Dear Bioware a better F2P model will make you money !

I'd pay for micro-transaction stuff, I say that because I do the inventory space across all toons is amazing for starting alts and some of the cosmetic fluff is cool too.

if your statement were true no one would buy games or see movies in cinemas they would just pirate them.

If your friends like this game but in the same time are so cheap that they aren't willing to spend 5$ in the cartel market for preferred status then they should play something else.

The restrictions for the most part are good and working as intended, because the idea is that those who subscribe get much more than those who want to save their money, as it should be, shocking, i know.

... barking at Bioware how everything should be free and handed to him on a bloody silver platter.

^ I pay a sub read the thread.
As someone who has paid since and even before (pre order) day one I feel bioware should provide a decent play experience.

I highly recommend getting preferred status. That said, there are still way too many annoyances. Subs and non-subs can only group for so long before the subs significantly outlevels the non-subs. Hard to recommend the game to somebody when you can't stick with them for more than a planet.

All the non-subs are hearing is "sub or get out". I'll bet that most of those are choosing the "get out" option. If chasing away paying customers is working as intended then I'm sure the investors would like to have a heart-to-heart with their management.

This tired old strawman again. There are non-subs that are more than willing to pay for unlocks but there are annoyances that have no unlocks.

EA's model is badly flawed. Instead of irritating non-subs, they should be focusing on giving people an incentive to subscribe. The Cartel Coin stipend is a step in the right direction, except most of the stuff in the CM is junk. Not making Makeb available via CC's was a major mistake. Why should I subscribe if I have to pay real money for content anyway?

None of those are unfixable but they require decisions that run counter to EA's historic short-term gains myopia.

The model seems to be working quite well as it gives people the option to try out the game for as long as they want and at the same time incentivates them to sub to get rid of the annoying restrictions.
Might not be the most popular model but seems to be effective. The problem is people will never be happy until they get acess to everything for free.

With that said, the gear restrictions should be removed for prefered costumers.

However what you actually said was "I feel as tho Bioware should be doing as much as they can to make the game convenient for me"

You actually feel Bioware should design this game to be as convenient for YOU as possible?

Agreed, and you are so correct about people not being happy until they get access to everything for free. The OP is the perfect exampte.

No i'd like to be able to play with my non sub friends in a less restricted manner.

If bioware wants the game to be successful they are going to need to take steps to ensure it is, your sense of "I pay money entitlement is just silly. Treating F2P players like second citizens instead of prospective customers is doing things the wrong way and will not encourage them to hang around and pay more to get the rest of what they were offered.