Is that TOR basically slashed their game price by 60-75%.  It's now a 15 dollar game, as opposed to a 45-60 dollar game.

Such a steep cut I think says more about the state of the game right now than the discussion over what they will accomplish with F2P.

Why would any1 pay 15, 10, 5, or even 1 dollar for a game that will be free in just a matter of a couple short months?

f2p doesnt necessarily mean the box is free.

EDIT : bleh .. nevermind. I guess it does .. your post just confused me as it has little if anything to do with the OP.

With a good F2P game, one that correctly eliminates the barrier of entry, the game is free.

EA's rendition of F2P is confusing though, because it's not really F2P at all.  It's just an extended demo (lvs 1-50), with Makeb being out and the level cap for paying subscribers being higher than 50 (speculated @ lv 55).

Also the vast anti-multiplayer restrictions just make this game sink down with the rest of lousy fremium games with similar measures to force recurring charges in a "free" game.

As to the box cost, I believe the demo is free up to lv 50, at which you MUST buy the box in order to ding 51, etc.. and to keep playing your above lv 50+ character in current content you MUST pay a $15 a month subscription fee.  At that point, if someone actually lasts that long with all the restrictions, I suppose EA scores a new paying customer in their free game :)

Simple. Not everyone will read forums and so forth. EA are hoping for some quick sales now - and of course that those who have opted to try the trial to level 15 won't be able to wait will buy the game now.

Can't blame EA for trying.

The thing I am wondering about is if the F2P players will be forced to use origin.

Originally posted by iceman00

Is that TOR basically slashed their game price by 60-75%.  It's now a 15 dollar game, as opposed to a 45-60 dollar game.

Such a steep cut I think says more about the state of the game right now than the discussion over what they will accomplish with F2P.

 

 I think Bioware knows how much trouble they are in. Not entirely sure how they managed to launch this game with so many obvious design flaws. You would think somewhere in the production of this game that the game designers would have had a double take and stopped or corrected the overall design.

BW needs to make sure their f2p version doesn't alienate their players. I really hope they don;t follow suite with what Sony is doing. If they do I see their 500k subs gone with the wind.

Originally posted by gervaise1

Simple. Not everyone will read forums and so forth. EA are hoping for some quick sales now - and of course that those who have opted to try the trial to level 15 won't be able to wait will buy the game now.

 

Can't blame EA for trying.

I was thinking the only people buying the game are those who didn't play the free trial..

Originally posted by Wakygreek

Originally posted by iceman00

Is that TOR basically slashed their game price by 60-75%.  It's now a 15 dollar game, as opposed to a 45-60 dollar game.

Such a steep cut I think says more about the state of the game right now than the discussion over what they will accomplish with F2P.

 

 I think Bioware knows how much trouble they are in. Not entirely sure how they managed to launch this game with so many obvious design flaws. You would think somewhere in the production of this game that the game designers would have had a double take and stopped or corrected the overall design.

BW needs to make sure their f2p version doesn't alienate their players. I really hope they don;t follow suite with what Sony is doing. If they do I see their 500k subs gone with the wind.

Well the obvious answer is hubris: they are so used to being the considered the cat's pajamas that they didn't think they could botch this up so badly.

On a side note, I have a question: Has Bioware ever actually made any games before SWTOR that were multiplayer? Because that might have had an influence.

Originally posted by Enigmatus

Originally posted by Wakygreek

Originally posted by iceman00

Is that TOR basically slashed their game price by 60-75%.  It's now a 15 dollar game, as opposed to a 45-60 dollar game.

Such a steep cut I think says more about the state of the game right now than the discussion over what they will accomplish with F2P.

 

 I think Bioware knows how much trouble they are in. Not entirely sure how they managed to launch this game with so many obvious design flaws. You would think somewhere in the production of this game that the game designers would have had a double take and stopped or corrected the overall design.

BW needs to make sure their f2p version doesn't alienate their players. I really hope they don;t follow suite with what Sony is doing. If they do I see their 500k subs gone with the wind.

Well the obvious answer is hubris: they are so used to being the considered the cat's pajamas that they didn't think they could botch this up so badly.

On a side note, I have a question: Has Bioware ever actually made any games before SWTOR that were multiplayer? Because that might have had an influence.

This was entirely new territory for them.  They made mainly single player RPG's.  not surprisingly, most people view TOR as a single player RPG.

Originally posted by Esquire1980

Why would any1 pay 15, 10, 5, or even 1 dollar for a game that will be free in just a matter of a couple short months?

