SWTOR Free to Play ?

[Deleted]

I'll tell you one thing, WAR is still not F2P. That says something about super-hyped swtor.

F2P wasn't a tried and tested model back when WAR was busy dying. I think they'd rather let it die a slow death than waste resources converting it into a F2P model, as great as that idea might be.

[Hostagecat]

F2P wasn't a tried and tested model back when WAR was busy dying. I think they'd rather let it die a slow death than waste resources converting it into a F2P model, as great as that idea might be.

I think you hit it right on the head as a EA execs are all about the bottom line, and why waste resources on a game thats seen better days. Its utimately about the money, and F2P is a cash cow for all the subgames that have converted.

[Shadylol]

Yep. That people behind it know that it is worth trying to bring more players to it. Because it has a great potential. Because the story is superb.

Because it's the game the fans deserve, but not the one we have yet.

"It's not about the money, it's about sending a message - Free to play works"

Batman allegories aside, I don't think that SWTOR's story is really good enough to convince people to subscribe to the game. The ultimate problem is that even if enough people do love the story, they still probably won't subscribe, because they can see the whole story 1-50 free

[Forsedar]

The ultimate problem is that even if enough people do love the story, they still probably won't subscribe, because they can see the whole story 1-50 free

That is the point of the F2P option- for those to experience the story without having to pay a monthly fee for it. They have 50 levels to either get hooked on the game or not. If they get hooked, chances are they will subscribe to the game. If they don't get hooked, they still played the game.

[Profyrion]

That is the point of the F2P option- for those to experience the story without having to pay a monthly fee for it. They have 50 levels to either get hooked on the game or not. If they get hooked, chances are they will subscribe to the game. If they don't get hooked, they still played the game.

It isn't completely free, either. They still have to front the $15 for the software to level up beyond 15.

[Forsedar]

It isn't completely free, either. They still have to front the $15 for the software to level up beyond 15.

$15 for a game that you most likely will spend dozens of hours on (leveling) is a fair price.

[Kelimbror]

It isn't completely free, either. They still have to front the $15 for the software to level up beyond 15.

Also not true once it actually launches F2P...the client will be free. Links are in like 100 other threads on here.

[Shadylol]

That is the point of the F2P option- for those to experience the story without having to pay a monthly fee for it. They have 50 levels to either get hooked on the game or not. If they get hooked, chances are they will subscribe to the game. If they don't get hooked, they still played the game.

If they "get hooked" on the story, then they still don't really have any reason to subscribe, for other content

[Celista]

If they "get hooked" on the story, then they still don't really have any reason to subscribe, for other content

Yeah I still don't see the upside of SWTOR going free to play considering all of the good content is pvp, where everyone is on the same level for bgs, and storylines/quest content, all of which you'll be able to get with a free account.

What incentives are they going to offer in order to encourage people to upgrade/spend irl cash?

[Forsedar]

I personally love the endgame and the fact that we get content at a somewhat decent pace. That alone will be enough for me to continue subscribing. I know my guild as well as multiple other guilds on my server feel the same way. The game surely isn't for everyone, but that doesn't mean its not fun.

[Crysis]

Also not true once it actually launches F2P...the client will be free. Links are in like 100 other threads on here.

doubt that, people who downloaded the free version will still have to pay the 15$ to upgrade their "trial" version to the "official-semi-pro" version (semi-pro, because to go full-pro you will need to subscribe, I guess there will be some downloading involved for those paying subs)

[Deleted]

Yeah I still don't see the upside of SWTOR going free to play considering all of the good content is pvp, where everyone is on the same level for bgs, and storylines/quest content, all of which you'll be able to get with a free account.

What incentives are they going to offer in order to encourage people to upgrade/spend irl cash?

They will limit the numbers of warzones you can play for free :P

[Deleted]

They will limit the numbers of warzones you can play for free :P

I find this quite odd.

The only good thing about the game is the leveling experience, the 1-50 storyline and quests are absolutely outstanding and as a standalone RPG experience it's up there with Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR and Elder Scrolls.

The PvP, PvE and endgame content are all extremely poor and yet EA decide to make the amazing part of the game free to play and the bad part of the game pay to play.

I predict a huge increase of players once the game goes F2P (as the story/leveling is amazing), followed by another huge increase in subscriptions as players hit 50 and hope to progress their characters, and then finally followed by massive decline in subscriptions as players realize the endgame is bad and they simply just want to play the 1-50 with a few other characters.

[Jalek]

I find this quite odd.

The only good thing about the game is the leveling experience, the 1-50 storyline and quests are absolutely outstanding and as a standalone RPG experience it's up there with Mass Effect, Dragon Age, KOTOR and Elder Scrolls.

