Knew this was coming. Companies now a days don't seem to have a clue how to make a MMORPG. They failed the minute they decided that the personal storty and cinematics of the game were far more important than the actual gameplay, immersion of the world they created and content. To not have a MMO star wars game without actual space content (seriously, space on rails? WTF??) was a disaster, and to not even really seriously consider it was just incopetence. Another failing was the fact that they didn't really seem to realize just how important it is/was to frequently do content update/patches. Now they are saying they will do this every 6 weeks, with a staff they gutted? Really Bioware, I mean REALLY?? How clueless can a company/developers get?
I had no problem with them going into the MMORPG market with their franchised single player RPG, but they should have done a whole lot more research into it because it seems like they didn't have a clue. Letting EA become involed, and by that token letting Mythic 'help' them ( after they just proved how much they "knew" by the disaster that was WAR), pretty much every MMORPG gamer seen this coming.
(I like B2P, but apparently BioWare agreed with you!)
If in 1982 we played with the current mentality, we would have burned down all the pac man games since the red ghost was clearly OP. Instead we just got better at the game.
I think they picked the wrong model to start with, and this one isnt much better.
A game like this should have been Buy to Play like GW1 and GW2. With expansions on the story every 6 months.
Free to play that lets players see the whole story (pretty much the only thing worthwhile in the game) won't bring them in any money because the end game is bad.
So yea, totally called this (albeit a couple months over my estimation as I predicted it'd go F2P by the end of June) prior to SWTOR's release, and I was called a troll / hater?
SWTOR is what it is, a very bad singleplayer game with COOP elements. Sorry, it's not an MMO, and it most certainly isn't "Fun".
What a waste of the StarWars IP.
Also, internal discussion @ LA is that if SWTOR's license is canceled there will NEVER be another StarWars MMO. Ever....
They plan to shoot primarily for Console only games, or Social gaming on Mobile products. Such a pathetic company :I.
Even after this debacle, peeps will still buy and play a SW MMO. Saying no to cash has never been a behavior for LA.
Microtransactions are the devil. The fact that the game cost so much to produce means they are going to push the cash shop just as hard to make up for their failure. It isn't LoL where they run off of aesthetics and shortcuts, it will be like Perfect World where it's 10 times cheaper to just pay for WoW.
That and their universe is packed with lore that nobody aside from Star Wars fans cares about.
Not really. No. If the transactions are done correctly for the correct items (no gear). The transactions that are of the devil are those the restrict content, which is like a REALLY old system that LOTRO uses still to this day. Basically they are proving that they are still behind the times even in F2P.
I, personally, am completely shocked that SWTOR is going free to play. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that NO ONE could have predicted this.
Content Writer for RTSGuru.com And overall bitter old man.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
SWTOR was not the second coming that it was hyped to be, just like so many other games that get the same kind of hype. Too many people really thought they were getting SWG 2.0 and just jumped aboard blindly. To those of us who actually did our homework, we knew what we were getting - and except for the Illum debacle, we pretty much got what they promised.
With the move to f2p, as long as they do what they are saying and don't cross the lines to p2w, I think it wil be a positive thing. It will not only allow people to give the game a chance and see it for what it is( rather than relying on the hate obsessed people on so many game forums), but it will allow the in game community (which, on my server at least, is one of the best I have seen since UO) to grow and flourish.
It is all about how EA/BW handles this - if they do it right it could be great, but they have to do it right. Personally, after reading the provided material on the SWTOR site, I am going to just maintain my sub for simplicity sake - but I know some people who are more apt to get into (or back into) the game since they no longer have to commit.
Microtransactions are the devil. The fact that the game cost so much to produce means they are going to push the cash shop just as hard to make up for their failure. It isn't LoL where they run off of aesthetics and shortcuts, it will be like Perfect World where it's 10 times cheaper to just pay for WoW.
That and their universe is packed with lore that nobody aside from Star Wars fans cares about.
Not really. No. If the transactions are done correctly for the correct items (no gear). The transactions that are of the devil are those the restrict content, which is like a REALLY old system that LOTRO uses still to this day. Basically they are proving that they are still behind the times even in F2P.
