SWTOR going Free-To-Play

[[m'kay]]

I'm cool with this, mostly since one of the only things I like about the game are the space missions.

God I would actually pay for like 20 more space missions, no joke. Microtransaction, subscription, whatever - just gimme some more stuff to do in my smuggler spaceship please


also let me smuggle things you stupid [m'kay]

[NiteRunner81]

I'm with Swine on this -- 99.9%. the .1 % stands for the other two siblings and bro-in-law who has wanted to play this game since day one but hadn't because of finances...

I am glad they are putting SOME restrictions on OPS/WZ's. If they had limitations on amount of F2Players on each server I would be even happier, or even realms of just F2Pers. I am so afraid of the n00bs..

The other day I experienced a player talking about sith who got reported for racism for making fun for talking about a fantasy-land race. WTF?!?!?

[KOko]

I was very interested when I heard the news, so interested that I bought 60-day card while waiting for the F2P to start, but...
From what I have found - SWTOR F2P model will be extremely restrictive. Comming from LOTRO where there is middle layer between subscribers and f2p players (called Premius) that keep some of the base features unlocked once they were subscribers at some point (but still losing access to many other features), reading about all the limitations you will encounter if your sub expires in SWTOR you will lose tons of features, including some of your chars, your vault space, your inventory space, etc., etc... I really wonder how playable it will be as f2p at all.
And there is still no word about what will you be able to unlock via the in-game Market, nor what the prices will be or anything about the opportunity to earn in-game currency in any other method but paying real-life money.

To all the elitists affraid of n00bs - lol silly! I have been playing LOTRO last 2 years and I have met, trained and played with a few generations of n00bs. Some have become excelent players, some were simply casual and some are idiots filling my ignore list. Anyway, n00bs all we are, or at least all were at some point. And definitely with only about 40 days of gameplay in SWTOR and just about to ding lvl40 on my main I am also a n00b, now go start hating!
Just to let you know, F2P for LOTRO was very positive move. Many old players did have same prejudice like you, and some still do, but what do you need to realise is that without such a move your beloved game could be dead far earlier than you expect. Nothing kills a MMO game as fast as low populated servers, and if nothing else - the flow of new players to the game (even if being a n00bs) is what can bring it back to life. Cmoooon, SWTOR lost almost half of its population in a year! How many do you think will be here in one more year if they dont make the F2P move ?

[WD-40]

They'll release it all once they're sure the new paying players amount drys up.

[Darth Crater]

An interesting article on the decline of subscription models. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/08/good-riddance-the-death-of-online-gamings-monthly-subscription-model/

One interesting thing they bring up about the free-to-play model is that it effectively provides price discrimination. This isn't as bad as it sounds - basically, it involves selling the same product to different groups of people at different prices, based on what they're willing to pay. If you've ever taken an Economics class, you know this is effectively the Holy Grail of pricing, eliminating nearly every downside (except backlash from consumers paying higher prices). You can see a partial example of this at a movie theater, where tickets are sold at different prices to different age groups.

While free-to-play with microtransactions isn't exactly the same (it's more like a number of small, related products), it's remarkably similar in function. Meanwhile, the attached free trial and small content packages get rid of most of the backlash - you're not perceived as selling exactly the same product for multiple prices, even if in some sense you only had to make one product. (Meanwhile, the free trial and microtransactions are increasing willingness to spend among your customers. This model really is amazing...)

Of course, this isn't bad for the consumer, either. You get as much game as you want to pay for, and some game for free no matter what. You get more options overall, as opposed to the single price point you faced previously. You can pick and choose which parts you want, and pay less for them than you would have for the whole game.

[(SWGO)Minas_Thirith]

Swine didn't i predict F2P for SWTOR before it's release?

Nowadays MMO developers see there is much more money to be earned with a In-game store then with subscriptions.
Just pray P2W doesn't start on SWTOR, i really hate how much Pay2win there is to be found on LOTRO, and i've wasted a ton of money on it.

We'll see what happens, i "may" play SWTOR, but i've got so many games yet to play....and MMORPG's are quite time-consuming as they are.

MT

[KOko]

Pay2win there is to be found on LOTRO, and i've wasted a ton of money on it.

And exactly what p2w options do you see in LOTRO? There is no part of the game that requires you to use store bought buffs, therefore everything is only a convenience.
You may buy some buffs to make grind a bit faster, but what exactly do you win there? Every next guy can do it without store-bought buffs.
And then again, what is there to WIN in a PvE centered game? Don't even start with the silly PvP-like excuse they have.
One thing I did like in SWTOR is how they handle PvP zones. Even at level 10 I could join and actually compete with players 40lvls above me.

[(SWGO)Minas_Thirith]

Well KoKo i wasn't talking about PVE, like you said there isn't a "Win" in PVE since it's teambased.
There are a "few" things giving you an advantage, like temporary buffs or stat tomes.

P2W is mostly PVP-based and you know what i mean by it.

And yes KoKo that PVP feature is quite nice, tough i tought that you don't get all your skills when you do enter at low lvl's?

MT

[KOko]

Of course you don't get all your skills, but those you got are viable (you are in fact buffed to an average lvl49 stats).
Yes, you miss all the PvP gear and all the skills you will get updated till lvl50, but you still can fight. My lvl38 toon is regularly scoring for higher place even against lvl50s and she was goin well ever since lvl10.

The funny story from yesterday - while questing on Hoth in a busy with empire pleayers cave there came a republic player who tried to quest also.... tagged for PvP. He didn't even see where the strike came from
Btw, I always run tagged for PvP (on a PvE server) and it's funny when you find someone you can fight with... and is extremely unnatural when you see players who are not tagged for PvP and you cannot harm them. Siths and Jedis running together questing, WTH!

[SWINE FLU]

Actually, in SWTOR now, level 50s have their own PvP bracket so therefore gear isn't a er in the lower levels' PvP. All gear, stats and skills you have are boosted to level 49. You can't get PvP gear that increases you chance to win a fight until level 50.