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Star War: the Old Republic, Free to Play?
SuperSupper
Member Posts: 30
This is NOT a rumor.
According to the talk between BioWare General Manager Dr. Ray Muzyka and Kotaku, Star War: the Old Republic's not-yet-publicized pricing plan will "be more of the traditional business model with maybe some twists as well."
Muzyka said: "With Star Wars: The Old Republic, we haven't announced anything yet. But what we're striving to do, to clarify what I said earlier, is to make sure the fans and the audience that we're trying to reach feel they are getting something they understand and feel that it is a good value for their money — and feel that there is a way they actually want to engage in the experience, both in how they play it and how they pay for it. That's our high-level goal."
Oh no, I hate f2p MMOs which usually have item mall. It will ruin the game.
Check For more information: http://news.mmosite.com/content/2010-03-19/star_war_the_old_republic_to_be_free_to_access.shtml
Comments
If I had to guess a subscription model, it would be:
There are already two threads on this, one officially from mmorpg.com
If they do go for a less traditional payment model, it sure as hell won't be F2P like other games here.
This game will go retail, and you'll have to buy it no matter what continued payment model it has; this is not a low budget operation like those games you can download for free.
As for the nature of the billing, well, guess the only thing we can do is wait and see; a DDO like system would be acceptable imo.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
There is no way they would make it f2p. it could be something like for a smaller fee you can make a single player account where you can play by yourself or something. Or it some kind of tiered subscription. Or it may just be a statement to get people talking when in reality they will charge $15 like everyone else
We should have to buy the box and if we want to play it like Kotor 3 with no co-op dungeons/pvp mini maps then all we would have to do is buy DLC for more class exclusive content packs.
If they did this it could make an easy transition to consoles.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Never ever can there be a free trial at release.. Not even the first few levels.
Imagine what would happen if all the world wanted to play this game from release day.... 15 miljon people wanting to try it..
It would be utter chaos....
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
if it does go f2p swg will be no more......lol
Oh pls god don't let this turn in the a f2p.
Currently playing: N/A
Retired from: GW, WAR, Aion, LOTRO, Rift, SW:TOR, Vinductus
Never ever can there be a free trial at release.. Not even the first few levels.
Imagine what would happen if all the world wanted to play this game from release day.... 15 miljon people wanting to try it..
It would be utter chaos....
Plus Bots and gold spamers in such ammounts I would imagine it would make silk road look good. I really can't imagine them doing a free trial at release......that would be the most retarded thing in mmo history. It has to be something else.
The game will not be F2P, they are relying on a subscription model for this revenue stream. They may give a tiered subscription, and a box price... this will not be F2P with a cash shop.
Wait... F2P is "traditional"?
The twist unfortunately sound like RMT or lifetimes or even both, it's sadly sounding like STO2, hopefully the quality will justify the extra stuff.
Box price + P2P + Cash Shop would seem the logical way to go.
This sounds very much like EverQuest 2. It started out as Box price+ P2P then they added a Cash Shop later. I quit. It cost too much per month and they wanted more money through cash shop? GREED!!!
If ST:TOR does this I won't bother playing it,even if sub is only $5/month. Games with Cash Shops make a lot more money than games with just subs. Dungeons & Dragons have a perfect system(IMHO). F2P with cash shop and IF you want more characters you can upgrade to sub plan. or purchase the slots. I hope SW:TOR copies DDOs plan.
There is no way in hell this game will be free to play. Its Star Wars, not a no-name game. And not just Star Wars, its the third one to the biggest selling Star Wars game series of all time.
More likely it will be like EQ2 and DDO with subscription and an item mall.
F2P is one thing, but if there is an item mall then they will have one less subscriber here. Book it.
The item mall in EQ2 offers nothing but fluff. It is not required and so far they've kept their word about not requiring it. It sells things like good looking armor with no stat increases, house items, and pets that do nothing but look pretty.
'cause we all know our monthly fee doesn't cover the art team, right?
Its called "optional". Get over it.
I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that you will buy retail and pay a 14.99 or so a month (less for multiple months) fee to play. No doubt at all. Dont believe me? Wait.
Honestly? I've always hoped it would be a "pay for content" model. Not strictly retail, not strictly expansions per se, and not item mall/subscription. I know, I know, it's not likely, period. It's still what i think would work best for such a game, however.
The only other way this could be a twist that I'd appreciate is that if the subscription was payment per hour, not month, like Aion does/did in Asia. Just buy the hours you'll use and when that time's up, buy some more; only pay for the time you're actually in the game. It's another unlikely, but my preference nonetheless.
Anyways, that's my two credits.
#K
They could also be hinting at some kind of PLEX system (EVE online), which allows you to transfer real money into game currency and/or pay for your subscription WITH your game currency by buying a PLEX from, or selling it to another player. If you make enough ingame cash you can play for free.
Works like a charm in the fight against illegal isk sellers / hackers. Only downside is that those with deep real life pockets and the will to spend it have an advantage over those who don't in that they can more easily fund expensive ingame shizzle.
Still beats an item shop though since you always trade with players anyway.
My brand new bloggity blog.
Didnt a rep say they have to have at least 1 million subscribers to break even and were hoping for 2 million? No way that can be F2P. That being said, i dont mind item shops for fluff items like mounts/clothes/polka dot saber colors or armor paint.
They will probally go sub, fluff item mall and adventure packs. I just hope that there is enough content initally to make it feel like you dont NEED the adventure packs right out of the box, maybe when you roll and alt or something.
Honestly? I think the model will be "bleed the suckers dry".
And we will line up like sheeps for the slaughter, because it is Bioware and Star Wars.
Prepare for Special edition. Pre-order extra's. DLC. Item shop. Expansions. Every service costing money.
This is EA. You will pay!
how does this suggest f2p?
traditional is a monthly sub
maybe some twists suggests a cash shop of some sort as has already been rumoured
SW TOR is a project way to expensive for f2p. There will be the traditional monthly sub. As for the "twists" Muzyka mentioned, i do not know what he meant and i won't speculate but i am pretty sure that it was not a f2p system.