The cat is officially out of the bag: Star Trek Online is switching over its new free-to-play model on January 17th, 2012. And if you're looking forward to the shift in payment models, you might think that's the only date you need to be concerned with at the moment. But there are a few more milestones for players to look for, starting with December 1st. That's the day when players will start receiving their point stipends for subscription, with a stipend of 400 points on the billing date for the account.
Another major date listed in the latest Path to F2P blog is December 8th -- that's the latest date that the team is planning to push the current test build on to the live servers. Sometime between the 1st and the 8th, the build will go live, with several enhancements and upgrades for existing subscribers even without the inclusion of free players. So mark your calendar because these are some rather important dates to keep watch on as the next month of testing and refinement rounds out.
Reader Comments (14)
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 9:26PM Sam not Spam said
Ah yes, release after the holidays when my work slows down, my checks likely smaller, and I've probably already gone through any games received at Christmas time. Sounds great to me! Also, the more time they've got to work on things, the better, plus hopefully the staff can have something resembling a reasonable winter holiday.
Posted: Nov 9th 2011 9:35PM tepster said
I was expecting it to be a lot sooner..oh well, by that time I'll probably be engrossed in SWTOR and my wallet much thinner.
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 5:35AM FrostPaw said
@tepster
Me too, While I don't know how long I'll play TOR It's safe to say it will be longer than one month given I bought the Deluxe Digital version. If it was released before TOR I would have tried it, now I probably won't look at it until later in 2012 if its still alive by then and I also expect games like Secret World will be launching then anyway.
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Me too, While I don't know how long I'll play TOR It's safe to say it will be longer than one month given I bought the Deluxe Digital version. If it was released before TOR I would have tried it, now I probably won't look at it until later in 2012 if its still alive by then and I also expect games like Secret World will be launching then anyway.
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 1:10AM Varakkys said
So, they're releasing just in time for the end of SWTOR's initial free month? Interesting....
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 1:39AM Spacegrass said
How is Star Trek Online these days? I remember reading that it was kind of tedious and shallow when it came out; has it gotten any better?
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 2:40AM pcgneurotic said
@Spacegrass
Very much so, it's chalk and cheese between now and then. The best thing is, it is getting very much more 'Star Trek' as the months go by too. As I've always said, once you've customised your ship and uniforms to the particular period you like best, there's really no great reason (visually) not to believe you're playing an ever-so slightly futuristic version of your favourite Trek. (Except for visits to places full of other players, *then* it all gets a bit crazy) :D
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Very much so, it's chalk and cheese between now and then. The best thing is, it is getting very much more 'Star Trek' as the months go by too. As I've always said, once you've customised your ship and uniforms to the particular period you like best, there's really no great reason (visually) not to believe you're playing an ever-so slightly futuristic version of your favourite Trek. (Except for visits to places full of other players, *then* it all gets a bit crazy) :D
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 7:59AM smartstep said
Lol @ pseudo hype that is made with this "news" flood
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 8:30AM SwarlesBarkley said
Even at F2P, I'm not interested. I played it during beta, then bought the game at a discount and got 30 days of which I only played it for 5 days tops and that was just a few months ago. The space fights are good, but not enough to keep my interest for weeks/months/years on end. I don't think this game will do that great even after F2P. I'm sure many will try it, but the same thing will happen. Even if a game becomes F2P, does not mean it will be a success just based off that alone. It has to be worth the time you put into it.
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 8:38AM Aang said
I am glad to hear the games improving. The fans of the Star Trek IP deserve a great game. Lets hope things continue to look up
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 12:51PM Masync9 said
Hopefully they will continue to fix and improve things but the timing is really bad for release to F2P.
It will be *very* interesting to see how they are doing mid next year. I am a bit concerned considering with Perfect Wold is doing with Never Winter Nights how well STO will survive.
It will be *very* interesting to see how they are doing mid next year. I am a bit concerned considering with Perfect Wold is doing with Never Winter Nights how well STO will survive.
Posted: Nov 10th 2011 1:14PM DairamX2 said
I really would like F2P STO to work out. I've never played STO, but I'd like to give it a shot. However the ground combat has zero appeal to me. Maybe when the other factions are playable i'll give it a go.







