Preferred Status is a flawed concept

[Foreignobjects]

What I found interesting on the OP point of view is that he was never stop a think or said why did SWTOR went with the f2p/preferred option. If not for the f2p options SWTOR would be shutdown by now. The game it self was never design for a f2p system and actually the current one compare to many f2p MMOs is very strick. But if you take f2p now as the OP wants SWTOR would shutdown in less than 6 months with all of the problems it has.

 

First even before the game was release BW drop almost half of his staff. After the hype and the countless bugs of endgame and horrible PVP people start leaving like crazy. I left at that time too, worlds would be empty, GTN was non-existing and trying to find people for OPs was a nightmare.

 

So then came the server mergers and f2p system which was a way to try to get people to comeback while BW try to emprove the game. Even look at the current state of the game, if you removed f2p right now, as many other people point out; the game has tons of bugs, no new OPS in 2 years and the story updates been few and far in between.

 

The F2P/Preferred give a chance to anyone that is tired of the game to take a break and comeback once in a while and check how things are. The Preferred accounts are very restricted as it is compare to many other F2P MMOs.

 

Can only have 350k credits ( most things in game are 100K or more)

Cannot use any Artifact gear ( most have for Raiding)

Cannot mail credits and 1 item at a time. ( pain to try to gear ALTs 350k block)

Cannot revive on location have to buy droids ( travel to location again and again)

You are limited to the last high level of your sub. ( nobody wants to party with you for future endgame or event)

Cannot do OPs ( cannot get BIS)

Only 3 WZ per week and 3 boss drops in FP

Can only sell 5 items on GTN ( have to sell to NPC or throw away most items you get, not enough space)

 

Without the current F2P/Preferred accounts on the game, the worlds would be a dessert. BW those has not keep the staff ever since the gamer release to provide a winning Subscription MMO. Even more people would leave the game as it feels empty, cannot fiend anyone to party with, the GTN is empty, etc, etc.

 

If anything just as many people has point out F2P give you a tast of the game and help fill bodies in the game, Preferred makes you spend some money and if you want to have the game playable you have to buy Cartel Coins (spend more money) to unlock items. Then if you really enjoy the game people will SUB, plus if you are tired of the game you know you can go Preferred to check the game ones in a while and give your self a break.

 

i agree with you... and even though prefered and f2p w/e.... they are needed. but if you do play the game... more then 3 hours a week.... and have a max level character. and dont sub.. you really are missing out.... its worth it to sub.. cause as i said in my long *** types, prefered and f2p are an illusion in most mmos.... cause you goto buy alot of stuff to make it playable... yes its possible to have fun and play the game and get all the content with prefered but you goto either grind alot of credits for ops passes. and or buy the perks from the Cartel market.... so yea f2p is an illusion..... its really quite brilliant from a marketing stand point... the last 5 years have ushered in the option to f2p type mmos and its working... but as i said it is an illusion and a permanent trial for some mmos...

 

Also ....if you own a ps4 or xbox one... they now charge monthly to play online... you HAVE to pay to play online now, so its becoming more excepted to pay a monthly fee for gaming... from a decade ago til now.. it really has grown as a market... monthly fees for games, people dont say as much anymore "IM NOT PAYING 15 BUCKS A MONTH TO PLAY A GAME", people understand why they are being charged now more then ever...

[branmakmuffin]

You would be surprised just how many people, fall for f2p/preferred type stuff and spend MORE money than they would if they subscribed

I would be even more surprised if you had a source for this other than your own imagination.

[Parane]

For a start I am not offended, I am just stating that I believe it is a poorly conceived concept.

 

But you said it's a "fact that it doesn't work".

 

So please let the rest of us know what these "facts" are. Do you have secret numbers that the rest of us don't?

[BrienBear]

The carrot is the flaw as it does not work as intended.

It does not matter how many times it is said that this is how it is meant to work, the fact is that it does NOT work.

 

Fact? Is that so?

 

Facts can be backed up with proof and data. Do you have valid proof or data that would back up your claims?

 

If you don't, then at this point, you cannot claim that anything is fact. Facts are indisputable and all I see here is your opinion on something which you have no evidence for.

[LordArtemis]

I think the preferred system has too low of a bar as far as the amount to spend to gain it. If I were to change the system, this is what I would do....

