Star Wars: The Old Republic - Can it survive to F2P?

SW:TOR has been suffering a lot in its short life. Mass exodus of players, complaints about lack of content and other problems have really begun to take its toll on the game. Now, to boost server populations, they have moved people to other servers and have shut down about 75% of their servers. So with all these things happening within the games first year, I keep asking myself "will Star Wars:The Old Republic make it until it's subscription change to free to play (F2P)/pay to play (P2P) in November?"

So I put it to you, my readers. What do you think?

Will Star Wars: The Old Republic make it to its F2P/P2P change in November?
	Yes
	Barely
	No
	What is SW:TOR?
pollcode.com free polls

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Can't we all just get along: Private Warcraft server edition.

So as you all know, I play World of Warcraft on a couple of different free private servers. I play on a Blizzlike Burning Crusade server ( http://www.excalibur-wow.com/), on a Cataclysm server ( http://www.wowdaemon.com/) and on a classic/vanilla WoW server ( http://www.wow-one.com/). These are all very fun places to play with all different types of players. Only problem is, apparently, we can't all just get along.

The Classic WoW server I play on has been under attack for about a week now.  Their servers have been up and down and it's been a fight to get them stable for everyone to play. The attackers aren't hacking or anything of that nature. No, they are doing something far more sinister, they are flooding the system with new accounts, causing everything to crash. This is something that they don't have a way to block where they are. Luckily, they are moving to a place that they will be able to stop this attack and allow the rest of us to actually play the game.

I just don't understand the need or want to do such a thing.  Look, If you have a problem with the server you are on, just stop playing there. If you have the need to attack something, make your efforts far more useful and attack something that SHOULD be attacked, like the pentagon (I'm just kidding, don't attack the pentagon.  If you guys are reading this, please don't come and arrest me. I'm just kidding.). If you really have a problem with the way other sites run things....go start one yourself, it's really not that hard to do.

But seriously, lets all try to just get along in the realm of private servers and have some fun.

Until next time....Game On!

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What will happen to Guild Wars when GW2 launches?

This is a question that many of us still playing Guild Wars are asking both ourselves and those ingame. There is a genuine concern for the possible drop in server population once Guild Wars 2 goes live. I don't think that the population will totally disappear, but I do think that saying that there will not be a noticeable difference is naive at best. Now they have come out and said that there will still be new content and events going on in the future for the original Guild Wars while they are still doing GW2. As one that can't afford to pick up any new game in the near future due to lack of available funds, it is nice to see that the game I'm currently playing does infact have a future.


A little bit to know about Guild Wars future:

The development team at ArenaNet realized, at the time they started work on the fourth Guild Wars campaign, that there were so many things they wanted to do but couldn't fit into the existing game. They decided that making Guild Wars 2 was the best way for them to do what they wanted to the game.

Can I keep on playing Guild Wars?

Yes. ArenaNet has stated that the Guild Wars servers will stay open after GW2 is released. There will continue to be special events and patches for players who stay playing Guild Wars.

Are there going to be any more expansions for Guild Wars?

ArenaNet has already released some small expansions that help bridge the gap in the story between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2; these do not require purchase to access. A third storyline has been plotted for development. Full, purchasable expansions haven't been entirely ruled out, but they seem unlikely. If they are created, it will not happen until after the release of Guild Wars 2

Can I transfer a Guild Wars character to Guild Wars 2?

No, character transfers between the games are not possible. However, you can reserve your existing Guild Wars character names for use in Guild Wars 2.

So at the very least, we do know that we will be able to enjoy our current incarnation, but the real concern is, will people come back to still play GW while still playing GW2. I think that the answer will be yes, and for a rather simple reason. Unlike many MMOs, there is no monthly fee to play, so you can freely play both games without any financial strain, which is why many people end up leaving a game in the first place. I will keep an update here as the game goes on after GW2s launch. So until then....Game On!

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Wizard 101: Is it really just for kids?

Put simply...no, it's not.  Although the game looks very child-like in appearance, the game does have quite a bit going for it. It take a lot of pieces from games and blends them in to an mmo that anyone can play and have fun with. The fighting style is that of a card game such as Pokemon.

Each person or enemy takes it's turn to attack or heal. You have a health and a mana globe that you have to watch carefully since you do not have an endless supply of either.  When you find yourself low on health or mana, you can either fund little sprites that will restore your levels slowly as you "capture" them or you can go to a fairgrounds like place and by playing mini games, you fill up your levels again. Simply put, the game is designed to be fun and not for the hardcore player at all. I was a bit hesitant to play when my 8yr old godson asked me to play with him.  But I downloaded it anyway and started running around with him. As he showed me more of the stuff, I saw first hand that this game actually has some depth to it. I still really only play the game with him, but if you are looking for a mmo style game that you can just play with very little pressure or stresses, this is your game. I recommend you try it, you might just be surprised to catch yourself enjoying it.