The PvP, PvE and endgame content are all extremely poor and yet EA decide to make the amazing part of the game free to play and the bad part of the game pay to play.

I predict a huge increase of players once the game goes F2P (as the story/leveling is amazing), followed by another huge increase in subscriptions as players hit 50 and hope to progress their characters, and then finally followed by massive decline in subscriptions as players realize the endgame is bad and they simply just want to play the 1-50 with a few other characters.

Extremely poor PVE and PVP is a severe over exageration. They are fine, just not that much content and the early ops and HM FPs were way too easy. EC is a pretty fun operation and HM-LI and KUS were both very fun and probably 2 of the best dungeons in any game. All the classes are useful in PVE unlike some games where they are completely imbalanced.

I think people are also missing the point that they will release new level cap at some stage, so if you want to continue the story you will need to subscribe or at least spend some cartel coins. I think there are limited character slots too. They are giving one character slot away in the hopes you want to try some other class stories.

[Alvito]

I'll tell you one thing, WAR is still not F2P. That says something about super-hyped swtor.

F2p doesn't mean the game is a bust. While it has more then its share of issues all they are doing is opening the door for all the ppl that want to play for the story stuff. Ppl have been saying its a good game but a bad mmo well now the ppl that want to buy and play it like its KOTOR 3 can and will.

---------- Post added 2012-08-07 at 05:30 AM ----------

Yeah I still don't see the upside of SWTOR going free to play considering all of the good content is pvp, where everyone is on the same level for bgs, and storylines/quest content, all of which you'll be able to get with a free account.

What incentives are they going to offer in order to encourage people to upgrade/spend irl cash?

I have seen plenty of things where forum posters assume that but nothing from BW stating thats the case. If it is that means they are just giving away a great single player game fishing for a few dollars here and there from ppl. I find that highly unlikely. As a business move it makes no sense to do that, then again half of the things they do make no sense so who knows.

[Shadylol]

I personally love the endgame and the fact that we get content at a somewhat decent pace. That alone will be enough for me to continue subscribing. I know my guild as well as multiple other guilds on my server feel the same way. The game surely isn't for everyone, but that doesn't mean its not fun.

SWTOR's endgame suffers from being too easy, though. I realize that WoW is too hard for certain players, and that makes the game unattractive, but BioWare took it too far with SWTOR, and I think that "easier is better" mentality has really hurt the game

[Deleted]

I personally love the endgame and the fact that we get content at a somewhat decent pace. That alone will be enough for me to continue subscribing. I know my guild as well as multiple other guilds on my server feel the same way. The game surely isn't for everyone, but that doesn't mean its not fun.

what content?

swtor hasnt had any for over 5 months
thats almost as long as blizzard takes to put out content in wow, swtor cant afford to do that, as its shown, they have losy most of there subs since launch due to problems with the game, and lack of any real new content.

also im guessing that the free to play will also hit them hard at the start.

[snowcrash512]

Im happy for the free to play option so I can at least work through some of the storylines at my own pace, as boring as some may be.

But until they fix the fundamental flaws with the game, its not going to save them.

Endgame is too easy, I had two fully geared characters within two months or launch, thats not right.

The game engine is crappy, I can run any other MMO maxed out without an issue, but this one gets random stutters and has a sluggish feel to the whole thing.

The overall design of the game world is poor, everything is static, zero dynamic events, zero random encounters, zero npcs that actually do anything other than stand in one spot and wait to be killed, or go through their script endlessly with zero regard to the world around them.

[Crysis]

SWTOR's endgame suffers from being too easy, though. I realize that WoW is too hard for certain players, and that makes the game unattractive, but BioWare took it too far with SWTOR, and I think that "easier is better" mentality has really hurt the game

Rofl, what a bullshit! WoW is too hard ? Since when ? Since they brought LFR ? Since they nerf stuff instead of bringing new content ? Yep, super hard. SWTOR'S endgame doesn't suffer from anything. There's not many things to do, but it will grow and things will be added in the future, no worries there. Players just don't realize that every MMO needs time, over the time, it becomes better. And after that, it can get either even better or stay the way it is, or go the downward spiral.

[Kelimbror]

what content?

swtor hasnt had any for over 5 months
thats almost as long as blizzard takes to put out content in wow, swtor cant afford to do that, as its shown, they have losy most of there subs since launch due to problems with the game, and lack of any real new content.

also im guessing that the free to play will also hit them hard at the start.

There hasn't been content because they were forced to start rapidly revamping to an F2P system. Yes they probably had a framework, but if they don't launch with tons of things to spend money on then they fail. If they had strong subs and weren't going F2P, you probably would have seen an update by now.

Not to mention that saying they haven't had content in 5 months is hyperbole.