This page contains affiliate links. We may earn commissions when readers interact with or purchase items through these links. For more information, see our affiliate disclosures here.

Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Free To Play

This is the forum to discuss all of those video games you love playing or that are coming out. From Transformers video games to Fighting games to Sports games ... whatever makes you a happy Seibertronian. Just keep it the topics and conversations game and console related.

Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Free To Play

Postby Shadowman » Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:02 pm

Motto: "May God have mercy on my enemies, because I sure as hell won't."
Announcement: Star Wars: The Old Republic will be free-to-play for all meatbags this fall.

BioWare announced today that its science-fiction MMORPG is adding a free-to-play option this fall. The game will be going on sale in August for $14.99 (one month's subscription included) in anticipation of the change.

All existing and former subscribers will receive a lump sum of "cartel coins" to spend in the microtransaction shop as a thank-you for their loyalty, based on their previous purchases of the game box itself as well as subscription time. These coins, which will also be for sale for real-world money, can be used to purchase convenience items, cosmetic customizations, and access to new content through the new microtransaction store.

BioWare Austin general manager Matthew Bromberg says that adopting a free-to-play model will allow the developer to drop content on a much more frequent basis. "Every six weeks or so, we're going to provide a warzone, a flashpoint, an event, an operation, that sort of thing," he says. "The basic idea is that free-to-play players will pay for those content updates with cartel coins. Subscribers will get those updates free as part of their subscription."

The generally agreed-upon best part of The Old Republic – the class storylines that go from character creation to level cap – are entirely free for all players. "Our goal was to bring as many players as we can into the core experience to enjoy the game, and then to provide experiences on top of that for people to upgrade to," Bromberg says. "We're really excited about putting our best foot forward." Many of the ancillary parts of the game – space missions, group-based flashpoints, PvP warzones, and more – are only available on a limited basis to free players. The Old Republic's hardest cooperative content, raid-level operations, require a subscription to take part in.

Additionally, free accounts will use coins to purchase convenience items and customizations like bank slots as in many free-to-play MMOs. BioWare is also going to require either an active subscription or a microtransaction purchase for characters to equip certain tiers of high-level items like top-end raid-acquired gear (though the company is not selling the gear itself).

Holding an active subscription will grant access to everything – all content new and old, and no item use restrictions – for free, as well as a stipend of cartel coins to spend in the cash shop.

BioWare doesn't have any plans to change the structure of existing content to account for the addition of a free-to-play option. Executive producer Jeff Hickman says that the biggest changes aside from the implementation of a cash shop are on the technical side. "We have a large server initiative we actually put in place months ago," Hickman says. "Our populations on our servers are huge even right now and are capable of handling much, much more than we need."

Many players and commentators have been waiting for this announcement since the game came out. So has BioWare. "We've really been looking at this since the first day we launched. It really, for us, became a question of 'when.'" Bromberg says. "The market for MMOs is a free-to-play market, and so it's something we've been thinking about for a long time."

I have a hard time seeing the downside of this announcement from a player perspective. BioWare is giving away the best part of the game for free. Subscribers still get everything for free. Free accounts have to buy their way into the endgame and expanded PvP content, but that seems like a fair trade-off. The business end of things has a lot more room for interpretation and analysis, but this particular SWTOR player welcomes the news.
Sidekick= Saiya_Maximal
Steam Nickname: Big Chief Devil Hawk Fireball
Image
Shadowman's awesome site for cool people.
Shadowman's awesome comic for cool people.
"Falling is really just flying downward and out of control."
Wigglez wrote:Just remember. The sword is an extension of your arm. Use it as if you're going to karate chop someone with your really long sharp ass hand.
User avatar
Shadowman
God Of Transformers
Posts: 14263
News Credits: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 4:54 pm
Location: Look! A distraction!

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Free To Play

Postby Twitchythe3rd » Sat Aug 11, 2012 7:34 pm

Motto: "Embrace the coming oblivion."
Weapon: Black Magic
Really now, who didn't see this one coming?
User avatar
Twitchythe3rd
Brainmaster
Posts: 1275
News Credits: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:19 pm
Location: Surrounded by corn.
Strength: 3
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 7
Endurance: 4
Rank: 4
Courage: 7
Firepower: 10
Skill: 7

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Free To Play

Postby Shadowman » Sat Aug 11, 2012 8:32 pm

Motto: "May God have mercy on my enemies, because I sure as hell won't."
Twitchythe3rd wrote:Really now, who didn't see this one coming?


