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Announcing a Free-to-Play Option


CourtneyWoods

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if everyone would stop thinking about the negatives and look towards the positives a lot of good will come from this

 

:csw_xwing:

 

And you're basing that on what?

 

If Bioware makes Promise X and doesn't keep it, Promise Y and doens't keep it, Promise Z and doesn't keep it, you imply I should keep paying cash money and hope they will suddenly change?

 

Past behavior is the best predictor of future action. In order to restore faith, Bioware , not the community, has to take the first real hard steps. THEN what you say will have some actual traction.

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I agree. That was my first MMO and I now jumped ship to SWTOR. F2P came allot sooner for SWTOR than STO. I bought a lifetime account for STO.....glad SWTOR didn't offer one. STO feels like a store to me now even though most of it is still free.

 

On a side note. The planet missions are way more funner in SWTOR. But the ship battles and space missions are much better in STO than the roller coaster ride you get in SWTOR.

 

Oh and one more thing. STO is now owned by the Chinese.

 

STO at least communicated the F2P transition well, didn't they? They even changed their crazy plans to charge everyone for new ships at every level.

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And you're basing that on what?

 

If Bioware makes Promise X and doesn't keep it, Promise Y and doens't keep it, Promise Z and doesn't keep it, you imply I should keep paying cash money and hope they will suddenly change?

 

Past behavior is the best predictor of future action. In order to restore faith, Bioware , not the community, has to take the first real hard steps. THEN what you say will have some actual traction.

 

there you go thinking about the negatives, without faith we have nothing. that i base on everything that has happened in America's history and my own personal experiences as a player. i am a full blooded loyal Bioware player, in case you forgot it's Electronic Arts that's causing all this trouble. Bioware is just in the crossfire because of that stupid merger. Electronic Arts lost my loyalty ages ago, i only play this game for myself, for being a Star Wars fan and for Bioware.

 

:csw_xwing:

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there you go thinking about the negatives, without faith we have nothing. that i base on everything that has happened in America's history and my own personal experiences as a player. i am a full blooded loyal Bioware player, in case you forgot it's Electronic Arts that's causing all this trouble. Bioware is just in the crossfire because of that stupid merger. Electronic Arts lost my loyalty ages ago, i only play this game for myself, for being a Star Wars fan and for Bioware.

 

:csw_xwing:

 

You misapprehend my point.

If you review my post history you'll find I was very, very positive about this game at the start and for a long time after launch, despite personal issues with how some things turned out. But my loyalty to any company is strictly bounded by how honest and open they are in communication, and how capable they are at following through on their promises so my money has value.

 

Bioware -- not EA , mind you, but BIOWARE -- has done neither. Has EA made tremendously stupid mistakes, yes, and I don't hold the development team to blame for that. However, I refuse to let them off the hook -- much less have any faith in them -- as long as they maintain this faux assumption that all of the statements made by them aren't going to be held up to scrutiny, that they can imply they listen heavily to player feedback and yet the most contientious issues are not addressed, and most importantly, that they have any control over where the ride is going.

 

If Bioware can't leverage it's team members and skill set to convince EA management to let them fix this thing, why would I continue to have faith? I was disappointed with DA2. I was disappointed with ME3. I was disappointed with no follow up to Jade Empire. I was not highly impressed with the way SWTOR has addressed bugs and the whole F2P thing.

 

No one is saying F2P is the end of the world, but if other companies have managed this transition with more transparency and player involvement and a better, clearer model, why can't Bioware? And if they can't, why *must* I have faith in them?

 

As far as having faith based on the "history of America", sorry, but descended from Seminoles , Apaches, and slaves here. My view on that is probably a touch darker than yours.

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I see a big puddle of tears I need to mop up before it starts to drown people. Please wait while I return with my cleaning equipment.

 

Seriously people, it's 2012. We know this F2P model is here to stay. Just because a game goes F2P doesn't mean the game is ruined. Those who pay to play will not be affected, while it opens the game up to those who want to play for free with limited access. It's not like those who play for free are going to get in there and be able to enjoy everything you do as a paying customer. A lot of services are limited, and it looks like they won't even be able to participate in Operations. It looks like to me the free to play model is being suited for those who just want to get in there and play through the class stories.

 

By boosts, I'm sure they mean experience boosts, and I'm sure they won't be all that expensive. I know as someone who works a lot and doesn't have much time to play, I will certainly be taking advantage of the boosts. It's not like those buying items are going to have an advantage in combat, because I just don't see them adding combat items to the store.

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if everyone would stop thinking about the negatives and look towards the positives a lot of good will come from this

 

:csw_xwing:

 

Of course. They couldn`t save their own jobs, while having a sub game.. with those famous monthly content patches.. and we should fully expect them to deliver the same quality with less people. Yep... no negatives at all.

