Written by: (@garygannon) | August 8, 2012 7:00 pm

53 Comments

This week on The Republic there is only one topic of conversation but it’s a BIG one…Star Wars The Old Republic going Free 2 Play.  Enjoy!

The Republic EP 101: Star Wars The Old Republic Going Free2Play

  • tommythepower

    Really cool to see the picture i posted on reddit here :) awesome.

    • SevenFold

      Nice pic! 

    • http://profiles.google.com/gl7676 gl 7676

      Yeah, kudos, was a great pic!

  • http://twitter.com/K0ndra Madao

    Star Wars The Old Republic is not worth playing. Not even worth playing for the story. They messed up the KOTOR story. Even it is BioWare! Uuu! BioWare! They know no **** how to make MMO. I played beta for five minute and uninstalled it immediately. Then I stupidly bought the game, because I love KOTOR and I wanna see the lore. Big mistake! Soon TOR will be f2p, but there is some many better f2p mmo games! Don’t make Star Wars or KOTOR fool you!!

    • http://twitter.com/K0ndra Madao

      They should reborn Star Wars: Galaxies!!!!

    • http://profiles.google.com/gl7676 gl 7676

      Never played kotor or swg. Could care less about the story or the lore.

      I like SW:ToR for the PvP graphics and mechanics. Keeps me entertained. If they come out with a PvP f2p package, I’d buy that and drop my sub but still keep playing.

    • David Alcon

      The story is actually really good. Multiple play throughs also show you how each Class & Companion story is linked, as well as how both Republic and Empire planet stories intertwine. It can be hard to appreciate if you are rushing through it or don’t like to play alts. Its a shame you did not enjoy it, but it sounds like SWTOR was just not your cup of tea.

      • Jant0n

         I loved the story in the game but still felt it needed to have meaningful choices that branch your class story. Also, having two planets per leveling bracket would have been nice; as it is the story is very linear. Had they done this I would have stuck with the game a lot longer.

  • RolyVento

    I enjoyed SWTOR until the end levels, there was nothing really to do. I hope the same thing don’t happen to Guild Wars 2, I hope developers learn to create things to do at end game, this is what keeps people playing and buying expacks.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/ITHF7XKYGVXFAPCDMDJTKHLBBU Lian Wan

      There is a 100% chance this will happen in GW2(for some people) but anyone who drops $60 on something without research probably didn’t need the money anyway.

      • RolyVento

        I have been in all of the GW2 beta and have enjoyed it alot, did not test out higher level content and just hope there are stuff to do at level 80. So this time I am going to take my time and not rush to 80, maybe delayed my leveling experience to give them time to add more stuff.

        I still play GW1 and the end level is level 20 but with lots of repeatable quest to do and mission and skill challenges and stuff of that nature… am sure Guild Wars 2 will have a few things for us to do at end level.

  • http://profiles.google.com/gl7676 gl 7676

    I really hope they drop the $15 or so they plan on charging for the game when they go f2p.

    If they are really serious of enticing more people to play, they need to remove all barriers of entry.

    • ssjjr21

      I doubt it’ll be completely free to play, I mean EA is calling the shots here.

  • http://profiles.google.com/gl7676 gl 7676

    Ed Park totally gets how f2p should work, why isn’t he a business analyst at a major gaming company? This guy can make somebody a lot of $$$.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/ITHF7XKYGVXFAPCDMDJTKHLBBU Lian Wan

      What makes you think he would enjoy that job?

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/W76UOX2IDTRMMYTPASSJDLXLRM Bob

      Yup. Very good money in being a gaming consultant and this is what they do. Give good ideas. He certainly knows his stuff.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/Z36GPOU3Q2QIQYBIDVNQAVGNGE Raul

    I get the feeling that Somewhere at Bio Ware is someone that has never played a video game for more than a few Minutes,
    and that they care more about Money than making a good game…..

    also What is a Cartel Coint?
    I am going to spend the rest of my day calling the Swtor bean-counters coints.

