> The future is subscriptions for steady defined bonuses backed up with digital content which can be merely cosmetic or bonuses that don't exceed what a subscription grants and can even enhance that.
Why? Subscriptions are not casual-friendly at all. Take GW2, for example. I bought the expansion in august, and had to stop playing in october. I might've logged in for the daily chest, but otherwise I haven't played. When I played, I bought some gold and cosmetic items. A few QoL items as well. And I bought the game plus expansions/DLCs. The original game is now F2P. There is no subscription. Me basically not having played the game since october cost me nothing. If I were playing WoW still, I'd have paid 13 EUR a month for essentially nothing. WoW's main gameplay is raiding. Raiding requires M+ dungeons and grinding. WoW's subscription model means that if you stop playing, you fall behind. The entire game is made to keep you subbed (I call it "forced errands"). It made me feel bad when I didn't play the game ("FOMO"). Contrast that to GW2: I can take a break whenever I feel like. A subscription model does not cater well to casuals. And the casuals are the masses. You don't see new MMOs follow subscription models. Some tried to, and they failed, including your SWTOR example.
Why? Subscriptions are not casual-friendly at all. Take GW2, for example. I bought the expansion in august, and had to stop playing in october. I might've logged in for the daily chest, but otherwise I haven't played. When I played, I bought some gold and cosmetic items. A few QoL items as well. And I bought the game plus expansions/DLCs. The original game is now F2P. There is no subscription. Me basically not having played the game since october cost me nothing. If I were playing WoW still, I'd have paid 13 EUR a month for essentially nothing. WoW's main gameplay is raiding. Raiding requires M+ dungeons and grinding. WoW's subscription model means that if you stop playing, you fall behind. The entire game is made to keep you subbed (I call it "forced errands"). It made me feel bad when I didn't play the game ("FOMO"). Contrast that to GW2: I can take a break whenever I feel like. A subscription model does not cater well to casuals. And the casuals are the masses. You don't see new MMOs follow subscription models. Some tried to, and they failed, including your SWTOR example.