Have you tried SWTOR F2P yet? What do you think so far?

I usually try with a new f2p acc every mmo which goes f2p under me, to have a hindsight of the restrictions (and it's never bad to have a mule) so yep, tried it.

I play it as a singleplayer game (just like I did it before, lol) so a few restrictions won't hinder me, namely chat, inventory, mail, bank, direct trade and credit cap (I don't chat, I keep nothing, trashing everything on sight, since I won't plan to stay after 50. I mean only if I bear it that long ;) )

What I'm thinking so far:

as a Sage I definitely will bump my head into the 2 bar limit, but I'm not there yet (I have 1.5 bars full now). In the beginning it was a bit hard to play solo (too many curious players tried the game out, cleaning up quest mobs, etc :) ) but in the last 2 days the numbers seems normalizing (= dwindling I mean). It still more than it was when I played earlier, before the server merges. I guess we'll see the population numbers more clearly in a few weeks, when the hotbar limit kicks in for most of them.

Beside the above mentioned ones, remaining restrictions are not much disturbing, rather lame. Like the sprint, it makes no sense, f2p's got it at lvl15, so basically they're only running a bit slower in the beginning, on the smallest worlds... tough restriction. Lol. Or the quality item wearing, which is valid on quest items too, so f2p'ers don't get quest rewards. (which is good for me, since at least I don't have to trash it, but it's bad from a selling point of view. If it would go into the inventory, it could remind the player one more time for purchasing the unlock... EA should read some Rules of Aquisiton, but I guess they don't have any ferengis around :D )

Reduced xp could backfire too, since it forcing the players to grind, and if that grind becomes too tedious, it's easy to leave the game. (Actually easier than before with box and CE, and even than 1.5+ million left)  Not surprisingly most games doing the opposite, f2p's get the normal xp gain, and subscribers get a faster one. And it kicks in only at lvl10, so there's a remarkable slowdown which has a very clear nickel-and-dime message :)

As a bit of surprise, during these pre-hotbarlimit times the most annoying restriction is the Slow Travel (formerly known as Quick Travel). I admit I didn't think about it earlier, reading the f2p faq.... or I just didn't remembered how many times I used quick travel before.

I have have  had a sub since launch, gona stay subbed, it i the least hassle for me, now I have  coins and get coins each month to puchase things I might like to have or new content updates, and never have to give them anything beyond my 14.99 a month.

I still think the 2 hot bar thing is a bit much for the f2p player, but hey it's a for profit company doing what they do trying to find ways to make profit, TOR has been under the microscope and really been ran through the mill much more than most games, which is shame game never had a chance,  with allot ofpeople bringing huge expectations and baggage from so many other games:(

F2P worked for DDO. It hasn't worked for any other game that's tried it. DDO is high quality, and the shop is not a complete ripoff. 

SOE tries to nickel and dime you to death. SWTOR actually took it one step further by making people pay for hotbars. Yea, good luck. People weren't willing to shell out a measly 15 dollars per month, and the devs think they are going to get more from the f2p crowd? 

They need to aim at getting a lot of players with small transactions. Not a few playrs with large wallets.

Originally posted by TARDISjunkie
So wait, wait...you're complaining that you feel "shortchanged" because you're not getting more free stuff with your free stuff?  Seriously?  Would you like some cheese with your whine?  Get real.  

You do know that if you bought the game at launch and subscribed up to F2P you get nothing if your not subscribed.

Originally posted by Freezzo

Originally posted by remyburke

A few friends, my wife and I all started playing SWTOR after quickly growing bored of GW2 and looking for more to do in way of raids, and I must say we are having a great time enjoying the game for what it is, and not what we wish it was.

 

They did make a couple of boneheaded moves with the Cartel Market. The thing that companies have to realize is that perception is everything. The extra UI bars is a key example. They are completely unneeded, but people see this and just see them getting nickel and dimed. The game gives you 4 12-slot bars, which is more than you should ever need.

 

Here's a tip, just creak open that dusty wallet and fork over the $15 a month for a game if you want to play it and not worry about it. F2P is, and always will be, a horrible way to play a game. Nothing sucks you out of a game world like having to spend real money periodically. Just IMO of course.

Actually the game just gives 2 bars for free/preferred players... Also the whole idea of f2p is not having to fork over those monies ^^

To be fair, it's 2 Bars at the same time as there is 5 more pages of quickbars that replaces the first one. Shift + Scroll up/down changes the page easily.

Keep your garbage FREEMIUM offer, the game wasnt good enough for a subscription, it sure as hell isnt good enough to pay money to unlock the BASICS in the game...seriously, fire the person that thought it was a good idea to carve up a suck game as if a lot of people are going to pay to unlock parts of the SUCK that it is.

You should have gone ACTUAL free 2 play. Offer the entire game that was released for free and create a shope with NEW items. Buffs, mounts, costumes via the MICRO transactions route.

As is, the giant EA will still be outdone by average bland game making companies like Frogstar that is making a TON of money off of their bland FREE game...hell, maybe one day EA will be bought out by the giant of the F2P market Nexon that is netting over 1.1 BILLION a year.

just another in a long line of DERP moves and ideas...this game could have had a 5+ year lifespan if there was someone in charge that had a clue about the market.

Originally posted by Xerenix

To be fair, it's 2 Bars at the same time as there is 5 more pages of quickbars that replaces the first one. Shift + Scroll up/down changes the page easily.

To be fair I'm pretty sure you're still a subscriber, if you have "5 more pages of quickbars" to change easily. :)

Btw that's why it was a very cynical move to remove the bars - or not cynical just standard EA - since they gave subscribers +2, acknowledging that even 4 bars can be tight in some classes. So at the same time saying 2 bars are enough for playing through class quest, well that's the EA way...

