Free-to-Play, Preferred, and Subscribed Differences in SWTOR 

SWTOR:*added to steam* Swtorista: starts pumping out videos like German marks in 1920

F2P: you're doomed. Preferred: you're a little doomed. Subscriber: Congratulations, now you can remove your helmet.

The timing of this video is so perfect, my subscription literally ends tomorrow

As a mostly solo player I personally do not mind that I can't do the operations/ranked PvP and the million credit cap isn't the worst thing in the world (Many cool looking items can be bought for low price). In my opinion best thing to do is to subscribe for one month (more than enough time to get to lvl 75) and see if it was worth to you to be subbed.

Response: There is only two types of meatbags those who like me and those who were slaughtered

make sure if you're f2p to bank those credits in your legacy storage. don't go over 1 million. if you have a guildee that you trust and trusts you that is subscribed you can still get stuff on the gtn. you'll just have to pass them 1m at a time for those armors.

What I recommend for new solo players is putting in $5 at the start, then sub one month once you hit the lvl cap. You can pretty much play the whole game for only $15-20. Pretty cool deal for once, especially since it's EA lol.

I'm glad i found this video, i never played this before but been thinking about playing this and so far i love what I'm hearing. I wish that more online games had a setup like this where you can pick and choose all based on your playstyle.

I played free to play up to about level 20 and although I didn't have a problem with the reduced XP, but I decided it to subscribe just because I appreciate the game

A thing some people appear to not know, if your subscription ends and you have characters that are not at level 75 YOU CAN get to LEVEL 75, it stays just like all the content (dlc's)

I've bene playing as a preferred player for over 5 years ! Loved the game even then but recently I decided to become a subscriber because I felt as if I was missing out on things the game has to offer. Month 2 of being a subscriber and I'm lovin it !! From the crafting, operations to the exp raise! I feel as if it's worth the money but clearly I love playing the game ! I havnt played non stop for the past 5 years but anytime I had a moment past my usual hobbies SWTOR was always my to-go-to

Thank you for your work! Always sending new players to your guides!

No cap u basically explain this brilliantly. Like I watched multiple videos and got confused by if I should do it or not and u said it straight forward, thank u

Thank you I’ve always wanted to play this game since I was 18 yrs with your recommendations now I know what to do 🙏🏽

New to this game and channel. I love it!

I've been watching these videos for years keep it up :)

Thanks, Swtorista. Yet another wonderful SWTOR Acacamy vid. Great info here for newbs and occasional players. Thanks for all you do for SWTOR. 🛸🛸🛸

I just started playing this game about 2 weeks ago on steam and I am honestly impressed with it. I didn't think it'd be as good as it is. Honestly, It might be worth me subbing since I'm currently at level 26 on my Knight and have noticed certain drawbacks to being f2p. Loving this game to death though. It's exciting that I get to play a star wars game again!

thank you for updating info, i realized i was watching old one. now in right place.

I’m glad this game is on Steam, more players! More economy! I miss playing this game, but at the same time I feel like....hmm...this feeling of I play it and then I feel bored 🤔 I think it’s boring when you play this lonely, I guess every MMO is boring without someone there

Great video, thanks for the info.

Great video and this will be a great help to all the new steam players coming online now as well. I would also like to say welcome to all of them and the returning players as well.

I was still on the fence about subbing but this video helps to clear out my doubts. Judging by all the experiences the vets have in the comments, it should be worth a try. Pay once, get all.

great video and I also love the written guide, I got a friend that wants to try out the game and wanted to know about these options :D

I've played since December 2019, thanks for all he vids that you made, quite helpful. Stay safe and MTFBWY.

Thank you so much for this video! Im new player in swtor and your videos are very helpful. Thank you!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Thank you. I just started last night and there's a LOT I'm struggling to learn.

Played a little bit years ago. Started playing again always being a free player. Finally had to see what was up.

This series still going, gj Swtorista honey

Thank you for this :)

I hope your channel grows now that swtor is on steam :)

fantastic video thank you!

New player here started about a week ago, already at level 50. Thank you for these videos! Just sad that they don’t have ASIAN servers so the pvp struggle is real. Also if I may add the struggle of not being able to return to your ship immediately is most displeasing.

Dang, thanks! I was just wondering this, as I havent downloaded it yet because I was unsure.

