In Autumn, SWTOR will be come free to play. Paid customers (lower price than now) will have access to all the game while free players will have access to almost all the game and levels (restricted character choice, restricted market access, no Operations/raids,...).
F2P nine months after the launch or so... well they can't say we didn't warn them...
SWTOR going F2P this fall
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
That will come for TSW too, just you wait! (AO, AoC) is F2P right now. I give TSW a year. I do however wonder how they will explain it to the ones that got the Grandmaster pack. 
And there are allot of games out there now days that are F2P, like Aion.
And there are allot of games out there now days that are F2P, like Aion.
They who seek, will find an answer.
"If the tank dies it the healers fault, if the healer dies its the tanks fault and if the DPS die it's their own damn fault" - "Anonymous"
"If the tank dies it the healers fault, if the healer dies its the tanks fault and if the DPS die it's their own damn fault" - "Anonymous"
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
The question is not that most and maybe all games will end up with a F2P option some day (or have it already) but how fast SWTOR *had* to go F2P, especially considering the money spent on it. And the second point is how wide F2P is in a game. In SWTOR, if you're not too picky about breeds and don't care about operations, you can as well be F2P, the only real concern are the restrictions on the Galatic Market which are unknown at the moment.
That said, no game that required millions and millions to make (figures are supposedly 200M USD for SWTOR, not confirmed though) and for which a company has to pay for servers, bandwidth, updates and maintenance, and support (even crappy one) is or can be really "free". It may look like free and it is may be for some people but somewhere there are ways to make money; selling items for real money is one of the most known at the moment, and keeping paid subscribers is the other. I'm afraid though that the solutions get more and more dirty. (Conspiracy theory full throttle.
)
I always thought that the real question is what you get for your subscription.
That said, no game that required millions and millions to make (figures are supposedly 200M USD for SWTOR, not confirmed though) and for which a company has to pay for servers, bandwidth, updates and maintenance, and support (even crappy one) is or can be really "free". It may look like free and it is may be for some people but somewhere there are ways to make money; selling items for real money is one of the most known at the moment, and keeping paid subscribers is the other. I'm afraid though that the solutions get more and more dirty. (Conspiracy theory full throttle.
)I always thought that the real question is what you get for your subscription.
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Speechless. It's desperate and it's turning into nonsense for some points. They could have made a great game... if they just didn't reproduce past models with past errors in some mechanisms.
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Conspiracy theories, yay!
Mezzpower lvl.208 Crat
Rembaldi lvl.213 Soldier
Joeluggie lvl.X Agent
Rembaldi lvl.213 Soldier
Joeluggie lvl.X Agent
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Only subscribers get access to customer service? They should give F2P some kind of support, amirite? Maybe a hotline to Cooter's TV and Computer Repair. (located between Cooter's Bail Bonds & Cooter's Super Deluxe Auto Upholstery Emporium)
And for 5 hours a week, F2P users can contact Ms. Johnson's 5th grade social studies class during 3rd period, when they have the computer lab. (Excluding assembly days and, ofc, during the pizza party for Tiffany)
That said, I'll prolly be back if I can remember what server I'm on.
And for 5 hours a week, F2P users can contact Ms. Johnson's 5th grade social studies class during 3rd period, when they have the computer lab. (Excluding assembly days and, ofc, during the pizza party for Tiffany)
That said, I'll prolly be back if I can remember what server I'm on.
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Free players can't sprint... Lame.
Honestly, except to discover the game, F2P is so restricted that I hardly see its interest.
Honestly, except to discover the game, F2P is so restricted that I hardly see its interest.
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Lol @ forums avatar capone! I know that tongue
General, Athen Paladins
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
heh heh. I was wondering how long it'd take. (not very)
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
why were people leaving?
I left. I can't REALLY recall why though.
speculation?
I left. I can't REALLY recall why though.
speculation?
" I Don't Like That Man. I Must Get To Know Him Better." -Abraham Lincoln
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
It's usually the post-launch depression that a lot of games get.
I think most will fall into 3 categories
1) love it
2) hate it
3) indifferent, like some thing, don't like some things, can take it or leave it.
People who fall in category 2 leave fast. Some in category 3 leave cos they see declining population and move on.
Of the remaining in category 3 they then either leave as the fee isn't worth it or the game doesn't evolve enough to remain interested. Or they remain playing casually.
TSW is in that state now. AO was just lucky it's come through these phases.
I think most will fall into 3 categories
1) love it
2) hate it
3) indifferent, like some thing, don't like some things, can take it or leave it.
People who fall in category 2 leave fast. Some in category 3 leave cos they see declining population and move on.
Of the remaining in category 3 they then either leave as the fee isn't worth it or the game doesn't evolve enough to remain interested. Or they remain playing casually.
TSW is in that state now. AO was just lucky it's come through these phases.
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Let's say instead of "bad" that it had a big potential and they totally screwed up some parts that, unfortunately, are essential ones, like end-game (which you can reach relatively fast) and PvP.
They reproduced (and poorly) a basic WoW-like scheme, with endless raids grinding and a ladder of gear qualities which favors elitism and exclusion of players, assuming you can get into raids.
It always puzzled me that you spend your time in big adventures, defeating almost god-like enemies, both solo and in groups if you want and, in the end, your only option is a narrowed gameplay where you need a mass of people to achieve anything. (This is true also to some extent in AO, but, in AO, you don't have only big raids for the best stuff, and you don't have gear categories.)
Add a PvP based on gear which made less-geared people be punching balls for geared ones (like 7 players to maybe kill one) who will always, by definition, keep their edge, and add an random-based crafting system which is just playing roulette.
They reproduced (and poorly) a basic WoW-like scheme, with endless raids grinding and a ladder of gear qualities which favors elitism and exclusion of players, assuming you can get into raids.
It always puzzled me that you spend your time in big adventures, defeating almost god-like enemies, both solo and in groups if you want and, in the end, your only option is a narrowed gameplay where you need a mass of people to achieve anything. (This is true also to some extent in AO, but, in AO, you don't have only big raids for the best stuff, and you don't have gear categories.)
Add a PvP based on gear which made less-geared people be punching balls for geared ones (like 7 players to maybe kill one) who will always, by definition, keep their edge, and add an random-based crafting system which is just playing roulette.
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Last news: they got an awful issue with the launcher at the moment making many people (some who have re-subscribed) unable to have the launcher working properly
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=502188
The "solutions" and suggestions in their thread just don't work for most, as well as a suggestion posted to use safe mode with networking in Windows that only worked for some.
Perform a search on the web on:
swtor launcher unable to load application configuration
and see.
(And, yes, I wanted to see how they manged free play -but I didn't want to play- so I tried, and nope, epic phail.)
Maybe that's why they postponed their deadline for the re-subscription offer to December 20... or they just didn't have much success.
http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=502188
The "solutions" and suggestions in their thread just don't work for most, as well as a suggestion posted to use safe mode with networking in Windows that only worked for some.
Perform a search on the web on:
swtor launcher unable to load application configuration
and see.
(And, yes, I wanted to see how they manged free play -but I didn't want to play- so I tried, and nope, epic phail.)
Maybe that's why they postponed their deadline for the re-subscription offer to December 20... or they just didn't have much success.
Re: SWTOR going F2P this fall
Is there any MMO/other game on your radar fuze? Im still in TSW and really enjoying it there
General, Athen Paladins