BioWare Considers Free-to-Play For The Old Republic

[Andy Chalk]

BioWare Considers Free-to-Play For The Old Republic

BioWare Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi says The Old Republic studio needs to be "flexible and adapt to what's going on."

Things have been going perhaps not quite as smoothly for BioWare's layoffs [http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-Pc/dp/B001CWXAP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339788461&sr=8-1&keywords=star+wars+the+old+republic] followed.

BioWare had previously insisted that subscriber numbers weren't falling but with the cat out of the bag, it now appears ready to take drastic action to turn things around, including, possibly, a switch to free-to-play. A number of other big-name MMOs have made the transition and Lusinchi suggested that they, as much as World of Warcraft, are putting the pressure on The Old Republic.

"If it was just free-to-play games and they weren't very good it wouldn't even be a question but there are definitely good games out there and good games coming out, so of course all of this competition impacts your plan with what you want to do," he told GamesTM [http://www.gamestm.co.uk/discuss/star-wars-the-old-republic-we-are-looking-at-free-to-play-says-lead-designer/].

"The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well. Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations," he continued. "So we are looking at free-to-play but I can't tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on."

Free-to-play is a perfectly valid and viable approach for MMOs to take, as evidenced by the post-F2P success of games like Dungeons & Dragons Online, Age of Conan and Lord of the Rings Online, not to mention the growing number of games that are built on the free-to-play model from the ground up. Even so, it'd be hard to see a changeover of a marquee game like The Old Republic, especially so soon after launch, as anything but a huge defeat and climbdown for EA.

For some reason, the original interview with Lusinchi has been pulled, but fortunately here [http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06/15/bioware-considering-free-to-play-for-star-wars-the-old-republic/].

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/172482/BioWare_looking_at_freetoplay_for_Star_Wars_The_Old_Republic.php]


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[Waaghpowa]

As much as I enjoy SWTOR and continue to play it, the whole MMO genre is getting tiresome. I can't even find enjoyment from WoW anymore, and this is coming from someone who has played the same character on the same server since the original release day.

Monthly subs in general really need to go, or at least reduce the cost.

 

[getoffmycloud]

I would be interested in this if it went free to play so I hope it does.

 

[Worgen]

I would be tempted if it went f2p but only if it didn't need origin, I passed on bf3 because of that and I'm not giving in for some mmo based on a property I don't find particularly interesting anymore.

 

[Sneezeguard]

I'm guessing EA didn't want people to know this just yet and was scared of investor reactions to this so they're trying to suppress it for now and trying to come up with a way too spin this

 

[Sixcess]

I'm guess EA didn't want people to know this just yet and was scared of investor reactions to this so they're trying to suppress it for now and trying to come up with a way too spin this

Likely, but there's been further comments from EA themselves here

""We're going to be in the business from a long term standpoint so absolutely we're going to embrace free access, free trial, ultimately some day we can move in and embrace that model. It's all a matter of timing and thinking things through. We have a great business right now and we're not looking to make any abrupt changes."

So it's not going to happen overnight.

It's not a bad game and I'm glad to see they're willing to look at this rather than run it into the ground entirely with stubborn refusals to admit there's anything wrong. Given EA's track record that wouldn't have surprised me at all.

But... unless their latest sub numbers are staggeringly bad I'm still surprised they're even willing to talk about it. Fallen Earth, a much smaller indie MMO, lasted two years from 2009-2011 on a P2P model, so to see EA even thinking about making the shift after only 6 months or so makes me wonder just how far below their real expectations TOR has performed.

 

[Zaik]

Everyone who had bet money on TOR making it 6 months before going F2P just felt a weight come off their shoulders. It's only 5 days away.

I'm guessing they wait until the 21st though.

 

[Paragon Fury]

We all called it.

You can't charge a subscription for an MMO that is in every way inferior to WoW and expect it to work.

If it wasn't for the Star Wars brand, TOR would've been F2P 2-3 months ago.

GW2 could possibly get away with it, but part of their plan is to not have subscriptions anyway. TERA could last using a subscription model too, if they sort out their PvP and a couple other minor/important issues soon.

 

[Sneezeguard]

Likely, but there's been further comments from EA themselves here

""We're going to be in the business from a long term standpoint so absolutely we're going to embrace free access, free trial, ultimately some day we can move in and embrace that model. It's all a matter of timing and thinking things through. We have a great business right now and we're not looking to make any abrupt changes."

So it's not going to happen overnight.

It's not a bad game and I'm glad to see they're willing to look at this rather than run it into the ground entirely with stubborn refusals to admit there's anything wrong. Given EA's track record that wouldn't have surprised me at all.

At first they were like that with the refuseal to merge servers but they've decided a more subtle aproach by offer free server transfers, one of EA's better moves but I'm suprised it took them so long to do it. It was quite simple (I and I assume others were thinking of the months ago).

I do agree it wasn't a bad game. It was a bit grindy but I could live with that. What kill it for me was a lack of endgame content, at start it began with 6 Hard mode Flashpoints and 1 operation compared to cataclysm which had 10 dungeons 3 raids and 1 mini (one boss) raid.

