Free-to-Play and Preferred Player Adjustments

[TrixxieTriss]

But the problem is how they have preferred set up right now. You can go preferred by buying one item out of the cartel shop (and that can cost $5) and you are then preferred. To me that is not preferred. A preferred person should be a person that had at least had a sub for xx amount of time (4-6 months) and they are preferred, not by buying an item from the cartel shop.

 

As far as everything else it might be okay, (not a pvp player lol). I just have a problem with the way preferred is set up.

 

They could add another bracket called preferred plus+ which would distinguish between preferred players which have subbed and preferred players who’ve only purchased off the CM

Edited June 21, 2019 by TrixxieTriss

[SentinelSoldier]

It took them this long just to make these minor changes? Subscriptions is dying meta which is why the game is so slow to grow but quick to shrink.

[Damask_Rose]

I do have a question for people who have previously obtained an additional quickbar, will they also receive this additional qucikbar? So for example Preferred currently have four, then have purchased an additional one so now have 5, will this addition mean they will have six.

 

Also what will happen with existing purchases medical probes and quick travel passes after once these changes are implemented?

 

When I dropped down to preferred not too long ago I bought 2 quick bars so I could keep all 6 and not have to rearrange skills. I will be pleasantly surprised if they refund me the purchase price of one since it will be obsolete. (Unless subscribers will now be able to have 7...) I expect the probes and passes will be converted into credits since they aren't unlocks.

 

That said, there has been very little reason for me, as a story player, to stay subscribed for, and now there will be even less. There is nothing over 1 million I want to buy and Command Ranks will be completely pointless. Unless they put in some decent subscriber rewards I might as well drop down to preferred again until Onslaught comes out.

[lightSaberAddiCt]

I am actually glad they are doing this. Now they can see the how ungrateful and entitled some people are. Bring up credit rate and other features...."IT'S NOT ENOUGH WE WANT MOOOORE! WE SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO EVERYTHING FOR FREE"

 

Translation to them doing these changes, the population is dropping off a cliff, and with the whole SNAFU of Anthem they are praying for anything.

[stockmks]

Here's another sub perk idea:

 

- Double xp on weekends (or some kind of tokens for 24 hours of it on demand).

- All the current progression buffs.

 

I guess bioware are stuck with a hard time selling story content because of the connected progression. Maybe sell the heroics going forward? Actually making heroics sub only could be an interesting idea in replacement for getting rid of the restrictions. It was the heroics that caused the damage in the first place.

 

Buffing the sub Id still suggest as the high ground, given skeleton crew production levels. Eso has already chopped off swtors arms and legs yet people are constantly coming back because wow is dead.

[Blakinik]

I got to ask - what benefit is there to stay subbed other than not have to deal with limitations? I know you get CC, but could get that if I just did the same every 6 months like I do now.

 

I not opposed to F2P and Pref players getting increases and making the game more attractive (raises the player base after all), just seems like Bio is yo-yoing again with the pendulum going the way of F2P favorable only to have that rubber band snap and the nerf hammer come swingin' a year down the road as the sub pop drops dangerously low again.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to propose Bioware develop some sub reward program. Not some "stay subbed by X date to get free stuff" sub reward program, but one that counts days subbed. Have gates or choices for rewards (maybe even something that isn't a reskin or dress up barbie but adds a slight advantage in PvE or similar) which favors people to stay subbed. Additionally it solves the "oops your sub wasn't continuous due too a bank error for 2 days" issues that seem to happen whenever there is a term limitation award being offered. Heck even offering the HK story as a sub reward in this I think everyone could get behind (assuming its not like 90 days in or some low hurdle).

 

 

Blak

[TrixxieTriss]

because wow is dead.

 

LoL, WoW is dead... but still has 10+ x more players than ESO and swtor combined, you could probably add Gw2 and all 3 wouldn’t have as many players as WoW.

 

Just because players are leaving the game or are annoyed at the current path it’s on, doesn’t mean it’s dead. I bet EA and Bioware wished they had half of what WoW has,

[Jesira]

LoL, WoW is dead... but still has 10+ x more players than ESO and swtor combined, you could probably add Gw2 and all 3 wouldn’t have as many players as WoW.

