SWTOR Free to Play ?

[Dakia]

I love the reasoning of them considering free2play.

Quote: Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail

To paraphrase: "We can't keep up with demand when people have to pay, so we'll just make it free and we don't have to delivery as much." Such a losing attitude.

Yeah, taking one sentence out of context does completely change the statement. Look at the full statement and lets take it apart piece by piece:

The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well.
Things are always changing. We need to be flexible and be able to adapt to those changes as they occur.

Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations.
Players are always demanding more content and changes to the game. That is, unless they are completely happy with what they have (yeah, never going to happen)

So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.
Because people are always wanting more and always wanting the game to be on the leading edge of giving them what they want, we need to take a look at those things they want. The leading edge of that right now is a positive sentiment towards the F2P model and negative sentiment towards the subscription model. As such, we are taking a look at the F2P model to see if it is a good fit.

There is nothing in those statements that speaks toward laziness or a decrease in their effort of delivering content and updates.

[alturic]

how about refunding the money I paid if its going f2p...

You paid to get your access to the game. The access was provided. Why should they refund your money? That's one of the reasons, especially if the person plays WoW, developers have a uphill struggle because a LARGE portion of the world like to know they are going to invest in something that has long-term sustainability. If a game that just launch has ~1m players and for some odd reasons didn't answer a question about F2P with "we are nowhere near even thinking about anything like that, we have a lot on our plate with changes, expansions, etc etc etc" instead of "yea it's something we would/are (don't remember) considering", people take things out of context, or read too much into things.

I don't think this F2P interview is something that's going to make or break the game more than it already has on it's own.

---------- Post added 2012-06-15 at 01:56 PM ----------

Yeah, taking one sentence out of context does completely change the statement. Look at the full statement and lets take it apart piece by piece:

The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well.
Things are always changing. We need to be flexible and be able to adapt to those changes as they occur.

Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations.
Players are always demanding more content and changes to the game. That is, unless they are completely happy with what they have (yeah, never going to happen)

So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.
Because people are always wanting more and always wanting the game to be on the leading edge of giving them what they want, we need to take a look at those things they want. The leading edge of that right now is a positive sentiment towards the F2P model and negative sentiment towards the subscription model. As such, we are taking a look at the F2P model to see if it is a good fit.

While you are 100% correct, the LotRO/DDO model is actually (using their interview) what some people want, which in turn will turn out to give them more customers. The customer they will gain are the ones who want free games, so give them a free game. Make certain aspects of the game need to be bought (quests/classes/char slots, stuff that subs all get for free) and everyone will get what they want. The people who don't like F2P can still pay every month and get more than what someone who doesn't want to pay does, and the person who wants to play for free can play for free but with some restrictions.

I don't know of any F2P games (I tend to not like the quality) that gives EVERYTHING away for free without any restrictions at all and the cash shop offers things other-wise unobtainable in game. If so, that is almost risking certain death because just looking in this thread alone there is a ton of posters saying if the game went F2P they would play it (again) which clearly means they don't think it's worth the subscription and if it's not worth the subscription I don't see why they would spend money on the cash shop.

[Argroth]

I love the reasoning of them considering free2play.

Quote: Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail

To paraphrase: "We can't keep up with demand when people have to pay, so we'll just make it free and we don't have to delivery as much." Such a losing attitude.

That is a very negative way of seeing it but it does make sense and I agree. The only way they phrased it as it is is that they are starting to get lazy and are seriously thinking about mostly giving up on the game.

If they had better reasoning and were more upfront about the issue I would possibly be looking at it in a better light.

With a F2P model people coming back does not mean more money even with a cash shop. They will possibly gain some people who are trying out the game but if they wern't going to pay $13 for an entire month what makes you think they would pay $13 for that useless digital hat with a funky feather in it. Then there will be the crowd like me who realizes Bioware is giving up and move onto a game that actually wants to improve itself, then there will be the small amount of people likley already playing the game and paying for subs that will actually buy the pieces of junk in the cash shop overall not paying much more then they already are.

[Jarlathe]

But the casuals proliferate the game, and heck, you can eat the casuals for breakfast in PvP.

