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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Should SWTOR Go Free-to-Play?

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Comments

  • TenebrosoTenebroso Member Posts: 262
    I think people should form their own opinions. I love the game, the graphics, the community ( I m in the Lord Adraas server ) and i won't be stopping anytime soon.
  • RyowulfRyowulf Member UncommonPosts: 664

    I don't really see a way out for this game. Normally a ftp (ddo) lets people play their game for free but it has no bells and whistles. You pay for certain classes/races. You pay for quests, etc.

    SWTOR can offer clothing and fluff, but all the races are human with different skin colors. I suppose they could charge to play the jedi classes, but I think that would cause an uproar. What's the point of charging for the go and fetch quests, because you can't charge for the main stroy line when that's pretty much the whole game?

     

    Making new voice acted quests to buy will take to long and cost to much. Making text quests, when everthing else is voiced, seems dumb.

     

    So how can this go ftp? Where do they make their money when the game revolves around one feature? It only been a few months and the game is struggling. They need to be doing a lot better to pay off their high costs then a year or two from now when the game sags (but has more content) they could go ftp.

    See the problem? What do you do when a game isn't making the money it needs or was expected to? You start cutting. You take people off the project, drop servers, ect to save money. How does that help build enough new content to go ftp?

     

    The old SWG is a good example of a game that could have gone ftp.

     

     

     

  • elockeelocke Member UncommonPosts: 4,335

    Originally posted by Praetalus

    Originally posted by elocke

    At this point, with GW2 showing up everyone and not charging a sub fee, EVERY sub game should have a F2P option.  Hybrid F2P is the way to go anymore, IMO.  Plus, it makes it less painful to log into a game to check out a new patch just to realize it's not THAT big and you end up not playing for most of the month you just paid for.  This way at least, you can see the new content patches and decide from there whether to sub and get gold or premium access or to just keep it at silver or F2P access.   Everyone wins.

    GW2 showing up everyone? Can you explain that?

     

    If you mean that GW2 is making other games look bad... I must say I disagree. Most of the reviews I have read have pretty much summed up that this isn't the "game changer" folks were making it out to be. And besides, Guild Wars 2 being good and being B2P has nothing to do with TOR. Guild Wars 1 was good and B2P and it didn't really matter to sub based games. 

     

    And again, I don't mind paying the sub fee for the work the developers are doing to the game. I'm seeing a lot of this entitlement and people thinking they shouldn't have to pay for a game, just because they personally don't like it. For everyone who doesn't like it, there's someone willing to pay a sub like me. Why should you get to check out new content for free?

    I could care less about these so called "reviews" you read, which I haven't personally seen.  My BWE experience showed me a game changer.  GW1 was not an MMORPG so your point there is moot.

    My main point here is GW2, whether you like it or not, has as much if not MORE content than a game like SWTOR and isn't going to charge you a monthly sub.  That's it.  It really makes WoW look bad, as well.  I think only Rift and the devs at Trion truly earn the monthly fee due to their very frequent content updates.

    Has nothing to do with entitlement, it has to do with quality of the product.  When I hit 50 on one character and decided to roll an alt for a different experience, by the time I hit level 30 I realized I was doing 90% of the content I had already done.  That's not worth a monthly fee.  Ever.  That's usually an experience one recieves when playing single player RPGs on a console.

    Why shouldn't I check out the new content for free? If it gives one an incentive to sub or pay both customer and game owner win/win.

     

  • GruugGruug Member RarePosts: 1,789
    I don't care what game you choose, be it DDO or LOTRO or STO, going so-called f2p is NOT a sucess. Sure, each of the ones I just mentioned above had a large influx of new and old players when they made the switch. The problem is, many of those that tried these games at the time moved on when they realised that they could not obtain the full experience WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY. They realised that the "free" in free to play does not apply. Go to LOTRO right now and you will find a few high level players around. Why? Because most of them are dedicated and most are former Life time or current SUBSCRIBERS. Few (if any) are players that have not spent big dollars as "free to play" players. Free to play is a scam. Wake up.

    Let's party like it is 1863!

  • jusomdudejusomdude Member RarePosts: 2,706

    I think all current p2p games should go f2p, or to freemium models as long as their models are fair and you aren't severely gimped unless you subscribe. I like paying on my terms, instead of being charged just to access a game.

