Great. Now every WOW Fanboy, GW2 Fanboy, and SWTOR Hater has won. -_-

This ^^^ I have cancelled my subscription today, and will no longer be purchasing any new Bioware/EA products. You have let yourself be bullied by WoW fan*****es and other SWTOR haters who were just hoping for this so they could go on the forums of the games they do play and say "See we were right, SWTOR has failed HAHAHHAHA" . I hope you realize they are not gonna play this anyhow. Goodbye to a once great game, forever.

I see BW setting themselves up for failure with this. I'm being optimistic.

I'm not going to gripe about changes in community because of this. I'm not going to gripe about population drops because of this. I'm not going to gripe about the issues that F2P brings to a subscription based game. I won't even complain about any of the things that the naysayers have so far complained about.

This is bad business, based on their own statements, and based on their own practices.

The biggest and most glaring mistake EA made, was asking people why they were going to quit playing early on. All of the players who quit playing in the mass exodus, were people who were able to save up and buy the game, but couldn't subscribe because of a few reasons that were beyond their control. Like...

-GAME CARDS WERE UNAVAILABLE IN MOST LOCATIONS FOR ALMOST TWO MONTHS AFTER RELEASE

-NOT EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED THE GAME HAS ACCESS TO A CREDIT CARD TO SUBSCRIBE

-NOT EVERYONE WHO SAVED TO PURCHASE THE GAME CAN AFFORD A SUBSCRIPTION, (the free month being the sole reason for the purchase)

All three of those reasons, are because of Subscription. So relying on a vague answer to dictate the direction of your franchise, is BAD BUSINESS.

That being said, here's the other major flaw in EA's logic. If they want to draw more people to the game, and reduce monthly subscriptions, or use a cash store or w/e the idea, how can they possibly assume that people who couldn't play because of the subscription, are going to be able to pay for shinnies as opposed to a subscription?

As EA has pointed out in their business report, their priorities are elsewhere. Content will not be pushed out faster because of this. Employees have been laid-off and cut back. Bugs in game have not been getting fixed, unless they interfere with the economy. Promised content has not been added. Patch 1.4 has been pushed back INDEFINITELY. That's right! INDEFINITELY! Looking forward to all the goodies that we were promised back when 1.2 released? Good luck.

EA has closed the book on this game. They have realized that they can't make as much money off of it as they had anticipated, and rather than investing to create higher revenue, they are simply cutting their losses and moving on, because they can afford to do that. They will milk the franchise for EVERYTHING that it is worth, soak us for EVERY dollar that they can get, and then dust off their hands and buy another up-and-coming game developing company to exploit. It's how they operate, and how they make money. It's why they are as big as they are right now.

Anyone who has played the Sims series, or Spore, or even any of EA's sports franchises knows what I'm talking about.

Oh and on another note, I'm still a bit miffed that the timeline on the site not only wasn't finished, but has been completely removed. Another sign that EA is bailing on us.

I seem to remember people saying the same thing about Star Trek Online...it seems to be doing pretty well since F2P launched.

It turned into pay to win. Buy better ships etc..... It will go on ..it will make money and it will suck.

I have mixed feelings about this.

On one hand, I am not against the idea of a cash shop for fluff items and even some things like exp boosts (as you can currently unlock with legacy anyway). Heck, I think this game could really use some more fluff!

On the other hand, I dislike the idea of paying $15 a month for all the features I get now AND paying for any future cash shop fluff* I want. 'Cause that adds up to more than the $15 a month I am currently paying, and if the game stayed P2P, I would not have to pay more real cash for future fluff additions. Here's hoping that subscribers will get enough "cartel coins" a month to get more than a pittance from the cartel market . . .

*Not counting stuff like server transfers, character recustomization, etc.

So just continue to pay whats stoping you. If this game was F2P already from start then u wouldent have sayed anything right. Lots of people is playing Rs and its working exactly like this when they pay they get the acess to everything they own when they are not they get denied the things that is not alowed as F2P intill you pay again.

 

And who would put his power on lvl 8 characters to 50 all over again in 12 accounts who would even put time in doing 12 accounts. Dont we need more people in every server I see DPS complain about that there are not many healer and Tanks to find in the groupfinder well then here thing just got easyer. If someone is spaming btw just put him in ignor list not that hard is it?

