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

I'm sorry that you're confused. It's really very straight forwards: I spent more money on a game that is entirely free because I enjoyed it much more than the game where I had to pay for basic features. In SWtoR terms, that $240 spent on the entirely free game would translate to roughly 16 months-worth of subscription time.

On the contrary, I think subscribers get too much value for what they pay. I would be completely okay if subscribers were simply exp- and credit-boosted Preferred/ freeps and had to pay for literally everything else, same as Preferred/freeps. Artifact access? Pay for it. Expansions? Pay for it. Increased credit cap via escrow (Subs would get 500k cap)? Pay for it.

Go away please, just go away. I'll never understand why some people apparently enjoy the paying part of games most, not the actual game but throwing money at it for no good reason.

Let me rephrase my question.

You were F2P. Now you're a subscriber. But you seemed to say in the previous post that you intend to cancel your subscription.

Why are you cancelling your subscription? Do you intend to stop playing the game altogether? Or do you intend to play as preferred?

If the former, the game clearly lacks entertainment value for you and I was curious what more they need.

If the latter, then Preferred is already too "open", too subscription-like, because subscribers like you seem to have no problem going back to it and therefore, on an ongoing basis, contributing less (possibly all the way down to nothing) to the ongoing success and growth of the game.

I rarely accuse someone of this but your entire post is very trolly

I dont for a second believe you spent $240.00 on Mechwarrior Online and think every whine post you make demanding more freebies for F2P in TOR is so you can go F2P and never support TOR in any financial manner again.

Your demands are EXACTLY why I look negatively at F2P crowd.

Intend to cancel? I bought the two-month, non-renewing subscription. Huge difference. That difference being, I could earn enough CC to nuke the restrictions that made me absolutely steaming mad once it does end.

Preferred, obviously.

If it was the former, it would be because of the absolutely ludicrous things EAWare thinks they can get away with in SWtoR, not because it lacks entertainment value.

I have a saying. It goes "Before I spend anything on a game, it has to prove it has earned my money.", but obviously I made an exception in this case. Now, I did say I probably would have bought some things via micro-transactions (Hah! Yeah right. More like macro-transactions) every now and then, but it's just not worth it unless you're a subscriber. Or, you know, spend upwards of $60 buying all the unlocks and constant escrow transfers.

One or two bad eggs does not mean we should kill all chickens.......

The person I think you should dislike is me. I walked away from the game, and while I was gone I didn't spend a dime. Not one penny. After what I considered a disappointing design with respect to GS I decided the game did not deserve my money.

Nor my time. So I didn't even play the draconian F2P, instead I spent my time playing games where they demonstrate they appreciate players IMO.

My opinion only. The great thing about that is that I have every right to decide what to play and what not to play, for whatever reasons I see fit....

Now, housing brought me back.

Understand...I don't feel that F2P is anywhere near as bad as it used to be, but it is still draconian in a few ways IMO. Therefore if I cancel my sub it is because I have decided not to play. I will not play after cancelling my sub, and I certainly will not give them one dime of my cash when I decide to leave.

So I am probably the kind of person that should earn your derision.....because I am DEFINITELY not supporting the game when I unsub. At least F2P players quite often pay something...I pay NOTHING.

Quite the opposite for me. You're exactly the sort of person I like to see play the game.

If and when the game provides entertainment value to you, you reciprocate by paying to play it.

When the game no longer provides entertainment value for you, you neither play it nor pay to, as you shouldn't. You're probably also pretty articulate and clear about the value that is lacking, so I'm guessing you provide reasonable, actionable feedback to the developers on your way out.

Sounds just about right.

It's the ones for whom the game does provide entertainment value but who choose not to offer any value in return whatsoever that frost my petunias.

so basically, the person that frosts your petunias is someone like me and my friend.

I do subscribe when I can, but its not always possible. but that doesn't mean I stopped enjoying the game, it just means that my priorities, financially temporarily changed.

my friend, cannot afford subscription at all. they are playing as preferred with unlocks I purchased for them with in game credits. when I go preferred, my unlocks, all of them are also purchased with credits.
I suspect that the fact that someone else purchased those unlocks with real money, or that the transaction between them and me was mutually beneficial, or even the fact that I did contribute monetarily to the game for quite some time? doesn't matter the moment when I chose to no longer pay subscription yet continue to play the game.

do I think that f2p system is a bit too restrictive. in a sense - yes. I think more things should exist as unlocks that are sold for real money and then can be traded for in game credits. including blocks of subscription time (to bring up example of EVE - sell them for $20 instead of $15 regular subscription costs, allow people to sell them on GTN - curb gold sellers and allow more people to enjoy the game unrestricted )

I can understand that. That kind of player would certainly likely infuriate quite a few folks. I don't particularly care for "space takers" myself.

I would, however, point out that it has been my experience that folks tend to paint "F2P bum" with a rather WIDE brush. I tend to think that the vast majority of players in the game, free or not, are not "freeloaders"....they "work" for what they have, and do so with a smile.

In this game one could say, based on feedback from the devs, that subs contribute more to the bottom line than F2P players do, considering the point that the majority of purchases were made by subs at one point....but that could be an indicator that the game's F2P system is so draconian it forces folks that would normally spend more to sub, and those that would drain a game stay F2P.

Perhaps if F2P fell more in line with the industry standard it would attract a better group of players, and they would open up their wallets as they seem to do with other hybrid games in the market.

I think that once a "Freep" subs, he or she eventually tapers off on spending, something that would not happen if he or she remained a F2P player IMO.

I wait to see what housing offers.....here's to hope it will be better for the game overall than GS was in my eyes.

This is like saying someone who rents should have to pay for the stucco repair.