     

    I don't mind paying to unlock DLC, and new classes and stuff. As long as it's not pay to win and has fair access for non-subscribers I say go f2p.

  • ignore_meignore_me Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 1,987

    FTP would kill SWTOR quick.

    BW designed this game so poorly that the only hope they have of retaining players is to promise and deliver a rapid stream of content. That won't happen with FTP, and might not even happen with all of the sub money given the apparent daily battle with their engine and code.

    Add to this a dev team who seem like they can't understand why they failed.

     

    Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011

  • MikeBMikeB Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555

    Originally posted by Grakulen

    If they really have 1.7 million subs (but I don't believe they do) then no they shouldn't. Why give up $60+million in revenue each month.

     

    I never said they should go free-to-play exclusively. These days free-to-play often still offers a subscription option see: LOTRO/DDO, Champions Online, DCUO, STO etc.

  • FluxiiFluxii Member Posts: 184



    Originally posted by Gruug



    I don't care what game you choose, be it DDO or LOTRO or STO, going so-called f2p is NOT a sucess. Sure, each of the ones I just mentioned above had a large influx of new and old players when they made the switch. The problem is, many of those that tried these games at the time moved on when they realised that they could not obtain the full experience WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY. They realised that the "free" in free to play does not apply. Go to LOTRO right now and you will find a few high level players around. Why? Because most of them are dedicated and most are former Life time or current SUBSCRIBERS. Few (if any) are players that have not spent big dollars as "free to play" players. Free to play is a scam. Wake up.




     

    This ^

     

    Even in games like LoL where you just buy skins and exp boosts, people QUITE often end up spending far more than they would with a monthly

     

    "though they don't have too".

     

    Yea, we all know that... but what is often the reality.

     

    Either what the above poster said with people less than satisfied or spending money.  Maybe not for eveyone, but let's be real here.



     

  • CastillleCastillle Member UncommonPosts: 2,679

    I still wouldve played SWTOR if it was free to play.  The only difference is that I think that I would be extremely put off if they added a lot of purchased content. 

    ''/\/\'' Posted using Iphone bunni
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  • someforumguysomeforumguy Member RarePosts: 4,088

    I would check SWTOR again if it would adopt a hybrid payment model like other MMO's. But it kind of depends on the implementation if I would stay. In some MMO's the restrictions are put in (for my gameplay) the wrong places.

    For example, I like Fallen Earth's model. F2P is very playable and a sub gives a nice boost. But most important is that if you go back from sub to F2P, the restrictions don't hinder you.

    While in EQ2 for example, the loss of sub means loads of storage space loss and unequipping of gear. When I went back to F2P, I suddenly had the problem of gold cap and no free inventory/bank space at all anymore. Not to mention that all my gear was unequipped. So to me the game suddenly became unplayable, unless I was willing to destroy all my stuff to make room in inventory and bank. No one likes to do that lol.

    So I think it is important that it is designed in a way that players feel no game play hinderance when going from F2P to sub and back when they feel like. But that is probably not easy to design to be also profitable.


     

  • AsamofAsamof Member UncommonPosts: 824

    I can imagine what kind of tweaks EA would make to the game in order to make it cash shop centric

    very frightening

  • GendracoGendraco Member UncommonPosts: 3

    let me express what everyone thought this game would be before it came out, everyone thought this game would be battlefront-ISH nope the Bioware monkey threw this crap at us.....so sick of all these mmos claiming to be fresh and they all fall back on static combat it needs to die out. You'd think bioware would be smart considering they made the Mass Effect Series but nope, they shouldve stuck with what they were good at ACTION games, since when is standing still trading blows with your enemies even close to action. SWTOR is only doing good because people got tired of looking at WOW and it's something pretty and new to look at but is it a really big leap from what they left NOPE it's just a fairly succesful attempt to steal customers from another bigger competitor.

