A few ideas as we enter this new phase of the development.

1) Instead of putting out for videos just give a written update and then use the saved cash for updating your space combat areas and other suggestions below.

Have a look at games such as freelancer, Wing Commander, and Privateer. Use the same concepts to allow for in space team missions, Asteroid Mining of rare metals and possibly space combat PVP War Zones. I find the linear and railroad style of play reminiscent of the old rebel assault games which were fun in their day but get a grip folks I do not pay for a 3 or 5 thousand dollar computer system to play games from 20 years ago which gives me no actual gaming options other than up / down / little to the left, and now a little to the right. Now Multiplayer options, no team play options, no space missions options what gives? I find it boring, limiting and actually a little insulting to my mental level of space flight simulation comprehension and gaming abilities.…

2) PLEASE raise the cap on war zone and ranked war zone commendations the current cap is FAR too low to be practical for PVPing guilds and teams.

A) Simply add two zeros to the end of each so it is 200,000 War Zone and 375,000 Ranked.

B) Lower the level from 40 to 30 to transfer Commendations to ranked commendations as well.

This should for the short term resolve many problems people have concerning the lower ranged cap of commendations of both types.

3) Allow for Multiple tree specked talents. It becomes a massive time consumer when my OPs party is short a healer and I have to go and PAY FOR and then revamp my Sorcerer DPS into a healer to fill in the gap then next day have to go PA FOR and respect my Sorcerer back to DPS to play with my PVP Team. It seems it would make more sense and be more practical to allow characters to have two trees which could be specked at the same time with their points and then IF NOT IN COMBAT, be able to switch to the alternate tree according to PVE PVP FPs and OPs team needs. So sorcerers, Bounty hunters or consular’s could be specked for healer and DPS, Other classes could be dual specked and able to swap between DPS forms as needed due to mission or party constraints, Tanks could have the ability as needed to swap between say a primary tank and a defensive or secondary tank tree. Due to the complexity and constant changing of the game as it grows and develops this to me seems a practical advancement to character development and versatility for the gamers.

4) Allow for a "STOP EXPERINCE POINTS" paid option. A major problem our guild at least has as we get new low level members is not having low level characters to assist them without having to create a character level that character to a certain point, THEN delete the character to make a new one to go assist a new low level member since the low level character is gaining experience as we assist the newbie at the same time.

If player had the option to pay say 1000 credits to stop their experience progression while still getting legacy experience, guilds or even individuals if not in a guild could easily then have 8 slots to play and use fully to desires, then 4 others to formulate say 2 low level or medium level PVP Characters for guild PVP Zones or low and medium PVE characters to assist new or low level players without sucking all of their experience away due to massive level differences while still remaining at that set level.

Under this concept, a player then could have say a level 20 and 40 character stopped and not gaining experience while still assisting new players of low to intermediate levels on a fair playing field and still for themself building their social, light / dark side, and legacy points accordingly on both faction sides.

This would as well allow for those who enjoy low level PVP Zones to at a max stop their character experience progression at or before level 49 and still enjoy the nonranked PVP Zones with their friends and guildies of lower levels.

I realize some of these will require moderate to extensive development and reprogramming such as the space missions and space combat full 3D movement abilities. Others however are as simple as the warzone commendations of added 2 zeros to the max held of .... in the program to raise those commendation caps and the allotment of 2 talent skill tress instead of a single one along with the payment for a stop to experience gained ONLY are simply minor adjustments to already established program data.

By applying these suggestions I can see over a 25%+ gain if not 50% or more, of game content and playability which would as well constitute more revenue gains IF you allotted some of these changes for the Subscription members only.

Want dual talent trees? Subscribe..

Want Ability to start and stop experience gains? Subscribe...

Want access to the Space mining, PVP and team mission’s zones? Subscribe..

Well you get the idea.

Avalean

"Gaming for over 30 years now and still going forward"

OH OH!!! Can I buy a cute little Rift Acklay pet with my cartel coins that follows me around and if I stand in place for 4 or 5 minutes it will either sit down and use one of its front claws to point at its mouth to beg for food, or walk around me in a circle then curl up into a little ball with ZZzzzzzss coming off of it?

