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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Devs Considering F2P?

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

According to an interview at GamesTM.co.uk, Star Wars: The Old Republic's Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi lets it be known that the BioWare team has considered a free to play model to keep the game competitive with the tide of other F2P games on the market today.

“I think it’s more than the free-to-play model – it’s more that there is a lot of competitive offers,” suggests Lusinchi. “If it was just free-to-play games and they weren’t very good it wouldn’t even be a question but there are definitely good games out there and good games coming out, so of course all of this competition impacts your plan with what you want to do.”

The small article is a teaser for a larger in-print interview scheduled to arrive in July.

EDIT: The article has since been pulled from the GamesTM site, without comment.


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Comments

  • marz.at.playmarz.at.play Member UncommonPosts: 912

    Oh boy...here we go! Release the floodgates.

    image
  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584

    ah come on everyone knewn it would happen :)

    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • AlotAlot Member Posts: 1,948


    Originally posted by marz.at.play
    Oh boy...here we go! Release the floodgates.

    Release the Kraken!

  • zinger71zinger71 Member UncommonPosts: 68
    I already have a paid sub and don't logon. How will this will change this for me?
  • IllyssiaIllyssia Member UncommonPosts: 1,507
    Originally posted by Alot

     


    Originally posted by marz.at.play
    Oh boy...here we go! Release the floodgates.

     

    Release the Kraken!

    More like release the trolls...

     

    SWTOR is a very good game and all Bioware have stated is that they are looking into F2P options. An endless trial is a F2P option for example. However, what would be really cool would be 1-49 F2P and 50 as small sub, with DLC expansions at a small purchase cost. SWTOR is looking good here, heck, it's Star Wars folks! 

  • InFlamestwoInFlamestwo Member Posts: 662

    Sure if it's truly F2P all the way to max lvl.

    image

  • spadge3k00spadge3k00 Member Posts: 56
    Originally posted by Illyssia
    Originally posted by Alot

     


    Originally posted by marz.at.play
    Oh boy...here we go! Release the floodgates.

     

    Release the Kraken!

    More like release the trolls...

     

    SWTOR is a very good game and all Bioware have stated is that they are looking into F2P options. An endless trial is a F2P option for example. However, what would be really cool would be 1-49 F2P and 50 as small sub, with DLC expansions at a small purchase cost. SWTOR is looking good here, heck, it's Star Wars folks! 

    indeed mate but not everyone is a fan of starwars :P, i liked the films but cannot seem to take to the whole "lore" thing, i admit it looks nice tho

     

  • Ice-QueenIce-Queen Member UncommonPosts: 2,483

    If the game had been a success they would still be sticking with monthly subs and a cosmetic shop for armor/pets/vehicles. The game did a fat man, red belly flop, so they're looking at  the cosmetic shop now. Everyone saw it coming except the die hard BW/Star Wars Fans.EA doesn't do free to play...look at Ultima Online, it's still a subscripted game. EA is out for the most money it can make from it and whatever is the most profitable that's what they will go with. It's just a business.

    image

    What happens when you log off your characters????.....
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQhfhnjYMk
    Dark Age of Camelot

  • Paragus1Paragus1 Member UncommonPosts: 1,741
    Originally posted by Illyssia
    SWTOR is looking good here, heck, it's Star Wars folks! 

    People are still clinging to this?  The same game with any other name and it would have been dead a few months ago.

     
  • CoolitCoolit Member UncommonPosts: 661

    Indeed EA will make a business decision and not think twice about it. I wonder if the mega servers that have been talked about were really the start of a full f2p conversion as the first thing you do when you go f2p is cut the number of servers down to a bare minimum to maximise your profits. 

  • Xstatic912Xstatic912 Member Posts: 365
    @ Alot

    Lol, nice one...

    Also this isn't a confirmation of them going F2P, just a thought.. But why go F2P when you got about 1mill paying subs?

    Yes I get that the active amount playing is low on most servers, but I think it would be wise to merge server first and see how that holds over..

    Oh well..
  • baritone3kbaritone3k Member Posts: 223
    Originally posted by Illyssia
    Originally posted by Alot

     


    Originally posted by marz.at.play
    Oh boy...here we go! Release the floodgates.

     

    Release the Kraken!

    More like release the trolls...

     

    SWTOR is a very good game and all Bioware have stated is that they are looking into F2P options. An endless trial is a F2P option for example. However, what would be really cool would be 1-49 F2P and 50 as small sub, with DLC expansions at a small purchase cost. SWTOR is looking good here, heck, it's Star Wars folks! 

    Haha - I would suggest the reverse. Make it a small sub from 49-50 then FTP.