    • MMO_Doubter

       The suits at the top probably are not gamers. Unless you count golf and ‘he who dies with the most toys – wins.’ as games.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EQPUBED7JUPX5RBEQSBVRBXX7E Gramis

    You will NOT have to pay $15 to play for free. Via the FAQ:

    With the Free-to-Play option, no subscription will be required! You will be able to download and play Star Wars™:
    The Old Republic™ all the way up to level 50 for free, with gameplay
    restrictions that limit access to advanced features and group content

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Alex-Mac/777995513 Alex Mac

      It’s just the “box fee”.

  • http://www.facebook.com/davidallmighty David Cohen

    Awww Justin is such a fanboy, he couldn’t see the F2P happening…. he is so cute

  • joe stallion

    Why don’t SWTOR just go B2P less headache for them and charge for small expansions.
    They can maintain their old players.
    It will get more from new subs and this B2P game will be quite attractive for single players too.

  • Matt Korneffel

    Justin Lowe is emberassing, I’ve watching his constant fanboyism and denial of SW:ToRs failure over some 20+ episodes. I mean comon I understand you have Darth Hater etc. but have some dignity.

    Losing serious personal credibility every time you continue to try and ‘spin’ the positive SW:TOR angles. Its a bad f’kin game, its mechanically/systemically (in game) badly designed, its on a horrible engine, it has serious flaws in gameplay (Delay/Responsive Feel), it has horrible Endgame PvE and PvP (PvP due to the before mentioned),

    EA is in fact… in control (total) of Bioware and doing the same with them as they did with Mythic and long ago Westwood… no SW:TOR is not “ok… just not as great as it was supposed to be”… it is “A BAD MMO… BY A BAD COMPANY”.

    Freaking say it… this is like freakin religion… stop being in this denial, open your eyes.

    P.S.: The fact that this episode is under 40min… tells the tale of this game.

    • tommythepower

      Your argument is beyond braindread, if you like a game and i tell you its crap in every way but you like it….see how dumb that is..dont be so hateful because some like something you dont like.

      • Revanhavoc

        There is such a thing as an objective opinion. To deny that is to deny reason.

        Art may be subjective in some respects, but I wouldn’t call SWTOR art.

    • blonyandcheese

      Holy Shit! I don’t like the game either…BUT BY ALL THAT IS HOLY…lighten up Francis.

    • MMO_Doubter

       You can’t eat dignity. It won’t pay your rent or your electricity bill.

  • Matt Korneffel

    I feel like i’m being too harsh… but I don’t want to edit my original thoughts. The reason I am frustrated by your comments and reactions Justin is that I actually respect you quite a lot.

    I believe you’re far too intelligent to continue to stick like this to SW:TOR. Its frustrating to see you be so passive (for lack of better terms) towards the seriously “bad” SW:TOR.

    People in your position shouold be more critical, it would force better development.

    • MMO_Doubter

      GBTV and the other ‘gaming’ sites are part of the industry. They have a stake in selling these crap MMOs.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Caliolo/100003765889295 Robert Caliolo

    A good solution to FTP is charge for NEW content, ie expansions.
    Where as before the subs would get free new content because they are already paying, this makes the FTP person pay for new content be it high end or new class story content.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael-Johnson/1353890372 Michael Johnson

    Wait, they’re making it B2P but won’t give you the content UNTIL you sub?

    Why would anyone take this deal when they could play something like GW2 and get all the content up front? 

  • AkumaShogun259

    Jeff Hickman is the root of all that is evil in the MMO industry!

    • http://twitter.com/MrSunrock Sunrock

       No all evil in the MMO industry comes form all the casual players

      • MMO_Doubter

        No, the casual players come from the designs the marketing departments force on the devs.

        • Revanhavoc

          It’s a chicken and the egg debate…Truth is the demand for casual is there – businesses aren’t driving it home for no reason.

