Machine-Elf Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) I think people have tremendously underrated just how succesful the F2P transition has been for SWTOR from a financial perspective. Do I have high hopes for the game in terms of its quality? Well, depends on what they mean by integrating "new systems" into the Makeb expansion (if, for instance, Smugglers are given the ability to set trap-mines, as was shown in the official trailer, then color me thoroughly impressed). But does that mean I think it will fail? Far from it. In fact, I'd be willing to wager Bioware made more money from the Cartel Market after the first week of the F2p transition than they had throughout the entire time of the subscription model that preceded it. Edited January 10, 2013 by Machine-Elf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annabethchase Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Well, we just don't know. We can look around while in game and see what's been bought by various players and made it to the GTN or visible on our screen. However, a decent chunk of that money comes from subscriber allocations. But clearly they are making some money from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darka Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 There were a lot of subs early on, while they would have made money i dont think they made that much. Either way the Devs do a terrible job of conveying anything healthy or give the feel they are putting up a fight. The whole "Us and Them" style the devs have run for a few years has hurt them, they were called on it early. Cartel market success or not, it hasnt made the game feel more successful i dont feel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reppical Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Well one thing is for sure... if this fragile community gets upset over the small changes of armor sets... then this game is lost. One day, BW will change the color of the Frost Cat pet and all hell will break loose. I sometimes feel like I'm in a daycare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darka Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Well one thing is for sure... if this fragile community gets upset over the small changes of armor sets... then this game is lost. One day, BW will change the color of the Frost Cat pet and all hell will break loose. I sometimes feel like I'm in a daycare. It was once said BIoware could make the greatest game ever, one that changed the history of gaming and blew everyone away and the haters would still hate. Bioware could find a cardboard tube and write The Old Republic in marker pen and the fans would lap it up, proclaim it edgy, fantastic, defining and reshaping the face of game. I feel sorry for them at times, but do also feel much is there own doing. ( but some players are never happy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reppical Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 It was once said BIoware could make the greatest game ever, one that changed the history of gaming and blew everyone away and the haters would still hate. Bioware could find a cardboard tube and write The Old Republic in marker pen and the fans would lap it up, proclaim it edgy, fantastic, defining and reshaping the face of game. I feel sorry for them at times, but do also feel much is there own doing. ( but some players are never happy) You have a brilliant mind, I feel the same way. I can understand people being upset, even for the small things, but the severity of how far they have gone over such a small minor thing shocks me... Their reaction once rivaled a reaction I had when my car was vandalized... I wonder if those who complain have nothing better to do. I don't see my guild in here at all. I on the other hand, have nothing better to do at work then to read the forums =/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianDavion Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 People take things waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too personally. they act like a bug in a game is a personal insult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rezakh Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) One thing to think about, when you're having a really hard time tracking down financials for a particular product and the company overseeing that product seems to be consumed with keeping clear figures out of the general public...generally speaking, not exactly an encouraging sign. The game will be around for quite awhile, unless they are losing money per month to operate (highly unlikely right now or in the next year or two). However, the game will not be what many hoped it would be. My wife and I play for the leveling content, leveling up different classes...that's about it. The game at 50 is uninspiring and overly focused on the Hutts. This game's obsession with the Hutts really kicks the wind out of people, it seems, when they're huge fans of the original KOTOR (Going to be more of an issue at 50 with Makeb, anyhow, so maybe not so bad for me). Oh well, like it for what it is, play through the class stories that interest you and leave if there's nothing left for you. That's our plan. No, we're not buying the Makeb DLC, yes, I realize they're advertising it to be an expansion, no, it is not really an expansion compared to most other MMO expansions, and it probably takes, at minimum, a pulse and a slice of objectivity to figure this one out. I will amend my opinion when they expand their descriptions of Makeb. TL;DR - The game will most likely survive, it seems highly unlikely that it will thrive, content after 50 sucks, leveling content is fun (no, really, literally some of the most fun I have had in an RPG experience and its coop with my wife), and Makeb DLC is lame until proven otherwise. Edited January 10, 2013 by Rezakh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Listerman Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I honestly haven't stopped once to think about the Financial State of the game. I play it, I derp with my guild, I pay them my $15 a month, I'll spend my monthly cartel coin stipend, and that's pretty much where my relationship with the game ends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth_Zeppelin Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I honestly haven't stopped once to think about the Financial State of the game. I play it, I derp with my guild, I pay them my $15 a month, I'll spend my monthly cartel coin stipend, and that's pretty much where my