Well well well. I stand corrected. Wow. Free to Play. I uh..wow.

I am not surprised by this- and not because of the whole TOR is "not doing well" idea. I've seen other games go with this hybrid model and actually not only do better financially, but be able to do more about improving the game.

 

My only concern is really is when are you guys going to add in same-gender romance options. That is a big reason for why I've played the game. I really don't care for the new companion as the HK's were never my favorites in KOTOR.

 

i will quit playing the game if they DO do this.

I sometimes think "How long will I stick around after I play through all of the class quests?". My answer has always been a wait and see approach of what will be available when I get there. F2P? I"ve been in other mmo's during a convergent and it wasn't too terrible. Though I'm not really playing those games anymore either.

 

What I want to know is what about the Legacy system? I have yet to see anything mentioned about it in the F2P model. Will non-subscribers have to pay for access? Will they get the name option but then have to pay to obtain powers from it? If it is the later will it be account/server wide or per character only?

 

Looking at the subscription vs. free features I'm interested in finding out how limited the character creation will be.

Most of the people upset about this havent even read the full extent of the information available for the f2p model. Those of us who have,,,have our worries but we aren't raging and immediately saying "OMG I R LEAVING GAME BIOWARE SUXOR LULZ". Everyone is just making baseless biased opinions without even reading about or seeing the f2p model in action so what's the deal. Point is, it's too early to be complaining about anything. Put on your big kid pants and realize the rest of us don't care if you leave or you hate Bioware , we don't care.

Regretfully it will come down to p2w....everything will be fine for a couple months but then someone will show up with a greedy look and the $ in his eyes and say "lets add this box with HM materials on", "lets add this +50 all stats costume to use over your armor for 30 days", "lets add this HP/power/surge/alac scroll for 2 hours".

 

List of games I played that started with vanity items and derailed to p2w games:

- Aion (after f2p)

- R.O.H.A.N

- RF Online

- Atlantica Online

- Perfect World

- Fiesta Online

- Flyff

- Granado Espada

- Twelve Sky

 

I'm sure there are plenty more, but guess it's an example that every games eventually ends with p2w items from the cash shop

Well. i enjoyed the time that I did have here. I knew that this was coming. Anybody who wasn't blind could see that a mile away. But anyways. I hope it works out for y'all. It doesn't give me a good feeling that they are shifting to this model and I just feel that the quality of this game is going to go down. Just wish the would have actually listened to the people in beta and afterwards. They wouldn't have even needed to do this F2P option. But oh well. What's done is done. Good luck to all of you staying.

I'm disappointed

 

BW doesn't understand what gamers want

making f2p till 50 is just plain stupid, it really angers me and a lot of other people who have subscribed for a while because it just means that our money went to waste, and yes i understand that some content won't be available, but still. it will just ruin the game

To be honest the game going F2P isn't a surprise to me, I'm just hoping it has the same effect on it like what happened to Lord of the RIngs Online (LORTO), Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) and as you said Star Trek Online. The first 2 games have become very profitable and have allowed for them to expand quite well. We just have to see what happens to it.

 

I also hope people who subscribe will get some major bonus's for them compared to F2P like for example if you F2P you have to spend cartel credits to gain access to operations or certain quests, and I believe cartel credits are going to be purchasable through a store, is that right?

It will become that eventually nearly every F2P mmo i have played started out decent then it became about making money to purchase items needed to play the game. In some cases it was deliberate in the rest it evolved that way as players were granted total control of premium currency and sold it in game thus wrecking the standard economy. Imagine 7,000 credits for a single low level medkit that heals you for 500hp 100,000 for a level 14 blue hilt or barrel.

 

I have no issues with Free-to-Play. Where I have a problem is when F2p because Pay-to-Win. As long as they don't do that, they will still be getting my money.

I like the idea and I really like the split option. I will stay a subscriber in part because I love the game and I want to see it succeed but also I realize it was a huge amount of work to creat this game and only seem fair to pay my part to enjoy it.

Most of the people upset about this havent even read the full extent of the information available for the f2p model. Those of us who have,,,have our worries but we aren't raging and immediately saying "OMG I R LEAVING GAME BIOWARE SUXOR LULZ". Everyone is just making baseless biased opinions without even reading about or seeing the f2p model in action so what's the deal. Point is, it's too early to be complaining about anything. Put on your big kid pants and realize the rest of us don't care if you leave or you hate Bioware , we don't care.

 

i have read everything and i understand more then what was posted. Real gamers don't do f2p games and many of them wil go to gw2

i have read everything and i understand more then what was posted. Real gamers don't do f2p games and many of them wil go to gw2

 

Soo Playing Battlefield, Call of Duty, and other games that are online and free to play with the terms(you have to buy TOR to play) are for fake gamers?

Really hope the customized gear is worth it. I really would like to see the special crystal vendor come back. I never realized he was for a limited time before. I only bought one purple endurance for my tank at the time since he was only character I was playing. Would be nice to get some others for my alts. Magenta crystal farming takes some time but not how I want to play with the limited time I get to play these days. Wish they would explain the additional content past operations and warzones. When can we expect a level CAP increase?

