It is...


SWTOR Going F2P

0-Fail in 6.5 months. Sad, the game had potential too.

Personally, it brings me joy that games like this and Diablo 3 to name others are failing. A game can have world class production value, but if the gameplay isn't there (in this case endgame for SWTOR) it doesn't matter. And if a game is spotted to be a simple cash grab (DIII), then players will abandon ship quickly. Gameplay is king.

I'm still playing, I just haven't been around here (chiefsplanet) the last couple of months. I actually just finished my 4th storyline, the Agent, which I thought was tremendous. (I finished Consular, Knight and Smuggler prior to that).

If anything my little group of friends and I are more active now. Corellian Run has been a solid server once I got used to being crowded, and it doesn't appear so far like the population has taken a nosedive since the 6th month subs (which I had and still have; I renewed...) ran out last week or since GW2 this weekend.

I hate to say this because it's selfish, but I think the perceived "failure" of the game has done wonders for the quality of the server population. I actually run with general chat on now, all the time, and often do stuff with random people. There are still assholes around, but it's so much better overall than it was during the first 3-6 months of the game's life. I think a good percentage of the people still playing it are people like me, who are older, more casual, and in many cases find the game to be exactly what it was always sold to be, which is a game based on story rather than endgame or raiding.

Which is not to say that I don't think it's really important for them to address those areas moving forward....

I think in particular that they need to get 1.4 out soon and it needs to feature much more than prior updates have included in terms of actual game content. Makeb needs to be an extensive planet along the lines of Voss or Corellia, and not an Op/FP zone like Denova. Enough already with the "quality of life" stuff, and getting the game into a launch condition 6 months late. It's time to actually expand.

(And that's what worries me, that Makeb will cost money)

As far as F2P goes, at least based on what I've read so far, it doesn't look a whole lot like the kind of F2P move that drove me out of LotRO. I do think there may be an uptick in the "undesirable" playerbase, and general chat will go back to 'off', but it's still a system heavily seated in maintaining subscriptions, and my hope is that I'll still see content coming out in the future, and it's not just about EA trying to make back what they spent with as little effort as possible.

Either way, only time will tell.

My roommate and i play all the time and there are plenty of people playing at all times. The gameplay to me is amazing as is storyline. No endgame isnt so important with so many classes and subclasses and good vs evil choices. They will more than likely have more classes out, ala WoW, before anyone finishes the storylines for all classes and subclasses. Im on my 3rd sith maurauder alone already.

I kept myself from uninstalling the game waiting for the F2P. I want to level my characters up that i had. I have 2 really close ones to 60. In the mid to late 40s.

So, how is this game now? I am feeling the draw of the Force.

I'm still enjoying it.

They just did another server merge and the next patch is due soon (includes a new operation), so it's probably a pretty good time to come back.

Anybody come back to this now that it is F2P?

Never left...

FTP (like with every other "ftp" mmo I've ever been a part of) is sort of a misnomer. The whole system is built around trying to get people to subscribe or to pay for the things they want to do. You can play the whole game 0-50 for free, but if you want to run ops or pvp or even do more than 3 space missions a week, you have to either unlock them through the cartel market or sub.

I have my HK-51 now and he's awesome.

What server/side are you on these days, keg?

I'm on The Shadowlands. I go both ways. 3 pub 50s, 1 imperial, should have a couple more by year's end.

I'm not doing much but space missions right now, getting ready for 1.6 (introduces heroic space missions - requires tons and tons of fleet commendations to get new ship upgrades).

So, to no one's surprise, Makeb (AKA Rise of the Hutt Cartel, chapter 4) is finally official: http://www.swtor.com/buy. Coming sometime in the new year. Also to no one's suprise, it ain't free. $10 for subscribers (the price everyone's always expected), $20 for non subscribers. Level cap going to 55, which likely means Makeb is freaking enormous.

i thought they raised the level cap in late spring.