Based on what I've seen frequently in chat and occasionally here on the forums, many people seem to think that the game will be overwhelmed with noobs and trolls tomorrow morning. I think that's overstating it by a lot.

 

First of all, anyone who just wants to try out a free version of the game can already do so - you've been able to play to 15 for quite some time now.

 

Hundreds of thousands of people were subscribers before, but have left over the last few months. Many people seem to think that the hordes left because they were unhappy with endgame content. Being F2P doesn't change that, so I don't see any reason why hordes will show up just because the game they didn't like before is now free.

 

Sure, lots of people may come back tomorrow, or for the weekend, just to poke around. This happens every time there's a big patch.

 

The ONLY reason I can see for long-term population increases is if BW's stated premise - that lots of people really enjoyed the game and want to come back, but they just didn't want to play as subscribers - is actually true.

I expect to see a huge influx of old players that have been gone but regarding new players, not so much...

I honestly have no idea - I'm sure the servers will be full between every subscriber logging in to see the new stuff and get their CC's, some returning people, some new people. But I hope that they would get a slow increase rather than just a bit hit right off the bat.

I expect to see a huge influx of old players that have been gone but regarding new players, not so much...

 

Which is unfortunate. Sure, they'll get acknowledgements from the gaming media that free-to-play as launched, but they've done no marketing for it.

The weekend is when we will probably see the largest influx. the client takes some time to download. But we will see.

Which is unfortunate. Sure, they'll get acknowledgements from the gaming media that free-to-play as launched, but they've done no marketing for it.

 

I don't see it as unfortunate at all. The switch to freemium is to play the long game in terms of active accounts. This sort of business model works on seeing a steady streaming continuum of players entering the game, NOT everyone ganking it on day one (like when it launched ) And the three key business metrics become "active players", "average revenue per active player", and "free to subscription conversion rate" (which by the way is about 3x for a Sci Fi MMO property then an Elf Fantasy MMO, and is notably higher in some European countries then in the US). So it will be interesting to follow the business metrics over time.

 

A freemium model works best in fact by a steady paced lower level stream of new active players entering the game.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Andryah

before this weekend my server only went very heavy for a brief moment on sunday afternoon now every evening it goes full for a brief moment so there are already more players.

I don't see it as unfortunate at all. The switch to freemium is to play the long game in terms of active accounts. This sort of business model works on seeing a steady streaming continuum of players entering the game, NOT everyone ganking it on day one (like when it launched )

 

A freemium model works best in fact by a steady paced lower level stream of new active players.

 

I usually agree with most of your posts, but you seem to defend the most illogical things, at times. Such deriding people that are displeased with the less-than-optimized SW:TOR client by stating that they need instant gratification... and should go make sandwiches as they wait. And now you're trying to say that a lack of advertising is a good thing? Hardly. LotR:O, DDO, and many other free-to-play games are constantly doing their own advertising. That is what garners the game new players. Not a silent launch and no attempt to recruit thereafter.

 

And to the main point of this thread, phasing the planets/zones will completely do away with any overcrowding issues, as it did at launch, should they arise.

Edited November 14, 2012 by CelCawdro

MMO's seem to ebb and flow with content releases, there will be lots of people return for the new content even if it is for a short time, we will see the biggest effect this weekend, I think in peak time we will see some que's.. this is not just a TOR thing, happens with all mmo's on the market when they release new content, and is part of the nomad style of the mmo player base these days as the heard moves from game to game..

1. I think there will be a LOT of players returning (briefly) to see the new stuff in 1.5, just like for 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4.

2. I think there will be virtually NO brand new players. Unless I'm missing something, the new F2P restrictions are WAY more severe than the previous (up to lvl 15) restriction. Anybody thinking about picking up this game for the F2P is probably already been playing for some time, and likely has 1 (or more) characters at lvl 15.

3. Due to #2, I suspect there will be quite a lot of lvl 15 players heading out to Taris/Balmorra.

MMO's seem to ebb and flow with content releases, there will be lots of people return for the new content even if it is for a short time, we will see the biggest effect this weekend, I think in peak time we will see some que's.. this is not just a TOR thing, happens with all mmo's on the market when they release new content, and is part of the nomad style of the mmo player base these days as the heard moves from game to game..

 

^This. Things will calm down in a few weeks. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the "I quit again!" posts.

It's always more crowed after a patch.

 

HK-51 goes live... a much coveted companion for many

 

Freemium goes live... drawing back a lot of veterans cashing in coins for new shinies

 

Freemium goes live.... enabling a lot of new players to play the story lines for free

 

 

Yeah... going to be crowded.

If major patch releases like 1.3 were any indication - large crowds are quite possible. With extra instances now settled in and stable any crowd other than a WoW beater shouldn't pose any problems. But then, I don't forsee extra millions overnight. If it happens, cool. Would be a nice problem to have though a 20% increase in peak time players the first couple of weeks is more realistic. I could see published reports of over 1 million active players happening by the holidays.

i havnt seen any tv commercials at all. lotro advertised a lot on tv when it was going f2p and im sure that helped gather A LOT of players.

