I'm posting this for the F2P players since they cannot post here. There seems to be an issue with the chat for F2P that prevents them from using any form of chat even whispers unless they are whispered first.

 

I know as per patch 5.1.2 notes here it states the following:

 

 

• Free-to-Play chat restrictions have been adjusted in order to help address third-party service advertisement spam.
  

 

It does not specify what restrictions were changed but it is causing a major issue for F2P players. Some have even leveled to 50 and cannot use chat. The main thread on the issue is Answers page here.

 

Are F2P players not able to use chat at all no matter what? Besides becoming a subscriber does it affect preferred players.

 

The only reason I ask is because not being able to use chat at all can turn away F2P players from wanting to continue to play or subscribe to the game at some point of they can't interact with other players.

 

Also the F2P FAQ page on the help site here doesn't say that F2P don't have chat access. The only mention is that Preferred players have increased access to chat but doesn't go over what the specific restrictions or increase is for either F2P or Preferred.

I actually support all the chat changes they made. Chat has been so much better lately.

I still see the occasional spammer and still get mail spam so I think they could probably stand to make the restrictions even a little bit tighter.

The main issue is thst F2P players that aren't spammers are not able to communicate at all. So for them they get turned away because they can't socialize or interact with other players.

 

Plus it does not state in the F2P FAQ that this is the case.

 

Also when they try to chat, they get a message saying "You must be level 10" to chat when they are even level 40.

 

If F2P players aren't allowed any chat access and that is intended then the warning message they get should be changed to reflect that.

I still see the occasional spammer and still get mail spam so I think they could probably stand to make the restrictions even a little bit tighter.

Nothing stops the spammers using a stolen credit card number to subscribe and run some spam (on an insta-60 or insta-65 character, no less), and the only way to address that would be to make it hard for *subscribers* to use chat...

I've noticed this too, and it's been really disruptive to my friend, who only joined a few days ago. I've been trying to help her get the hang of things, but it's difficult to do that when all of our communication is one-sided. I mistakenly reassured her that this would change, come level ten. Now she's level 15 and it hasn't changed at all, we're still stuck in this annoying cycle of stopping, tabbing out to chat via another program that isn't so discriminatory, and tabbing back in.. Which is a terrible nuisance.

 

One would think that at the very least, group chat would work- if you invite someone to a group, you obviously trust them enough to know they aren't going to spam you. Or perhaps allow F2P players to respond if someone else whispers them first, or has them on their friends list.

More to the point, this is a really big, disruptive change to make without fully informing your playerbase, and I will continue to treat it as nothing but a bug until Bioware confirms that it isn't. Not that I will stop opposing it, even if they do.

 

That said, the blatantly snobby attitude of subscribers toward their F2P counterparts in this game has always astonished me. Put yourself in someone else's place for a minute- what if that person who can't access chat is an honest player who legitimately needs help? What if they are stuck on something, or don't know where to find a key element of gameplay?

We were all newbies once, and to be a community worth being a part of, we all have to do our part and act like it. Because you never know, that newbie you help out could eventually become the leader of a great guild, that roleplayer everyone wants at their event, the PvPer people always want on their side, or the tank/healer that can carry just about any group, regardless of how disorganized everyone else is.

What I'm trying to get at is that we can't help them if they can't ask- and we should all be a little more keen to judge Bioware's decisions when they are fracturing the community.. And in case it escaped anyone, this change also happens to be penalizing subscribers at the same time, who, like me, cannot talk to friends whom they've convinced to try the game.. Not a very enticing start.

 

And of course, not everyone will be that player, but we can't pre-eminently judge someone's aptitude on how willing they are to spend money. Speaking from experience as a recent university student, fifteen dollars can mean the difference between going hungry in the long hours spent at school that month or not. Given a choice between a game subscription and food, I'd be wholeheartedly going with food. It's called prioritizing your resources, and physical needs take priority.

