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[Column] Star Wars: The Old Republic: Is SWTOR Moving Toward the Dark Side or the Light?

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Comments

  • ByntBynt Member Posts: 35

    This article was clearly written for those who despise the game.  Way to stir up drama by bringing up the doctors leaving again.  The F2P model has brought many new players and many returning players to the game.  The starter worlds have hundreds of players on every server.  The game is a solid game and fun to play.  I have had several friends come try the game out and enjoy it and plan to subscribe now. 

    I am glad the game has restrictions on chat and other things to prevent the gold spammers from running Amuk.  I like alot of the cool new content that was added to the game through the cartel market.  As a subscriber, I like the option to unlock legacy perks with cartel coins instead of spending credits on it.  I got rocket boots now and they Rock!  The game is cheaper to subscribe than buy every option through the cartel market, they had to do this, its economically solid.  If they hadn't made it htis way, they would have lost all the subscribers, but now if you enjoy the game and want to play all the time then its cheaper to subsribe and get almost everything, there are still market unlocks even for subscribers but you get monthly cartel coins for this which is more bang for your buck.  However, if you only want to do certain things in the game occasionally, then you can!  Say you only want to do warzones on thanksgiving week, then just buy a weekly pass for a week instead of subbing for a month, Gasp options, how terrible of them, burn them at the stake!! 

    The two hotkey bar rage seems over the top, I only use 2 hotkey bars as a subscriber at lvl50 even though I can use all 6 if I desired, I only use 2 and have no problems in the game.  Why?  Because that is the most efficient way for me to play and it works fine, anyone complaining about this is just stretching for reasons to complain.  I find more than 2 hotkey bars is clutter and that I only use specific skills for what I"ve trained in, which eliminates certain abilities as not optimal and thus don't need to be on the hotkey bar. 

    After I got bombed by gold spammers in GW2, it is refreshing to not have gotten even 1 email from a gold spammer in this game.  After watching hackers and botters run Amuk in GW2, its refreshing not to have to deal with that in ToR.  If I have a technical problem, I can call and get an actual person on the phone to deal with my problem.

    I'm glad to see many new players playing the game and enjoying it, but then again, in game experiences and forum experiences always tend to wildly vary. 

  • Z3R01Z3R01 Member UncommonPosts: 2,425

    As a leveling player the f2p restrictions dont hit you hard.

    You get 100% all missions for free

    You get all classes for free

    You get sprint at 15, Speeder training at 25

    You get two action bars (Enough for skills to 50 as long as u access buffs through skill panel)

    You get two out of three crew skills (it costs less than 5 dollars to unlock the third or you can purchase this out of the AH)

    You only get two auction house slots ( ive been able to make money with this restriction)

    Commendations are capped at 20 (hasent really been a problem for me)

    Credit cap set at 250k to 350k depending on the type of f2p player you are. This is meaningless for leveling players.

    You cant wear purple gear. Honestly this is a good thing. You dont need purple items. You can level using orange, blues & greens. Use the purples to sell in AH so you can unlock cartel items through the AH.

     

    I agree that F2p hits returning endgame players hard, but for people wanting to level up a couple classes its pretty great.

     

     

     

     

    Playing: Nothing

    Looking forward to: Nothing 


  • Z3R01Z3R01 Member UncommonPosts: 2,425
    Originally posted by Bynt

    This article was clearly written for those who despise the game.  Way to stir up drama by bringing up the doctors leaving again.  The F2P model has brought many new players and many returning players to the game.  The starter worlds have hundreds of players on every server.  The game is a solid game and fun to play.  I have had several friends come try the game out and enjoy it and plan to subscribe now. 

    I am glad the game has restrictions on chat and other things to prevent the gold spammers from running Amuk.  I like alot of the cool new content that was added to the game through the cartel market.  As a subscriber, I like the option to unlock legacy perks with cartel coins instead of spending credits on it.  I got rocket boots now and they Rock!  The game is cheaper to subscribe than buy every option through the cartel market, they had to do this, its economically solid.  If they hadn't made it htis way, they would have lost all the subscribers, but now if you enjoy the game and want to play all the time then its cheaper to subsribe and get almost everything, there are still market unlocks even for subscribers but you get monthly cartel coins for this which is more bang for your buck.  However, if you only want to do certain things in the game occasionally, then you can!  Say you only want to do warzones on thanksgiving week, then just buy a weekly pass for a week instead of subbing for a month, Gasp options, how terrible of them, burn them at the stake!! 

