The shift-click to preview an item is a pain. Before they offered refunds on items, it was a HUGE problem. The UI for the Cartel Market is not all that user friendly. The "BUY NOW" button is very prominent, and you have to click a smaller button see the items you get for your purchase, and THEN you have to shift-click to preview. It's not an ideal UI. And giving a refund of an in-game currency to keep a player happy is a better option than a policy that alienates players who feels like they were mislead.

The items on the Cartel Store can be sold on the GTN to other players. If the items could be purchased (by subscribers) with credits or other in game currency, then it would bypass the purpose of the Cartel Market: to make real money. Would you take your suggestion in lieu of the 500 CC you get every month as a subscriber?

The model in the shop is male. You are playing a female character. Armor models are often different between males and females, and if this is the case the shop should show both models. Request a refund, if they don't give it to you then complain. It would be ****** customer service if they didn't refund you and don't stand for it. In the future: keep in mind that you can preview all items before you buy them, just like you can any item in your bags or on a vendor, they give you a link you can use to preview it on your character. Really, instead of relying on the shift-click preview, the cartel market should have a built in viewer for armor.

Just unsubscribe already! (in case you didn't get it, every thread complaining about the restrictions on preferred and free to play is always responded to with a "just subscribe already!")

Well then. Give free players the option to hide their helm and they won't complain about it. And you won't have to look at the ugly helmets. Fun level fixed!

A couple things I don't really understand: 1) Preferred and Free-to-play players have cap on credits. Things that cost credits in-game, such as vendors and reskilling costs more credits. 2) Preferred and Free-to-play players gain Valor slower and a lower cap on weekly commendations. These players are limited in the number wargrounds they can play per week. (So they can pay for a weekly pass and still get less valor and commendations?) 3) Preferred and Free-to-play players have to pay to do operations... and then pay again to use the gear that drops from them? 4) Preferred and Free-to-play players have fewer field revives... and when they have to run back to where they died they travel slower because they get mounts and/or sprint later. Take a look at these restrictions. Some of them are worse than they seem because they compound upon each other.

Wow, ok. Lets clear up some misconceptions about my post: I would pay a subscription for a better game than Star Wars is now. Changing the game to free-to-play is not improving the game as it is now, it is making the game worse for those who are free-to-play. As a previous subscriber, in order for me to collect the cartel points I had to resubscribe now. I did this because I knew I would at least come back and try the game when it became free to play, and it I found it worth it to spend $15 to get some Cartel Coins from my previous subscription, of which I feel I did not get value for what I paid. When I buy a single player game, I can play the game at my leisure, taking months between play sessions. Having purchased Star Wars: the Old Republic feels like having bought a single player game and not having the option of going back to finish it. When it goes free-to-play, I will have the option of finishing the game without paying a monthly subscription. I am expecting that the cartel coins will allow me to bring my play experience close to that as a subscriber. (I'm talking about game function and quality of life here.) I am not expecting to raid at 50, nor do I have a desire to play warzones or flashpoints. Which is why it is not worth it for me to pay for a subscription.

The same elements I like about Star Wars: the Old Republic are all things I like about a lot of single player games. I got the game at launch and paid for a 6 month subscription of which i only used 3 or 4 months. I recently resubscribed so I could take advantage of the bonus Cartel Coins. (Side note, it feels like an obvious cash-grab requiring which does not endear me to your business practices, and makes me skeptical of spending money on Cartel Coins in the future.) Here is my concern: I am concerned that switching to a non-subscriber status will cost me a currency that is more dear to me than money: and that is time. If it takes longer to do things in-game, such as level your character or accrue credits because everything costs more, or you spend more time corpse-running because of higher timers, or you spend more time travelling because of longer cooldowns. Currently as a subscriber, I feel that there is a lot of "grinding." Just last night I died a couple of times while doing my class quest. I was fighting single "elites" of the same level. I spend time and credits making sure my gear is up to level. I spent time and credits leveling Biochem so I would have reusable medkits and stims. Losing a couple minutes of my time because I lost a fight with some npcs isn't all that bad, but it had me thinking: If I were not a subscriber and I died under these circumstances, and was hit with a longer revive timer, or was forced to revive further away and fight through more waves of mobs to get back to where I was... I would not find that enjoyable. All of the limitations put on non-subscribers add up to one thing: more time spent on the game to overcome them. That is an understandable trade off. There is a point at which these time-sinks are detrimental to the game experience. Whether you are a developer or a player giving feedback: take this into consideration: If at any time a restriction feels like a "penalty" or a "tax"... it's probably unfavorable.

TLDR: As a F2P player, what are you willing to pay for? I think it's time for some constructive feedback. There are a lot of complaints about the upcoming free to play option. Bioware needs to know what the F2P player-base is willing to pay for any why. I would pay $40 to $60 for a good single player game. I bought SW:tOR at launch, and everything I love about the game is the same things I love about BioWare's single player games. It wasn't worth paying a subscription for, so I didn't even use all of my 6 months of time I bought. In a F2P environment, It would be more than fair for players to buy the game and get full access to the main story lines and all of the quests. Impediments to this would cause me to quit (such as experience reductions and having to pay for things like action bars when they don't give you enough to begin with, or gear that is required to complete the content available.) I would pay a single charge for access to content, such as flashpoints, battlegrounds and operations. I am not likely to utilize weekly passes. As a consumer, I find more value in purchasing access to content, and knowing I can go back to it at any time. I am not interested in paying for a week of access and trying to get as much out of it in a short amount of time and having to pay again later down the road. I would begrudgingly pay for things like added bank space and access to the Galactic Trade Network. They certainly add to the experience of the game, but I recognize they are not necessary to the core of the game (though they improve the MMO experience.) I haven't gotten to the "end game" yet. When (If?) i get to the max level, and I am interested in the end game, I will subscribe. I don't think it's worth it as a F2P to pay for access to the operations, and then pay for the ability to wear the gear you get from them. As a Free-to-play player please post what you are willing to pay for and why. Constructive criticism only. EDIT: I would also pay for customer service. As a subscriber I was not completely happy with the in game customer support. With F2P, I don't expect customer service. But I would pay a couple of dollars if I had an issue I needed resolved.

For the most part, I agree with the OP. However, I've been enjoying most of the Sith Warrior storyline only because I am playing a light sided character. That means I have to turn down some quests I don't like. Also, sometimes I am presented with dialog choices where I don't agree with any of them. In that case, I try all the choices (by ESC out of the conversation and trying again) until I find the dialog choice that works best. On the topic of World of Warcraft... For the large part the Horde is not evil, though some of the lore characters display acts of evil. In Star Wars lore, the Sith are evil. The Empire is corrupt. You are playing a character in a role playing game. Make your choices based on the character you are playing. You may find that making a dark choice is not always the most beneficial to the Empire, and your light choices do not always vex your Sith overlords. Also, one thing that would go a long way to alleviate the OP concerns is parental controls. Make controvertial elements unavailable to accounts that do not have the option enabled in parental controls. That would also allow for same gender romances without as much political fallout.