This past summer, Bioware announced that Star Wars: The Old Republic would be going free-to-play in response to declining subscriptions, a model that the developer has just recently detailed on its official site.
Subscribers who pay $14.99/month will retain access to the entirety of the game's content, and will now enjoy increased access to Chat and Secure Trading, the ability to run faster starting at Level 1, along with higher login queue priority and Cargo Hold access.
Players who opt for free-to-play will be granted full access to story content, but will have limited character creation options. Operations will require a weekly pass to experience. Space missions, flash points, and warzones now have a cap of 3 per week, which can also be surpassed with the purchase of a weekly pass.
Cartel coins, which can be purchased through micro-transactions are required to gain and expand the Cargo Hold, expand inventory slots, and gain extra Crew Skill slots. "Freemium" players will have a longer Quick Travel cooldown period unless they buy authorization to increase its speed. Similarly, players will have no access to Emergency fleet pass unless they purchase an authorization.
When an avatar dies, they will respawn "at the nearest Med Center or a total of five times in the field." Cartel coins can be used to grant access to extra field revives. Lastly, free-to-play users will not have access to the majority of purple items unless they buy a license from the Cartel Market.
Bioware promises more details on the upcoming change in the near future, and advertises a launch of the new pricing model this fall.
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