This week's Community Q&A is up and Damion Schubert takes the sole responsibility for discussing all things free to play. Continue after the jump for the Q&A in full.
Community Q&A
ButeoRegalis: Are subscriptions the only way to gain Cartel Coins (CCs) in the future, meaning, aside from the bonus coins we're getting until the Free-to-Play option goes live? Can you purchase them without a subscription?
All players will be able to purchase Cartel Coins by purchasing them on our website and eventually in-game. These coins are used to buy various virtual items from the Cartel Market. Free-to-Play members can also use Cartel Coins to unlock certain game restrictions.
Samohnat: Will Cartel Coins be available via in-game mechanics?
Not initially. We may expand this in the future, but it’s not a goal for launch of the system.
Several players asked: Can you give us more detail about the restrictions on Free-to-Play members? If not, when can we expect more details?
Giving more information about these limitations is a core part of our communication efforts over the next few weeks. Our goal is to allow Free-to-Play members to play the game from levels 1 to 50 and encounter most of the class and world content along the way. However, it is equally important to us that the subscription members will have access to a significant number of convenience features that make the game easier to play - leveling speed, bank access, inventory size are all good examples. Once these details are published, I think that most players familiar with the game as it is now will agree that while Free-to-Play members will be getting a good experience andthe subscription members will be getting a substantially improved gameplay experience.
Alahnah: I am interested in more detailed comments about future content releases and how the Free-to-Play option will impact on current bug fixing efforts and the level 50 Operations / 50+ content expansion time frames.
We still have a significant portion of the development team focused on creating new content (Operations, Flashpoints, Warzones) - and we have plans to increase the cadence that we deliver new content. One of the nice things about this approach is that it should also speed up the cadence that bug fixes get out to you as well.
Tatile: It's said that content will continue to come, but will it be like the content we've already seen (Operations and Flashpoints in patches with class balancing and new gear) or will the content only be fluffy happy stuff, like speeders and mini-pets?
We definitely have plans in the works for more Flashpoints, Operations, Space Missions, and Warzones. Generally, we will have more frequent updates for the game.
Thorvath: So if I cancel/switch to the Free-to-Play option are you going to automatically delete all my Rakata/War Hero gear?
You will retain your gear.
LOWTHOR: What happens if all the characters I have already created while subscribed (before Free-to-Play announcement) are now restricted species?
Your characters will not be deleted and you CAN still use those characters in the active slots you have as a Free-to-Play member.
VulcanLogic: I have all 8 character slots used up. If I choose the Free-to-Play option, do I get to decide which character slots will be active?
Once we institute these limitations, players will absolutely be able to choose which characters are their active characters.
ChazDoit: I’m not much interested in Flashpoints and Operations but will I be able to purchase other features like full access to Warzones, purchase extra character slots, bank slots, and travel features?
Yes! When the Free-to-Play option goes live, players will be able to purchase key upgrades to their game experience allowing them to bypass some restrictions, and this list will expand as time goes on. We will have more information about some of these in coming weeks.
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Posted 8/13/2012 11:34:09 AMNo downtme tomorrow for maintainence
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Posted 8/12/2012 9:02:54 AMThere are indeed people for whom the the $15 per month was a big turn off. Even for people like me who could afford it. That was one thing that drove me away from WoW. $15 bucks a month to watch the gear grap continually grow being cheated by having to pay for content I never saw. At least now the raiders will be the only ones paying for raids. Going F2P might just lure me back come fall.
Being driven by average revenue per user might even encourage devs to use their imaginations and develope something other than a new raid tier/loot table.
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Posted 8/12/2012 12:23:30 AMMeh this is not a good thing. The problem was never the pricing f2p i dont see keeping people or getting more subs. The game needs a fundamental design change and until open world objective based pvp and gabe/james are fired this game will be bantha poo.
James ohlen: we found people dont like to pay 15 bucks a month for kotor 3. Exciting new content f2p!
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Posted 8/12/2012 6:28:36 AMSince when has open world PVP had anything to do with the sucess of well any game? PVP centric games are always niche, open world PVP hasnt existed in wow since lets see the southshore wars back in vanilla, 2 zergs of people running into each other and the winner being detemined with 1.amount of numbers followed by b. the number and quality of healers will not make or break any game.