    Since when do lightsabers take more than one or two strokes to kill anything oh wait I forgot this isn't Force unleashed 1-2 or Battle Front 1-2(WHERE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN GETTING THEIR IDEAS FROM)  lols I wouldn't even touch this crap fest of a game even if it went F2P. I know Gearge Lucas is bathing in money atm but I bet even he said WTF after playing one session of this game and deleted it from his computer and grabbed his PS2. 15+ GBs of disappointment



     

  • bbbmmmlllbbbmmmlll Member Posts: 79

    As a subscription based game SWtOR is dead to me. I'm not going to resub ever. If it went f2p I might play it now and then with a slim chance of actually getting hooked and spending money. I guess some chance is better than no chance. For me the game is pretty lackluster and after a couple weeks as a subscriber I had little interest in playing it. I don't know if I'm the exception or the rule. If the subs are trending to under 500k, which BW said they needed to stay in the black, they need to make some changes asap. With Tera, GW2 and D3 hitting the market I think they will struggle with subscriptions numbers.

  • EthianEthian Member Posts: 1,216
    TOR won't go F2P because its run by Bioware and EA. Whether it should or not doesn't really matter because its not going to happen unfortionately. You can expect them to try for as much profit as possible.

    "I play Tera for the gameplay"

  • ButeoRegalisButeoRegalis Member UncommonPosts: 594
    If TOR was free to play I would stick with it for the long(er) run. As it is now, as soon as GW2 is released, my TOR account will get suspended for a looong time.

    image

  • eddieg50eddieg50 Member UncommonPosts: 1,809
    I would love it if swtor went f2p as I am a casual-soft core player , it would give me a chance to pick and choose content as I leveled.  Hardcore players i believe would like sub model and casual f2p. I think once gw2 hits it is going to force other mmo's with the exception of wow (to many paying subs) to go to f2p.   The unfortunate thing about this article is it gives a chance for the swtor haters to vent again (please just get a therapist)
  • MikeBMikeB Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555

    Originally posted by Ethian

    TOR won't go F2P because its run by Bioware and EA. Whether it should or not doesn't really matter because its not going to happen unfortionately. You can expect them to try for as much profit as possible.

    And I am arguing that going free-to-play in some form (hybrid F2P with subscription option, for example) seems like a no brainer in order to do that. Subscribers could still be given all manner of incentives to continue subscribing (see other games of this type) while also opening up the game to additional streams of revenue from free-to-play users. Even the ones who don't pay are valuable as they help fill the game worlds and make the game feel alive. This would do wonders for some of the lighter servers, for example.

  • eddieg50eddieg50 Member UncommonPosts: 1,809

    Originally posted by Gruug

    I don't care what game you choose, be it DDO or LOTRO or STO, going so-called f2p is NOT a sucess. Sure, each of the ones I just mentioned above had a large influx of new and old players when they made the switch. The problem is, many of those that tried these games at the time moved on when they realised that they could not obtain the full experience WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY. They realised that the "free" in free to play does not apply. Go to LOTRO right now and you will find a few high level players around. Why? Because most of them are dedicated and most are former Life time or current SUBSCRIBERS. Few (if any) are players that have not spent big dollars as "free to play" players. Free to play is a scam. Wake up.

     

       cant agree less, f2p is a boon for casual and slightly more than casual players cause it lets you pick and choose as you slowly level up

  • EletherylEletheryl Member Posts: 152
    Here we go again, Warhammer online and Daoc are still P2P MMOs, SWTOR have more than 1 mill of subs after almost 6 months and people talking about it need to go F2P. They have already 4 more content updates for this year and ¨a space secret Proyect¨ that is probably the 1st expansion of the game, all for this year, by the end of the year the population could rise and not go down.  Is ok guys if you dont like the game, but you should live with the facts, swtor is the most successfull MMO in the west Post WoW, like or not, that guys, is a fact.  
  • ProstiProsti Member Posts: 45

    Originally posted by Eletheryl

    Here we go again, Warhammer online and Daoc are still P2P MMOs, SWTOR have more than 1 mill of subs after almost 6 months and people talking about it need to go F2P. They have already 4 more content updates for this year and ¨a space secret Proyect¨ that is probably the 1st expansion of the game, all for this year, by the end of the year the population could rise and not go down.  Is ok guys if you dont like the game, but you should live with the facts, swtor is the most successfull MMO in the west Post WoW, like or not, that guys, is a fact.  

     

    So, what's going to happen when you keep playing and the new content they put out doesn't meet your expectations? I mean, I've seen it enough. People get hyped up for a game and it get's seperated by the skeptics and the hardcore fans.

    That doesn't mean I support SWTOR on it's endeavor nevertheless, I am just saying that as of right now. It's not necessarily in it's greatest point. It could come around, but im not sitting here and waiting on bated breath for every single person to change their mind on the game and buy up immediately.