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by Xerenix

To be fair, it's 2 Bars at the same time as there is 5 more pages of quickbars that replaces the first one. Shift + Scroll up/down changes the page easily.

To be fair I'm pretty sure you're still a subscriber, if you have "5 more pages of quickbars" to change easily. :).

Yeah, i'm a subscriber but the pages are still there for F2P/Preferred Players.

Originally posted by Xerenix

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by Xerenix

To be fair, it's 2 Bars at the same time as there is 5 more pages of quickbars that replaces the first one. Shift + Scroll up/down changes the page easily.

To be fair I'm pretty sure you're still a subscriber, if you have "5 more pages of quickbars" to change easily. :).

Yeah, i'm a subscriber but the pages are still there for F2P/Preferred Players.

Some kind of work around? LOL

Originally posted by Xerenix

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by Xerenix

To be fair, it's 2 Bars at the same time as there is 5 more pages of quickbars that replaces the first one. Shift + Scroll up/down changes the page easily.

To be fair I'm pretty sure you're still a subscriber, if you have "5 more pages of quickbars" to change easily. :).

Yeah, i'm a subscriber but the pages are still there for F2P/Preferred Players.

And as I said I'm playing on an f2p acc. atm, so nope. F2p/preferred only has 2 bars.

The future of MMO's is to have the players buy everything you use in game just like you do in real life... I got enough bills in real life without adding virtual bills...

Want that new piece of virtual clothing (Charged to your credit card)

Want that virtual food / drink buff (Charged to your credit card)

Want that new virtual mount (Charged to your credit card)

Want to have your own virtual house (Monthly Mortgage fee charged to your credit card)

Want that shiny new virtual weapon (Charged to your credit card)

So where does it end? 

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by Xerenix

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by Xerenix

To be fair, it's 2 Bars at the same time as there is 5 more pages of quickbars that replaces the first one. Shift + Scroll up/down changes the page easily.

To be fair I'm pretty sure you're still a subscriber, if you have "5 more pages of quickbars" to change easily. :).

Yeah, i'm a subscriber but the pages are still there for F2P/Preferred Players.

And as I said I'm playing on an f2p acc. atm, so nope. F2p/preferred only has 2 bars.

hm. Made a F2p acc to try it out and you're right. Asked a f2p before and he said he could but i guess he was lying.

Thats pretty low of BW/EA. I can understand limiting the amount of quickbars at the same time but removing the pages aswell :/

Originally posted by eddieg50
The one think I do not like is that preferred and free players get less experience, that will throw off the balance of the game and make people have to grind more defeating the purpose of a story driven mmo

Are you kidding? I wish I could nerf my experience gain. It's so ridiculously easy to outlevel the game's content. I've played alongside a Preferred player and his XP gain was fine.

Originally posted by MikeB

Originally posted by eddieg50
The one think I do not like is that preferred and free players get less experience, that will throw off the balance of the game and make people have to grind more defeating the purpose of a story driven mmo

Are you kidding? I wish I could nerf my experience gain. It's so ridiculously easy to outlevel the game's content. I've played alongside a Preferred player and his XP gain was fine.

I feel the same way. Plus I've gotten 2 or 3 1hr 25% boosts from quests so far (level 13) if I do feel like the EXP isn't enough.  That's not to say I don't find anything wrong with the F2P model, because I certainly do, but the reduced EXP rate isn't one of them.

Originally posted by MikeB

Originally posted by eddieg50
The one think I do not like is that preferred and free players get less experience, that will throw off the balance of the game and make people have to grind more defeating the purpose of a story driven mmo

Are you kidding? I wish I could nerf my experience gain. It's so ridiculously easy to outlevel the game's content. I've played alongside a Preferred player and his XP gain was fine.

I'd agree with you in case of a few other games, like in LotRO the players asking for an xp-disabler since years (and it seems Turbine finally delivers it - for money...) but in TOR I played the story, never went out farming, killed only the minimum what was needed for the quests, etc. so I was pretty much on level (or level +1) most of the times. Compared to that, this restricted xp gain is really noticeable, as eddieg wrote it 'breaks' the story when you have to go out grinding for the next level for the quest...

Originally posted by MikeB

Originally posted by eddieg50
The one think I do not like is that preferred and free players get less experience, that will throw off the balance of the game and make people have to grind more defeating the purpose of a story driven mmo

Are you kidding? I wish I could nerf my experience gain. It's so ridiculously easy to outlevel the game's content. I've played alongside a Preferred player and his XP gain was fine.

Mike is right many of us would even pay to get a slider to lower the XP expericence as, as soon as you're doing side content (PvP, Space, Heroics, Flashpoints) along the class quests you're outleveling the game.

Now few things about the interview:

First let's be honest here, BioWare/EA can say whatever they want, the players left not because of the business model (montlhy fees) but because the game wasn't worth $15 monthly.

Then about the F2P option, let's say as a player you're just interested in a specific part of the game being either Flashpoints or Operations, or PvP, or Space content or only one at a time and switch between them each week.

According to the pricing form here it's going to cost a player from $7,63 and $11,50 monthly depending whether you get your CC with the smallest or biggest packages.

Now add to that that compared to the $14.99 subscription price you're not getting the 500 "free" CC. Ie a value of $3.63 to $5.54

Then top it with the fact you are very limited in every aspect of the game vs a VIP player.

While it makes sense to give less to non subscribed players, at this point you're more or less paying more than them for getting less.

In short the real choice is: sub or leave.

Originally posted by Trikke
In my experience "Free to Play" gamers are the worst people to game with. Please Bioware give up the IP so we can have an MMO worthy of the Star Wars Brand.

 Funny cause I have never heard of a F2P games gamers referred to like WoW kiddies are spoken about...