You obviously completely missed the point he was making, and for the record there will be no less than a handful of idiots running around doing and sayign anything just because they know it will not affect them negatively becasue they know they can turn around and make yet another account to come back and grief harass and be just in general a PITA. I've seen it first hand with several of the other games I played that went F2P. That is the quality of player you end up attracting with this model and is exactly why this model IS a bad idea, well at least if you are trying to give the appearance of trying to keep a more mature community.

Are the cartel coins just for buying cosmetic crap or are we going to get something worthwhile that will help gameplay? I for one don't care about fancy shining speeders or annoying pets following me around. I am more interested in stats boosts or some type of gear.

I saw that players who purchased the Collector's Edition will receive 1000 cartel coins. Will there be any rewards for players who bought the Digital Deluxe Edition?

I say give DDE 600 Coins, otherwise I haven't heard anything.

people this:http://www.swtor.com/info/news/blog/20120731

 

and this: http://www.swtor.com/free/features

 

and this: http://www.swtor.com/free

 

before replying for the love of all that is holy.

Ah, thanks for that...(goes to read)

BTW: I totally agree that anyone with the "Founder" title should be given free lifetime subscription rate. It just makes sense since we are the ones who stuck with the game during its haydays and the downfall as well

I disagree with this, I agree however that there should be a lifetime subscription rate. I would argue that deluxe edition owners should receive a 25% discount and collectors edition owners should receive a 50% discount. I would set the base rate as equal to two years subscription at $15/mo $360. Something I could get behind is the base price of $360 minus credit given for months previously subscribed.

I say give DDE 600 Coins, otherwise I haven't heard anything.

I would be good with that idea, but I am not going to count on anything like that. The DDE folks (myself included) I think are going to get shafted on this one.

BW you promised us time and time again for quick updates, open communication, and listening to community feedback.

And yet we got none of the above.

Now the real question being: how much did you guys really learn from your past mistakes that lead your decision makers to create this:

My husband was one of the ones that got laid off today. Bioware moved us in April with our 3 kids from DC, we put every penny we had down on a fixer upper house, and now this. I am scheduled for 3 major surgeries on Friday, my husband just had a slew of MRI/MRA tests Friday to look for a suspected brain tumor, and our middle son who has an autoimmune disorder is having a flare up. I just don’t know what we are going to do. We were here a week before the first round of layoffs, and have been sick and scared ever since. Moving is expensive, and I am less than a year in remission from cancer, so my medical bills are outrageous.

We are so scared… how are we going to get our son treatment, my husband treatment if the tests find what they think they will… or me?

 

My husband is an awesome guy, he stood by me for the last couple years of horrible health, never complaining, wiping vomit and **** and whatever needed doing. He doesn’t deserve this. This was his dream.

 

Bioware/EA has hurt us so badly.

Speaking of the future, you have a very simple and clear track to make the game successfull:

1) Before anything else: start communicating with the fans in a two way fashion.

.......Not only exchange with them before it's too late to change features, based on player's feedback.

.......But also make sure to dig through the suggestion forums and have devs drop by and discuss with the players.

2) Stop butchering the SW lore.

.......Without a label this doesn't look like SW to me, even less that

.......Stop advertising with assets the majority of players told you they don't like or doesn't fit SW.

3) Fix your engine and network synchronization

.......From ugly shadows to seeing

.......And get your network synchronization and character positioning right

4) Actually implement the most requested quick wins like (check the forums)

• Legacy names changes
  
• Allow players to have separate last names from legacy ones
  
• Dual specs
  
• Queue to specific WZ
  
• Companions skill kits
  
• New quick slot bars
  
• Sale/load key bindings
  
• 7d GTN posting
  
• Appearance tabs
  
• Hide specific gear slots
  
• Gear dyes
  
• Free mods removal
  
• Instant teleporting to space ship & drop the orbital stations
  
• In game character customization
  
• Full companion customization
  
• Pazaak
  
• Chat bubbles
  
• ...
  

5) Stop wasting time on:

• WZ but add open world PvP
  
• Tube shooter but implement 3d space sim (X-Wing, not a soon gets old BF type)
  
• Generic V.O side quests or Class quests without real choices
  
• Dark side choices that are just about greed or fame
  

Then when after all the above add new content and new features like :

• New species like Wookiees, Ithorians
  
• Player housing
  
• Day night cycles (on new planets for start)
  
• 3d movement (climbing, force jump, grappling hooks, jet packs....)
  
