Might come back, F2P/Preferred still screwed over in a lot of stuff?

[Ryuji]

As in:

Credit caps, having to pay in coins to unlock race options for new characters if you didn't finish a class story with whatever race it was, paying to unlock hiding your helmet, paying to match colors to chest, paying to get access to a crew skill slot, paying for action bars, paying for weekly access to instances/PvP, etc., not getting some rewards like lockboxes n' such.

I probably bought a few unlocks for those as preferred so it's a moot point if it's still around but is there anything that's still annoying to deal with unless subbed?

[Piene]

Pretty much everything http://www.swtor.com/free/features <- here is still pretty accurate, I find playing as non-sub really annoying so I can't really tell you anything about that, as I usually always sub when I want to play anyways.

Also, if you have been subbed already sometimes you could use someone's ref link to get some of the unlocks & stuff for free: Link <- You can check what you get there.

[quras]

As in:

Credit caps, having to pay in coins to unlock race options for new characters if you didn't finish a class story with whatever race it was, paying to unlock hiding your helmet, paying to match colors to chest, paying to get access to a crew skill slot, paying for action bars, paying for weekly access to instances/PvP, etc., not getting some rewards like lockboxes n' such.

I probably bought a few unlocks for those as preferred so it's a moot point if it's still around but is there anything that's still annoying to deal with unless subbed?

I was actually good with all those things except the lock box one. IF its a quest reward it should be available. However, it rest is convenience and not really need to see the story of SWTOR and that the story's are what really helps sell the game in a sense.

Given you can now see all 8 stories, play all the classes, I was pleased you could do all that for free. You don't have to pay a single dime.

However, if you want it all, you got to pay something. instances and PVP should be just handed out for free. Credit sellers would love the credit cap removed so I really hope that one stays. Credit sellers are bad enough as it is. The bulk of what you mentioned is just convenience stuff and you don't need it for free. It's things you would like to have and there is the enticement to sub.

If you wanted to play SWTOR and do it the cheapest way possible, I'd sub for a month to remove all the restrictions. Collect as many credits as possible, buy all the stuff you mentioned for account wide unlocks off the GTN and do it for in game credits. You can even get the instances and PVP weekly unlocks that could last you a while. Let your sub run out and play the game for nearly nothing with many of those restrictions removed forever. you get the credit restriction back and limited instances and PVP but you should have some stored credit escrow unlocks and instance/pvp weekly unlocks stored away.

You can play this game as a F2P gamer with damn near every restriction removed with just one month sub. So I cant agree that gamers are getting screwed out of the things you mentioned when it can easily be alleviated OR the fact some just want to pay nothing and still have access to it all and all the convenience. No company should support that.

[Razael]

Credit sellers ? People actually buy credits? I play 3 of 4 months of SWTOR and i don't know where to spend the millions i have.

[Piene]

Credit sellers ? People actually buy credits? I play 3 of 4 months of SWTOR and i don't know where to spend the millions i have.

There are tons of credit sellers so I'm pretty sure people buy credits.

-> Millions for full Augments
-> Cosmetics, Mounts, Pets, Stronghold decoration, etc. etc. - there is SO much to spend your credits on, lol.
Although it's not hard to make credits, since you gain lots of credits for whatever you do anyways.

[Razael]

There are tons of credit sellers so I'm pretty sure people buy credits.

-> Millions for full Augments
-> Cosmetics, Mounts, Pets, Stronghold decoration, etc. etc. - there is SO much to spend your credits on, lol.
Although it's not hard to make credits, since you gain lots of credits for whatever you do anyways.

Stupid phone auto correcting. I meant to say i play 3 or 4 months a year. Yeah. Thats just stuff i don't particularly pay alot of attention but i still have over 10mill and im sure im probably poor compared to most players.

[Piene]

Stupid phone auto correcting. I meant to say i play 3 or 4 months a year. Yeah. Thats just stuff i don't particularly pay alot of attention but i still have over 10mill and im sure im probably poor compared to most players.

