Yesterday Bioware announced that they are transitioning to a free-to-play model for Star Wars: The Old Republic this fall. SWTOR will still retain their subscription model for anyone that wants unlimited access to the game that they have most likely been paying for ever since release last December.This comes as no real surprise with current subscribers dropping month after month, leaving quite the barren wasteland of server population to brood over for those still playing.
Players that have left the game after just a few months, including myself, will also receive a bit of special treatment in the form of some of their new currency “Cartel Coins.” 150 coins for every month that you have paid subscription fees (Current players included naturally.) These coins will be the currency that they will use for their micro-transactions. The preview of items that SWTOR listed are what you would come to expect from any current F2P MMORPG. Items range from unique pets, personal items to make you look rich special different, to my personal fan service favorite:
Oh Darth Nihilis, How you looked cool but did nothing in KOTOR2
Not all content will be available to play for anyone jumping back in or starting out. A little bit of every feature will be locked for F2P users, granted purchasable though the in-game store. Not many details of what, exactly, will be locked. Bioware did at least provide a reference chart of information so that we all not all lost in the blue. If you’re looking to get some cash out of your SWTOR account, check out Armorybids.com.
I can only hope that SWTOR gets some more pep in it’s step once this goes into effect. Other MMORPG’s that have made the transition have found even more success than their own launch dates. Having never hated SWTOR I can personally say that come F2P launch day I will get right back into my Imperial ship and fly across the Galaxy once more.
