I left SWTOR back when Diablo 3 came out but never finished my commando nor imperial agent questlines. I'm curious to hear if anyone is a FTP member who is currently playing mostly for the storyline. Do the restrictions (slower XP rate, less access to fast travel) make leveling super painful? I'd be happy to throw Bioware a few bucks for leveling boosts but really have no interest in re-subbing.

Also interested to know if the trooper and agent storylines are even worth completing. I'm level 48 with my trooper but only in my 20s for my agent.

The IA had a really awesome story, IMO.  Not just from what others said, but my personal observations.  Many other class stories were somewhat .. uhh predictable and less interesting.

As to the restrictions, it's up to you.  Fans will tell you they are nothing.  Others will tell you the game isn't worth playing as a result of restrictions.  You know the restrictions, and you played the game before, .. so I guess you have to ask yourself if they will impact your own play style.  I think the restrictions blow, but that's just my personal view.

Did you do Warzones often .. did you have all your skills, items, vehicles, and actions spread out over multiple hotbars?  Did you like grouping in flashpoints to get gear to help with leveling?  Did you spend hours a night just doing the space combat?  Did you need or like/want a guild that did stuff together? (F2P'ers are second class citizens, guilds don't want them.)

Have a personal Q/A, and ask/answer what you'll be happy with..

Bottom line, asking a forum whether you should play or not is about the same as asking what class / race to play, or which server to play on.  Nobody can answer for you.  You can answer for yourself, however :-)

The trooper story is great. I've gone through it twice so I could have troopers with different crafting skills.

Agen story gets awesome after chapter 1. The ending of Chapter 1 is particularly good. Agent is my main and when you get to Vector especially if your a female char you get a really interesting romance option.

On the restrictions, the actionbar limit will really get you later as an IA. At level 50 i had 4 bars filled with skills, consumables, mounts, pets, and more. Consumables are a must with IA for story as if you arnt using a healing or tanking companion you need to keep yourself up. But if your an Operative healer or with side heals you should be fine. So far the restrictions are the only thing keeping me from playing as a F2P player. If they remove the lesser xp, hide head slot, unify colors, races, and actionbar limit then I will glady play it. Warzones will greatly help leveling but with the limit you may not notice a difference.

I'd recommend just giving it another try, and see how you like it.  If it's worth a sub, awesome.  If not, then it's not much of a loss.  As long as you don't go into it expecting to get an entire game experience at no charge, you'll be fine.  

I'm on a preferred account right now, just hitting Level 18 with my gunslinger and the lack of the extra quickbar and the lessened XP is beginning to tell. Having to grind extra mobs to make up the differance. I was hoping to make it to 50 before subbing, but I don't think thats likely as the games becoming boring with the advancment slowdown.

I pity the F2P people who have to run around with no sprint.

Originally posted by jusomdude
The most annoying thing I've found so far is the 2 hour quick travel cooldown for preferred accounts.

Thank you. The bars issue and the 2 characters, I was debating just living with.

2 hour cooldowns on quick travels? No thanks. Have fun guys, this puppy has seen it's last full year. Too bad :|

I say try it out. Unlocking a few extra action bars is cheap and will not tie you down to a sub. You can unlock little things here and there if you wish. I've always been a fan of stories ever since playing Final Fantasy 3. If I'm told a game has a good story, I'm there. Luckily for me, SWTOR  has not only a bunch of different stories, but different twists to each story if you feel like playing a class twice. I also level'd two trooperschoosing different options. I'm inthe process of leveling my 2nd Sith Warrior.

Originally posted by mikahr
Dont buy any unlocks, if you like the game subscribe, if dont dont play it, unlocks are waste of money, thats how F2P is pretty much setup.

Pretty much agree.

As a preferred player (bought the box and had a sub for half a year), I think the new F2P system is a slap in the face and I wouldn't give them any money even if they rehauled the whole game and made it the best MMO there is.

Still, for a new F2P-er, I think that subbing for a month or two gives you very good bang for your buck when it comes to entertainment value.

Originally posted by DeniZg

Originally posted by mikahr
Dont buy any unlocks, if you like the game subscribe, if dont dont play it, unlocks are waste of money, thats how F2P is pretty much setup.

Pretty much agree.

As a preferred player (bought the box and had a sub for half a year), I think the new F2P system is a slap in the face and I wouldn't give them any money even if they rehauled the whole game and made it the best MMO there is.

Still, for a new F2P-er, I think that subbing for a month or two gives you very good bang for your buck when it comes to entertainment value.

Totally agree.

Try the game for free and if you like it sub. Otherwise don't start spending on unlock it's going to cost you way more and limit your gameplay experience.

I bought the game at release and played it for about a week before cancelling and uninstalling. Got to level 12 and was bored to death. Didn't even finish out my free month.

Today I decided to re-download the game and give it a second chance since it's ftp. I logged in and discovered the reduced xp restrictions for non-subscribers. Immediately re-uninstalled. Not even going there.

Oh well, no big loss.

Originally posted by trancejeremy
I've been enjoying the game so far, but the reduced XP does seem to hurt a lot. At least, I'm not particularly good at MMORPGs and am having a lot of trouble taking out elites, and since I don't have any quests or such, I can only grind to level up. And even that is tricky, because there aren't a lot of mobs, and a whole lot of players.

To maxamize it, you're best bet is to mix up your gameplay between questing, flashpoints, pvp, and space missions.  It's not so bad if you do it all.