 

Just because players are leaving the game or are annoyed at the current path it’s on, doesn’t mean it’s dead. I bet EA and Bioware wished they had half of what WoW has,

 

I would love it if SW:TOR had half of that, too. SW:TOR is one of my favorite games and I wish it would continue to be a successful and worthwhile game for BioWare/EA to continue to support but their F2P model is not good compared to a lot of other games and if they don't fix it, the game may die out much sooner than it needs to. I believe many of the suggestions in this thread would go a long way in improving things for the game in that way, because as it stands the game is not very "friendly" for F2P or even preferred players. I really don't think UI/functionality should be restricted in any way, and being a subscriber should come with a lot of perks, but they should be about convenience and certain kinds of discounts. Preferred should require that you be a former subscriber and not just have spent 5 dollars in the store, and should grant a "2nd" tier of convenience and discounts, while F2P means everything is full price (for example I mean things like having to pay for using the character customization terminal with cartel coins at full price, preferred at half price, and premium/subscribers for free or just credits.)

Edited June 21, 2019 by Jesira

[ImmortalLowlife]

So nothing for subscribers? I mean, preferred is starting to look decent (especially if one does not "end game" but is an altaholic)....

 

That's my thought at seeing this.... While I don't mind giving f2p/ preferred more incentive to just play the game, what about subs? I've been subbed nearly since launch. I play solo and mainly just roll alt after alt (so preferred would suit my play style just fine) I sub because I wanna support a game I enjoy. Are there any plans on making maintaining a sub more attractive?

[merovejec]

This will cause an influx of credit bots and the like. Won’t it?

 

The thing here is that the game is not that popular for this kind of business anymore. All exploits have been fixed, there are no chests or other things to farm. There are only a small number of repetitive actions available to make credits but they are very slow.

 

The biggest issue now is the raiders selling credits to credit sellers. Anyway the business is not that lucrative anymore since the games popularity decline. If you go the the websites you will see that you can buy billions for silly real money amounts now.

 

As for the changes they are great and very welcome! This can attract new players who will try the game, increase warzone pops, FPS pops and much more.

[merovejec]

You might as well give the whole game away for free. I know with the amount of time I play now, that I would unsub and go preferred if all of that was included.

 

Yeah, Bioware was generous in this case, there is no need for further adjusments, the suggested limits are fine.

[Celise]

Well, it is a start in the right direction for F2P'ers and pref players as well, but it doesn't answer if these two subscription groups will ever gain access to Operations ever again though. It is all well and good lifting the ceiling or removing it for those groups, but since GR is now an optional, it is no longer the all emcompassing rot that held the subscribers from the other groups. I figured that those groups would regain access to operations again by special passes once more, or just one a week.

[BoySaber]

Good idea with poor results. It is not enough, not even close. Swtor is not f2p game. It is game with one of the biggest free trials: level 50 with core game content. Should not advertise or be called f2p. F2P is game that offers all content unlocked to every player. How fast you earn the rewards is measured between your account status.

 

Premium/Sub account should earn credits/currencies/xp/cxp/rep/gsf/valor at normal rate with twice faster on weekends and 1000 cartel coins a month and everything costs normal.

Preferred accounts should earn credits/currencies/xp/cxp/rep/gsf/valor twice slower/more than Premium/Sub (Preferred should be ex Sub 15$ minimum, not 5$) and all costs in game are increased by 50% (vendors, rep vendors, appearance changer etc).

F2P account should earn credits/currencies/xp/cxp/rep/gsf/valor three times slower/more than Premium/Sub and all costs in game are increased by 100% (vendors, rep vendors, appearance changer etc).

 

There should be no restrictions to content, gear, crew skills, credits cap (please punish gold sellers/spammers, not your player base), or something as ridiculous as basic user interface such is quickbars. Warzones, Flashpoints, Operations not even to mention how stale queues became without a premade especially if you are a dps. And the subs who desire things to be locked to Pref/F2P only harm themselves, us, the subs, because subs don't have with who to play anymore. You should help this game get more players, not elite yourself to few of first class travelers, because you are not losing anything by having more people play the game, and if you like other account status more, you can always change. Expansions content should still require 1 month sub to unlock it.

[FlameYOL]

Interesting and helpful changes, I do hope you guys also consider bringing back operation passes.

[casirabit]

You might as well give the whole game away for free. I know with the amount of time I play now, that I would unsub and go preferred if all of that was included.

 

Well Trixxie, you did notice who is doing most of the complaining, right? Subs so it would seem that is what they want. They want the benefits a sub has without having to pay.

[istvana]

As always the people that pay nothing complain that they do not get enough for having paid nothing.