You forgot $150, and $60...

Originally posted by waynejr2

The thing I am wondering about is if the F2P players will be forced to use origin.

I don't think so simply because of what i've seen happen to just about every other game out there that made the transfer. They will do some heavy rewriting of the code for the game so it will no longer allow for such attachments in the future. The idea is for them to make the game as easily distributable as possible, and that means downloads direct from their site.

Originally posted by iceman00

Originally posted by Enigmatus

Originally posted by Wakygreek

Originally posted by iceman00

Is that TOR basically slashed their game price by 60-75%.  It's now a 15 dollar game, as opposed to a 45-60 dollar game.

Such a steep cut I think says more about the state of the game right now than the discussion over what they will accomplish with F2P.

 

 I think Bioware knows how much trouble they are in. Not entirely sure how they managed to launch this game with so many obvious design flaws. You would think somewhere in the production of this game that the game designers would have had a double take and stopped or corrected the overall design.

BW needs to make sure their f2p version doesn't alienate their players. I really hope they don;t follow suite with what Sony is doing. If they do I see their 500k subs gone with the wind.

Well the obvious answer is hubris: they are so used to being the considered the cat's pajamas that they didn't think they could botch this up so badly.

On a side note, I have a question: Has Bioware ever actually made any games before SWTOR that were multiplayer? Because that might have had an influence.

This was entirely new territory for them.  They made mainly single player RPG's.  not surprisingly, most people view TOR as a single player RPG.

Well, that explains a lot; they tried to go into a realm they had no experience in and fell flat on their face.

It's odd though; you would think they would have at least done extensive research into multiplayer before attempting it, or at the very least created a Co-Op game before jumping into the MMO realm.

I loved SWTOR when it launched. Loved the game for several months too. Then maxed out, and saw no end game. Grew bored and moved on. I might goof off in it for free.

Originally posted by Enigmatus

It's odd though; you would think they would have at least done extensive research into multiplayer before attempting it, or at the very least created a Co-Op game before jumping into the MMO realm.

A lot of generals fight the last war.  Bioware started moving on a lot of this stuff back in 2005 (remember all the "debunked" rumors that Bioware was working on a SW MMO, first leaked on these forums?)

When they did the lions share of research, World of Warcraft was King.  Their developers were very clear, anything that WoW didn't do wouldn't be in TOR (except voiceovers.)

Yet as the time continued to move on, people got sick of all the WoW clones.  As I wrote on this site back in 2005 about the NGE "Those who want to play World of Warcraft are already playing World of Warcraft, and with a lot more polish."  (Or something along those lines.)  Yet by this time, Bioware had already invested way too much in the game as we got closer to launch.

In the end, they just really picked a lousy model to emulate.  Though they should've listened as the warnings poured in during beta.  A lot of the critics weren't fanbois looking to get early play.  They were seasoned MMO vets who still actually test games.  Had they listened, they could've avoided slashing their prices.

Originally posted by iceman00

In the end, they just really picked a lousy model to emulate.  Though they should've listened as the warnings poured in during beta.  A lot of the critics weren't fanbois looking to get early play.  They were seasoned MMO vets who still actually test games.  Had they listened, they could've avoided slashing their prices.

I agree. The trouble is anyone with a legitimate concern about a game gets attacked as a troll in the crazy world of mmorpgs.

Originally posted by Karteli

With a good F2P game, one that correctly eliminates the barrier of entry, the game is free.

 

EA's rendition of F2P is confusing though, because it's not really F2P at all.  It's just an extended demo (lvs 1-50), with Makeb being out and the level cap for paying subscribers being higher than 50 (speculated @ lv 55).

 

Also the vast anti-multiplayer restrictions just make this game sink down with the rest of lousy fremium games with similar measures to force recurring charges in a "free" game.

 

As to the box cost, I believe the demo is free up to lv 50, at which you MUST buy the box in order to ding 51, etc.. and to keep playing your above lv 50+ character in current content you MUST pay a $15 a month subscription fee.  At that point, if someone actually lasts that long with all the restrictions, I suppose EA scores a new paying customer in their free game :)

This is wrong. When the game goes F2P in november, the entire game is free. The only exception to this is operations. Now, free players do have limitations (they can only play a certain amount of warzones/flashpoints/spacecombat per week, as well as the usual character slots, inventory space, money, auction house use etc) - but they are able to experience everything the game has to offer (again, bar operations). Regarding future content, they havent specified exactly how it will work, but they have implied that all story content will still be free - this includes makeb. Whether or not theres big expansions down the line remains to be seen.

