Star Wars The Old Republic
Hello EA, I'm writing this form to question what legal actions should be taken against your company for your poor marketing practices.
In Christmas of 2011, Star Wars MOBA was released, my parents bought two copies for my sister and myself, this was before they decided to turn the game into a subscription basis. While that fact alone is infuriating, I have to talk about the problems behind this. My sister and I played up until she chose to no longer play with me because she was bored. While that sounds like personal drama, that's not what this is about. I have tried to finish my story as a bounty hunter and can not continue. I have to respec my character, because I was a healer who followed my sister around everywhere. Now, I can't even continue the story because I can't cause enough damage. Easy solution right? Stop being a healer. The problem is, I can no longer find a place to respec without spending 200,000 of in-game currency when I'm pretty positive I'll also have to spend at least 100,000 in-game for new gear in order to progress. Aren't there NPC's who can respec you as well? Well, supposedly the answer is yes based on old forms, but as I've tried to find these answers I've discovered I cannot talk to any of the NPC's whose prices are supposed to reset on a weekly basis, so you don't respec too often. I have been trying to get this character to work for years. I've wanted to beat this story since Christmas of 2011 and I post this as of 4/16/2024 when EA has become the company of major microtransactions. When will we as gamers stop putting up with this? Did you know that customer support in game requires a subscription to a game my parents worked hard to afford two copies of for two kids who wanted to play Star Wars together? Think of Battlefront and Battlefront II form EA, the games discussed for years that EA decided to change to their 'own desire' which was something no one wanted. EA doesn't even allow public reviews, hence why I'm writing this form. But I'm asking several questions.
How is it legal to make friends and family who purchased the game originally, to then have to pay a subscription to play after the original purchase?
How is it legal to fill a game, now subscription based, originally costing only a single purchase, with microtransactions of real-world currency?
How is it legal for a game company to not offer free support in a supposedly 'free game' and not even have live chat options outside of said game?
How is it legal for a game company to take already existing ideas such as Battlefront, change the game to a sci-fi version of Battlefield and not meet the requirements of copy right infringement?
How is it even legal still, when companies have even stripped EA of their rights to continue creating some games because of these poor choices?
I'm asking this in public form because anyone with a legal degree should have a field day with EA for hundreds of thousands of dollars but for some reason aren't. So I'm asking these questions to hope and begining getting EA stuck down as a large gaming company and become the example of why the future of 'micro-transactions' should be illegal in the entire modern world. It breaks my heart that my sister chose to stop playing with me all those years ago. Yet it still tears my heart to pieces that I simply can't move on and finish a story I was never bored of. It breaks me to pieces because in a world with copyright laws meant to protect consumers, EA, and other large corporations walk on the player bases as if they never existed. This may seem overly emotional, especially because we're talking about games. Yet games are supposed to be an escape from everyday reality such as books, we don't purchase books based on a subscription basis. Being meant to escape reality, it should be a one-time purchase, adding micro-transactions of real-world money is only involving the real world in fantasy. The reason we're supposed to keep fantasy and reality separate is because it breaks people apart and causes people to lose their minds and make horrible decisions. Videogames don't cause violence, but they cause the same amount of stress as your job when you have to apparently be making the choice daily to 'catch up' in game or 'catch up' with rent. We frown on gambling addiction, yet for some reason still accept microtransactions because it's the players 'choice' but was I given a choice as a kid when they changed it to a subscription? Was I given a choice as a kid to get told 'we can't afford the subscription' that to this day I now understand why I wouldn't choose my truck, house, or groceries just so I can pay for a game my parents bought me? Microtransactions aren't a choice, it's modern pirating from a corporate chair. Why is this even still legal?
P.S. EA, you may make a claim that this is defamation and demand a removal of this post, I dare you to start the case.
@DJMonkeyice
When swtor was released it was a subscriber only , the initial purchase provided 30 days of gametime, it was then moved to a free 2 play model as it is todayhave a look at https://help.ea.com/pt/help/star-wars/star-wars-the-old-republic/swtor-legacy-of-the-sith/ scroll down to disciplines
All Skills (except for Speeder Piloting) are now auto-trained on all Characters as soon as they’re earned.
We’ve also made it easier than ever before for you to switch Disciplines. You don't have to visit the Skills Mentor on the Fleet anymore. You also don’t need to use a Field Respecialization Droid as long as:
- You’re not in combat.
- You’re not inside a phased group area.
To change your Discipline:
- Open your Character Sheet (press C by default).
- Select the Combat Style tab.
- Select the Discipline you want to switch to.
There's a short timer on Discipline changes to make it easier for you to switch again if you misclicked. Whenever you switch Disciplines, you automatically train all skills for that Discipline.