 

i dont see how swtor expects its playerbase to grow without advertising to new/casual players that they are going f2p

I do feel like holding off on advertising right off the bat might not be so bad....partly because I don't know how much faith I have in Bioware to roll this patch out problem free If everything is going smoothly, then for the holidays I say go crazy promoting the game, especially if 1.6 will have some more interesting things to look forward to.

Yeah..I plan on blocking rmt'ers (credit sellers) for about an hour straight after I log in tomorrow...after sending in some tickets for whatever issues arrive as well.

Armageddon is upon us!

If it's anything like every other MMO out there...

 

There will be a rush of returning players for the anticipated patch.

 

There will be a rush of cheapskates for F2P.

 

And in 2 or 3 days... It will settle back to normal pre-patch populations.

I'm thinking the exact same thing as the others on here, old players will return but I'm not really convinced that there is going to be such an increase in newcomers. In my own view I think this may be down to the bad view that people have been led to believe about the game by falling subscriber numbers etc. Although you never know Bioware may have a massive advertising campaign ready to come out tomorrow.

There are a two things people arent seeming to get about the model EA is going with here.

 

1. It will not be F2P, it will be buy to play with a freemium billing model. There is still the matter of a 15 dollar box cost that will keep most of the f2p crowd out of the game.

 

2. The free model is only there to get people who already played the game to return. Remember the quote by John Riccitiello that basically said the number one reason people left was due to the subscription costs.

 

 

The bottom line here is we wont see a resurgence in the population until EA developes and releases compelling content.

 

As it sits, I only stay subbed so my 7 year old son can play his way through the story on his guardian.

 

There is NOTHING compellin g about the endgame, the pve is too easy, and teh pvp is too repetitive.

 

No mini games, no world pvp, no compelling space experience....

 

The game isnt meant to be played like an mmo, and they have said as much. They expect people to play through the class stories they are interested in, buy crap from the item shop while leveling, muck around in endgame for a while, and stop playing.

 

 

Damion Schubert

 

"We have not focused on making our content replayable. We have taken a lot of heroic quests -- particularly the group quests -- and made all those replayable. What we have spent the most time on since launch is beefing up the legacy system, which is designed to get you to play the other really good content. We will probably continue beefing that up because it's our best stuff."

 

 

I dont see too much excitement in Swtors future honestly.

 

EA has pretty much chalked this one up as a fail, let go most of the staff, and given up on marketing.

 

The cash shop is pretty much there to milk what little money that can be milked from us until be get bored.

There are a two things people arent seeming to get about the model EA is going with here.

 

1. It will not be F2P, it will be buy to play with a freemium billing model. There is still the matter of a 15 dollar box cost that will keep most of the f2p crowd out of the game....

 

...

 

Don't think this is right. Think the kids can download the game for free. If I'm wrong please point the way to a post contesting this.

There are a two things people arent seeming to get about the model EA is going with here.

 

1. It will not be F2P, it will be buy to play with a freemium billing model. There is still the matter of a 15 dollar box cost that will keep most of the f2p crowd out of the game.

 

2. The free model is only there to get people who already played the game to return. Remember the quote by John Riccitiello that basically said the number one reason people left was due to the subscription costs.

 

 

The bottom line here is we wont see a resurgence in the population until EA developes and releases compelling content.

 

As it sits, I only stay subbed so my 7 year old son can play his way through the story on his guardian.

 

There is NOTHING compellin g about the endgame, the pve is too easy, and teh pvp is too repetitive.

 

No mini games, no world pvp, no compelling space experience....

 

The game isnt meant to be played like an mmo, and they have said as much. They expect people to play through the class stories they are interested in, buy crap from the item shop while leveling, muck around in endgame for a while, and stop playing.

 

 

Damion Schubert

 

"We have not focused on making our content replayable. We have taken a lot of heroic quests -- particularly the group quests -- and made all those replayable. What we have spent the most time on since launch is beefing up the legacy system, which is designed to get you to play the other really good content. We will probably continue beefing that up because it's our best stuff."

 

 

I dont see too much excitement in Swtors future honestly.

 

EA has pretty much chalked this one up as a fail, let go most of the staff, and given up on marketing.

 

The cash shop is pretty much there to milk what little money that can be milked from us until be get bored.

 

Two things you seem to overlook:

 

1. Servers are still live and kicking

 

2. New content is still being released with hints of other stuff in the works (Makeb, SSSP, Ilum re-work)

 

I'll lose hope if either 1 is no longer valid, or 2 fades away beyond what I wish to pay for.

Two things you seem to overlook:

 

1. Servers are still live and kicking

 

...

 

Err.. been to the APAC servers lately. Saw one APAC server double in population today.. some other guy logged on, so then there were 2 of us(well really wasn't the server, but was 1 planet.. Balmorra).

Edited November 14, 2012 by Roalmo

From my experience with DCUO and Aion going Free to Play you can expect anywhere between 3-5 times the number of current players on the server.

Err.. been to the APAC servers lately. Saw one APAC server double in population today.. some other guy logged on, so then there were 2 of us(well really wasn't the server, but was 1 planet.. Balmorra).

 

F2P will most likely tripple the APAC servers population!!! There will now be 30 people on fleet, 9 people on starter planets and 3 people on levelling planets!!!!