PS I like the restrictions on F2P.. You want the full Monty then pay for it as it cost cash to pay for servers, electricity "which the cost keeps rising for that alone", Tech support "opps sorry that is none existent right now but something useful to think about adding!!", Race and slot restrictions are a nice touch exactly what my guild originally was saying SHOULD be done. The limit on PVP I not so sure of unless a few modifications are made, as there are many flaws and bugs in the PVP program now as is. Say give them the 3 a day but IF they are DCed or Leave a War Zone with-in the first 2 Minutes it is not counted against them.

Also speaking of LEAVING war zones, I honestly think there should be a penalty for leaving a warzone, something like a 15 or 20 minute ban on entering any new WZs if you intentionally select and leave a warzone. I know at times I have been in a WZ and due to internet connections have DCed so there would have to be a qualifier for the penalty such as the selection and then approval to leave a warzone before it is completed by the player.

Yes one could simply shut the game off then restart possibly to avoid this but I am confident the development staff could if they wished devise some fair means of dealing with this bothersome issue. I hate walking into a WZ half way through or just as they are losing at the end, so have waste my time in the queue to start with, then to have to be forced to requeue so more wasted game time, AND I still got nothing for entering the zone to start with. As a PAYED subscriber that I consider a definite problem for member retention over this petty give me everything AND allow me to play for free issues. Pay to play or Subscription as many call it is simply a fact of the world today. So deal with it and or move on want free to play go try World of Tanks or Wizard 101, Oh ya forgot, they also have limitations on F2P with the option of "you want the full Monty then subscribe".

Avalean

Just two things to point toward F2P and the course of the game itself:

1. Make the purchase of subscription available on galactic market for creds. There is a ton of people who have real money and shortage of creds. On the other hand there is ton of ppl who have creds and no money for subscription. This way U make much more money together with F2P option since F2P players wont have to buy subscription in order to get high content, but U get the many for it ... .-)

2. I would appreciate an epic story line worth at least a month of daily playing to be able to change the faction. This would be just awsome to be able to quest through a storyline from light side to dark side (Republic to Empire) and back!!!! And also, it would be a totally new MMO feature!

GL

OK, I have FNIALLY gotten through all of the postings and concepts in this thread to date. So my final suggestions are as such.

1) If you PAID for the game originally and have had a continual subscription up until day one of the free to play release, then you should have no restrictions if you stop your subscription on THOSE specific characters and races you have developed. In short, you have access to them but under the limited format which is 4 or 6 ACTIVATED characters at a time. This I think has been covered enough and is the general idea originally to start with.

2) Much has been said on limited PVP war zones. Why not simply allow unlimited low level war zones while requiring 50 and above ranked warzones to require subscription? It seems that would for now solve the problem. Sorry even if you were previously a subscriber and bought the game this is a subscription ONLY option now. As for Flash points and Ops, the 3 low level Flashpoints found on the station should be enough to give people a taste of that so they get those three to play once every 24 hours for each FP, Anything else is subscription only simple enough.

3) The entire "Cartel Coin" thing I think is really a ruse to make people think they are getting more for a subscription, or to have subscribed players pay real money extra for unreal useless items to start with. That may work for the 12 to 15 year old range which has mommies and daddies credit card access.

But eventually the parents WILL catch on quickly and POOF end that little money maker. As someone who lives on a budget I can say with certainty, "I paid for the game, I pay for a subscription and have since day one and will continue to do so, But if you go adding more to my cash outflow (Pay for expansions, pay for extras, pay for this as you have no other way to access it), no matter how much I may like the game and those I play with, I am gone baby GONE!", enough said on that.

4) Game content is laggy at best right now, but I would rather see more content rather than simply the same old MMO routine of add more levels, add more armor, make what is there harder to do with the same number of people.

