SWTOR Free to Play ?

[SirRobin]

After server consolidations, everywhere is packed. Warzone queues are near instant and Planets are filled. A lot of the people subbed will most likely stay subbed since the wave of people leaving is evening out now. What you see is what you get. The F2P option is to attract people back to the game.

They waited way to long to open server transfers. Its a much better game when you can find other people to play with.

[Forsedar]

They waited way to long to open server transfers. Its a much better game when you can find other people to play with.

I do agree, and you can find tons of people to play with now after the server consolidations.

[Sidequests]

No idea, but at the time it failed F2P wasn't a proven successful strategy yet. As such, it probably wasn't any part of a backup plan. Probably is a red headed step child at this point and clearly the IP doesn't bring in anything or else it wouldn't have been so terrible.

A crap game is a crap game and unless 100% of your fanbase are blind fans....a crap game isnt going to do anything.
And DDO became f2p a year after WAR was released and LOTRO a year after that and i guess they ignored all the eastern F2P MMOs cause...you know... they are from there.

It's tremendously strange that this game was pretty much ignored in this aspect.

Infracted: Please post constructively. Posting "a crap game is a crap game" is not constructive and does not add to the conversation.

[Jalek]

There is one thing I'm kinda worried about though.
If many people opt for the free option, they will have very limited access to warzones and flashpoints, probably a few times per week.
After that they won't have access to them.
Which means that there will be fewer people queuing for warzones and flashpoints once the free players' times per week is over, the queues might get longer and would negatively impact the game, especially the paying customers. This problem may also snowball; because warzones/LFG/LFR are negatively impacted, subscribers feel they are not getting their money's worth, they also go for the free option, and then EA realizes there might be a problem and changes the rule again.
My worries might be unfounded if there's still insta-queue after the free option though.

For me personally, I've long unsubbed, but might come back to make other alts and play for free. I think many people have similar mentality. I'd imagine lowbie levels will be crawling with free players, but probably after Tuesday of each week, lowbie warzones would be dead.

But if it's F2P there will be more people in the queue in total, just individually less times per week.

[Deleted]

Cant wait for this to go f2p

[kenn9530]

how is this post been done for infractions?

it is his point of view that a crap game is a crap game?

the fact the the forum mod is a swtor player and clearly a big fan of the game, looking at his sig and avatar i belive that this is northing more than a abuse of power.

an infraction was more than well deserved, by all means you can say a game is crap but if you dont say why it is crap then thats not a constructive post and against the posting guidelines, the game is far from crap, ToR has the best leveling exp I have seen so far, very enjoyable PvP and im not one for PvP action, the OPs are coming along nicely, yes they were easy at first but denova has stepped up the difficulty very nicely so there is plenty to do in many areas and much more that can be developed.

If you arguing about endgame wows raids have been lackluster at best since WOTLK, the only decent fights in cata were sinestra and raggy hc pre nerf so the rest of the endgame is acheive hunting or PvP which I was not interested in.

Im not playing the game atm but when I get my new comp setup I will sub again for something else to play when im not in GW2.

The F2P model when implemented will bring in much more players to at least try it with a high chance of making just as much if not more revenue other than just the sub model.

[Repefe]

how is this post been done for infractions?

it is his point of view that a crap game is a crap game?

Do you want to read forum filled with posts like that one ? It reminds me of 12 year old who just learned new swear word and can't help but use it in every other sentence.

[Deleted]

an infraction was more than well deserved, by all means you can say a game is crap but if you dont say why it is crap then thats not a constructive post and against the posting guidelines, the game is far from crap, ToR has the best leveling exp I have seen so far, very enjoyable PvP and im not one for PvP action, the OPs are coming along nicely, yes they were easy at first but denova has stepped up the difficulty very nicely so there is plenty to do in many areas and much more that can be developed.

If you arguing about endgame wows raids have been lackluster at best since WOTLK, the only decent fights in cata were sinestra and raggy hc pre nerf so the rest of the endgame is acheive hunting or PvP which I was not interested in.

Im not playing the game atm but when I get my new comp setup I will sub again for something else to play when im not in GW2.

if the game wasnt crap then explain why it has lost over 1 million subs since launch? becuase its crap no other reason for it.

Cata is a crap xpac, reason it lost close to 3 millions sub since it was launched, becuase it started off to hard then blizzard nerfed it to the group upsetting both hardcore and casual gamers.

that is his opion that the game is crap, he also stated the reason about f2p games at the time war was launched. his post was in reply to someone else who said stuff about f2p games.

i just think this is over reaction from the mod. who clearly is a swtor fan

[kenn9530]

if the game wasnt crap then explain why it has lost over 1 million subs since launch? becuase its crap no other reason for it.

