Support NeoGAF

[Cystm]

Updates

• Non Subscribers

  • very nice thread!
    
    [*]I have a question though, If I bought the game on the release date, used the first 30 days credit, and cancelled my subscription before they charged
    me the first paid month, am I considered a preferred o F2p player?

    
    Preferred.
    
    If you’ve previously purchased the game, subscribed, purchased a physical SWTOR key fob, or if you spend a minimum of $5 in the Cartel Market, you will
    be upgraded to Preferred status.

• Former Subscribers

  • "All former subscribers who reactivate their subscription by the new date of December 20, 2012 at 11:59am CDT will be granted Complimentary Cartel
    Coins for their prior paid months up to November 15, 2012."
    
    So no rush for you former subscribers, you have over a month to resub and still receive your CC's.

http://www.swtor.com/free
There are three different ways to access the game with the introduction of F2Play:

• Subscriber - Players who continue to pay the monthly subscription fee will receive most game features as part of their subscription.
• Preferred - This status is reserved for players who were previously subscribed and have cancelled or F2play players who have made a purchase of Cartel Coins.
• Free To Play - Players who have never subscribed to the game previously and have not purchased any Cartel Coins.

• Subscribers
  
  Subscribers have none of the restrictions or Preferred or F2play.
  • Stipend of 500 Cartel Coins each month.

• 
  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
  • An increased Credits Cap (350k credits)
  • Three (3) additional Sale Slots on the Galactic Trade Network
  • One (1) additional active Crew Skill Slot
  • Increased Server queue priority

• Preferred Status FAQ
  

  • if you’re a Premium Subscriber with Legacy racial unlocks and revert to a Free Account, what will have precedence, the f2p restrictions or the Legacy unlocks?
    
    Blaine: First off – if you change from being a subscriber to a Free-to-Play player, you will always go to Preferred status and will never become a Free Account,
    so you’ll have some features unlocked that you otherwise would not. Additionally, you will absolutely retain the Legacy unlocks that you earned/purchased as
    a subscriber. In almost all cases, if you have been a subscriber, you will find that things you purchased for in-game credits will be retained when you go down
    to Preferred. Including things like Cargo Hold access and Inventory Slots.

  • If someone who is a subscriber later chooses to cancel their subscription, will they then lose their rights to for example equip gear of
    Artifact quality, use all six quickbars, and have bank access, or will rights such as these count as permanently "unlocked" for anyone who has a subscription?
    
    Blaine: Most (but not all) of these items will be retained when you move to Preferred Status (which is what happens when you cancel a subscription).
    Your ability to equip gear is dependent on what items are bound to your characters. Anything that has been bound will still be usable, but any new Artifact
    items you acquire will NOT be usable without a one-time purchase of an Authorization. Your quickslot bars will be reduced to two (but you can purchase the
    other four as account unlocks if you wish). You will retain Cargo Hold access. Our goal is to make the transition as easy as we can for former subscribers,
    while putting in place the restrictions that make subscriber status a true value.

  • What happens if I decide to change from being a subscription player to a Free-to-Play player?
    
    Once your subscription has ended and you no longer have paid game time remaining on your account, your account will be changed to Preferred Status.
    
    As a Preferred Status player, access will be unlocked to the following features:
    
    The ability to run faster (Sprint) starting at Level 1.
    Cargo Hold access (Bank Slots) and higher login queue priority.
    Increased access to Chat and Secure Trading.
    Post more items for sale on the in-game Galactic Trade Network.
    
    If you convert to Preferred Status, you will need to choose which two (2) of your characters will remain active, and play those characters within the
    limits of Free-to-Play access.

• Free to Play
  
  As a free to play player you get access to the following:
  • Full Class story content from levels 1-50.
  • 5 Warzones per week. Weekly passes for 240 CC.
  • Flashpoint rewards limited to 3 per week. Weekly pass grants unlimited access to Boss Loot from Flashpoints. 240 CC.
  • 3 Space missions per week. Weekly passes for 240 CC.
  • Complete information on F2play Restrictions and Unlocks

• F2Play FAQ
  
  You will be able to purchase account altering items such as Warzone Passes off the GTN for in-game credits. Meaning that if you truely do not want to spend the money, you do not have to.
  

  • I had a Free Trial account but never purchased the game. Will I be able to use my account when the Free-to-Play option goes live as a Free player
    and will the restrictions be the same as before?
    
    Yes, you will absolutely be able to use your previous account. All Free Trial accounts will automatically convert to Free-to-Play accounts. Restrictions will be
    different, so be sure to check out

  • Official F2play FAQ

The Cartel Market is basically TF2 Hats. Complete with misc packs that have a chance to drop rare loot.

• Overview of the types of items you can obtain from the Cartel Market.
  • Cosmetic
  • Unlocks
  • Equipment
  • Consumables
  • Titles
  • Rare Items From Cartel Packs
  • Legacy Perks and Unlocks
  • Emotes, Moods, and Social
  • Weapons

Example rare item from Cartel Packs:

Here are some videos previewing what you can get out of the packs.

List of Unlocks, Pets, Armor, Speeders, and Misc. from the Cartel Market.

