Step back and look at the potential cost to EA/BW for them giving the free 30 days

They actually don't have to spend more money. In fact, they aren't spending any money at all...

Your naivety is actually somewhat refreshing. Though I find your loyalty to EA/Bioware to be somewhat blinded just from this post alone. For a game like SWTOR 200k subscribers is abysmal truthfully.

The fact that they are willing to write off a month is not a big deal. It happens all the time. FFXIV went how many months being free? In both cases it's not to "thank" players. They simply just want to retain subscribers because they are obviously leaving en mass. Nothing more or less.

Some of these threads in defense of Ea/Bioware and just the Star Wars brand in general are just laughable. Any form of constructive criticism is automatically dismissed as "crying" while you have people who will blindly come up with excuse after excuse of why things are okay.. even this for example. You make it seem as if Ea/Bioware reached out to us lowly peons and just wanted to give us 30 free days just to be nice! I love warm fuzzy feelings!

If you think $3Million is going to cause the company to go in the red, you are pretty naive.

Within the first 4 months, they've probably already made their original $200million budget back, and likely are generating mostly profits now.

(WoW's budget of $80 million was covered within the first month of sales + subscription costs.)

So what circumstances do you have to fulfill to receive the free 30 days? I have 2 level 50's and a few characters in the 30's and I have not received the 30 days.

I got that email for the 30 days and I still unsubbed Im not playing a game that doesnt have the features (LFG Tools, searchable AH, etc) that all other games have. Playing this game has been two steps backwards.

I do not have the time to spam LFG in fleet.

Bye! (I'd offer my stuff but its subpar. Those mind-numbing dailies weren't worth doing after the 3rd day),

Nor making any off of all those free subs. But your right, I should have said "lost"

i played rift for exactly 1 month and unsubbed...they didnt send me any welcome back or free time emails till about 2 months ago..it took them nearly a year to beg me back..bioware is doing this after 4 months,something is wrong there,and anyone who says anything different,needs to take the blinders off.

Fanbois never cease to amaze me. You think Bioware is giving out time because they're just a bunch of great people?

Bioware and EA are large companies. The only reason large companies do anything is to make money. Someone at Bioware/EA has crunched the numbers and guessed that they will make more money by retaining players upset with the pvp changes and otherwise wavering than they will lose from the free month.

It's the same reason they are giving out time to cancelled accounts. It's not charity, it's just a stunt to try and hook people.

It works out great for those of us who were planning on playing anyway, because we get free time. But don't kid yourself as to why this is happening.

Rift did constant promotions selling their game for silly low prices like £5 not long after launch. I even remember some on Green Man Gaming where you got the game for free and it came with 30 days.

Companies like EA have some of the best marketing people in the world working for them and that's all this is, not the end of the world.

Seriously? Are we talking about the same company?.. Dante's Inferno and Dead Space 2..etc..

That is all

Oh wait.. we can add this free month stunt to the list too! Nothing like alienating anyone who isn't level 50