 

I really hope SWTOR doesn't go away in a year. I can't imagine it will though. Star Wars Galaxies lasted at least a few years before it went away.

Well this is very good news for me, as I wont be able to pay past the 19th. So my main questions are: When exactly will this take place? and What exactly will F2Pers be limited from doing?

I am not sure what to make of this move. I do get in this day and age F2P options are a part of most MMO's like GW2 and STO went that way and is doing really well.

 

But I don't want to find myself paying £8.99 a month and someone who is F2P is flying around in some awesome speeder that he bought for £9.99 in real cash. I mean great you limiting F2P quite heavily and essential they are getting KOTOR 3 with some limited social stuff fine. But don't let the subscribers down with giving them something like 200 coins a month and having something that costs 2000 coins because I like most people here can't afford to carry on subscriptions and paying for items with real cash as well. As someone said above make subscribers feel like they being rewarded for carrying on their subscriptions. Also don't forget to keep updating the CE vendor and digital deluxe vendor (which by the way still only has one thing on it).

 

Also please don't do the whole you can buy this for x cartel coins which only lasts x amount of time (hate those things it's like what's the point of buying them) except of course the boosts (xp/WZ comms etc).

 

Hopefully this will help the game carry on for the future and I hope this isn't a sign that the game is going to be closed down cause I really like this game and I been looking forward to playing this game since the rumor was leaked in Star wars galaxies that BW was taking over to make a new MMO.

Directly from the desk of EA:

 

1. Official announcement - see Page 1:

"STAR WARS®: The Old Republic™ will move to a more accessible two-tiered pricing

model in November. Players can chose between a $14.99 premium monthly

subscription and a free-to-play model with some restrictions on content and advanced

features. Players will be able to purchase upgrades with in-game currency."

 

"Summary - Overpriced" - Clients feel that the game's price is not worth the expense.

 

2. Investor Information See Page 2

"The disappointing results of Star Wars: The Old Republic were largely offset by a powerful

performance from Battlefield 3 Premium service – although revenue-recognition rules will push

this very significant EPS driver into our fourth quarter."

"Summary - EA / BW Expected better [financial] results" - The traditional equation of "Low Investment and High Return" did not materialize and instead became "Low Investment / Even Lower Return".

 

Page 5 of that same document above:

"Non-GAAP revenue for the fiscal year is expected to be between $4.10 and $4.25 billion. We

are lowering the midpoint of our guidance from $4.30 billion to reflect current exchange rates

and lower expectations of Star Wars."

 

"Summary - SWTOR will not become a focus area" - Less investment will be made in the game as it's expected return is now lower than our collective initial expectations.

 

Read all of page 7 of that same document:

"First, the game many of you have been tracking closely, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Although it launched well, subscriptions have been on a declining trajectory and have now

slipped below one million. Last year we announced that the breakeven point was roughly

500,000 subscribers. And while we are well above that today, that’s not good enough.

The message from players exiting the game is clear – 40 percent say they were turned off by

the monthly subscription. And many indicated they would come back if we offered a free-to-play

model."

 

"Summary - Can't retain subscriptions". Will not invest in keeping subscriptions either, micro transactions will be used to milk revenue from the remaining players. Now, those that subscribe will continue to experience the same game access (with some slight aesthetic currency rewards). We will penalize those that do not pay by limiting their game access. This, by the way, is in no shape or form uncommon practice in all other "Free" to play models.

 

Page 8:

"We couldn’t be more pleased with how the diversity of our business allows us to make up for a

miss on one franchise with a big hit on another."

 

"Summary - SWTOR never was our focus" - Investors, rest assured that if you continue to be an investor in EA, we have a broader portfolio of products that are indeed generating revenue, albeit not SWTOR. Let's focus on our cash cows and products that are indeed generating revenue for us aligned with our collective expectations.

 

Lastly, the retail value of the software license will drop to $14.99, which is less than 1/3 of what I paid for the license alone. Even the developers and publishers admit that the license is overpriced for the product. Lowering the fence and allowing free to play will increase the player base and we will see more credit spammers.

 

This is certainly something that I did see coming. As I am sure that many others did, the Legacy system and the prices more specifically is what lends itself extremely well to a free to play model.

At least I got something in return for my remaining subscription. I got me some of that in-game currency, which is not available yet, by the way as the model releases in November, which is exactly the time for the next quarterly call.

Still, interestingly enough, I am not able to consolidate my characters onto a single server, which is the only reason that I have not re-subscribed. The costs of the perks and other items as well as the game itself would allow me to play it more, if all characters were in one place. The whole few hours that it takes raiding all the current end-game content would actually be "grindable" if all my toons were in one place.

If the game does not generate sufficient revenue, restructurings have lead to a diminished developer / engineer base, it is also not going to be possible to deliver on that gimmick that "content will be released more frequently". Seven months, that is all that this game lasted before the announcement to free to play. Holy cow. What a greedy owner they have.

