Items in the store

[Hellfury]

OK, in that interview they said subscribers wont have to pay for content and those that on the F2P model can just buy the content they want, a PVPer could only buy the Wzs etc but more important they said on that interview.

One of the chief things Jeff and Matt expect folks to spend money on if they're not subscribed (subscribers will always receive every bit of new content, regardless of CC) are content updates. They plan on releasing these every six weeks, and they'll include different sorts of content each time: warzones, operations, public events, and so on (even a mix of all three might be possible).

WOW, hard to belive Iam abit sceptical but I will be waiting to see if they deliver that, funny because Funcom the same thing some weeks ago, content every month

[Shadylol]

I think the real money cash shop will be "fluff" material, such as vanity items, xp boosts, and stuff like that at first, but after a few months, I believe SWTOR will have a full buy-to-win arsenal

[Kelimbror]

LOTRO subscribers get 500 points a month and at that rate it took me 4 months to get one of the nicer mounts in the game. Turbine doesn't care what you or I think and neither does EA. If you want something they know you will buy it.

So you got access to everything else in the game for your subscription, but damn them for offering a mount that you still basically got for free with your sub, but had to wait and save up for it....my sympathy for you is non existent.

That's a better deal than other games, considering you can only buy their store mounts with cash. This logic is just silly.

[Ofoz]

So you got access to everything else in the game for your subscription, but damn them for offering a mount that you still basically got for free with your sub, but had to wait and save up for it....my sympathy for you is non existent.

That's a better deal than other games, considering you can only buy their store mounts with cash. This logic is just silly.

I wasn't really complaining about having to save for the mount. I was just countering a comment that Forsedar made about expensive items subscribers have to save up for being a "slap in the face" to those subscribers. If LOTRO doesn't give you enough free Turbine Points to buy stuff in the store you can bet EA won't either.

[Kelimbror]

I wasn't really complaining about having to save for the mount. I was just countering a comment that Forsedar made about expensive items subscribers have to save up for being a "slap in the face" to those subscribers. If LOTRO doesn't give you enough free Turbine Points to buy stuff in the store you can bet EA won't either.

I bought all the classes, expansions/quests, and a goat from my subscription over random periods the last few years. It worked perfectly for me. I can't imagine if I actually stayed subbed to it, I'd have more points than I need.

[noahjam326]

WOW, hard to belive Iam abit sceptical but I will be waiting to see if they deliver that, funny because Funcom the same thing some weeks ago, content every month

I think it's possible, but they won't be the normal content updates we're used to. Even Blizzard announced they wanted to do smaller, but more frequent content patches. That's what the Zandalari Patch was supposed to be the start of. If the patch only includes 1 major feature, and maybe a small amount of smaller things, then I think 6 weeks is believable. DCUO tried to make the same claim when it first released, content updates every month. Content patches got bigger and bigger, and that just stopped becoming a reality. Patches got delayed as they just added more content to them. I think releasing events similar to the rakghoul event every 6 weeks is believable.

[Hellfury]

I think it's possible, but they won't be the normal content updates we're used to. Even Blizzard announced they wanted to do smaller, but more frequent content patches. That's what the Zandalari Patch was supposed to be the start of. If the patch only includes 1 major feature, and maybe a small amount of smaller things, then I think 6 weeks is believable. DCUO tried to make the same claim when it first released, content updates every month. Content patches got bigger and bigger, and that just stopped becoming a reality. Patches got delayed as they just added more content to them. I think releasing events similar to the rakghoul event every 6 weeks is believable.

Well unless Bioware Austin had put they motors in full throttle I dont know, its been 9 months and the new content its small especially on the solo and story side, features yes they delivering regulary but the "meat" been quit frankly underwhelming.

A event like Rackghoul every 6weeks would be sweet and would create a more loyal playerbase and give "carrots" and reasons for montly subs, seems there is one coming this august as stated on that interview

[bigmac]

I believe in the "give them an inch, they'll eventually take a mile" Starz started out with an info banner during the end credits, I ultimately had to cancel a long time ago cause they took that mile and showed bright channel bugs, snipes during movies, and squeezed the end credits in a little box to promote upcoming programming (I couldn't hear the music during the end credits, and I have discovered some music I liked by listening to the music during the end credits to a movie)

Same reason I hate cash shop type things even with a subscription. You just know one day they are going to take that mile...pay 2 win, even on a subscription plan.

