Star Wars: The Old Republic officially going free to play in autumn – Part 2
The rumours about SWTOR going fully free to play also upset the remaining fan base as they though it unfair that the game that they paid the subscription for would soon be free for everyone else. Free to play usually means the death of a MMO community since
there is no barrier to entry, the servers are riddled with spammers and hackers who completely destroy the game for regular players.
Yesterday, EA announced what everyone already knew this was coming; SWTOR was indeed going free to play with a pay to win model with micro-transactions. The news, although expected, has caused the remaining SWTOR community to lash out against Bioware and
EA on the forums. EA damage control is doing its best but it seems that the MMO will hit rock bottom soon and there is nothing that can be done to save it.
EA however has not given up on $500 million blunder and still thinks that it can save it with the free to play online micro-transactions model. The publisher has stated that the game will support both the subscription model and the ‘free-mium’ model as subscription
based customers would get special perks and in-game currency to spend on their character where as the free players would have to purchase items and equipment using the online store.
The free players will also have some restrictions on accessing advance player content which could be unlocked if they are willing to shell out real cash for it.
EA has also announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic would be getting a massive discount right before it goes free to play as the MMO will now retail for only $14.99 in August and the price will also include a month’s free subscription. This is EA’s last
ditch effort to attract gamers to the MMO as any number of players is still better than none at all. There is also the possibility, which is highly unlikely but that the game would take off again and might actually work with the new model.
This is what EA’s actually hoping for, to attract a larger user base with little to no initial cost but then once they get hooked, they would naturally want to unlock all the features of the game. This would mean that they either buy items from the online
store, which would normally amount to $35 a month from an average player according to EA or they would just get a monthly subscription.
"We believe we are in a position to help improve the service even more, not only by continuing to add new content, but also by expanding the game to many more Star Wars fans, increasing the populations on worlds and the vibrancy of the community," stated
the executive producer of the MMO, Jeff Hickman, providing damage control regarding the decision to go free to play.
Gamers everywhere are rejoicing the news of EA’s loss as many believe that EA’s corporate greed which resulted in Bioware to rush the project to make the 2011 deadline is the real cause of this all and it’s only fitting that the publisher should suffer for
its unethical business strategies.
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