Probably everyone. It might have been too hyped, and the end product wasn't exactly up to snuff. The story was amazingly strong, the kind you'd expect from Bioware, but the rest was just WoW dressed in Jedi robes. I still recommend trying it when it goes F2P. It might be the kick in the pants the game needs; DCUO didn't start to get good until it went F2P, after all.
Sidekick= Saiya_Maximal
Steam Nickname: Big Chief Devil Hawk Fireball
Image
Shadowman's awesome site for cool people.
Shadowman's awesome comic for cool people.
"Falling is really just flying downward and out of control."
Wigglez wrote:Just remember. The sword is an extension of your arm. Use it as if you're going to karate chop someone with your really long sharp ass hand.
User avatar
Shadowman
God Of Transformers
Posts: 14263
News Credits: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 4:54 pm
Location: Look! A distraction!

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Free To Play

Postby Twitchythe3rd » Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:05 pm

Motto: "Embrace the coming oblivion."
Weapon: Black Magic
Shadowman wrote:
Twitchythe3rd wrote:Really now, who didn't see this one coming?


Probably everyone. It might have been too hyped, and the end product wasn't exactly up to snuff. The story was amazingly strong, the kind you'd expect from Bioware, but the rest was just WoW dressed in Jedi robes. I still recommend trying it when it goes F2P. It might be the kick in the pants the game needs; DCUO didn't start to get good until it went F2P, after all.


I did play a bit of it actually. Couldn't get past the mentioned "It's WoW IN SPACE!" problem to actually finish my Commando's storyline.
User avatar
Twitchythe3rd
Brainmaster
Posts: 1275
News Credits: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:19 pm
Location: Surrounded by corn.
Strength: 3
Intelligence: 5
Speed: 7
Endurance: 4
Rank: 4
Courage: 7
Firepower: 10
Skill: 7

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Free To Play

Postby Shadowman » Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:16 pm

Motto: "May God have mercy on my enemies, because I sure as hell won't."
Twitchythe3rd wrote:
Shadowman wrote:
Twitchythe3rd wrote:Really now, who didn't see this one coming?


Probably everyone. It might have been too hyped, and the end product wasn't exactly up to snuff. The story was amazingly strong, the kind you'd expect from Bioware, but the rest was just WoW dressed in Jedi robes. I still recommend trying it when it goes F2P. It might be the kick in the pants the game needs; DCUO didn't start to get good until it went F2P, after all.


I did play a bit of it actually. Couldn't get past the mentioned "It's WoW IN SPACE!" problem to actually finish my Commando's storyline.


I really, really loved the story and the storytelling, but the combat got really repetitive after a while. Maybe I'll have a bit more fun when it's not on my dime.
Sidekick= Saiya_Maximal
Steam Nickname: Big Chief Devil Hawk Fireball
Image
Shadowman's awesome site for cool people.
Shadowman's awesome comic for cool people.
"Falling is really just flying downward and out of control."
Wigglez wrote:Just remember. The sword is an extension of your arm. Use it as if you're going to karate chop someone with your really long sharp ass hand.
User avatar
Shadowman
God Of Transformers
Posts: 14263
News Credits: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 4:54 pm
Location: Look! A distraction!

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic goes Free To Play

Postby Shadowman » Thu Nov 15, 2012 4:20 pm

Motto: "May God have mercy on my enemies, because I sure as hell won't."
:BANG_HEAD:

Now this is just dumb. So, they told me, I'd have over 1000 "Cartel Coins" (Basically, real-life money to be spent in the game's real-life money store) when the game went free-to-play. Then, I get an e-mail saying I'd been given another 100. So, I go to check...and it says I have 100 total. I click a few tabs, and see the list of rewards I had been promised when the game went F2P. And it says I need to be a subscriber to access them.

...What the ****, Bioware! What the actual ****! I know I didn't pay for that so I can't get too mad, but why in the hell would you advertise rewards, only to reveal after the last second that you have to pay to access them?! At the very least, they seem to be allowing me to keep all of my characters, ignoring that I have eight but only two character slots.