[Forsedar]

Same reason I hate cash shop type things even with a subscription. You just know one day they are going to take that mile...pay 2 win, even on a subscription plan.

Its a pure cosmetic option. The only way it could start leaning towards P2W is if EA decides to start selling gear with REAL stats that trump that of Hardmode/Nightmare mode gear. I doubt it will come to that, but if it does, it will be long after the lifespan of this game.

[Redblade]

Its a pure cosmetic option. The only way it could start leaning towards P2W is if EA decides to start selling gear with REAL stats that trump that of Hardmode/Nightmare mode gear. I doubt it will come to that, but if it does, it will be long after the lifespan of this game.

Can say that for sure, if they keep having as bad retention rate over time and slow flow of new paying players I'd say it's a road that will be more and more tempting for them to try and lure some in to spending. Not to mention that the store items are not announced yet so you really have no idea if it's purely cosmetic or not.

[inboundpaper]

Gogo gizka mini pet.

[Hostagecat]

Yep nobody really knows except what they have posted so far, i think its way to soon to freak. However past experience leads some folks to believe this will not be a good thing. I can see that, but im still staying optimistic.

[Kelimbror]

Gogo gizka mini pet.

Only if you can break their necks to have a new one spawn from its lifeless body.

[Shadylol]

Its a pure cosmetic option. The only way it could start leaning towards P2W is if EA decides to start selling gear with REAL stats that trump that of Hardmode/Nightmare mode gear. I doubt it will come to that, but if it does, it will be long after the lifespan of this game.

What is the "lifespan" of SWTOR, though? It went free to play much faster than your average everyday MMORPG does, so with that timeframe in keeping, it would make sense for the pay to win stuff to kick in fairly soon

[Profyrion]

What is the "lifespan" of SWTOR, though? It went free to play much faster than your average everyday MMORPG does, so with that timeframe in keeping, it would make sense for the pay to win stuff to kick in fairly soon

I'm sure you would love that to be true.

"Going free to play" in this case seems much less like a necessity than a business-driven desire to embrace a new, more profitable payment model -- at least compared to past products.

[Shadylol]

I'm sure you would love that to be true.

"Going free to play" in this case seems much less like a necessity than a business-driven desire to embrace a new, more profitable payment model -- at least compared to past products.

No

I followed SWTOR for years pre-release, they wanted a subscription model to last for a long time, not eight months

[Profyrion]

And for years pre-release, subscription-based models were the most profitable. Remember, TOR has been in development since at least October 2008.

The MMO landscape was very different then. The MMO customer was very different.

[Forsedar]

No

I followed SWTOR for years pre-release, they wanted a subscription model to last for a long time, not eight months

The Free-to-Play option is slowly taking over. Soon it will be the model that most MMOs will want to use. As the playerbase gets accustomed to something, it will become "expected". Just like QoL features people wanted in SWTOR that were in other games. Those weren't the norm in previous MMOs back when this game was being developed, but times change.

[Redblade]

The Free-to-Play option is slowly taking over. Soon it will be the model that most MMOs will want to use. As the playerbase gets accustomed to something, it will become "expected". Just like QoL features people wanted in SWTOR that were in other games. Those weren't the norm in previous MMOs back when this game was being developed, but times change.

God lets hope not, out of boredom I tried 4 F2P MMOs the last couple of days and they all sucked donkey balls.

[Forsedar]

God lets hope not, out of boredom I tried 4 F2P MMOs the last couple of days and they all sucked donkey balls.

I'm with ya there. Though I have to stay "somewhat" neutral among games (I mean I'm obviously a little biased for TOR since I Mod it...), I just hope that the F2P model doesn't stop Biowares momentum. Granted they lost a substantial amount of players, they still have a hefty amount to keep their advancements going. I just want SWTOR to keep moving forward. They seem to be moving in a positive direction with the game compared to launch. We'll see!