    The two hotkey bar rage seems over the top, I only use 2 hotkey bars as a subscriber at lvl50 even though I can use all 6 if I desired, I only use 2 and have no problems in the game.  Why?  Because that is the most efficient way for me to play and it works fine, anyone complaining about this is just stretching for reasons to complain.  I find more than 2 hotkey bars is clutter and that I only use specific skills for what I"ve trained in, which eliminates certain abilities as not optimal and thus don't need to be on the hotkey bar. 

    After I got bombed by gold spammers in GW2, it is refreshing to not have gotten even 1 email from a gold spammer in this game.  After watching hackers and botters run Amuk in GW2, its refreshing not to have to deal with that in ToR.  If I have a technical problem, I can call and get an actual person on the phone to deal with my problem.

    I'm glad to see many new players playing the game and enjoying it, but then again, in game experiences and forum experiences always tend to wildly vary. 

     

    Good post. I'm playing this game with my 8 year old son. He loves it. I hope EA/Bioware make enough money off of this to make SWTOR have a good endgame. Sorry Section X and a couple raids arent endgame. 

    THe game needs more Operations,  more endgame worlds, more warzones, more flashpoints and a ton of fluff. 

    maybe we will get luck and an Expansion will release with new classes and legit Star wars races like the ones we saw in SWG.

     

    Playing: Nothing

    Looking forward to: Nothing 


  • AlberelAlberel Member Posts: 1,121
    Originally posted by Gaborik
    Originally posted by bpraswid
    Former subcriber should be given free cartel points without need to re subcribe

     

    Your not entitled to crap in a video game or real life deal with it.

    I always laugh when the 'entitlement' word gets thrown around these days, most people have no idea what it even means. By your logic people protesting for human rights are acting 'entitled'... oh wait, guess what, they are?

    The same goes for a product you pay for, you're entitled to what you paid for.

    The majority of the complaints about SWTOR's F2P model is that it doesn't make sense. Say what you will about entitlement but the F2P model is based on a concept of letting a player play for free without hitting any hard limitations. Instead they have soft limitations on things that don't prevent play but slow it down, allowing the cash shop to speed it up.

    This is designed to attract a player who has no intention of paying for the game, then gradually enticing them to pay for a few things once they come to enjoy the game. Things like restricted action bars is a not a soft limitation, players basically NEED those bars to play, and anyone who hears about it won't even give the game a try because they'll know they have no choice but to pay.

  • GwynbleiddGwynbleidd Member UncommonPosts: 9

    Sorry bro, what "positive key effects"? You practically have to pay cartel coins to be able to unlock UI elements, AKA EXTRA ACTION BAR!!!!!

    You have to pay cartel coins to earn certain quest rewards. Tou have to pay cartel coins to have more than one profession. You have to pay cartel coins for EVERYTHING! This is not a F2P option, this is travesty, and it's such shame that it will sink SWTOR furthur into the abyss. I personally liked the game but now I don't think I want anything to do with it. They charge you money for every step you take in order to play the game. I wish disney purchase the whole thing off EA and do some serious ground works to save the game, it's a good game but EA is just destroying it.

  • Jascarn07Jascarn07 Member Posts: 1
    I bought the Collectors edition for this game in July of 2011. Played through the last few weeks of beta and into release. Then subscribed for the last year nearly constantly (had no internet for a month at one point). And what did they give me for it? Not one fucking thing. I stopped subbing when i heard it was going F2P so i'd have some extra cash. Then they tell me i dont get my 2400 Cartel Coins because i'm not a current subscriber. But it takes thousands of CC's just to be able to use my UI and hide my headslot. I get no extra character slots. I can't sprint. I can't equip my endgame gear. I can't even use the fast travel taxi speeders to get where i need to go anymore. OH and the "unlocks" they promised us are just temporary passes for PvP and Space Battles (which still suck btw), not permanent unlocks or cap raises. This has to be one the the stupidest and most ignorant F2P model's i've ver seen.
  • mizrolistmizrolist Member UncommonPosts: 40
    Originally posted by Z3R01

    As a leveling player the f2p restrictions dont hit you hard.