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Posted 8/12/2012 12:27:56 PMgw2 lol. If the game had open the open world pvp it advertised i gaurantee i know a lot of players that would be paying sub still. Right now you get to end cap and all there is to do ops/fp and who wants to run wz's as thier main pvp you cant even choose the wz u want still and all your doing is getting gear to do the same wz's still? What a pos that is lol. If they had open world pvp you would have something do at least. Dont care about wow. Gw2 is the answer to you question
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Posted 8/12/2012 6:42:25 PMQuote from hargrayve»
So you're only example is a game that hasn't even been released yet?
gg
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Posted 8/12/2012 6:55:39 PMyou asked dont like the answer? I think its sad gw2 in beta has more to offer then swtor 7 months live. Swtor has no open world objective based pvp if it did like i said a lot of people would be playing it still, Instead it 4 wz's you still cant choose and all your getting gear for is to do the same warzones f that.
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Posted 8/12/2012 7:19:59 PMQuote from hargrayve»
Well, I wasn't the person who asked originally, but OK...
The person said "Since when has open world PVP had anything to do with the sucess of well any game? PVP centric games are always niche..." So can you give an example of these uber-successful open world pvp games, or are you just putting all your eggs in the "GW2 is going to be the savior of mmo pvp" basket?
It's all well and good that you want to open world pvp and all that. We get it already. But you are just as bad as all the TOR "fanboys" you call out. How bout you let the game be out for a couple months before you proclaim it the best ever.
And by the way, repeatedly hoping that people lose their jobs so that you can have a few hours of entertainment each month? Classy.
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Posted 8/12/2012 8:33:37 PMfirst off your an uber fanboi/carebear who is settling for a turd in a star wars box and defending the turd take a big wiff soak it up.
I did wait 6 months they did nothing nada except put things in that should have been in there in there the first place. Gabe and the rest said the game would have open world pvp they lied the engine cant handle it and gabe cant make open world pvp worth a crap.Its been 6 months now 7 look at it lost over 600k subs and rising going f2p this is not the actions of competent development.
If you think people who dont do thier job deserve to keep it then your just as incompetent as they are lol. If someone does not do thier job they should get fired. Entertainment or not a job is a job. I didnt ask gabe to get on a live stage and lie his ass off about ilum. Hes a liar hes incompetent and 1.1 patch in itself should be a reason for him to be fired. James ohlen is just stupid hes the forest gump of bioware. He came out and said he has the best pvp team lol he doesnt know the difference between game content and game tools.
Yes i hope they both get fired for not doing thier job there incompetence cost subs. If someone does not do thier job they should be fired
As for gw2 it has wvwvw pvp swtor does not. Gw2 engine can handle open world pvp swtors cant. Thats the truth and its why gw2 wil take most of the pvp'rs from most of the other mmo's
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Posted 8/12/2012 9:49:49 PMNot really seeing the part of my post where I defended anything the game was doing, so not sure where you get the impression that I'm a fanboy. I've actually cancelled my subscription, for various reasons. As for being a carebear? Alrighty then...
As for waiting "6 months", I was suggesting that you wait a couple months before suggesting that Guild Wars 2 was the Messiah, not that you haven't put your time into TOR.
And I never said that I think people deserve to keep their job when they they don't perform at their job. Just that's it's pretty unnecessary to show the sort of fervor for it that you do. If their employers don't think the are doing their job, or that someone else can do it better, then that's their call. I'm pretty sure they have a better grasp on how they perform day-to-day and more information than you do.
The game was never marketed as a pvp-heavy or raiding-intense mmo. It was designed as a story-driven mmo. They were banking on the leveling experience and class stories to be the major draw. And while endgame raiding and pvp are included, they are secondary to the story experience. If you thought that TOR was going to be an incredible pvp-oriented game, you were fooling yourself.
And before you say "But Ohlen said they have the best pvp team!" What did you think he would say? "We have a very run-of-the-mill pvp"? It's marketing. Just like how every crappy football team this time of year says that they are competing for a Superbowl, even though the Vikings, Bills, Browns, etc have zero chance of actually making it.
