I'll say this, given my mmo hopping experience: lifers are great for up-front development but ultimately hurt the game in the long run. as a lifer cryptic is actively giving ME $5 each month for no investment from me in return (aside from logging in). I would speculate that there is code in the account management engine to make sure lifer accounts have logged in within that month to get the stipend, because I'm not swimming in free money from my CO account (which is sadly collecting dust).

Another side to this is that Paragon Studios (development team for city of heroes/villains, going rogue) have announced they will not ever do a lifetime sub based on anecdotal accounts from other studios all saying it was a bad idea, and at the loss of $5 per active lifer per month offset now only by the people paying for gold I easily see how that math could tank an already risky asset for a publisher. I'm happy to get my $5 (possibly $10 if I can work the mechanism for CO too) per month to play with.

Hey guys, just a heads up there will NOT be a Beta Test weekend this coming weekend for SW:TOR. I thought I'd let you guys know now so now one is too heartbroken this weekend.

According to the StephenReid in the forums, "There is no Beta Testing Weekend scheduled for this weekend. There may be further Beta Testing Weekends during September, but we're not going to guarantee it. The weekend that just finished was really our first dry run of Beta Testing Weekends as a whole, and we have plenty of data to crunch, and decisions to make before we start things up again."

It seems that one factor in the decision is that they will be rolling out a new client build soon, and it won't be ready for the weekend.

Here's the link to the thread.

To the powers that be,

If our guild gets chosen for beta, please consider me a worthy candidate. Let me know what I need to do for an invite.

-Kevin

This is why someone from Marketing should be slapping the CFO upside his head for spilling the beans too early...but, it seems that Cryptic was able to respond fairly quickly to the "announcement" with press releases and the F2P matrix. :side:

Please check the following thread for information on the changes to KDF when we go Free To Play.

http://stonewallfleet.com/forum/public-lounge/31597-free-to-play-and-klingon-gameplay

I'm not going to complain too much about 400 pts/month. It's like getting a couple new costumes a month. :D There's also the possibility that prices on items will drop. That seems to the be the opinion of people who've seen other MMOs that transition to F2P.

However, I disagree with the assessment that LTS members shouldn't get anything more than monthly. First, there's the fact that there are some LTS people who recently bought them. Second, LTSers, even those who bought early and have broken even, demonstrated exceptional goodwill toward Cryptic and provided them with an incredibly useful infusion of capital that likely helped fund much of this game's early post-launch development. Additionally, given that investment, it stands to reason that LTSers make up a significant portion of the game's strongest support. Keeping them happy by giving them a little more will go a long way in maintaining the game's audience as it goes F2P.

I do believe lifetime subs will still get the monthly stipend of cryptic points as it's been done on CO. so while it may take longer for the sub to pay off, there still is a finite point the LS pays for itself.

That being said I will be the first to admit i was a bit zealous in my preorder perks and now those are up on the C-store and given enough time I could have waited and gotten those later. I don't regret it (even having been a year) because after patching I could jump right back into play and had everything I wanted/needed.

Quote by ForSix

So any information on what Lifers get from all of this?

Yes... CLICK HERE for F2P Details Matrix

=/=

So any information on what Lifers get from all of this?

I always go amd, intel your paying for the name and a bunch of functions on the processor that dont tend to be used in most games.

I have been I can't make up my mind:) I was hoping I'd get an overwhelming response that would make up my mind for me:)

I would be curious to know what some of the expert computer nerds here suggest hehe. I would say start by googling the top best gaming processor and see the reviews

Hi there,

I'm planning on getting a new computer in the next little while any suggestions? Its sort of AMD vs Intel

Anyone know when these will be available (I'm assuming either just prior or just after launch?)?

sorry:) I thought since people were indicating that they were in the beta that it would be okay cause I thought indicating was breaking of NDA as well:)

*fingers crossed* that I can get in:)

With this past beta weekend in the survey you do you have a chance to win access to the on going beta on Sept 15/2011 as 10 lucky winners will be invited *fingers crossed*

I was in the beta weekend but not in the on going one.

As a lifetime subscriber from the very beginning (beta), I do agree that the kids that have been paying monthly for ALL this time probably are deserving of more than the casual on-and-off players. Isn't that what the Veteran Rewards are for?

I have to believe that those that have been with the game from the very beginning are first and foremost in the minds of Cryptic.

Ultimately, for what I've paid for (LTS, many many many C-Store points), I have a sense of knowing that I've thoroughly enjoyed playing (and plan to continue playing); have made some wonderful friends that otherwise I never would have; and have essentially lived a fantastic Trek gaming experience that beats out the 20+ years of Trek games (well, except for maybe A Final Unity; but that was amazing stuff!). Certainly, vastly exceeds dropping $50 on platform games that I'm bored with after a week.

Maybe this will expand our fleet? An exciting prospect, to be sure.

Quote by Angelsilhouette

Quote by PjhN

So now the game's been out for this long, I think anyone who bought the LS should pat themselves on the back for being able to drop enough cash in one payment to get themselves a bargain. But LS owners definitely do not deserve more than monthly subscribers.

Speaking as a lifetime subscriber, I agree. I bought the sub before launch, and it is the equivalent of 16 months of month to month subscription, so right now (even though I'm not playing) I've got a free ride in STO, so I can't even begin to think that I should get more points per month. Previous to my 16 month equiv, yes, as I laid down a pretty heavy start up investment; but not now, no.

It is just me or do people assume that if you've got Lifetime, that you got it when the game came out. I got it just a few months ago, still haven't broken even, and though I'm staying optimistic, I can't help but be nervous that I threw my money away.