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what i find really funny here is all the posts that say oh i wont be paying and will play when i want cause i was a paying customer. sad day when you log in and you want to experience that world event or run an ops and whoops you cant cause your a F2P player.

 

if it was F2P and just the store no subscription option I would be like cool yep that will be how I will be playing. the issue here its not really true f2p its more like what they currently have but a larger level range. they already do the trial and honestly that is what this model is but re branded to make people say wow now i can play free.

 

in the end you will be paying the subscription if you want to run more than the planet quests when you reach 50.

 

Now the real question is what will the store really have, cause right now with the super LAME CE store I can say completely they have not a clue what should or should be in the store.

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One would have to assume I suppose. Guess I just don't understand why someone would pay $15/month for forum PvP. Doesn't slamming something at every opportunity get old after while?

 

I`m not slamming anything. But I won`t pretend everything is great all of a sudden, now that the game switched to F2P. The ONLY good thing is the supposedly larger player base it will bring. I have my doubts about the overall ... quality of the new faces, but, ultimately, more players is a good thing.

 

There is no secret I hate F2P games. My posting history is full of examples as to why I have this opinion. Even so, I am willing to stick around and still pay a sub, because I still have friends that still play and I am still having fun, or finding stuff to do.

 

There is, however, the question about EA and BW`s credibility. There is the question about EA`s.. habits, as a whole. Even if we exclude those, we have Bioware`s policy of stalling, which I don`t like. We have Bioware that uses very many words to say very little, which Bioware failed to deliver on almost everything it said it`ll do. I am expressing an opinion, just as everybody else does. But, at this point, I won`t believe anything else than solid facts and treat the words for what they are - hot air; hoping for the best and getting ready for the worst, as the word goes.

Edited by Styxx
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The closed minded toward a move to Freemium models for MMOs are simply ignoring the market data.

 

One simple summarized example of market data (there are many if you actually care to seek and understand):

 

http://www.rpgreporter.com/2012/07/13/free-to-play-mmo-revenues-increase/

 

If WoW launched today, in this marketplace, it is extremely likely they would not only see the attrition curves that SWTOR and Rift (yes folks both games have almost identical subscription attrition curves since launch) but that Blizzard would also pursue a Freemium model early in the life of the game, if not at launch. The only thing that insulates WoW from the market forces right now is the "invested player base". By invested player base I mean the large number of players with years of time and progress invested into the game who simply won't abandon it. They do sub/unsub with each expansion cycle though.

 

Further, WoW could still succumb to pressure to convert to Freemium. Setting aside their Asian accounts (which number ~ 6-7M and never were subscriptions, they are token based pay-2-access) the US/EU subscriber based has suffered 2M losses over the last 12 months (which is ~ 40% of their paid subscription base). Once their panda expansion cycles the subscriber base, then the real pressure for them begins.

 

I feel entitled to point out that the above-quoted is an excellent post.

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You can not just Clone WoW for the major part of your game ! (maybe someone still has the link where the producer openly says he thinks it would even be the only way to do so)

A Point "the Suits" never realized that WoW didnt just get the player base it has out of thin air

 

one of the reason GW2 will likely be there for a long time is because it is anything but a WoW clone

(not even considering the fact they did that all with out subs in mind in the first place)

 

The Level of Quality and attention to detail Gw2 offers is what I would have expected of BW

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Well, from what i've read, it seems that the F2P wont be as bad as i thought it COULD be. They are indeed looking after the subscribers. And, its true that F2P will open it up for people who are either unwilling or unable to pay the sub. I know a few people in that position that would love to play SWTOR.

 

I can see this working. One satisified fan here :)

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I see a big puddle of tears I need to mop up before it starts to drown people. Please wait while I return with my cleaning equipment.

 

Seriously people, it's 2012. We know this F2P model is here to stay. Just because a game goes F2P doesn't mean the game is ruined. Those who pay to play will not be affected, while it opens the game up to those who want to play for free with limited access. It's not like those who play for free are going to get in there and be able to enjoy everything you do as a paying customer. A lot of services are limited, and it looks like they won't even be able to participate in Operations. It looks like to me the free to play model is being suited for those who just want to get in there and play through the class stories.

 

By boosts, I'm sure they mean experience boosts, and I'm sure they won't be all that expensive. I know as someone who works a lot and doesn't have much time to play, I will certainly be taking advantage of the boosts. It's not like those buying items are going to have an advantage in combat, because I just don't see them adding combat items to the store.

 

What you obviously don't see is that those left PAYING will not only pay for THEIR OWN CONTENT but also paying for the content of those that play for "free". If you are going to play then it should be that you pay for it. I will not pay for someone else to play for free. If they wish to play....they too must pay. That is not mean spirited it is just the way the world works. If you can't afford a sports car...don't expect to drive one for free. More importantly, don't expect ME to pay for it.

