SWTOR's Ohlen: F2P 'not super easy to do'

[Mazinger-Z]

http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/swto...-free-to-play/

I think it can work for different games. It really depends on how you go with your game. Games that have been built to be free-to-play from the start definitely work out. Now, there have been games that weren’t free to play from the start and transferred over to becoming free to play that have worked as well. But it’s definitely not something that’s super easy to do.

[Hellfury]

Bioware could easly turn F2P and turn a profit from a cash shop with Xp boosts, pets, mounts, companion customizations and expecialy special modable orange gear, legacy unlocks for real money etc

If they keep non pay to win, I wouldnt mind a system like this

[Leonard McCoy]

He's right. It's not super easy to do. It takes alot of investment in both terms of man power and money. At least if you want to make it good and not half ass it. You'll notice that's why none of EA's other games is f2p and also why Frank Gibeau said recently:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...ecade-from-now

We have a great business right now and we're not looking to make any abrupt changes.

[dokilar]

it wont go f2p until ea says so. theyre going to squeeze every last penny out of it they can

[RoninaThorstone]

Bioware could easly turn F2P and turn a profit from a cash shop with Xp boosts, pets, mounts, companion customizations and expecialy special modable orange gear, legacy unlocks for real money etc

If they keep non pay to win, I wouldnt mind a system like this

moddable gear for real money.

Oh god. It would be like league.

Frost fire Power Tech set 450 Bioware points!
Feral Jorrgan Customization 975 Bioware points!
Gangster Smuggler set 1850 Bioware points!

Oh god... THEY COULD DO BUNDLES!

Tier 1 PVE bundle 2150 Bioware points! (devoid of mods of course.)

And of course everything would be bind on account. OMG.

TOO GOOD.

[Drider]

Most people end up paying more in F2P games then they do with just sub fees. It's the reason games like DDO went from no content updates for over a year to constant updates and now a retail expansion.

[Deleted]

James Ohlen always has that weird look on his face like hes reacting to something.

[Jeina]

I'd be happy if they adopted the LOTRO F2P model.

[RoninaThorstone]

James Ohlen always has that weird look on his face like hes reacting to something.

his face is always making one of two faces;

It was keyser soze the whole time?

or

Father O'mally... I trusted you.

[Argroth]

I like the game but if they make it free to play I hope it doesn't work out for them.

They will have lost my subscription.

[Spase Peepole]

If they offered a gold membership I would still pay per month if it went f2p. like in LoTRO and STO

[spaace]

Free lifetime for CE owners? ;D

[moff]

I like the game but if they make it free to play I hope it doesn't work out for them.

They will have lost my subscription.

thats kind of expectable when they make it f2p

[skitzin]

They will have lost my subscription.

... poor choice of words given the context.

OT
The thing I fear happening with an F2P setup with swtor is that newer content will decline and more importantly server maint. and various other issues will not be addressed too readily, having an adverse impact on the game as a whole.

[Kouki]

... poor choice of words given the context.

OT
The thing I fear happening with an F2P setup with swtor is that newer content will decline and more importantly server maint. and various other issues will not be addressed too readily, having an adverse impact on the game as a whole.

Thats a poor excuse for 15 bucks a month, do you really think that it costs millions to pay for servers and upkeep? ncsoft lists only about 15k per quarter on all its games server upkeep, and as a footnote to the real bills.

Electronics get cheaper and cheaper the same goes for servers, they also get stronger and need less upkeep.

As far as patches and updates thats also a poor excuse several buy once or free games have more regular patches than wow has so you cant justify 15 a month on an outdated argument like that.

You cant even give blizzard more money per month or week if you wanted, you can only but must give 15 a month.
To keep playing the same content.

With a cash shop that does not sell power "Some do some dont" you can get more money per month than just 15.
So the real question is will you spend all your money if a game has a cash shop and is that why your against the idea?

[Deleted]

"We know we should, but every time somebody says the word 'free' our EA overl- err, glorious leaders call security"

[WarpedAcorn]

Most people end up paying more in F2P games then they do with just sub fees. It's the reason games like DDO went from no content updates for over a year to constant updates and now a retail expansion.

This is the truth. People drop INSANE amounts of cash in League of Legends for simple cosmetic changes. The F2P model has this stigma of signalling the death of game, but in reality it has the potential to be just as much if not more profitable. However, Mr. Ohlen has a point that the system for microtransactions has to be set up and in place before it can work. You have to have the infrastructure to complete quick transactions that unlock the content on the player's side ASAP. That is one of the many things SWTOR does not have yet.

[Deleted]

OT
The thing I fear happening with an F2P setup with swtor is that newer content will decline and more importantly server maint. and various other issues will not be addressed too readily, having an adverse impact on the game as a whole.

This is bullshit. I thought people knew by now.
And with Lol, it's a different thing. I can only speak for myself, but a part of a fun game is imo to be able to change how I look. The only way to do this in Lol is to buy new skins. You don't look different while wearing different items. If the only way to look different than say a standard bounty hunter in swtor was to spend cash, the store would be guaranteed to do well. Now the standard MMO model won't allow this though, but if you got super cool skins only available from cash shops, the game store would do well

[notorious98]

This is the truth. People drop INSANE amounts of cash in League of Legends for simple cosmetic changes. The F2P model has this stigma of signalling the death of game, but in reality it has the potential to be just as much if not more profitable. However, Mr. Ohlen has a point that the system for microtransactions has to be set up and in place before it can work. You have to have the infrastructure to complete quick transactions that unlock the content on the player's side ASAP. That is one of the many things SWTOR does not have yet.

But if they're already talking about having a cash shop so they should have the capability of that before long. I wouldn't be opposed to a F2P model (I'd just pay a monthly fee anyway) as long as it doesn't do some of the little things that other games (LOTRO) have done. Don't sell crafting mats and destroy your in game economy. Don't make it Pay 2 Win. DO allow all monthly subscribers access to all the things that others have to pay for. There should be a reward for being a subscriber, in my opinion.

[philefluxx]

Thats a poor excuse for 15 bucks a month, do you really think that it costs millions to pay for servers and upkeep? ncsoft lists only about 15k per quarter on all its games server upkeep, and as a footnote to the real bills.

Electronics get cheaper and cheaper the same goes for servers, they also get stronger and need less upkeep.

Oh god not this again.... Yes. Keeping hardware up 99% continues to cost money. Paying people to monitor and fix this hardware costs money. Paying developers to write new content costs money. Fixing the game after new content breaks it costs money. Why is this so hard for people to understand? Consider this, a Systems Engineer can make upwards of 60k to 100k a year. Thats just one person, thats not a dev, thats not CS, thats just one guy managing a few servers.

As far as patches and updates thats also a poor excuse several buy once or free games have more regular patches than wow has so you cant justify 15 a month on an outdated argument like that.
Bullshit! Updates to the cash shop do not count as content updates. Games like LoTRO release purchasable content and most of the time its not even worth the money.

You cant even give blizzard more money per month or week if you wanted, you can only but must give 15 a month.
To keep playing the same content.

Bullshit! Updates to the cash shop do not count as content updates. Games like LoTRO release purchasable content and most of the time its not even worth the money. Its an illusion.