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  1. #1
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    Exclamation New and Returning Players to SWTOR Free to Play

    If you are new or returning to the game, please use this thread to ask whatever questions you may have.

    Here are some great starting resources for questions you may have about the Cartel Market and F2P/Preferred restrictions:

    General Overview:
    http://www.swtor.com/free
    http://www.swtor.com/free/features

    Conversation and Reactions about changes:
    http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...appening-11-15


    A couple of notes for Returning Players
    :

    1) You will automatically have Preferred status if you have spent money on the game in the past. (Box purchase, subscription, authenticator)

    2) You have until January 7th to resubscribe for one month to claim your bonus Cartel Coins. Log in the website and visit http://www.swtor.com/user/cartelcoins to see how many you could earn.

    3) 350K currency cap, not removable at this time. Many other restrictions can be unlocked by purchasing them off the GTN instead of through real money and the Cartel Market. If you resub for one month you have time to use the combination of your excess credits and bonus Cartel Coins to unlock the game and potentially play for free.

    4) Your XP is reduced starting at level 10, but can be boosted with items from the market (which are also sold on the GTN)

    5) After 5 times, you will no longer be able to revive in the field without purchasing field revive items on the market.


    A couple of notes for New Players:

    1) Any purchase of $4.99 or more will automatically grant you Preferred status. If you are serious about trying the game and think you will play even a week, please do yourself a favor and buy the $4.99 coin package or an authenticator.

    2) Currency cap of 200K, which will be bumped to 350K if you heed step number one.

    3) The game is very limited, but many restrictions are eased with your initial $4.99 purchase. If the core design of the game intrigues you enough, but the restrictions are too stifling, you may want to get to Preferred status for a more realistic view of the game. Many of the unlocks can be purchased via in game credits from the GTN, costing you nothing but your time.

    If you like the game enough, there is still the classic subscription/game time card option to have full access to the game and unlimited access to what content is currently available.

    UPDATES:

    1) Preferred players have 4 quickslot bars on live.
    2) Preferred players will get 6 playable character slots instead of 2 in a future patch.



    This post may be updated for error corrections or future changes, but please ask your questions here. Thank you.
    Last edited by Kelimbror; 2012-12-22 at 10:33 PM.

  2. #2
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    So that everyone can see this, as referenced in other posts:

    Preferred players will get 4 quickslot bars in an upcoming patch. So don't spend your credits or coins on quickslot bars if you are preferred or planning to be preferred.

  3. #3
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    Is the show target of target disabled for preferred status/f2p players? Or am I just too blind to see it? I feel like I've scanned the whole Preferences options, and still can't find it.

  4. #4
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sepharoth View Post
    Is the show target of target disabled for preferred status/f2p players? Or am I just too blind to see it? I feel like I've scanned the whole Preferences options, and still can't find it.
    It shouldn't be. You have to enable it in the interface editor. It's not in the preferences.

    There are a lot of boxes when you open that thing up, but it should be a red blank box if it is not currently enabled. You just have to click on it, then in that windows menu choose enable. Let me know if you can't find it there.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    The xp reduction for non subscribers kicks in at level 10, so don't get lured into a false sense of security when you are leveling on your starting planet and getting through the levels at a decent rate.

  6. #6
    Awesome read, thank you!

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kittyvicious View Post
    It shouldn't be. You have to enable it in the interface editor. It's not in the preferences.

    There are a lot of boxes when you open that thing up, but it should be a red blank box if it is not currently enabled. You just have to click on it, then in that windows menu choose enable. Let me know if you can't find it there.
    Found it, thanks! Had to click on the actual box that said target of target for enabled option to show up

  8. #8
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sepharoth View Post
    Found it, thanks! Had to click on the actual box that said target of target for enabled option to show up
    No problem. The UI customization is actually very well done. On par or better than a lot of games that have it integrated as a feature. It's just a lot to tackle at once with boxes all over the place.


    As an update:

    Preferred players will get 6 playable characters instead of two, so the benefits of spending just a minor amount of money to have a much more rewarding free experience is growing every day.

  9. #9
    OP: Thank you for doing this!

