"Star Wars: The Old Republic": Is Buying a Subscription Worth It?
The best free-to-play game I have ever played!
Kyler J. Falk via "Star Wars: The Old Republic"
Should I Subscribe to The Old Republic?
Star Wars: The Old Republic is an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) developed by Bioware and published by the gaming industry's devil-incarnate, Electronic Arts Inc. Don't let these modern-day boogie men of the industry scare you away, however, because The Old Republic is worth every little penny you'll ever spend on it. Much like the Knights of the Old Republic series, TOR offers a plentiful bounty of lore and a continuation of the exciting stories that true fans of Star Wars crave the most!
Paying for Free-to-Play Games
There has never been a time in my life when I was playing a free-to-play game and thought to myself, "You know what? I bet this free game would be so much better if I spent nearly one-hundred bucks on a six-month subscription to it!"
However, I did take about three days to mull over the purchase of a subscription to TOR after playing it for over eighty hours, and I ended up purchasing the maximum 180-day subscription. This was baffling to me, and even more so now as I sit here in complete satisfaction with my purchase. Such a purchase is completely out of character for me.
You see, paying for a free-to-play game, from my perspective, is essentially saying, "I support predatory business models that intentionally create problems in a game that I have to solve by paying money."
The difference between The Old Republic and other free-to-play games, such as that dumpster fire Fortnite, is the level of quality as it concerns the overall product and experience it offers. TOR offers you so much quality content that receives updates and revamps frequently that even at my 86-hour mark, I'm still only halfway through the game! Amazingly enough, as well, I'm still having just as much fun as when I first started, if not more!
Paying for a subscription to Star Wars: The Old Republic is worth it, and I promise you will not regret it!
What the Subscription Promises
According to the Steam Store page, a subscription to The Old Republic grants you all these lovely benefits:
"STAR WARS™: The Old Republic™ offers an optional subscription that allows you to experience even more of the STAR WARS universe. Benefits include an increased level cap of 75 and access to the most recent expansions: Onslaught, Knights of the Eternal Throne, and Knights of the Fallen Empire. In addition, you will receive a monthly Cartel Coin Grant, increased XP, and more."
Benefits
- All content available to free-to-play players
- Immediate access to all SWTOR expansions, including Onslaught, Knights of the Eternal Throne, and Knights of the Fallen Empire
- Level cap increased from 60 to 75
- Unlimited access to Warzones, Flashpoints, Uprisings, and Operations
- Monthly Cartel Coin grant
- Increased experience gain (XP)
- Increased Renown gain
- Increased Reputation gain
- Additional character slots
- Rest XP
They included as much as they could get away with in the subscription and its description in order to entice you into buying it without a second thought, but you know me, and I know you deserve to understand what it really feels like to buy the subscription and you don't just want to trust flowery promises.
With so many characters and so much interesting lore, the subscription adds more value to every facet of the game!
Kyler J. Falk via "Star Wars: The Old Republic"
Immediately Noticeable Benefits
The first subscription I ever paid for, begrudgingly, I might add, was for Elder Scrolls Online and the only reason I paid for it was that I needed the crafting bag with infinite space. To this day, I am still resentful of that subscription purchase and the influencing factors, but I am happy to say that the benefits of TOR have managed to drown out those blaring negative feelings with positive ones. From the second I bought the subscription onward, I have felt nothing but a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
You see, unlike when I bought the subscription to ESO just to solve a problem that shouldn't even be there, to begin with, I bought the subscription to TOR because I was legitimately sucked into and enjoying the game! Yes, you heard that right, the cynical critic of all things game industry is enjoying his nearly $100 subscription on a level he never would've said was possible prior. I noticed the benefits of the subscription immediately.
Not even one minute into hitting the level 60 cap for free-to-play players and finishing the free-to-play story for the most part, I broke under the idea of purchasing the subscription. Interestingly enough, I hit level sixty-one as soon as I logged back in with the subscription, and my inbox was full of goodies from the developers. In fact, it was the first time I had given any thought to who the developer and publisher for the game are.
I'm staunchly anti-EA after their many ongoing debacles with predatory, "fee-to-pay," microtransaction and other monetization practices; but, and this is a big but, Star Wars: The Old Republic stands as a shining example for what monetization if any at all is offered, should look like!
Immediately noticeable for me was my lack of regret, watching my level meters rise quickly and being able to finally equip my purple and orange-tier armors. I went from hitting a base three-hundred-fifty damage with my most used skill to a whopping six-hundred plus! That isn't all either; my access to the expanded lore has only deepened my interest in continuing the game.
Having taken over sixty hours to reach the end of the free-to-play stories and still being less than halfway through now at eighty-six hours of playtime, I've pulled more value out of this game for free than any paid game I've ever purchased. The sheer value of the subscription purchase and the amount of entertainment I was offered in exchange for nothing more than my time is a shining example in the cesspit that is the current state of the gaming industry.
Get Your Subscription!
With all this information taken into account, my biases as they concern free-to-play games and predatory monetization practices within the gaming industry, the final verdict for the subscription to Star Wars: The Old Republic would be "an absolute must-buy product!"
The benefits they promise are exactly what you get, and unlike other games with the same business model, TOR offers you that undeniable sense of satisfaction with your purchase. Strangely enough, as well, the earlier you buy it in your endeavor to play the game, the better off you'll be compared to individuals like me who waited over sixty hours of playtime to jump for the purchase. I wish I had bought it before I even created my first character.
Of course, I've been a die-hard fan of Star Wars for my entire life up until Disney's appropriation and misconception of what Star Wars is today, so the purchase was almost a no-brainer at that point. So if you are new to Star Wars, you should be able to get a feel for the energy of the game within the first two hours or so, and if you're enjoying it, you can rest easy knowing that it only gets better and better as you progress!
What are you waiting for?! Get out there, get your subscription, and come join me in the wonderful world of Star Wars: The Old Republic!