Yeah, once you have your set fully augmented there's pretty much only cosmetic stuff to spend your credits on, which is nice imo (Totally love the cosmetic-aspect in swtor, so many awesome sets, etc.).

[derpkitteh]

f2p's gimpyness is what's keeping me from coming back, as well :/

i mean, i could handle every other restriction if it wasn't for the fucking xp gimp.

[ymirsson]

f2p's gimpyness is what's keeping me from coming back, as well :/

i mean, i could handle every other restriction if it wasn't for the fucking xp gimp.

So you're upset you don't get a full product for free? I can understand the notion to not spend money, but i cannot fathom the notion of being upset by a restriction if i don't support the game.

[Edge-]

So you're upset you don't get a full product for free? I can understand the notion to not spend money, but i cannot fathom the notion of being upset by a restriction if i don't support the game.

It's more being annoyed by it, as there are many other F2P games that provide far less restrictive experiences for free players.

Personally, it's been one of the reasons I've always been so hesitant to spend money on SWTOR. I have no problem dropping some cash in a F2P game like Rift (up until Trion started shitting the bed elsewhere), GW2/TSW (B2P, but still), Tera, or Aion, where I get a fantastic experience without needing to pay anything (other than the box fee for B2P games). I have a lot of fun, and never really feel penalized for being a free player. But SWTOR? I feel actively punished for being a free player, so despite the fact that I do enjoy the game, I don't want to financially support a model that I feel is a big step backwards for where F2P games have been going for many years; which is to say towards increasing the amount of freedom players have and monetizing through positive reinforcement/encouragement rather than penalties and negative reinforcement.

[quras]

It's more being annoyed by it, as there are many other F2P games that provide far less restrictive experiences for free players.

My problem with that stance is Those other games I don't think quite give you as much free as SWTOR does. You basically get the entire game for free up to level 55 currently and don't have to pay a dime. Are you limited in some credits, lose 25% exp, can's get access to some cosmetic things that make little difference when you got the rest for free. The quest rewards is a bit harsh but really, those rewards are not a must have and relatively cheap to get around if you so choose.

Is it the reminders you are a F2P gamer that pop up in game vs the actual restrictions that you have more of a problem with?

I ask that because I got a buddy who says that but for the longest time it was, "Oh how he hated the exp loss and quest time restriction." Come to find out it was really the pop up that reminded him he wasn't paying a dime but wanted more for free.

[Svifnymr]

The XP penalty would probably irritate me if I hadn't been mostly max before, or leveled while subbed during X12 bonus days.

The main thing that bugs me is the credit cap, it's just badly done and the constant reminders that this 200 credits is over my limit and will be added to the other 2mil I already have in escrow are just tedious nagging reminders.

[Edge-]

The main thing that bugs me is the credit cap, it's just badly done and the constant reminders that this 200 credits is over my limit and will be added to the other 2mil I already have in escrow are just tedious nagging reminders.

Ugh, credit cap spam is the woooorrrrsssttttt.

Not to mention that some servers economies are beyond fucked which makes it difficult to purchase just about any unlock off the GTN.

[Fkiolaris]

My problem with that stance is Those other games I don't think quite give you as much free as SWTOR does. You basically get the entire game for free up to level 55 currently and don't have to pay a dime. Are you limited in some credits, lose 25% exp, can's get access to some cosmetic things that make little difference when you got the rest for free. The quest rewards is a bit harsh but really, those rewards are not a must have and relatively cheap to get around if you so choose.

Is it the reminders you are a F2P gamer that pop up in game vs the actual restrictions that you have more of a problem with?

I ask that because I got a buddy who says that but for the longest time it was, "Oh how he hated the exp loss and quest time restriction." Come to find out it was really the pop up that reminded him he wasn't paying a dime but wanted more for free.

