Shopping suggestions for a Preferred Status player

[Heartseeker]

Hello everyone,

I started playing TOR just recently, I'm at a very early stage of the game now, around level 15 if I remember correctly. I made CC purchase to update my account to Preferred Status. I don't want to subscribe at this time, as I don't have much time to play lately and I'm already playing other games and still not sure if I want to give TOR a priority over them at this early stage. However, I'm thinking about unlocking some features and willing to spend a couple bucks to remove some restrictions. So I checked the store but it's a bit confusing. as there are lots of stuff and I'm not sure if everything is worth their price or not. Also the descriptions are not always clears on certain items, especially about the contents of discounted bundle items, so I'm not sure if I'll get a character only unlock or an account wide one.

I'm a casual player and progress slowly, I often play solo or in small groups sometimes RP as well. I don't have any plans for PvP for now.
I'd appreciate your suggestions, I don't want to spend unnecessary market coins, I'd like to get account wide unlocks if I can, but I'll probably won't play more than 3 characters for a long while, so I can settle for character unlocks if they are considerably cheaper. Are there any must have unlocks that I should purchase first, and say, are there any stuff I can avoid buying with market coins and use in game currency instead?

[RoninaThorstone]

Are there any must have unlocks that I should purchase first, and say, are there any stuff I can avoid buying with market coins and use in game currency instead?

Not really. I would argue that the ability to wear epics is pretty crucial but by the time you hit cap you will have that unlock. When I level I usually have such a surplus of credit I am FORCED to go buy unlocks as f2p because of the credit cap. I would just hold on to them, level as is, and if you run into something that you find intolerable... You can fix it because you have some coins. There's a fairly good chance you will just purchase unlocks as you level / need them though. If you are still concerned you can pick up slicing.

[Achaman]

nop ive gotten two chars to 50 with the f2p restrictions

honestly the only thing i really hate is the chat restriction of once every minute

[Deleted]

nop ive gotten two chars to 50 with the f2p restrictions

honestly the only thing i really hate is the chat restriction of once every minute

I've been a subscriber since launch and because I'm lazy I've never really taken much notice of the finer details of the F2P and Preferred status restrictions, so I am still being astounded when I see things like this. I thought having to unlock your cargo hold was bad but this!?!?!? Really, only 1 chat comment every minute? Amazing!

Is that the same for guild chat? If it is that may explain why half of the conversations in my guild seem so disjointed lol

The most obvious restriction (that I know about) for me is the cargo hold, I'm not sure if that restriction applies only to F2P or Preferred status as well.

The few times I have looked on the GTN for unlocks (for guildies) most of them are stupidly priced...quite often over the credit cap for F2P and preferred status players so you may need to try a few times before you can buy what you are looking for.
If you play on The Red Eclipse and get really stuck for a particular unlock you need PM me on MMO Champ I'll see if I can sort something out.

[Deleted]

I've been a subscriber since launch and because I'm lazy I've never really taken much notice of the finer details of the F2P and Preferred status restrictions, so I am still being astounded when I see things like this. I thought having to unlock your cargo hold was bad but this!?!?!? Really, only 1 chat comment every minute? Amazing!

Is that the same for guild chat? If it is that may explain why half of the conversations in my guild seem so disjointed lol

The most obvious restriction (that I know about) for me is the cargo hold, I'm not sure if that restriction applies only to F2P or Preferred status as well.

The few times I have looked on the GTN for unlocks (for guildies) most of them are stupidly priced...quite often over the credit cap for F2P and preferred status players so you may need to try a few times before you can buy what you are looking for.
If you play on The Red Eclipse and get really stuck for a particular unlock you need PM me on MMO Champ I'll see if I can sort something out.

The 1-minute CD on chat only applies to the general channel and I think this is the right call from Bioware as there would be too many spammers without this restriction.
A F2P/Preferred player can spam as much as he wants in group and guild channel

Concerning the cargo hold, it is only limited to F2P players, not Preferred.

