Ok, srsly, last time I will say this for everyone. I will never resub to SWTOR. I will just not play SWTOR. The ENTIRE point to my original post was, I have given bioware over $300.00 dollars on box sales and subs, and I still have to pay these jerk offs to even be able to USE the equipment on my main character. The game in it's current form is garbage and not worth the time or money.
I have chosen to speak with my wallet, and refuse to play or pay for bad games or give greedy corporations any more $$$
YAY!
Youre WRONG.
1. Yes, forums are subs only, it sucks but it has been like that from the start.
2. Companions dont use gear any more except for appearance reasons. And your Treek happens to have artifact rifle EQUIPPED right there (not that it matters). ANY gear that you had equipped you can still use. You dont really need artifact equipment if you dont do max level stuff, and since you obviously dont have KOTFE. i dont really see the problem.
3. If you had been a bit responsible you would have bought all unlocks while you were sub and had 0 problems. I have absolutely everything unlocked so when i go preffered i get few (annoying) limitations like credit cap and crafting cap/quest rewards, but you account for that and youre fine. And i didnt spend single CC for that
4. When will players finally learn that they dont own anything in an MMO. Lets take it back to when there wasnt free to play and it was sub only. You HAD to pay 15$ JUST to be able to log in.
5. Someone whined that "cap should be same for everyone". With few notable exceptions (like GW2), unless you bought expansion, NO MMO has ever done that.
6. They all want your money. Its a business. And they do make themselves clear about that. You either go with it and make most of it or you dont play. Its THAT simple. if youre deluded that somewhere else will be different....well, grow up, take blue pill (or red , w/e).
7. I rented a car for a day once. And at the end of the day a**holes took it away! OMG *rant rant rant*
The same thing happens to me at my favorite restaurant. I have given them literally thousands of dollars over the years, still every time I walk in they expect me to pay more. Where will this madness end!
@Horusra - You and those like you are the exact reason game companies release half finished products, sell you one thing then give you another, or otherwise try to squeeze every single penny you have from your pocket. The reason is because you gladly take it with a smile on your face.
Here let me sell you a table and 6 chairs, I will be back in 30 days to saw all the legs off of them and chop them in half. Yeah I know you paid for them but I built them so I can do whatever I want to them after the fact, you know cause you will let me and it will be fine.
What a dumb example. Whiners like you brought us the joy of suck we know as F2P. You have no clue that you have not bought anyhing. You rent. You do not deserve anything if you stop renting.
To your dumb example if your table is from Rent-a-Center and you stop paying they take your table. They do not care you paid 10 out of 12 months. Try whining to them about being unfair.
Maybe F2P is not teh best. but one thing is certain: its world better than sub only.
B2P like GW2/ESO is sweet spot. But t took quite a while for MMOs to arrive to spot where computer games have been from the START.
No, people wont grind same crap for months AND pay 15$/month just to be able to log in to do it. It was never really something that could survive.
I've said on many occasions that the SWTOR F2P model is the worst in existance, a view held by many others and it seems the OP agrees. Say anything about it on here and duck immediately as the insults come flying in.
I'm currently playing again to see the new KOTFE content and to finish up a few class stories I missed. Rather than be subjected to the god aweful F2P nightmare I simply re-subbed. Did I mention I had bought the game at release? Well I did, one of the main reasons I hate the F2P model as it takes away things I paid for when I bought the boxed game, but I digress.
Given that the new content is under 10 hours and I get the x12 xp boost for class and epic story missions it's probably worth it to just sub for a month, possibly two and get it all done, then I can go back to ignoring SWTOR and I don't go into a rage because I'm stuck wearing a stupid looking hat and have to pay to unlock the Hide Headgear feature.
You know how Cersei Lannister was forced to walk naked through the streets while being beaten and abused? Same thing needs to be done to the creators of this F2P clusterfuck.
The thing is though, a large portion of what the OP is complaining about is actually due to the 4.0 changes (companions no longer wearing gear etc..), and not because of the F2P system. I don't think you will find a single person who thinks that the F2P system is good in SWTOR. Most of us realised a long time ago that SWTOR is still a subscription based MMO. If you want to enjoy it, you should subscribe. I personally think that is quite fair.
