• Comparing SWTOR to the old KOTOR games? It's an MMO so gameplay changes completely. Only theme and maybe same kind of story is left.
  
• I can't understand what Mass Effect has to do with anything here.
  
• You really are saying that SWTOR with Star Wars license is nothing compared to WoW with a Warcraft license?
• Why would you even think there will be a life time plan for SWTOR, nothing has indicated that yet.
• That's kinda sick to think that everything should be done now because you could be dead tomorrow... What does it change if one option is to play this and then switch to SWTOR if it's good. It is a big investment to play an MMO that's why many are thinking if the money spent on STO would be better with SWTOR. It's not like everyone who have played an MMO would need a subscription to one every year, there are other kinds of games out there.
• The points from A to C  you mentioned are just some pure useless speculation and I can't think why you are referring to SWTOR and not also STO or any other new or unreleased MMO. 
  

Of all the people to buy a lifetime subscription, Jeff would be the last person I'd imagined to.
 
Honestly, I think STO will last for a good while, just on the brand name alone.  Not to mention space is a pretty big place.  So for the average gamer it's probably not a bad deal.  It does pay for itself after a year and a half worth of playing time.
 
However, Jeff isn't your average gamer.  So I think he'll come to regret it.
 
The only MMO I'll do lifetime subscription to is FFXIV.  No question about it.

I caved and bought a Collector's Edition on Steam after all the positive buzz here on Giant Bomb, particularly this article.  After playing the beta for a few hours, I completely regret it.  I think the game is absolutely horrible.  Hopefully I can cancel my preorder and get my money back, but I've heard Steam customer service can be difficult.  After having already wasted $50 a few months ago on Champions Online, I'll never again even entertain the thought of playing something from Cryptic Studios.
 Jeff, if you think this game is in any way worth $300, Cataclysm is going to make you shit yourself.

Probably an easier bitter pill to swallow when you can write it off on your 2010 taxes as a business expense as a video game journalist.

Somebody should setup a reminder or something 2 years from now to send Jeff an Email or PM and ask him if this subscription was worth it.

To those asking if having a lifetime subscription entitles you to updates/expansions or not. Has there ever been a case to where that has ever happened?  The only case that I've heard remotely close to that is with Eve, and was a big update (so i've heard) plus it goes month to month. I've seen WoW expansions in stores but again, that's on a month to month subscription(and apparently sought after like rabid dogs or Mac fanatics). It seems illogical that a game that charges a fee to play it, which is what a subscription is, would just not charge for any expansions that may come along at a later date. Again, Eve is the closest I've heard otherwise. 
 
And to those saying $300 is too much to pay for a game, umm, how much are consoles nowadays? Some of the comments here corroborate the fact it's NOT too much. Hell, in the case of PC gaming, you're paying more than that. There are people out there right now who have plunked down money on a gaming console or PC JUST to play Modern Warfare 2. If you don't see the similarity, you may be fooling yourself.
 
Someone also mentioned having to play 300 hours to break even. By that logic, if you paid $60 dollars for a game, you should be playing for 60 hours, correct? Outside of games with multiplayer, is that a regular occurrence(yes, I know there are games like Borderlands)?  Again, sound illogical.

" Lind_L_Taylor, what the heck are you talking about? 
  

• Comparing SWTOR to the old KOTOR games? It's an MMO so gameplay changes completely. Only theme and maybe same kind of story is left.
  
• I can't understand what Mass Effect has to do with anything here.
  
• You really are saying that SWTOR with Star Wars license is nothing compared to WoW with a Warcraft license?
• Why would you even think there will be a life time plan for SWTOR, nothing has indicated that yet.
• That's kinda sick to think that everything should be done now because you could be dead tomorrow... What does it change if one option is to play this and then switch to SWTOR if it's good. It is a big investment to play an MMO that's why many are thinking if the money spent on STO would be better with SWTOR. It's not like everyone who have played an MMO would need a subscription to one every year, there are other kinds of games out there.
• The points from A to C  you mentioned are just some pure useless speculation and I can't think why you are referring to SWTOR and not also STO or any other new or unreleased MMO. 
  

 I could also mention that they haven't even stated what way people will even pay for playing SWTOR, it could be buy to play with micro transactions. They haven't publicly eliminated any of the options yet. "

Anyone putting on a bet on how long Jeff plays STO for and then decides to never play it again?

hmm that'll be an intersting bet.

Jeff lives up to his name as a person who buys everything. I tip my hat to you, sir. I would never spend that much on a game let alone an MMO that isn't World of Warcraft (in other words, a MMO that will actually stay alive).

Look at it this way, Jeff...you've spent money on Neo-Geo games before, so what's another $300? 
 
Joking aside...WTF, man.

If you turn your subscription into a continuation of the Set Phasers to Fun feature then this would totally be a valid business expense.

" If you turn your subscription into a continuation of the Set Phasers to Fun feature then this would totally be a valid business expense. "

Well played Jeff! I've been watching the QL of the beta and this looks like a game I can sink my teeth into eventually. I'll be playing out the last 2 months of my WoW account then I'll be moving on to this. If I had the extra scratch in my budget I would definitely do the same thing. 
I also agree with JoeOE18's comment about the Set Phasers to Fun feature.

This is against my better judgment because I decided a long time ago that I hated mmo games, mostly because of the grind, but I caved and bought the Life Time Subscription.



This little Beta play-through that the Giant Bomb guys have been streaming is what made me download the beta to check it out and I had a blast playing over the last week, despite the many bugs. In fact, I had so much fun that I proceeded to pre-order which I rarely do, because I knew I would like the game even more once they work out all the bugs. Oh and I wanted the pre-order "automated defense battery" bonus to take out those pesky siphon probes and enemy boarding parties. I can see that this game has huge potential, no doubt about it!  

