Free Trial

[Collected]

There will be a trial but not for a while. They will want as many people who are considering trying this game to buy the full version as possible to try it out. Once that hype has died down a little, they'll bring out a trial. (I hope!)

[Dakia]

I definitely think we'll see a free trial, but it won't be for at least 6-12 months.

[Rooflesstoofless]

Meh, I would say April or May. Once the starter zone populations have moved on and are fairly dead I don't see why not.

[Deleted]

I do want to try out the game myself but considering that the servers have half hour queue time right now I don't think they'll release trials. But yeah, trial servers is a good idea i guess.

[Pretentious]

So... the game has been out a week, and you want to do a trial now? They'll wait atleast 6 months like a previous poster said.

[Deleted]

So... the game has been out a week, and you want to do a trial now? They'll wait atleast 6 months like a previous poster said.

I don't but many do

[Mascotte]

So... the game has been out a week, and you want to do a trial now? They'll wait atleast 6 months like a previous poster said.

Well, problem is; The people that are playing now already bought the game.
So thats fine, they are locked in for a while untill they unsub.

People that haven't bought the game, like myself, aren't making them any money, and 'we' might be reluctant to buy a full price game just to try it out.
In 6months from now it will be a 6month old game. And while thats not as long in mmo terms 6 months from now GW2 is released (i think) and WoW MoP should be close to shipping aswell.
Thats alot of competition.
Starting a free trial then may not cause the same effect as having one within the next month or so.

[Deleted]

simple limitations prevent this...no access to general chat, mail or post lvl 10 areas...Free trials increase sales.

The simplest limitation is to have no free trial. And the bonus is it requires no further work to achieve as it is already in place. Free trials also decrease sales.

MMOs usually do not have a free trial upon release. We should expect it in the next few months, after the kinks are all smoothed out.

Whilst this might appear true the reason no trial is available is not so they have time to smooth the kinks out, it just appears that way due to timing.

Trials give people the ability to try the game without paying a penny to Bioware. Some may like the game and buy it, others may not and not buy it. Introduce a trial too early and you get people who probably would have bought the game in order to try it no longer doing so meaning a loss to the company.

It is not good business sense to introduce a trial too early. A good company will watch the figures and make one the moment they believe their new client sales have peaked or at some point on the way down. We're still in the first month. My opinion is that it will be a few months before the trial appears if at all.

[Deleted]

I would really welcome a free trial. Was thinking about getting the game, but I don't want to waste all the money. And since every thread is flooded with haters it's nearly impossible to find out if the game is really worth it.

I doubt it will come anytime soon though :[

[Deleted]

The simplest limitation is to have no free trial. And the bonus is it requires no further work to achieve as it is already in place. Free trials also decrease sales.

That's utter nonsense

[Deleted]

I really hope they make a free trial very soon because I want to really test before purchase.

[Thornstar]

simple limitations prevent this...no access to general chat, mail or post lvl 10 areas...Free trials increase sales.

also clogs up the paying customers area with people who are not paying. So no not an easy fix.

[xanderd]

also clogs up the paying customers area with people who are not paying. So no not an easy fix.

This is only a problem (And a minor one) If they do an "unlimited" trial like wow has now. But if they do a 10-day trial like wow used to do, then i can see that as being very good. I would atleast get to try it out.

semi-off-topic, not to start a flamewar but out of curiosity. How long did it take wow to start doing 10-day trials back in the day?

[Yex]

Sure, we can think SWTOR will have a free trial. Easy answer to op's question.

[Jeffyjimbob]

Not until the hype dies down a bit. Right now it's still a "new game", people are talking about it, trying to get friends to play, etc. So right now they're just coasting off the people being dragged in by others, making a bit more money off them before they get rid of that source of income. Once the "I'll try it and see if I like it, it's only $XX" players die out, they'll release some sort of trial to get the people who said "I think it looks fun, but I'm not willing to pay $XX just to try a game I'm not 100% sure of" to start playing.

[Deleted]

That's utter nonsense

Less so than your response. Please refer to the rest of my post for my explanation of this as I feel you are most likely to have only concerned yourself with your witty reply.

[Deleted]

Less so than your response. Please refer to the rest of my post for my explanation of this as I feel you are most likely to have only concerned yourself with your witty reply.

MMORPGs receive they're income on subscriptions NOT sales. It's simple, you have 100 people, 50 bought the game but 50 are unsure and won't buy. A free trial offers that 50 people a chance to try with no risk...Even if only 25 then buy and subscribe that's a significance in profit! BW doesn't lose money they gain, that's why MMORPGs do it! So saying Free Trials cause money loss is nonsense

[zoefschildpad]

I don't get it, you're on the fence about buying the game because it's expensive? it's not really. You get the first month free with the game. Last year alone I bought 4 full-price games that I didn't play for more than a month, and I didn't play a trial or demo of them either. How is this any more of a commitment?

[asharia]

not in the very near future, no

its only 3(?) weeks old. you have to wait

[Deleted]

I don't get it, you're on the fence about buying the game because it's expensive? it's not really. You get the first month free with the game. Last year alone I bought 4 full-price games that I didn't play for more than a month, and I didn't play a trial or demo of them either. How is this any more of a commitment?

In the UK it is one of the more expensive PC games