New endlevel gearing and F2P/Prefs

[Drake_Averrod]

I am sorry if there is already a dedicated thread to this topic but I didn't see one.

 

Please reconsider the changes to how gear is accessed. I am not free to play and I have not been ever since my first character was like level 20. I am also not considering to turn pref any time soon.

 

However, it was my belief that turning this game into f2p was a move so all the subs have someone to play with. You have the subs paying for it and you have the f2p/prefs so the subs aren't alone. This worked somewhat well in the past as a pref could be geared but only needed an ops pass to participate.

 

All is anecdotal I know. But I know of a few people who are not subs who simply can't afford it because of their real life situation. We (as in guild) would buy them an Ops-pass (either gtn or cartell) and they would pay us back. Now these players will have less then great gear even if we want them with us. They will be less usefull than a sub would be.

 

While I understand that this is considered a move to entice people to sub, I also belive that this is a bad one. If we want to enjoy this game as an MMO we need people playing it. the F2P/Pref system is already restrictive but it gives us players that can do the content with us Subs. This game could not survive with a sub only system and now as far as endgame goes the subscription has become a requirement.

 

This simply makes no sense to me. As far as I can tell SWTOR is not busting with suscribers. Being virtually unable to participate in endgame PVE content will possibly make some suscribe (the cheapskates who like the game but do not want to pay) but it will drive all others away. I do not see Bioware winning with this. Even if they are cheap. They give me a pop for flashpoints or pvp or gsf. And the wait for pops is already long enough. Since this game can not live of Subs only it needs the f2p/prefs. It needs people allowing the subs to play. The changes to endgame gear do not.

 

Edit: Imo this only tries to entice people who see to little content in the game to stay subbed. However it also pushes away all our group fillers. THe only thing that will make people truly stay subbed or make them subbed is content. This however seems like a bad attempt to keep some, while completely ignoring the loss of others which are vital to this game, even if they don't pay a dime.

Edited October 18, 2016 by Drake_Averrod

[SteveTheCynic]

Small observation: without the relatively expensive Artifact Authorization, pref and f2p accounts will even now be less able to participate in end-game content, especially when you move into content without bolster, since 208+ crystal gear and Ops token gear both require ArtAuth, as does WZ Comms PvP gear in either 204 or 208.