BioWare lays off staff on Star Wars: The Old Republic

Anyone notice in the EA presentation they announced a higher level cap? Haha, they haven't even balanced the game properly for 50 and now they want to add the extra stress on their devs of a new plateau? Nevermind the fact they're barely six months out the gate. These guys are trying to move way too fast and it will come back to haunt them.

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Hey guys! So I picked up the game for 20 the other day when was a deal of the day at best buy. I've read that it's going to be F2P up to level 15 in July. Here is my question.
Lets say I wait for the F2P to hit..play the game up to level 15..activate my subscription, level up as much as I can within 29 days then cancel my subscription. Will the game still be able to be F2P and allow me to keep my level 50 some character?

Originally Posted by ITDEFX Hey guys! So I picked up the game for 20 the other day when was a deal of the day at best buy. I've read that it's going to be F2P up to level 15 in July. Here is my question. Lets say I wait for the F2P to hit..play the game up to level 15..activate my subscription, level up as much as I can within 29 days then cancel my subscription. Will the game still be able to be F2P and allow me to keep my level 50 some character?

No it would not be F2P, it's only
F2P up to level 15.

What have I done? Resubbed because it's star wars! Hello The Bastion.

Originally Posted by j-cart What have I done? Resubbed because it's star wars! Hello The Bastion.

I'm still having a great time with it. Server transfers have also really boosted population.


I'm also really looking forward to the 1.3 Allies update going live today!

IT'S F2P NOW!

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/11/st...comment-261426

Not really. Still sub-based after level 15, so it's just an automated trial at this point; no more weekend invites.

Also, they've given us veterans a week of free play (ending 7/17) to try out their latest patch. I couldn't care less as I'm enthralled with Dragon's Dogma atm.

Still Free 2 Play for all. No money down and you can play around. That's good for enough for me...besides this is the first step to full on F2P

I loaded the game last night and began playing around with a human smuggler. The story stuff seems fun, but the combat is already feeling pretty tired.

It's also a shame that you can't chat with other players without subscribing.

Originally Posted by Swift900 It's also a shame that you can't chat with other players without subscribing.

No it's not. Keeps gold spam down.

Originally Posted by Swift900 I loaded the game last night and began playing around with a human smuggler. The story stuff seems fun, but the combat is already feeling pretty tired.

That is because you have only about 4 or 5 skills. I have 4+1 (cover action bar) skill bars filled. The game offers a lot of depth to how you want to play your character when you start placing points into the skill tree.

Though story PvE combat is a bore sometimes, FP and Operations require more attention.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

they are re-releasing kotor 1 and 2 for $20. it comes out next week, not sure if it will be patched good for windows 7, but the sith lords restored contect mod is supposed to be good. if it was 10 bucks for both games instead of 20, that would be easier to swallow esp if it is just a straight re release without actually fixing the game.

I think a game journalist could field a really interesting multi-article feature on SWTOR. In the right hands, an overview of the conception, development, release, and decline of this game would be interesting both in terms of MMORPGs (in context of gaming itself) and the value of IP/branding (in context of the industry). I'm still surprised at how this played out for EA/Bioware. It's been very interesting to follow (even though I haven't played a minute of the game).

In terms of WoW killer, yes it flopped in the numbers department. In terms of it still having an active community? People are still playing and enough of them are playing to prevent this game from becoming F2P.

Currently on The Bastion west coast PvP and the game is thriving. Current guild has 18-20 people to run ranked PvP with every night and PvE is a breeze to get groups with now. At launch the were issues, but as of 1.3 a lot of those have been addressed. Certainly not good for EA that they released the game without some key features, but PvP right now is certainly entertaining in the correct way.

MMORPGs are tough for most people to get into. For one, the learning curve and grind is there for a reason (money! okay a joke) but it is there to teach the player what it takes to keep up with the end game content.

Its value as a pvp experience or active (though not thriving) community is immaterial. I can't think of another example of an IP this big and that much development money and prestige being used on a game. They didn't set out to make an okay game that might struggle and eventually go F2P; they set out to establish a cash cow out of the gate. And they failed.

I don't know that their intent was "WoW killer," but they certainly recognized that there was an opportunity in all of those WoW monthly subscriptions. If the numbers released, this thread, and other resources are a decent measure, then they didn't retain those subs beyond a few months after release. The analogy I'd use (which may not be accurate) is that EA wanted to create a Pepsi to Activision's Coke. And again, they failed.

The story IMO isn't compelling because a reader might hate Bioware, or EA, or Star Wars, it's just interesting given the time taken, the resources used, the visibility of the project, the value of the IP, and the challenges faced. From start to finish, it's a good one.

The saddest part of this tale is it was the game that killed SWG simply because they didn't want two competing SW MMOs. I bet money that SWG would still be around right now if not for TOR and it's sad SWG was the better game, even after the NGE and eight years.

I never played SWG but everyone I talk to said it became pure crap near the end and they enjoy SWTOR much more. There were a few ideas they liked about SWG but on the whole enjoy SWTOR much more.

I'm still thoroughly enjoying SWTOR and with the server transfers the 12 main servers have been remaining well populated.

You know I still haven't opened up my copy from the BB DOTD sale back in June. Should I just go ahead and return it?

Originally Posted by ITDEFX You know I still haven't opened up my copy from the BB DOTD sale back in June. Should I just go ahead and return it?

I'd try to sell it. The $20 price you spent is less than it goes for right now, could prolly make $10 by selling it.

Unless you wanna play the game soon.