Then again, people aren't supposed to stay F2P in SWTOR.
If you leveled past 30, this means you like the game and I would only consider it fair that you pay a little something to upgrade to Preferred Status (not even talking about subscribing here, just showing some support to a game you enjoyed).

[Deleted]

The 1-minute CD on chat only applies to the general channel and I think this is the right call from Bioware as there would be too many spammers without this restriction.

I think it's a bit of generalisation labelling all F2P and preferred players as spammers, I'd bet that on average they are at least as intelligent and sensible as a subscriber. The continuous spouting of crap from lots of subscribers in general chat also undermines your point.

Then again, people aren't supposed to stay F2P in SWTOR.
If you leveled past 30, this means you like the game and I would only consider it fair that you pay a little something to upgrade to Preferred Status (not even talking about subscribing here, just showing some support to a game you enjoyed).

Yep, but IMHO they should have used a little more carrot and a lot less stick.

[WarpedAcorn]

I think it's a bit of generalisation labelling all F2P and preferred players as spammers, I'd bet that on average they are at least as intelligent and sensible as a subscriber. The continuous spouting of crap from lots of subscribers in general chat also undermines your point.

I believe she is referring to bots that spam services like buying credits for cash and powerleveling characters. Were the restriction lifted at max level, I think that would be a fair trade off, as most spammers and trolls won't take the time to level all the way up.

[sarahfireworks]

Are there any must have unlocks that I should purchase first, and say, are there any stuff I can avoid buying with market coins and use in game currency instead?

Inventory and GTN slots seemed the most restrictive to me early on, you definitely want a few more of those fairly quickly. Thankfully they tend to be rather reasonably priced as well, and there are oodles of them on the GTN.

In my humble opinion take up a few gathering professions with your first character and just plop the stuff you collect down on the GTN. Take the credits you'll get and scrounge some account-wide unlocks; saving your CC for those things that you'll want that are hard to find on the GTN, like medical probes for example. Buying something with play money instead of real money is a reward in itself. After doing that for a bit you should have more freedom to play what you'd like without feeling so constrained by their silly F2P system.

[Deleted]

I believe she is referring to bots that spam services like buying credits for cash and powerleveling characters.

This. ^_^

Were the restriction lifted at max level, I think that would be a fair trade off, as most spammers and trolls won't take the time to level all the way up.

That's actually a great idea, I didn't think of that.
Although it is pretty unlikely that Bioware will make such a change... They have no business trying to make the life of F2P/Preferred players easier ^^'

[catcommando]

Inventory and GTN slots seemed the most restrictive to me early on, you definitely want a few more of those fairly quickly. Thankfully they tend to be rather reasonably priced as well, and there are oodles of them on the GTN.

In my humble opinion take up a few gathering professions with your first character and just plop the stuff you collect down on the GTN. Take the credits you'll get and scrounge some account-wide unlocks; saving your CC for those things that you'll want that are hard to find on the GTN, like medical probes for example. Buying something with play money instead of real money is a reward in itself. After doing that for a bit you should have more freedom to play what you'd like without feeling so constrained by their silly F2P system.

^Sage advice. Priority would be extra account wide inventory slots. And while I did buy some cc to get preferred status, I paid for all my unlocks with in game credits earned through selling on the GTN. You'll actually hit preferred credits cap pretty quickly while leveling. Only thing I ever bought with those coins were medical probes while grouped with other people and I've ran out of them. That to me is the biggest pain point (not frequent since I don't die much on my own) once you've unlocked just about everything there is to unlock as preferred...so definitely save your CCs for those. It is very rare to see them on the GTN.

You might want to consider a hide helmet unlock if you don't like watching your character talk through a bucket (helmet) during cutscenes. Though you can get around it by buying and wearing moddable circlets.

[Heartseeker]

Inventory and GTN slots seemed the most restrictive to me early on, you definitely want a few more of those fairly quickly. Thankfully they tend to be rather reasonably priced as well, and there are oodles of them on the GTN.

