BioWare Changes to Free to Play Restrictions

As with any Free to Play launch, there are restrictions that need to be...well...evaluated. Luckily, over the last couple weeks BioWare listened. In response, changes came to the new option starting today.

BioWare

Starting today, Preferred Status Players will see an increase to their default Quickbars from two (2) to four (4). If you’ve already purchased additional Quickbars, don’t worry: we will be refunding your Cartel Coins for any Quickbar-related purchase.

Additionally, in an upcoming patch (no exact date yet, but players won’t have to wait long), Preferred Status Players will be given four (4) additional character slots, which means that they will have a total of six character slots. As always, Free-to-Play Players can reach Preferred Status simply by purchasing anything from our online store or purchasing a physical copy of the game.

Last but not least, I wanted to share the news that the 50 character limit on Global Active Characters for Subscribers will be removed and increased substantially in the same, aforementioned patch. If you wanted to, you can truly create your own army of Troopers or a legion of Sith Warriors.

For the post in full, visit the official announcement page.

Comments

  • uq1's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 27
    #6 uq1 Posted 12/10/2012 8:37:41 PM

    ... at level 50, all preferred and free players are going to leave the game. how can they not see this?

     

    this f2p model is still aweful... and fixing the thing people could permanently unlock anyway was not the solution.

     

    what exactly are we going to do with only 3 flashpoints, 5 warzones, and no ops a week? scratch our asses on coruscant 24/7?

     

    if they think we will buy weekly passes, they are horribly mistaken. if we wanted to rent content, we would have subbed before.

     

    permanent unlocks or your wasting your time BioWare/EA...

     

    And this was their BIG mistake - thinking of the F2P model as a trial instead of an alternative payment method.

     

  • DarthSerious's avatar
    Dark Lord
    • Posts: 350
    #5 DarthSerious Posted 12/5/2012 12:34:02 AM

    they should only focus on preferred status being better.

    And make f2p have less cusomtization.

    Have more in-depth cusomtization in the game and they should begin to see f2p going to preferred status and even subbing for ops, wz, story expansion, hk-51, ... and new content: pazaak/swoop racing, 3d space combat (SSSP) etc, new wzs/ops, new races, championships/tournaments and duel arenas, and open world pvp that could be in the future developed to include huge money sinks and guild mechanics.

    Still, overall the game can add content to add a new feel to the game, and I am still going to say that day/night cycles will breath fresh life into swtor for everyone, which benefits everyone.

  • adamwankenobi's avatar
    Spice Runner
    • Posts: 150
    #4 adamwankenobi Posted 12/4/2012 8:39:18 PM

    Good move by Bioware. I think this offers preferred players viability without making subscribing less desirable. 

  • obtuse's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 13
    #3 obtuse Posted 12/4/2012 4:50:28 PM

    Ok guys, nice start. There's a few more tweaks to preferred status and in my opinion a raise of the cost required to unlock it that would make it the right fit for this f2p model. Let's compared preferred status to your closest competitor, guild wars, in which you unlock the majority of the game's functionality with a retail license type purchase. Preferred status here would mean you're a premium member with a high number of feature upgrades, not just a few extra ability slots. You should have partial exp bonuses and access to storage and travel that standard free (low to no paying) members do not enjoy. You don't have full content access as you prefer to just play casual and grab passes/unlocks to the areas of content that interest you, but you're still a premium player having invested into the game a more significant amount than just a single purchase (the access level that currently determines preferred status).

  • Delmear's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 29
    #2 Delmear Posted 12/4/2012 4:45:54 PM

    They're really making it less awful to be a paying customer that doesn't subscribe. I realize they probably figured this way was easier than taking things away later, but I'm glad they got on this sooner rather than later.

  • Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 34
    #1 mlm430047 Posted 12/4/2012 4:32:43 PM

    Sure, why not more character slots... ad nauseum.

  • To post a comment, please login or register a new account.