Is the F2P/Preffered system too prohibitive, and if so, what should change?

I'd point out that there are a few games in different genres that offer F2P that is much less restrictive (Path of Exile, Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Neverwinter) that make a metric ton of money by offering what SWTOR calls the cartel market. These games do, in fact, make a good deal of money. Dota 2 is about to have an international tournament that was player funded and raised 7 MILLION dollars (that's not including the cut Valve took)!

Aesthetics are a vast source of currency. i've played all of the above games and in each of them, said to myself, "I'm playing this game for free, since I like it, i'll put some money into the game."

Now, picture SWTOR when I started in March. I was preferred on day 1, spent $250 within the first month, then subbed. I have no interest in purchasing anything more now that I'm subscribed, as I'm paying for content and now offer BW a small amount of money on a monthly basis.

In PoE, I spent ~$800 over a 6 month period, and that has ZERO restrictions at all - their model is 100% non-pay 2 win (example: stat crystals would NEVER be offered in PoE - that's paying for an advantage, and NOTHING can offer an advantage in their model) Neverwinter was ~$500 over 6 months.

I'll never get to that level in SWTOR now that I'm subbed, particularly because they OFFER the sub, they've lost money from me, but I think BW has underestimated the power of non-sub purchasing power.

But personally, I think that they're still really upset that their game was forced into F2P, and thus are overly aggressive in their attempts to "persuade" non-subs to become subs. If they made a game enjoyable without the NEED for F2P (locking content - operations, 4+ FPs/WZs, credit limit, XP reduction at 20+) , they'd have (more) people that make purchases purely for aesthetics and support for the game.

honestly, that notice once i hit 20 saying, "hey, we're reducing your xp rate now because you're not a sub" was a real stupid move. You got my (small) investment to remove that and get my character leveling with rested, regular XP - i even spent my remaining CC on the legacy boosts to ALL areas and it still feels slower than I'd like when i'm leveling.

They got a 3 month sub from me, and a giant reduction in additional financial support. i'll be preferred and they'll not get my typical 50-100 dollars of "free to play support" I usually toss at a free to play game because they're not free to play, they offer a sub, and think the hybrid model (i.e. punishing players that don't feel the game is worth a subscription, maybe because there is a lack of content being released, maybe because the game offers lacking options in end game) benefits them more than a higher population and more opportunity for independent-player financial support based on the quality of their game.

It's amazing how they've learned almost nothing from other games on the market. I sometimes get the feeling EA is stomping their feet and yelling "You will respect my authoritaaaaa!" when they're being stubborn.

That actually seems quite realistic.

I can agree that some aspects of the current F2P model are quite petty and should be removed.

- Gear authorization should be removed.
- Ops restrictions should be reduced. (2 Lock outs for free players, 4 for preferred) With the ability to buy more. (Already in place)
- Flashpoint access should be unrestricted
- UI restrictions should be removed.
- Field revive should be cooldown based. Longer cooldowns for free and preferred players.
- Titles and color matching should be accessible to all.
Along with better customer support. Though I think everyone wants better customer support.

The game should focus on getting people hooked by allowing a small taste of what is on offer and letting the player decide if the game is worth spending more money on.

There would still be perks to being a subscriber like:

Getting rest XP
No Credit Cap
Quicker cooldown for traveling
No charge for respec

The real money should be either converting free players to sub or preferred status. If you did not have all of the restrictions that you have in place now, you would see more money coming from preferred players along with subscribers.

If they did all that, what would be the (real) difference between F2P and Subscriber, aside from one pays for the value he receives and the other is a parasite?