In my humble opinion take up a few gathering professions with your first character and just plop the stuff you collect down on the GTN. Take the credits you'll get and scrounge some account-wide unlocks; saving your CC for those things that you'll want that are hard to find on the GTN, like medical probes for example. Buying something with play money instead of real money is a reward in itself. After doing that for a bit you should have more freedom to play what you'd like without feeling so constrained by their silly F2P system.

Yes, I just recently started my 3rd Planet and I already feel the lack of free inventory space. Unlocking it is definitely a priority for me. I'm kind of relieved to see them on GTN. I guess I can save some credits for them, eventually. I took my professions as Archeology and Artifice, I was just excited about crafting my own Lightsaber crystals and all.. But you are right, since I didn't start levelling artifice yet, I guess I can change it and take another gathering prof. I think that way my character would benefit more in the long run. I'll do so. Thanks.

^Sage advice. Priority would be extra account wide inventory slots. And while I did buy some cc to get preferred status, I paid for all my unlocks with in game credits earned through selling on the GTN. You'll actually hit preferred credits cap pretty quickly while leveling. Only thing I ever bought with those coins were medical probes while grouped with other people and I've ran out of them. That to me is the biggest pain point (not frequent since I don't die much on my own) once you've unlocked just about everything there is to unlock as preferred...so definitely save your CCs for those. It is very rare to see them on the GTN.

You might want to consider a hide helmet unlock if you don't like watching your character talk through a bucket (helmet) during cutscenes. Though you can get around it by buying and wearing moddable circlets.

I'm still saving my med probs, I thought they'd be more useful in the future. But yes, that and the inventory restriction are the most painful ones for the free players. I found the hide helmet restriction most absurd to be honest. It's just a simple cosmetic option it should never be made an unlockable in the first place. Or at least, it could be for a reasonable price. I'd still be okay with, say, 100 CC for example, like show title options. But 350 CC just for a character-only unlock is a little greedy I think. But I don't like hiding my character's face behind some helm or mask, so I'll consider getting it eventually in the future, just hoping to see some discount.

Another question, is getting a third crew skill a worthy investment?

[RoninaThorstone]

Another question, is getting a third crew skill a worthy investment?

If you want to make really good artifice stuff you will need treasure hunting.

[catcommando]

Another question, is getting a third crew skill a worthy investment?

Eh it's nice to have, but wouldn't say it's a high priority purchase. If you're pure gathering, you can harvest one more type of material out in the field which means more income. If you're planning to craft and not wanting to deal with the hassle of splitting up your craft's relevant three tradeskills over two characters, then you might to consider picking it up at a later date. I did that for a while, had cybertech and underworld trading on an alt and slicing (couldn't pass up free money in the field ) and scavenging on my main. It was doable provided you don't mind hopping back and forth between them at times. Some would find that annoying--your mileage will vary. Did pick up the third crew slot when somebody was selling it cheaply though. As Bardarian says if you're going for the high end artifact items, or even craft blue items to sell, you will need stacks of specialty mats from treasure hunting etc.

[Heartseeker]

If you want to make really good artifice stuff you will need treasure hunting.

Eh it's nice to have, but wouldn't say it's a high priority purchase. If you're pure gathering, you can harvest one more type of material out in the field which means more income. If you're planning to craft and not wanting to deal with the hassle of splitting up your craft's relevant three tradeskills over two characters, then you might to consider picking it up at a later date. I did that for a while, had cybertech and underworld trading on an alt and slicing (couldn't pass up free money in the field ) and scavenging on my main. It was doable provided you don't mind hopping back and forth between them at times. Some would find that annoying--your mileage will vary. Did pick up the third crew slot when somebody was selling it cheaply though. As Bardarian says if you're going for the high end artifact items, or even craft blue items to sell, you will need stacks of specialty mats from treasure hunting etc.

Thanks for your advice. I'll focus on levelling then, try to save some credits and keep an eye on the GTN for unlocks. I already started getting a nice income from selling stuff on the GTN, but I think I'm going to need to buy more slots eventually.