My horrible free to play experience from over a year ago still affects me.

To echo hooty's post, why?

They have unlimited FPs just no to the loot. As for WZ, hell no. They can't equip gear unless they get the unlock and we don't need trolls to create F2P accounts to troll PVP with zero repcruasions (lol just make another account). I take quality over quantity in my WZs.

I think there's some confusion with people between f2p and b2p. F2p has ALWAYS been considered "trial mode" in any game I've played. Sure, swtor's model is considerably worse than most out there, but I don't know why people don't expect some serious restrictions when they're playing for free.

The thing is, I have not utilized 'magical' thinking. What has been proposed is reasonable, practical and economically sound. A mild reduction in costs to players, may very well result in a greater uptick in sales thus mitigating any potential costs from such an amendment, further said changes would not be irreversible in the unlikely event of failure. The argument against does not seem to be reasonable or evidence based, but I am prepared to be corrected.

After a brief 2 month sub, I was F2P (Preferred) for over a year and 3 toons leveled to 55. I had no problems with it. I treated it as a game in itself: how to economize and optimize the experience on 350K credits

But to be up front, I was able to purchase all the "necessary" unlocks during my sub time. That's a lot harder now given the ~10x inflated prices from when I did it. And I have no interest in PvP or Ops. Obvious F2P is seriously gimped for someone who is interested in those.

I came back to sub for various reasons and with 12XP, I'm not looking back.

Oh, you poor baby! You must have suffered so much! Perhaps compensation for PTSD is appropriate here. You are to be commended for your perseverance and sacrifice against such great odds. It must have seemed such a tall mountain to climb when you first realized you could play the entire game to level 60 under ftp where, with WoW, for example, your turmoil would be over by Level 20 when they cut you off.

Bioware just sucks for trying to remain profitable. They should give the game away free so you don't have to suffer so much, refuse to pay their employers and have them go get unemployment instead.

But I'm glad to hear you're OK now after becoming a subscriber and "enjoying" it so much. Obviously you are aware that paying $13-$15 a month provides a much better playing experience than ftp. Why I wouldn't be surprised at all if you are actually spending less money overall as a subscriber than you did as f2p. Congratulations for figuring that out!

So SOMEHOW, even with all the pain you suffered through, playing ftp gave you enough of a taste for the game that you are now a subscriber. You know, I just had a silly thought here. It's probably not relevant, but I was just wondering if, you know, Bioware did that intentionally? I mean, what if they actually believed (stupid and ignorant though they obviously are) that ftp could actually give you enough incentive to become a subscriber!

Who woulda thought?

Worse? You can play the entire basic story for free. LotRO, for example, makes it much easier to play under their equivalent of Preferred. but for pure F2P, TOR's is easier to deal with (although you do have the option of earning lots or store coins via game play in LotRO, but it's a tremendous grind if that's the only way you earn them; still, as I said, the option is there).

I salute you.

Here is an interesting little article that compares SWtOR's f2p model with similar IPs. Their conclusion is that is very similar, just more in your face about the cartel market.

As a player of STO from the launch I strongly disagree with that article. SWTOR F2P is several times more restrictive than STO is. Unlike SWTOR, STO's restrictions don't actually hamper the game in any way.

Also, only 3 other IPs are mentioned as a comparison.

F2P should be just an introduction to the game imo. You can't blame a business for trying to make you pay at each turn. Look at free magazines with all their popups vs those who subscribe.

I was F2P at first too, then I subbed and enjoy it better. Was it "horrible" no, I was getting what I wasn't paying for.

F2P should stay restrictive especially on credit amounts imo.