Originally posted by AsatrusFire

Originally posted by coxyroxy

Warning on the box like every online game. Wil require a online subscription.

This is exactly what it says on the package:

 

" Valid credit card or paid game card (if available), Internet connection and paid subscription required to play game.  30-day subscription included with purchase."

The 30 day subscription is only valid if you have already set up the credit card draw or you already purchased a game card. It does not say that you must purchase the game card before you can play or that your 30 day subscription begins to deteriorate the moment you put the product registration code into their site. The last sentence is misleading.

in fairness to the OP, he's not complaining about the sub fees, but that he can't use the free play time WITHOUT giving credit card details up front. that's not such an invalid argument. i think he's trying to say he doesn't want to pay to get the one month free after already paying for the box.

i think some people have jumped on him as though he expected a f2p...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGXayHeZO6o

This is the exact quote from their site:

"You have 29 days of play time starting 12.20.2011. You must sign up for a recurring subscription plan or redeem a Game Time Code before you can play. If you sign up for a recurring subscription, you will be billed automatically at the end of your current remaining play time."

Originally posted by headphones

in fairness to the OP, he's not complaining about the sub fees, but that he can't use the free play time WITHOUT giving credit card details up front. that's not such an invalid argument. i think he's trying to say he doesn't want to pay to get the one month free after already paying for the box.

i think some people have jumped on him as though he expected a f2p...

exactly

Yeh.. Pretty sure OP either does not have a Credit Card or just likes to use game time cards only for mmorpg gaming. This means the OP is forced to purchase a game card to get his "30 free days" which means they actually get 60 days at half price for the first 60 days?

Hahahaha, OMG!!

Yes, I know, it totally sucks that you have to actually pay some money to play a new game when it comes out. No you can't pick it up in the store, play for a couple weeks for free and then charge it back to get your money back. So sorry...oh yeah, and it does in fact say you have to set up a sub or use a game card to play, period.

Originally posted by headphones

in fairness to the OP, he's not complaining about the sub fees, but that he can't use the free play time WITHOUT giving credit card details up front. that's not such an invalid argument. i think he's trying to say he doesn't want to pay to get the one month free after already paying for the box.

i think some people have jumped on him as though he expected a f2p...

I think most understand, but this is how every MMO works at launch so getting mad about it is incredibly irrational.

Originally posted by AsatrusFire

I just purchased the Star Wars Old Republic and I'm pig biting mad. See the game doesn't come with a play card. You get 29 days for free but only if you subscribe to a reoccurring billing cycle or purchase a play card. The moment you register for the game the clock begins to tick on the so called free time. Now even games like WoW and Rift offer you free trials so you can check out the game before you buy but not Star Wars. There is nothing on the package that indicates that you have to buy anything more to play either.

Now imagine how excited your kid will be to open the new game, spend an hour downloading it only to realize he can't play. If you've maxed out your credit card buying Christmas presents as a lot of people do or you simply don't have a credit card you're not going to be the most popular parent on the block.

I shouldn't have to make this kind of commitment to try a new game when everyone else is giving away real free game time.

There are going to be a lot of heartbroken  kids come Christmas morning and a lot of angry parents.

 

Vitually every MMO I have ever played is like this.  You need to set up the billing system before you actually play, free month or not.  The clock starts ticking as soon as you register for all of them, and None (that I know of anyway) had free trials when the game first released.

You must be new. 

Originally posted by AsatrusFire

This is the exact quote from their site:

"You have 29 days of play time starting 12.20.2011. You must sign up for a recurring subscription plan or redeem a Game Time Code before you can play. If you sign up for a recurring subscription, you will be billed automatically at the end of your current remaining play time."

so?

who reads fine print? the natural expectation is you get a 30-day free trial (29's a bit stingy, isn't it?). it's like going into a friends-with-benefits relationship and being told you need to marry her first. just for, you know, appearances...

i, for one, expect to put in my credit card details as soon as EA decide they'd like to go for the global market, but i can see the OP's frustration. not everyone plays a lot of mmos. some people do get a bit caught out, and for them it may seem subs are a bit of a scam.

which, in my opinion, it is.

though, i admit i'm a bit of a slave and will pay to play if i like the game.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by AsatrusFire

I just purchased the Star Wars Old Republic and I'm pig biting mad. See the game doesn't come with a play card. You get 29 days for free but only if you subscribe to a reoccurring billing cycle or purchase a play card. The moment you register for the game the clock begins to tick on the so called free time. Now even games like WoW and Rift offer you free trials so you can check out the game before you buy but not Star Wars. There is nothing on the package that indicates that you have to buy anything more to play either.

Now imagine how excited your kid will be to open the new game, spend an hour downloading it only to realize he can't play. If you've maxed out your credit card buying Christmas presents as a lot of people do or you simply don't have a credit card you're not going to be the most popular parent on the block.

