Micro-transactions...ace up their sleeve?

[Littleshashi]

So I'm falling asleep last night thinking about SWTOR, and how I'd really like to get my character's hair cut because the white mohawk only sounded like a cool idea at the time, when a thought occurred to me:

Why, exactly, did a 100 million dollar MMORPG launch in 2011 with no UI customization, no addons, no barber shop, tattoo parlor, etc? Are they really planning to add these features in a future patch? Or did they withhold a bunch of little extras while they see how their subscription model works out for them, and if it tanks, they go free-to-play with microtransaction addons and customizations?

Does anyone here play a microtransaction game? What kinds of things do you find yourself buying? What would work well for SWTOR?

[Deleted]

I highly doubt they will drop the subscription model. Highly doubt it.

As for microtransaction games. Well, I suppose the major one I can think of at the top of my head is League of Legends.
In which case I do not mind it at all, as it is mostly cosmetic and you can't directly buy power (You could speed up the gain of it by getting runes, sure, but I don't think it's very significant)

Anyway, as long as it's cosmetic I don't really see an issue. Providing they do drop the subscription model. But I highly doubt they will anytime soon, that is just silly. I think Blizzard is pretty scummy when it comes to their microtransactions in WoW though.

[Lagwin]

Almost all micro transaction games are free to play ones, Blizz manages to get away with both but i would suspect that they have lost subs because of what they have so far(though not many) and would loose more if the went all out on micro transactions, if SW:TOR were to use them i would hope it was for vanity stuff and didn't impact the game

[Deleted]

Bioware and EA are taking a very "low risk" approach when it comes to SWTOR.

While I wouldn't put micro-transactions past them (especially not for server transfers etc.) I think they'll try and keep them as non-intrusive as possible. Intrusive MT would just enrage a lot of the player base.

As for the lack of such features. There are many such features that SWTOR lacks. But I don't think it's out of neglect. They simply had to draw a line at some point and ship their product. While I wish SWTOR were a little more progressive in some regards, I don't expect it to have all the comfort features WoW accumulated throughout its 7 year design period.

[Littleshashi]

I suppose I should clarify that I meant microtransactions as a replacement for subscriptions, not on top of them. That would definitely piss everyone off.

I think it's a big topic since it's the one big cloud hanging over their otherwise superb game: will people pay to play it?

[Tharkkun]

I suppose I should clarify that I meant microtransactions as a replacement for subscriptions, not on top of them. That would definitely piss everyone off.

I think it's a big topic since it's the one big cloud hanging over their otherwise superb game: will people pay to play it?

You'll know in 3 weeks when the cc's start being charged.

[Kisuro]

I've no doubt they'll roll out micro-transactions sooner or later. The thing is, as long as it's just convenience or vanity stuff (pretty much the WoW model) I'm not really bothered. It's when you can actually get an advantage in game by paying real chash is when I get annoyed.

[ZeroEdgeir]

I agree that as long as it is in the realm of what WoW has done, it matters very little. Race changes aren't even needed, since racials are social, not combative. Class change: Just no.
Server Transfer, I can accept fine.
Faction Change: No thanks, is a gateway to imbalancing servers (cause it sure hasn't fixed some WoW servers, like it was intended to. But free transfers tothose servers won't even fix em).
Vanity pets and such? Sure, why not.
Character customization (ie: Barber shop): Just put it in game, don't make people pay for something so small.

As someone above said: It doesn't have everything WoW (or some other MMOs) do, cause they had to draw the line to release the damn thing.
UI Improvements are incoming (including eventual customization and mod development).
Comments have been made elsewhere about the lack of a combat log: They were having very buggy issues with it in Beta, hence it was disabled til they can fix it. Not the end of the f'in world. Frankly, it's NICE not to have numbers be all that matters. We are back in a time where "Did we kill it? Did everyone participate? Good! Anything we can learn for the next time?"

A micro-transaction-dependant model (like LOTRO, DDO, DCUO, etc) is not terribly fun to me. The game becomes flooded VERY quickly with a large playerbase that won't ever touch them (cause they are like 10-15 years old, have no money of their own, and obviously no credit card, and can't get what they want justified to mommy/daddy). I'd rather the subscription model stay put. It is a bit of a filter for the community.

[Littleshashi]

I'd rather the subscription model stay put. It is a bit of a filter for the community.

I want to agree with that concept...but WoW community isn't exactly a model of maturity these days. And it's still 15 bucks a month.

[Doombringer]

When developing SWTOR, they said to themselves: how many 'current' features can we leave out of the game and save for patches/expansions while still providing an enjoyable product?

And so, some features were 'saved' -- not necessarily 'cut' but held back for future implementation. Of course, some of these might have also been delayed because of development 'crunch time' as well, or that the feature required further iteration to make it a rewarding addition.

I'm sure we'll see a 'barber shop' in the game eventually. I bet we'll see 'character recustomization' as well -- renaming, gender change, etc. They could make a 'faction change' into a 'defection' and actually have it be part of the story, even ("you're that famed Trooper, finally come to our side, hmm? Traded all those accolades for life as a Bounty Hunter")... something WoW neglected to exploit.

[Shadylol]

Probably, but I hope not; still, it's a strong likelihood

If they ever add microtransactions for anything other than vanity pets/mounts/etc. (like WoW), I'll be cancelling my sub immediately... if it's still open anyway

[stumpy]

I suppose I should clarify that I meant microtransactions as a replacement for subscriptions, not on top of them. That would definitely piss everyone off.

I think it's a big topic since it's the one big cloud hanging over their otherwise superb game: will people pay to play it?

One thing to consider is that due to the insistence on everything being fully-voiced, updating with new content will cost a fair bit more than WoW's patches. They're only going to go the MT route if they're certain that it'll bring in more cash than subscriptions.

That, or they'll start selling content patches to cover costs (or selling "voice packs" for the content.) But that would be pretty stupid with a community as volatile as the current generation of gamers.