"Lately, it seems like more and more developers are turning to the free-to-play or partially free-to-play model in order to maintain player bases and hopefully gain revenue. Even Bioware’s once-wildly popular MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic will soon be getting the free-to-play treatment, as announced yesterday. Is this tactic viable for struggling MMOs (in other words, all MMOs without Warcraft in their name)?" -Trevor from Leviathyn.com.
New raids, class updates, festivals and more are on the calendar.
Now this makes me feel old! I remember playing the beta while I worked at Gamestop. I honestly didn't even know this game was still online! A quick search showed that it's even F2P now, so I may check it out for nostalgia's sake.
I only subbed at launch for 1-2 months bc I was already caught up in WoW at the time. I love the LotR universe though and would like to see how it's being handled these days.
EA is nearing an agreement to move the ongoing development and operation of MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic from BioWare to third-party studio Broadsword Online Games, IGN has learned. The move is intended to allow BioWare to focus on Mass Effect and Dragon Age.
A new update for Star Wars: The Old Republic is coming out on PC and the patch notes provide us with an in-depth look at all the new changes.
I loved this game and have played since launch but don't let this article fool you, this game is a step above life support. While they are still technically updating the game, the updates are few and far between and there is a significant lack of quality control, so many little bugs that have been present for years.
Pay to play MMO's will be gone by next year. Only ones left around will be WoW and maybe one or two others but all new MMO releases in 2013 will be f2p.