    The game is almost gameworthy from 1-49. 50 is where it is only for the people who really don't have anything better to do. Sad, lonely, smelly people.

     

    Someone please make a good MMO.

  • baritone3kbaritone3k Member Posts: 223
    Originally posted by Xstatic912
    @ Alot

    Lol, nice one...

    Also this isn't a confirmation of them going F2P, just a thought.. But why go F2P when you got about 1mill paying subs?

    Yes I get that the active amount playing is low on most servers, but I think it would be wise to merge server first and see how that holds over..

    Oh well..

    Because you don't. You don't have 1 million paying subs. That's why.

    Someone please make a good MMO.

  • AlotAlot Member Posts: 1,948


    Originally posted by baritone3k
    Originally posted by Illyssia Originally posted by Alot   Originally posted by marz.at.play Oh boy...here we go! Release the floodgates.
      Release the Kraken!
    More like release the trolls...   SWTOR is a very good game and all Bioware have stated is that they are looking into F2P options. An endless trial is a F2P option for example. However, what would be really cool would be 1-49 F2P and 50 as small sub, with DLC expansions at a small purchase cost. SWTOR is looking good here, heck, it's Star Wars folks! 
    Haha - I would suggest the reverse. Make it a small sub from 49-50 then FTP.

    The game is almost gameworthy from 1-49. 50 is where it is only for the people who really don't have anything better to do. Sad, lonely, smelly people.

     


    Good sir, you... you are capable of smelling people on the internet!?

  • channel84channel84 Member UncommonPosts: 585

    Hahahaha.....this announcement will probably kill any chance it had to compete with other sub base mmo. Very bad PR move imo

  • KazaraKazara Member UncommonPosts: 1,086

    Going F2P is not going to fix what ails this shallow, severely linear theme park MMO. What is more pathetic is knowing that after the axing of a large portion of the development team that many of the remaining devs are working on the upcoming expansion for later this year ( I am convinced it will not be free) AND the cash shop instead of adding much needed content (combatant and non-combatant) and fixes now for the remaining, presently paying, subscribed players.

    There is no reason not to go F2P if there is going to be a cash shop - - might as well tap as many  wallets as possibile.

    image

  • werewoodwerewood Member Posts: 76

    Its a good idea. Could be the best f2p till gw2. Actually if they went that way from day one it could have provided bioware a whole lot more revenue in my opinion.

    http://werewood.wordpress.com/

  • bbates024bbates024 Member UncommonPosts: 99

    Probably be the worst thing they could do to the game.

  • dronfwardronfwar Member Posts: 316

    I like free hard drive space more than SWTOR.

  • BloodyVikingBloodyViking Member UncommonPosts: 132

    EA shutting down SW:TOR in 5...4...3...2

     

    Ok, probably not yet, but I can assure you that the "Bottom Line Nazis" looking at profitability are watching TOR like vultures a dying animal in the desert. EA cant afford to have a black-hole moneypit running for long. And with the bond-market about to blow they are stuck between a rock and a hard place for money. I wouldnt be surprised if EA files for bankrupcy within 2 years.

     
  • CetraCetra Member UncommonPosts: 359

    ea/bioware got their deserved coming for this game.

  • musicmannmusicmann Member UncommonPosts: 1,095

    If TOR goes full FTP,  should SOE try and negotiate with LA's for a new license to do the same with SWG and bring it back full FTP as well. Having two games that span the different era's that are FTP would be a win win for the SW franchise i think.

  • nuttobnuttob Member Posts: 291

    That would be great if they went FTP!  I no longer sub to anything with so many good FTP titles out there.  SWTOR was my last sub ever, and I quit after about the second month. I will definately come back with a FTP model, as long as it isn't too locked down.

  • EletherylEletheryl Member Posts: 152
    Originally posted by Cetra

    ea/bioware got their deserved coming for this game.

    The game is already an huge success, you know?, some haters still didnt notice that swtor is the most successful p2p MMO post-wow. The deal with a f2p mode like AoC, lotro or STO, is if swtor go that way they gonna earn an insane amount of money unprecedented in the MMO history, BW know it and EA know it, But it wont happen anytime soon, what we will see is a shop like warhammer online, or even wow, where people can buy fluflly things etc. SWTOR is still the most populated MMO but WoW, dont know how people can call that a fail.

  • IllyssiaIllyssia Member UncommonPosts: 1,507
    Originally posted by Paragus1
    Originally posted by Illyssia
    SWTOR is looking good here, heck, it's Star Wars folks! 

    People are still clinging to this?  The same game with any other name and it would have been dead a few months ago.

     

    Well, with over a million subs the game isn't a dead one. Likely the server merging will actually bump the numbers up, especially as there is a big game patch coming in next week or two.

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