 

New access Tiers

 

I would tweak the F2P/Preferred system to make it a bit more appealing but increase the Preferred access tier cost to 30 dollars. I would also add "Veteran" and "Legend" access tiers if you have spent at least 750 and 2000 dollars, respectfully.

 

Subscribers

 

Subscribers would be given an additional reward for every month they are subscribed, retroactive. They would have the ability to choose physical rewards or CC.

 

I would also add the ability for subscribers to unlock a Legacy bank that can hold a common legacy pool of credits on each individual server.

Edited January 11, 2016 by LordArtemis

[DreadtechSavant]

So says the player who wants to drop to preferred status without losing anything. But expects every other player to agree with him 100%.

 

I have no time for this kind of pointless thread.

[Gyallarhorn]

Funny. I am a subscriber here, but on DCUO I only spent money BECAUSE of the preferred status they give. In other words: for a lot of people it is either spend a little money to get preferred or no money at all.

[TarkaBear]

You act like preferred status gives everything subscription status does.... IT DOESN'T.

 

This game is set around you being a subscriber, and restrictive if you aren't as a hope you will cough up the cash to sub. (yes im a sub)

 

 

So your gym analogy doesn't stack up.

 

 

Also something you MUST learn from the p2w asian games. While only a small % of players may be cash cows and contribute to the game (and carry the costs / give profit), it is the healthy community (and the people to be fed upon) provided by the f2p players that keeps the p2w section pampered, feeling good about themselves, worshipped, and continuing to dump their loads of cash into the game.

 

Now swtor aint p2w, but it does have the ability for you to sink enormous amounts of cash into it through the cartel market, and players wont do that if there's just a small ghost town of subs surrounding them.

 

Freebie players make subs happy.

[Nuglo]

It really is not a flawed concept you get added benefits albeit limited but your argument is 'I CAN SEE IT I WANT IT"

[Knightsire]

I think the preferred system has too low of a bar as far as the amount to spend to gain it. If I were to change the system, this is what I would do....

 

New access Tiers

 

I would tweak the F2P/Preferred system to make it a bit more appealing but increase the Preferred access tier cost to 30 dollars. I would also add "Veteran" and "Legend" access tiers if you have spent at least 750 and 2000 dollars, respectfully.

 

Subscribers

 

Subscribers would be given an additional reward for every month they are subscribed, retroactive. They would have the ability to choose physical rewards or CC.

 

I would also add the ability for subscribers to unlock a Legacy bank that can hold a common legacy pool of credits on each individual server.

 

This is a very good idea and something I had in mind to post when I read OP's first post. It would be interesting if Bioware introduced better rewards based on spending levels.

[LordArtemis]

This is a very good idea and something I had in mind to post when I read OP's first post. It would be interesting if Bioware introduced better rewards based on spending levels.

 

Yes, I would like to see some encouragement to invest serious cash in the game. I think higher access tiers would provide that.

 

However, perks for subs and some restrictions to freebs must remain in place to keep subscriptions appealing IMO.

[ekwalizer]

The OP is also forgetting about customers who purchased the game itself before the game went to F2P. True F2Pers have made zero financial contribution to this game. Whereas Preferred players actually have made financial contributions at some point.

 

I guarantee in his local gym, no customers had to buy the weights in order to use them. Whereas those of us here from launch did in fact have to buy the game in order to play it. We didn't get the luxury of "maybe this isn't for me" before we had already invested $30-$150 into the game.

 

His argument would be valid if the gym membership required that the first year's worth of customers purchased some dumbbells *for the gym*. He has created a rather flimsy strawman here.

[ekwalizer]

You would be surprised just how many people, fall for f2p/preferred type stuff and spend MORE money than they would if they subscribed.

 

Bioware has already stated that the cartel whales are subscribers. But a fool and his money are easily parted.

 

Not really - I have 3 ppl in my guild that are PREFERRED and still selling large number of items (including crates) of the CM.... In fact, I know that one of them recently purchased over 40K (forty thousands cartel money), still being preferred. This is multiple times more than I spend on yearly subscription, if I am not mistaken (too lazy to check real money value for that amount of CM)

 

I call shenanigans. How do you know they are preferred? How do you know they spent that much in CM coins? Moving that kind of weight is impossible with the credit limitations on non-Subscribers. Even with 40 characters and full storage unlocks, you'd be hard pressed indeed to hold the contents of that many crates.

