[SWTOR]: F2P, A New Hope

Well, my feedreader just exploded like Alderaan.*

By now, I'm guessing most folks have seen the announcement that SWTOR is going Freemium and taken a look at the subscription vs free features of the game.

Not enough verbage?  Don't worry, the blogosphere has you covered. Inquisitor's Roadhouse, Sprinksville, SWTOR face, Moon Over Endor, SWTOR commando, Blessing of Kings, Hawtpants of the Old Republic, Fynralyl, Aggronaut.  (Who'd I miss? My reader is moving at Kessel-record-breaking speeds.)

Alright, now everyone use the force, turn off your targetting computers, and just say to yourself "I'm alright".**

At this point, its probably a great idea to mention what SWTOR's F2P announcement isn't:

• The death of MMO gaming.
• The death of subscription models.
• TORpocalyse Now.
• Evil incarnate.

What this is:

• A good time to wish SWTOR well.
• A ton of potential.

I've always viewed SWTOR as a first-rate RPG just finding its footing as an MMO. Setting up a persistent RPG story with regular continuations via patches and expansions seems to be the most promising selling point of SWTOR.

Problem is, most RPG gamers I know are skeptical of subscription models.  This keeps them out of the MMO market. If Bioware can now attract these players to the MMO market, they can escape from the mentality that the "mmo market is zero-sum". They can use their solid RPG - for a box price - to hook players on MMO elements - for a subscription. They'll have found a sustainable niche.

Obligatory EA hedge: don't get me wrong, they could blaster-to-the-foot this design in the details. They could nickel-and-dime the fun right out of it. They could market it to the wrong crowd. If they are shooting for an RPG crowd, they need better tutorials to adjust folks into MMO gaming.

Side note: I don't think this move is being made because they currently have between 500k-1m subscribers. Those numbers, if sustainable, would make everyone happy. I think they're doing it because they see a WoW expansion, Rift expansion, GW2,... and wonder what would happen to those numbers unless they do something big.

But the potential of this change... I find impressive.

EDIT:  MMO melting pot posts links to yet more posts on the topic.


* Video added for soothing effect.
** Optional step: at this point, find a Sith to shoot your ship droid. I'm happy to volunteer, so long as you aren't grouped with a smuggler.

10 Days of SWTOR Screenshots: Environments

One day, I looked out my ship's windows, and I saw a fleet warp past.  It was magical, to see the fleet just meander across my view.

So I took to staring out every window. And then looking at the skies.

This video is my poor attempt to communicate a bit of the wonder I feel in those moments. I wandered across the galaxy with my characters, capturing video of some lovely in-game locations. I've combined those videos, speeding up the playback.

(Oh!  If anyone out there regularly does youtube videos, please comment, let me know what to do better. First time posting to youtube.  And sorry for doing the days out of order - I got all inspired and stuff.)

Enjoy!

Music: Kopeika by (et).
Locations:
Dune Sea (28x)
Imperial Fleet Lightside Vendor (28x)
Nar Shaddaa (8x)
Hutta (32x)
Coruscant (16x)
Voss (64x)
Corellia (8x)
Imperial Fleet Bankers (32x)
Tatooine Balloon (38x)
Explosive Conflict (8x)

10 Days of SWTOR Screenshots: Bugs

Going Commando started a lovely craze where each day we're supposed to post a screenshot (or two) with a given theme.

Or, at least, its such a good idea I couldn't pass it up.

Much like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, I like testing walls for weaknesses. I one day hope to break through them and find a nommable dev. This one (from EV, I think) gave a nice photo opportunity. I wish I had a screenshot from the hole in KP's walls that could be used to force pull others to their doom. Not that I ever did that to our guild's operative DPS after he ganked my alt...

I love keeping my camera zoomed miles away, so every now and again I find myself staring out into the depths of space.

This is from Coruscant, if I remember right.

It does bring up a pet peeve of mine. You know those sci-fi plot lines where someone can't interact with matter or turns into a ghost? (WARNING: that link goes to TV tropes, the death of all internet productivity.) Why can they walk upstairs?

Three Months in Review

Its been three months already? Seriously? Woah.

Kristalys and Shintar did thoughtful and insightful three month reviews, which got me to thinking about my time in SW:TOR.

It has been quite the roller coaster.

I started as a tank, and went powertech, since I really love block tanks, and all that shielding seemed the most block-y. It was fantastic to level, but not a great fit for endgame. They're cool in their own way, but I felt too much like a foozeball.

I'm much happier as a sorc.

They have to be the most visually stunning class in game. Their lightning is iconic and beautiful and makes me giggle with glee. I love the combination of burst and mobility from the hybrid spec I'm running. Its also the first time I've ever fallen in love with the gameplay of a caster in an MMO. This makes everything just that more new and exciting.

The simple act of rerolling to a better fit made me love the game anew. It has made operations positively joyful in a way that SWTOR's taking just wasn't. I look forward to running a flashpoint, even though there is no chance of loot. Oh, and I've become a huge fan of dailies. And I pvp'd my way to Battlemaster (before they made it so much easier). Finding my gameplay fit made the game much much more fun.

I'm truly blessed to have such supportive and patient guildmates, to tolerate the reroll.

While I love the gameplay, I'm not a big fan of my sorc's personality. I know my bounty hunter and her companions much better than the sorc and her crew. I also like them more, and feel like they've accomplished more in the galaxy. As her story unfolded, my BH grew and developed with her story, matching its ever-increasing awesomeness. My sorc's personality... well, it stagnated with the relatively flat inquisitor story. I haven't quite got a feel for her, which is something I really need.

I hope to work that out, and to get a better sense of my sorc, with time.

I've also noticed that the story is a bit disjointed in the game, but more on that in another post.

I'm slowly working through the other class stories. I positively dread logging onto the sniper, so its collecting dust. Stopping before combat plus long cast times isn't my idea of fun gameplay (not exactly a Han Solo / Chewie). But the operative? On my, she is the hilarious destroyer of everything. Whatever she touches just explodes. And she is even more wicked in pvp. I plan to level her to 50 so I can have a more malevolent option.

Please, try and run. It'll make her day. Before she nukes your city and kills your entire race. Why? Because you were there.

Mostly, though, I'm kept busy with dailies, and ops, and then the odd bit of alt leveling or game mechanic tinkering. I've also been bitten with the desire to collect all the synthweaving patterns, which makes for a ton of GTN trips. The crafting army is mostly finished, aside from my lack of motivation to make an armstech. Go figure. But I do have 7 busy slicing characters.

Overall: some really fun times in game.

Don't get me wrong, I could easily write a darker "bugs and annoyances in the past three months" post. But I really do trust that they've got good people on the dev team who are ironing those problems out (Daniel and Georg are brilliant, to say the least).

And those bugs aren't what I remember of the past three months. I remember friends, and jokes, and ops, and drunken rancor jousting. I remember pvp, and lightning, and stunning folks in fire. I remember my BH's story arc, and my ever-growing fondness for her crew and their quirks.

Good times indeed.