SWTOR: Random Complaint thread. F2P means P2Win

[Guyverarmor]

Only complaint I really have is the lack of a Flashpoint Finder to queue in. Other than that, I am fine with the game and enjoying it...Unless I should be like everyone else and hate it.

[Alderaan]

I keep trying to get back into this but i can't last more than 30min every time i try after playing GW2.

[Guyverarmor]

I was able to get into the GW2 beta... honestly, I didn't like it. Came back to this game, started having fun.

[ringthree]

I was able to get into the GW2 beta... honestly, I didn't like it. Came back to this game, started having fun.

Well, the old saying goes "you may be the only one", but in this case, on BG, it might actually be literal truth.

[Guyverarmor]

And I am perfectly fine with that. I will not go around bitching and complaining about the game ..unlike some people on this forum do about games they do not like... It's great that people like it. The graphics I loved it...but everything
else could not grasp my liking.

[Trichocyst]

I really like TOR still, but almost all of my friends have abandoned me. Plus I have been busy with work.

[mistmonster]

I can't wait for my new computer because my laptop has an SSD hard drive and I can't fit Tera and SWTOR on it so SWTOR had to go ;; Been missing it but I'll probably be all alone when I get back lol

[ringthree]

And I am perfectly fine with that. I will not go around bitching and complaining about the game ..unlike some people on this forum do about games they do not like... It's great that people like it. The graphics I loved it...but everything
else could not grasp my liking.

Hey, to each there own. If you enjoy it, that's perfectly fine. It's just not a popular game, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Hey, almost all of us played FFXI for some period of time, so we know the feeling of playing a smaller game for the love, if not the quality.

[Guyverarmor]

Agreed Ringthree.

[ringthree]

1.3 million and I am sure they are still counting the 30 days in box as subs. Not looking good.

[Cleverness]

I mean, not to defend SWTOR since I don't like the game, but people look at WoW's numbers and assume that's the standard. Before that came out if an MMO had 100k subscribers it was pretty much really popular. Even if SWTOR only had half that as active that's not exactly bad, they'd just need to minimize the number of servers so it's not as barren and it'd still be a productive community. I think alot of us are just expecting an MMO to be overall the next big thing instead of just being successful to a niche community.

EVE Online is still popular, and we all played FF11 and we know that game had it's flaws. Nothing really wrong with a small community as long as the game properly caters to that community(like EVE does).

[Lordender]

Read they lost 400k subs since FEB.

[vrumpt]

You say that like it only happens to SWTOR. Every MMO has trouble retaining subs immediately after launch; SWTOR is actually doing pretty damn good compared to other games that release like Rift or Aion. Tera just came out and they'll have the same deal where 6 months after launch they'll be lucky to have 50% of their customers still subbed. Nothing new here, it was expected and i'm surprised they have 1.3 mil still.

Overall, SWTOR is doing pretty damn good.

[Ambrosia]

Yeah the article can be found here:


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ea-...?siteid=yhoof2


One trend I love seeing (especially on mmorpg.com) is how folks like to compare the typical theme park P2P games with EVE Online. You cannot compare any theme park game to EVE Online for various reasons. Yeah there is nothing wrong with a niche game, but if a game becomes too niche it will eventually hurt the P2P business model. And remember indie/small/mid-sized companies can get away with cloning EQ/EQII/WOW or Lineage/LineageII/Aion because it takes a fraction of cost and time compared to large AAA companies. They will make a decent profit at best, and they are fine with that.


EVE Online has one, maybe 2 direct competitors in the MMORPG genre, so they have way more breathing room than SWTOR has. The abundance of your typical theme park fantasy (whether medieval or fantasy or futuristic) is astounding... from the current 600 titles. Hell as a P2P model EVE Online and I think only one other title has shown to either have a huge player base or continue to grow in subscribers. The rest of them have had sharp declines post 2005. I would not be surprised if the actual drop is more than 25% but since they recently gave away free weekends and trials and the return campaign, I am sure that "softened" the blow. For a game that needs a substantial amount of folks to keep subscribed for the long term is not a good sign.


Had the game been made by Nexon for example (at a fraction of the cost and time: cut way more corners) then it wouldn't be nearly as bad. But considering the amount of resources that was needed for this game is pretty astounding. This game needs way more than your typical niche game to make a profit (if it plans to stay P2P).

[Ambrosia]

Wait how the hell is SWTOR doing fine when 90% or more of their servers are having issues keeping populations up for a game that isn't even 6 months old? Even on the official forums people are baffled as to why both the light AND normal populated servers feel like ghost towns most of the time. Considering that out of the 600 titles out there, SWTOR is probably the most if not the 2nd most expensive business venture out there, how is that in any shape or form good?


The recent free trials and welcome back campaign and free weekends probably played a major part to "soften" the actual drop off. It is most likely higher than that, and as history has shown us, most of these types of games continue to have a sharp decline. Only 2 P2P games since 2003 have been able to be the exception... EVE Online being one of them.


So how is this good?

[tol]

Just want to point out the welcome back campaign was in mid/late April and these numbers come from a quarter that ended March 31st, so there was no "softening" of these numbers.

[Ambrosia]

This just in... SWTOR is no longer a top 5 game for Arts of Electronica:


http://www.shacknews.com/article/736...t-a-top-5-game


They did say however that it is in the top ten and that SWTOR is more important than Tiger Woods.

Also:

"Frank Gibeau, another top executive at EA, said that no one is directly competing with EA’s Star Wars title in the massively multi-player online space, and no one else has the Star Wars brand behind it."

I agree SWTOR has Zero™ competition because it has the name Star Wars behind it in the MMORPG playing field.

[Isiolia]

You say that like it only happens to SWTOR. Every MMO has trouble retaining subs immediately after launch; SWTOR is actually doing pretty damn good compared to other games that release like Rift or Aion. Tera just came out and they'll have the same deal where 6 months after launch they'll be lucky to have 50% of their customers still subbed. Nothing new here, it was expected and i'm surprised they have 1.3 mil still.

Overall, SWTOR is doing pretty damn good.

Definitely true for MMOs as a whole. The 400k subscription drop for TOR is just kinda contrary to the statements just a couple weeks or so ago that subscription numbers aren't dropping. Apparently, they are, and fairly rapidly.

[Dantrag]

Like the Star Wars brand actually accounts for... anything.

[Ambrosia]

One new tidbit found here, note he took some important cliff notes from the streamed conference call:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=4289269

1. Wanting incorporate microtransactions to all EA titles, with shifting importance to making many of them Free to Play.

2. SWTOR profits for EA is in the top 10 but not top 5.

3. More Free to Play weekends coming.

4. When discussing the importance of TOR, put upcoming SimCity title ahead in importance.

5. Casual players have unsubscribed.