Be sure to check out the TOR |OT|

​

 

[Calidor]

very nice thread!

I have a question though, If I bought the game on the release date, used the first 30 days credit, and cancelled my subscription before they charged me the first paid month, am I considered a preferred o F2p player?

 

[Angelus Errare]

Dega coming back?

 

[vilmer_]

Can't wait to spend those cartel coins

 

[batman2million]

Will give it a try now.

 

[The Mana Legend]

The game was really fun for the first 15 levels. But after that, it became nearly unbearable to play. Have their been any major gameplay additions yet since I played it during the first two weeks of its release?

 

[MedIC86]

I was planning on playing again, but seeing i need to resub to claim my cartel coins i earned has made me lost all interest.

 

[distantmantra]

very nice thread!

I have a question though, If I bought the game on the release date, used the first 30 days credit, and cancelled my subscription before they charged me the first paid month, am I considered a preferred o F2p player?

Good question. I bought the game over the summer and have yet to activate my free month, but will probably do so tonight.

 

[BattleMonkey]

The game was really fun for the first 15 levels. But after that, it became nearly unbearable to play. Have their been any major gameplay additions yet since I played it during the first two weeks of its release?

Theres been a bunch of quality of life improvements such as quicker travel options and other features like group finder tools, but overall no new game features/content for the lower levels. All the newer content really was for the end game area of the game mainly.

 

[DTKT]

Do you still get sprint as a F2P player or is that reserved for the "preferred ones"?

 

[spindoctor]

Do you still get sprint as a F2P player or is that reserved for the "preferred ones"?

World's first "Pay to Sprint" game.

 

[sega4ever]

can i play as hk-47?

 

[BrokenSymmetry]

Do you still get sprint as a F2P player or is that reserved for the "preferred ones"?

Ha, "The Preferred Ones", I like that.

 

[x-Lundz-x]

Will give it a try now.

Same.

 

[Darklord]

can i play as hk-47?

No but you

Spoiler

kill HK-47

 

[jaxpunk]

And on the 17th everyone realizes why it went F2P.

 

[Azih]

Do you still get sprint as a F2P player or is that reserved for the "preferred ones"?

I think, you get Sprint at Level 10 or something if you're Free?

 

[Trigger]

I'll be returning. I did want to finish my sith warrior and jedi consular storylines. Is Keller's Void still the server GAF uses?

 

[Cystm]

I'll be returning. I did want to finish my sith warrior and jedi consular storylines. Is Keller's Void still the server GAF uses?

We're on Jedi Covenant.

 

[aett]

I think, you get Sprint at Level 10 or something if you're Free?

Level 14 for FTP, same as it was prior to 1.2.

 

[chickdigger802]

Y'all are lucky. Sprint was quite late when game started


Btw folks still playing. Does the game still perform like shit?

 

[Trigger]

It's in the OP. we're on Jedi covenant.

Oops I missed that. Thanks.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

Is it advisable to just use a 30-day subscription to create as many characters as possible (since F2P is limited to 2 slots)?

Y'all are lucky. Sprint was quite late when game started


Btw folks still playing. Does the game still perform like shit?

I remember the performance was terrible during beta but when I had a free trial a couple months ago, it was a lot better.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Is it advisable to just use a 30-day subscription to create as many characters as possible (since F2P is limited to 2 slots)?

Well when your account turns into a F2P (or Preferred after the 30-day sub) account you'll have to select 2 characters that you would like to keep playing with. The rest will be locked.

At least this is what I've been reading.

 

[Nokagi]

Hmm I wonder if I'll be a preferred member, I bought the game at release but canceled after the free month so I never actually paid for a subscription.

 

[Cystm]

Y'all are lucky. Sprint was quite late when game started


Btw folks still playing. Does the game still perform like shit?

They have optimized it a ton since launch and it runs great.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Hmm I wonder if I'll be a preferred member, I bought the game at release but canceled after the free month so I never actually paid for a subscription.

You'll be a preferred member at launch.

 

[BannedEpisode]

I played for a couple months when it launched.

Playing with a friend through the story is a lot of fun. Unfortunately it has very little staying power past max level. I would recommend playing the Bounty Hunter and Sith Warrior classes.

Seems like the F2P model is absolutely shitty though. It seems like they are going for the approach that says, "Hey its free but its gonna suck unless you sub" as opposed to "Hey play the game and if you like it feel free to buy some cool cosmetics or boosters for your characters".

But whatever, my point is that some of the classes are worth playing through.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Y'all are lucky. Sprint was quite late when game started


Btw folks still playing. Does the game still perform like shit?

Since game launched the various optimizations, I get about 20-25fps average more now, and that's with the newer and better visuals on as well. They have done lot of optimizations. It can still run choppy in the fleet area when you have 200 some people in that one station at one instance, but overall it runs good in game areas fine.

 

[Azih]

Well when your account turns into a F2P (or Preferred after the 30-day sub) account you'll have to select 2 characters that you would like to keep playing with. The rest will be locked.

At least this is what I've been reading.

Huh, I didn't know the F2P players had limited characters. Where is that documented?