No argument there, which is why I re-subbed to play the new expac. Then again I can see the OP's point. EA are taking away stuff people already paid for, particularly in the case of people like the OP and me both. We bought the game at release, paid a sub and then let it lapse but when we got preferred status with the move to F2P they took away the most rediculous things. Basic things like toolbars.
I can understand his reluctance to give EA any money ever again. I stopped buying EA games for a long, long time when they shut down E&B, another example of what EA do when they buy out a successful Dev house, i.e. fuck it up royaly.
They did it to Westwood Studios, they did it to Mythic and they've done it to BioWare.
They guy has a right to vote with his wallet and I applaud him for doing so. The only way we can ever force publishers to stop gouging us, the players, with these bad F2P models and day one DLC (another pet hate of mine) is to stop giving them money like game-crack whores with no self control.
I promise you, if enough people stopped giving them money, they'd soon change their tack.
I've said on many occasions that the SWTOR F2P model is the worst in existance, a view held by many others and it seems the OP agrees. Say anything about it on here and duck immediately as the insults come flying in.
I'm currently playing again to see the new KOTFE content and to finish up a few class stories I missed. Rather than be subjected to the god aweful F2P nightmare I simply re-subbed. Did I mention I had bought the game at release? Well I did, one of the main reasons I hate the F2P model as it takes away things I paid for when I bought the boxed game, but I digress.
Given that the new content is under 10 hours and I get the x12 xp boost for class and epic story missions it's probably worth it to just sub for a month, possibly two and get it all done, then I can go back to ignoring SWTOR and I don't go into a rage because I'm stuck wearing a stupid looking hat and have to pay to unlock the Hide Headgear feature.
You know how Cersei Lannister was forced to walk naked through the streets while being beaten and abused? Same thing needs to be done to the creators of this F2P clusterfuck.
The thing is though, a large portion of what the OP is complaining about is actually due to the 4.0 changes (companions no longer wearing gear etc..), and not because of the F2P system. I don't think you will find a single person who thinks that the F2P system is good in SWTOR. Most of us realised a long time ago that SWTOR is still a subscription based MMO. If you want to enjoy it, you should subscribe. I personally think that is quite fair.
No argument there, which is why I re-subbed to play the new expac. Then again I can see the OP's point. EA are taking away stuff people already paid for, particularly in the case of people like the OP and me both. We bought the game at release, paid a sub and then let it lapse but when we got preferred status with the move to F2P they took away the most rediculous things. Basic things like toolbars.
I can understand his reluctance to give EA any money ever again. I stopped buying EA games for a long, long time when they shut down E&B, another example of what EA do when they buy out a successful Dev house, i.e. fuck it up royaly.
They did it to Westwood Studios, they did it to Mythic and they've done it to BioWare.
They guy has a right to vote with his wallet and I applaud him for doing so. The only way we can ever force publishers to stop gouging us, the players, with these bad F2P models and day one DLC (another pet hate of mine) is to stop giving them money like game-crack whores with no self control.
I promise you, if enough people stopped giving them money, they'd soon change their tack.
No doubt, but read his post again. The main things he took issue with are actually false. Once he saw that he couldn't equip his companion, he literally jumped to conclusions that it's because his sub ran out, and that he can no longer equip stuff he already paid for, his companion is now gimped because he's no longer subbed etc etc....
I get voting with your wallet, but when the main things u are voting on get debunked, it's time to correct or delete your post lol
When we buy a game we OWN that game code,we SHOULD be able to play it anytime we want.There has been millions of games sold over the years that we can play and access anytime we want.Thie ONLY difference is now they are calling these games MMO's with online connectivity.Honestly how much MMO are in these games,almost nothing,i have played SWTOR quite a bit 99% of it is soloing,so basically playing a SINGLE player game that we have NEVER in our life had to pay anything extra for past the initial purchase price.
Now there is one idea that changes everything,added content AFTER the initial release but that ONLY flies if the game was released as a finished product.Now of course you do not deserve that added content for free so there needs to be some form of added payment,so in that case it is ok.However a player should not be blocked from THE GAME aside from online access and added content,the rest of the game has already been purchased.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I really miss the days of subscription based games without the nickle dime cash shops and missing features until you give them another quarter in the open slot.