  • http://twitter.com/crocodilius ryan phillips

    is hope solo related to han solo because i think Sinclair shot first

  • Cripplerca

    Legacy should be only given to sub players

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/RAHQ6XOIAVJHM4ZOWRAPAODRQA Michael B

    At just under 40 minutes,this is by far the shortest Republic show they’ve made.Over/Under should be done on how much longer GBTV makes Republic shows,I’d be surprised  if it’s longer than 6 months,and that may be quite generous

  • http://twitter.com/cipero Matt Cipriano

    You will not have to buy the game in order to play the game. This is the exact reason the game is being sold for 15 bucks right now and the collector’s editions are being sold for as low as $30 that I have seen. (Gamestop). Theya re selling them now because the game will have no value once it goes f2p (value as a purchase-able game) 

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shawn-Hargrave/100003202374593 Shawn Hargrave

    Taugrim was right on the money i have to say.

    I find it crazy that thier giving away the story to and trying to charge for end game LMAO. Theres very little end game its just such a joke.

    I held out for 6 months for open world objective based pvp then i hear “were waiting on technology” Then all the focus was put into warzones. I cant see getting gear to do the same warzones over and over and you still cant choose thats the worst part.

    I hope jeff hickman replaced james ohlen i doubt this jeff guys much better he could have been the janitor at bioware for all i know lol.

    justin and them are the same on the site. Ive got numerous warnings for suposed trolling b/c i said something negative and set off the carbears on there. They seem to be coming around though finally todays post about 1.4 was basically the same thing i got infractions on there site for lol.

    I  was expecting to stay in swtor for years but gabe/james incompetence has no bounds. George zoeller caused a lot of issues then took off to singapore pff.

    Im still mad about stephen ried he was hands down the best pr guy ive seen and they axe him and let dumb and dumber (gabe/james) keep thier jobs.

    I wish people would start asking why they couldnt make the game we want. Instead of making the game “WE” wanted thier giving rewards for staying in a sub par game.

    Seriously i would love to see an interview from any game site asking them directly why they couldnt make the game worth 15 bucks. Instead its just everyone going nuts for f2p

    Anyone that thinks going f2p is a sucess needs to buy EA stock lol

    • MMO_Doubter

       Jeff Hickman was in charge of the Warhammer Online fiasco.

      So much for hope.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000804921688 Michael Z Lively

    At the end of the first month I knew it wasn’t going to make it even a year sub-based. If it makes it 5 years I’m going to be shocked, but that’s just because it’s EA running the show.

  • http://twitter.com/SeedEve AppleSeed2148

    I can’t understand how Justin and Larry were surprised by this because the writings have been on the walls since Beta.Seriously guys the game sucks as an MMO.

    • http://twitter.com/dularr Dularr

      I don’t know, maybe because they are running operations.  I can understand Justins frustration,  who is going to play a monthly sub unless they are a core member of the operations team.

  • Old Ben

    Ed, if they only allow free accounts to have two characters, people will simply create more accounts to see the other stories.

    The only way that kind of limitation could work was if they made some classes completely unavailable to free accounts.

  • http://twitter.com/Mxluke129 Luke Farquhar

    Star Wars – The Old Republic is suffering from a shrinking subscriber base. An optional switch to F2P in autumn is supposed to turn things around. And in May, for the second time, several employees of Bioware Austin have been let go in a “restructuring effort”. Another bad news could be that Bioware founders Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka might have left Bioware or could be in the process of leaving – possibly because of the limited success of the MMO that started as a challenger of WoW.

    A trustworthy source has been told by an employee of Bioware Austin yesterday that neither Greg Zeschuk nor Ray Muzyka have been present at a Bioware Company Meeting in Austin, Texas, just a few days ago. The employee claimed that this has not been the case before at such a meeting. The six others members of Bioware Austin’s leadership have been there. Also, Greg Zeschuk has not been seen for several weeks now, the Bioware Austin employee claims.

    There are supposed to be internal rumours at Bioware Austin that Ray Muzyka (pictured left) and Greg Zeschuk have left Bioware. According to our source, some employees at Bioware Austin fear that the company will be transformed into EA Austin.

