I've avoided responding to this thread... But I think I will since I have nothing better to do (sick atm).
Swtor, over the past year, has been a great example of how NOT to run an MMO.
We had an incredibly smooth launch. The queues were annoying but the fact that we didn't have a super server was more annoying. If they didn't have the technology to support a few million players on 6 servers they should have at least launched with an instant, free transfer service so people could shuffle around between servers when the tide of launch day players subsided.
The end game PVE was buggy, but that's to be expected at launch. The fact it wasn't fixed was very odd. But hey, they plan on launching new stuff all the time so what does it matter if t1 wasn't great? And t2 was right around the corner.
Ilum was okay. Not perfect. But alright. There were countless ways they could have improved it, but they instead just shut the whole thing down. Worst solution ever.
1.2 was the best patch swtor ever had. It fixed most the fps issues and bugged, helped with balance a little in pvp, and introduced a great raid. The rakghoul event was extremely fun.
Then things went from good to terrible.
6 month dead zone of content. Cobbled together transfer service. Staff fired. Great ideas scrapped. Nothing new on SSSP since guild summit.
F2P is announced! Finally, the model I thought they should have launched with. Will they focus on a IP/RP league system or a lotro turbine coin system with an in-game unlock system? No. They went with a EQ2 like freemium model that was even worse than EQ2. They focused on punishing F2Pers instead of improving the lives of subscribers. Why? Probably because they haven't figured out how to add new features to give to subscribers. But it was a workable model. I bought all my unlocks off the GTN for cheap (including artifact gear authorization). But then they broke their F2P system and started "losing" peoples unlocks.
Now we are here. The most mismanaged MMO I have ever seen. Great game. Terrible dev team. There are so many ways they could improve their game but they just keep doing the wrong things. Over and over.
Will we see a F2P revival like we saw in AoC or Lotro or Dcuo? Probably not. This system doesn't do everything in its power to expand its player base and it will pay for it.