31 replies to this topic

[verotik]

Coming this fall:


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

[Arlan]

Not a surprise it's going free-to-play, I just thought it'd be another year or so before it happened.

[Darkfalcon]

EA Expands Award-Winning MMO Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ With Free-To-Play Option This Fall

New Free-to-Play Model Opens Up the Critically-Acclaimed MMO from BioWare and LucasArts to Millions of Additional Star Wars Fans and Gamers Worldwide

Austin, Texas – July 31, 2012 – BioWare™, a Label of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA), announced today that it will be expanding the story-driven, massively multiplayer online game Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ by adding a new Free-to-Play option this fall. This option will give players access to each of the eight iconic Star Wars character class storylines, all the way up to level 50, with certain restrictions*. Unlimited game access, including new higher-level game content and new features will be made available through individual purchases or through a subscription option.
“Players want flexibility and choice. The subscription-only model presented a major barrier for a lot of people who wanted to become part of The Old Republic™ universe,” said Matthew Bromberg, GM of BioWare Austin.
Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer of Star Wars: The Old Republic added, “Since launch we have been adding new content and refining The Old Republic at a breakneck pace based on the feedback from our fans. We believe we are in a position to help improve the service even more, not only by continuing to add new content, but also by expanding the game to many more Star Wars fans, increasing the populations on worlds and the vibrancy of the community.”
Starting this fall, there will be two different ways to play Star Wars: The Old Republic:

• Subscription – A premium level service designed for players who want unrestricted access to all the game features via ongoing subscription or by redeeming a Game Time Card. In addition to gaining access to all game content as our current subscribers do now, Premium Players will receive ongoing monthly grants of Cartel Coins**, the new virtual currency that will be introduced later this fall. Cartel Coins can be used to purchase valuable items including customizable gear and convenience features that will enhance the game play experience.
• Free-to-Play –The first 50 levels will be free-to-play, with some restrictions on access to new content and advanced player features. Some restrictions can be “unlocked” with Cartel Coins.

As the first step towards adding the new Free-to-Play option this fall, in August at retail Star Wars: The Old Republic will go on sale for $14.99 USD, including one-month of free subscription.
Current and former players will also find additional benefits as part of this program. BioWare will be increasing the frequency of game content updates, with the first of many new releases coming in August. In addition, current subscribers will receive Cartel Coin grants and qualify for access to special in-game items. Even former players who re-activate now will qualify for special benefits. To learn more about these rewards, please visit www.StarWarstheOldRepublic.com/FREE.

Edited by Darkfalcon, 31 July 2012 - 01:38 PM.

[Arlan]

FAQ about F2P: http://www.swtor.com...helpcenter/6449

[Dutch]

Well crap...
GW2 is looking better and better.

This kinda burst my bubble. Not sure what to think.

[Arlan]

Why is GW2 looking better? They're free to play as well with a prominent cash shop.

[Nitrous]

So basically, instead of having us earn our nifty looking items through gameplay and quests... they want us to spend these "Cartel Coins" on them, which subscribers get an allowance of each month. That's all well and good, but if they start requiring these coins to unlock new gaming content, I'll drop this in a heartbeat.

[Dutch]

Why is GW2 looking better? They're free to play as well with a prominent cash shop.

Its looking better because If I have to deal with a Cash Shop, I'd rather have GW2's combat and gameplay...

Don't be fooled, its EA, they're going to Cash Shop the crap out of SWTOR in the future...

[Eldrenath]

I played LOTRO for years (from launch until 2011), and the cash shop started as convenience (travel, cosmetics, etc). Within a year they had introduced things that gave an outright advantage (cash-shop only healing potions that stack with in-game healing potions) or removed things that used to be available in-game and made them cash-only (relic removal scrolls for your legendary weapons to save relics that you had spent many, many hours earning).

I too am curious about why this makes GW2 seem better, since GW2 is essentially the same thing with a cash shop and all. In my personal opinion, if you want to know how this will shake out look at LOTRO. The system they're describing is almost EXACTLY the system LOTRO first rolled out with their f2p.

This doesn't really make me want to play SWTOR any less. This is the direction ALL MMOs are going. The standard $15/month model is dead. Everyone talks like anything other than standard sub means a game has died, but at this point there are very few games left that are standard sub. Rift, WoW, Tera, Eve. WoW doesn't count: it's a statistical outlier. No game will ever dethrone WoW, period. EVE is a niche game for hardcore PvP/sandbox folks. Tera is still a new release. So as far as MAJOR MMOs, Rift is about the only one sticking to standard sub. How many major MMOs are still standard sub? Compare that with the number of major releases over the last few years: LOTRO, Rift, AoC, Aion, WAR. Only one of those still has a sub model only. At this point, f2p doesn't mean failure anymore, it's just a natural stage in the MMO evolution that all MMOs are going through.

As for me, I don't know. I am very apprehensive that they'll do in SWTOR what they did with the cash shop in LOTRO. But that's a long way away. Right now I still enjoy the game and am having a lot of fun playing it. As long as that continues, I'll maintain a sub and keep playing--whether there are 100 servers or 1. I don't care what other gamers like or think is a failure, and sometimes I think that too many MMO players don't want to play something because it's no longer popular. If I'm having fun, I keep playing--regardless of total subscriber numbers. Just my 2 credits.

