Wow, EA must really want to keep subs for SW:TOR...

[babinro]

I got the same email.

I think the logic behind the extension is because of the major patch that incorporates things like legacy levels. If that wasn't released I wouldn't have expected any sort of welcome back enticement offer until an expansion came out.

Frankly, I consider SWTOR to be far and away the best MMO I've ever played. I can't justify the monthly subscription. Especially since I only want to play the game casually, 3 or so hours a week.

 

[MPerce]

Sounds like smart business to me. They're doing everything they can to show they still want customers, and after the ME3 debacle they need to resort to some more extreme measures.

 

[Qitz]

I think the logic behind the extension is because of the major patch that incorporates things like legacy levels.

That's where my thought went first too. They've just released Patch 1.2 (The Jesus Patch) and want to show people who may have left because of X, Y or Z that the game has changed drastically and, hopefully, pull them back into SWTOR again.

All in all, it's not that dumb of an idea really.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Since most MMO players have the 'The game starts at max level' mentality, TOR gets screwed.

From it's inception, in my opinion, it was trying remind players that the game, and YOUR legacy starts at level 1. The choices YOU make affect YOUR game. SO, it wouldn't have the biggest selection of endgame content, these games never have when they first came out. Hell, WoW didn't have PVP in the beginning, but look at it now!

People who are so willing to cry 'SUCK!' without thinking are missing out on a great story. Not the lore of the game, not the overarcing plot.

They are missing out on THEIR story. Not the one most people stopped caring about in WoW. When I played that game, I stopped caring about the quest text, but with TOR, I feel that I am playing my game. My choices affect how the world treats me.

OP: They have probably realized that most people want endgame content, and they are trying to get this content ready before people cry 'This game sucks, I'm going back to '

 

[DaWaffledude]

Out of generosity? I'd have to say no. Out of desperation? I'd also have to say no. Out of a marketing ploy to make them seem generous? That's my guess.

 

[Lunar Templar]

doesn't apply to me cause i don't have a lvl 50 and haven't even logged in since before the legacy update.

nice to know they're trying though, now if they'd make the combat actually fun ......

 

[Verzin]

I very much doubt it was generosity. Desperation? maybe.

it is my own spiteful hope that it is desperation though. Shamefull to say it, but I almost hope that SWTOR fails. I'm still bitter that they promised KOTOR III and gave us a relatively fun, but soulless MMO instead.

 

[Tomeran]

Last I heard, SWTOR had just below 2 million active subs. Although that is tiny compared to WoW (which despite bleeding subs for over a year has at least 4 times as much), 2 million subs is by no means a small number, especielly not for a new title that's only been out a few months. Of course swtor is also the most expensive mmorpg ever made, so it remains to be seen if will turn a profit. But so far, its not looking as bleak as some people seem inclined to believe. One cant expect the game to hit WoW's sub numbers in a few months. It took WoW over 5 years to reach their peak numbers at a dozen million.

I doubt this is an act of desperation unless those sub numbers have started to crash. I find it more likely to be a marketing scheme to get people hooked before some other competitors hit the market. The MMORPG market is becoming more competitive now that WoW is slowly but surely dying.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

At this point it doesnt really matter anyway. Unless EA finish the cosmic mind control laser they are working on and convince every single person in the universe they desperately want to buy TOR, they will not turn a profit on that game anyway.

I mean, seriously. How does one spend 600 million on marketing and expect the game to make the money back?

If they spent more money developing their games instead of advertizing them, more people would probably buy them. You can only get away with so much shitty products before people realize that you're making shitty products.

 

[Shuguard]

I think the free month was really more of an offer to bring back old players and show them the new content since they probably didn't like sw tor at launch. Right now sw tor sits around 1.7 million subscribers which isn't completely horrible, but in terms of making up for the money spent it will take a long time.

What i want to know is where this whole free to play sw tor thing comes from? EA would never consider going free to play on this mmo. Look at Warhammer online it went from 169 servers(little less than half a million subs in it's prime) at launch down to less than 5,000 subscribes(1 euro and 1 NA servers w/ $15 a month sub) and it still hasn't gone free to play. EA will murder the game before it goes free to play. Hell even EA charges an extra $15-20 game passes to play sports games online (not included in xbox live costs).
I don't who exactly makes the call on whether or not it goes free to play, but if it is EA's decision it will never go that way. Bioware would only consider it a last ditch effort.

 

[Furioso]

Release a damned free trial and maybe I'll buy your game, I don't see how it could hurt them, and everyone I know hasn't bought it because they wouldn't be caught dead buying a product, then subscribing to a monthly fee for it before they even get a chance to try it

Edit: Never caught the free weekend things, I still think that's pretty dumb though, why limit it to special weekends?

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

At any rate, EA has right and reason to be scarred. WoW is coming back with a new expansion to bring back large portions of the community. GW2 is on the horizon and that's a lot new MMO for ToR to compete with for time.

Especially since GW2 is buy once - play forever deal. And it looks freakin' amazing! SWTOR won't last long if they don't make it free to play or change the game drastically.

 

[Shuguard]

What i want to know is where this whole free to play sw tor thing comes from? EA would never consider going free to play on this mmo. Look at Warhammer online it went from 169 servers(little less than half a million subs in it's prime) at launch down to less than 5,000 subscribes(1 euro and 1 NA servers w/ $15 a month sub) and it still hasn't gone free to play. EA will murder the game before it goes free to play.

If you were to ask me, EA has been trying to kill WaR with one hand since its launch. Either they can't kill a game like they used to or it dies hard.

True they have tried killing it without any advertising or too little, god awful pvp imbalances, lack of good content, and bugs so rampant you couldn't help but trip over one anywhere you traveled, but i think those last few people left are people who love the warhammer series too much to let it go, but it's pretty much on life support.

 

[getoffmycloud]

I find the thread title hilarious. Do you think they actually prefer people stopping their subscribtions?

Yeah its kind of state the obvious if I was running an MMO my primary aim would be to keep people subbed. I bet if this MMO wasnt published by EA this thread wouldn't even exist

 

[ExploreHer]

inb4 EA claims piracy is killing this game

 

[Agayek]

At any rate, EA has right and reason to be scarred. WoW is coming back with a new expansion to bring back large portions of the community. GW2 is on the horizon and that's a lot new MMO for ToR to compete with for time.

There's also TERA coming out this weekend, which is likely to take a not-insubstantial portion of the player base.

 

[Vrach]

I just got an E-mail saying all currently subbed accounts with a lvl 50 or a legacy lvl 6 account get a free month of game time, at first I thought it was a phishing scam or something, but no, I log into my account from the official website, lo and behold there was 30 days extra right after my time was about to expire.

So what say you escapist community, was this an act of pure generosity or cry of desperation?

Neither. It's a PR move.

It's not an act of pure generosity because EA's not in a position to be generous with TOR - between the linear world design and not much to offer in terms of longevity, it's not a game that's gonna last long, not without some serious redesign (which I personally don't think will come, though if rumours of incoming 3D space combat are true, there could be some hope)

It's not a cry of desperation either though. They're not offering game time to people who sub, they're giving free time to loyal fans who were there with them from the start(ish), as, considering the game's not as gamechanging as some thought it'd be, they're (that is, we're) the one who would be most pissed off. At best, they're (quite literally) buying time to come out with something good - which, considering some things announced for 1.3, might not be far from the truth.

 

[Substitute Troll]

This is EA we're talking about.

It's common sense to take everything EA says or does with a fuckton of salt and/or cynicism.