However, none of that was enough for me to pay $240 up front money to play an online game (plus $60 for the game itself).

Incidentally, hearing Jeff declare that he bought the Life Time Subscription didn't sway me either.

Despite all of those reasons, it was still not enough to sway me. Alas, the most powerful reason for me to pay through the nose for this game was that I can see myself still wanting to play Star Trek Online years down the line, especially if Cryptic works hard on getting rid of the bugs and provides a steady stream of quality content based on the enormous amount of story and lore they have to draw from. I love Star Trek and space combat and this game is only going to get better unless the developers do absolutely nothing. Besides, I doubt Cryptic and Atari would dare screw this huge money-making opportunity up because they would be a laughing stock and hated by all the fans who will hold deep resentment. Forever. The way I see it, I am paying what would amount to 1 year and 4 months of subscription price and will never have to pay again. Out of all the mmo games I have played, I usually stuck it out for more than a year before I got tired of the grind and quit, but I probably would have played again sooner or later if I didn't have to go through the hassle of subscription, re-installation, and downloading all the updates again. Though, I never had a problem with re-installing single player games. Hmm. Probably because there was no subscription involved.

P.S.

I don't think there is any better feeling in a space combat game then the result of pulling up broadside to an enemy vessel then letting lose with all phasers and turrets then turn hard Starboard firing aft torpedo, then use your evasive maneuver to turn 180 on a dime and let loose fore phasers and a double torpedo volley, finally flying through the the exploding enemy vessel.  Awesome space combat!

Levelled up to Lt Com over the weekend, played a few Fleet battles, played a little PvP - caved and bought the Lifetime Sub today. 
 
The game really started clicking for me once everybody starts getting different ship types and a little bit of group dynamic starts to emerge.  I think their pacing is way off - they should have made the first ship upgrade about ~5 hours in, instead of ~20.
 
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I will end up regretting it, but that's gaming for you.  Plus I can totally call my character Jimborg.

" The house always wins Jeff. Cryptic knows the odds of you playing 16+ months are pretty low.   Looking back, WoW is the only MMO I would have come out ahead on the deal like this - the rest would have been horrible ripoffs. "

If your serious about this the yearly thing sounds alright. 

THIS...IS CETI ALPHA FIVE

With all do respect jeff you are a dumb ass haha.
You talk about addiction to WoW a little bit and too me having a lifetime subscription is a constant bug pecking at your brain telling you "dude, you payed 300 bucks for this game, you cant quit now, play a little longer and there might be a patch that will make the game good again." 
 
I used wrath of the lich king as an excuse to leave wow forever after 4 years of non stop play, couldnt keep playing if i didnt buy lich king, that was my solution. Course now im super excited for swtor......but i still dont think ill pay 300 bucks for it.

I wish blizzard would try this, id want to pay upfront so i can play more WoW when i want for however long i want

Jeff will be giving this one 5* to save face,  and to try and con all of us into this madness.   STAY AWAY FROM ME JEFF.  I NEED MY $300 WHERE IT IS.  IN MY ASSR.

still feel good jeff?

Me and my girlfriend would've loved to play this game, but we're stuck in this mire where
we don't really want to if we can't play the liberated Borg or whatever.
For me and her with the EU "collective's" prices ontop of this it's over $600usd and just to feed the gaming habit & fan habit.

I don't care about not having to pay monthly fees, I just want to play one of my favourite races
in one of my favourite franchises, often having dreamed about "what if.." scenarios if Star Trek went online.   
Now I see it has been released, and you have to bend over and take it hard it seems if you want to play it. 

I certainly can't imagine I'd be happy playing this game after spending 300usd on it;
I'd have that niggling, shameful feeling that I allowed them to take advantage of me
and even worse, I allowed them to do the same to my girlfriend too just because
we were too weak to resist the allure of the Borg in a game that really doesn't look .. you know, very good.

No one would've payed $300 to play as a "liberated Nazgul" in Lord of the Rings Online,  or would they? 
And say this marketing scores bigtime and everyone will do it from now on,
throw in 300 to play as an evil Jedi in Star Wars, 500 to play as an Alliance tauren, 
or 700 to play as the Fat Princess with dual chain guns..  
 
Also I'm just disgruntled since I can't afford this right now.

You fool!

I can't believe people are still questioning Jeff's decision. He preordered the game, he got the lifetime sub and he's happy with it. Move on people.

This ... this one time I saw Jeff unwrap a little piece of foil and put some chewed gum into his mouth. He must have had a life time subscription to that gum too.

" Gosh, Jeff...What on earth did those  Cryptic  guys do to you? Speak to me! ~ NOOOoo!
 
This isn't...Even...World of Warcraft or pre-Luclin era Everquest.  AAAAhhh!
 
I remember Everquest before they released Luclin and the subsequent 32 expansions after that. Everquest before that was good times. Gosh. Hmm, actually Luclin was O-K, I guess. It's when they released the one after that when the game became awful. Oh, it was Lost Dungeons of Norrath. By then the player base got too scattered. Everything was ruined. People had moved on.Played on my ancient computer with dial-up and a voodoo 2. I started with Kunark. The draw distance was about 40 feet in front of you, else there was fog. So much fun, even if I didn't do any gigantic raids or anything. "

Does anyone know the "Set phasers on FUN" video where Jeff tells everyone that he wants a life time subscription and then argues the logic behind it?    Or was that the podcast?

Ohhh and it's not getting such good reviews anywhere. They even cancelled the console releases. Might have been a bad idea :-(

Hahah! Fail....

This money could have been used to fund the raid.

@groin said:

This money could have been used to fund the raid.

Great Necro dude.