So, instead of the same old armor and level arms race routine, why not make as stated before in one of my post, the space combat fully 3D in control and interaction? Why not allow for space group missions / quest / and PVP combat, Oh and asteroid mining for underworld metals there is not enough underworld metals skills missions anyway so a good way to add to those. “Companion gifts? We don’t need any of your stinking companion gifts, give me Underworld metals and compounds!!!!” The technology is there to do this easily, the programs have been done years ago, seems you are limiting yourselves for no advantageous reason other than a lack of imagination on your concepts teams, so you are trying to recoup the losses with this supposedly F2P stuff.

Common folks you could do so much more with what you already have if you put some imagination into it. Heck need imagination providers? I have SKYPE, let us voice conference, you can have some of my imagination for free, the spouse says I have too much for my own good anyway!

Avalean

OK, I have FNIALLY gotten through all of the postings and concepts in this thread to date. So my final suggestions are as such.

1) If you PAID for the game originally and have had a continual subscription up until day one of the free to play release, then you should have no restrictions if you stop your subscription on THOSE specific characters and races you have developed. In short, you have access to them but under the limited format which is 4 or 6 ACTIVATED characters at a time. This I think has been covered enough and is the general idea originally to start with.

I don't get this at all. If they quit and are no longer supporting the game why should they get full access? Currently if you quit you get nothing. Why would they let people come back and play like nothing has changed without paying anything at all? The whole point is to fund further development of the game. As a sub I have zero desire to pay for other players who can't be bothered to support a game they are playing.

A full-blown trailer to tell us:

1. F2P Players will be able to choose from 3 races

2. F2P Players will be limited to 3 warzones per week

3. There will be a cash-shop - more details to come (same thing you've said since you announced F2P...)

You have got to be kidding me.

How many bugs could you have fixed with the resources you used to develop this completely uninformative trailer?

(You folks seriously need to learn how to prioritize)

A full-blown trailer to tell us:

 

1. F2P Players will be able to choose from 3 races

2. F2P Players will be limited to 3 warzones per week

3. There will be a cash-shop - more details to come (same thing you've said since you announced F2P...)

 

You have got to be kidding me.

 

How many bugs could you have fixed with the resources you used to develop this completely uninformative trailer?

 

(You folks seriously need to learn how to prioritize)

I think we can be fairly certain that no actual developer time was spent on this trailer.

People really need to work on separating the development side of this game from PR/Marketing/Community side. The same people do not work in both areas.

Looks good. But as a paying subscriber, why are you giving the F2p people only 3 Warzones per week???????? This shouldn't even be on the table, either unlimited or a high number, I want these people to increase the number of Warzones running on the servers especially in off peek, 3 Warzones is nothing, it's just nothing, what if they get in a Warzone that has 1 minute left. End of story that number most rise or the whole of the Internet will lash out on swtor again.

 

You just have to increase that number. If you want to give the a taste.

Umm Free to Play doesn't mean give everything away for free. Means you can play for free but if you want anything extra its gonna cost ya. See so many people saying what only 3 WZ matches a week? That isn't going to help that needs to be increased for reasons X, Y, X, AA, BB, CC etc. What I am hearing is "Wahhh I wanted to F2P but all I do is PvP and now I am going to be limited to only 3 matches a week?" You want to PvP pay for more matches or subscribe. All you PvP types have convinced the Production team that the real money in a MMO is from the PvP crowd....that the PvE crowd is a necessarily evil but the real bang for a MMO is PvP. So yea 3 matches a week works out well to motivate the big PvP money train to either sub or buy more matches. Consider the 3 WZ matches a teaser to get you to buy more. If you give 20-30 matches a week as some people are pushing for, then the majority of PvP players (ie the big money as you PvPers claim) will have no reason to subscribe or buy content yet still demand your voices be heard above all others when it comes to changes and class balance.

1) A more enjoyable PvP experience for subs & f2p alike via Solo ranked warzones, utilizing a ranking system akin to a fantasy football point system. I think such a system would be necessary, as someone who may do little damage / healing / whatever, may be one of that WZ's better players, and should be rewarded for it. Further I think a "ladder bracket" style ranking system would keep players lucky enough to get in a bunch of great PUGs but otherwise stink from dragging down gamers playing at a consistent level.