Well, in the old days you simply wouldn't be playing at -all- if you dropped your sub, which is an option still if you can't stand the restrictions. Not a single old school MMO had the option of "Hey, if you give us 500$, we'll be so thankful you can have unlimited access to our servers for life!" (unless you count the MMOs that actually have lifetime sub options of course xD)
Even if you were subscribed for years, you got nothing in return for it, unless they happened to have a veteran reward system, but even the latter would be useless the moment you unsub. So your comment to bash current MMOs makes zero sense.
Also, you could've easily used your CC grant from being a sub to pick up Artifact Authorization and have gotten rid of the limit of not being able to wear your purple gear.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
@Horusra - You and those like you are the exact reason game companies release half finished products, sell you one thing then give you another, or otherwise try to squeeze every single penny you have from your pocket. The reason is because you gladly take it with a smile on your face.
Here let me sell you a table and 6 chairs, I will be back in 30 days to saw all the legs off of them and chop them in half. Yeah I know you paid for them but I built them so I can do whatever I want to them after the fact, you know cause you will let me and it will be fine.
What a dumb example. Whiners like you brought us the joy of suck we know as F2P. You have no clue that you have not bought anyhing. You rent. You do not deserve anything if you stop renting.
To your dumb example if your table is from Rent-a-Center and you stop paying they take your table. They do not care you paid 10 out of 12 months. Try whining to them about being unfair.
And you are still missing the point like so many others in this thread. It isn't about him losing the table. It's the fact that you lose anything that might be on the table at the time it is also taken. That is how EA/BW treats your characters. Paid for extra character slots then let sub lapse? They are gone. Until you resub of course. So in a sense you are pretty much paying them extra, for something you already paid for.
Preferred players default to 6 character slots PLUS whatever they bought, so no, they don't lose those slots they paid for. They will lose temporary access to some of their characters due to the base character slots dropping from 12 to 6 (plus extras), but those just become locked.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
The only issue I have with swtor is that you have buy passes to play PvP, Instances, and raids.. I can pay for unlocks, but having to pay weekly just sucks.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
EA is attempting to maximize their revenues, and this model seems to work well for them.
They really aren't interested how anyone feels about it, only if they still pay in some form.
OP has made the correct choice, don't pay as it bothers him to do so under the current model.
That's what make this thread to odd/ironic....the things that bother him according to his original post, have nothing to do with the F2P system, but instead are due to the 4.0 changes that he hasn't read up on (yet, is the reason he decided to "check the game out again???)...
The only thing he mentions that is actually due to the F2P restrictions, is the inability to post on the forums, which we can all agree, does not hinder his ability to play the game in the slightest.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
EA is attempting to maximize their revenues, and this model seems to work well for them.
They really aren't interested how anyone feels about it, only if they still pay in some form.
OP has made the correct choice, don't pay as it bothers him to do so under the current model.
I just wish he would make the choice and not tell us anything about his situation or his choice.
The perplexing part is that he went through such great lengths to show us how much money he has put into the game, and how long he subbed for, yet did not take 2 seconds to see if anything he was saying was actually true. I think he still doesn't realize that companions no longer use gear for anything other than a few remaining cosmetic slots (in Treek's case, 1 weapon slot), or that his screenshot of Treek shows it wearing artifact gear, all while he is trying to use the screenshot to show that he can no longer equip the artifact gear that he already paid for...
This is one of the most bizarre threads I've seen in a while. I am surprised its not deleted or locked yet.
My favorite is that he actually ends his post with the following: So anyway, I just thought people should be able to see with their own
eyes what a preferred status vs a subscriber status will get you,
Yet....he didn't show that at all.....he even has agrees for crying out loud lol. Can you imagine the frustration of someone who reads his post and thinks to themselves "damn, I better subscribe if I don't want that to happen to my treek".....they sub. and then notice that their treek looks exactly the same lmao
I don't see the problem, your being courted by the mistress of F2P. Its pretty simple, if you had pretended that F2P wasn't an option, and you let your sub lapse, you wouldn't even of been able to log in and notice you couldn't equip certain items. You SHOULDNT be able to equip things that are only available with a sub, it seem logical to me.
Don't fall into the trap like most do. Just ignore the F2P side of the game, pay for your sub and all will be right as rain.
Don't worry about what the free loaders are up to. Your better than that.
The same thing happens to me at my favorite restaurant. I have given them literally thousands of dollars over the years, still every time I walk in they expect me to pay more. Where will this madness end!
