Developer Update: Free-to-Play Option

So let me get this straight. The only thing worth paying for is free? Sweet.

I must say... you are getting more and more cynical here recently Urael.

Basically, I disagree with your assessment. Making the game actually playable to level 50 is a good move. It draws players in well beyond any "trial" feel (which is what sub-only MMOs are locked into)... and yet they have sufficient attractive perks for sub-50 to draw players in early. And let's face it... if if you see nothing to do once you get to 50... then why did you play to begin with. Sure some freebs will do exactly that.. but many will move beyond that. But they will also get conversions to subs and plenty of business through the coin shop.. all of which are healthy for the game and in turn for the plyaer base as a whole.

TL;DR they don't need every player who plays to stay.. they only need a solid core of the player base to stay, and to be able to attract players into the game that would otherwise pass it by because they are averse to subscriptions.

Just because you are jaded about the game right now does not invalidate the flexibility (and draw/attraction) of play they are offering with the dual access sub/freemium approach.

I think that recent events say that the majority of people "like free stuff". I don't think as many of those same people will actually be revenue streams for EAware as EAware is banking on. And you are right I have become very cynical or more correctly even more so. If the game was actually worth the subscription fee then I don't think SWTOR would be at this stage of the game. I am just tired of the continued use of "Emperor's New Clothes" Tactics while delivering "Stone Soup". Which is about as positive as I am able to muster today.

It's good to see that things are moving along.
Though I am curious about what happened to Cathar. I thought that they were supposed to be in and playable when the game went free-to-play, though I can't say for certain and I could be remembering wrong. Will Cathar not be in with F2P?

I really can't understand why for some people the glass is always half-empty.

In my experience the F2P conversion always pays off. Both for the game and players. I loved it how many people arrived in Middle Earth, I enjoy the number of Captains who decided to join ranks of Starfleet, and even the world of Conan seemed to be attractive after they went for the F2P option.

SW:TOR lacks updates, new content that could keep people entertained. This and also some higher population would be nice . I sincerely hope that F2P will force Devs to work harder on the updates. Because if a game goes for the free model and is not updated - it will eventually die in this very competitve market. Even if it has one of the best franchises in the history.

I just hope that we will see soon new species and way more appearance customization options (and I don't mean the gear, but facial features). Also the revamp of space system would be nice... and so on and so forth.

In short - I'm looking forward to the future, and most certainly I shall continue paying the subscription.

Soo...the reason why you didn't post this weeks ago when the information was still new and relevant is because...?

I find it very odd that you guys spend so much time with this and the State of the Game post and all the videos you guys make rehashing the same old information over...and over...and over again. We know F2P. We know Makeb. We know HK51. Half of those things are already on the test server.

Joveth...isn't this part of the problem?

I want to know what's happening with the Time Cards that were released in Australia, because they were the only means fot actual game time that did not involve payment through Paypal. Have they been discontinued indefinitely for us, or will they still be available?

If you have certain things like UI options and color match and other things gated the way you have, the FTP option is nothing but a punishment. Gate content if you want. That makes sense. But even with this talk of "Preferred Status", you need to seriously reevaluate what the model does and does not restrict if you think people are even going to bother with it.

Having quickbar slots or title be purchasable unlocks is the most harebrained thing I have heard. One of the things that having preferred status gives you is the ability to send mail. These things should be basic quality of life things that everyone has access to. Gate content. Limit warzones, limit flashpoints and looting. Do all of that. But making the option to hide headslot something to buy? Making quick travel something to buy?

All you are doing is gutting a product of quality and either a) merely rolling things back to how certain things were before certain patches insofar as QoL or b) imposing limits on things that should be granted.

And it's transparent. It's a money grab. Other games with ingame stores or FTP options at least have some of the content purchases seem smart. In LOTRO, you could buy access to all the quests in an area. Hell, you want to make money, you do that. Person wants to raid? Which raid would they like access to? Do they want to pay extra for access to the Tier One raids in a bundle pack? Only buy Eternity Vault? Maybe buy all of them for a large flat rate?

THAT's how you gate things. That's how you manage your content in a FTP system. It doesn't come from saying "If you want more quickbars, please insert 25 cents".

@ bioWare- will we get new space maps when you go F2P this year?

The UI and Color match/hide head slot do not restrict any ability to play the game. They are ease of play or cosmetic. You don't need anymore than they are giving players to actually play the game.