    Frankly, I am gonna wait and see what happens. Maybe they do go F2P, maybe they do turn to B2P. Either way, I don't really mind. DCUO managed to turn out pretty well with what they are doing and regardless of it being a freemium game. I still manage to buy the DLC's and have fun with the game as well. Same goes for CO and STO, basically the ones that have been subjected to the feemium based payment methods.

     

    Hopefully, everything turns out for the better. They get more people to join and I am pretty excited to see what happens for SWTOR.

    image

  • RefMinorRefMinor Member UncommonPosts: 3,452
    Awesome!!!!!!
  • jusomdudejusomdude Member RarePosts: 2,706
    They really need to do something to make the game feel more lively, like make global chat channels or something. I think that's the main detractor for TOR, the game just feels dead when there's only a few other people on the same planet as you.
  • KitaneKitane Member Posts: 39

    I'd ask where you get this "the mmo market is going f2p" from?


    Crap games are going f2p. Games like CO, STO, etc etc didn't get sold off and go f2p because that was a better business model. SWTOR will probably have to go f2p given the exodus of subscribers, but it won't be because they're making a better business choice than they originally intended. It'll be because they simply haven't offered the mmo gamer enough of whet they want in a modern mmo, and are holding on to too many outdated "beliefs" about mmo design. i.e. a cross server lfg tool.



    Pay to play games have went f2p because they were crap that was released too early because of impatient investors (not always their fault due to producers feeding investors BS), and/or have multitudes of glaring mistakes made by their development teams. Development team arrogance and ineptitude is what makes sub based mmos go f2p. Let's not give these development teams a free pass here. Too many of them are thinking they know better than the gamers, and too many of them are listening to you kinds of talking heads that don't know crappolla about the mmo genre. That and forum warriors that make up a tiny minority but generate a lot of noise looking for the kinds of games that were made 15 years ago.



    You watch, some developer (probably Blizzard again given the way most other developers don't seem to be able to pull their heads out of their own arses, and the areses of "gaming experts" flapping their know nothing lips on forums, blogs, and at gaming conventions) is going to release another mmo that mmo gamers can actually enjoy for longer than a month, with the modern features they want, and all this talk about f2p being the "way of the future" will dry up fast.



    Most mmo gamers still fully understand that you pay for quality, The thing is, we haven't been getting quality releases for many years now. Let's not let wannabe experts that in truth don't know their arses from a hole in the ground gloss over that fact.






















     










     




     

    RPers have consistently twisted what RPG means. In doing that, and consistently being the most vocal minority on pretty much every gaming related site, they are slowly killing the genre.

  • OpapanaxOpapanax Member Posts: 973

    This is a terrible question to have to answer; I mean the game just came out right? That's been the one thing people have been hammering home. Talks of free to play in the first 6 months. These aren't questions of actual "money" spent on the games right?

    This question is based purely on the quality of worth in SWTOR. Is SWTOR worth $15 a month when compared to games like WoW, Rift, Tera, DDO, LoTRO, or GW2...? image

    My answer is a wholeheartedly YES! to the thread question. This game should indeed be F2P, It should be B2P purely and if they dare to put in a cash shop then that's just an insult. They put anything in there that helps you get XP or any fiat little bonus would be an atrocity. In that thought I wonder if SWTOR would be forced to use a cash-shop because it maybe / probably should be F2P...

    Haaa.!

     

    PM before you report at least or you could just block.

  • RefMinorRefMinor Member UncommonPosts: 3,452

    Originally posted by Dreyder



    Originally posted by Myria

    For this discussion to make any sense whatsoever you would first have to establish that ToR isn't doing well with it's current model. For better or ill what hard evidence there is suggests it's doing very well indeed -- and frankly I'll take official EA numbers over the ravings of the armchair expert brigade any day of the week.










     

    MMORPG.com writers have given in to the mob of idiots that haunt their forums...

    These people are out of touch with reality... casking for server merges in games they don't even play when those servers show standard population on most nights.

    http://www.torstatus.net/shards/us/trends

     

    Much as I hate to insert some reality in your obviously happy and oblivious world, the link shows the actuality of 80% light servers with the remainder standard and a few heavy. Actual facts rather than bluster.

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