Star Wars: The Old Republic lead designer Emmanuel Lusinchi has spoken to GamesTM about the level of competition in the MMO market. He mentions that the quality of the competition is more important than the free-to-play pricing model, but suggests that Bioware are willing to consider other pricing options.

“The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well,” he said. “Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.”

Bioware Austin have recently adapted to falling subscriber numbers by reducing the number of staff at their Austin studio last month. Lusinchi told us that “the MMO is the toughest part of the game industry without a doubt.”

He added that Austin “have a very large development team still, definitely one of the biggest in the industry,” and mentioned that the team “have a very complete and detailed plan for the rest of the year.

“The players don’t really care about all that, behind closed curtains, but they want what they’re paying for which is a service with new content, new systems, that’s what they’re asking for and we listen to them. That’s what we mean to deliver.”

The next update, 1.3, doesn’t contain any especially thrilling new features, but will introduce some much-requested additions like a looking for group tool, server transfer support, adaptive gear and class balance changes. The updates teased at E3 were much more promising, with mention of a new planet, a new species and a level cap boost.

I qualify this opinion by stating that I think paying $15 a month for a game you play online with friends every day is like fscking stealing as far as the value of my entertainment dollars go.. compare it to the cost of going to a movie (for example)...

i would stop playing this game if it went F2P. it just means that they never half to fix bugs or improve game play. F2P games are generaly BAD games cause the upkeep of the servers are terrible. sure they work for a while but in the long run become worse. not to mention the nickle and diming for content and fixes ends up costing more than a monthly sub.

the real issue here is how many people think they should get everything for free. F2P is BAD!!!

just a side note the cost of running this game couldn't take going to F2P Bioware/EA would lose a ton money.

I'm beginning to appreciate more the free to play models with optional subscriptions, as long as subscriptions grant access to everything in addition to some form of real money currency. City of Heroes does that, and I kinda like it. It grants those who've paid subscriptions the benefit of the full game, but also gives them permanent rewards for subscribing. Everyone wins! Kind of.