Star Wars: The Old Republic, EA and BioWare's Star Wars MMO, has finally made the leap from subscription model to free-to-play, just less than one year after its release. Though SWTOR had strong starting numbers, a lack of new content release has caused the MMO to lose hundreds of thousands of subscribers in a few months.
More and more MMOS have made the leap from subscription to free-to-play as of late, and it was obvious that SWTOR wasn't far behind. However, in making the switch, BioWare's sectioned off significant parts of the game to be for subscribing players only.
The official SWTOR website delineates all restricted content, which happens to be everything except the story content. However, free-to-play players will be given preferred status if they decide to purchase in-game content, giving the advantages of the ability to sprint, access to bank slots, higher login priority, and increased access to chat and trade options.
For those transitioning from subscription to free-to-play, there's no need to worry about losing characters. Unfortunately, since non-paying players have fewer character slots, such a transition means players will have to make the tough decision on which characters they'd like to keep active.
BioWare's also whipped together an entire FAQ dedicated to answering player questions about the transition, including questions about how many Cartel coins subscribing players will be receiving.