But then the Pizza Hut passed off the phone on me while I was ordering. Now I go to Domino's.
If you make your customers mad, they will go elsewhere.
Honestly, this seems like something that should be included with the Preferred status rather than a subscription. Making any purchase should give you the right to post on the forums.
@Phry, to answer your question of what makes swtor p2w... i dont know if it applies to PvP but in Swtor you cannot wear the best gear if you dont pay money. If that applies to PvP then its P2W, if not then i guess its fine.
As for the OP, i bought the $80 deluxe edition at launch and only subscribed for 1 or 2 months after the free month expired because the game didnt offer what other mmos offered for the same monthly price. After the game went F2Try with its horrible model, i think i spent about $20 bucks in the cash shop then i realized how terrible the payment model was then i quit.
Ive tried the game so many times as a preferred-status player to see if anything changed for good with the business model, but no. Its still a miserable experience unless you subscribe, and still to this day its not worth the sub for me when WoW and XIV, and even ESO offer a better and longer experience for the same monthly price.
It really upsets me because i really want to play that game and support it, but i will not support EA's bullcrap practices with my wallet. If they change their model to something closer to ESO i would give them money. The fact that they want to force their hands into my pockets is the reason why they would go bankrupt if it was up to me.
I had lunch with a friend today at a regular steakhouse and it cost me about $20 for a lunch sized meal including tip. That lunch satisfied me for a few hours. I plan to take my son to the movies this weekend. Our tickets will be at least $15 total and that does not include the popcorn. The movie will entertain us for 2 hours and then another hour or two as we talk about what we liked about it. I play about 15 hours of SWTOR a month and pay nothing.
You can jump into SWTOR for FREE! Play the best part, the storylines for FREE. There is nothing in the cartel market that is P2W and if you craft, you can buy almost any cartel item in the auction house (GTN). You can spend a one time fee of around $30 and unlock everything you need to play this game and have fun. I'm currently playing for FREE. I make augment kits by buying materials from the GTN for around 20k and selling them for 50k. I earn almost a million credits each week and can buy any boost or flashpoint access pass I want. I dont have to play it like a second job to earn these things like most other F2P games. I log in, check the GTN, buy what I need, start the jobs and then play and have fun.
I hate pay to win games and I hate the current crop of F2P games where you can earn things but it takes an incredible/ridiculous amount of time and effort to do so. I agree the base F2P version of SWTOR is lame but what do you expect for FREE? Drop some money for some unlocks if you like the game and go play something else if you dont.
@OP, The money you paid was for the fun you had at that time. I go to a favorite steak house several times a month and have been for a few years and they wont give me free meals just because I have paid them money in the past.
"Sean (Murray) saying MP will be in the game is not remotely close to evidence that at the point of purchase people thought there was MP in the game." - SEANMCAD
Did I mention I had bought the game at release? Well I did, one of the main reasons I hate the F2P model as it takes away things I paid for when I bought the boxed game, but I digress.
What did you pay for when you purchased the boxed game? Did they not give you the 30 days of game time with everything unlocked? Could you show me on the box where it says for that one time purchase you would have access to all game content for life?
Unrealistic expectations.
"Sean (Murray) saying MP will be in the game is not remotely close to evidence that at the point of purchase people thought there was MP in the game." - SEANMCAD
Did I mention I had bought the game at release? Well I did, one of the main reasons I hate the F2P model as it takes away things I paid for when I bought the boxed game, but I digress.
What did you pay for when you purchased the boxed game? Did they not give you the 30 days of game time with everything unlocked? Could you show me on the box where it says for that one time purchase you would have access to all game content for life?
Unrealistic expectations.
I'm not talking about game content, I'm talking about basic things like a functioning UI. The game was designed with many abilities for each of the classes and it was also designed with a UI that would allow you to hotkey those abilities.
Removing hotbars from the basic game and then charging money for them is fucking disgusting. Can you name one other F2P MMO that charges a premium for additional hotbars? Is that not something that should be included as part of the basic game? Is that unrealistic? And who is the money grubbing scumbag that decided to charge people for a tick box that toggles head gear on and off? How petty is that?