Hence, there will be a play to win option. EA won't take the chance of someone like you "owning" some casual without giving that casual some way of having an i-win button, even if that button is mostly fake.

casual = mouthbreathingkeyboardturningmoron AKA bad player

[Necrotica]

There's more news incoming on the Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play front. Electronic Arts boss Frank Gibeau recently talked business strategy with GamesIndustry International.

"We're going to be in the business from a long-term standpoint so absolutely we're going to embrace free access, free trial, ultimately some day we can move in and embrace that model," he tells the website. Gibeau also stresses that EA is "really proud of Star Wars" and "really excited about the launch."

He stops short of sounding the death-knell for the subscription model, though. "I don't think subscriptions ever go away, but when you have an IP as broad as Star Wars, we're definitely going to look at opportunities to grow that business and look at different ways of bringing customers in and serving them," he says.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06...ce-free-model/

[RoninaThorstone]

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06...ce-free-model/

"We're going to be in the business from a long-term standpoint so absolutely we're going to embrace free access, free trial, ultimately some day we can move in and embrace that model,"

"I don't think subscriptions ever go away, but when you have an IP as broad as Star Wars, we're definitely going to look at opportunities to grow that business and look at different ways of bringing customers in and serving them,"

I think from this we can take two things.

There will be a "standard" swtor which will be free to play but content patches will cost money to unlock.

And

There will be a "premium" swtor which will be subscription based that will have full access to content and bonus features like VIP shops and bonus legacy perks.

Thread merged to keep the discussion in one place ~ Dakia

[Deleted]

I think from this we can take two things.

There will be a "standard" swtor which will be free to play but content patches will cost money to unlock.

And

There will be a "premium" swtor which will be subscription based that will have full access to content and bonus features like VIP shops and bonus legacy perks.

Thread merged to keep the discussion in one place ~ Dakia

Ah, go for that "f2p" which means "annoy people to pay" or even "p2win". I dont care much for that at all. Just keep the subfee then for christ sake. Or just lower subfee overall like someone posted in video game forum. I'm just thinking about Aion "f2p" EU... makes me feel a little sick.

[Vexies]

I think from this we can take two things.

There will be a "standard" swtor which will be free to play but content patches will cost money to unlock.

And

There will be a "premium" swtor which will be subscription based that will have full access to content and bonus features like VIP shops and bonus legacy perks.

Im not sure where you got that at all out of what he is saying however, that wouldn't actually be a bad compromise. Keep the subs for those wanting the security of a sub model and fremium for those who just want to play without all the bells and whistles.

[Clymene]

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06...ce-free-model/

"We're going to be in the business from a long-term standpoint so absolutely we're going to embrace free access, free trial, ultimately some day we can move in and embrace that model,"

"I don't think subscriptions ever go away, but when you have an IP as broad as Star Wars, we're definitely going to look at opportunities to grow that business and look at different ways of bringing customers in and serving them,"

The massively post is misleading. I never trust anything posted there. If you go to the source, the actual sentence is three times longer. It basically breaks down to there are willing to embrace whatever business model makes them the most money. Big surprise from a corporation, who is legally required to do so. The internet makes tabloid journalism look professional.

[Deatheryn]

I don't understand why ppl are so bent out of shape at the prospect of SWTOR going F2P, You would think the fans would be extremely happy about it as they won't have to pay a sub to play the game they love! Yet, they're saying "It WILL NOT go free to play!"

Going F2P would do wonders for the game in terms of population, that is the games biggest problem pre-xfers and while the free xfers most definitely will have improved this, going F2P will only further improve the situation. Playing any MMO requires that there is a rather large community to play w/ or else all the group content is irrelevent because there's no one to group w/.

I hope they do go F2P as I will definitely return to my lvl 50 Lightning Inquisitor.

[Vexies]

And this is just another example. The game gets some good mojo going, some genuine positive feelings from the player base and here we go with "articles" like that clipped to stir up the hate. It truly baffles me sometimes the depths it goes to. Not that any of these interview responses were well timed. I can only face palm that they participated in anything that could be this easily twisted to use against them anyway.