Cata is a crap xpac, reason it lost close to 3 millions sub since it was launched, becuase it started off to hard then blizzard nerfed it to the group upsetting both hardcore and casual gamers.

that is his opion that the game is crap, he also stated the reason about f2p games at the time war was launched. his post was in reply to someone else who said stuff about f2p games.

i just think this is over reaction from the mod. who clearly is a swtor fan

the loss in subs is not solely to the game itself, many long standing wow players have gotten bored/burntout of the traditional style MMO, yes the game wasn't perfect at launch but how can any game especially an MMO have everything it needs straight away, MMOs take time to develop the features that will improve the game even futher.

Also SWToR fits a niche playerbase, more players prefer fantasy rather than sci-fi genre and other factors also play apart in MMOs as in friends playing with you, if you dont have anyone to play with then it may not be as enjoyable, this game was also hyped up pretty bad so many players had way too high expectations.

Why dont you at least give your opinion on why the game is crap rather than just saying it is, a loss in subs doesnt mean a game is crap, it may have flaws that need to be ironed out but the game is still doing good and can only do better from now onwards.

[Deleted]

if the game wasnt crap then explain why it has lost over 1 million subs since launch? becuase its crap no other reason for it.

Because it didnt live up to peoples expectations does not means its crap.

games like rift lost like 50% of their subs within 6 months does this make it crap? no.

If you look at the trends of just about every mmo out theres (bar wow) theres a huge surge at the front then a dip as people leave, gaining subs year after year has only happened really to WoW, WoW is an exception and not a rule.

[Deleted]

the loss in subs is not solely to the game itself, many long standing wow players have gotten bored/burntout of the traditional style MMO, yes the game wasn't perfect at launch but how can any game especially an MMO have everything it needs straight away, MMOs take time to develop the features that will improve the game even futher.

That statement reeks of apologist, then the game WAS the reason they left. If they were tired of WoW why would they want a reskinned WoW without the quality of life features WoW has amongst other things? Just check the abilities and talent trees, people left because they did not see SWTOR as a good enough game to warrant paying for.

Also SWToR fits a niche playerbase, more players prefer fantasy rather than sci-fi genre and other factors also play apart in MMOs as in friends playing with you, if you dont have anyone to play with then it may not be as enjoyable, this game was also hyped up pretty bad so many players had way too high expectations.

I believe there are at least two threads of people detailing why they've unsubbed on the SWTOR forum, one maxed out and the other at over 300 replies, you'd be hard pressed to find people mentioning they only stopped playing because they don't have friend playing, people detailing excessive load times and bad performance etc. are plentiful however. And no, expecting a product to be of equal of better quality than product already out, especially so similar, is not having "way too high expectations". Being expected to suck it up and pay monthly for a game just wait for them to bring it up to date is more of an insult than anything.

but the game is still doing good and can only do better from now onwards.

I'm sorry but NOTHING could be further from the truth, they've lost over half their playerbase in less than a year, the fact that they were extremely vague about their actual sub numbers and even dodged a question only to quickly hang up on an investor that wanted clarification and F2P are clear signs of how bad the state of the game is. When they don't even want to clarify on the sub numbers it's looooow.

If you look at the trends of just about every mmo out theres (bar wow) theres a huge surge at the front then a dip as people leave, gaining subs year after year has only happened really to WoW, WoW is an exception and not a rule.

How wrong you are, check MMOdata, please, do it and stop trying to make up excuses for SWTORs failure, and yes before any paladin mod brings his zeal, EA themselves call it a "disappointment", I'm sure they used up the largest gaming budget in history only to have less than half their playerbase left in less than a year and go F2P, it's all according to their plan. Failure is exactely what it is if you look at it with any sort of logical thought.

[Crysis]

if the game wasnt crap then explain why it has lost over 1 million subs since launch? becuase its crap no other reason for it.

Cata is a crap xpac, reason it lost close to 3 millions sub since it was launched, becuase it started off to hard then blizzard nerfed it to the group upsetting both hardcore and casual gamers.

that is his opion that the game is crap, he also stated the reason about f2p games at the time war was launched. his post was in reply to someone else who said stuff about f2p games.

i just think this is over reaction from the mod. who clearly is a swtor fan

You say it as some sort of fact yet it won the award for best MMORPG in 2011 and most of all the reviews it has received are rating it with 8-9/10. So keep your pretty opinion to yourself or learn to express it as an opinion and not a fact.

I'm sorry but NOTHING could be further from the truth, they've lost over half their playerbase in less than a year, the fact that they were extremely vague about their actual sub numbers and even dodged a question only to quickly hang up on an investor that wanted clarification and F2P are clear signs of how bad the state of the game is. When they don't even want to clarify on the sub numbers it's looooow.

