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Star Wars: The Old Republic: What Would F2P Look Like?
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
We've discussed the possibility of a free-to-play Star Wars: The Old Republic in the past, but what would the switchover look like? We weigh in with this week's SWTOR column.
Heck, even the social gear feature could give way to a variety of purchasable social clothing outfits for the more fashion conscious players out there. Companion kits and perhaps even companion specific social gear would fit right in, too. I’d be iffy on color crystals, however. Color crystals sort of fall into an interesting grey area of representing player achievement while also being something that could be considered a simple customization option (ignoring stats, of course).
Read more of Michael Bitton's Star Wars: The Old Republic: What Would F2P Look Like?
Comments
I'm not sure EA/BioWare will go F2P. In the past they've had their shot with TCoS that they acquired through Acclaim. It would go F2P, was sold off to Frogster Korea to make F2P and we all know what happened after that
Personally I think EA would rather take the servers off-line when figures drop too low rather than take the jump to F2P - way too risky for EA-financials. Keep in mind EA mostly looks at REAL profit (from monthly subscription) and not POSSIBLE profit (from F2P)...
I would really like a f2p version. Come to think of it - is there any news about the infinite up to level 15 trial?
I would really like to play some huttball now.
This picture made me thinking about:
What IF "free players" had a different race, then all the other players? Would it impact the community and the game? Wonder if that would lead to "in-game racism" or something.....brrgh!
And for the topic: Yes! Give us a F2P SWTOR!
Buy it once with a cash shop for flairs and such like GW2. Sure count me in.
It would be exspensive, done badly and would be trying very hard to take as much money from a customer as possible.
EA are behind it, did you think it would be anything else?
Make it so the only race available to F2P players is Ewok..
What can men do against such reckless hate?
If SWTOR went F2P I think it would make the EQ2 and Vanguard matrices seem consumer-friendly by comparison. The game would likely be nearly useless without some kind of significant monetary investment. My guess is it wouldn't be a Cash Shop-based F2P but a gated subscription-based F2P. They would just use F2P as a lure to get people in to try to get more subs.
Limited races, classes, advanced classes, or maybe even talent trees. No bags. No GTN use. No chat. Limited bank space. Limited character slots. No warzones or flashpoints. No guilds. Gear restrictions. Possibly even limited companions. My guess is that anything that could be limited would be limited in order to drive players to sub.
Like a girl that looks ugly when you're drunk. Then you wake up sober and she's still ugly, maybe more or less than the night before.
It would most likely turn into a cash hound;
Inventory space
Vanity and functional weapons and armor
dungeons
vanity pets
vehicles
Increased XP
Specific classes
All of the above, the coolest looking ones too, for sale in the cash shop.
Exactly the same as it does now, just with a cash shop thrown on top.
Why people think a game is worth their time if it isn't worth their money I will never know.
they dont believe in goblins
LFD tools are great for cramming people into content, but quality > quantity.
I am, usually on the sandbox .. more "hardcore" side of things, but I also do just want to have fun. So lighten up already
lol this site and it's writers are obsessed with this game going F2P and F2P in general.
They crushed Warhammer into the ground and refused to go F2P. Why would you think they'd do anything to rescue SWTOR?
After all, this is a company that clearly can't learn from it's own mistakes:
http://www.alteredgamer.com/warhammer-online/44427-what-went-wrong-with-is-it-a-failure/?cid=parsely_rec
If it goes free to play, I hope it's not like the Sony games.
we dont want it to be f2p because then it would be a pay to win game an it would suck look what f2p did to star trek online it sucks to play now look at lotro that sucks too all im saying is F2P theres a pattern here an its not for the best.
AGAIN F2P BAD IDEA DONT DO IT BIOWARE ITS NOT WORTH IT, i dont see it happening myself theres loads of content lined up for years down the line its £9-$15 its cheap for what your getting
f2p isnt for this game dont care what anyone else says you go f2p an you will kill the game
Um....hate to break it to you....
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
As is, seemingly, every 'neutral' gaming site on the internet it seems.
This one even runs and promotes a free to play shill column, The Free Zone. Where is the balancing column talking about alternatives? Where is the critical analysis of the model? It's just promote, promote, promote.
You only actually see any real crtical thought on on the subject in amateur blogs and on forums, I haven't seen one 'official' editorial or other piece honestly looking at the pros and cons, or asking the hard questions (the impact the model has on gameplay design, communities, or who really pays and how much).
All I see is the push towards the pure profit revenue of F2P and the promotion of the illusion it relies on to work.