relationship with the game ends. Totally agreed, though I don't have a guild to "derp" with, so I enjoy my solo time with the game. For me, it does what it is supposed to do: entertain me. Is it perfect? Is it the way I'd do it? No. But that's not what it should be. It should be an entertaining, fun place many different people can go to to enjoy whatever aspects they look for in a game. I enjoy it and look forward to playing it when I'm at work or stuck doing something other than playing. I think that it is unwise to become overly concerned with the elements about a game (or business, or anything in life) that we can't control or don't have all of the facts about. I pay a monthly fee (happily), I will spend my stipend of Cartel Coins, and I will play the game. I will do so until such time that I no longer have fun doing so. That's all I ask. If the game (any game) goes away for whatever reason, then I will no longer play it. I'll find another game to play, be it another MMO or a table top game, or just take a break from games for a while. But, until such time, I'll keep on doing my thing. tl;dr: Don't worry about what you can't control, know, or understand. If you're having fun, then play. If you're not, then don't. Simple, really. I hope you continue to play and enjoy the game. "You" meaning everyone, not anyone in particular. May the Force be with you, DZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cashogy Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 im sure there are tons of people that have dropped 100s, mabye 1000s (god i hope not) on the cartel market Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Listerman Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 im sure there are tons of people that have dropped 100s, mabye 1000s (god i hope not) on the cartel market ...If there is someone out there who has spent more than $100 on cartel coins, they have too much money... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cashogy Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 ...If there is someone out there who has spent more than $100 on cartel coins, they have too much money... some guy in that phantom armor whine thread said he spent $150 to get all the armor pieces. friend of mine has spent like 80 and he doesnt even play lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine-Elf Posted January 10, 2013 Author Share Posted January 10, 2013 Well one thing is for sure... if this fragile community gets upset over the small changes of armor sets... then this game is lost. One day, BW will change the color of the Frost Cat pet and all hell will break loose. I sometimes feel like I'm in a daycare. The problem isn't the community getting upset, the problem is Bioware catering to their demands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Listerman Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 some guy in that phantom armor whine thread said he spent $150 to get all the armor pieces. friend of mine has spent like 80 and he doesnt even play lol My issue in that is that Armor costs roughly three months worth of monthly stipend, and being a mature, grown adult with responsibilities beyond my gaming, I only ever buy Cartel Coins when there is something I just HAVE to have. The last time I felt that tug, it was the Life Day orb, and that was a mere 90CC out of the 500CC I had at the time. MOST things in the Market are overpriced by my opinion, and I can't fathom, nor desire to spend too much real money, on fake currency, to buy digital goods. I've secured my continued investment in the game with my subscription, so I don't feel obligated to support them further, so the fact that there are those who HAVE bought everything on the market already...To see that much money going to waste (no offense BW)...It makes my head spin... That money could have been used for a plethora of real life things...Care repairs...Rent...Groceries...Things that matter... ... ...Yeah I'm done, got that out of my system... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyOldMystic Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) The cartel market is a temp solution. Let me introduce a little gaming history. When they pulled this same crap in sto, by putting solid content in the store, instead of the game. People bought into it big time at first......., however they soon realized that solid content was no longer being added to the game itself. It wasnt long before people were on strike when it came to the store. Sure some people still bought into it, but unless something insane was put into the store, people just stopped buying into it. Now lets look at the armors. Say they took that adaptive armor in the store, and gave it to armormechs, and synthweavers. That would have majorly improved the game in multiple areas. First your saying to the player here be WHO YOU WANT TO BE. With adaptive you can put it on any class. Two your give people a reason to come back to the game. Gear is everything, and I do not mean stats, if the gear looks like crap. People stop playing. Instead they are wasting precious time making epic gear putting it in the store, and saying to both sub and f2p player here pay us 20 bucks for this piece gear. As a player I am insulted by that. For the last patches I have not seen a dang thing added to this game by way of content. All i have seen is more cartel crap. If I can not help a guildie get it by way of ingame activities, then its useless to both me, and the game. On a last note even if they said you have to be a sub to make these armors or buy them in game, by using game currency, that would have been a major improvement to the current set up. My last point is this here is a link http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=5697507#post5697507 to a topic I made. Good solid requests that would only improve the game. My guess those changes will never see the light of day, but more then likely we will see more 20 buck armors added to the cartel market. Meanwhile the game itself suffers for it. Edited January 10, 2013 by CrazyOldMystic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConradLionhart Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 They could have done some things better with the F2P model. Tera is going F2P in February, and they made some jabs at SW:TOR about giving people the real Tera instead of some watered-down trial version, and about taking away your action bars. SW:TOR also wantw previous subscribers to still pay some money to become preferred status. I feel these kinds of restrictions are not