And IMO, ranking shouldn't be based on Level or Valor rank. Time in game DOES NOT always equal better players! How many times has this happened to you: a) You get the huttball, start receiving focus fire, and see NOBODY to pass to (only to notice a swarm of teammates going for kills in your team's pit on res)? b) You're alone guarding a turret in Denova, because your teammates are busy chasing an opponent down the hill, you get destroyed by the 2-3 stealthers who snuck by them, and lose the node? c) You call out inc's on the Voidstar door your're guarding well in advance of your death, but nobody shows up (and no, they're not all stuck in the res area)?

A system that recognizes players for doing the little, non-glamorous work that results in better team play would result in consistently enjoyable PUGs & more importantly, give players impetus to improve & hence invest more time in the game.

2) In-game voice comms for ops / raid / WZ groups, free to all sub'd players & available a la carte for f2p'ers. I don't think it makes sense to have it available for general chat, both b/c of trolls & of the ridiculous bandwidth it'd hog. And ever since the consolidation, it's not like there aren't a few extra servers / available bandwidth to make this happen.

As a side note, a handy comm function available for subs & f2p alike would be a text macro for calling out inc's. Not only would that help with communication speed, but it'd be a solid metric for the above mentioned solo-ranked warzones (ie: [Time of death] - [Time inc call macro activation] = A*[ranking points], where A is some weighting coefficient). Might be nice to have the call-out tied to an voice-over comment ... eh, it's a thought.

3) Unlimited PvP for subs & f2p'ers. No brainer. If solo ranked WZ's happen then both guilded & solo players have a sort of end-game content. I'll be frank, when I was on a low-pop server I only PvP'd a few times a week, and didn't enjoy it. Since the merger, it's added an additional level of enjoyment for me. Giving f2p'ers 3 games a week won't be a good experience, and won't attract them to / keep them in the game.

4) Subs getting an extra skill tree points, capped at I dunno ... 5 (random #, not based on anything). I think subs need something tangible & exclusive that rewards them for their monetary investment, and it shouldn't be something piddly like access to a vendor for stuff most of which they won't want. For showing the extra love to BW, subs should get exclusive access to something that will have high appeal to all of them & is unavailable to f2p'ers. If implemented with the solo ranked WZ's, the extra points will be a wash secondary to how the gamer utilizes them anyway. BUT, subs will have a more enjoyable experience regardless of skill level & feel like BW is looking out for them at the same time.

5) I don't just love, I lurve Avalean's above idea for having 2 saved skill trees that can be switched without having to pay for a respec. In guild ops I like to tank, but in PvP I go with a DPS build. To 1) not have to travel to fleet to switch specs and b) being able to switch for free / a static, reasonable cost would be wonderful. I'm fine with changing the distribution within one of the skill trees being fair game for the current system though.

Just my $0.02.

I'm still considering going F2P. I always intended to primarily go through all 8 class stories and I probably could have done that by now but I just don't have the free time that I used to. Most of the restrictions don't affect me too much. I don't craft or raid. PvP has been more of a distraction but it is fun. I like the space missions so that limitation will be felt every once in a while. I could see myself dropping a couple bucks here or there for some PvP or space passes depending on the price and what new zones they add.

The one restriction that I will probably feel the most is the species one. Most of my characters are human or cyborg anyway, so I might have to reroll a couple or wait to see what it would cost to unlock them. Of all the restrictions I think this is the one I never thought worked well with this hybrid model. Pretty much all perks across the system lock and unlock the same for all players when they go between free and paid, but the species one is the only one that penalizes some people and not others for a core character creation choice that doesn't even have an advantage.

I found the clips highlighting people riding and sitting around on speeders, in the middle of Fleet, to be amusing. One of the most out-of-place and annoying aspects of being on Fleet at all, and it makes the preview video. Tells you what they DON'T think deeply about.

In any case, it isn't a bad deal, as F2P games go.

Searched the thread with the integrated button below, so excuse me if this has already been asked.

One thing that bothers me about the video announcement is this (01:07):

Does this mean that players going from the subscribed to free-option will not be able to PLAY with characters that are not human/cyborg/zabrak, even if they were created during subscription, and before the launch of free-to-play? This is something I need to know, having a chiss, cyborg and human character (it would make it easier for me to plan when to pay then).

