It's OFFICIAL STAR WARS MMO FAILS to stand up to WoW free to play as of the fall

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/07/31/its-official-swtor-is-going-free-to-play/

I knew it would be only a matter of time before this happened.

EA BioWareis making the jump to lightspeed -- and free-to-play. That's right: As of this fall,Star Wars: The Old Republicwill transition to a hybrid F2P business model.

Players who choose to engage in free-to-play will be able to experience a majority of the game for free, including the first 50 levels and all eight classes. BioWare did state that there will be restrictions, but those can be removed with microtransactions.

SWTORwill still be available in the standard subscription model. Subscribers will be given an allowance of store currency, called Cartel Coins, to buy customizable gear and other niceties. Current subscribers and those who sign back up before the fall can also rack up special rewards for when the transition is made.

BioWare GMMatthew Brombergsaid that this is the next logical step for the game: "Players want flexibility and choice. The subscription-only model presented a major barrier for a lot of people who wanted to become part ofThe Old Republicuniverse."

Check out Massively's recentHyperspace Beacon columnon why F2P was inevitable for the game.

I said this would happen 100 times.

But no, said tenaka, the game is popular and is constantly growing.

THE HERMITS HAVE BEEN OWNED.

good. now more people will likely get to play an awesome game.

good. now more people will likely get to play an awesome game.

CaseyWegner

It was this or shutdown/merge most of the servers. I am sure EA has made back its 200 milllion.

[QUOTE="CaseyWegner"]

good. now more people will likely get to play an awesome game.

Animal-Mother

yeah. i have a level 43 bounty hunter that i abandoned back in march that i'd like to eventually finish.

well at least I can experiance the single player portion.

Great news. The game is absolutely fantastic and merges MMO and Singleplayer game. When its free a lot more people can play it and see how good it really is instead of jumping on the 'oh no it stinks' bandwagon before ever trying it.

Wait...This is news?

[QUOTE="Animal-Mother"][QUOTE="CaseyWegner"]

good. now more people will likely get to play an awesome game.

CaseyWegner

yeah. i have a level 43 bounty hunter that i abandoned back in march that i'd like to eventually finish.

Who could have seen this coming?

It was pretty boring, didn't even play 2 weeks, but when it's F2P I'll go play it every now and then.

Grawse

----

I got to lvl 36? before I quit.. In beta, didn't pay a penny. :P

[QUOTE="CaseyWegner"]

[QUOTE="Animal-Mother"] Ya I cancelled my sub after about a month. I did have a ton of fun but couldnt throw all my gaming eggs into one basket. Glad I can finally go back and play here and there without worrying bout the subAnimal-Mother

yeah. i have a level 43 bounty hunter that i abandoned back in march that i'd like to eventually finish.

he was my second character. i did finish the game with another before that. :oops:

Well, looks like I'll wait until it is free to play.

The Tortanic has already hit the Iceberg. It will go down regardless of any attempt to pump the water out of the crashed vessel.

Kotor III. Closer to becoming a reality. Good news for me, bad news for them.

I said this would happen 100 times.

But no, said tenaka, the game is popular and is constantly growing.

THE HERMITS HAVE BEEN OWNED.

waltefmoney

How exactly have hermits been owned? I wasn't going to play it because of the monthly fee. Now I get to enjoy a really great game. This move is a bonus to any PC Gamer.

[QUOTE="waltefmoney"]

I said this would happen 100 times.

But no, said tenaka, the game is popular and is constantly growing.

THE HERMITS HAVE BEEN OWNED.

menes777

How exactly have hermits been owned? I wasn't going to play it because of the monthly fee. Now I get to enjoy a really great game. This move is a bonus to any PC Gamer.

It's also not really ownage when the thread title is about how one PC game is still doing better than another PC game.

If anything this is good news, lets see play a F2P game or pay $15 a month for a MMO that is 8 years old?

It will be quite limiting for free players though but at least this is a good option for those that just want to experience the story.

GW2 is next to fall to the might of Blizzard's 8 year reigning champion.

Love you Blizzard! xx

If anything this is good news, lets see play a F2P game or pay $15 a month for a MMO that is 8 years old?

Ballroompirate

THE HERMITS HAVE BEEN OWNED.

waltefmoney

GW2 is next to fall to the might of Blizzard's 8 year reigning champion.

