SWTOR Free-to-Play/Cartel Coins

ZeitgeistGlee

Figured rather than derail the Free Trial thread it'd be better to give this its own thread and collect as much information as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUX766DvSyU

Free-to-Play

Original announcement that SWTOR would go Free-to-Play
http://www.swtor.com/info/news/press-release/20120731

Restrictions of the Free-to-Play System
http://www.swtor.com/free/features

Free-to-Play FAQ
http://www.swtor.com/support/helpcenter/6449

Cartel Coins

Cartel Coins sources
http://www.swtor.com/free

Cartel Coins Ledger article
http://www.swtor.com/info/news/news-article/20121016

If anyone finds anything else relating to F2P/Cartel Coins that I've missed I'll add it to the list here.

Monty - the one and only

hard to say at this point, the coins on their own... probably not. The rest will depend if they can keep updating the game regularly. Some will go back regardless... and some wont, seems to be just how these things work these days.

Varik

Got an email saying I have some coins now, can't get onto the game (when free) until I remove the authenticator and have to call for that.

Will have to wait to see full details but the restrictions don't seem bad especially for more casual players who won't have a huge amount of time to put into it.

cherryghost

Gone F2P today.

Monty - the one and only

The restrictions are pretty damned restrictive, also not to mention the lovely fact that you don't get the previously earned points until you re-sub, and that you need to do it before Dec 20th

Just Like Heaven

So is this game worth playing at all?

Monty - the one and only

ild still say yes.

Just Like Heaven

Groovy downloading now. I'll give it a spin over the weekend and if I like it definitely buy something to get the preferred status thing at least.

Thanks for the speedy reply.

RodgersLFC

Tried this just after it launched, didnt like it much - too much of a WoW clone for my liking. But might as well try it again now its gone F2P.

Is there much you miss out on in F2P compared to being a paying member?

Monty - the one and only

yeah a fair bit , 3 warzones, 3 flashpoints, 3 space missions, no raids, without purchasing a weekly pass limited customization for character, no customization for companions, limited to 2 tool bars, cant purchase expanded inventory or bank access without coins. 2 chararacters total... former subscribers keep all of thier old characters and most of what they unlocked tho.

If you go to subscribe, there's a full list there....I cant link it at the moment however

Canis Lupus

Played a few levels of this yesterday. Picked a trooper.. Seems alright, nothing special.

If I have one complaint I find the GFX/character models a bit twee/cartoony for the world setting.

Monty - the one and only

trooper story line gets good around act 2, pretty standard affair up to that point. The Best stroyline by far, for me was the agents, seems standard enough to start... but later there are so many twists and turns.

Moist Bread

Yeah the agent story is really good. Excellent voice acting too.

I tried to level a Jedi Consular but I hated the play style and the story wasn't that great.

RodgersLFC

Trying to get back onto it at the moment, and even though I still had it on my laptop from playing it previously, the size of the download is absolutely insane. Anyone else find this? I would understand it if i was doing a fresh install, but we're talking 15gb plus even though I already had it on my machine. Ridiculous.

Monty - the one and only

bit odd that, there was a largish patch for the hk-51 related stuff but the games total size is only 21.5 gb, its actually smaller than when it was launched.

Varik

Stopped playing in September as it cost too much for the time I could put into it, but this is far too restrictive.

Would only be able to play for an hour or 2 at the weekend and from the look of the cartel market it'll cost a lot to get it to a decent level of playability and I would almost be better off subscribing again.

ZeitgeistGlee

Meant to post here after the game went F2P and my sub ran out (few weeks ago at this stage). Gut instinct and test server experience turned out to be dead on, the game is very restricted on higher levels (the toolbar one being the most cripplingly ridiculous). Instead of being able to just enjoy a vanilla experience that's complimented or expanded upon by a premium status everything seems geared to not-so-subtly force people to sub to get something approaching a decent playability.

Sad that EA have yet again managed to sink their own MMO by trying to suck as much money out of it as quickly as possible.

Monty - the one and only

The tool bar thing was fixed btw, former subscribers now get 4 toolabrs instead of two... Should have been that way in the first place if you ask me. Forcing people to pay for simple UI upgrades is a tad low if you ask me

silverbolt

i didnt like the free to play module, its restrictions were annoying so i stayed subbed for as long as i was playing it for. Ill probably go back to it at some point as i really enjoyed it