I think that hundreds of thousands players who are playing the game to this day would like a word with you. You may try as hard as you want to make it look like it's a major failure but the reality is that the game IS doing fine and WILL do better in the future.

The passion in bashing the game and hating it on almost every level possible is too damn high!

[vizzle]

how is this post been done for infractions?

it is his point of view that a crap game is a crap game?

the fact the the forum mod is a swtor player and clearly a big fan of the game, looking at his sig and avatar i belive that this is northing more than a abuse of power.

Yes we should have forum moderators who don't know anything about the game. That sounds like a great idea.

[Applenazi]

Keeping 500K subscribers is a real bitch I hear.

Infracted: Please do not post something that clearly does not add to the thread.

[Deleted]

You say it as some sort of fact yet it won the award for best MMORPG in 2011 and most of all the reviews it has received are rating it with 8-9/10. So keep your pretty opinion to yourself or learn to express it as an opinion and not a fact.

The opinions of the many many many subscribers, that are no more speak louder. And you want me to show you proof of EA manipulation of reviews? It's easily done if you want to see it.

I think that hundreds of thousands players who are playing the game to this day would like a word with you. You may try as hard as you want to make it look like it's a major failure but the reality is that the game IS doing fine and WILL do better in the future.

The passion in bashing the game and hating it on almost every level possible is too damn high!

I think the many times larger amount of players that left the game (700k in the first quarter alone) would like a word with you. The signs of it being a failure are everywhere to be seen by anyone not sticking their head into the sand, and sticking your head into the sand won't make it better. You expect me to believe a truly MASSIVE loss of subs for the biggest budget in history leading to it going F2P in less than a year despite the people behind the game defending the subscription model several times and proclaiming it superior and the publisher giving unspecific numbers for subscription count and hanging up on a guy who wants more specific numbers are signs of the game doing good? Because that is exactely what you're saying it looks like.

[Hostagecat]

That statement reeks of apologist, then the game WAS the reason they left. If they were tired of WoW why would they want a reskinned WoW without the quality of life features WoW has amongst other things? Just check the abilities and talent trees, people left because they did not see SWTOR as a good enough game to warrant paying for.


I believe there are at least two threads of people detailing why they've unsubbed on the SWTOR forum, one maxed out and the other at over 300 replies, you'd be hard pressed to find people mentioning they only stopped playing because they don't have friend playing, people detailing excessive load times and bad performance etc. are plentiful however. And no, expecting a product to be of equal of better quality than product already out, especially so similar, is not having "way too high expectations". Being expected to suck it up and pay monthly for a game just wait for them to bring it up to date is more of an insult than anything.



I'm sorry but NOTHING could be further from the truth, they've lost over half their playerbase in less than a year, the fact that they were extremely vague about their actual sub numbers and even dodged a question only to quickly hang up on an investor that wanted clarification and F2P are clear signs of how bad the state of the game is. When they don't even want to clarify on the sub numbers it's looooow.



How wrong you are, check MMOdata, please, do it and stop trying to make up excuses for SWTORs failure, and yes before any paladin mod brings his zeal, EA themselves call it a "disappointment", I'm sure they used up the largest gaming budget in history only to have less than half their playerbase left in less than a year and go F2P, it's all according to their plan. Failure is exactely what it is if you look at it with any sort of logical thought.

I guess you missed a little game called EVE which never captured any huge market share, in fact its launch was very quiet but has managed to grow and expand on word of mouth. See games can exist and make a profit and not hold huge amounts of subscribers.

Also i think you also missed the numerous posts about how much of a gold mine Free to Play games are, hence the reason so many games that were subscriber based have switched over to F2P or to a hybrid model. See people tend to pay more than they would with a subscription. Hence the reason its becoming the standard. Its just EA grubbing for more money.

Until they turn off the access to the servers a game isnt dead, there are plenty of games that have gone free to play and have grown. Do you want a list...

So again till they shut the servers down this game isnt FAIL!!!!

[kenn9530]

That statement reeks of apologist, then the game WAS the reason they left. If they were tired of WoW why would they want a reskinned WoW without the quality of life features WoW has amongst other things? Just check the abilities and talent trees, people left because they did not see SWTOR as a good enough game to warrant paying for.

Most players are too used to the carebear features that WoW has implemented, players are just to impatient and lazy, thats the only reason players are leaving, WoW was launched at a perfect time where MMO players were looking for something different but looking back to Vanilla it was not really that good, TBC is where subs in WoW started to leap upwards, ToR is more than worth the money you pay for, I paid 50 bucks for D3 and got around a few hundred hours gameplay out of it and you dont see me complaining with the lack of replayability, if ToR gives you at least 40-50 hours gameplay for just the box price and leveling to 50 which is more than worth that.