I’m happy they brought it to steam. Hope the new players help this game get more attention

A few of my friends have been recommending this game to me for years because of how much of Star Wars fan I am and I just started playing this game today, I have put 10 hours into the game so far and I am currently at level 15 I am loving the game and the story I am not a big online player I don’t really enjoy playing with other people so I love how this game lets you play solo and let’s you play a good story this is my kind of game! I’m thinking of subscribing when I have finished the main story and got to the level cap

Thanks for your streams and content, you've helped me a ton! Would love to see a video where you showcase your favorite custom looks you've designed for all 8 class types :)

best option if you want to subscribe to get the expansions and then go preferred, is the 30 dollar option. this option gives you some cartel coins, 60 days of subscription status instead of 30, and it does not auto renew.. so you can buy and forget. this is what i usually do every few months. right now im playing preferred to see what its like. so far its just fine. i think this status is perfect for those that want to just experience the story content. only problem i have with preferred is that you only get 1 crew skill slot. that said you can unlock additional slots but its expensive. if i ever did the group content on a regular basis, i'd probably sub and go the 90 days or 6 month route. if you know you are going to play long term those are better deals in the long run. one thing to remember is that if you go the 30 dollar route, you can use your cartel coins to unlock some of the restrictions such as hide helmet, unify colors, crew skills (though this one is expensive), and purple gear.

Great video thank you

love this game so much

Very helpful.

very nice ty :)

I am terrified about the timing of these video releases aligning with my own actions in game

HAHAHA. You're BACK IN ACTION! Here we again!! :)

Perfect time to make this video with all the new steam players

I was a subscriber for a while, but I don't do PVP or operations and I'm not part of a guild. I purchased a couple microtransactions to allow me to have most character customization. I do play by myself almost all the time so being a preferred status is fine with me.

I've been playing since 2016 and only subbed for the first time in October 2019 for the Nautolan, lol.

This video convinced me to subscribe tomorrow 😂. LvL 20 is starting to feel slow.

Gonna dive into the game again, esp since it’s on steam

Nice work! Amazing!

Personally, this seems like a rather dumb content structure. It would almost undoubtedly be easier to swtich to a full FTP model, they could gate things like x2, x4 x6 speeders behind the cartel coins systems, release cosmetic items monthly and release skill effect MTX and things like this. While it's great to allow players to have access to the story content, the benefit to the game is in increasing the number of available raiding players and decreasing PVP and Raid queues. The game doesn't get to benefit from this, nor does it draw in players who want to try a nearly 10-year-old MMO. It doesn't make sense at all to drive the players you get to invest in and then hit them with level caps, movement speed caps at early levels, and item progression caps. And once you find out the ceiling in makes you not want to install the game. Because you know you're barred from the endgame... even if you only want to experience the story content. If you want to charge for expansion content, that's fine, but just increase the FTP level cap right in line. They don't get the new classes or the storyline content, but they get the items, PVP, and Multiplayer content within reason. Hardcaps in MMOs are an awful, awful idea. They leave a sour taste for potential customers. And an MMO is nothing without endgame content.

Finally found the item I've been looking for in the game. Don't like the requirement though, lol.

I am in love with her voice

the credit cap is the only thing that gets to me when playing as preferred

I played this game in like 2014 and hknestly loved. Made it to lvl 203 in like a few days honestly if you love games like this it’s a little frustrating but not krazy

Last time I played, I maxed out at level 50. I was a subscriber and will be again. As of right now, I'm just trying to re-learn the game since it has been about 6 years since I played. I feel like a total noob all over again. lol

Im still downloading the game via steam 😊 so excited about this! Any recommendations for the server? I had good internet connections (i just dont wanna play alone lool) 😂 Looking forward to Operation!

From what I understand if you subscribe and unlock all expansions-even if you go back to preferred before you hit the level 60 you’ll be able to level beyond 60 when you play said expansions. I think-

My biggest problem with the model is the level cap. That feels unnecessary. The credits cap seems more manageable unless there are things you can only buy if you have an amount over the free-to-play cap.

memories of doing all 8 classes stories as F2P are flooding back

So basically get to level 60 free to play then subscribe to permanently unlock all expansions. Keep subscribed to play the full game at a high level for as long as you like the game. Good video, thank you.

I been F2P for 4 years lol I absolutely have to subscribe this Almost every each class characters on rep and imp i have are closing to 60 lmao and the restrictions are driving me into crazy But seriously this video really helped me how I’m gonna do it the way to subscribe So thanks a lot 🙏🏻

I always play subbed. There's just so many quality of life improvements when you are. IMHO

I recently started F2P and some things might have changed. First I can get my level 1 speeder pilot skill at Level 20 not 25 (which has been mentioned in older videos). Also my money has not been capped at $200k (also mentioned in other videos).

I feel like subscribing for most people is a 1 off thing, since a lot of the conveniece based perks are kept as a preferred player. I myself have only subscibed once. The only thing I wish I could do was operations but I don't play regularely enough for subbing to be worth it.

does the 60 day one-time purchase work the same as a normal subscription does? do the benefits of the higher level cap and access to expansions still apply?

the races that get unlocked for free when you are subscribed will they still be unlocked when the subscription runs out ?