And I paid for 30 days of gametime with the box, along with a fully featured game. I have no problem with F2P charging for additional character slots or for what most people would call content i.e places to go and things to do, but I draw a line at the removal of something as stupid as hotbars in a blatant attempt to rake in as much cash as possible.
It's almost as if someone at EA sat down and thought how to make the game as awkward as possible to play to force us to pay money.
Now, before you rush to defend your game just bear this in mind. I'm not crtitcising the game, I'm criticising EA's F2P model. It's bad and everyone knows it. But that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. In the last 15 years EA has gone from "Gamers making games for gamers" to "Show me the money".
If you look at he other end of the F2P restrictions you have games like TERA and Aion, both successful, both making money and yet the game is basically free to play, with all of their cash shop sales being weapon skins or outfits, fluff items. They don't seem to have any problems making money.
And just in case you think I'm one of those freeloaders that complain about having to pay for anything and expecting to play everything for free, I'm not. I'm currently subscribed to the game. Why? 12 times xp so I can get through a few class stories I missed, access to the new content and none of the stupid restrictions that free and preferred players have to endure. A couple of months and I'll have played the content I want to see without having to ragequit when I can't toggle off a hat that looks stupid or when I can't fit that new ability to a hotkey because I ran out of space.
SWTOR has by far the worst pay model of any f2p game I've ever played. It's disgusting.
It isn't the worst, unless EQ2 have changed their model it is still worse. It is pretty bad though.
Personally I stay away from any "freemium" game, I can pay subs or I can play a game with a cashshop but anything that more or less require both better be the best MMO ever made.
Did I mention I had bought the game at release? Well I did, one of the main reasons I hate the F2P model as it takes away things I paid for when I bought the boxed game, but I digress.
What did you pay for when you purchased the boxed game? Did they not give you the 30 days of game time with everything unlocked? Could you show me on the box where it says for that one time purchase you would have access to all game content for life?
Unrealistic expectations.
I'm not talking about game content, I'm talking about basic things like a functioning UI. The game was designed with many abilities for each of the classes and it was also designed with a UI that would allow you to hotkey those abilities.
Removing hotbars from the basic game and then charging money for them is fucking disgusting. Can you name one other F2P MMO that charges a premium for additional hotbars? Is that not something that should be included as part of the basic game? Is that unrealistic? And who is the money grubbing scumbag that decided to charge people for a tick box that toggles head gear on and off? How petty is that?
You also got a bunch of coins for being an owner of the original game and a former subscriber, and could've easily put those to good use to get rid of the restrictions you don't like without having to spend extra money on it. You just chose to use that currency for other things instead of making life easier on yourself, and then go around demanding that they should unlock those for you just because you gave them money in the past.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
Yeah the MMO revenue model is a total mess right across the board right now, it is not just SWTOR. That's one of the reason why I don't enjoy them anymore, you don't really know how much you are going to spend on it and what do you get for your money. Also the P2W cash shops on top of the subscription has to go. Devs needs to chose one of the 2, they can't have both. I think we spoiled them too much.
I would be interested to know what is in the cash shop that makes it P2W tbh, as from what i have seen so far its either unlocks for F2P players, or cosmetic gear and vehicles. Even modable gear now requires a crafter for decent mods, and most people are opting for the heroic rewards instead, which makes modable gear, barring end game useage, more of a cosmetic slot option. There are 2 choices, either keep paying out for weekly unlocks, which is the main focus of F2P items, or pay a sub, which doesn't just give you full access to everything, it also gives you a monthly allowance of cartel coins, which with an authenticator, bumps it up to 600 cartel coins a month, about the only thing i used them for, was to unlock character slots above the initial 8 or so, currently have 22 or 23 per server, as its an account wide unlock. Whatever the complaints about the game, and there are more than a few good reasons to complain at the moment, the P2P/F2P hybrid method is clearly working.
Back when I still played, there were a few things that were borderline. Not over the top, but still better than what was in the game for that level.
1. Treek. (That was before the companion changes) Treek was OP at low level with the starter gear. At high level, if geared properly, Treek was a monster.
2. Power Crystals. Primarily a low level advantage that didn't really translate to endgame, but still, it did make getting there easier. As if it wasn't easy enough.
