Will anything actually retain customers?

I will not argue that CoH was a great game and it will be missed. It's loss leaves a large hole in the market IMO.
However, I never found it's mechanics very compelling, it always seemed a bit clunky....much like this game. WoW seemed much smoother in gameplay.

What will retain customers is a MMO that doesn't try to copy what people are fleeing from.

There is a reason EVE is still going strong while charging a sub fee. They didn't copy something else and try to make it work without understanding WHY it worked.

As some others have said, I think if they can get their feet under them and don't totally &%$@ up the F2P stuff, they will be able to keep 300k-ish paying subscribers. I'll probably stick around for at least a few months after F2P to see how it pans out and to get though another storyline or two. After that... I might have to find another sci-fi MMO (besides EVE) to play if things don't pick up. I've said it before, I will never forgive EA for forcing Bioware to release before they were ready...

I think that between 300k and 500k is a realistic approach. It MIGHT go as high as 1 mil IF they pull some good content and actually manage to give us more end game that isn`t "reroll, please". Lots of ifs

On the other hand, they might end up with mass cancellations from "subs", because raising an alt is free. So, if the user is smart, it can move stuff the alts might need before sub finishes, then sit and freeload for a loooong time.

League of Legends is a shooter. It is basically arena PvP. It did update frequently, and it is FTP. I was speaking of the fully immersive MMORPG genre. I understand what you are trying to indicate, but I have to keep falling back on the history of this genre. No MMORPG has ever released polished, or even close. Some have tried, but like, Horizons, they succumbed to budget and collapsed.

I believe that this game had the potential to become a very, very good game. It simply never got off the ground. Players wanted a polished, finished MMORPG, with full end game content right out of the box. When it did not happen, players left.The plan was crushed and resources have been directed to that issue ever since, from server mergers to FTP.

The player base here is like the magicians helper that though he could master magic simply by virtue of playing. From where I'm sitting the players, since about three months in, have directed, by their actions, this situation we see now....and the future alterations to the entire genre.

To push 1 mil they are going to likely need sandbox content and customization. The current themepark model will not likely support any serious sub increase based on design cost.

The content will just not come quick enough to satiate the populace.

Without trying to provide a rebuttal, or to try and negate what you said.. just offering a different perspective.

I, as a player, am slightly upset because their 5th pillar, VO, sits in the way of what I see as progress, or game features - species. Time and time again we have been told how it would be strange for certain species. So, we can`t play Jawas, or Wookiees, or Droids.

Furthermore, their choice of gear limits the selection even more : Togruta, Nautolan and any strange head species.

List can go on and on, but I would have liked more gameplay and less "sugar coat", because, to a basic level, this is what VO is. We still have the same old "Go to X place and bring me Y tokens, or kill me 25 Z mobs". Text can explain just as well as a cutscene. It`s a nice "sugar coat", but it took time from the gameplay.

I did not expect a miracle. But I DID expect them to give me a MMO, not an online RPG. Because it simply doesn`t have the quality a RPG should have and it never will. I am still hoping they wake up and realise this is a MMO and give us MMO content.

Well, for certain species they could simply disable the armor piece appearance, like Trandosians used to have for SWG...and I think it might be the same way here with respect to feet.

If a species has a weird head and most helmets wont work they simply disable helmet appearance for that species.

Hood up types of armors will be an issue as well . Imagine a Togruta with a hood

ATTENTION SPAN is the the Killer.

The Cure is DEPTH.

SWG lasted for so long, because of DEPTH,even when content was lacking.
WOW has lasted so long for the same reason, even though i hate the looks of the game.

TOR has no DEPTH, to hold your attention, and the attention spans of modern players.

Once you master 1 or 2 classes, they pretty much feel the same.
The storylines are great, but arcs are similiar enough, to feel tired, by time you get to 3rd class leveling.
The Scenery is Awesome, till you get this,i'm in the matrix, feeling.
Space is as interesting as an android app game for space.
No Guild tools
No places to call your own(guild cities,player cities, player housing) The ship is a poor attempt.
Too much emphasis on grind(Blackhole dailies,Pvp dailies,Weeklies,ect) Deja-vu or the matrix resetting?

SWG felt like a place you own, TOR feels like a cheap rental.

P.S. I really don't think any games, no matter their quality, will last more than 4 months, if game companies continue to use stockmarket standards, of quarterly increases. The public just doesn't have the attention span to keep the same game going, for years, anymore. They want that first quarter profit, every quarter, with an increase, not a decrease. Todays economics dictate a sequel, revamp, every 2 years or even once a year. Modern warfare 2, then MW3, or left4dead4,ect ect.