Until my next post....Game On!

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SWTOR: Will F2P have good features for the free players too?

So we have been given a little bit more information about what the limitations will be for F2P players that want to play SWTOR.



Story Content
Players can play their full class stories from levels 1 to 50.

Character Creation Choices
Some character creation options, such as species, are limited to subscribers.

Warzones
Free-to-Play members will have limited weekly access to Warzones.

Flashpoints
Free-to-Play members will have limited weekly access to Flashpoints.

Space Missions
Free-to-Play members will have a weekly cap on Space Missions.


Operations
Only subscription members can access Operations.


Travel Features
Subscription members have access to all travel functionality, making getting around the world easier.

Game Login
Subscription members will always be in login queues ahead of free players.

Galactic Trade Network
Subscription members can post up to 50 auctions for sale. (free player limitations not known yet)


Although I do agree with most of this as being a good idea, I don't agree with operations for paying players only. Operations should be available to ANY player....for a price. Make a key, much like the old WoW burning crusade heroic keys. Purchase 1 key at the F2P launch that will give you access to all of the past operations and from that point on, a purchasable key for every operation that comes out after that. I also think that those of us that might have stopped playing for awhile but have had very active subscriptions in the past, and are getting the coins for those past months, should be able to buy the key for those past operations for a VERY discounted price (coin price) as a "thank you for coming back" sort of thing.

If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out and what will really be in the game once November gets here and the F2P launches.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic - Is level 15 really high enough?

That is the question I keep asking myself over and over. At level 15, you are just barely getting in to your characters storyline. In my opinion, that's not really enough to really get a good feel for what the game really has to offer. You are just barely getting past selecting your advanced class spec.

I think that level20 or 25 would be better at getting more people to buy the full version account, and here's why I think that...

•  By level 25 you are now getting deeper in to your characters storyline to the point of wanting to know what is next for that character. Much like watching a suspense movie and 1/2 way through, you have to decide if you wanna watch the rest of the movie.

•  At level 25, the game gets a bigger boost to it's fun factor because you don't have to walk everywhere anymore, you get your first speeder. Anyone that has ever played an mmo in the past can tell you that it really changes the game when it doesn't take forever to walk somewhere.

• By level 20 and 25, you not only have your ship, but you have unlocked some of the space missions. This is yet another aspect of the game you really don't get a good chance to check out in the current level 15 limit.

• By level 20 and 25, if you enjoy PvP, you get a big boost to the enjoyment of the warzones. You can get your first PvP set at level 20 and by level 25, you have some nice abilities to match your PvP gear to allow for a good deal more fun.

Now, I do understand that there are people that do not care about character storyline or plots. But by level 25, you have given those players enough of a taste of EVERY aspect of the game (warzones, speeders, more planets to quest on via personal starship, PvP gear, ect.) to really get them hook to the point of getting a full subscription to the game.

Remember, this is just my opinion. Although I do always welcome comments about my posts, whether they are pro or con my point, but please remember that this is not fact when commenting.  Until my next post....Game On!


UPDATE: This just released by Activision...

STAR WARS®: The Old Republic™ will move to a more accessible two-tiered pricing
model in November. Players can chose between a $14.99 premium monthly
subscription and a free-to-play model with some restrictions on content and advanced
features. Players will be able to purchase upgrades with in-game currency.

So this does somewhat prove my point, although I am among though that are saddened by the fact that it didn't even last a year before it went free-to-play.

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Who is this guy?

I thought I'd start off my first post on this new blog with a little background about myself as a gamer. I have been playing RPGs since the mid 1980s with Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior on the original Nintendo. I've always loved games, but RPGs were my favorite by far. Then my life started down a path that would change the way I game forever. While I was dating my now wife, she introduced me to Warcraft 2. I instantly went crazy for it. Although it was move of a strategy game, I loved the characters in it. With my eyes open to Warcraft, I saw a game in a Best Buy while I was buying some CD or something....World of Warcraft! I went home that day and looked it up and "OMG...THERE'S A FREE TRIAL!!!"  2 days in to my 14 day free trial, my wife and I decided we needed to buy this game. 2 WoW accounts later and life has never been the same, lol. I've played and/or still do play serveral other MMORPGs including Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Trek Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Although I do enjoy other MMOs, I seem to always come back to World of Warcraft. I had played it since just before Burning Crusade launched. I lead a guild and a raid team that from Karazhan to Blackwing Decent and everything in between.

After over 6 years of playing, the change in players mentality and play styles caused me to decide to leave WoW. I moved on to Star Wars: The Old Republic, which I stated playing during the beta. Very good game and yet, after only about 6 months, I found myself going back to play WoW as well. My wife and I still enjoy playing SW:TOR and WoW mainly and I have even got my godson in to MMOs.  So that is just a little bit about me and my gaming background. I'm sure there will be more insights in coming posts, lol. So until my next post....game on!

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