Star Wars: The Old Republic: What Does SWTOR F2P Mean?
Last week, Bioware and EA announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic would be adding a free to play component. In our latest Free Zone column, we take a look at the announcement and give our analysis of what it all means as well as check in with several F2P industry voices for their thoughts as well. Check it out!
While I didn't have the opportunity to comment last time on the news that SWTOR will change business models, the topic is still very prominent in my mind, so let’s get to it. I wasn't surprised at all by the actual announcement since I had already predicted quite some time ago that it would happen. Actually, even though I knew there was zero possibility at the time, I expressed the opinion years ago, well before launch, that the game might be better served by redesigning it to be free to play from the get-go. Nonetheless, I didn't expect EA to make the move so soon. My best guess was by around the middle of next year. Obviously, my crystal ball turned out to be somewhat misty.
Read more of Richard Aihoshi's The Free Zone: What Does SWTOR F2P Mean?
I think at this point for new games the subscription model is dead. SWTOR going f2p and of course the imminent release of GW2 shows the direction the industry is going whether people like it or not.
At this point I can't think of any sensible publisher that would launch a game as p2p. f2p doesn't mean an inferior game or service anymore and it hasn't done so for some time, I think this stigma is starting to erode now and once it does that will be it for p2p.
Your targeted audience just wasn't what you expected, sw fans that are also gamers
It didn't live up to subscription expectation obviously
Publishers are definately going to be gunshy now except those that are already knee deep, or have a decent following like Rift, wow, eve, GW, Tsw may have made it ...... Big money won't be there for e eryone else so there will be reduced expectation.
All the more reason right now to sink my teeth into GW2 and settle in for the next few years while publisher confidence builds up again.
I agree that f2p is here to stay and that it isn't the boogeyman that most make it out to be.
As Flaviio Daneil Caracas says: Games are about being fun and giving value for money, whether that's p2p or f2p, so long as companies get the balancing act right (as they seem to be doing more and more) f2p will be the preferred model. It's not surprising that some publishers and games made mis-steps when f2p was new to the market, it should have been expected, but learning from those mis-steps is key to quietening the voices that think this model is the death of gaming.
The force is strong with this one.
When is a game ever going to be worth a sub fee regardless of what it is? For me the answer is never. Just look at all the single player and multi-player experiences I can have in the F2P or B2P market and I can't justify it any longer. When I first got into MMO's I accepted subs as a fact of the genre, paying for server costs and continued development, but I just haven't really seen a benefit from any of my subs. All that preventing cheating, botting, gold spamming, etc. is BS in my experience because it runs rampant regardless of the title's business model. Not to mention the fact that regardless of sub I usually have to buy some expansion pack in the standard MMO model. So much for already having paid for the development of that content with my sub....
A lot of times others will claim there are so many more hours of content in an MMO, but I simply don't find this to be the case. In my experience it's the same amount of content as any other game but it tends to either be drawn out artificially through ingame hurdles to jump through or simply through socializing and playing with groups (not a bad thing). In reality at launch the majority of MMO's are 60-100 hours of content tops (not counting rolling alts and repeating content). For myself, I can easily get that out of a great shooter, co-op RPG, or any other game I enjoy without ever paying for continuing access.
Latest cases in point for me - Super Monday Night Combat over 400 hrs played, SMITE over 100 hours played, if we get back to MMO's Aion has held me for 100's of hours following my return with F2P as well as Fallen Earth. I'll even be back to check out SWTOR and my level 50 Inquisitor when the F2P switch happens. Personally, I've decided to never touch a game with a sub again.
I'd also like to mention here how many of the F2P games I play, especially those outside the MMO space, provide more frequent updates than any MMO I've ever played. Super Monday Night Combat updates weekly, SMITE worst case is monthly, LoL bi-weekly. Aion and Fallen Earth churn out updates all faster than any MMO I've subbed to or when those particular games were sub based. Even Allods, not a fan, puts out updates faster than WoW, who in theory is raking in the most sub money.
What stops me from returning to Rift, WoW, Darkfall (oh how I love you), or most other MMO's I've played? Can't justify the sub with everything else available to me. I won a free copy of Eve Online months ago, love the game, trialed many times, one of the best in the genre, sitting unused because for me it's still not worth a sub.
This is not to say that ALL F2P games are superior to one's with subs. Simply that there are enough F2P and B2P, MMO and otherwise, to keep me happy without ever returning to the sub model. Clearly to each his own because it is personal preference based on experience after all.
Subscription tiers- $5/$10/$15 may worked.
Edit: spelling