Love you Blizzard! xx

-Unreal-

God, please have Activision kill Blizzard.

[QUOTE="Animal-Mother"][QUOTE="CaseyWegner"]

good. now more people will likely get to play an awesome game.

CaseyWegner

yeah. i have a level 43 bounty hunter that i abandoned back in march that i'd like to eventually finish.

Bounty Hunter was my first character to get to level 50 and I really liked the class story line. It was my main character and did all the flash points and all the operations in heroic mode except the Explosive Conflict and did it all as a healer and it was a lot of fun been a Bounty Hunter healer.

I would say the Imperial Agent had the best class story line but sadly after the latest patch, which I found to be really lacking. My days of SWTOR came to an end.

[QUOTE="-Unreal-"]

GW2 is next to fall to the might of Blizzard's 8 year reigning champion.

Love you Blizzard! xx

waltefmoney

God, please have Activision kill Blizzard.

Blizzard is still one of their biggest cash cows, not going to happen anytime soon. Also Activision and Blizzard and pretty much on the same level. In other words Activision isn't the dog and Blizzard isn't the tail. They are both the dog.

This is awesome news. The game is actually lots of fun, but I wasn't going to play $15 a month for it. Too many good games to play out there and not enough cashola.

So now, the subscriptions will skyrocket, I know my friends will eb there so I'll be a lot more willing to spend mroe time with it, it's going to be a blast.

And payign $4 here and $2.50 there for a few boosts/custumization is a lot more pallatable than $15 a month regardless of how much I play.

Didn't this happen already?

It will be quite limiting for free players though but at least this is a good option for those that just want to experience the story.

ZimpanX

Well EA has been saying how they just adore the free-play model for a while now anyway.

[QUOTE="ZimpanX"]

It will be quite limiting for free players though but at least this is a good option for those that just want to experience the story.

Heil68

Exactly my thoughts too, and really I think the limitations in how many missions I do (or whatever else is limited) will be more limited because of my real life. Which is why I didn't want to pay $15 a month to play it in the first place. I couldn't justify that expense when some weeks I might only get to play an hour or so. Really it's a win win for me.

[QUOTE="Ballroompirate"]

If anything this is good news, lets see play a F2P game or pay $15 a month for a MMO that is 8 years old?

-Unreal-

Blizzard hasn't released constant content/patches since they stopped doing class over hauls in vanilla.

Lol i was just about to buy it, guess i have to wait 3-6months then :shock:

Lol i was just about to buy it, guess i have to wait 3-6months then :shock:

aroxx_ab

It will be quite limiting for free players though but at least this is a good option for those that just want to experience the story.

ZimpanX

[QUOTE="aroxx_ab"]

Lol i was just about to buy it, guess i have to wait 3-6months then :shock:

the-obiwan

Nah for $16 with 30days included its not much of waste. I have spent $60 at games that ends after 8hrs, THAT is major waste :cry:

So one of the largest MMO releases ever couldn't maintain a player base of lots of people that were excited for it and hyping it? So then they make it free to play to attract more people. Why? Cause it sucks Im guessing.

[QUOTE="the-obiwan"][QUOTE="aroxx_ab"]

Lol i was just about to buy it, guess i have to wait 3-6months then :shock:

aroxx_ab

Nah for $16 with 30days included its not much of waste. I have spent $60 at games that ends after 8hrs, THAT is major waste :cry:

[QUOTE="Heil68"][QUOTE="ZimpanX"]

It will be quite limiting for free players though but at least this is a good option for those that just want to experience the story.

menes777

Exactly my thoughts too, and really I think the limitations in how many missions I do (or whatever else is limited) will be more limited because of my real life. Which is why I didn't want to pay $15 a month to play it in the first place. I couldn't justify that expense when some weeks I might only get to play an hour or so. Really it's a win win for me.

I'm sure it won't be very fun. I'm sure you'll be charge to do a raid or something of that nature. EA is behind it, so they may want to charge just to level.

This game isn't even worth trying if it was completely free, GW2 ftw!

The Tortanic has already hit the Iceberg. It will go down regardless of any attempt to pump the water out of the crashed vessel.

Masculus

:lol: