I saw this post today: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.378811-BioWare-Considers-Free-to-Play-For-The-Old-Republic
Along with this: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117133-The-Old-Republic-Population-Shrinking
For those who don't want to read the articles: What it comes down to is that SWTOR's subscriptions are in drastic decline and they are considering making it free to play THIS soon after release (it came out in December 2011). WOW has like 10 million subscribers while SWTOR only had like 1.7 and now has about 1.3 million. Every day if I go online I see that most of the servers have a very light population. In my experience you rarely EVER see another player. One who has played the game will usually admit that it has many things that are much better than what WOW offers, so why is it doing so crap?
Am I the only one who is aware of the fact that SWTOR is made available in only TWO CONTINENTS?
While WOW is available internationally ?
Areas where SWTOR is available:
North America and Europe (Some countries).
Areas where their competitor's games (including wow) are available:
North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, South America and also 20 countries of Europe that SWTOR does not cover.
I personally had to import the game from amazon, which in total cost about $150 for the standard edition. The alternative was to download the digital version and buy the cd key online but you can't because Origin is also locking other countries out and you need to go through proxies and shit which I always thought criminals did to steal money but in this case you need to do it to GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY. It's like EA seriously doesn't want your fucking money.
Then I had to wait 4 months for it NOT to arrive.
Then I had to wait as they send another one, it arrived last week from today.
I installed it but couldn't update until I had a subscription. "Hmmmm, I'm new at this subscription thing but won't the time used for updating still count as play time and just waste subscription time? Can't I update FIRST and THEN start a subscription to avoid wasting valuable and expensive play time? Nah I'm sure the game time only starts to count down when you can actually play the game, EA aren't such big dicks." So I linked my cd-key to my SWTOR account. EA wants your credit card details too. "Eeerm, okay. I'm going to need to use my dad's because I can't use mine for certain reasons but he's over seas so I'll just wait for him to come back next week. I'll just let the game update in the mean time".
What happens:
The game cannot update.
EA HAS To have my credit card details.
The days remaining for my subscription are decreasing regardless of the fact that I have not given them my credit card details and cannot play or update."I am sitting here, being charged for a game I am deliberately being prevented from playing even though the first month is free and shouldn't need any credit card details, didn't EA win an award for practices like this? Oh yeah, it was the Golden poo award".
Personally I am not surprised at all that this game isn't doing well. It's a shame too, Bioware did a pretty good job with the game, it's EA's decisions that are leaving it worse off. I guess this is why many people thought that EA would really screw up bioware now that they own them.
On a different note, yes the subscription system is an abomination. Free to play would be much better and bring in many customers. Buy to play would be ideal but that won't return a profit.
So forum, wouldn't it be ideal for SWTOR if EA sold it internationally so it can ACTUALLY COMPETE against other mmos? I mean look at the subscribers it has from merely two countries, think of the many more the rest has to offer. And is it not true that the f2p system would make the game more approachable to new players?
Eventually my dad showed up and activated the account with his credit card and EA charged him for a dollar (to ping him or something I was told by someone on the forums). Luckily the game updates quickly and I only lost ONE week of subscription time.
It's no surprise that with service like this, people severely dislike EA. This subscription model needs to be ripped out and cast aside.
Along with this: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117133-The-Old-Republic-Population-Shrinking
For those who don't want to read the articles: What it comes down to is that SWTOR's subscriptions are in drastic decline and they are considering making it free to play THIS soon after release (it came out in December 2011). WOW has like 10 million subscribers while SWTOR only had like 1.7 and now has about 1.3 million. Every day if I go online I see that most of the servers have a very light population. In my experience you rarely EVER see another player. One who has played the game will usually admit that it has many things that are much better than what WOW offers, so why is it doing so crap?
Am I the only one who is aware of the fact that SWTOR is made available in only TWO CONTINENTS?
While WOW is available internationally ?
Areas where SWTOR is available:
North America and Europe (Some countries).
Areas where their competitor's games (including wow) are available:
North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, Africa, South America and also 20 countries of Europe that SWTOR does not cover.
I personally had to import the game from amazon, which in total cost about $150 for the standard edition. The alternative was to download the digital version and buy the cd key online but you can't because Origin is also locking other countries out and you need to go through proxies and shit which I always thought criminals did to steal money but in this case you need to do it to GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY. It's like EA seriously doesn't want your fucking money.
Then I had to wait 4 months for it NOT to arrive.
Then I had to wait as they send another one, it arrived last week from today.
I installed it but couldn't update until I had a subscription. "Hmmmm, I'm new at this subscription thing but won't the time used for updating still count as play time and just waste subscription time? Can't I update FIRST and THEN start a subscription to avoid wasting valuable and expensive play time? Nah I'm sure the game time only starts to count down when you can actually play the game, EA aren't such big dicks." So I linked my cd-key to my SWTOR account. EA wants your credit card details too. "Eeerm, okay. I'm going to need to use my dad's because I can't use mine for certain reasons but he's over seas so I'll just wait for him to come back next week. I'll just let the game update in the mean time".
What happens:
The game cannot update.
EA HAS To have my credit card details.
The days remaining for my subscription are decreasing regardless of the fact that I have not given them my credit card details and cannot play or update."I am sitting here, being charged for a game I am deliberately being prevented from playing even though the first month is free and shouldn't need any credit card details, didn't EA win an award for practices like this? Oh yeah, it was the Golden poo award".
Personally I am not surprised at all that this game isn't doing well. It's a shame too, Bioware did a pretty good job with the game, it's EA's decisions that are leaving it worse off. I guess this is why many people thought that EA would really screw up bioware now that they own them.
On a different note, yes the subscription system is an abomination. Free to play would be much better and bring in many customers. Buy to play would be ideal but that won't return a profit.
So forum, wouldn't it be ideal for SWTOR if EA sold it internationally so it can ACTUALLY COMPETE against other mmos? I mean look at the subscribers it has from merely two countries, think of the many more the rest has to offer. And is it not true that the f2p system would make the game more approachable to new players?
Eventually my dad showed up and activated the account with his credit card and EA charged him for a dollar (to ping him or something I was told by someone on the forums). Luckily the game updates quickly and I only lost ONE week of subscription time.
It's no surprise that with service like this, people severely dislike EA. This subscription model needs to be ripped out and cast aside.