 

Even if they didn't break the hypercrates, that is still about 174 crates or 7 hypercrates unbroken. Hypercrates sold for like 7 mil on JC last I checked. Preferred can't hold that kind of cash.

 

But for the sake of argument, let's assume for a moment that what you say is true. That is just one person who has cracked the code on making Preferred tolerable. Now take into account the multi-millions of credits it took this person to buy all the unlocks before going Preferred, or the cash it took to buy the CM unlocks.

 

I don't know if the credit escrow transfer tokens stack, but if they do it would cost $20 to build up a limit of 6 million credits. Just seems very unlikely anyone would spend that kind of RL money and not subscribe.

Edited January 12, 2016 by ekwalizer

[RiVaN_]

The arrogance is real

 

Truth^^

 

The reality is SWTOR would likely see a revenue increase if they removed some of the boundaries between prefered and a subscription. Like wearing moddable gear and access to guild resources.

 

SWTOR is hemorrhaging long term subscribers right now and $ is flying out the door, they need to stop the bleeding, not make d-bag decisions and push even more people out the door.

[LoverNoFighter]

Subscribers are the bread and butter to this game. It's only fair that they get a small thank you in the form of preferred status.

[Jedi_riches]

Actually the OP's analysis is floored, its more like a gym with 3 floors

 

1) On the first floor equipment that is free for all to use just turn up

2) On the second floor newer equipment plus some that's not available downstairs

3) On the third floor is a studio where the gym hold classes like spin classes etc

 

now a F2P member would only have a "fob" to access the first floor, a preferred member would have access to the first and second floor and paying members would have access to it all the other 2 can pay to do the occasional class which at that stage they too become preferred.

 

In my mind F2P is exactly right where it should be, I think that Preferred is still a little too restrictive though it needs to be more somewhere in between.

[QuinlanSaathis]

Actually the OP's analysis is floored, its more like a gym with 3 floors

 

1) On the first floor equipment that is free for all to use just turn up

2) On the second floor newer equipment plus some that's not available downstairs

3) On the third floor is a studio where the gym hold classes like spin classes etc

 

now a F2P member would only have a "fob" to access the first floor, a preferred member would have access to the first and second floor and paying members would have access to it all the other 2 can pay to do the occasional class which at that stage they too become preferred.

 

In my mind F2P is exactly right where it should be, I think that Preferred is still a little too restrictive though it needs to be more somewhere in between.

 

The analysis is not flawed (floored).

It assumes that Preferred has already been removed so there is no need to account for it in the analogy.

[LordArtemis]

I concur, Bioware has clearly indicated in the past that the "whales" were subscribers....not verbatim, but I believe that was the gist.

 

One thing to note however...that can mean two things IMO...either current subscribers are more loose with their money and this game generally breaks the market mold (the idea that F2P revenue is higher than subscriber revenue), or there is little incentive for F2P/preferred players to invest money in the game, so naturally subscriber purchases surpass F2P/Preferred with ease.

 

I would be interested in knowing which is the case.

[jedip_enguin]

gr8 b8 m8

[QuinlanSaathis]

A lot of you have missed my point entirely.

 

EA does not give a rats arse about rewarding players that no longer pay them monthly money. (Opinion but with a strong basis)

 

Take that out of the equation and what is the only reason left for the existence of Preferred status?

Preferred status is there to show ex-subs or other previous payers some of what they are missing in the hope they will resub or sub to gain what they are missing.

 

This is where I say it is a flawed concept because Preferred has too many rewards so players feel no compulsion to resub which also means the restrictions are not punishing players enough, once again "encouraging" them to resub.

 

If this had of been done at the start and just not created the Preferred status then players would have moaned about it but accepted it as that would be all they knew. Taking it away now will cause players to quit in spite and that is not what I am saying, I can see that happening very clearly.

 

My bottom line is preferred was flawed from the start and should never have existed. It fails in its job to encourage resubs and we all know EA, no one could possibly think that preferred is based on rewarding the player, where is the profit in that.

