SWTOR Livestream Q&A Panel: 1.4

[Psychlon]

I could be wrong but wasn't it always that people which subbed until June/July will get some Coins, others which sub until F2P will get more coins and if you own a CE you will get even more coins + if you unsubbed but resub when F2P goes live you will get coins. I don't really see the big change though they always mentioned that you will get additional coins if you are subbed when F2P hits, not touching the people which payed until June/July.

[LilSaihah]

Good job, EA, on trying to squeeze even more blood from the stone that is your remaining consumer base. When people see you as the most moneygrubbing corporation involved in gaming, that isn't a compliment.

[moff]

I'm glad I care less about this game with every passing day.

[Psychlon]

Good job, EA, on trying to squeeze even more blood from the stone that is your remaining consumer base. When people see you as the most moneygrubbing corporation involved in gaming, that isn't a compliment.

They squeeze you because you can play it for free?.... or because you can't spend as many coins as others which have been subbed over the whole time?... please elaborate.

I'm glad I care less about this game with every passing day.

This is just the kind of silly argument you hear from all people which are not really interested in the game but can't move on and have to stalk the forums way too long after they quit.

[WoWGoneBad]

is just the kind of silly argument you hear from all people which are not really interested in the game but can't move on and have to stalk the forums way too long after they quit.

so true dude. if you think about it, the only ppl complaining about the coins are 2 ppl who dont even PLAY or PAY for the game anymore. BUT still come here bash trash or just be a pain to those that still play. and they say it under the guise of " well i still come here in hopes the game gets better" knowing in their own minds that they will never come back.

and Vizzle i under stand the footnotes fine. i KNOW their value but others just want to see what their ingame value is and yea to a degree they have a semi valid point. would be nice to know what the coins ingame cost per item is to see what we would like. but then they would find reasons to bitch that the game doesnt have anything they like or that the costs are to high because they quit before july and cant get anything on the market.

they will never be happy never play the game again and will only come here to be a bother

[Kelimbror]

so true dude. if you think about it, the only ppl complaining about the coins are 2 ppl who dont even PLAY or PAY for the game anymore. BUT still come here bash trash or just be a pain to those that still play. and they say it under the guise of " well i still come here in hopes the game gets better" knowing in their own minds that they will never come back.

This is a completely wrong sweeping judgment. I am the most vocal person here about this issue and as of right now I still pay for and play the game. It's the exact reason why I'm so angry about the potential to screw over people. I don't just say, 'well I'm going to pay for it anyways so who cares what happens'.

[Itisamuh]

Initial reaction to FTP: "Yay, I can enjoy the game without getting ripped off each month!"

Reaction after details come out: "I can play for free, but will not be able to PvP? What a joke."

[iceberg265]

Playing Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is rewarding!
Earn Rewards for Current and Prior Paid Months
Current and Previous Players New Players
150 Cartel Coins 1
Each paid month prior to July 31, 2012
YES NO
1000 Cartel Coins 2
Purchasers of the Collector's Edition
YES NO
Heroes' Banner 2
Purchasers of the Collector's Edition
YES NO
200 Cartel Coins 4
Each paid month from August 1, 2012 to Free-to-Play option launch
YES YES
250 Cartel Coins 5
All active players at launch of Free-to-Play option
YES YES
250 Cartel Coins 6
Purchasers of the Digital Deluxe Edition
YES NO
Fan's Choice - Party Jawa 3
Subscribers as of August 1, 2012 to Free-to-Play option launch
YES NO


http://www.swtor.com/free

Its pretty damn clear if you ask me...The thing at the bottom is called marketing, they are trying to create excitment and need in people that they NEED to do it. Its really pretty basic marketing.

You guys are going nuts for no reason, and its really only like two of you.

[Redblade]

Its pretty damn clear if you ask me...The thing at the bottom is called marketing, they are trying to create excitment and need in people that they NEED to do it. Its really pretty basic marketing.

Good thing we're not asking you nor that you are the one to be held accountable if it turns out we're right.

You guys are going nuts for no reason, and its really only like two of you.

So you have tight communication with all 6 billion + people around the world to make such a call?

[Deleted]

so true dude. if you think about it, the only ppl complaining about the coins are 2 ppl who dont even PLAY or PAY for the game anymore.

If anyone should be angry it's the people that have kept their subscriptions during the whole time and in the process have paid the free2play transition while Bioware has stalled the new content and features for the free2play time.

[WoWGoneBad]

This is a completely wrong sweeping judgment. I am the most vocal person here about this issue and as of right now I still pay for and play the game. It's the exact reason why I'm so angry about the potential to screw over people. I don't just say, 'well I'm going to pay for it anyways so who cares what happens'.

my apologies then kitty, i thought you stopped awhile ago, but there are still ppl that lurk this forum and try to rain doom and gloom in here.

while i can agree that the wording can and IS a bit misleading I do not think and i HOPE that they do not screw out those who did play up to a point and not give the coins. my main issue with you and Alyssa is that does it really and i mean REALLY matter what the stuff costs, in the end we are gonna pay for it any way so just wait it out. yea they launched this tidbit of info way to early but they ALWAYS DO, so just kick back relax and go kill repubs or imps until the info is out there.

why get yourselves all bent outta shape over a GAME, i could care less bout the damned coins and i am a CE owner along with payer since launch, but the coins mean SH** to me cuz all it is; is vanity and some lobie xp boost gear im just bout done lvling alts and i just come on for the occasional daily and Ops.

[Forsedar]

I think the reason people are getting bent out of shape about this is because it shows the extent of EA/Bioware and what they are willing to do in order to squeeze out more money from potential subscribers. If they're going to 'screw' people over with these coins, whats to say they will go further next time- especially with content limitations on F2P.