 

And although some preferred players spend real money many spend essentially nothing just to move up to preferred - they too feel that they do not get enough for their one short subscription years ago or their one purchase.

 

By narrowing the gap between those who pay to support the game and those who do not SWTOR is only encouraging subscribers to become preferred. Some benefit to subscription should be added to counterbalance this ( I agree that the increase in credit limit is merely a reflection of the changed economy and does not call for any new benefit to subscribers but the other freebies given to preferred and f2p are real).

[BoySaber]

As always the people that pay nothing complain that they do not get enough for having paid nothing.

Those who have paid nothing cannot complain. Not even preferred can post. The only people who can post here to complain are those who are subs, who are paying. Because we want healthier player base, from 120 servers down to 5, it says something that this business model is heavily flawed. Swtor has lost over 90% of subs since the launch, and subs stopped being main source of money to the company long ago, we are just supplementary resource now for years. Attempt with passes removal and galatic command was attempt to increase number of subs which in the end led to yet another server merge after loss of players.

 

We need to be more friendly towards preferred and f2p players so we can have who to play game with in future. To encourage them to sub, not punish them for not subing. Expansions are good encouragement but it needs more, subs needs to feel worth at same time while not cutting out of the game the preferred and f2p players. Players wont come back to game just because now they have room to slot their pets and mounts on a quickbar ...

Edited June 21, 2019 by BoySaber

[sharkfishman]

As always the people that pay nothing complain that they do not get enough for having paid nothing.

 

And although some preferred players spend real money many spend essentially nothing just to move up to preferred - they too feel that they do not get enough for their one short subscription years ago or their one purchase.

 

By narrowing the gap between those who pay to support the game and those who do not SWTOR is only encouraging subscribers to become preferred. Some benefit to subscription should be added to counterbalance this ( I agree that the increase in credit limit is merely a reflection of the changed economy and does not call for any new benefit to subscribers but the other freebies given to preferred and f2p are real).

 

This is true, and I think distinguishing people who sub for a long time/spend hundreds of dollars on CM items, etc. should be acknowledged. However, there's always a find line between enticing players to play and pay and reducing the attractiveness of subbing.

 

The best choice is based on data that we really don't have. Making the game more attractive to f2p players and providing benefits for making purchases (5$ is a joke though) can be a great idea for population, though since WZs and other group-heavy content is off-limits anyway, that may not be the devs' aim with this. Why attract more players if they can't add to the queues for your subscribers anyway?

 

Note: I'm not saying f2p or prems should have increased access to wzs or OPs, since that might go too far under the current model. Just saying that the current model may not be very effective for dealing with population issues. However, Bioware has the data to know what they're trying to do and how it's working.

[sharkfishman]

Those who have paid nothing cannot complain. Not even preferred can post. The only people who can post here to complain are those who are subs, who are paying. Because we want healthier player base, from 120 servers down to 5, it says something that this business model is heavily flawed. Swtor has lost over 90% of subs since the launch, and subs stopped being main source of money to the company long ago, we are just supplementary resource now for years. Attempt with passes removal and galatic command was attempt to increase number of subs which in the end led to yet another server merge after loss of players.

 

I don't know why people keep saying this. Can you see my posts? I've been preferred for the last two weeks (going on vacation soon, so doesn't make sense to sub this month or next). Maybe there's a grace period or something, lol.

 

Also, are there any sources for those magical numbers you pull out of thin air?

[BoySaber]

I don't know why people keep saying this. Can you see my posts? I've been preferred for the last two weeks (going on vacation soon, so doesn't make sense to sub this month or next). Maybe there's a grace period or something, lol.

 

Also, are there any sources for those magical numbers you pull out of thin air?

 

Because it's true? You are still premium player. Attempting to post with a preferred or f2p account pops this message: "- Forum posting is limited to Subscribers of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Become a Subscriber today! http://www.swtor.com/buy" I can see your post. If there is a grace period I would not be aware of it, never attempted to post as soon as sub period ended.

 

You can see the number of the servers at official server status link https://www.swtor.com/server-status. If you have been around since the start, you can compare the number of the servers they started with, to how many they have today. If not you can see this screenshot, I believe it to be accurate (209 servers?)