[OrthusAltrium]

A lot of you have missed my point entirely.

 

EA does not give a rats arse about rewarding players that no longer pay them monthly money. (Opinion but with a strong basis)

 

Take that out of the equation and what is the only reason left for the existence of Preferred status?

Preferred status is there to show ex-subs or other previous payers some of what they are missing in the hope they will resub or sub to gain what they are missing.

 

This is where I say it is a flawed concept because Preferred has too many rewards so players feel no compulsion to resub which also means the restrictions are not punishing players enough, once again "encouraging" them to resub.

 

If this had of been done at the start and just not created the Preferred status then players would have moaned about it but accepted it as that would be all they knew. Taking it away now will cause players to quit in spite and that is not what I am saying, I can see that happening very clearly.

 

My bottom line is preferred was flawed from the start and should never have existed. It fails in its job to encourage resubs and we all know EA, no one could possibly think that preferred is based on rewarding the player, where is the profit in that.

 

So the old point of view is that from an accountant at EA and not a passionate developer who doesn't want to play on human weakness or a players point of view? Because reading your post it seems very much driven by improving the bottom line instead of focusing on QoL for players.

[Dawnscar]

Preferred should not exist.

If you are no longer paying to support the game you are a F2P with no more perks than they get.

 

You are looking at it from the other end rather than the end I am speaking of.

 

You pay you are a sub with full rights

you do not pay you are F2P with limited rights

 

there should not be a "middle class"

 

im usually u know half decent on here but *** dude r u daft thats like a complete backwards step in modern gaming. so ur telling me when we BOUGHT the game we were...renting it?

[Rebamcfan]

I`ll just add my humble voice to this discussion: I`ve began this game as F2P, then i moved to subscription after playing the game for almost a year + the current expansion was coming and i wanted to play since i already had one character at level 55 (I own the physical copy which has never worked, but i used the subscription code to gain levels 51-55 ) After getting the KOtFE, i dropped my subscribtion since i don`t have any incomes to keep up the subscribtion. I do return to subscribe when new chapters are out. So i hope everyone understands that for some people, who don`t have afford to keep up continous subscribtion, the preferred status is actually kind of a good thing since it encourages them to subscribe once again. (Subscibed again yesterday after being preferred for 4 months to gain HK-55 and new chapter ) Edited January 13, 2016 by Rebamcfan

[SootyTX]

I`ll just add my humble voice to this discussion: I`ve began this game as F2P, then i moved to subscription after playing the game for almost a year + the current expansion was coming and i wanted to play since i already had one character at level 55 (I own the physical copy which has never worked, but i used the subscription code to gain levels 51-55 ) After getting the KOtFE, i dropped my subscribtion since i don`t have any incomes to keep up the subscribtion. I do return to subscribe when new chapters are out. So i hope everyone understands that for some people, who don`t have afford to keep up continous subscribtion, the preferred status is actually kind good thing since it encourages them to subscribe once again. (Sunscibed again yesterday after being preferred for 4 months to gain HK-55 and new chapter )

 

people with a clue understand exactly that

[BrienBear]

A lot of you have missed my point entirely.

 

EA does not give a rats arse about rewarding players that no longer pay them monthly money. (Opinion but with a strong basis)

 

Take that out of the equation and what is the only reason left for the existence of Preferred status?

Preferred status is there to show ex-subs or other previous payers some of what they are missing in the hope they will resub or sub to gain what they are missing.

 

This is where I say it is a flawed concept because Preferred has too many rewards so players feel no compulsion to resub which also means the restrictions are not punishing players enough, once again "encouraging" them to resub.

 

If this had of been done at the start and just not created the Preferred status then players would have moaned about it but accepted it as that would be all they knew. Taking it away now will cause players to quit in spite and that is not what I am saying, I can see that happening very clearly.

 

My bottom line is preferred was flawed from the start and should never have existed. It fails in its job to encourage resubs and we all know EA, no one could possibly think that preferred is based on rewarding the player, where is the profit in that.

 

Again, you have no proof, no facts to back any of this up. Do you have access to numbers we don't know about? Please post them for all to read. You have no clue if the "preferred" status is actually doing its job or not because you can't see into EA's pocketbooks.