While I usually agree with you on many things, on this one you are 100% wrong. I know when I played Tera for example I had no restrictions for doing absolutely anything at all or participating in any content as much as I liked. Same with Rift, which only requests you pay for the new souls but otherwise gives you all the content for free, including expansions (yes, subs get a new item slot for free in the last expansion that you have to otherwise grind, but unless you are a min-maxer then it doesn't really matter much).

In swtor though, you get shit on from the beginning. You can't do pvp more than 5 times a week, you are put at the back of all queues for pve and can only roll 3-times per week on items in dungeons, you can't do raids at all, you have to pay to get the expansions (RotHC in the form of 1-month sub, Revan seperately), you have UI restrictions, money restrictions, XP restrictions, travel restrictions, resurrection restrictions, gearing restrictions etc etc. The only things that are not restricted other than their XP and currency gains are their new system additions (Tactical FPs and GSF) for which they do want as many people as people in there because they wanted to get them going when they released them.

I am not saying one is "better" or "worse", because that can be measured in many different ways. However, objectively speaking, swtor's system is hands-down one of the most restrictive F2P systems out there, especially if you consider that the aspects it cuts the most are the MMO ones.

[Deleted]

Yea, Im not coming back until they at least removed warzone limits, that's the biggest pile of crap with this game especially since they promised a removal and then ignored it. I also read that paying players are having long pvp queues and so on, and the devs said well why remove limits, f2p-players don't reach their weekly cap anyway. But hello, why bother with pvp at all if you can't play as much as you like? So, I mean, yea... noone of the players benefit from the restrictions, it's just to fill their pockets and I will not fill them.

I also bought the game once, and I subscribed for a couple of months before f2p, and if they are forcing me to pay again to be able to hide the helmets they designed so ugly they are pretty much forcing people to buy to hide it, I mean it's flaw in design and then players have to pay for it. Only good helmets are the pure bounty hunter ones.

It's a good game, but their f2p-model is so bad, so bad I cannot find words. So I won't touch it, and probably never again since nothing seems to change.

[jkutswings]

I've played since December 2012, and I've never subscribed. Some restrictions - titles, color match, hide head slot - I don't care about. Others - artifact authorization, additional crew skill slot, character slots - can be bought via GTN (requiring, in some cases, guildies that you can repay in installments). And since I have a security key, I occasionally use cartel coins for small purchases. (Improved rocket boots comes to mind.)

Really, the one major hang-up is the credit cap. I get why it's there, but there's no good reason there couldn't be a BoP unlock only via CC. All the other headaches - reduced xp / rep gain / quest rewards - just slow you down, but can't stop you.

For comparison, I'm far more annoyed with the performance of 3.0 than with non-sub restrictions. If I were paying a monthly fee for SoR shenanigans, I'd be furious at the terrible ROI.

[quras]

While I usually agree with you on many things, on this one you are 100% wrong. I know when I played Tera for example I had no restrictions for doing absolutely anything at all or participating in any content as much as I liked. Same with Rift, which only requests you pay for the new souls but otherwise gives you all the content for free, including expansions (yes, subs get a new item slot for free in the last expansion that you have to otherwise grind, but unless you are a min-maxer then it doesn't really matter much).

In swtor though, you get shit on from the beginning. You can't do pvp more than 5 times a week, you are put at the back of all queues for pve and can only roll 3-times per week on items in dungeons, you can't do raids at all, you have to pay to get the expansions (RotHC in the form of 1-month sub, Revan seperately), you have UI restrictions, money restrictions, XP restrictions, travel restrictions, resurrection restrictions, gearing restrictions etc etc. The only things that are not restricted other than their XP and currency gains are their new system additions (Tactical FPs and GSF) for which they do want as many people as people in there because they wanted to get them going when they released them.