3. The ability to buy hypercrates and resell them for credits. This is almost always a P2W scenario in MMOs.
Depending on your POV and your own objectives, these may or may not be an advantage over you. And you may not really consider them P2W. I suspect if you like SWTOR, you won't, if you don't like SWTOR, you will and if you don't care, this won't make you care. I played around it winiout any serious impact to my game. But if I had my say, this stuff would never be in the game.
Did I mention I had bought the game at release? Well I did, one of the main reasons I hate the F2P model as it takes away things I paid for when I bought the boxed game, but I digress.
What did you pay for when you purchased the boxed game? Did they not give you the 30 days of game time with everything unlocked? Could you show me on the box where it says for that one time purchase you would have access to all game content for life?
Unrealistic expectations.
I'm not talking about game content, I'm talking about basic things like a functioning UI. The game was designed with many abilities for each of the classes and it was also designed with a UI that would allow you to hotkey those abilities.
Removing hotbars from the basic game and then charging money for them is fucking disgusting. Can you name one other F2P MMO that charges a premium for additional hotbars? Is that not something that should be included as part of the basic game? Is that unrealistic? And who is the money grubbing scumbag that decided to charge people for a tick box that toggles head gear on and off? How petty is that?
You also got a bunch of coins for being an owner of the original game and a former subscriber, and could've easily put those to good use to get rid of the restrictions you don't like without having to spend extra money on it. You just chose to use that currency for other things instead of making life easier on yourself, and then go around demanding that they should unlock those for you just because you gave them money in the past.
I just love when people selectively quote to make a point. I haven't demanded anything. I said I could see why people complain about the F2P model, because it's a bad one. You negelected to include the part of my post where I said quite clearly that I currently have a subscription to the game. I'm not demanding anything based on money paid in the past. I'm paying them now, every month, and I have full access to everything. Every time I have returned to play SWTOR I have subscribed. I have never played as a preferred player apart from the first time I returned after the game went F2P and that was for a couple of hours before I re-subbed.
Suppose I never bought the game. Suppose I started playing after it went F2P, no preferred status, no coins. I'd be faced with a game that has probably the most severe restrictions in the F2P market available today. No matter what you say or what arguments you raise you can't possibly tell me or anyone that charging people for hotbars is justified. It's part of the game UI, it's an integral part of the game that you can't play without. It's retarded. Charging people to have access to a toggle head gear tick box is petty and money grabbing of the worst kind. It's retarded.
Forget that I ever bought the game. Forget that I happen to have a current subscription to the game. SWTOR's F2P model is BAD. I would go as far as saying that if they lifted some of the restrictions, the really stupid and vindictive ones that stop people from playing, they'd probably have a lot more people playing the game right now.
Any F2P model that STOPS people from playing due to the stupid restrictions has to be a bad one. There are so many other F2P games out there that people don't complain about, doesn't it make you stop and think maybe they have a point?
Comments
1. Yes, forums are subs only, it sucks but it has been like that from the start.
2. Companions dont use gear any more except for appearance reasons. And your Treek happens to have artifact rifle EQUIPPED right there (not that it matters). ANY gear that you had equipped you can still use. You dont really need artifact equipment if you dont do max level stuff, and since you obviously dont have KOTFE. i dont really see the problem.
3. If you had been a bit responsible you would have bought all unlocks while you were sub and had 0 problems. I have absolutely everything unlocked so when i go preffered i get few (annoying) limitations like credit cap and crafting cap/quest rewards, but you account for that and youre fine. And i didnt spend single CC for that
4. When will players finally learn that they dont own anything in an MMO. Lets take it back to when there wasnt free to play and it was sub only. You HAD to pay 15$ JUST to be able to log in.
5. Someone whined that "cap should be same for everyone". With few notable exceptions (like GW2), unless you bought expansion, NO MMO has ever done that.
6. They all want your money. Its a business. And they do make themselves clear about that. You either go with it and make most of it or you dont play. Its THAT simple. if youre deluded that somewhere else will be different....well, grow up, take blue pill (or red , w/e).
7. I rented a car for a day once. And at the end of the day a**holes took it away! OMG *rant rant rant*
B2P like GW2/ESO is sweet spot. But t took quite a while for MMOs to arrive to spot where computer games have been from the START.
No, people wont grind same crap for months AND pay 15$/month just to be able to log in to do it. It was never really something that could survive.