I don't play free to play games.

1. If you think that there are hackers now, wait until the freeloaders get in. They can hack a free game and then also embark on the credit sale market to make some real money off the free-to-play platform.

2. If you think that the quality of the player base is average or less than average, wait until the real baddies join or return for free.

3. If you think that the lag is bad, wait until there are far many more people, wait for the even worse spam, wait for the harassment, ugh it is going to get f-ugly.

4. if you think that the grind is bad, the grind on free to play games is even worse with the limitations that are embedded.

5. Lastly, the only real way to make progress on free to play games, is to actually pay for the capability to move at the pace that you want to move.

5.1. It will be so sad how some people will simply dish out money hand over fist, because for some people, paying for the content is not a big cash dump. The high-rollers will pay to win, as some people have aptly coined it.

 

EA should have left this franchise alone. Their new CFO comes from the clothing industry. That is how much real knowledge capital they have to meddle in the video game industry. LOL, in this day and age, where most content and games are distributed online and downloaded, EA still thinks that it is in the business of packaged goods, so laughable.

Show me one successful F2P game.

 

League of Legends. I win.

Edited August 1, 2012 by Delnoir

I am thrilled the announcement finally came, since I've been waiting and predicting this would occur for nearly two years!

 

My hope is that they will emulate the LOTRO model as closely as possible, since it has been great for that game. Indeed, contrary to the myths that some would like folks to believe, it has added much to the game, not the least of which has been choice, variety in fluff, greater and faster content releases, and the ability to keep our Kinship (Guild) community together, despite some not being able to sustain more than one MMO subscription at a time.

 

I doubt most of those who were most bitterly opposed to this will actually leave. The game will surely gain far more active players for making this change, and the communities are certain to be stronger because of it.

 

Likewise, if this game matches the LOTRO experience in making the transition, we will not see the quality of players degrade. This was another myth put forward by people as LOTRO made the transition.

 

In the end, people kvetch, and those who moan about Freemium have their reasons. Those which they state openly, and the real reasons, which most won't dare say openly, be they would reveal them to be simply bitter and resentful.

 

But the challenges are still ahead for this game. It is not enough to just flip the switch. They must deliver. Freemium or not, if the content does not roll, people will bleed away. If they don't fix the core issues, the number of freeimies will grow and they will have the same problems as before.

 

Your post is filled with nothing but exactly the contrary of what happened with both of Turbines games when they went F2P. The only thing they really did was add more heads to the head count. The quality of players and content diminished so greatly that I as well as many of the people I knew from those games refuse to ever step foot through those games proverbial doors ever again.

Explain one thing to me:

 

 

 

If the subscribers have unrestricted access to everything what do they need cartel coins for???

 

To buy the all the cool looking armor they kept to the side while giving us lvl 50 War Hero Swamp Thing armor, etc. Which of course...will never be available in game

League of Legends. I win.

 

Free Realms.

To be honest the game going F2P isn't a surprise to me, I'm just hoping it has the same effect on it like what happened to Lord of the RIngs Online (LORTO), Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) and as you said Star Trek Online. The first 2 games have become very profitable and have allowed for them to expand quite well. We just have to see what happens to it.

 

I also hope people who subscribe will get some major bonus's for them compared to F2P like for example if you F2P you have to spend cartel credits to gain access to operations or certain quests, and I believe cartel credits are going to be purchasable through a store, is that right?

 

I've said it before and I will say it again, I was a looooong time player of DDO (from about a month after release until TOR's release), as I played LOTRO for some time as well. Yes the frequency of the updates increased, BUT the quality of the releases became rubbish. They would push out only partials of content and/or stuff that was not ready for release from a dev stand point so they could charge another 100, 150, 200, 500 Turbine points, whatever it may of been. Then to make it even worse the quality of the community started to resemble that of the ghetto of the south side of Chicago. It was so unbelievably piss poor between the entitlement kiddies and the WoWtard idiots that started turning general chat in the longest sting of Chuck Norris and your mama jokes known to man. SOrry but they are selling their soul out for this one here, and the sad part is a lot of people already know it.

Directly from the desk of EA:

 

1. Official announcement - see Page 1:

"STAR WARS®: The Old Republic™ will move to a more accessible two-tiered pricing

model in November. Players can chose between a $14.99 premium monthly

subscription and a free-to-play model with some restrictions on content and advanced

features. Players will be able to purchase upgrades with in-game currency."

 

Rest off text....

 

 

Wow, just wow....wanna thank EA...wasn't sure about which game to buy.... NBA 2k13 or their NBA Live 2013....they solved that for me....

So... all the people that purchased the collector edition, get extra items and so on. ...but what about the people who purchased the the digital deluxe edition? are they being put into the same category as those who purchased the standard version of the game?

 

I wondered the same thing. I have been a subscribing member since Early Access, too. I would hate to hear that only those who purchased the Collectors edition get the xtra benefits.

Not even a full year and now F2P. All I can say is wow!!!

 

Totally.

 

Even STO lasted longer before it jumped to F2P.