[Ricen]

Correct me if im wrong. But these companies who charge sub fees are more or less scamming the public. They dont need 15$ a month from all their subs to provide the game to us and keep it updated. At least thats from what i understand about the MMO industry

[noahjam326]

I haven't read through the entire thread to see if anybody else noticed this, but it looks like the original article that sparked this entire discussion has been removed from the original website.

[Argroth]

I don't understand why ppl are so bent out of shape at the prospect of SWTOR going F2P, You would think the fans would be extremely happy about it as they won't have to pay a sub to play the game they love! Yet, they're saying "It WILL NOT go free to play!"

Going F2P would do wonders for the game in terms of population, that is the games biggest problem pre-xfers and while the free xfers most definitely will have improved this, going F2P will only further improve the situation. Playing any MMO requires that there is a rather large community to play w/ or else all the group content is irrelevent because there's no one to group w/.

I hope they do go F2P as I will definitely return to my lvl 50 Lightning Inquisitor.

Except it will also mean no more GOOD content without paying through the nose and there would be less incentive for the company to release more stuff on a regular basis.

Products will just degrade as they realize a few idiots will waste hundreds of dollars on junk while the people who want quality will go on ignored because it's harder to please people who want their money's worth.

[RoninaThorstone]

Except it will also mean no more GOOD content without paying through the nose and there would be less incentive for the company to release more stuff on a regular basis.

Products will just degrade as they realize a few idiots will waste hundreds of dollars on junk while the people who want quality will go on ignored because it's harder to please people who want their money's worth.

So long as you spend less than 180 dollars a year on a FTP game you are coming out ahead on the 15/mo sub.

[Argroth]

So long as you spend less than 180 dollars a year on a FTP game you are coming out ahead on the 15/mo sub.

Dosn't change the chance of being way less content if you don't spend that $180.

From every F2P game I've seen with a cash shop things are rediculously overpriced for what they really are and for how much work needs to go into making them. Things like a reskinned mount or a new chest piece with a new color and differnt stats don't sell for like $1 it's always like $10+ for that one item. Takes them no time and resources to make and will sell it for an unbelievable amount of money, where after selling like 3 they are already in the profit range.

Only minor/useless things ever sell for an actual cheap amount. Like a stack of potions.

And like a isaid it;s not like they are gonna keep up with free content after it goes f2p any new content will cost a fair bundle quickly adding up and likely over to that $180 one would pay for in a sub game and get all the same stuff without micro transactions inflating every individual item.

[blacki84]

Hmmmm I 'might' actually try it if it goes F2P.

same here...but i'll w8 until confirmations

[RoninaThorstone]

Dosn't change the chance of being way less content if you don't spend that $180.

From every F2P game I've seen with a cash shop things are rediculously overpriced for what they really are and for how much work needs to go into making them. Things like a reskinned mount or a new chest piece with a new color and differnt stats don't sell for like $1 it's always like $10+ for that one item. Takes them no time and resources to make and will sell it for an unbelievable amount of money, where after selling like 3 they are already in the profit range.

Only minor/useless things ever sell for an actual cheap amount. Like a stack of potions.

And like a isaid it;s not like they are gonna keep up with free content after it goes f2p any new content will cost a fair bundle quickly adding up and likely over to that $180 one would pay for in a sub game and get all the same stuff without micro transactions inflating every individual item.

So don't buy the reskinned mounts?

As to the second part, until you know how much they are going to charge you have no reason to think that.

[SirRobin]

I haven't read through the entire thread to see if anybody else noticed this, but it looks like the original article that sparked this entire discussion has been removed from the original website.

Yeah, that did raise some eyebrows.

[Argroth]

So don't buy the reskinned mounts?

As to the second part, until you know how much they are going to charge you have no reason to think that.

There's no reason to be optimistic about this needless possible change either though.

Going F2P certainly will not mean the same game as it is right now and I mostly like how the subs work, especially right now as they pump out all these changes with promising content on thee way. If I had to pay directly for that junk I wouldn't be looking forward to it as much.

---------- Post added 2012-06-15 at 08:51 PM ----------

They shouldn't be jerks about it and try and cover anything up. If they are planning on doing what people are suspecting I think we have a right to know so I can cancel my sub right now since the game has no future.

If that's the decision they want to make they should know people like me will leave and they will have to deal with it since they obviously think they will make my loss back when people buy their piddly items.