I can understand his reluctance to give EA any money ever again. I stopped buying EA games for a long, long time when they shut down E&B, another example of what EA do when they buy out a successful Dev house, i.e. fuck it up royaly.
They did it to Westwood Studios, they did it to Mythic and they've done it to BioWare.
They guy has a right to vote with his wallet and I applaud him for doing so. The only way we can ever force publishers to stop gouging us, the players, with these bad F2P models and day one DLC (another pet hate of mine) is to stop giving them money like game-crack whores with no self control.
I promise you, if enough people stopped giving them money, they'd soon change their tack.
I get voting with your wallet, but when the main things u are voting on get debunked, it's time to correct or delete your post lol
When we buy a game we OWN that game code,we SHOULD be able to play it anytime we want.There has been millions of games sold over the years that we can play and access anytime we want.Thie ONLY difference is now they are calling these games MMO's with online connectivity.Honestly how much MMO are in these games,almost nothing,i have played SWTOR quite a bit 99% of it is soloing,so basically playing a SINGLE player game that we have NEVER in our life had to pay anything extra for past the initial purchase price.
Now there is one idea that changes everything,added content AFTER the initial release but that ONLY flies if the game was released as a finished product.Now of course you do not deserve that added content for free so there needs to be some form of added payment,so in that case it is ok.However a player should not be blocked from THE GAME aside from online access and added content,the rest of the game has already been purchased.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Even if you were subscribed for years, you got nothing in return for it, unless they happened to have a veteran reward system, but even the latter would be useless the moment you unsub. So your comment to bash current MMOs makes zero sense.
Also, you could've easily used your CC grant from being a sub to pick up Artifact Authorization and have gotten rid of the limit of not being able to wear your purple gear.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Preferred players default to 6 character slots PLUS whatever they bought, so no, they don't lose those slots they paid for. They will lose temporary access to some of their characters due to the base character slots dropping from 12 to 6 (plus extras), but those just become locked.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
They really aren't interested how anyone feels about it, only if they still pay in some form.
OP has made the correct choice, don't pay as it bothers him to do so under the current model.
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"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The only thing he mentions that is actually due to the F2P restrictions, is the inability to post on the forums, which we can all agree, does not hinder his ability to play the game in the slightest.
I just wish he would make the choice and not tell us anything about his situation or his choice.
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Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
This is one of the most bizarre threads I've seen in a while. I am surprised its not deleted or locked yet.
My favorite is that he actually ends his post with the following:
So anyway, I just thought people should be able to see with their own eyes what a preferred status vs a subscriber status will get you,
Yet....he didn't show that at all.....he even has agrees for crying out loud lol. Can you imagine the frustration of someone who reads his post and thinks to themselves "damn, I better subscribe if I don't want that to happen to my treek".....they sub. and then notice that their treek looks exactly the same lmao
I don't see the problem, your being courted by the mistress of F2P. Its pretty simple, if you had pretended that F2P wasn't an option, and you let your sub lapse, you wouldn't even of been able to log in and notice you couldn't equip certain items. You SHOULDNT be able to equip things that are only available with a sub, it seem logical to me.
Don't fall into the trap like most do. Just ignore the F2P side of the game, pay for your sub and all will be right as rain.
Don't worry about what the free loaders are up to. Your better than that.
If you make your customers mad, they will go elsewhere.
to answer your question of what makes swtor p2w... i dont know if it applies to PvP but in Swtor you cannot wear the best gear if you dont pay money. If that applies to PvP then its P2W, if not then i guess its fine.
As for the OP, i bought the $80 deluxe edition at launch and only subscribed for 1 or 2 months after the free month expired because the game didnt offer what other mmos offered for the same monthly price. After the game went F2Try with its horrible model, i think i spent about $20 bucks in the cash shop then i realized how terrible the payment model was then i quit.
Ive tried the game so many times as a preferred-status player to see if anything changed for good with the business model, but no. Its still a miserable experience unless you subscribe, and still to this day its not worth the sub for me when WoW and XIV, and even ESO offer a better and longer experience for the same monthly price.
It really upsets me because i really want to play that game and support it, but i will not support EA's bullcrap practices with my wallet. If they change their model to something closer to ESO i would give them money. The fact that they want to force their hands into my pockets is the reason why they would go bankrupt if it was up to me.
