PC Gamer sat down with James Ohlen to discuss Star Wars The Old Republic, to see what their stance was on a free to play model and if it could work for SWTOR. I am not sure if it is just me, but when a company starts an MMORPG as a premium subscription game and then move to a free to play model, it kind of feels like that they have been forced into it due to declining subscription numbers.
My personal opinion on free to play is that it is the way forward for developers. If you can make a game which keep people playing and enjoying the game, they will spend more money than £9 a month. I know I did playing League of Legends.
The main quote from James Ohlen regarding free to play:
“I think it can work for different games. It really depends on how you go with your game. Games that have been built to be free-to-play from the start definitely work out. Now, there have been games that weren’t free to play from the start and transferred over to becoming free to play that have worked as well. But it’s definitely not something that’s super easy to do.”
No one really knows if free to play will come to SWTOR, but if it does then I know a few people who would probably try out the game again and see if the improvements could keep a few of us playing.
Another bit of news is that a trial up to level 15 is now unlimited for SWTOR, so if you want to check it out, you can.
If you want to check out the full article then head on over to the PC Gamer website: http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/swtor-game-director-its-not-super-easy-to-convert-from-subscription-to-free-to-play/