The biggest thing I don't understand is this: If you have so much angst for this game, and have obviously given up on it, why not just move on and do something that you enjoy, rather than comment on every article posted here with "This game is trash/pos/garbage and I hope so-and-so gets fired and GW2 is better"? It's not like every time I go shopping and see Fruit Loops on the shelf I have to stop the people around me and tell them why Frosted Flakes are so much better. I just choose a different product and move on without throwing a hissy-fit.
It really can't be that much fun to post the same stuff day after day on the same site, especially for a topic you dislike as much as this, can it?
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Posted 8/12/2012 10:47:05 PMHey if you dont like people having an opinion you need to move on as well. Maybe you should figure out what your own view is before you post? One minute your defending the game and defending people saying they shouldnt be fired then you got your tail between your legs and saying you didnt say that LOL.
I cant imagine be an swtor lemming is much fun either? It doesnt matter if you like it or not im going to post here. Im going to say how it is if you dont like it dont respond to my post move on why bother with the post then if it bothers you so much? Why waste your time trying to convert me to bieng a lemming like you?
As for fooling myself heres gabe fooling a live audience at pax http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTgbKxnHIdw
a 100vs100 pvp on ilum thats gabes own words not mine. You may have settled for a pos star wars game that charges 15 bucks for multiplayer options, Well im not settling i demand and want better and its fine that you rolled over and are settling but i refuse to settle i want a better actual star wars mmo not kotor 3 ran by tools
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Posted 8/12/2012 11:39:50 PMSorry, perhaps I'm just tired, but can you actually quote me defending the game and saying that people shouldn't be fired? Maybe it was somewhere after I said that I cancelled my subscription, but I'm not seeing it.
Oh, I get it. I'm a lemming because I followed all the other players out the door! Clever.
I'm not? I'm just impressed by the amount of zeal you show by tuning into DH daily and adding your same little rant on each post, regardless of topic. And I'm curious where it comes from.
Actually he said: "Philosophically, when you've got open world pvp, and you've got an objective, and you've got like 200 people and 100 people, and they're going at it, who's gonna win? 200, right? We've been really careful when designing open world pvp objectives to support guerrilla style run-and-gun fighting."
You don't really seem to read/listen carefully, so I could understand why you would be confused. He said philosophically, which implies an underlying theory, not implementation. He was describing how a smaller group could be able to fight with an enemy much larger by using guerrilla tactics. Nowhere did he say, "We are creating an open world pvp zone that will support 200 players!"
Admirable job taking a single quote out of context (even if you didn't even get it right). Fox News/MSNBC/CNN would be proud. :)
Anyway, everyone, including Bioware, has acknowledged Ilum was a failure, and I was also dissapointed that it didn't work. But if Ilum's open world pvp was your sole reason for playing the game, then that was your problem.
That I settled on not playing anymore? Well thank you for your support.
Well I can actually agree with that.
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Posted 8/12/2012 11:50:51 PMLike i said if my post bother you so much why go on? Id argue but you flip flop to much and go with a leaf in the air for your view lol.
My problem is james ohlen is a clueless tool so is gabe so is Electronic aholes. Over 600k and counting cancelled people are wrong to i supose?
LOL thats on a live stage at pax and thats all you got out of that video was philosphy lmao. The reality is he lied ass off promoted this big 100vs100 pvp that the game engine ended up not bieng to it handle it due to no ilum testing in beta.
Are you a dev seriously? Hey i may post the same thing but least i have a view and stick to it yor all over the place and going with whatever you think makes you look good.
I supose your gonna say next that u re subbed and its great and all this to huh lol.
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Posted 8/12/2012 11:53:34 PMlol agreed with you big time. Swtor can't even handle more than 8 vs 8 on it's mini golf courses in arenas cause the engine is such garbage. This game is honestly the biggest joke and failure in gaming history and that is just sad because of all the money and names attached to it. The only ones still defending it are the fanboys and I got no idea how they can do it honestly.
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Posted 8/13/2012 12:17:04 AMYou keep insisting on this, but I haven't seen you quote me where I've changed my position.
It's really not my fault that you can't take what people say in context.
The HeroEngine is one of the biggest issues with the game however.
I agree with kolz though, TOR is one of the biggest disappointments in the gaming industry. I believe somewhere in a conference call or something that TOR had broken even, but obviously that is a disappointment for EA because they would most certainly like to see a significant return on their investment.