The Church of Alvis

So looks like they are going Free to Play this fall. But it is important to know what maintaining a subscription gets you:

http://www.swtor.com/FREE/features

That page outlines it.

Other FAQ

http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6449

So if you like running operations, you will still need a subscription.

What if you have never run an operation, haven't logged into the game in over a month, but still have an active subscription? What do you get then?

Cartel Coins! Which can be exchanged for in game goods or services.

For example, according to the official site, subscribers will get 150 Cartel Coins for every month paid for since launch.

Is that like a box full of Canadian pennies?

Maizan

Maizan wrote:

For example, according to the official site, subscribers will get 150 Cartel Coins for every month paid for since launch.

Is that like a box full of Canadian pennies?

Maizan

No.

I assume a box full of canadian pennies has actual worth, not much mind you, but some actual worth. Cartel coins on the other hand are likely to be less than worthless.

Lame.

I read on IGN that the active subs are now under 1 million.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/31/ ... -1-million

Dood wrote:What if you have never run an operation, haven't logged into the game in over a month, but still have an active subscription? What do you get then?

Have you received your email from Corso Riggs saying he misses you yet?

-Takanudo (thought that was particularly sad)

It looks like I will be canceling Bulwark Jr's account and saving myself $15 a month.

Bulwark wrote:

It looks like I will be canceling Bulwark Jr's account and saving myself $15 a month.

I may be doing the same. My sub runs out in Dec, and TBH I haven't logged in awhile.

Really not sure how I feel about this. "Fearful" is the best descriptor at the moment.

I haven't had one good experience with a game going F2P while I was paying a subscription. It creates a major gap within the community and generally has allowed the social aspect of the game to reside in the toilet. Considering the "quality" of the people on our server now (in general of course since there are some great people on our server too) - I only see foresee this as making it worse.

I can say I am willing to give it time, but I do not hold to hope just yet...

That's kinda where I'm at as well. I wouldn't say I"m alarmed, but I am concerned. Especially when they say that going F2P will allow them to put out more content more frequently. I fail to see how those 2 interconnect. Plus it makes me worry about the quality of said content. I freely admit I have a negative content bias toward F2P though. If you did a blind game test with me telling me one is F2P and the other is sub based I will tell you 105 out of 100 times that the higher quality one is the sub game, even if it's not actually correct.

That said I have no intention of going anywhere any time soon and I'll be maintaining my sub as well so I can go beat the piss out of Kephess.

Furiel wrote:That said I have no intention of going anywhere any time soon and I'll be maintaining my sub as well so I can go beat the piss out of Kephess.

I intend to keep my subscription and watch what develops. I like raiding (despite not being able to do much in august), and I still think SWTOR has potential. I'm with Furiel in my confusion how the pricing structure directly relates to content speed. I also don't think we know enough to properly analyze what ways the game community is gonna shift. I'm still adjusting to the server mergers, I'm not sure what F2P is gonna do.

I do know that if F2P+subs doesn't make enough money Lucas Arts could pull the plug just like they did with SWG, so here is hoping they do well enough with it.

I'm thinking that this might just be the way the industry is headed. The subscription only model may not be viable for anyone other than WoW at the moment, and they might have to take the plunge at some point too. They already know how to do microtransactions (see minipets, sparkle ponies etc). We'll see though.

One thing I worry about is game mechanics about guild leadership/officers. We don't know if officers could be F2P or need to be sub, so that is something to watch for.

Fynn wrote:

Furiel wrote:That said I have no intention of going anywhere any time soon and I'll be maintaining my sub as well so I can go beat the piss out of Kephess.

Seconded. Though I guess I should get back into what games are on the horizon if this the beginning of the end though I really hope it doesn't mean that.

On a bright side hope this means better looking gear though token purchase. I'm getting kinda tired of looking like a girl... especial if Leth is in the group.

if they keep the microtrasactions to trinkets or content that I get automatically with a sub, then I am ok. If they start giving bonuses that you have to buy and better gear, then I am out. I'm not even into PvP, but if I am a 2nd class citizen while giving them $15 a month, then it's not worth it for me.

Bulwark wrote:if they keep the microtrasactions to trinkets or content that I get automatically with a sub, then I am ok. If they start giving bonuses that you have to buy and better gear, then I am out. I'm not even into PvP, but if I am a 2nd class citizen while giving them $15 a month, then it's not worth it for me.