[Arlee]

I was curious about how big of a gaf they really had with this and went to see what their original wording was. I found this.

If we take it on good faith that HK-51 did really just copy the post and didn't change the words (which I think is a reasonable assumption) they said "Current and former players will also find additional benefits as part of this program. BioWare will be increasing the frequency of game content updates, with the first of many new releases coming in August. In addition, current subscribers will receive Cartel Coin grants and qualify for access to special in-game items. Even former players who re-activate now will qualify for special benefits.". I bolded the important part.

So it seems like they always said from the beginning that you would have to reactivate before F2P happened to get the benefits. I'll keep looking for original info on the bonuses for the CE and stuff.

[notorious98]

I'm really glad they are happy to make it very clear to people and not just leave it in the fine text. We all know how many people actually read that stuff...

Sorry, but it's still a super shady, super shitty move. I can't really see how they can justify advertising these bonuses, but leaving the specifics only in the fine print (which again, most people don't read).

Regardless, it's a pretty player unfriendly move. Really can't get behind any company that would pull something like this.

Seriously? It's explained in the FAQ, which I already posted earlier in this thread. I'm not exactly sure where all of you are coming with this craziness. It makes it abundantly clear that you do NOT have to be subbed to get the rewards promised for being subbed to a certain point. I don't see what the issue is here. And you're talking about a guy who's done nothing but bash Bioware for the last 2 months.

Edit : Perhaps not abundantly clear.

[Redblade]

I don't see what the issue is here.

Their language differs as you can see thought out this thread, there are multiple texts to support either version, on top of that the offer conditions have been changed without notification, at least not that I could find which is odd as well.

[Kelimbror]

So it seems like they always said from the beginning that you would have to reactivate before F2P happened to get the benefits. I'll keep looking for original info on the bonuses for the CE and stuff.

Yes, but this literally means if they resubscribe *now* (the time of the announcement) they will start earning a certain amount of cartel coins each month going forward. This was outlined in the chart. However, the chart initially showed that you would receive backdated coins up to the beginning of the game. It did not imply that the conditional statement was you *HAD* to be subscribed when it goes F2P. This statement implies that regardless how much money you have given them for whatever amount of months, if you don't give them that last $15 before they go F2P you get squat.

If this is what happens, we can all read between the lines. They are going F2P and want as many people as possible as 'subscribers' when that transition happens. Then they can proudly proclaim that F2P saved the game and they now have 1.7 million subs when it launched. Otherwise, they are planning on selling the world complete and utter bullshit.

Edit:

And the thing that should be making people really upset is that they have given us this blank 'Fall' and then 'November' as the target release date. So people keep paying, and keep paying, assuming this launches in November. What happens when November 30 gets here and they say, "Oops, the game isn't perfect yet. We're extending the transition to F2P for a few months so we can make this perfect for you!" Now it's like gambling, you're already in over your head so you can either leave with a loss or keep trying your luck. It's just a poor attempt at forcing people to subscribe who don't necessarily want to by withholding value from them.

It's like promising your child that you will take them to the Zoo if they clean their room. So they clean their room but then you hand them a list of chores for the next week and keep dangling the zoo over their head. It's pathetic.

As vehement as I'm being in these posts, I sincerely sincerely really hope that they make some announcement that proves everything we've claimed here wrong. We will never know their true intentions if this happens, but at least I would know they were scared or even better, actually cared about their customers. I would still be a little sour, but would definitely be open to subscribing and continuing to enjoy the game going forward.

EA, prove me wrong. (I'm trying not to laugh while I type this)

[Leonard McCoy]

Now if the coins won't allow you to buy features or content piece meal then they are worthless to a fair few players that couldn't care less about cosmetic crap, again the same issue though, we have no information about it.

I'm not sure that's entirely true. How many people shop for pets and shits on the wow store? hell how many people buy cosmetic skins on LoL?

[notorious98]

Otherwise, they are planning on selling the world complete and utter bullshit.

EA's been doing that for years. They call it "Madden (insert year)".

[RoninaThorstone]

If we take it on good faith that HK-51 did really just copy the post and didn't change the words

Just wanted to note that I have only read what has been posted here and only quoted stuff in this thread.

Unless forsedar has changed the quoted OP due to a need to fix grammar (which none of us would blame him for) it should still match up.

edit: Oh herp. You were talking about a different thread I made. Not my post in this thread. Yeah. That's a direct quote copied and pasted here.

I mean, look at my threads. No way in hell I would write that much.

[notorious98]

So you have tight communication with all 6 billion + people around the world to make such a call?

That kind of hyperbole is pointless and unnecessary. It's more than obvious he's talking about the people on these forums and you're well aware of that. That post was not constructive and just makes you sound petty. Trust, I would know. I can smell my own type of post.

---------- Post added 2012-09-24 at 03:14 PM ----------

Question 2, the Livestream on the first page of this thread. Else, you can watch a video of the session.

"We got a system which allows you to gain some free Cartel Coins to spend in the Cartel Market when we launch as long you are an active subscriber when we launch this program"

The possibility exists that they meant to specifically refer to the CE, but then again the changes we have referenced to the free site leave everything up in the air in a negative capacity. And if this is the case, I won't be as upset from a personal standpoint, but it would still be a disservice to people who spent a lot of money on this game before now.

They do have a system in place that allows you to gain some free Cartel Coins as long as you're an active subscriber. It's the 5th one down. "250 Cartel Coins to active subscribers". That's gaining some free coins for being a subscriber. Your assumption is based on reading more into something than what could be there. Basically, that's tinfoil hat talk.