I have a feeling that the people being looked out for are probably not the end user customer, or games in general.
The whole idea is to find the right balance between what to offer as free and paid..
I love the cash shop in guild wars 2 and champions online... The one in star trek online I feel cheated, even though I have life time sub..
And what is wrong with those limitations. The only problem with F2P are the players who insist that everything be free, and equal to those who pay to play. Games are made to make money for those who make them. Food ain’t free to eat, clothes aren’t free to wear, cars are not free to drive. Why do gamers think that games should be free to play?
If a game lets you play to max level using only normal or maybe uncommon gear, then you should be grateful. And STFU about those players, who pay for your play time, getting to use rare and epic gear and items. When you start paying, then you get to be the bad Hero for that day.
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.
The problem is that these days, that doesn't seem to be the case with either model, especially P2P. So many big AAA P2P games come along withtiny amounts of content and huge amounts of ground and very little innovation. Most F2P games are just generally sub-par. It seems that on both sides of the court, the customer gets shafted.
However, I still prefer the F2P model. While in many of them, the "illusion of choice" is complete bollocks, there are a few where the model is held up quite efficiently.
Edit: Also, "pure profit revenue?" Lol. They have *just as many costs to uphold as a P2P game, so that's kind of a ridiculous claim there.
When it goes F2p up to level 15 i'll be making some characters up to that level. But I won't pay a sub for Swtor.
f2p will not fix swtor lol. The problem is james ohlen and gabe ametegelo and the amount of incompetence and misunderstanding of what an mmo is. Swtor will never escape the ghost of swg.
Heres why f2p wont save swtor
1.Swtor was and is still bieng developed as if it were a single player rpg ( I.E kotor 3)
2. The majority of worlds are to linear and designed with a single player rpg in mind not an mmo. (95% of players prefer sandbox - james ohlen were making a game based on what players want)
3. No server forums - this really hurt swtor from the get go a large amount of people use the server forums in mmo's to find guilds info on events and more. Bioware starts off telling the "community" to have fansites be server forums. Then 3 months in bioware decides to half @ss it and make semi server forums all this really hurt and screwed over a lot of there then customers
4. Ilum and open world pvp. Due to the hero engine not being able to handle a large raid fights this suposed "amazing" area got instanced to hell then shut down. 6 months in the game is nothing but 4 instanced pvp zones that you cant even choose still.
5. starfox space combat on rails lol hello swtor 1995 is calling and nintendo wants there rails back
6. Bad PR i have never seen so much money spent on bad pr with "shoulda coulda woulda" interviews and flat out lies and arrogance.
How to fix swtor
1. Get rid of james ohlen/gabe ametegelo. These 2 idiots have hurt the game more then wow or any other game could ever do.
2. Complete worlds redesign (this is not realistic to ask for but it needs to be done) I.E sandbox worlds (non linear)
3. Lose the space rails HUGE space revamp
4. Hire people to make an mmo not a single player rpg with multiplayer add ons. Swtor has never had people who understand this.
5. create a 3rd faction I.E hutt cartel/revanite followers. This will make pvp a lot better
Sadly i dont think any of this will ever happen due to how incompetent and ingorant bioware/ea is to thier audience. What bioware shold have done is make dragon age online first then swtor. B/c sadly swtor is biowares test dummy of how to make an mmo
I had a 10 minute que last night on Drooga's Pleasure Barge, wonder what the que time will be after f2p enters the equation.
Poeple should learn how to be patient. Most of the things of problems that u are talking about will be fixed by the end of the year.
. The ¨Space combat secret proyect¨, and is not the new space mission from the last E3, rumors say it will have space pvp, guilds capital ships combat and a huge good bye to the rails gameplay, probably by the end of this year.
.They are working on new opvp endgame content already, probably coming in the 1.4 update.
. And Looks like the new planet Maked will be more like a sanbox world.
And swtor dont need to be saved. Just less QQ and more feedback from the real players.
However, a F2P model of swtor, mean an insame amount of money for EA and BW, they know it, but it wont happen anytime soon.
The problem with a "free to play" model where some content is free and some side content requires you to pay is that the free content will have vastly more players than the paid content, sometimes to the extent that the paid content doesn't have enough players around to do it even for those who are willing to pay.
She's actually ugly before you are drunk, starts looking better and better the more drunk you get, then when you are sober you realize just how ugly she is.
With that said, I don't think SWTOR is THAT ugly or THAT bad. Everyone knew WHAT the game was before they bought it, yet they still bought it and rushed to end game and now want to bitch about it.