I am not saying one is "better" or "worse", because that can be measured in many different ways. However, objectively speaking, swtor's system is hands-down one of the most restrictive F2P systems out there, especially if you consider that the aspects it cuts the most are the MMO ones.

Initially yes, I do agree that it is restrictive when you first start but for the sake of not having the debate of better or worse.

Do you think it's relatively easy to remove almost all those restriction with in game credits only. Never spending a dime but putting in a little play time. Because if you put in the time, you can play every bit of SWTOR with all it's glory and never pay a dime of real cash except to buy the expansions.

[Shiny212]

This game would work if they fixed the following:

xp PENALTIES for any unsubbed player should be xp REWARDS for anyone subbed, NOT the other way around. You know, like every other F2P MMO ever. Fuck you EA

You shouldn't have to buy "hide head" or action bars.

- - - Updated - - -

Initially yes, I do agree that it is restrictive when you first start but for the sake of not having the debate of better or worse.

Do you think it's relatively easy to remove almost all those restriction with in game credits only. Never spending a dime but putting in a little play time. Because if you put in the time, you can play every bit of SWTOR with all it's glory and never pay a dime of real cash except to buy the expansions.

Problem is, "putting in time" in an awful experience isn't worth it. There are tons of F2P MMO's that allow you to access additional content using only ingame currencies; but SWOTR is the only one with actual restrictions so inane that it's unplayable for most.

[Deleted]

Initially yes, I do agree that it is restrictive when you first start but for the sake of not having the debate of better or worse.

Do you think it's relatively easy to remove almost all those restriction with in game credits only. Never spending a dime but putting in a little play time. Because if you put in the time, you can play every bit of SWTOR with all it's glory and never pay a dime of real cash except to buy the expansions.

Well the thing with limited warzones are the worst though, because it's actually affecting paying players experiences as well. I checked star wars official forum and it seems like it's a big problem with long queues for pvp and paying players say they would have more fun pvp if free players were let in, because queues would actually pop. Now with heavy restrictions on warzone participitation there is no need for a free player to bother with it since they can hardly even play it. I think there is some weekly pvp quest, but free players can't finish them because they have too low limit to take part. The warzone restriction pure purpose is to hand in money to the devs, and in the meantime both free players and paying players are suffering. And in order to that the devs also promised removal of restrictions 1-2 years ago which turned out to be complete hoax. I just see the handling of this game with pure disgust which is a shame because I like this game, I have even bought this game in the past and if I knew what I know today I would never have given this company those money either. So many other companies do this so much better, this company should feel nothing but ashamed of themselves, so there

[Fkiolaris]

Initially yes, I do agree that it is restrictive when you first start but for the sake of not having the debate of better or worse.

Do you think it's relatively easy to remove almost all those restriction with in game credits only. Never spending a dime but putting in a little play time. Because if you put in the time, you can play every bit of SWTOR with all it's glory and never pay a dime of real cash except to buy the expansions.

The biggest problem with this system is that the game forces you to spend too much time doing other things in order to make enough credits to get the unlocks before you can even think about doing what you like. And even for that it restricts you in how you do it with the million other limitations it has!

Take the WZ pass for example. As a prefered player, it is impossible to make enough credits as a leveling character in order to buy the pass, meaning that effectively I cannot pvp. Additionally, you can't send money from your main because, as you can guess, you are not allowed to send money as a non-sub. Even when you do reach the point where you can make enough to buy the pass, the fact that the pass is weekly and that you make no money from pvp means that you have to spend plenty of time doing things you might not want to do (ie PvE dailies) in order to be able to buy the pass, so that you then have the chance to play what you like. Also don't forget that these activities for raising money all give reduced rewards to begin with! It's just an endless slap in the face before you can even get to do what you want and have fun, something that in the end turns many people away.

In most other F2P MMOs though, if you want to pvp, then you just queue for it with no problems, restrictions or worries in any way. And that is what makes the swtor model restrictive to the point that (imo) it sucks the fun out of the experience.