vanity and convenience, pay for it.

 

What about operations and flashpoints? Group play is a HUGE part of any MMO, cutting this out was a mistake IMO.

 

There are a lot of other F2P games that does this better. I know GW2 isn't technically a F2P game but after the one time price you really don't have to pay a dime for anything.

[nriemupah]

Ok I will raise you this.

 

While farming the tokens you gain cash (and potentially gear for your alts). While crafting it costs you cash.

 

Your move ...

 

 

One round of dailies more than covers all that crafting and saves loads of time to grind gear/cash on high level planets

[Urael]

One round of dailies more than covers all that crafting and saves loads of time to grind gear/cash on high level planets

 

Curse your use of reason!!

[HoloTweed]

I came back yesterday as a F2P member and I'm extremely disappointed with this Cartel Market.

 

Now I have no problem with EA/Bioware asking me to pay for a lot of the things on the market, boosts, different gear, vanity items, extra zones/quests, etc. Charging me for that stuff is fair.

 

What bothered me is a lot of stuff that should be part of the core game is also on the market. Charging me for another hotbar, charging me to use the titles I already earned, using the unify color option. Really guys? To me that's crossing a line.

 

Give me a complete game, add stuff in the market that I want to buy, don't make it feel like you're nickel and diming me just to play the game

 

People keep using the "nickel and dime" phrase like it's a bad thing, but they forget: THAT'S ALL YOU ARE WORTH TO THIS GAME NOW.

 

You don't want to pay a paltry $15/month (I really do laugh at people who suggest that only rich fat kids have $15/month available) so the only value you have to the business that provides this game, a business that MUST EARN MONEY to STAY in business, is your nickels and dimes. If you aren't willing to pay nickels and dimes, then you really really should go. You can't afford this game and this game certainly can't afford you.

 

As a subscriber, I don't mind that F2P players get access to the main part of the game - the planets and character stories. I wouldn't even mind if they got one extra toolbar. But I see people here suggesting FULL access to warzones and FP's, unify color, hide head slot... I say NO! I pay a SUBSCRIPTION FOR THOSE THINGS.

 

So cough up some nickels and dimes to get the access and convenience (head slot is CONVENIENCE) that you want and keep the game solvent. You are not entitled to anything more.

 

But boy, do people feel entitled.