And the pvp was unbalanced (yes I know "the PvP player says the PvP's unbalanced" but it really was!) playing a sith marauder was painful at times, I have no idea how they greenlit a nearly 100% melee class who only had 2 range moves (both were range only range 10) and no way to break out of slows except a 2min cd and slow was very spammable by range, also force jump was kinda useless because evey range class had a knockback and it had no CC!!

In short melee (mainly the marauder/jedi knight) was too kiteable and had very little up time on range.

And the pvp maps were a bit poorly designed, so was the world pvp on ilum.

And lack of standard MMO features.

But... unless their latest sub numbers are staggeringly bad I'm still surprised they're even willing to talk about it. Fallen Earth, a much smaller indie MMO, lasted two years from 2009-2011 on a P2P model, so to see EA even thinking about making the shift after only 6 months or so makes me wonder just how far below their real expectations TOR has performed.

I'm guessing they will go F2P because to prevent people jumping ship to GW2 mainly due to hype/it's F2P.

 

[draythefingerless]

We all called it.

You can't charge a subscription for an MMO that is in every way inferior to WoW and expect it to work.

If it wasn't for the Star Wars brand, TOR would've been F2P 2-3 months ago.

GW2 could possibly get away with it, but part of their plan is to not have subscriptions anyway. TERA could last using a subscription model too, if they sort out their PvP and a couple other minor/important issues soon.

The WoW subscriptions will most likely slowly leak into one of these 3 overtime, and the tiranny of WoW over the market is on its twilight.

 

[boyvirgo666]

As much as I enjoy SWTOR and continue to play it, the whole MMO genre is getting tiresome. I can't even find enjoyment from WoW anymore, and this is coming from someone who has played the same character on the same server since the original release day.

Monthly subs in general really need to go, or at least reduce the cost.

I have yet to find one game that does "Free-To-Play" right. It always ends up as "Free-To-Pay" instead. Even LOTRO or D&D didn't do it right. I don't want to pay to get the good stuff, or have to pay to unlock certain areas. I want to pay a set amount each month for EVERYTHING. Not have content stripped away to have to pay for.

uh..dc universe did it incredibly well actually.

 

[INeedAName]

I hope they do. I bought the game at release date, got 14 free days and the complimentary free first month, so about 6 weeks worth of play. At that time I managed to play through the Sith Warrior story and a few other characters to mid lvl. I had a great time doing it, but then school kicked in and it really wasn't worth to pay for a subscription.

So, good news for me if they do. I actually kind a liked the writing in the game.

Just make sure you do it right though. No 'pay-to-win' or other such stupid sh*t! Have players pay for conveniance; like the ability to carry around more stuff or to lvl up faster. Since this is a bioware game, you may also ask them if they want to pay for additional stories besides the main one, or even interesting new companions. Sort of like (good) dlc, not essential, but fun to have.

 

[JaceArveduin]

As much as I enjoy SWTOR and continue to play it, the whole MMO genre is getting tiresome. I can't even find enjoyment from WoW anymore, and this is coming from someone who has played the same character on the same server since the original release day.

Monthly subs in general really need to go, or at least reduce the cost.

I have yet to find one game that does "Free-To-Play" right. It always ends up as "Free-To-Pay" instead. Even LOTRO or D&D didn't do it right. I don't want to pay to get the good stuff, or have to pay to unlock certain areas. I want to pay a set amount each month for EVERYTHING. Not have content stripped away to have to pay for.

Um, you can continue to play LotRO like it was a subscription based game, due to the fact it kept it's subscription system (and you have to have it to take your 'freep' into th Ettenmoors anyway) It unlocks everything that came with the original game, Shadows of Angmar, just like most other subscription games. If you want to play Mines of Moria as a subscriber, you still have to buy the expansion. They also give you 500 or so points a month, which you can use to buy the expansions and such off the store. Then you earn more points for just doing deeds.

Honestly, do you really expect a company to make the entire thing Free to Play? They've got to make cash somehow to keep the content coming so they can keep players.

 

[porpoise hork]

Not at all surprised that F2P is on the table. If Bioware goes this route and sets up a micro-transaction system they could make a lot more money than the standard monthly sub system allows. The thing is still wont help them much if they can't get more end game content in the game and fast.

Everyone who had bet money on TOR making it 6 months before going F2P just felt a weight come off their shoulders. It's only 5 days away.

I'm guessing they wait until the 21st though.

Yeah a buddy of mine is sweating cause he is about to owe me $100 bucks.

 

[Callate]

I'm trying to remember if I've heard the phrase "we need to be dynamic" used to mean "we need to switch to doing the same thing as virtually everyone else in our sector" before... Maybe if I spent more time in board rooms...

 

[INF1NIT3 D00M]

I liked this game, but after paying 70-something dollars for the special edition, I wasn't in any position to pay 15 bucks a month to play the game. I'd be down for it if that month of playtime only counted while I was playing. As it stands, I played the game for about two weeks out of the free month I got before I decided I'd rather play something else, and the other two weeks went unused. I'll play this game to death if it goes free-to-play, and I may even be able to join up with some buddies who are interested but have no disposable income to speak of.

Here's hoping.