You can jump into SWTOR for FREE! Play the best part, the storylines for FREE. There is nothing in the cartel market that is P2W and if you craft, you can buy almost any cartel item in the auction house (GTN). You can spend a one time fee of around $30 and unlock everything you need to play this game and have fun. I'm currently playing for FREE. I make augment kits by buying materials from the GTN for around 20k and selling them for 50k. I earn almost a million credits each week and can buy any boost or flashpoint access pass I want. I dont have to play it like a second job to earn these things like most other F2P games. I log in, check the GTN, buy what I need, start the jobs and then play and have fun.
I hate pay to win games and I hate the current crop of F2P games where you can earn things but it takes an incredible/ridiculous amount of time and effort to do so. I agree the base F2P version of SWTOR is lame but what do you expect for FREE? Drop some money for some unlocks if you like the game and go play something else if you dont.
@OP,
The money you paid was for the fun you had at that time. I go to a favorite steak house several times a month and have been for a few years and they wont give me free meals just because I have paid them money in the past.
Unrealistic expectations.
Removing hotbars from the basic game and then charging money for them is fucking disgusting. Can you name one other F2P MMO that charges a premium for additional hotbars? Is that not something that should be included as part of the basic game? Is that unrealistic? And who is the money grubbing scumbag that decided to charge people for a tick box that toggles head gear on and off? How petty is that?
And I paid for 30 days of gametime with the box, along with a fully featured game. I have no problem with F2P charging for additional character slots or for what most people would call content i.e places to go and things to do, but I draw a line at the removal of something as stupid as hotbars in a blatant attempt to rake in as much cash as possible.
It's almost as if someone at EA sat down and thought how to make the game as awkward as possible to play to force us to pay money.
Now, before you rush to defend your game just bear this in mind. I'm not crtitcising the game, I'm criticising EA's F2P model. It's bad and everyone knows it. But that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. In the last 15 years EA has gone from "Gamers making games for gamers" to "Show me the money".
If you look at he other end of the F2P restrictions you have games like TERA and Aion, both successful, both making money and yet the game is basically free to play, with all of their cash shop sales being weapon skins or outfits, fluff items. They don't seem to have any problems making money.
And just in case you think I'm one of those freeloaders that complain about having to pay for anything and expecting to play everything for free, I'm not. I'm currently subscribed to the game. Why? 12 times xp so I can get through a few class stories I missed, access to the new content and none of the stupid restrictions that free and preferred players have to endure. A couple of months and I'll have played the content I want to see without having to ragequit when I can't toggle off a hat that looks stupid or when I can't fit that new ability to a hotkey because I ran out of space.
Personally I stay away from any "freemium" game, I can pay subs or I can play a game with a cashshop but anything that more or less require both better be the best MMO ever made.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
1. Treek. (That was before the companion changes) Treek was OP at low level with the starter gear. At high level, if geared properly, Treek was a monster.
2. Power Crystals. Primarily a low level advantage that didn't really translate to endgame, but still, it did make getting there easier. As if it wasn't easy enough.
3. The ability to buy hypercrates and resell them for credits. This is almost always a P2W scenario in MMOs.
Depending on your POV and your own objectives, these may or may not be an advantage over you. And you may not really consider them P2W. I suspect if you like SWTOR, you won't, if you don't like SWTOR, you will and if you don't care, this won't make you care. I played around it winiout any serious impact to my game. But if I had my say, this stuff would never be in the game.
Suppose I never bought the game. Suppose I started playing after it went F2P, no preferred status, no coins. I'd be faced with a game that has probably the most severe restrictions in the F2P market available today. No matter what you say or what arguments you raise you can't possibly tell me or anyone that charging people for hotbars is justified. It's part of the game UI, it's an integral part of the game that you can't play without. It's retarded. Charging people to have access to a toggle head gear tick box is petty and money grabbing of the worst kind. It's retarded.
Forget that I ever bought the game. Forget that I happen to have a current subscription to the game. SWTOR's F2P model is BAD. I would go as far as saying that if they lifted some of the restrictions, the really stupid and vindictive ones that stop people from playing, they'd probably have a lot more people playing the game right now.
Any F2P model that STOPS people from playing due to the stupid restrictions has to be a bad one. There are so many other F2P games out there that people don't complain about, doesn't it make you stop and think maybe they have a point?