Subscription or Cartel coins?

[dudenic]

What's the best way to go if I want to get the most out of playing, but will play casually? I don't plan on playing any more than an hour a day, so a subscription seems kind of excessive. I also don't want to miss out on any amazing features. Any advice from people who play SW:TOR would be awesome. Thanks!

[Deleted]

If you plan to play really casually (like say, take 3 months to reach level 50 and finish the main storyline), then I would say just buy the new Preferred Access Bundle. It costs 972 Cartel Coins so you buy 1050 CC pack for $10 and you should have quite good experience casually playing the game. The Preferred Access Bundle, combined with gaining Preferred Player status due to purchase of Cartel Coins will soften many/most of the super annoying F2P restrictions.

However, you will still be reminded at many points by Bioware "to sub" or how some function is limited to you (like number of weekly Space Missions you can play but if you say that you plan to play casually, this shouldn't affect you). Some other limitations will still be there too. If you're fine with still being restricted, then buy this Preferred Player Pack. If you can't stand being restricted, sub.

Also, important question, do you really REALLY want to play as any particular race? Because F2P/Preferred player can only pick human, Cyborg or Zabrak in character creation. If you really REALLy wanna play as some other race, you would have to buy unlock which combined with the Preferred Access Bundle pack I mentioned earlier would start adding up in terms of cost...

[Kelimbror]

I agree that remaining a free player until the Preferred Bundle is live for 972 coins you should hold off on any purchases. If you plan to remain that casual, a subscription is a waste of your money. After that intial $10 purchase for the conveniences, anything else can be bought off the GTN and won't really effect your casual leveling experience.

[dudenic]

Thank you both for your answers, I'll definitely do just that. I'll probably just go to the $20 and get any other races or unlockables I would want. Is there anything I should avoid such as unlockables that I would never really need as a casual player? I feel dumb for asking these questions, but I know the FTP games can be tricky when you're only trying to get what you want.

[Lovestar]

While we're on the topic, how harsh is the XP restriction on F2P? I subbed, not because I plan to play a lot, but because I was worried I'd fall way behind vs. the level of mobs in quests (and the only reason to play is the quests, for me at least).

I'll probably stay subbed (laziness), but I'm still curious how badly the XP penalty puts you behind the curve in terms of leveling progression / difficulty.

[Lifeismystery]

It's a good topic, thanks for answers.

[Deleted]

While we're on the topic, how harsh is the XP restriction on F2P? I subbed, not because I plan to play a lot, but because I was worried I'd fall way behind vs. the level of mobs in quests (and the only reason to play is the quests, for me at least).

I'll probably stay subbed (laziness), but I'm still curious how badly the XP penalty puts you behind the curve in terms of leveling progression / difficulty.

I've been playing with XP restriction since the beginning and I've been always overleveling the planets about 3/4 levels (from the minimal requirement). Granted, I used 2 XP boosters which I got randomly in the game but I don't see how that would make a huge difference, it was just 2 hours. Later on, I got 4 more boosters fro a very kind MMO Champion user but that maybe helped gained additional level. I've been just doing every quest on every planet + Flashpoints. Some space missions as wellb but not that much. I also explore all map on each planet. So I do get XP from many places. Don't think XP penalty is that bad actually, people were telling me I would be way behind (unless Belsavis is like the last planet lol).

Thank you both for your answers, I'll definitely do just that. I'll probably just go to the $20 and get any other races or unlockables I would want. Is there anything I should avoid such as unlockables that I would never really need as a casual player? I feel dumb for asking these questions, but I know the FTP games can be tricky when you're only trying to get what you want.

Well, you most likely won't need Flashpoint unlock (which allows you to get loot from more than 3 Flashpoints per week, as F2P you can do as many FPs as you want but after 3, they will stop dropping the best loot) since you plan to play casually. Also, if you plan to play casually, don't bother with space missions unlock, 3 per week will be enough. I don't really think you will need Medical Probes, yes, you may have to walk more since you will be transferred to medical station after you die instead of being able to revive yourself, but the number of probes compared to price is not good IMO, so don't bother. Fleet/Coruscant quick travel passes are kinda the same. You may as well just gob back to your ship normal way and travel to Coruscant/Fleet normal way.

My advice is that you shouldn't try to buy "all the unlocks I may need" right now because if you haven't played yet, you won't know for sure what you will or won't need, what will or won't irritate you. Buy the Preferred Access Bundle + the race(s) you want and just start playing. As you play, you will figure out yourself if you need anything more, if anything in the game still irritates/restricts you too much.

[Kelimbror]

While we're on the topic, how harsh is the XP restriction on F2P? I subbed, not because I plan to play a lot, but because I was worried I'd fall way behind vs. the level of mobs in quests (and the only reason to play is the quests, for me at least).

I haven't leveled as preferred yet, but I've heard that it's noticeable. If you are someone who does every single quest and bonus series, maybe pvps and does your 3 space missions, you might be overleveled...but that's a lot of activity to get that way. If you are like me and you just want to knock out the main planet quests and story, you are in for some bad news.

I have two sets of advice for people regarding this game:

1) If you have the money, want to spend the money, and have enough time to play several hours a day there's really no reason why you shouldn't subscribe for a month. You will be able to max out a character, see some endgame, and know whether this game is for you.

2) If you don't have the money, or don't want to spend your money, and/or don't have lots of time to devote to the game then you really are better off leveling for free/small one time purchase in order to see what there is to see.

Best case scenario is you enjoy the game, decide to sub, and you saved yourself $5 for the first 'month'. Also anything you unlock will stay unlocked if you let your sub lapse at any time. Worst case is that you don't like the game, but hey you have it for $10 if you ever get the itch to level again.

[dudenic]

Thanks, Harrus. I think I'll do just that. Is the preferred pack single character or account wide?

[ariakul]

While we're on the topic, how harsh is the XP restriction on F2P? I subbed, not because I plan to play a lot, but because I was worried I'd fall way behind vs. the level of mobs in quests (and the only reason to play is the quests, for me at least).

I'll probably stay subbed (laziness), but I'm still curious how badly the XP penalty puts you behind the curve in terms of leveling progression / difficulty.

Technically, you would be Preferred and not F2P.

The XP restriction is the same though. Too be honest, its not too bad. You'll need to do the Heroics and Bonus quest chains though. But honestly, doing that gives you Commodations (make sure to spend them before turning in quests if it will put you over the 20 mark!). Those commodations are great to buy item enhancements for your gear, or, get the item enhancements and sell on the GTN if you are all upgraded.