Changes made to Star Wars: The Old Republic’s free-to-play version

BioWare and EA have made some changes to the free-to-play version of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Early on there were some mixed reactions to the restrictions placed on the free-to-play version, but thanks to some "community and internal feedback", there have been a few changes made.

First off, free-to-play players will now get a second quickslot bar.

"Originally, the second quickslot bar was part of preferred status," lead designer Damion Schubert explained, "but this morning based on feedback here and what they were seeing in the community we decided to give it to everyone."

Free-to-play players will also now be able to do five Warzones per week instead of three. Lastly, the Cartel Coin item lock (i.e. temporary bind) will be reduced to three days for free-to-play players, and two days for subscribers.

"Perhaps the most interesting point regarding the Warzones limitation is that some players have concerns that putting limitations on Warzone runs might make Warzone queues less likely to fire," Schubert said. "While it is possible that this may happen, we don't think it will — our subscriber base likely will not shrink much, and for some of our competitors, converting to Free-to-Play has resulted in a subscriber increase! Which means that Warzone queues should likely see improvement from what you experience in game, and at minimum be relatively unchanged in experience."

Schubert did warn that if the free-to-play conversion results in a "degraded Warzone experience" once it goes live for subscribers, they will quickly make adjustments to the system. This is to ensure that subscribers have an "optimal experience."

"That being said, it is important conversely that the subscription offers subscribers strong, tangible benefits over the Free-to-Play experience. We value our subscribers greatly, and they are crucial to the success of Star Wars: the Old Republic," Schubert concluded.

Does this make the free-to-play version of Star Wars: The Old Republic more attractive?