    Please note that this news is a rumour without any official confirmation.

  • Mathieu Tremblay

    Ed is right on the money here… I work in the social game industry (we do facebook game) and this is exactly how it works.  You have no idea how much money people are spending in these games… SWTOR could be a real money maker if they make it properly.

  • Jado Cast

    I’m so happy I didn’t buy the collector’s edition.  I canceled my pre-order at Gamestop after I played beta.  As a big Star Wars Fan and a Huge KOTOR Fan, I was so disappointed in this game, and disappointed in BioWare.  I don’t know why I’m surprised, if you look at the History of Star Wars Video Games, 80% or more have not lived up to anything worth playing.  SWOTOR isn’t as bad as Masters of Eras Kasi for example, but not worthy of the Hype it received either.  Speaking as a casual MMO player, I personally just wanted my KOTOR 3 and I would of been happy.  Oh well, maybe someday.  

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/FJR5OIFQII4WKUPYIHXMODD44Y Monolyth Tha Great

    yeah swtor is terrible i’ll doubt i’ll play it free or not especially with f2p games like gw2 that’s about to drop. I’ll just wait for KOTOR 3 for my SW fix.

  • http://twitter.com/MJBhurst Michael J Barnhurst

    Personally I think SWTOR was and still is a great game. It is just missing content at high levels. Bioware screwed up by not having game features at launch that are bread and butter in MMOs, but as the game stands now it is for sure a AAA MMORPG. (minus the severe lack of endgame content) If you want to see badly made games with no hope of success then look at games like Star Trek Online and Age of Conan. Those games are just bad. The leveling experience is bad, the PVP is bad, the entire game is BAD. SWTOR 1-49 is one of the best most enjoyable leveling experiences I’ve ever went through. The PVP is good ever since they fixed the combat lag/delay. What I feel they need to do is deliver on their promise of new content every 6 weeks. What has been happening since launch is people level to 50 and then get burned out on only having Warzones and Dailys and the same couple operations to do over and over. What players need is choices, choices, and more choices. Followed by REWARDS. If you choose to do something, and are rewarded properly for it, then more often than not you will come back and do more.If they deliver with their promises the game will make a comeback. If not.. it will spiral into obscurity.

  • Key Foster

    Everyone on the panel gave great feedback, and Ed’s analogy from another was spot on. It does seem like they are giving away the crown jewels for free, but what Gary said is true too, it seem as though they have to give some of the crown jewels away for free also. And Larry and Justin made a very interesting insight through-out debate that revealed alot to the public, a very informative episode.

    I have come up with a model that will not only bring back ppl but bring new ppl and allow a steady up scale. Now i can type this in (lets be real) because i need to get it copy righted first, but it is designed to please the RP’er, PVP’er, and the PVE’er to the fullest it can. This model that i have co.me up with works with subscription, f2p, or hybrid models because its an enhancement mesh design.

    I enjoy SWTOR alot but i must admit i have not been on for over a month. And i think this is the one game that was so over hyped in a way in which everyone wanted/wants this game to succeed greatly.

  • Key Foster

    Ed’s veiw and analogy from another was spot on. I do think they (Bioware) are giving away the crown jewels for free, but what Gary said is true too, it seems that they (Bioware) have to give away some of the crown jewels away for free also. And Larry and Justins comments help alot to be revealed through debate. This was a very informative episode. Eveyone gave great feed back.

    I have come up with a system (model) that works with a subscription, f2p, or hybrid base. And that would please RP’ers, PVP’ers, and the PVE’ers with ease. Now i cant actually type that idea down (lets be real) i have to get it copy righted first lol. But the system is solid.

    I like SWTOR a lot but i must admit i have not been on it for over a month. I think this is the one game that was so over hyped in away in which everyone wanted/wants this game to succeed greatly.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Ambrose/1016375989 Jeremy Ambrose

    LotRO Model Applied to SWtOR – Limited Character Slots, Locked Classes/Races, Locked Planets.

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