I'm not saying that everything should be free, but in order for a game to draw people in, you have to show them a good time. Show them that what they have for free is good, but it's worth spending the money for those extra perks because that's better.

Even if they can't pay for a subscription at the time they join the game, getting on their good side and presenting them with desirable things will give them the incentive to subscribe when they can pay for it.

 

There are plenty of other games with a F2P program that do it very well, and don't make new players feel unwelcome. The thing Bioware/EA have yet to realize, is that the more aggressive your monetization strategy is, the less likely someone is to want to spend money. For someone who is simply trying out the game, it can be a deterrent to see basic game functions like chatting or storage space be gated behind a purchase. And occasionally, it can engender a sense of resentment, which discourages a player from spending money even if they do have it to spare.

 

In this way, they are actively driving people away- you have to know where to draw a line. Apparently Bioware and EA have a difficult time figuring out where that line is. I actually wonder if it even exists for them.

Edited May 1, 2017 by SourOrange

omg, what has happened here? No, really guys. I've returned for a long absence and wanted my friend to get involved in star wars. So he registered and for now plays free just to know if he likes it. I thought he was such a noob he couldn't even use the chat but he told me there were restrictions for him and now it turns out to be true. Really? Oh really really really? How am I supposed to play with him if we can't communicate? And as to the spam. Just today I reported a spam mail I got, so great work.

This is very unfortunate for F2P players. Chat seems like a basic part of the functionality of the game. I can understand restricting it somewhat, but to level up so much and still be unable to use it seems really unfair and makes F2P kinda a lie - more like "free to not be able to play."

Chat restrictions are due to http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=9068694&postcount=1

 

So saying that chat should generally work along they are not able to use Public Channels (General, PvP, Trade, Say, etc.) on F2P accounts. They're still able to use Group/Party/Guild chat.

Upgrading to Preferred loosens these restrictions, and upgrading to Premium Subscriber removes them.

Get in a guild with Discord or something similar? Either way, it's not a bug. Edited December 16, 2017 by CrazyCT

Chat restrictions are due to http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=9068694&postcount=1

 

So saying that chat should generally work along they are not able to use Public Channels (General, PvP, Trade, Say, etc.) on F2P accounts. They're still able to use Group/Party/Guild chat.

Upgrading to Preferred loosens these restrictions, and upgrading to Premium Subscriber removes them.

 

Except having created a second account recently taught me that both group and guild chat most definitely did NOT work. I can understand the other restrictions, even if other games I play seem less restrictive and have less spam, but not being able to chat in group and guild chat is a big pain.

Except having created a second account recently taught me that both group and guild chat most definitely did NOT work. I can understand the other restrictions, even if other games I play seem less restrictive and have less spam, but not being able to chat in group and guild chat is a big pain.

 

Interesting I will ask if this is intended, I do believe group and guild chats should be working

Get in a guild with Discord or something similar? Either way, it's not a bug.

Guild chat is definitely not working - a new character who joined our guild a few days ago was unable to use the chat. And Discord is not a substitute. Not only does using an external chat client involves tabbing out constantly to chat, but guild members who do have access to the chat are constantly chatting in-game so members who don't are missing out. And if you can't use chat, you can't ask if a guild has Discord before you join it. While it's to be expected that there should be some restrictions on F2P players, guild and group chat are fairly essential elements of a multiplayer game.

I thought he was such a noob he couldn't even use the chat but he told me there were restrictions for him and now it turns out to be true. Really? Oh really really really? How am I supposed to play with him if we can't communicate?

Skype voice chat?

 

Seriously. Voice chat is easier because you just talk. It's easier even if you are both subscribers without chat restrictions because you can communicate e.g. during fights where stopping to type a message could get your character killed.

I have a friend that's preferred. He didn't have any trouble chatting in guild chat yesterday. He didn't mention anything about group or general chat problems to me. But then he may not have tried using them since he was only on long enough to do a chapter of TFE, so I can't speculate on those.