 

[BattleMonkey]

Where did the art in the OP come from? Is that from the new Encyclopedia? Never seen it before

Huh, I didn't know the F2P players had limited characters. Where is that documented?

On the test server.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Huh, I didn't know the F2P players had limited characters. Where is that documented?

http://dulfy.net/2012/10/24/swtor-free-to-play-ftp-player-restrictions/

Ripster: There is a welcome screen that lists a benefit of subscribing as 10 additional slots. Will this mean subscribers will have 22 or that F2P will have 2?
Blaine: Great question and we want to make sure we’re clear on this one. Subscribers will still have 12 character slots available on a single server. F2P players will have 2 (as will Preferred). At Launch, we are not enforcing the penalty on subscribers who convert to Free-to-Play, but we will in a subsequent patch. A further wrinkle is that if you have more than two and you delete characters at Launch, you will not get that slot back. Example: I have 10 characters as a subscriber this November, but in December I cancel my subscription. When I login, I can still use all 10 characters (for now), but I cannot create new ones and if I delete one, I will have 9 and not be able to create another until I go down to 1. Make sense?

It also looks like I was wrong after reading that. If you do subscribe and you go down to F2P level, then you will still have access to your characters until a later patch.

 

[Azih]

http://dulfy.net/2012/10/24/swtor-free-to-play-ftp-player-restrictions/

Well this will be interesting. I was a Free trial member and I created 8 characters (one for each class). I wonder what will happen there....

 

[Nokagi]

You'll be a preferred member at launch.

Nice! I'm looking forward to playing the game again and checking out all the new changes , perhaps I'll get to finish that bounty hunter story that I started.

 

[StudioTan]

Huh, I didn't know the F2P players had limited characters. Where is that documented?

That's pretty standard. You can pay to unlock additional character slots. You can also, of course, just create another account since the game is free but then you'll lose the benefits of buying account wide unlocks.

It also looks like I was wrong after reading that. If you do subscribe and you go down to F2P level, then you will still have access to your characters until a later patch.

I read that as "we haven't finished coding that part yet".

 

[vilmer_]

Btw folks still playing. Does the game still perform like shit?

Definitely a massive improvement since launch. We had an organized world pvp event on Ilum and I can't believe how good it actually ran as opposed to previously.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

I read that as "we haven't finished coding that part yet".

Yep. I wonder how long it'll be until they get it in.

 

[A Human Becoming]

So are the story missions worth playing through?

 

[Ken]

So are the story missions worth playing through?

I enjoyed the Trooper story until the end.

 

[Jarnet87]

11 months before going Free to Play, is that about average with MMOs these days or a bit shorter then most?

I enjoyed the story mode and leveling up to a certain point, then the whole experience just became bland.

 

[Alur]

I'll be returning. I did want to finish my sith warrior and jedi consular storylines. Is Keller's Void still the server GAF uses?

Jedi Covenant is the new home of the brave. There are only 8 or so servers now, they massively consolidated and expanded server size. Populations are amazing now, raids and warzones etc all day and night now which is welcome from where KV ended up in the final days before the first merger.

Y'all are lucky. Sprint was quite late when game started


Btw folks still playing. Does the game still perform like shit?

My computer always did fine, but it definitely performs much better now. The fleet is the only place you may encounter problems if your rig is a little outdated since there's generally 200-240 on each instance of the fleet from early afternoon to late at night now.

 

[HBroward]

This should be added to the op:

From the press email "All former subscribers who reactivate their subscription by the new date of December 20, 2012 at 11:59am CDT will be granted Complimentary Cartel Coins for their prior paid months up to November 15, 2012."

So no rush for you former subscribers, you have over a month to resub and still receive your CC's.

 

[Alur]

So are the story missions worth playing through?

Most folks claim that's the best part. The Imperial Agent is generally touted as the best and it is quite Star Wars Bond-like, with Sith Warrior/Jedi Guardian etc all falling somewhere after. Myself, I'm a big fan of the PVP in SWTOR versus other MMOs.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

http://dulfy.net/2012/10/24/swtor-free-to-play-ftp-player-restrictions/

It also looks like I was wrong after reading that. If you do subscribe and you go down to F2P level, then you will still have access to your characters until a later patch.

Good to know, thanks. I mainly want to play the story missions for as many classes as possible since I've heard good things about them. Never been much of a PvP fan.

 

[Azzurri]

I've heard you have to pay for extra action bars?

 

[jmizzal]

Good now i can finish the story im on level 15 on two characters

 

[Dance Inferno]

I hope this game does well for the sake of my EA stock.

 

[RPGCrazied]

If it ever becomes truly free like Aion or some others, let me know. Seems to restricted for my tastes, even if free.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

I've heard you have to pay for extra action bars?

You are restricted to two quickbars (action bars) as a F2P account and have the option of purchasing more or sub to get them all. It used to be one quickbar until people complained. The quickbars should've never been a microtransaction in the first place as it doesn't make any sense other than to punish players.

 

[isual]

still wouldn't play it for what it's worth; seemed as if they downgraded the playstyle for free gamers.