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Is it a mistake to only open free trials to "new" players?
FrodoFragins
Member EpicPosts: 5,905
Games like WOW, and now SWTOR, have free limited trials where new accounts can play the game up to say a quarter of the level cap for free. This is indeed a great way to get new blood if your game is solid.
Are they missing out on getting unsubscribed players to come back. Some players may come back and level a new character and after hitting the cap may decide to resub. All they'd have to do is prevent players from logging in characters above the trial cap. I guess it would prevent issues where those players could be guilded where new characters couldn't, but there are fixes for that as well.
I never understood why games with free trials didn't open this perk to unsubscribed players in hopes of getting some of them back. In the case of SWTOR, I mainly wanted to see the populations and try to rename my legacy, as I assume it was lost on the transfer. But once I returned I may have decided to sub for a month.
Comments
I'm a fan of "homecomings", annual promotional events where, for 2 weeks a year, the expiration status of accounts is simply not checked on login - anyone who has ever had an active account in good standing is free to log in.
if you've ever had a WoW account you can play free up to lvl 20. don't know about SWTOR.
So you can't log into your existing SW:TOR account? That's a pretty glaring oversight considering both Rift and WoW allow you to do this with minimal issues.
I tried logging in to my SWTOR this afternoon and have tried the WOW Account in the past but don't know the current status.
SWTOR stated "There is currently no active subscription on this account". My understanding is that the free low levels are for "new" accounts only and existing accounts aren't allowed to level to the trial cap for free. It's their game and they can implement trials any way they want. I just think they should rethink their free low level experience, as I'd be more likely to resub if I had fun leveling to the trial cap on a new class, than just waiting for something major to interest me.
Rift, on the other hand, does allow you to play any character up to level 20 on your main account, without an active sub.
Don't know how SW:TOR handles it.
I suspect they feel that segment of the population is a lost cause, and they don’t want them coming back and stirring discontent among the current gamers.
Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
As if it could exist, without being payed for.
F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how it works. Far from ideal and not enough to entice me to bother with it.
You use the same battle.net information, but after you set it up, the game gives you a choice between two accounts upon login. One account is your existing account with your high level characters and the other is is the endless trial account.
I don't think it's a mistake. The goal of a trial is, drumroll, trying out the game. If you've already played the game and know what it has to offer then what's the point of offerring them a trial.
If a former player wants to try the game again he can do it on a new account. If after that he wants to resub, because he found a class he thinks he'll enjoy, then he can on the new or old account, doesn't really matter.