    I'm playing as preferred (don't yell..I like being able to drop in and out of games and pay for things as I need them) and noticed a few things:

    I get 5 "in field" rezzes. I blew one when I got caught in a bad respawn spot and couldn't survive. The game did dock me the one but when I logged in the next day I was back up to 5. I'm not sure if that was by design i.e. 5 a day or if it was supposed to be 5 total forever and just spotty f2p implementation. Someone else will have to confirm.

    Also, only got 2 GTN trade slots instead the 5 listed on that f2p matrix. I did file a web support ticket and will update to see if it was a glitch on their end. If they respond to it at all. =/

    Must say and I hope somebody raises this on the official forum but that matrix that shows the difference between the accounts seriously needs some work. I'd like to know exactly what I'm getting with each tier without having to mouse over icons. It's a presentation nitpick, but the sw:tor chart as is makes a very bad impression on a potential customer especially if they don't bother to check out the individual icons. BW/EA is giving away a lot of their game (surprised me actually), but that grid is not at all helpful to a new customer.

    I can't find the cartel coin costs for the unlocks on the official website, and I don't understand why all the f2p info is so annoying to find.

    Nice to be able to post here at least, I do wish BW/EA would allow for one forum for preferred players...if only to gather feedback. We may not be a steady source of income as a sub, but some of us do drop cash in bunches and our money is just as green as anyone else's.

  10. #10
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by efsunshine View Post
    I get 5 "in field" rezzes. I blew one when I got caught in a bad respawn spot and couldn't survive. The game did dock me the one but when I logged in the next day I was back up to 5. I'm not sure if that was by design i.e. 5 a day or if it was supposed to be 5 total forever and just spotty f2p implementation. Someone else will have to confirm.
    This is interesting. I haven't heard anything else like that, but please let us know if it continues to reset. If it is daily, that is another big problem that would be clarified as no longer a problem. It seems that it was 5 forever, but 5 a day is quite generous and not as restrictive.

    Quote Originally Posted by efsunshine View Post
    Must say and I hope somebody raises this on the official forum but that matrix that shows the difference between the accounts seriously needs some work. I'd like to know exactly what I'm getting with each tier without having to mouse over icons. It's a presentation nitpick, but the sw:tor chart as is makes a very bad impression on a potential customer especially if they don't bother to check out the individual icons. BW/EA is giving away a lot of their game (surprised me actually), but that grid is not at all helpful to a new customer.
    Unfortunately they are a terrible company overall for communication. The SWTOR team in general is one of the worst. You never know what you are getting or what they really mean behind prety much 99% of their communication. The chart before this one was even worse.

    Quote Originally Posted by efsunshine View Post
    Nice to be able to post here at least, I do wish BW/EA would allow for one forum for preferred players...if only to gather feedback. We may not be a steady source of income as a sub, but some of us do drop cash in bunches and our money is just as green as anyone else's.
    True enough, unfortunately it's to prevent spammers and botters...which is mildly understandable, but not having a better outlet to report bugs and suggestions is unacceptable. You are welcome to come here for information. There are only a couple of people with the mentality 'sub or gtfo' and you can just put them on ignore.

    The rest of the people are generally as helpful as you can need, though we will bicker with eachother because it helps our days go by. Don't let most of the threads with speculation and generalization from either side sway your opinion too much...concrete information is always reported, though it can take days to get real confirmations from the company.

    Welcome on board.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Kittyvicious View Post
    4) Your XP is reduced starting at level 10, but can be boosted with items from the market (which are also sold on the GTN)

    5) After 3 times, you will no longer be able to revive in the field without purchasing field revive items on the market.
    I...I don't even know what to say here. Moves like this really don't make me want to come back to the game. They just feel childish.

  12. #12
    It's five field probes until you replenish them by buying an item from the store. If the count did reset for somebody, it's a bug. I can't imagine anybody playing this game dies enough times per day that a 5/day scheme would make BioWare any money.