Yes, I heard him say it concerned character creation... But I need this clarified. It is likely I'll be switching between being a payment-free and no-limits player.

I don't get this at all. If they quit and are no longer supporting the game why should they get full access? Currently if you quit you get nothing. Why would they let people come back and play like nothing has changed without paying anything at all? The whole point is to fund further development of the game. As a sub I have zero desire to pay for other players who can't be bothered to support a game they are playing.

ok the concept put out by the Game was that IF you had bought and been a subscriber before F2P launch you had access to your previous characters of only certain classes as I understood it. My suggestion was to allow them access to All of the characters and classes they had Previously already created BUT to only allow them a designated set of active slots or characters a week. So if you say had 12 toons created THEN went F2P you could only access say 4 of those on any given week. Just a basic concept is all to allow those who have previously PAID for the Game, Spent CASh for the Subscription, then for what ever reason went ot the Free to play option so would not lose all of their previously paid for and time consuming work was all.

Hope that clairifies it a bit better.

Avalean

16,426 cartel coins?

How!? I have been playing since release and only have 2000

Hey guys just me again!!

 

I'm tending to agree with most of the people here that 3 warzones a week is a very bad idea.

 

1. There is no match making on warzones so you have no control over what warzones you queue for. Example I HATE huttball. As soon as I get in a game I log out straight away. It would be nice if you could choose what warzones you can and can't queue for.

 

2. Sometimes when you get into a warzone it only has a few minuites remaining and gives you no chance to do anything useful. Just ends up being a complete waste of time. Usally puts you into a game because some one saw their side was losing and quit out so it dumps you in their place. Not good!!

 

3. I think 3 to 5 a day wouldn't be a big ask or deal. I mean subscribers will still have priority over f2p players for the queue anyway. In one of my play sessions I usally only get 3 or 4 warzones in anyway. Much more than that you would probably be playing for the whole day and not many people I know have that kind of time to spend playing games. Even one as good as this!!

 

On closing I'd like to say a big thanks to the guys at Bioware for all the hard work on this AWESOME game.

 

 

p.s. Hey guys it's really disappointing to hear a lot of you ************ about what they didn't show you. They asked for some constructive criticism and ideas for future previews. This is only their first preview give them a chance. I'm sure they are doing the best they can with a lot fewer people to do the work after their wave of layoffs.

Those who have the time and are willing to go through 5 warzones at one time are not the casual player base F2P is being setup for it seems. I am sorta glad its limited because I dont want the 10 year olds to overwhelm everything. Thats why I dont play halo online its filled with pree teens.

Searched the thread with the integrated button below, so excuse me if this has already been asked.

 

One thing that bothers me about the video announcement is this (01:07):

"As a free-to-play player you will have three speices to choose from: Human, Zabrak and Cyborg."

 

Does this mean that players going from the subscribed to free-option will not be able to PLAY with characters that are not human/cyborg/zabrak, even if they were created during subscription, and before the launch of free-to-play? This is something I need to know, having a chiss, cyborg and human character (it would make it easier for me to plan when to pay then).

Yes, I heard him say it concerned character creation... But I need this clarified. It is likely I'll be switching between being a payment-free and no-limits player.

It has been asked many times and answered many times.

It is also answered in the F2P FAQs found here:

http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6449

A link to the specific page concerning changing from SUB to F2P here:

http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6526

A link to the specific page concerning what happens to your existing characters here:

http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6546

In summary, if you decide to go F2P from a SUB, your account will be changed to "Preferred Status" and you will choose which of ANY OF your characters will remain active with NO RESTRICTIONS ON CLASS. The only restriction being the number of active character slots. Meaning you can still choose to play your Chiss character if it's one of your favourites.

When you are playing said character, they will be subject to the limitations of a preferred account... meaning you will still have Cargo Hold access, Sprint at lvl 1, and higher login priority, but you will need to choose which of your crew skills remain active, will not be able to participate in Ops unless you buy a weekly pass and WZs will be limited to 3 per week unless you purchase a weekly pass.