Originally posted by iceman00

Is that TOR basically slashed their game price by 60-75%.  It's now a 15 dollar game, as opposed to a 45-60 dollar game.

Such a steep cut I think says more about the state of the game right now than the discussion over what they will accomplish with F2P.

 

Really not sure why the game going down to $15 is considered WORSE than the game going down to $0 in a couple of months? Explain that one for me?

Originally posted by davestr1zl

Originally posted by Karteli

With a good F2P game, one that correctly eliminates the barrier of entry, the game is free.

 

EA's rendition of F2P is confusing though, because it's not really F2P at all.  It's just an extended demo (lvs 1-50), with Makeb being out and the level cap for paying subscribers being higher than 50 (speculated @ lv 55).

 

Also the vast anti-multiplayer restrictions just make this game sink down with the rest of lousy fremium games with similar measures to force recurring charges in a "free" game.

 

As to the box cost, I believe the demo is free up to lv 50, at which you MUST buy the box in order to ding 51, etc.. and to keep playing your above lv 50+ character in current content you MUST pay a $15 a month subscription fee.  At that point, if someone actually lasts that long with all the restrictions, I suppose EA scores a new paying customer in their free game :)

This is wrong. When the game goes F2P in november, the entire game is free. The only exception to this is operations. Now, free players do have limitations (they can only play a certain amount of warzones/flashpoints/spacecombat per week, as well as the usual character slots, inventory space, money, auction house use etc) - but they are able to experience everything the game has to offer (again, bar operations). Regarding future content, they havent specified exactly how it will work, but they have implied that all story content will still be free - this includes makeb. Whether or not theres big expansions down the line remains to be seen.

Well when you say "entirely free" and then follow it with a list of exceptions (accessibility, character slots, inventory, general chat, GTN/AH, mailbox, PVE PVP instances, etc) .. it mutes any point you had about it being entirely free.  Only the vanilla 1-50 story is free; It's a demo level 1-50, with heavy trial restrictions.  It's about as completely free as one of those late night gimmicks on TV, free, just pay a $20 shipping and handling fee....

Perhaps you can source where EA implied that Markeb will be free to non-subscribers.  Because the free demo content only includes 1-50, with new content being only available to subscribers.  Also the level cap is being increased soon, making new content inaccessible to trial players:

"All eight character storylines up to level 50 will be accessible with restricted access to new content and advanced features."

"higher-level content and new features will be available through subscription options."

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/7/31/3207160/star-wars-the-old-republic-going-free-to-play-this-fall

"BioWare just announced their plans for the next 6 months of The Old Republic at EA’s big E3 press conference. They will be increasing the new MMO’s level cap, adding Cathar as a playable species, and a whole new planet, new to Star Wars canon, to explore."

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/04/the-old-republic-announces-upcoming-level-cap-new-species-new-planet-and-free-trial/

The only way to make Makeb free would be to extend the demo from level 50 to the new level cap, which I've never seen EA say.  Source this pls where they have implied so.

Also in relation to the box cost, EA doesn't make what they want to make off customers from the box alone .. having them as a long term subber superceedes the box profit, especially if the box is getting sold through retail.  I see the low box cost just as a measure to put a slight barrier to "tax" gold farmers who keep getting accounts shut down.  In a true F2P game the box would be free and everyone would just continue to ignore gold sellers -- but EA wants to have people subscribing, so they likely don't want to rock the boat and upset the flow of recurring charges.

Originally posted by Karteli

With a good F2P game, one that correctly eliminates the barrier of entry, the game is free.

EA's rendition of F2P is confusing though, because it's not really F2P at all.  It's just an extended demo (lvs 1-50), with Makeb being out and the level cap for paying subscribers being higher than 50 (speculated @ lv 55).

Also the vast anti-multiplayer restrictions just make this game sink down with the rest of lousy fremium games with similar measures to force recurring charges in a "free" game.

As to the box cost, I believe the demo is free up to lv 50, at which you MUST buy the box in order to ding 51, etc.. and to keep playing your above lv 50+ character in current content you MUST pay a $15 a month subscription fee.  At that point, if someone actually lasts that long with all the restrictions, I suppose EA scores a new paying customer in their free game :)

I think a very clear indicator that Bio/EA don't get it. Their "fremium" model is not going to work because their focus is on the wrong elements. It is not the payment model which kept players either from playing SWTOR or got them to stop playing, it was the game itself; until they fix that, I don't see SWTOR ever having a come back.