Is F2P dying a slow death?

"RufusDogbreath;c-1638281" wrote:
I think the real concern CG should have as regards F2P is new players. Existing F2P (depending on tenure) are in an ok position, but new players starting cold are so far behind the 8 ball it’s discouraging to the point they quit. It’s not just the pay wall—it’s the series of walls built into the “early” game. (“Early” meaning reaching at least lvl 65 so you can do guild events, which can take weeks-to-moths to reach, depending on how much time you have to sink into the game).

The early game has players on a leash and it keeps you held back in one or more ways until you finally get to level 85. Only then- weeks or months into the game- can you truly start trying to catch up.

My son is 18 and a huge Star Wars fan. He’s started and quit the game twice because as a college freshman he doesn’t have the free time, plus it’s just not fun, to sit on the sidelines and grind for weeks until he finally can play the game the way he wants.

Some may disagree with me on this, but the way the game is structured, it severely discourages fresh blood from becoming log-term players. And you have to wonder how long the game can continue without cultivating a new-player base.

I’d be willing to bet that most of the new accounts that are actually laboring through levels 40-65 and coming out on the other side are alts of established players.

IF CG IS GOING TO ADJUST END GAME, THEY HAVE TO ALSO ADJUST EARLY GAME- otherwise the light at the end of the tunnel is so far away from new players, the journey is no fun.

Again, not everyone will agree, and I’m not going to argue over this. I’m saying it as a disheartened father who wanted to play this game with my son. (And for the record, he’s not a fast quitter - he’s an Eagle Scout and he played SW Force Collection for a couple years before it closed).

I came form Force Collection (played on and off for about 4 years) and I kind of agree with you to an extent. As a new(ish) player (late Feb 2018) I have had moments where I've felt like I'm crawling along that tunnel following the road to unlocking the legendary/hero's journey characters when I'd much rather build some Bounty hunters, Ewoks or Imperial Troopers. The problem is if I divert for those I end up in a weaker position to help my guild so I trundle along farming characters I don't really want to for the sake of unlocking other characters. By the time I'm ready for JTR; there will be new legendaries etc. and the road will get longer.

But then there are also times where I feel like I've actually made good progress on that road, especially compared to the grind SWFC was, and I still enjoy the game sooo I keep going grinding to the point "the real game begins" and I can choose my own path with being at a disadvantage or slowing my guild down.

There's also mods, ships, arena squad, raid teams and TB/TW teams to build up along the way. The game tries to pull you in so many directions to get you to spend, I get that, but there are times as a newer player I've felt a little overwhelmed. I can understand people quitting out of sheer frustration and that feeling of being so massively overwhelmed.

I'm quite lucky because neither my squad arena nor ships arena seem to be bloated with whales (they exist but not in huge numbers) so I can take 1st in ships everyday and the 50-100 bracket in squad arena every day (I've spent a total of £9.99 on this game in the 6 months playing). Between these rewards and crystals from dailies/GW I get a reasonable income of 600ish crystals a day which has helped me out in a big way. I'm honestly not sure I'd still be playing if it wasn't for that as progress would feel glacial.

TL;DR - I don't think FTP is dead but it's quite overwhelming for new players especially.