SWTOR becomes Free, cartel coins and future
It is now widely known and the rumors were indeed true that SWTOR is free. But how free is it really? Only the Game client itself remains free. You could say this is a freemium model but Free players on free package really get next to nothing.
Gametime or subscriptions are now optional and come in two flavors. Preferred Status and Subscription itself. A comparison of Preferred status and Subscription as wella s Free play is available here http://www.swtor.com/free/features The buy now on the right actually buys you the preferred status in the game which is a one-off item. This is also true for all those who purchased the original game.
To be honest those on Free 2 play have told me that it’s not worth it but it’s good to get a preview only. It’s nothing more than a trial as you constantly fight against limitations which were imposed as an after thought to changing the game model.
Cartel coins is the in-game currency (obviously) and what bothers me is that unlike other MMOs that include some coins in monthly subscription SWTOR chose not to. Does it really affect the gameplay or the ability to do better simply because you are paying more? Perhaps other fellow SWTOR mates can share their views.
Those who paid are not really left behind because all the items we got (useful or not) are actually add-ons that need additional payment.
If you are looking to subscribe I recommend the 60 Day subscription first and always. The cool part is you can get the price lower on Amazon almost always. See below.
You can expect to buy for 3$-10$ less than the regular SWTOR site listed price.
My honest assessment of SWTOR: Understanding everything in the game right off isn’t easy. Even the in-game currency, inventory available space, limited bank and difficulty leveling up would be a disappointment for free-players. There’s just so much lack here that I’ve seen better balance in another mmo. Bioware is making the same bad approach as Bigpoint does with Battlestar Galactica Online. Here’s the problem: Most everything in the game cripples or stagnates free-players to the point of discouragement, that they wouldn’t invest a dime in it. If that’s not enough, free-players are alienated from groups because of not being able to revive where they dead after having reached level 10 unless they add real currency to do it. No one wants to bother with a player who has to be teleported all the way back to a medical droid. Not enough Inventory space for beginners and Banking should be available storage space for players to stash what they want to keep without having to carry it around and not risk selling it off by mistake. Only being able to sell a few things in the Exchange is not good, when you should be able to list at least 25 to 30 items. After a while any player can end up feeling like a message boy/girl running around having to do something just to gain less than the hard work they do. Credit rewards are below what they should be, that I know I’d be picketing for a raise or no deal. It’s bad enough being annoyingly aggravated into subscibing. Requiring members to give out their phone number to continue playing the game is as bad as Facebook privacy violations. Businesses don’t normally require a phone number from customers; this is bad business ethnics and can be considered as stalking harrassment. I think a persons email address is sufficient enough. If Bioware wants to make better on SWTOR they need to expand the game to where those who have the money can accomplish more than a U-turn back to the same old places. Make it so those who have the money to invest, to be able to build their own space station, govern a world of their own and do risky business investments.