I haven't tried making a new character, so I haven't seen what the restrictions are there, but having taken a glance at the marketplace, it wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of the "You have to buy this" icons on the create-a-character menu.
Sidekick= Saiya_Maximal
Steam Nickname: Big Chief Devil Hawk Fireball
Image
Shadowman's awesome site for cool people.
Shadowman's awesome comic for cool people.
"Falling is really just flying downward and out of control."
Wigglez wrote:Just remember. The sword is an extension of your arm. Use it as if you're going to karate chop someone with your really long sharp ass hand.
User avatar
Shadowman
God Of Transformers
Posts: 14263
News Credits: 2
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2002 4:54 pm
Location: Look! A distraction!


Return to Video Games and Mobile Apps Forum

Transformers and More @ The Seibertron Store

Visit our store on eBay
These are affiliate links. We may earn commissions when you purchase items or services through these links.
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "SHE-HULK #11 Marvel Comics 2023 JAN230954 (CA) Bartel (W) Rowell (A) Genolet"
SHE-HULK #11 Marve ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "Ghost Rider Wolverine WEAPONS VENGEANCE #1 Marvel Comics MAY238596 (CA) Logo"
Ghost Rider Wolver ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "DAREDEVIL #14 var windowshades Marvel Comics 2023 JUN231045 (CA) Wachter"
DAREDEVIL #14 var ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "SHE-HULK #15 var Marvel Comics 2023 MAY230922 (CA) Dekal (W) Rowell (A) Genolet"
SHE-HULK #15 var M ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "COSMIC GHOST RIDER #4 Marvel Comics 2023 APR230851 (CA) Giangiordano (W)Phillips"
COSMIC GHOST RIDER ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "Ghost Rider Wolverine WEAPONS VENGEANCE #1 Marvel Comics JUN230945 (CA) Miller"
Ghost Rider Wolver ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "DAREDEVIL #14 var Marvel Comics 2023 JUN231044 (W/CA) Zdarsky (A) Checchetto"
DAREDEVIL #14 var ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "MOON KNIGHT #12 Marvel Comics 2022 APR220964 (CA) Segovia (W) MacKay"
MOON KNIGHT #12 Ma ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "DAREDEVIL #9 var Timeless Marvel Comics 2023 JAN230966 (W) Zdarsky (CA) Ross"
DAREDEVIL #9 var T ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "DAREDEVIL #1 var Marvel Comics 2023 JUN231146 (CA) Miller (W) Ahmed (A) Kuder"
DAREDEVIL #1 var M ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "DAREDEVIL #14 Marvel Comics 2023 JUN231042 (W) Zdarsky (A/CA) Checchetto"
DAREDEVIL #14 Marv ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "GHOST RIDER #13 var Unlucky Marvel Comics 2023 FEB230865 (CA) Walsh (W) Percy"
GHOST RIDER #13 va ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "PUNISHER #9 var Marvel Comics 2023 NOV220832 (CA) Yoon (W) Aaron"
PUNISHER #9 var Ma ...
Visit shop.seibertron.com to buy "COSMIC GHOST RIDER #5 Marvel Comics 2023 MAY230912 (CA) Giangiordano (W)Phillips"
COSMIC GHOST RIDER ...
* Price and quantities subject to change. Shipping costs, taxes and other fees not included in cost shown. Refer to listing for current price and availability.
Find the items above and thousands more at the Seibertron Store on eBay
Transformers Podcast: Twincast / Podcast #346 - Gas Station Jamboree
Twincast / Podcast #346:
"Gas Station Jamboree"
MP3 · iTunes · RSS · View · Discuss · Ask
Posted: Saturday, March 23rd, 2024

Featured Products on Amazon.com

These are affiliate links. We may earn commissions when you purchase items or services through these links.
Buy "Transformers: Generations Power of the Primes Voyager Class Starscream" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers: Generations Power of The Primes Evolution Optimal Optimus" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Titans Return Repugnus, Dastard, and Solus Prime Prime Master" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers: Generations Power of The Primes Voyager Terrorcon Hun-Gurrr" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Studio Series 11 Deluxe Class Movie 4 Lockdown" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers: Bumblebee -- Energon Igniters Nitro Series Optimus Prime" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Studio Series 07 Leader Class Movie 4 Grimlock" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Titans Return Titan Class Trypticon" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Legends Class Skywarp Figure" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Combiner Wars Deluxe Class Air Raid Figure" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Titans Return Legends Class Decepticon Ravage(Discontinued by manufacturer)" on AMAZON
Buy "Transformers Generations Titan Class Metroplex with Autobot Scamper Figure" on AMAZON