That's the issue. The ideal F2P model gives the opportunity to players to pay for things they like or want that make them look cool/different in order to support the company and developer. The problem is that SWTOR isn't an innovator, already has so much content planned for a userbase that is rapidly leaving, and doesn't really have anything to draw players in to pay for this stuff. I still think GW series has the best business model, pay for the game, no subscription.
LoL is a prime example of how the cash shop should ideally function. You can pay for this stuff if you want to, or you can play to achieve this stuff. Some aesthetics are purchasable and boosts if you really want to support your game's developement.
I played WoW up until WotLK, played RoM for 2 years and now Rift. I am F2P player. I support games when I feel they deserve my money and I want the items enough. I don't troll, and I don't take kindly to trolls.
The game is still profitable, but the future doesn't look bright.. They keep bleeding subs (losing 100k a month, I think) and they don't see those person returning with more solid releases coming up.. So instead of waiting on the critical point, make the change now..
Funny thing Gw2 and the old iron horse "Wow" might actually kill this game population off to where it's not even worth trying f2p option...
F2P i think these days should be the standard. I believe that having item shops is the way to go. This game is one of those games where I wouldn't play it if I didn't have to commit to the $15, in fact, I think i let my sub run for a month without playing before I finally remembered to shut it off. I can see myself playing in the future if its free. Seeing as its Star Wars, item shops are a really good proposition since Star Wars thrives off collectables. An item shop would literally be a collectables shop. A characteristic that not many other games can boast.
A game that already did a poor job of capturing the essence of Star Wars will become even less attached to the IP when inundated with players who are not fans of the setting.
Good luck with that.
When all has been said and done, more will have been said than done.
Let's face it: Anything the Bioware drones say is worthless. Yes, they have to say something, and they might even be honest this time. But EA can hand-wave it away anytime, for any reason.
It's really damaging the industry as a whole, as it makes any comments by any developer that much more fluff. The players are getting more and more cynical, with good reasons, and it's poisoning the game/customer relationship. When the best option for a game studio is to say NOTHING, EVER, and it will *improve* their image, that's the sign that the process has gone terribly wrong.
And can anyone really say that it's not for the best that a developer like ArenaNet go silent? I'd grudgingly agree it's a good move if they did. Under (never!) promise, over deliver is what players are crying for, that some developer will grab that banner.
Comments
Knew this was coming. Companies now a days don't seem to have a clue how to make a MMORPG. They failed the minute they decided that the personal storty and cinematics of the game were far more important than the actual gameplay, immersion of the world they created and content. To not have a MMO star wars game without actual space content (seriously, space on rails? WTF??) was a disaster, and to not even really seriously consider it was just incopetence. Another failing was the fact that they didn't really seem to realize just how important it is/was to frequently do content update/patches. Now they are saying they will do this every 6 weeks, with a staff they gutted? Really Bioware, I mean REALLY?? How clueless can a company/developers get?
I had no problem with them going into the MMORPG market with their franchised single player RPG, but they should have done a whole lot more research into it because it seems like they didn't have a clue. Letting EA become involed, and by that token letting Mythic 'help' them ( after they just proved how much they "knew" by the disaster that was WAR), pretty much every MMORPG gamer seen this coming.
You know MikeB, I'm sure they decided this after this site clearly proved that the Hybrid Model is the best pricing model for MMORPG's.
(I like B2P, but apparently BioWare agreed with you!)
If in 1982 we played with the current mentality, we would have burned down all the pac man games since the red ghost was clearly OP. Instead we just got better at the game.
I think they picked the wrong model to start with, and this one isnt much better.
A game like this should have been Buy to Play like GW1 and GW2. With expansions on the story every 6 months.
Free to play that lets players see the whole story (pretty much the only thing worthwhile in the game) won't bring them in any money because the end game is bad.
Even after this debacle, peeps will still buy and play a SW MMO. Saying no to cash has never been a behavior for LA.
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
Not really. No. If the transactions are done correctly for the correct items (no gear). The transactions that are of the devil are those the restrict content, which is like a REALLY old system that LOTRO uses still to this day. Basically they are proving that they are still behind the times even in F2P.
