Ewoks for Sale Outrages Some Star Wars: The Old Republic Subscribers
Posted by Kotaku Jul 06 2013 20:00 GMT in Star Wars: The Old Republic
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The latest foofaraw in Star Wars: The Old Republic—an MMO that exists primarily to make people complain, it seems—concerns an Ewok. Yes, a cuddly Ewok, the action figure picked last (after Mon Mothma, even) when you were choosing up sides for battle. Treek the Bounty Hunter is an Ewok companion for your character who becomes available this August. When originally announced, you got her if your character had a million credits on hand and a legacy level over 40. First people started grumbling about whether or not, at this point in the Star Wars canon—Ewoks were known off of Endor, and then how the hell could one get off Endor, much less become a fearsome bounty hunter. Now it's been discovered that people can just up and buy off Treek with real moolah. I know, paying real cash for the services of a bounty hunter? In a free-to-play MMO? The hell? Because everything in video gaming has to be a zero-sum argument, people who have the requisite legacy level are super pissed off that those who don't can just up and acquire Treek for Cartel Coins, the currency of the Cartel Market, aka where things are bought and sold for real buxx. The fact this game is published by Electronic Arts figures into the discussion, too, I'm sure. "Not everyone has to be able to have everything in the game and this promotes the fact that you should indeed be able to buy anything and bypass requirements," said one subscriber on the game's forums. " have been waiting since February of ’12 for something awesome to come out for legacy level 50 and so far we get absolutely nothing." "It’s not P2W but it’s a slap in the face to people that actually played the game long enough to earn a high legacy level," said another. "Thanks for continuing to not value the subs." Others are not as offended. "Honestly, I don't see that much broad based backlash about Treek," wrote one in this thread. "I do see the same handful of players running heavy on the hamster-wheel of faux indignation. But this is true for everything about the game for the most part." As I've written, this is partly why people despise free-to-play models. When everything is for sale, the game removes the feeling of being able to get something for nothing. It also drives some people nuts to have their hard work—whatever it takes to get to legacy level 40 and acquire a million credits—given a monetary value. That is kind of insulting. But come on, we're talking about an Ewok. This would seem to be the kind of thing that would distinguish a freebie player, because no one cool, or in their right mind, would be seen walking around with a space teddy bear. SWTOR players not pleased with Ewok being purchasable on Cartel Market [Just Push Start] To contact the author of this post, write to owen@kotaku.com or find him on Twitter @owengood.



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