I believe there are at least two threads of people detailing why they've unsubbed on the SWTOR forum, one maxed out and the other at over 300 replies, you'd be hard pressed to find people mentioning they only stopped playing because they don't have friend playing, people detailing excessive load times and bad performance etc. are plentiful however. And no, expecting a product to be of equal of better quality than product already out, especially so similar, is not having "way too high expectations". Being expected to suck it up and pay monthly for a game just wait for them to bring it up to date is more of an insult than anything.

Excessive loading times are mainly due to players with low spec comps like myself which was severely underpowered but I still managed to play it, the forums only represent a small minority of which are mainly only saying the negative things about a game whereas the majority remain silent. ToR had a few bugs here and there but none were gamebreaking just annoying, ToR is more than equal quality for gameplay, I prefer the way the classes work rather than WoW and the OPs are more interesting along with a much better leveling experience, I hate leveling but I enjoyed it and this is one area where you cant say is bad and covers the box price and more.

I'm sorry but NOTHING could be further from the truth, they've lost over half their playerbase in less than a year, the fact that they were extremely vague about their actual sub numbers and even dodged a question only to quickly hang up on an investor that wanted clarification and F2P are clear signs of how bad the state of the game is. When they don't even want to clarify on the sub numbers it's looooow.

WoW has lost more than 3 million subs in 3 months, considering a 50/50 split in east and west meaning around 5 mill in the west and 4.1 million in the east and there is probably less in the west, the east only gives blizzard less than 10% of the revenue so blizzard is relying on mainly 5 million subs at most for 90% of the total revenue for WoW, MoP may bring some of that 3 million back but with what they are bringing I can see the numbers dropping back down by next quarter.

How wrong you are, check MMOdata, please, do it and stop trying to make up excuses for SWTORs failure, and yes before any paladin mod brings his zeal, EA themselves call it a "disappointment", I'm sure they used up the largest gaming budget in history only to have less than half their playerbase left in less than a year and go F2P, it's all according to their plan. Failure is exactely what it is if you look at it with any sort of logical thought.

ToR cost around 80-120million max and within 6 months they have already made that money back and more so anymore is profit from the 6 month point, the playerbase is just slightly less than 1 million at this point so it is nowhere near a failure, F2P is going to be the standard pretty soon anyway as a good majority of the playerbase want this model but so long as it still has an optional sub model in play I am all for it. I could see WoW possibly bringing a similar F2P model in the not to near future.

I admit the game has not done amazing but its still a good game and I much prefer it to WoW anyday and I played since vanilla along with being a realm first raider from end of uld onwards till that fail dragon soul raid which bore the hell out of me to finally quit my WoW habbit.

[Deleted]

I guess you missed a little game called EVE which never captured any huge market share, in fact its launch was very quiet but has managed to grow and expand on word of mouth. See games can exist and make a profit and not hold huge amounts of subscribers.

I think I also missed the note where EVE was the biggest gaming budget to date numbering into hundreds of millions, did I miss that note? If so can I see it?

Also i think you also missed the numerous posts about how much of a gold mine Free to Play games are, hence the reason so many games that were subscriber switch over. See people tend to pay more than they would with a subscription. Hence the reason its becoming the standard. Its just EA grubbing for more money.

Until they turn off the access to the servers a game isnt dead, there are plenty of games that have gone free to play and have grown. Do you want a list...

So again till they shut the servers down this game isnt FAIL!!!!

Sub games don't go F2P unless they're failing, period. Show me proof of people tending to pay more than they would with a sub and that it isn't just the influx of more people please, I'll be waiting, a long time I'll bet. And your list of F2P games that have grown, did you for example know that LOTRO is back at pre F2P levels now? F2P does not fix the problems that made people leave to begin with, it's band aid on a severed artery, just like the massive server merges proved to be instead of the long term fix some hailed it as.

[Alvito]

You say it as some sort of fact yet it won the award for best MMORPG in 2011 and most of all the reviews it has received are rating it with 8-9/10. So keep your pretty opinion to yourself or learn to express it as an opinion and not a fact.

It was called game of the year when it was out for a week durring that year and this title was given by a site known to basically hand out these ratings to ppl that give them exclusive access. The review system is obviously broken or the player base doesn't care about the same thing if such a highly rated game can fail to retain 2/3s of the ppl that bought the game in just over a half year window.

[Theronus]

Man! The wow fanboys are on fire today!