Edited by Gruug
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What you obviously don't see is that those left PAYING will not only pay for THEIR OWN CONTENT but also paying for the content of those that play for "free". If you are going to play then it should be that you pay for it. I will not pay for someone else to play for free. If they wish to play....they too must pay. That is not mean spirited it is just the way the world works. If you can't afford a sports car...don't expect to drive one for free. More importantly, don't expect ME to pay for it.

 

Well first off, f2p is never really f2p. Its either p2win, b2play, or p2play.

 

How many f2pers do you think are going to play past 25 without a speeder? They can't level through warzones/flashpoints/space because they've got limited amounts of those.

 

You can bet most players who don't end up leaving the second they hit tat are going to pony up for speeder access. So they pay for speeder access and finish leveling to 50. What then, do they just abandon the character they spent 200 hours on? There's nothing for f2p to do at level 50, they can't even play the GTN or credit farm, since they've got limited postings on GTN and a limit on accessible credits. Go roll an alt? They could have limited character slots. If they want to keep playing on the same character, they have to start paying a sub or buy access to ops, warzones, and HM flashpoints, if those are even available outside a sub.

 

Believe me, being nickel and dimed usually ends up costing a whole lot more than a single sub. Go ahead and try out any f2p mmo and tell me that its really free.

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"Since launch, our team has spent a lot of time trying to find new ways to be able to bring the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ experience to as many potential players as possible."

 

And the best you could come up with is free-to-play? There is one area of the computer market that is being left out. Macintosh.

 

I am aware of the whole "market share" thing. But food for thought here: Apple sold 5.2 million Macs in their 1st quarter and 4.0 million Mac in their 2nd and 3rd quarter each.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/01/24Apple-Reports-First-Quarter-Results.html

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/04/24Apple-Reports-Second-Quarter-Results.html

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/07/24Apple-Reports-Third-Quarter-Results.html

 

That's 13.2 million Macs. I think it is safe to say that 1/4 of them would play SWTOR if there was a Mac version.

 

Also, some players don't play everyday. So how about "Pay as you Play?" Like, per hour or something.

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"Since launch, our team has spent a lot of time trying to find new ways to be able to bring the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ experience to as many potential players as possible."

 

And the best you could come up with is free-to-play? There is one area of the computer market that is being left out. Macintosh.

 

I am aware of the whole "market share" thing. But food for thought here: Apple sold 5.2 million Macs in their 1st quarter and 4.0 million Mac in their 2nd and 3rd quarter each.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/01/24Apple-Reports-First-Quarter-Results.html

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/04/24Apple-Reports-Second-Quarter-Results.html

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2012/07/24Apple-Reports-Third-Quarter-Results.html

 

That's 13.2 million Macs. I think it is safe to say that 1/4 of them would play SWTOR if there was a Mac version.

 

Also, some players don't play everyday. So how about "Pay as you Play?" Like, per hour or something.

 

Safe to say 1/4th would play SWTOR?

 

Also, a subscription is 50 cents a day. How much cheaper do you expect it to get?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Here is my simple 2 cents.

Most likely they will make us pay for:

 

- certain pets

- future ships if and when they get released.

- original films costumes if they get released

- cosmetics

- pay for more FP, WZ, or Ops. which will give you access to cool gear.

- pay for more storage\capacity

- mystery lock boxes

- skins

- items no doubt

- races (whos not going to want to buy a Ewok or Wookie at one point.)

- themes packs like new hope or clone wars....etc

- respec

- faster travel options

- your face in SWTOR....lol

- you get the point

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Can't we actually be rewarded, such as with a new ship, lifetime subscription, title, credits, customizations? Not a party jawa? I mean, some of us have been paying you for a LONG time and all of a sudden you go Free-to-Play and decide you can dismiss us by giving us a mask and a party jawa, some items that probably won't even be recognized by other players and won't benefit us except for looks? Grant us an extra species or character, and reward us properly, please.
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Can't we actually be rewarded, such as with a new ship, lifetime subscription, title, credits, customizations? Not a party jawa? I mean, some of us have been paying you for a LONG time and all of a sudden you go Free-to-Play and decide you can dismiss us by giving us a mask and a party jawa, some items that probably won't even be recognized by other players and won't benefit us except for looks? Grant us an extra species or character, and reward us properly, please.

 

Hey, don't be hatin' on the Jawas. They will kneecap you with a blaster shot to the knee. :p

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I don't know why everyone is hating on Bioware for this. They're trying to get people to enjoy the game for as long as they want and if they enjoy it and want more they'll subscribe. I believe that Bioware has done a great thing here by opening up the game to the public. They can try the game and see if they like it. I for one have tried DCUO, STO and LOTRO because they all have f2p and i'm still playing all three. SWTOR can only benefit from this so if you whiney subs can't accept that, go post your **** somewhere else. Bioware are trying to help and you're spitting in their faces.
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