Since our initial foray into Free-to-Play on the Public Test Server, we wondered about the preferred status. Up until now, we had no idea exactly what it entailed or how players become a part of it. In a follow up post on Damion Schubert's changes post, BioWare Systems Designer Nathan Emmott jumps in to detail how players become preferred, their unique restrictions, and more.
By now - from the comments here, on Reddit, and our community sites - y'all have gotten a good look at both our Cartel Market, and the Free-to-Play experience. I've seen a whole lot of back and forth discussions on what we are offering to our Free-to-Play Players, specifically when it comes to what features we have locked off or restricted when compared to Subscribers. Well, I wanted to jump into the discussions here to introduce our Preferred Player Status.
When we launch our Free-to-Play option this Fall, it will include three ways of playing The Old Republic: as a Subscriber, as a Free-to-Play Player, or with Preferred Status! We have previously mentioned Preferred Player Status on our website (http://www.swtor.com/free/features) but have not really gone into details, something I plan to address here.
Once our Free-to-Play option launches, Free-to-Play Players will gain Preferred Player Status by making a single purchase through our website. This purchase can simply be a quantity of Cartel Coins, or a Game Time Card, or even a month of a Subscription. Additionally, former Subscribers who are returning as Free-to-Play Players, will find they have Preferred Status!
As a Preferred Status Player, you will gain the following benefits compared to Free-to-Play Players:
• The Sprint ability at Level 1
• Access to your Cargo Hold (an 80 item Player Bank)
• Access to Secure Trade
• The ability to send Mail, including one (1) attachment
• Increased allowance for chat message frequencies in Public chat channels (such as /general)
• An increased Credits Cap
• Access to the Who List
• Three (3) additional Sale Slots on the Galactic Trade Network (for a total of 5)
• One (1) additional active Crew Skill Slot (for a total of 2)
• Reduced skill point respecialization costs
• Increased Server queue priority
In addition to the above benefits, Subscribers who return as Preferred Status Players will find that they retain any Cargo Hold and Inventory expansions they had unlocked, any Legacy Unlock or Perk they have gained (including Species) and can continue to use any Artifact equipment that was bound to them previously.
To view the thread, hit the official forum.
Update: Community Manager Joveth Gonzalez commented on security keys for preferred players.
@zirak @BigDamn_Heroes @SWTOR FTP and Preferred cannot use NEW keys, but if you had one as a subscriber and then downgraded, you can.
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Posted 6/11/2013 2:56:08 AMThe people who said here that BIOW.... did a great job, are blind or they just pretend. I give you one example for why I don't play anymore SWTOR and with that I demonstrate why they didn't do a good job. With the option free-to-play that for me sounds more like "Advanced trial version" and for former Subscribers is a big ....... you know the word, or dust in the eyes. I'm a PvP player only, what the game offers me like former subscriber? If you can give me 1 reason for playing the game free I'll keep my mouth shut and I'll retreat my words.
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Posted 10/28/2012 5:57:35 AMEDIT: I've erased all of my previous post. At first, mousing over the links in http://www.swtor.com/free/features didn't work for some reason, must have been a temporary browser glitch.
Unfortunately, the one thing I wanted to see details on the most, still has none: Character creation. It still just says, "limited character creation options."
Exactly how many slots per server, and how many characters I'd retain access to after already having filled up eight slots, is the one detail I need to know the most before making a final decision.
I guess I need to keep waiting, for now.
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Posted 10/27/2012 8:18:40 AMLimiting quickbars is just plain silly.
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Posted 10/26/2012 1:30:25 AMThe more I see of the F2P and preferred, the less I see myself coming back. I can see credit caps and storage caps. I can see restricted auctions and PvP. But there are too many things restricted which ought not to be restricted, things that make the game a giant PITA.
It's almost like they want to drive the preferred/F2P players away from the game.
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Posted 10/25/2012 2:42:34 PMI approve. I could see myself actually playing without subscription if I can keep my current gear and cargo hold space.
Frankly, I had assumed I would have access to most of these... I can't imagine playing without being able to send mail attachments or see /who else was online.
In general, to have previously unlocked things locked would have been a slap in the face to anyone looking to come back as a f2p player.
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Posted 10/25/2012 3:34:47 PMI didn't even notice the limited access to the /Who feature. The one is very alarming and such an ass-random F2P restriction. I do get that they worry that goldspammers would use /Who to find people to spam, but come on, that's a basic element of a damn game! Restricting access to random parts of the game interface? What's next, no access to Friends List unless you subscribe?
Just seems a bit silly, some of those limited access parts like no Who Window.
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Posted 10/25/2012 1:55:12 PMMaybe it's just me and my own personal feelings on this, but these limitations and rules to curtail basic gameplay look terrible, it's all so limiting and would simply discourage me from logging in at all.
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Posted 10/25/2012 2:31:30 PMThey will give to the EX subscribers more prioriy than the new people, that is awesome for the new people, BW will give 2 bars now and 5 wz, they are doing a great job, i am very proud of Bioware
Editor's Note: Calm down.
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Posted 10/25/2012 3:29:48 PMYeah, 200k credit limit, 2 GTN auctions at most, only 1 crew skill, no cargo hold, 1-2 action bars, no Who window? That sort of stuff seems a bit extreme. I don't know if other F2P MMOs have those sorts of odd limits.
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Posted 10/25/2012 4:18:06 PMA lot of them do have similar limits on inventory space, currency caps, and either high penalties on listing and selling items, or give you no access to the player market unless you buy access.
One major limitation that TOR does not have is class restrictions. You can play all 8 classes (16 if you want to count the mirrored classes separately) to max level. Most limit which classes you can play, or limit the level you can reach with certain classes. So there are probably some things that might be a little harsher, some that might be a little better. Overall though, having looked at F2P systems for several other games (EQ1, EQ2, City of Heroes, Aion, Vanguard), I believe Bioware has one of the more generous ones, believe it or not. But that's also just personal speculation.
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Posted 10/28/2012 5:50:42 AMAs long as you're asking about other MMO's, I know that WoW's F2P option gives absolutely no access to any form of player to player communication except for /say. You are locked out of every channel, grouping, even whispers, except as a reply to someone who's whispered you first. No access to mailboxes. This means you're blocked from picking up a particular quest that one zone gives you by mail.
I don't know all of the limitations but there's a lot. Max level of 20 being another.
Of course they don't even call it F2P, they call it a 'starter account.' That implies they absolutely expect those players to upgrade to paid subscription status at some point.
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Posted 10/25/2012 1:39:10 PMSo if I read this correctly;
That about sum it up?
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Posted 10/25/2012 2:36:07 PMi think so, but it's much better be a subscriptor lol
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Posted 10/25/2012 4:15:21 PMI agree. I am staying subscribed on my main account and going preferred on my second account (the one I used for refer-a-friend).
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Posted 10/25/2012 4:20:30 PMPoints 1 and 3 are correct.
With point 2, I don't think that just buying any cartel coins makes you preferred. Its probably a one time purchase you can make with cartel coins that gives you the preferred status. I imagine it will be similar to how SoE does their "silver" memberships, which I believe cost like $5 for similar benefits to TOR's preferred status.