Star Wars: The Old Republic Offers Free Game Time to Select Few, Naturally People are Pissed

[Shawn Zipay]

So, a massive patch was released earlier today for Star Wars: The Old Republic. That's actually the start of the good news here and list of major changes can be found further down below.

However, to celebrate the release of the 1.2 "Legacy" update, BioWare and EA have given some free game time to old and current players.

Level 50 Players: Enjoy 30 days of free play time
If you have a character level 50 and have an active account as of April 12, then BioWare tacked on a full month of bonus game time at no additional charge.

Naturally, people are pissed at this, saying that BioWare is playing favorites with its fan base. Meaning, it seems as though if you're an active subscriber but don't have a level 50 character than you're kind of SOL, so to speak.

Fortunately, some people are stating their disdain in a civil manner:

It is a fantastic gesture on the part of Bioware. But you are completely missing a section of player base with your free 30 days of game time. That player base is the casual player that has been subscribed since day one. Yes, I know it seems silly that I wouldn't have a level 50 after several months but I've been playing across multiple servers, with multiple characters, including spending a large portion of my available play time testing patch 1.2 on the PTS.

I would really hope that you guys reconsider your level 50 requirement and open this up to any subscribers who have been subscribed since day one. That is the only way I see this being fair.

To put it bluntly I feel like I've been kicked in the pants, albeit it was probably by an oversight more than anything I just wanted to make sure my opinion was somewhere to be viewed by the Dev's.

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Apparently having a job and a family and not having the time to level to 50 means you aren't a loyal customer. My Bounty Hunter is level 44. During the 1st month I couldn't play that much because I had an old rig. I built a new rig just so i could play this game. That isn't loyalty. having a level 50 is.

This is one to many PR screw up for me to handle. I was on the fence about leaving. This pretty much cements it.

There are over 145 pages (and growing by the minute) of much of the same going on right now on the BioWare forums. It's in our opinion that cherry picking only level 50's for this free game time was a bad move. It should have been given to everyone who is a current subscriber.

As for the 1.2 update itself, this video should quickly showcase some of the biggest changes that were made to the game, including the Legacy system, customizable UI, new operations, new PvP rankings, and the addition of higher resolution textures.

[Scinto]

Wonder how long it will be until it becomes free to play.

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic Offers Free Game Time to Select Few, Naturally People are Pissed

It doesnt make sense to give free stuff to casual players. They are casual. They have no invested time or interest in a game. If the time was given to casual players then the fanbase, that is keeping the game going, would be upset.

Sour grapes for people that want something for doing nothing.

[Shawn Zipay]

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic Offers Free Game Time to Select Few, Naturally People are Pissed

It doesnt make sense to give free stuff to casual players. They are casual. They have no invested time or interest in a game. If the time was given to casual players then the fanbase, that is keeping the game going, would be upset.

Sour grapes for people that want something for doing nothing.

Now I'm sure you wouldn't just say that without looking at the 183 pages of replies for that thread in the OP, many of which give plenty of examples as to how completely stupid of a move this is?

It's not just "casuals" it's people who have hundreds upon of hours in the game but a lot of alts for one reason or another, none of which are level 50.

So, where does it come off as fair when everyone, regardless of level, is paying the $15 a month for a subscription fee?

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Star Wars: The Old Republic Offers Free Game Time to Select Few, Naturally People are Pissed

Now I'm sure you wouldn't just say that without looking at the 183 pages of replies for that thread in the OP, many of which give plenty of examples as to how completely stupid of a move this is?

It's not just "casuals" it's people who have hundreds upon of hours in the game but a lot of alts for one reason or another, none of which are level 50.

So, where does it come off as fair when everyone, regardless of level, is paying the $15 a month for a subscription fee?

I didn't read the original post, so I wasn't aware that level 50 is not the same as a level 50 in, say, BF3. The article came off, to me, that level 50 was common and casual players were below that.

However, your last question is some of my point, when is it fair? Level 28? What about all the poor level 27s that are trying to get there? Level 3? What about all the people that just started the game. Its not fair that the people that have played the longest and have the strongest characters also get their money back while the level 3s and under have to claw their way to higher. Free for all? What about those poor level 50s that have put so much time and money into this terrible game? Don't they deserve something extra for the grind they had to go through?

Its the same BS I heard about BF3 and BF vets. People were demanding everything and in the end no one was happy or cared.

The bottom line is whenever you do something like this, you're going to make some "group" mad because they think they deserve something. Is that right or wrong? I'm in no position to say or to make it so, but I would do free weekends for people to try or free XP times for all and leave it at that. You missed the date, that's too bad, better luck next time.