I just installed the game on my MAC (for better graphics), and played for 3 min just to try it. First thoughts on restrictions:
2 Character slot limit per server, basically invalidates the entire Legacy system, but it was crap anyway. Also, I have four old characters on one server, wonder what will happen to those.
Choosing Rewards - I finished a mission, and could only select 3 of my four options, silly restriction, but I can live with it.
Experience points reduced - HALLELUJA! F2P players now get reduced EXP amount, which is such a great blessing in disguise. One of my biggest complaints in SWTOR was that I was leveling TOO FAST and was always overpowered compared to my quests. Hopefully this "restriction" will fix that problem.
Crew Skills - I can only keep 2? What and why? The entire crafting part of the game is made up around the concept of a trinity (one skill collects mats, one constructs intermediate products and one the final products....). Have no idea of which Crew Skill to loose...
That was all I noted during my 3 minutes of gameplay, more is sure to come.
I was going over what content is paid, and the end result appears to be stripping so much content from the "Core" game that it forces players to subscribe (or pay a marked-up unlocking fee) just to feel like they're playing a complete game. I'm reminded of the Xbox Live trials that pop windows up at every turn saying "You would have gotten an achievement here if you bought the full game!"
And the existing community is incredibly hostile to f2pers. Not even WoW's general chat shenanigans disgusted me as much as the casual corrosive hatred on display here.
I doubt you'll feel like a Public Enemy, just play the game and enjoy it.
Originally posted by General Kaliero
I was going over what content is paid, and the end result appears to be stripping so much content from the "Core" game that it forces players to subscribe (or pay a marked-up unlocking fee) just to feel like they're playing a complete game. I'm reminded of the Xbox Live trials that pop windows up at every turn saying "You would have gotten an achievement here if you bought the full game!"
All depends on what you want from the game. If you want an endgame MMO with raiding etc, then you definitely need to sub. However if you are like me, a big fan of KotOR or otherwise a big fan of storybased RPGs, then the game is perfect. You get to play through the entire story, storymissions leading towards flashpoints are infrequent enough that the 3 flashpoints a week limitation won't matter and the leveling is otherwise not much hampered by the F2P restrictions.
Also, where are the Euro KMCers playing? I have now filled up my original server with 4 characters, so I need a new server for the other stories, might as well try and see if I can't meet any of you there.
Originally posted by Morridini
Huh, I felt that leveing was way too fast paced.
I have yet to try an MMO where I thought leveling was too fast-paced. GW2 gets the pace just right for me; TOR was like WoW in which it was painfully slow. The quests aren't interesting enough to feel like they're really worth it (go kill 20 of these!), and farming regular mobs was slow and boring.
Also I disagree that it depends on what you want from the game. No matter what you want, you're going to hit a wall if you're playing free and find something that you have to pay for. I'm a huge fan of story-based RPGs. If they had left the game as it was when it went f2p and instead of restricting free players they gave perks to subbed players, then I'd think it'd be worth it. But restricting dungeons and crafting? This story-oriented player says "get the **** out".
Star Wars levelling wasn't too fast for me. It wasn't too slow either. I guess I was spoiled playing Star Trek Online, where levelling is a lot quicker.
Honestly though, I can't see myself playing this game without subbing. I just feel like there are way too many restrictions for me to enjoy it as much as I was before (and I was really enjoying it).
Currently DLing it. With most MMO's I play, I do it for the gaming experience. In this case, to be honest, I just want to see Bioware's storytelling for the game. Personally, I'm not too worried about all the F2P restrictions but I can see how it can be a complete drag.
I think keeping a decent core of a game as free and then having huge extra's for subbing or buying items is the best way to make money. If you make F2P super restrictive you lead to this happening:
Originally posted by Nephthys
Gog damn, dem restrictions. Thats pretty much unplayable. Whats even the point anymore, I doubt they'll get a ton of new or returning customers with those kinds of restrictions.
The whole point of F2P is to get an influx of new gamers in game and then wow them. Have them immerse themselves in the experience to the point where you can convert them into buying something small that enhances their experience. Then again, and again. Pretty soon that customer becomes more lucrative than if they had been paying a subscription fee because they are buying in small amounts of $2-$5 so it doesn't trigger in their mind that they just spent a total $24 on the game last month.
If you restrict so much that the game is not fun while free, most people will just get frustrated and delete the game.
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As far as stories go, I've heard that the Jedi Knight's and Smugglers have the best. Any thoughts on favorite classes (for stories, not gameplay)?