I didn’t hear it in video but you also get 500 cartel coins a month with subscription, and additional 100 a month with security key

Free-to-play does not mean "demo", demo means demo. The fact this games F2P is advertised as such by its community is a gigantic red flag.

With the new expansion dropping in feb, would the tips in this video apply?

I remember playing this when it came out but after I reached lvl 25 inquisitor I couldn’t log back in I was kinda pist that I had to creat a new character

I would like to meet you inside the academy.

Credit cap was the most frustrating for me. I bought a lot of unlocks while subbed.

Im just waiting for them to release a new content/expansion to resub. I really want to buy/upgrade my stronghold so that I can get 150% conquest bonus . but for now , legacy/escrow is where my credits go.

I subbed only to unlock the secondary classes for my characters, plus the alien spieces. Do I keep these after undubbing? Really not planning on paying for a 10 year old game monthly.

I am a f2p player and I just hit the lvl cap and finished the class story. Is it a waste of exp to do the next two expansions if I'm not subscribed?

So is any story content locked behind endgame content? Like, do you need to do X 8-man to finish/continue an expansion arc?

What was the armor worn durign the High Level section? (the grey and white one)

i might be late to ask this. i just started yesterday. lets say i go up to lv60 then i subscribe and i want to play latest dlc onslaught. can i play the dlc onslaught feature again if i unsubsribe for the next month? will any of my rewards or gear within the dlc will be restricted to equip until i subs again? thank you very much.

My Sith juggernaut is level 66 and I never want to touch him again

Swtorista, I just want to say thank you. My download is almost done and I'm excited start playing, but I'm probs gonna be lost lol. The other vids like this are just confusing and garbage tbh. So thanks again! Impeccable timing lol

hey=) whats the name of the armor-set with those 2 katanas? the first sith (@0.46)

On preferred player: I got preferred status from just making a 250 cartel coins purchase (€2.40), so it seems like the 5$ minimum has been lifted. I briefly thought it was still there since I couldn't find a definitive answer, and my preferred status arrived several minutes later than the cartel coins themselves, so I looked it up. There I found that the 5$ restriction was initialy a bug when they introduced the 250 purchace option and forgot to enable that as a way to get preferred status. Then I relogged and found I did indeed get my preferred status after all.

Dear Swtorista, how i can save money, I have reached the limit 1millon and i preferred status, i cant enter on my guild cargo to save money, so what do you recommend?

As someone who subscribed 3 days ago, I must say its it.

I would've have liked if you spoke more about the "preferred" player. I still don't know what restrictions i will have

I don't get it, if I sub and get all the expansions and level cap increase, do I keep that if I become preferred? Will the cred count be capped? Will I go back to walking?

So, I’m a preferred player and I have been running into a problem with PVP Warzones. Have they changed what warzones are available to players based on whether they are subscribed or not?

also another question can you kill both acina and vowrawn if so who becomes emperor of the sith empire???

So my friend is lvl 69 rn. If he subs and goes to preffered will he automatically get to lvl up to 75? Or does he first need to lvl up to 75 as a sub?

Respectfully, isn't it cheaper if one bought a 12 month pack? Or is it still 15 usd regardless of month by month or 1 year bundle? Also does 1 month sub unlock Legacy of the Sith or do I need to pay the 40$? Thanks

If I pay for at least one month and develop the given hero to level 75 but I have other heroes who are at level 60 after the end of this month, will I be able to raise my other heros to level 75 and play the all expansion on them or do I still have to pay

preferred status was good until i wasnt able to put on high lvl gear (artifact gear) that along with no operations kinda ruined it for me :/

You may have mentioned this but do preferred players still have the experience limitation?(where you earn less xp for missions after level 20)

What about paying for the 60 day subscription - does that turn you into a preferred player once it runs out or does this only work for subscribing for one month?

What happens to characters when dropping from Subscribed to Preferred? Do I get to keep any up to the preferred character limit?

Honestly the only hard thing to decide on is what class story to play first, I still cant decide on which class I want to finish first lol

The biggest question on the Steam Forums is these here and a few account transferring issues and which to sub to Steam or website kind of things Ive seen.

Hi @Swtorista, you mentioned that spending $5.00 in the game will make you a preferred player. Doing that, will I be able to play the expansions ? I think being a preferred player is the perfect thing for me as it is less restrictive than f2p, I am not really into the pvp stuff of the game. Subbing for a month also makes me think that I will be pressured to play the game since I need to make out most of its benefits for just a month.

Hello, Can you play the story mode with a friend? Something as a Co-op ? And if it's possible to play can you do it as a free to play plan ? Thank you.