• Pod/Swoop racing
  
• UI mods & addons
  
• Swimming and under water exploration
  
• Seamless maps
  

Finally if you really want to make TOR that much successful you need to hit the sandbox trail.

• Adding incentives for socialization and player made events/contents.
  
• Implementing non combat based classes.
  
• Giving back the galaxy to the players (vs setting everything on rails)
  

Choosing the hybrid model was right but you're already getting one point wrong: don't remove what a player earned, ever.

Take LotRo as example: when a player subscribes for a month with a character, he unlocks more bag slots and does't loose them when he goes F2P. You already stated otherwise. It's a bad move and it makes you look too greedy.

Other example: when a player start a quest on VIP sub he can still finish it if moving to F2P

Before leaving: if you don't get point #1: there's no hope anymore for this game.

Trust me.

Great. Now every WOW Fanboy, GW2 Fanboy, and SWTOR Hater has won. -_-

All the SWG trolls are probably very happy tonight.

F2P till level 50?.

 

Congrats you've just killed swtor.

if you would read its says

"Starting this Fall, there will be two ways to enjoy the game. First, you can continue as a subscriber, which gives you unlimited access to all game features and future Game Updates at no additional charge. Second, you have the option to play free to Level 50, with game play restrictions that limit game options and access to certain game content. "

so how did they kill TOR?

i love this game, i have been a 100% paying customer from day one, never have i missed renewing my monthly , and i did not get a six month plan, even when i stopped playing for 3 months i kept paying , because i think it was deserving of at least 50 cents a day as support to see where you guys took this game...

now after all this time this is what you chose to do? i feel not only disgusted and dissapointed , but also insulted, i feel the need to express my utter discontent with this decision, as expected , EA has done it yet again, and i doubt i will remain a paying subscriber for too long now.

nothing short of the announcement of legacy (paying) players-only servers , or the decision to not go F2P is very likely to make me remain a monthly subscriber

thank you bioware, and i hope you can pull it off, but i do not want to deal with the f2p gaming community , ive experienced it in other f2p games and its the reason i dont play them

im sorry but i cannot support this decision, i think i may be done with bioware, EA and anything that either of these 2 companies touch in the future....next time spit in my face, at least its cheaper on my wallet and dam it its even less insulting than this....i truly only will stay if i can play on a server away from the "freemiums" because i do not want to deal with :

seller spam

ninja looting

afk people

leavers in flashpoints

whiners and trolls that will jsut make free accounts to troll with

i hope it works, but i will cancel my sub the day it goes f2p and move on unless the choice is made to make sub-only severs, only then i will keep paying an active subscription

/Unsubscribe.

/wave goodriddance

all very well and good... but where's my server transfers to unite my legacy? i assume (foolishly, perhaps) that i as a subscriber i will now be able to do this without paying, without penalty and with all kinds of added perks like legacy renaming and free unlocks?

no? oh ok then...

I hope you go bankrupt. I will not buy another Bioware product voluntarily again.

If that's the way you feel no one wants you here anyway, get gone.

I don’t see this as bad as some do, could it be bad sure if it done wrong but it could also be good. At least there trying something because clearly things weren’t getting better. Maybe we can stabilize it with this new model. After all a lot of people were saying they weren’t going to stay because it wasn’t worth a subscription. Now they can stay.

The only thing I won’t stand for is a play to win game, the store need to be only fluff items. I also hope that the month allowance of Cartel Coins they give us won’t be meaningless. This should work like a reward system for the players who are willing to continue to support the game with a subscription fee.

I for one am holding on to hope this will help the game. Maybe well even do as good as LOTRO and get an expansion.

Anyone who is quitting over this: If you need someone to send your stuff to before you head out the door, I am here for you.

Add me to that list as well. If you plan on quiting , send all your items to Gottya on Prophecy of The Five server

Creds are more than welcome and i'll make this promise....i won't spend it all in one place and i'll save 50% of it just in case you return

For those of you who think this is a good change, wake up! Look at STO and LOTRO. They make money but the content is garbage. After the switch, it's gonna be grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind.....

There is no community. Players join. Play 2 months and are gone. Guilds will not survive. Raiding will be dead. No one will be around. Just a constant parade of strangers.

So greedy, that you can't just stick with the 500K+ subscribers who believed in you?

Your sub base is going to near zero.

Don't believe me other players? Try STO and LOTRO right now. They're free. See what garbage they produce and call content.

I'm going back to WoW. Was planning on sticking it out here. Not doing that F2P crap.