I, personally, am completely shocked that SWTOR is going free to play. I believe I speak for all of us when I say that NO ONE could have predicted this.
Content Writer for RTSGuru.com
And overall bitter old man.
Why do you need to predict anything?????????????????????????????????????
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
SWTOR was not the second coming that it was hyped to be, just like so many other games that get the same kind of hype. Too many people really thought they were getting SWG 2.0 and just jumped aboard blindly. To those of us who actually did our homework, we knew what we were getting - and except for the Illum debacle, we pretty much got what they promised.
With the move to f2p, as long as they do what they are saying and don't cross the lines to p2w, I think it wil be a positive thing. It will not only allow people to give the game a chance and see it for what it is( rather than relying on the hate obsessed people on so many game forums), but it will allow the in game community (which, on my server at least, is one of the best I have seen since UO) to grow and flourish.
It is all about how EA/BW handles this - if they do it right it could be great, but they have to do it right. Personally, after reading the provided material on the SWTOR site, I am going to just maintain my sub for simplicity sake - but I know some people who are more apt to get into (or back into) the game since they no longer have to commit.
the polling here was right. F2P in a year.
That's the issue. The ideal F2P model gives the opportunity to players to pay for things they like or want that make them look cool/different in order to support the company and developer. The problem is that SWTOR isn't an innovator, already has so much content planned for a userbase that is rapidly leaving, and doesn't really have anything to draw players in to pay for this stuff. I still think GW series has the best business model, pay for the game, no subscription.
LoL is a prime example of how the cash shop should ideally function. You can pay for this stuff if you want to, or you can play to achieve this stuff. Some aesthetics are purchasable and boosts if you really want to support your game's developement.
I played WoW up until WotLK, played RoM for 2 years and now Rift.
I am F2P player. I support games when I feel they deserve my money and I want the items enough.
I don't troll, and I don't take kindly to trolls.
I'm usually not the one to say I toad a so but you know what? I toad a so... I fucking toad a so.
On a more serious note, EA has a bunch of clueless people in charge of their MMOs.
Funny thing Gw2 and the old iron horse "Wow" might actually kill this game population off to where it's not even worth trying f2p option...
and the best game on the market just got better.
O'doyle Rules! /throws the goat
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
btw Does anyone remember EA-Bioware basically bashing f2p and freemium models for Swtor cause it does not allow for enough quality?
It was like 8 months ago? just before Swtor launch?
hihihi
Well to be honest im kinda glad this happens. It shows that the future of western MMO's are hybrid..
If i like a game i would happely pay the 15dollars a month, but then i expect EVERYTHING is free = Content, looks everything!!
F2P i think these days should be the standard. I believe that having item shops is the way to go. This game is one of those games where I wouldn't play it if I didn't have to commit to the $15, in fact, I think i let my sub run for a month without playing before I finally remembered to shut it off. I can see myself playing in the future if its free. Seeing as its Star Wars, item shops are a really good proposition since Star Wars thrives off collectables. An item shop would literally be a collectables shop. A characteristic that not many other games can boast.
Yea because first paying for a game and then 14 dollar a month is...normal and I wanna do it?...lol. :P
A game that already did a poor job of capturing the essence of Star Wars will become even less attached to the IP when inundated with players who are not fans of the setting.
Good luck with that.
When all has been said and done, more will have been said than done.
Yeah, would love a option to have a sub that gives me everything in-game..
I'll thing long before this happens!
Wow, and all under a year. Gratz EA/Bioware.
How proud must they be right now
Let's face it: Anything the Bioware drones say is worthless. Yes, they have to say something, and they might even be honest this time. But EA can hand-wave it away anytime, for any reason.
It's really damaging the industry as a whole, as it makes any comments by any developer that much more fluff. The players are getting more and more cynical, with good reasons, and it's poisoning the game/customer relationship. When the best option for a game studio is to say NOTHING, EVER, and it will *improve* their image, that's the sign that the process has gone terribly wrong.
And can anyone really say that it's not for the best that a developer like ArenaNet go silent? I'd grudgingly agree it's a good move if they did. Under (never!) promise, over deliver is what players are crying for, that some developer will grab that banner.
Avatars are people too