  13. #13
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sibut View Post
    I...I don't even know what to say here. Moves like this really don't make me want to come back to the game. They just feel childish.
    Yes it is 5, that was an error on my part. It was supposedly a finite number, but as we have one person saying theirs reset we need some clarification. It's the first I've heard of it resetting. The model isn't perfect, but some of the restrictions are common in one form or another in other F2P games.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by sibut View Post
    I...I don't even know what to say here. Moves like this really don't make me want to come back to the game. They just feel childish.
    With all honesty, the xp nerf will not hurt anyone trying the game out, at all. If you take your time, do all the quests in a zone, do all the group quests (heroic 2/4/area (-repeatable- and actually repeat them if you are back after a reset)) quests ... you were always sure to out level the planet, and at some point, out level a planet before you approached it, leaving you either questing 3-5 levels above the zones, or just running through to your class quests and moving on.

    Add to that any FPs/Space combat/PvP ... and the gap was greater. Add in xp boosts as quest rewards (I've gotten at least 2 on each toon I've leveled since it went live) ability to buy the boosts on gtn ... not a big deal.

    The rezzes seem like a big deal, and, maybe it is for new to the genre players, or if you decide to push content that you know is difficult for you (soloing group quests, going after +3 level mobs, large packs, etc), then you might need a lot ... but if you are clearing everything, as stated before, you should rarely if ever die, minus a bad group, bad pull, lag boss in a bad time/spot, run off a cliff ...

    Here is the catch, pay 50 cents a day, and you have no restrictions at all. Sounds like a deal to me. That is less than one trip to a drive through for a family a month, but slightly more healthy than the carb/fat loading or ... 3 coffees at starbucks ... or 1 movie ticket for a crappy 2 hour movie.

    If you don't have the money, that is fine. But as far as F2P goes, a lot of companies are similar or worse, a lot of them go P2W ... and so far we haven't seen that ... so far

    From a business perspective, people bitching about getting to play 1-50 and most of the content that cost 200 million to produce for free, seems a bit childish.
    Last edited by zeropeorth; 2012-11-30 at 07:57 PM.

  15. #15
    Add in xp boosts as quest rewards (I've gotten at least 2 on each toon I've leveled since it went live) ability to buy the boosts on gtn ... not a big deal.
    This is the first I've heard of this. Got anymore details? Like what quests?

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by unholytestament View Post
    This is the first I've heard of this. Got anymore details? Like what quests?
    I don't remember which quests exactly, but my bounty hunter got 2 before she left Hutta.

  17. #17
    The Patient
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    i was a beta tester for SWTOR...got the CE and that jazz...was really excited about it going to F2P...havn't touched it since, thanks to this terribad f2p model :/

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Bolverk View Post
    The xp reduction for non subscribers kicks in at level 10, so don't get lured into a false sense of security when you are leveling on your starting planet and getting through the levels at a decent rate.
    I dunno about the rest of the classes but as a Sith Jugg/Marauder you cannot afford to miss ANY quest on the first 2 planets or you won't even hit minimum level for the 3rd planet unless you do some insane mob grind.

    Look, if they want XP nerf for F2P, fine, but the problem is their approach sucks balls. The correct method is to give back the lost XP to underleveled players once they subscribe to remove any lingering doubt being underleveled in the future, not "subscribe and STILL be underleveled now, but MAYBE you can get back enough XP later" to turn potential subs off.

  19. #19
    The Unstoppable Force Kelimbror's Avatar
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    This really isn't the place to have a discussion about your opinions on the model. It's an information and help thread for people playing. If you want to discuss the model, please go to the thread I have linked under Conversation and Reaction about changes.

  20. #20
    Thanks for the kind welcome, Kittyvicious.

    Well checked up on the in the game rezzes this morning, looks like they're no longer resetting. Took one for the preferred team yesterday and sure enough I'm down one. Have to be careful about leeroying into piles of mobs now.

    My GTN slots are still stuck at 2 instead of the 5 listed on the matrix. =/ I did get an unintelligible copy pasta response from a customer service droid for going through the trouble of filling out a web form on the official site. Would like to know if it is just me, or are there any other preferred players having this problem. If it makes a difference I'm a f2p going to preferred, not a sub downsizing to preferred.

    re: XP boosts from quests. I also got two of them from lowbie quests on Ord Mantell. I'm saving them for when I do hit the rough patches in leveling. Not sure when that will be. Have been doing a fair amount of killing to and from quest objectives, doing all the bonus and heroic quests (at least once) so will see how far I'll get without having to use them. Currently +1/+2 level relative to quest levels on Coruscant, but I expect the leveling curve to get a lot steeper from the 20s on.

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