As for the number of subs status, currently there are 95k subs, and at launch it had over one million, so that's about 90% loss. Sources are wiki and mmo population

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Old_Republic

https://mmo-population.com/r/swtor

 

Now if you have also been active for many years, you could have experience the feel of decrease in everything, stories fusing from class to faction to today 1 story. Servers merging, game getting f2p model because subs cannot maintain it, the traffic on the forums compared to then and today, the personal experience (my own at least) makes me believe the sources to be correct and that we cannot expect better results by repeating same way over and over.

 

If there are sources and experiences that oppose this I would like to hear about them.

Edited June 21, 2019 by BoySaber

[Mubrak]

Swtor's flaw is that F2P exists in that bubble separate from subs, even worse now after 4.0.

 

F2P should pay by being content for subs, so the subs are happy and stay subbed. Keep up the restrictions on level and post 1.0 story, but let the f2p play bolstered endgame content. If they can play some endgame content with subs they may be more inclined to sub themselves, and even if they don't, their participation will improve GF pops.

 

A reasonable credit cap for F2P can be estimated by the expected CC to credits ratio for unlocks intended for F2P.

Are you willing to trade 600-700cc unlocks (like a species or the going places bundle) for 1 million credits?

No? Then what do YOU think would be a fair price? This amount ought to be the credit cap for F2P.

 

When F2P could take part in the GTN economy again, BW could just as well return the ops and wz passes. They used to work back when a sub was fine with selling a 240cc pass for 350k credits. The F2P could play in endgame, the sub got more players in endgame and 350k each week, and BW had a happy sub that spent 240cc per week.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Mubrak

[Xina_LA]

I love this and I love the idea of attracting new players.

 

However, Bioware needs to fix the bugs affecting systems that new players are going to encounter early on.

 

Otherwise, they're going to decide this game is sloppy and broken and leave as quick as they come.

That's what happened when I invited my friends here from a different MMO.

 

Auction house drop-downs that don't work right or do nothing...

Learning new mounts creates two entries in your quickbar...

Gaining a level sometimes automatically puts a new skill in your quickbar, mostly not...

Preview window for decorations that always shows the wrong item on the first search...

You get the idea.

 

I think as veteran players we're so used to the work-arounds that we forget how many there are, and how frustrating and mystifying it can be to play before you learn them.

 

We also need to be able to send mail with attachments to F2P players.

You want to make a new player feel welcome? Send them a packet of pets, mounts, fun cosmetics, and a cool lightsaber.

Edited June 21, 2019 by Xina_LA

[IoNonSoEVero]

I think these are great changes (although I am confused about the Quick Travel one- I recently dropped down to Preferred for a few months and I never had any issues using QT anywhere). Letting F2P and Preferred participate more in the game economy is a good thing. As they said in their article, 350K might have been reasonable years ago, but it buys very little now.

 

I agree that fixing some of the most prominent bugs is a must, though. When I played through the IA story for the first time I hit so many game-breaking bugs that customer service had to advance my character at least four times. I was subbed at the time. If that had been the first story I'd tried as a F2P I would have been really frustrated.

[battycoda]

Meh, I know people who refuse to sub but will spend far more than $14.95 on CC a month to open boxes. Just because someone doesn't sub doesn't mean they are freeloading since if they spend just 2500 CC a month, they have paid more than a sub. There is a pair of blasters on sale for 25% off right now and the sale price is 3825 CC. You'd have to spend $40 to get a coin package that will buy them. That's hardly freeloading.

[battycoda]

Those who have paid nothing cannot complain. Not even preferred can post. The only people who can post here to complain are those who are subs, who are paying. Because we want healthier player base, from 120 servers down to 5, it says something that this business model is heavily flawed. Swtor has lost over 90% of subs since the launch, and subs stopped being main source of money to the company long ago, we are just supplementary resource now for years. Attempt with passes removal and galatic command was attempt to increase number of subs which in the end led to yet another server merge after loss of players.

 

We need to be more friendly towards preferred and f2p players so we can have who to play game with in future. To encourage them to sub, not punish them for not subing. Expansions are good encouragement but it needs more, subs needs to feel worth at same time while not cutting out of the game the preferred and f2p players. Players wont come back to game just because now they have room to slot their pets and mounts on a quickbar ...

 

Nah, they keep track of how much you spend on the game each month. It's on your account page. People who spend nothing should get the gimped play. People who spend more than a sub should not. They don't need to change what the free and preferred get. They need to add a "you paid enough to have bought a sub" tier that is fully unlocked for the month that the player bought as much in CC as a sub paid in premium. "Pay Your Way" I think they call it these days - either a sub or in the store.