Star Wars: The Old Republic Going Free-To-Play

[xivim]

saw this one coming.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/07/31/star-wars-the-old-republic-going-free-to-play.aspx

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.


A breakdown of Paid Vs Free features

http://www.swtor.com/FREE/features


Some interesting stuff for active and past subscribers:

http://www.swtor.com/free

[Gerron Vek]

LOL


It's good to be right. Every single prediction I made about TOR has come to pass.

[Christian M. Hanson]

ugh...

[VADM pRett]

ThomasMarik wrote:

LOL It's good to be right. Every single prediction I made about TOR has come to pass.

Please don't turn into another Blodvaerd.

[Gerron Vek]

Adm pRett wrote:

ThomasMarik wrote: LOL It's good to be right. Every single prediction I made about TOR has come to pass. Please don't turn into another Blodvaerd.

What is a Blodvaerd?

[xivim]

I think it could be good for TOR. I know we have many people that played it for quite some time, but lost some interest, and with it going F2P, should allow people to hop in from time to time.

[Morgan Shackelford]

ThomasMarik wrote:

Adm pRett wrote: ThomasMarik wrote: LOL It's good to be right. Every single prediction I made about TOR has come to pass. Please don't turn into another Blodvaerd. What is a Blodvaerd?

Someone who was never wrong. Ever. About anything. So, we kicked him out.

[Ryo Himura]

Just hope they don't limit too much stuff on the free players, or it'll be just like LoTRO which I stopped playing because of so many limitations...Character creation limits seem silly though, just my opinion.

[FLTCAPT Savar]

Wait, wait, wait..... Blod got kicked out???

Where the eff have I been?

[Edward Hau]

FLTCAPT Savar wrote:

Wait, wait, wait..... Blod got kicked out??? Where the eff have I been?

you missed the party, shack had a lampshade on his head while making out with the wall...

[Ryo Himura]

Edward Hau wrote:

FLTCAPT Savar wrote: Wait, wait, wait..... Blod got kicked out??? Where the eff have I been? you missed the party, shack had a lampshade on his head while making out with the wall...

Oh the humanity...!

[VADM pRett]

FLTCAPT Savar wrote:

Wait, wait, wait..... Blod got kicked out??? Where the eff have I been?

It wasn't something we advertised.

[Morgan Shackelford]

Edward Hau wrote:

FLTCAPT Savar wrote: Wait, wait, wait..... Blod got kicked out??? Where the eff have I been? you missed the party, shack had a lampshade on his head while making out with the wall...

WELL PLAYED AND GOOD DAY, SIR

[Morgan Shackelford]

FLTCAPT Savar wrote:

Wait, wait, wait..... Blod got kicked out??? Where the eff have I been?

Medical School and raising children takes a chunk out of your playtime

[Captain Talbot]

Edward Hau wrote:

FLTCAPT Savar wrote: Wait, wait, wait..... Blod got kicked out??? Where the eff have I been? you missed the party, shack had a lampshade on his head while making out with the wall...

WOW>>>boy have I missed alot....