Doesn't sound that way and even if it did your sub is giving you the tokens to buy that gear, would still be pissed about it but should have less of an impact of subs unless the amount of tokens you need is more then what $15 a month gives you.

Staris wrote:. I'm getting kinda tired of looking like a girl... especial if Leth is in the group.

You could always go Black Hole and try looking like a hobo!

I don't think this will impact my experience all that much. Just like the real world, SWTOR is full of some nice people and some jerks and some completely regular folks who I'll never know other than in passing on the street. I enjoy random groupfinder, I really enjoy ops with you guys, and I appreciate ops with you guys all the more when I try ops on groupfinder and see how poorly other folks are doing some stuff.

I can afford $15 a month, and I think BioWare has made a phenomenal game with immense play- and replayability. I have no qualms with paying folks for their hard work. I easily get my $15 in entertainment out of SWTOR each month, and I think that BioWare and even dreaded EA will do a good job of keeping it fresh enough for the foreseeable future. Even if they only have 1 million paying subscribers, that's $15 million in MONTHLY revenue. They're not gonna ignore that.

Soon, they will announce layoffs of more developers. Newer content will probably be more skewed to pvp (which they don't have to do voice work for). All as I have forseen it.

I also do not see how they can relate F2P and content release speed. Stranger thing is, they are opening themselves up to further ridicule for the content they already have in place to a playerbase with no investment into the game except a small bit of time. At that point who are they going to listen to regarding the direction of the game and what content is desired? If you have a paying playerbase who only has -x- number of accounts, but a F2P playerbase with -xx- number of accounts, does majority rule? Understandably they will do what they can to not alienate the paying players but it still doesn't create an "appetizing" possibility.

Other than that, my other issue is the speed at which this has come. We are all smart enough to know that subscription numbers have slipped. It took EQ2 what... 6 years... to go F2P? Not sure how long it took WoW since I never put much effort into paying attention. Either way however, those were both Games with a substantial paying playerbases that took their time in deciding to transition. In the case of SWTOR, it is a marketing move of desperation and hopeful salvation from what I can see. If it works then bravo to them, if not then I curse them for ruining my newest favorite pasttime!

but 8 months from release?.... Would have been smarter to start out that way.

I suppose I'm playing a little bit of devil's advocate here. To be clear, I'm not planning on jumping ship.

I want to see where this goes and how it holds up. However, I will not stick around if my enjoyment in the game goes in the toilet. EA/BW needs to step it up. For all their pull, power, and bluster in the gaming industry they are becoming increasingly underwhelming. I'm a content advocate, and frankly, I believe SWTOR was about a year from being finished. What they have done is great, and what they have improved has been admirable. I actually think the state of the game NOW is closer to what it should have been AT RELEASE. I still enjoy it, but I also wish for more of the polish that I know is possible (read: a different engine entirely).

What I would give for a gamer-time-machine so I could go back to playing the glory days of MMO's between 2001-2006....

I know, this post is incredibly bipolar....you'll learn to like it

WoW has not gone fully F2P yet. You can play free up to level 20, but are capped there on essentially trial accounts.

And for all the concerns I mention I want to be clear like I've said before too, I'm not leaving any time soon if at all. I feel very confident that most or all of us will still be here in Dec of 2012 happily at level 55 and beating up the next tier raid mobs. It's whether or not that will still be true in Dec of 2013 that I am concerned about... And if I had a time machine I personally right now would use it to jump ahead a year and find out.

Furiel wrote:WoW has not gone fully F2P yet. You can play free up to level 20, but are capped there on essentially trial accounts.

And for all the concerns I mention I want to be clear like I've said before too, I'm not leaving any time soon if at all. I feel very confident that most or all of us will still be here in Dec of 2012 happily at level 55 and beating up the next tier raid mobs. It's whether or not that will still be true in Dec of 2013 that I am concerned about... And if I had a time machine I personally right now would use it to jump ahead a year and find out.

It has been a bizarre year. The summary though is that Marrkin now is legally blind. Cuspar is pregnant. And somehow you are a district court judge.

I guess what I'm saying is, mistakes were "will be" made.

Blackferne wrote:It has been a bizarre year. The summary though is that Marrkin now is legally blind. Cuspar is pregnant. And somehow you are a district court judge.

Mama always said if I kept playing with it that I would go blind.....

I lived through the lotro f2p transition and i think it saved the game from disaster. I don't like everything about the model but if it means i can keep playing... I'll take it.

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