Many of the restricted features can be unlocked with Cartel Coins that you have accumulated during your paid sub period.

An updated summary on the comparison of Sub and F2P features can be found here: http://www.swtor.com/free/features. (rollover the little "?" to see more details of what limited and full access entail)

Hope this post clears up some things.

I wanted to say a few things.

This is genuinely the most excited I have been about this title since long before launch. There were two ways they could have gone with F2P IMO...either draconian limitations for F2P players only with nothing for subs or what they have now.

Though I would like to see more in the shop, overall I think it is a fantastic setup, offers many tantalizing items including items that will REALLY reduce some of the frustration factors in the game currently and really adds value overall to the title.

This is the first time IN A LONG TIME that I am strongly considering staying subbed. For me, at least, this is remarkable considering how harsh of a critic I have been of this game...but also proves, in my eyes, if they do things right I am ready to support them all the way.

i want this title to succeed. That is why I am such a brutal critic. It is my hope this brings in the kind of profits needed to improve the title overall. The addition of this F2P system as implemented is already a huge improvement IMO.

Good job Bioware. You just moved up from a C- to a B-...and I never thought I would give this title a B or higher.

In summary, if you decide to go F2P from a SUB, your account will be changed to "Preferred Status" and you will choose which of ANY OF your characters will remain active with NO RESTRICTIONS ON CLASS. The only restriction being the number of active character slots. Meaning you can still choose to play your Chiss character if it's one of your favourites.

Well this is the first time that I read about the "Preferred Status", they don't even mention it in the sub vs free features page! I also remember to have read that FAQ (What happens if I decide to change from being a subscription player to a Free-to-Play member?) some time ago and I'm pretty sure it was different from now Well, this is a good news for me. I'm more focused on PVE so when I won't have much time to play SWTOR I just can select some of my characters, buy the crew skill slots and play 'till I'll have more time to justify the subscription!

So, BW, are you trying to make money out of a subscription model, or a F2P model? I think you should decide...

Since your current 'F2P' model is just giving people a very restricted trial, that will absolutely keep them from subbing (and therfore will not likely increase the amount of subscribers). It seems to me that you are trying to get people to sub via F2P model, which makes no sense at the moment.

Because, what is the incentive for the F2P player to sub after spending a lot of money on the F2P features (that subscribers get for free, making those purchases wasted)? And if you think someone is actually going to go all the way up to lvl50 without paying a cent, you are greatly overestimating the story quality of this game. Yes, it's top notch MMO Story, but with all the limitations, it is horrible.

And to the current subscribers who think they are so special. Sure, current subscribers need CCs for supporting the game when it was Subscription driven, but now it should be F2P driven (tho it's not, which is why it will fail). You are paying BW about 15 bucks a month...That's cheap. Shouldn't a F2P player who spends more than that a month be more special than you then? You only bring them 15 $ a month, F2P players could and would (if the model was truly aimed towards F2P) pay more. An average WoT player has spent hundreds of dollars on the game. Many players have spent thousands.

It all comes down to how BW is trying to get money out of us, and this current F2P + sub model doesn't really feel that it has a clear goal towards either of those. Unless you are trying to get the current subscribers to pay for some F2P extra features, ('cool things', like carbonize yourself...what the F...), that would be really short sighted, and strengthen the idea that you are just trying to milk every cent you can out of this failure and walk away.

PS: I've been playing on/off since early access, with at least 6 months of subscription total. I love the game, and would like to see it succeed after all it has gone through, but every patch, every decision BW makes, just seems to fail. Don't **** this up.

Come now guys, you've shown in the past that you are incredibly bright individuals,

Link or it didn't happen......

I kid, I kid.....

I am just afraid that the pvp'ers still subscribed to this game are going to be disappointed with the lack of new bodies in pvp when this happens. I just don't see that many people paying extra to do more and, if it were me, I'd find the limitations being so strict that I wouldn't want to continue even in F2P, let alone subscribe. If I wasn't subscribed before, why would I subscribe after F2P?

Just a couple cents from someone that doesn't mean anything....