Made it a one time purchase option. No free play, no preferred, just a one-time purchase

OK, then how does the staff get paid? you really think that the cartel market will fund it in total? It would be that or adverts every few mins. The sub is not all that much. BW could lower it and remove the 500CC grant but I would much rather have it how it is. On the other side at one time along with your sub you had to buy the xpacs, now they are free with just a one months sub for all that had come out so far up till sub ends. That to me is very fair.

Made it a one time purchase option. No free play, no preferred, just a one-time purchase

 

To do that, a "one time purchase" would have to be several hundred dollars. Who do you think will pay that all at once? And if you get rid of all free and preferred then you really will have ghost towns on every server... a few hundred people AT MOST, probably less than 250 total. Congratulations, you would have killed the game.

Made it a one time purchase option. No free play, no preferred, just a one-time purchase

 

Hmmm.. I could almost understand this... Like a "Life time" sub ?

 

Unfortunately most of us could not afford cutting a check (so to speak) to cover several years of subscription. There was one other game that tried that: they went broke.

 

Frankly there almost needs to be an adjustment in the cost of MMO's... Most of us have been paying $15 a month now for over 15 years. A lot has happened in that time.

 

I'm sorry but your suggestion while strikes a tone of one and done satisfaction ... It's just not practical.

Or they could just make the subscription valuable.

 

Replace threats of restriction with the same dollar value of cartel coins. If you're into SWTOR enough to pay, you have a use for cartel coins.

 

Yes, I know, there might be a slight need to make new cosmetics at least, but if the pro bioware people don't wake up, you're going to be paying your monthly stipend for eternity for fumes of content. It won't magically get better and some day you'll get your subs worth (even to the most easy measure).

 

As a long time preferred player, avoiding the boogey man is also fools gold.

Edited June 24, 2019 by stockmks

This game is worth $15/month ....it's 1 hour of work at a minimum wage job. The F2P/Preferred model is great (especially if you've snagged artifact account authorization) and it's getting better with 6.0

If you can't afford 15 bucks you need to get off the PC and work a little harder IRL before playing an RPG game. Sorry if this sounds harsh but just my 2 cents.

Hobbies cost money. News at 11. For the price of a 2 hour movie I get 100+ hours of entertainment a month. Cheapest hobby I ever had.

 

Try golf - see what a set of clubs sets you back.

How about... noo. I'd rather not get bankrupt by having to buy the game and all of its expansions.

would say the same, NO.

 

I've paid months at a time while I never logged on once.

 

I've paid most of the time since launch, still paying, never played Pref, never will.

 

It's our money that keeps this game going and I'm happy to pay even if I don't play so when I like to play the game is still around to be played.

How did Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls online pull it off?

 

SWTOR is the exact same.

Made it a one time purchase option. No free play, no preferred, just a one-time purchase

 

LoL, yep, one time purchase, AKA, buy the game for $89 and then pay for similar for major expansions.

 

If you mean pay $5 for some CCS, then you’re living in a fantasy

How did Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls online pull it off?

 

SWTOR is the exact same.

 

I was going to say the same thing. GW2 never had a sub. and it's a top 5 MMO. People seem to forget that.

... There was one other game that tried that: they went broke...

 

Two. I have (had?) lifetime subscriptions to 2 mmo's. Yeah both went broke.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Keta

I was going to say the same thing. GW2 never had a sub. and it's a top 5 MMO. People seem to forget that.

 

People also seem to forget that the business model is inherently different to Swtor and more akin to mobile games, since you stumble upon major drawbacks and artifical paywalls every step of the way. I only say black lion chests and keys...

How did Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls online pull it off?

 

SWTOR is the exact same.

 

Well, ESO's incentive for "subbing" (it's actually handled like bonus feats for a subscription to buy cash store currency) is that they keep your inventory space hostage, having more crafting mats than swtor, more useful and relevant crafted items, as well as loot drops and consumables, but no personal storage and far less legacy bank space.

 

Get "ESO plus" for a bottomless legacy wide crafting bag where your mats are automatically put in when you pick them up and pulled out when you craft something. And double bank space, and hey, double housing decorations too, you want to nicely decorate your $100 house, don't you? Heck, you'll even get a disount on one cash-shop item of our choice every week!

 

Those new quest zones / dungeons? Subscribe to buy cash store currency to get free access while you stay subbed, or buy them separately in the cash store. Expansions? Available at AAA full game price in the retail shop of your choice.

 

 

What's different about ESO/ZOS is that they aren't just a small cog in a humongous corporation, but part of a small group of game studios that can cross-finance each other. That allows them to produce higher quality content (there, I said it...) before they cash in on it, but cashing in they do...

Edited June 24, 2019 by Mubrak

LoL, yep, one time purchase, AKA, buy the game for $89 and then pay for similar for major expansions.

 

If you mean pay $5 for some CCS, then you’re living in a fantasy

 

How many $ did you spend from last expansion till today? I just wonder... LoL... From player point of view, it would be way cheaper to one time pay this game, and then pay for expansion again... But from company point of view, it is better for them to earn on little transactions every now and then, that in most cases gets underlooked by players...Because ts 15$ per month right? Who cares for 15$, but when you add all those little micro transactions from last exp till today, well its not so small sum of money... Its pure psychological manipulation....

Edited June 24, 2019 by denisdenizg

How did Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls online pull it off?

 

SWTOR is the exact same.

 

ESO is not a one-time purchase and GW2 is basically a mobile game.

How many $ did you spend from last expansion till today? I just wonder... LoL... From player point of view, it would be way cheaper to one time pay this game, and then pay for expansion again... But from company point of view, it is better for them to earn on little transactions every now and then, that in most cases gets underlooked by players...Because ts 15$ per month right? Who cares for 15$, but when you add all those little micro transactions from last exp till today, well its not so small sum of money... Its pure psychological manipulation....

 

And how many $ do you think most of the players of ESO and GW2 spend from the time the game was released to the next expansion? I am pretty sure not nothing. As Umbrak, UmbralSpirit and me explained, GW2 and ESO are not as much one time purchases as they appear at first, because they generate their cash flow by artificially limiting mechanics like inventory space and loot boxes which you can lift with real money. All the while bringing out new story chapters and dungeons for which you have to pay again if you want to run them at all or not be limited by a harsh lockout.

 

The psychological manipulation you rightfully stipulate for the old-fashioned subscription model of WoW, SWTOR and the likes is most certainly not different from the manipulation of the supposed one time purchase of ESO, GW2 and their fellows in terms of trying to make the biggest buck. It's just a different business model and I would even claim that the latter model (which took the newly developed monetization scheme of mobile games in the wake of smartphones as an example) tends to fall way more into the category of manipulation, since it is steeped in background cashing.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Phazonfreak

And how many $ do you think most of the players of ESO and GW2 spend from the time the game was released to the next expansion? I am pretty sure not nothing. As Umbrak, UmbralSpirit and me explained, GW2 and ESO are not as much one time purchases as they appear at first, because they generate their cash flow by artificially limiting mechanics like inventory space and loot boxes which you can lift with real money. All the while bringing out new story chapters and dungeons for which you have to pay again if you want to run them at all or not be limited by a harsh lockout.

 

The psychological manipulation you rightfully stipulate for the old-fashioned subscription model of WoW, SWTOR and the likes is most certainly not different from the manipulation of the supposed one time purchase of ESO, GW2 and their fellows in terms of trying to make the biggest buck. It's just a different business model and I would even claim that the latter model (which took the newly developed monetization scheme of mobile games in the wake of smartphones as an example) tends to fall way more into the category of manipulation, since it is steeped in background cashing.

 

Where did i mentioned ESO, GW2 or compared SWTOR with them, or even mentioned "spending nothing" LoL...? Do you have problems with reading?

Edited June 24, 2019 by denisdenizg

I currently own 4 lifetime accounts for various games and even now 7 years in I would buy it for SWTOR.

 

They usually cost around $300 USD

How did Guild Wars 2 or Elder Scrolls online pull it off?

 

SWTOR is the exact same.

 

One word....

 

Micro-Transactions. They nickel and dime you to death....

LOTRO did that a long time ago. I paid $399.00 for a life time subscription. Many other people did too before LOTRO killed it because they were loosing too much doing it.

 

ARE YOU going to pay $399.00 for a life time subscription then pay $50 to $160 for Expansions? You're already complaining about paying a mere $15.

 

No, it will not work even with Micro-Transactions.

 

Its funny, people won't pay $15 for a subscription because they say the game has no content and it's not OK to have to pay for getting nothing.

 

But they will spend hundreds of dollars to buy Cartel Coins only to Blow them all trying to get that ONE rare item. Then even after opening dozens of creates, and failing to get that ONE rare item they want, they are then literally paying for getting NOTHING.

 

But that is Ok?

Where did i mentioned ESO, GW2 or compared SWTOR with them, or even mentioned "spending nothing" LoL...? Do you have problems with reading?

 

You mentioned how a one-time purchase would supposedly be better from a player perspective, which would be the business model of GW2 and the likes, and I explained why it is not. Pretty straight-forward.

Not to mention, how many people buy offline games, pay $90 upwards for a game they complete in a couple of hours, then never play again? Look in to many gamers houses, and you see piles of unplayed games :/. At least if you sub, there's a chance you play a lot. At least I do. I've never had a problem subbing, I've gotten lots of content, and hours of fun on this game. There have been times I've been P'd off, but that happens in most games. Subbed since about 1.2, will be a sub till the shut the servers, and will hopefully be there like the last few mins of SWG

It's a fascinating thought, but I would rather they put more positive reinforcement in subscribing, rather than relying so heavily on negative reinforcement. It's too little too late to do a purely F2P or B2P model. That ship sailed circa 2012. A model change that drastic at this stage would be a hail mary if they think the game is going to die otherwise.