    You get 100% all missions for free

    You get all classes for free

    You get sprint at 15, Speeder training at 25

    You get two action bars (Enough for skills to 50 as long as u access buffs through skill panel)

    You get two out of three crew skills (it costs less than 5 dollars to unlock the third or you can purchase this out of the AH)

    You only get two auction house slots ( ive been able to make money with this restriction)

    Commendations are capped at 20 (hasent really been a problem for me)

    Credit cap set at 250k to 350k depending on the type of f2p player you are. This is meaningless for leveling players.

    You cant wear purple gear. Honestly this is a good thing. You dont need purple items. You can level using orange, blues & greens. Use the purples to sell in AH so you can unlock cartel items through the AH.

     

    I agree that F2p hits returning endgame players hard, but for people wanting to level up a couple classes its pretty great. 

    Don't forget that as a free player you don't have any bank. That's ridiculous.

    Signatures are boring things.

  • LordDmasterLordDmaster Member UncommonPosts: 130
    Moved to the "Dark Side".

    …..it’s a guideline, not a rule, as players we must remember: “It’s a Game”.

  • VikingGamerVikingGamer Member UncommonPosts: 1,350

    The reason that this F2P will not work very well is because they have made it so that free players cannot be a part of the end game. You get no access to ops and you get very little access to warzones and flashpoints. Ultimately, if you keep free players from playing with everybody else then they will eventually either pay or leave. Now this might sound fine at first but this was the problem in the first place. People were leaving because they didn't want to or couldn't pay the subscription. When you force people into a position where they must decide then you have to expect that many will decide against. So what has really changed here from a month ago?

     

    The only thing that has changed is that the leveling game is free now. Basically your free trial is the entire leveling game. That's not a bad thing. You want to get as many people trying your game out as possible. But like all trials, it comes to an end. When you get to the endgame, you either start paying or you play the trial again.

     

    So what? why would we want these free loaders anyway? Because players are content in a MMO. Free players fill slots in flashpoints when you use group finder. Free players fill out your raid guild's roster. Free players are often young people with lots of time to update wiki's and post strat videos. The purpose of allowing free players to play is so that you have a healthy, active community. community is everything in an MMO. But when you separate your free players from your paying players and tell them, "we don't really want you around if you are unwilling to pay, sorry you didn't get the hint." They will do exactly as you ask... They will leave. there are many free games to choose from that let you play the whole game. They don't need to stick around. Especially if the best part of this game was "the story" and they already got that. The longer a free player plays a title the more likely they are to spend money in a cash shop but free players that leave because you wanted to force them into a subscription wont be buying anything from your cash shop.

     

    The trick to free to play, for the company, is to stop seeing your game as the product. Your game is the advertisement. Convenience and cosmetics are now your products. And you cannot sell power. They need to play the game to earn power with convenience only shifting time frames.

     

    Paying players pay the bills but ALL your players are content for your paying players. If you want to keep your paying players, keep your whole community strong.

     
     
     

    All die, so die well.

  • mysticalunamysticaluna Member UncommonPosts: 265

    I totally agree ... when will companies understand that?? No subscriber is going to stay paying if there's a lack of endgame content and/or community to socialize with, most guilds disband or leave servers as a whole because they want to stick together... When will they quit being greedy and consider how free players aren't cheap, they want the ability to unlock in the shop, which is still paying money, but for permanent unlocks instead of a reoccuring fee?

     

    You can still get a really nice chunk of change selling everything to people one by one, but these restrictions are terrible... I also think advertisements should never be used in a game, because those pop-ups forcing people to buy subs are rediculous, they already know they can go gold and subscribe, why tell them every 15 or 30 mins to subscribe? That's pestering aggrivating, to force someone to subscribe, when they could just unlock and keep buying fun cosmetics in your shop instead, isn't money still money whether its $15 on cosmetics or $15 on a subscription?? 

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