Bioware Investigating Free-To-Play Market for SW:TOR

[DeathMist]

ahh **** this is LOTRO all over again, we'll see claims that the real money cash store will "definitely not ever offer clear advantages over free players, this is not pay to win" then gradually over the months you'll see the micro transactions offering just that
Time to finish up my current character's storylines I guess and wait patiently for Guild wars 2.

Guild Wars 2's main revenue source is an item shop.

This is true, however from what i have seen/heard from the developers its all vanity.

[James Pinnell]

STO and DC Universe have great F2P systems that work remarkably well to keep a decent balance between both paid and unpaid play.

[Cyrinno]

I have to admit I dont mind MMOs being F2P to some degree. Star Trek Online and Lord of the rings Online seem to pull it off quite well especially LOTRO. It HAS microtransactions sure but like STO you can grind in-game to earn currency to then buy things instead of paying real money for items( or in LOTROs case even whole Expansions).

I do think Lotro and DDO have the best free to play systems I've used. An instanced game like DDO works wonders were you can partition stuff off to be sold bit by bit, Lotro doesn't do this as well because it's a fully open MMO but it works well enough.

[spawneh]

I have to admit I dont mind MMOs being F2P to some degree. Star Trek Online and Lord of the rings Online seem to pull it off quite well especially LOTRO. It HAS microtransactions sure but like STO you can grind in-game to earn currency to then buy things instead of paying real money for items( or in LOTROs case even whole Expansions).

I do think Lotro and DDO have the best free to play systems I've used. An instanced game like DDO works wonders were you can partition stuff off to be sold bit by bit, Lotro doesn't do this as well because it's a fully open MMO but it works well enough.

I haven't really had that much experience with Free to play mmo's, however I found LOTRO to be the best I have experienced. Being able to earn the same currency you can purchase doing in game activities just seemed to make it, better some how. Knowing you could earn everything just by playing the game an excessive amount (multiple characters) or purchasing as a shortcut.

[Unworthy King]

People still pay for MMOs?

Far out.

[zakynthos]

they should not call swtor ftp, if it becomes ftp.
ftp is combat arms, vindictis, other nexon titles, also steam's tf2, etc.
whereas others are NOT ftp
such as age of empires online etc.

[sifter132]

I haven't really had that much experience with Free to play mmo's, however I found LOTRO to be the best I have experienced. Being able to earn the same currency you can purchase doing in game activities just seemed to make it, better some how. Knowing you could earn everything just by playing the game an excessive amount (multiple characters) or purchasing as a shortcut.

I agree! It's like they are actually rewarding you for playing their game! WOAH. Seems simple but it's the only FTP one I've liked so far mainly because I feel like I'm achieving something when I earn points in LOTRO. Otherwise when I buy stuff from the store it's a very negative experience: can i go without this? do i really need to get that? But i found that if you've earned at least part of the cost yourself you feel a lot better about purchasing stuff.

[Bluefire]

Should be good.. Lucas Arts will prevent EA going to money-grabby and completly screwing it up (No faith in Bioware since Mass Effect 3)

I actually logged in and played yesterday, No GoN guildies on.. Still over 100 people on each fleet. But gotta say.. quite happy with the people still playing it... Seems all the asshats have quit
Chat was pretty quiet, half dozen groups LFM.. few peeps just chatting about current events..
Did a few battlegrounds..Both sides seemed to be working as teams.. call outs for inc's.. no qq..
Maybe I got lucky yesterday but the maturity level of the remaining players seems higher than the average you find in most MMO's

So it going F2P does worry me a little.. May decrease the age of the average gamer playing it..
Most 14yr olds not really knowing what starwars is they seem to have quit since the advertising spam stopped...
They might come back if the game is free....

[Giblet1]

LotR Online is definitely one of the better F2P MMO's I've tried, and it looks pretty nice with DX11.

I played ToR for a good while, 1.03 looks interesting though, may go back. If they are losing to many subscribers though, F2P would be a great option if done right.

[Krogan]

To bad for Bioware that they made a mediocre MMO, pricing really isn't the problem here. For me GW2 having no monthly sub is only a bonus but I'd gladly pay for it if that was the case.

I stopped playing SWTOR because I was bored out of my mind, making it free doesn't actually make it more fun, true story.

[Syncourt]

I really hope it goes along the lines of 'pay per planet' and flashpoint packs ect. I'll more than likely continue to subscribe, but I don't really want them introducing a whole heap of annoying monthly reward buff items and stuff just to generate cash and needless complications for the sake of revenue.

Make the alternative races cost some dosh/tokens and maybe lock a few of the skill trees too but leave one of each role available for freebies.

I actually logged in and played yesterday, No GoN guildies on..

Yeah I sort of gave up on that one, sorry guys. Got invited to another one made by a group of friends who actually play the game.