I shouldn't have to make this kind of commitment to try a new game when everyone else is giving away real free game time.

There are going to be a lot of heartbroken  kids come Christmas morning and a lot of angry parents.

 

 Give then your credit card number. Play for 28 days. Cancel. Not a problem.

You don't even have to do that.  In AOC I set up my cc info to get started, and as soon as I saw I could log in, I canceled the sub so I wouldn't forget.   Every game I have ever played where I didn't upgrade from a free trial has required me to do this.  WoW (when I boght the box there was no 30 day "gamecard"), WAR, AOC, EQ, DAOC, Fallen Earth, all of them.

Originally posted by AsatrusFire

Originally posted by headphones

in fairness to the OP, he's not complaining about the sub fees, but that he can't use the free play time WITHOUT giving credit card details up front. that's not such an invalid argument. i think he's trying to say he doesn't want to pay to get the one month free after already paying for the box.

i think some people have jumped on him as though he expected a f2p...

exactly

You don't need to pay.  Sign up, provide the info.  Then immedately cancel.  You now get to play. Done.

Venge

Originally posted by AsatrusFire

This is the exact quote from their site:

"You have 29 days of play time starting 12.20.2011. You must sign up for a recurring subscription plan or redeem a Game Time Code before you can play. If you sign up for a recurring subscription, you will be billed automatically at the end of your current remaining play time."

I asked people in my gaming group who got the game and they said you should have gotten a code that gives you the free days without having to put in any CC info. If you did not then contact SWTOR support to get your code since some were shipped without it.

Originally posted by Kaocan

Hahahaha, OMG!!

Yes, I know, it totally sucks that you have to actually pay some money to play a new game when it comes out. No you can't pick it up in the store, play for a couple weeks for free and then charge it back to get your money back. So sorry...oh yeah, and it does in fact say you have to set up a sub or use a game card to play, period.

Only the last sentance pertains to the topic at hand, why the rest of it?  Is it really necessary to mock people who you can't see?  Not all games do this anymore, they use to but some have changed, usually when they put out a free trial they tend to drop setting up a recurring sub to get your free game time.  I bought my son WoW while it was on sale through blizz, and I didn't have to set up a recurring sub, but when I bought it a few years ago, I had to.  I think the difference is that when I bought the game there was no trial and now there is.  But I do agree, that every time I have played a game before it launched a free trial, I had to set up a recurring sub beforehand.

In the original post, the OP stated

"I shouldn't have to make this kind of commitment to try a new game when everyone else is giving away real free game time.

There are going to be a lot of heartbroken  kids come Christmas morning and a lot of angry parents."

What kind of committment are you talking about?  Listing a CC number?  I promise you that the parents who buy this for their children will have read the box and understood the requirements...they are NO different than every other P2P mmo I've played when the game first released.

Originally posted by Kaocan

Hahahaha, OMG!!

Yes, I know, it totally sucks that you have to actually pay some money to play a new game when it comes out. No you can't pick it up in the store, play for a couple weeks for free and then charge it back to get your money back. So sorry...oh yeah, and it does in fact say you have to set up a sub or use a game card to play, period.

It doesn't say that on the box. They don't tell you that until you've paid for the game and set up your account. The point here is that the box is misleading claiming that you have a 30 day subscription when you have to commit your CC or buy a game card. WoW comes with a game card in the box.

And to the other poster with the "feeling", I do have a reoccurring subscription to WoW (obviously I have at least one CC) and I have for several years but when I started playing WoW my game came with a 30 day game card and I could play immediately upon download.

The point here is, if you asked your parents for this for Christmas make sure they buy you a game card and/or are aware that they will have to cough up their CC Christmas morning and if you're buying it for someone buy them a game card too or it's going to be a miserable Christmas morning for someone.

I also think the misleading quote of the package is pretty fail.

I havent set  up a credit card payment account, and am playing just fine.  Dunno what the OP is talking about.  I havent even seen a payment page yet.

WoW did not offer 30 day game cards back in 2005 when it first released.  WoW required a sub WITH CC # to play and get your 30 free days....just like TOR.  You obviously didn't play WoW on release day.  I did.

Originally posted by Myrdynn

I havent set  up a credit card payment account, and am playing just fine.  Dunno what the OP is talking about.  I havent even seen a payment page yet.

cause his box didnt come with the registration code that some boxes were missing.

I think I can safely say that 99.99999% of the people who asked for this game for Christmas, are buying it for someone else, or are buying it for themselves, know how this type of game works and the steps they'll have to take to play it.

The people who are dumbfounded and shocked when they find out a CC or game card is required to play fail as consumers.

That's on them, not Bioware.