[Eldrenath]

Its looking better because If I have to deal with a Cash Shop, I'd rather have GW2's combat and gameplay...

Don't be fooled, its EA, they're going to Cash Shop the crap out of SWTOR in the future...

I don't know a thing about GW...isn't it a heavily PVP centered game?

As for EA milking the cash shop cow...well, that I worry about quite a lot as well. I very much enjoy SWTOR, but EA sucks out loud.

[Minflexzel]

-cries-

Its all EA's fault! They ruined the game!

[Grim]

There was a post on our forums about this happening in the near future, a couple months ago...

They announced it when their subscriptions started waning...

Perhaps it will help to bolster server populations.




Cheers
Grim

[Dutch]

I don't know a thing about GW...isn't it a heavily PVP centered game?

As for EA milking the cash shop cow...well, that I worry about quite a lot as well. I very much enjoy SWTOR, but EA sucks out loud.

GW2 is a mix of both PVP and PVE, just like all MMOs these days.

I am just saying if I have to deal with a cash shop, it will be Arena Net, rather than EA because of the combat mechanics and features of GW2.
Its not a contest.

As for a Sub Game going F2P: Imho it means the Devs are cutting back. We'll see less free content, and the content we do get will be less frequent. Lotro in its 1st 2 years rolled out a new chapter to the world story every other month. After it went F2P it was every six months... Just sayin

[Grim]

With the restrictions that they are putting on the ftp folks, the ptp folks still have it made.

I think they may end up getting more subscriptions in the long run.

If folks have to get stuff from the cash shop, just to have a few things that the ptp folks have, it seems like a positive for both types of players.


Cheers
Grim

[Kingzamorak]

Free to play is the future of games

I might give it a shot when it hits free to play.

[Zippity]

GW2 is a mix of both PVP and PVE, just like all MMOs these days.

I am just saying if I have to deal with a cash shop, it will be Arena Net, rather than EA because of the combat mechanics and features of GW2.
Its not a contest.

As for a Sub Game going F2P: Imho it means the Devs are cutting back. We'll see less free content, and the content we do get will be less frequent. Lotro in its 1st 2 years rolled out a new chapter to the world story every other month. After it went F2P it was every six months... Just sayin

In all reality, many MMO's before they wen't with a F2P option after being P2P, they tended to cut back on how quickly they released extensive content regardless... I'm not too concerned at all, most P2P games are going the way of F2P... It's a financial move that increased profits while having the side effect of increasing server population and also promoting the game to folks who then might sub up after trying it out...

Also, I don't really see health pots and minor XP boost items and such as game breaking, and I doubt we will see those things right off the bat... They only REAL time a Cash Shop becomes Pay To Win is when gear and items are introduced that give a player an unfair advantage over other players (i.e. the best gear is shop gear), which most of the recent F2P models introduced don't do... The whole Pay to Win model tends to be primarily Asian based MMO's where that is the Asian way to play... LOTRO, City of Heroes, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, and now this game I firmly believe are doing it right... Even WOW and Rift have their form of F2P albeit limited to the first 20 levels or so... They just haven't taken the big plunge yet...

The best model for making profit in the MMO world as it stands right now is to start off Pay to Play, and after the initial craziness, switch it to a Pay to Play with a Free to Play Option... It maximizes profits since you are now catering to the Two distinct Player Types...

As far as the slow down in Content Releases, even in Pay to Play games content releases tend to be slow these days, regardless of pay model... Especially so when the cost to create the content is higher these days and has to be done with less employee's... All game companies are falling into this rut right now... Not much can be done to fix that until the economy improves...

I wouldn't go crying wolf that this game is gonna fail any time soon... Many of the games that have switched to the model this game is about to undergo, have been successful with it's release... Which is probably why so many games are doing it in the first place... If it wasn't a successful business practice, you wouldn't see it happening... And this change is only going to make subscribers have even more options, not less...

I'm not worried at all, and don't see why anyone should be...

Zip

[MadBlue]

I'm not worried about it becoming "Pay to Win". Of course we won't know what the Cash Shop is going to offer in the long term, but I imagine it'll be things like unlocking content for F2P (mission packs, ability to purchase more character and bag slots and bank tabs, etc) as well as orange armor shells, mounts and pets. I could also imagine things like quick travel tokens, rested XP, one use repair droids and mailboxes, etc. Even if you can get full Black Hole gear or rare items through the Cash Shop, I would very much doubt that they'll offer things better than what you could get in-game. I don't think the game will change that much for people who stay subscribed.

[Skyjaq]

If you pay by the month, the new content is free. Only the free players will have to buy new content.

[Minflexzel]

If you pay by the month, the new content is free. Only the free players will have to buy new content.

If thats true, imma prolly be fine with it.

I hope people that pre-order the CE get special stuff...cause i feel the stuff we got just didnt really cut it. a small statute and a book that turned into a dust collector.

[MadBlue]

People who ordered the CE will get a Heroes' Banner and 1000 extra Cartel Coins. I don't know what the Heroes' Banner does or what the pricing structure is going to be (either in-game or dollar value) for CC, but considering current subs getting 150 CC for each month subscribed between launch and July 31 (1050 CC), people who bought the CE will get about twice what anyone else will get.