I have a friend that's preferred. He didn't have any trouble chatting in guild chat yesterday. He didn't mention anything about group or general chat problems to me. But then he may not have tried using them since he was only on long enough to do a chapter of TFE, so I can't speculate on those.

 

My chat issues on my 2nd account cleared up the moment I got myself to preferred. I was somewhere between level 20 and 25 at the time, and had not yet been able to chat in guild or group chat (while I had been playing flashpoints, in which I could not respond to anyone..), but as soon as I was recognized as preferred, those problems went away.

 

It's a relatively small amount of money required to become preferred, but.. well, that question can not even be asked if you can't chat in any way at all, which makes the restriction pretty ridiculous.

Edited January 9, 2018 by cyrusramsey

i made a brand new f2p account today and there is no way to use any chat - no whisper, no group.

when i played the h2 hate machine on korriban, some guy helped me, he even asked me if i was interested in joining a group.

 

i could not thank him.

i could not answer his question that i wanted to join.

it made me look ignorant and he was upset that i ignored him.

it made me feel really frustrated and helpless.

 

i dont understand how this is supposed to help the game and how ea/bioware intend to motivate people to become subscribers if the first contact with veteran players is such a bad experience.

Hey, why not restrict the chat to just like the general, PvP, and Trade chat! Maybe the Say chats too, But how is someone supposed to play in a group without communicating? How are they supposed to chat with their guildmates? If it some stupid plan to force F2P players to subscribe, I think it'll have the exact opposite effect. I know if I was invited to play by a friend then could'bt chat with them, I would immediately uninstall and never look back! Is EA just butthurt that no one is playing BF2 cause they tried to get over on us, so they're taking it out on potential new customers? Yeah good luck with that! Edited February 8, 2018 by QueLang

Is this still a thing?

 

I was in a group with a F2P yesterday and they didn't seem to have any problem chatting in group chat. I know they were F2P because I couldn't open a trade to give them something.

Is this still a thing?

 

I was in a group with a F2P yesterday and they didn't seem to have any problem chatting in group chat. I know they were F2P because I couldn't open a trade to give them something.

 

F2P accounts can't use chat till their character reaches level 25. That's pretty much the only restriction really

F2P accounts can't use chat till their character reaches level 25. That's pretty much the only restriction really

 

The one I mentioned was only level 18.

The one I mentioned was only level 18.

 

Do 'preferred' get to trade? I can't remember the trade restrictions exactly, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, very shortly ago I had a F2P account above lvl20 that could not chat in any way whatsoever, right until it became a preferred account. From that moment I could chat in group and guild chat just fine.

F2P accounts can't use chat till their character reaches level 25. That's pretty much the only restriction really

 

This!

 

I seem to remember long ago being f2p myself I could not at the time use /Whisper until a certain level, so this makes perfect sense.

 

Again with a level to open up the chat, is a good way to keep some gold seller spammers away

Do 'preferred' get to trade? I can't remember the trade restrictions exactly, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, very shortly ago I had a F2P account above lvl20 that could not chat in any way whatsoever, right until it became a preferred account. From that moment I could chat in group and guild chat just fine.

 

I think they can, but I'm not positive. All I know is that I tried to make a trade with that level 18 I was grouped with, and got a message saying free to play characters cannot accept trades. I told them that I would have to mail the item since they were free to play. They never said if they were preferred, though. But they were able to chat, so maybe they were preferred. It's all so convoluted now and FAQ is sorely lacking in information.

I am pissed as hell about this. I just had a group of friends who agreed to try out the game with me. I'm subbed. Two of the players are brand new to the game. One tried it before briefly as FTP. The other I haven't heard from yet but they come in and they can't even chat with me unless I whisper to them first.. and as soon I group them, they can't even talk at all, not even in whispers. They feel that a game that is so restrictive for a free to play player, especially when they are referred by a player who goes back to 2011, can't even talk in group with their friends is not even worth trying out. I have to wonder if its even worth me staying as well.

 

PS: Nor can they talk in my guild

Edited March 3, 2018 by Taminara
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