The International House of Mojo

Er... I don't really think this is a fair assessment for a game that garnered positive reviews. We're not talking Star Wars Galaxies here. It's worth noting that World of Warcraft is currently seeing a huge dip in their numbers, too.

I'm pretty sure all MMORPGs should go free-to-play with optional purchases. I play a stupid amount of MMORPGs, and they're all free. And when I find one I like a lot, I sometimes end up spending more money on it in a month than a subscription based MMO costs.

The Old Republic was definitely not shit, BUT, it was almost TOO story based. What I mean by that is that I almost felt like I was paying $15 a month to play a single player game. It was fun to play with friends too, but in some ways it lacked the giant world feel I get from other free or subscription based MMOs.

Its more like a single player game with a full co-op campaign, and optional PVP. They should have just copied what Guild Wars 2 is doing, since its basically that. Minus the subscription fee.

But I guess the arcade level space stuff kinda sucked. I was hoping for actual open world space like Glaxies. Not an on rails shooter like Rebel Assault.

"Shit" is pretty harsh, Zaarin :P

I think it's MUCH more to do with the marketplace yes. Very tough to put out a subscription based game nowadays - and it was always tough.

Maybe OR worked initially because it appealed to the non-MMO crowd... I know a few people who got it despite not liking MMOs because they wanted KoToR 3. The trouble with appealing to a non MMO crowd is making them play (and subscribe) to an MMO, I guess. Though the more common thing to get subscription numbers up would be to release an expansion pack and go for some aggressive recruit a friend / resurrect a friend programmes (maybe they have those already?). Seems a bit early to go for free to play, especially as traditionally MMOs have only done that when they're winding down... though it could also be a different marketing strategy based on the type of audience I guess.

Also, there are degrees of free to play. Even WoW, with millions of subscribers, has a free version up till level 20. If WoW is doing it, it suggests that the MMO market is changing. Actually it looks like OR had that trial up to level 15 already, and are now increasing it to level 50.

Well, here's a perspective that supports Bioware's position: I'm vaguely interested in The Old Republic, but will never pay for subscription based gaming.

I imagine there are a lot of KoTOR fans who feel similarly.

My other problem is that I just don't have time for MMOs, so I'll probably still miss out ^_^

This is just an outsider's speculation, but the impression I get is that a lot of people enjoyed the single-player and then just quit after the story was completed. I guess the "post-game" content isn't compelling enough to justify a continued subscription for all but the devoted.

Is it too shit / uninteresting, or is it to do with the MMO marketplace? I heard a lot about Old Republic when it first came out (all positive IIRC) but then nothing more recently -- did people decide it wasn't good after all?