Star Wars: The Old Republic Is Now F2P, Adds Content
Now you can test-drive BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG without having to shell out a subscription fee.
BioWare and Electronic Arts announced on Thursday the launch of a free-to-play option for the nearly year-old MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic. Now skittish PC gamers can get a taste of BioWare's Star Wars-based universe without having to shell out money for a monthly fee. However the studio isn't handing over its Lucas-sanctioned creation without expecting something in return, so free gamers will see limitations until they become more lucrative.
"Now players can experience the complete storylines of all eight iconic Star Wars classes, all the way to level 50 for free," EA said. "This new option complements the existing subscription offering, providing players with maximum flexibility in how they choose to experience Star Wars: The Old Republic."
Star Wars: TOR now offers three content models: Subscription-based, Preferred Status, and Free-To-Play. According to this comparison chart, F2P gamers will see a ton of restrictions including the inability to send in-game mail, the inability to sprint until the character reaches Level 15, a credit cap of 200,000, a limit of two character slots and three species options, and more.
Naturally gamers who shell out a one-time fee of $4.99 for the Preferred Status get a little more including a higher credit cap, the ability to sprint at Level 1, the ability to send and receive in-game mail, and more. Getting everything the MMORPG has to offer means handing over $14.99 per month for full access. There are also options to pay $41.97 every three months or $77.94 every six months if you'd rather pay in bulk.
"We want to give our players the freedom to enjoy Star Wars: The Old Republic when and how they want," said Matthew Bromberg, General Manager of BioWare Austin. "There has never been a better time to start playing with us."
In addition to launching the free-to-play mode, EA has also unleashed Game Update 1.5: HK-51 Activated, which adds new areas to explore, a new Companion character and more. Here's a list of highlights:
HK-51, the Assassin
Submerged beneath the icy surface of Belsavis lies a derelict ship and if you are brave enough to venture through the wreckage, you will embark on a mission that ultimately rewards you with a powerful new, yet familiar, ally – the ruthless Assassin Droid, HK-51.
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Explore Section X
This is a previously untouched area of the prison world of Belsavis. The Dread Masters’ servants are searching for a powerful and ancient weapon. Fly to Section X and secure the target of their search to be richly rewarded.
Travel to Denova to take on Operation
Explosive Conflict – now with a Nightmare Mode! Teams who complete in this new mode can earn the final pieces of the Dread Guard gear set and a brand new mount that will be sure to cause tank envy!
For more information about the free-to-play mode of Star Wars: The Old Republic, head here.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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rocknrollz I suggest those who like star wars to at least try it, the restrictions on it are not as bad as many make it out to be or as good as a lot of F2P games. But it is a very nice experience. And maybe as time goes on and more people start playing, they will ease up on restriction.Reply -
d_kuhn I played for a while... got one char to L50 and ran a few operations before getting bored. It wasn't a bad game and was fun for quite a while. Defintely worth playing if you're a Star Wars dweeb and have not yet.Reply -
The 1-50 journey is generally great. The restrictions however, are pretty damn awful despite what rocknrollz would have you believe. Pay to run, pay to hide your helmet, pay for actionbars etc etcReply
If it can be monetized you'd better believe it is monetized. -
dkcomputer Paying for action bars is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. I bought the game at release, played beta, could have been good, but they never fix bugs, and their response to the communities complaints is to delete threads and try their best to censor forums. When really bad patches game out that were game-breaking, they would turn off the forums for 2-3 days because they simply didn't have enough staff to delete all the forums that might possibly hint at something bad about the game. Absolutely the worst customer service you can imagine, and the only people left playing the game think the same way. If you go and complain about ANYTHING you will get bashed by their troopers for just not seeing things the right way - its very similar to today's liberals in america.Reply -
bigdragon I would have been willing to give this a try if it weren't an EA game. EA is not welcome in my home.Reply -
deftonian midimakerThe 1-50 journey is generally great. The restrictions however, are pretty damn awful despite what rocknrollz would have you believe. Pay to run, pay to hide your helmet, pay for actionbars etc etcIf it can be monetized you'd better believe it is monetized.Reply
Pay to Run?? no thank you. That was a terrible move IMO.