needed. Most of the money would have come from people spending money on the cartel market. These restrictions are alienating the ones who made up 1.7 million subscribers you had in the past, who may have wanted to come back to the game, saw the restrictions, and then left. At least give previous subscribers free Preferred Status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darklordpotter Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I thought previous subs did have preferred status. Oh well shows what I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshlaBoga Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 im sure there are tons of people that have dropped 100s, mabye 1000s (god i hope not) on the cartel market I saw someone post they dropped $900 on CCs and had the CE and Digital Deluxe edition... after 1 year subbed that's about $1250 spent on SWTOR by one man. I want his job whatever it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ighten Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I previously subbed left quickly and came back as preferred without having to buy anything.. Though I have re subbed now as time cards are 50% sale items here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alduinsm Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 The cartel market is a temp solution. Let me introduce a little gaming history. When they pulled this same crap in sto, by putting solid content in the store, instead of the game. People bought into it big time at first......., however they soon realized that solid content was no longer being added to the game itself. It wasnt long before people were on strike when it came to the store. Sure some people still bought into it, but unless something insane was put into the store, people just stopped buying into it. Now lets look at the armors. Say they took that adaptive armor in the store, and gave it to armormechs, and synthweavers. That would have majorly improved the game in multiple areas. First your saying to the player here be WHO YOU WANT TO BE. With adaptive you can put it on any class. Two your give people a reason to come back to the game. Gear is everything, and I do not mean stats, if the gear looks like crap. People stop playing. Instead they are wasting precious time making epic gear putting it in the store, and saying to both sub and f2p player here pay us 20 bucks for this piece gear. As a player I am insulted by that. For the last patches I have not seen a dang thing added to this game by way of content. All i have seen is more cartel crap. If I can not help a guildie get it by way of ingame activities, then its useless to both me, and the game. On a last note even if they said you have to be a sub to make these armors or buy them in game, by using game currency, that would have been a major improvement to the current set up. My last point is this here is a link http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=5697507#post5697507 to a topic I made. Good solid requests that would only improve the game. My guess those changes will never see the light of day, but more then likely we will see more 20 buck armors added to the cartel market. Meanwhile the game itself suffers for it. ingame activities --->daily -- >credits ---> GTN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama-Eight Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 One thing to think about, when you're having a really hard time tracking down financials for a particular product and the company overseeing that product seems to be consumed with keeping clear figures out of the general public...generally speaking, not exactly an encouraging sign. I'm an accountant for a large corporation, I'm not surprised that they're not talking about fundamentally confidential information as subscriber numbers or cashflow. I'd be surprised if they went into much detail when they talk to their shareholders each quarter (we generally don't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) It was once said BIoware could make the greatest game ever, one that changed the history of gaming and blew everyone away and the haters would still hate. Bioware could find a cardboard tube and write The Old Republic in marker pen and the fans would lap it up, proclaim it edgy, fantastic, defining and reshaping the face of game. I feel sorry for them at times, but do also feel much is there own doing. ( but some players are never happy) This is probably true. However equally SWTOR is somewhere in the middle, it has (or had) great strengths, but also great flaws, and unfortunately it's having to shed some of it's strengths (story) to worship at the altar of the Cashshop. Edited January 10, 2013 by Goretzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goretzu Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 They could have done some things better with the F2P model. Tera is going F2P in February, and they made some jabs at SW:TOR about giving people the real Tera instead of some watered-down trial version, and about taking away your action bars. SW:TOR also wantw previous subscribers to still pay some money to become preferred status. I feel these kinds of restrictions are not needed. Most of the money would have come from people spending money on the cartel market. These restrictions are alienating the ones who made up 1.7 million subscribers you had in the past, who may have wanted to come back to the game, saw the restrictions, and then left. At least give previous subscribers free Preferred Status. This is the main problem with SWTOR, they could have moved to a pure F2P model built around the Cashshop or they could have remained subscription. However what they seem to be trying to so is force you into subscrption AND milk the **** out of you on the Cashshop too, it's just a plain terrible way to treat customers. Certainly I feel like I'm being nickle and dimed, charged WAY over the odds for Cashshop stuff and being doubly charged by having to have a subscription (for a full experience) and yet still having buy stuff from the Cashshop rather than being able to get it in game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackardin Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 ...If there is someone out there who has spent more than $100 on cartel coins, they have too much money... Are you kidding me? The cartel packs are like scratch tickets. I'm thinking you'd be surprised at just how many have spent how much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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