Originally posted by eddieg50

Originally posted by Gruug

I don't care what game you choose, be it DDO or LOTRO or STO, going so-called f2p is NOT a sucess. Sure, each of the ones I just mentioned above had a large influx of new and old players when they made the switch. The problem is, many of those that tried these games at the time moved on when they realised that they could not obtain the full experience WITHOUT SPENDING MONEY. They realised that the "free" in free to play does not apply. Go to LOTRO right now and you will find a few high level players around. Why? Because most of them are dedicated and most are former Life time or current SUBSCRIBERS. Few (if any) are players that have not spent big dollars as "free to play" players. Free to play is a scam. Wake up.

 

   cant agree less, f2p is a boon for casual and slightly more than casual players cause it lets you pick and choose as you slowly level up

When you dont have to pay for time you can actually take your time and enjoy the game more without feeling rushed

Why would they go f2p when they have some decent subs numbers?

if the do f2p then they have a problem and the we (the gamers) will suffer! I have to admit i am not a pro at this but all the mmorpgs i have played that did that went down the drain!

Even if it went F2P they would need to add a lot of content, a proper space game, re-work PvP, cut down the loading screens, merge servers...

In fact I don't think I'll bother. They don't have a chance to fix everything this side of 2013. By then I'll be enjoying other games.

No. No MMOG should have a permanent F2P player base. Give people early-level preview play, but don't keep players who aren't willing to pay for the game and don't recognize the fact that F2P games aren't free.

That being said, give the subscription players what they are paying for; rich content updated on a monthly basis. Don't give them easy-mode slop, and make Xpaks huge updates on the game engine to keep up with modern hardware and other capabilites, as well as major content updates.

Turn the orginal devs into Director devs in charge of teams that can accomplish these tasks properly.

;)

I never actually played the game, but seen many videos about it.  I'm not hating on the game or the company or its players, but i think the situation as a whole is screwed up.  this situation has a number of reasons for why the game seems to be a failure.  I recall how Knights of the Old Republic was as a single-player game with no online connection, and i thought the games were wonderful.  The only thing i did not like was the liner-styled RPG type, because it felt extremely limited (after playing something like Morrowind and Oblivion (Elder Scrolls)).  I had hoped for a more "sandbox" type of play.  When articles of the new upcoming KOTOR 3 (SWTOR) were found in Game Informer (i believe it was), I was amazed and waited many years to finally play it.  This was because i was under the impression that it would be at least something like Starwar Galaxies but 3 times better.  I was under the impression that it was sandbox style in game play, and that there would not be so much of a liner-style storyline.  I was exited because i thought the game would be something like "living life in Starwars universe during the Old Republic Era', and i am not exactly sure how i got that impression (maybe it was my own fantasies dreamed up by expectations of the game), but... when SWTOR finally came out, i watched a video to see how the game would be (because i was about to buy it for my birthday celebration as a decades-old gamer), and as i wiatched the video, i had the most ugly look on my face.  never bought the game, never played it, and i don't truly desire to.

As a gamer, i would say that Starwars Galaxies was their competition or example, and Galaxies had its good and bad, but lots of people petitioned to keep that game on its servers.  i doubt such would be the same for SWTOR.  I honestly expected more, lots more.  I still would like to play the game (on second thought), but i do not want to pay a subscription monthly for it.  it is just not the kind of game i would pay for.  I rather pay for Phantasy Star Online 2.  that looks a lot more promising than SWTOR.

In conclusion, i don't think it would matter if this game was B2P, F2P, or P2P, because ultimately (in my opinion), it has failed almost everyone's long awaited expectations.  However, if the game was B2P or F2P at launch, i would have bought the game and probably would still play it right now.  Star Trek Online was well worth my attention, and so was Skyrim.

To anyone who is offended by my post.  Sorry.  This was not a hate post.  I do think that EA now has a serious problem, because it perhaps will have no choice but to go F2P soon.  in my opinion, SWTOR is a near-complete fail as far as longevity for a MMO.  I honestly don't think it should have ever been an MMO.  I think it should have been more like Skyrim: single-player, online connected for downloadable content, and perhaps with content that might be purchased through the internet, and no need of multi-player whatsoever.

But then again... i never played this game.  Just its predecessors.  I just hope they can fix whatever problems they see fit and win back their business, because this whole thing is saddening.  Thank you.

F2P is not enough for SWTOR. 

It would be nice if when people write articles like this they gave some numbers to support the arguments.  EA announced 1.3 million subscribers at their recent Q4 earnings conference and while that is much less than expected it still represents a huge cash flow for them.  With subscriptions for $10-$20 million per month I can't see any model that would justify throwing that income away in the hopes people will spend more in some yet to be developed cash shops.

SWTOR is still one of the largest MMOs on the market and has a huge number of paying subscribers.  EA is definitely disappointed it didn't become another WoW right after launch, but for now it is pulling in too much money to do much besides look at ways to cut maintenance expenses and let revenues catch up with some of the already spent development costs.

Originally posted by Dreadstone

It would be nice if when people write articles like this they gave some numbers to support the arguments.  EA announced 1.3 million subscribers at their recent Q4 earnings conference and while that is much less than expected it still represents a huge cash flow for them.  With subscriptions for $10-$20 million per month I can't see any model that would justify throwing that income away in the hopes people will spend more in some yet to be developed cash shops.

 

SWTOR is still one of the largest MMOs on the market and has a huge number of paying subscribers.  EA is definitely disappointed it didn't become another WoW right after launch, but for now it is pulling in too much money to do much besides look at ways to cut maintenance expenses and let revenues catch up with some of the already spent development costs.

Of that 1.3 million, how many are cancelled accounts that still have time left on them ( which are counted as "active subscribers" )? How many of those are cancelled accounts that had free time thrown on them to once again count them as "active subscribers"? Stop believing the spin.