I would agree with Dubhlaith, that their cash shop is kind of nasty. I'll try and get their 5-8 free leveling sigil today, with the advice from a previous poster saying you can get it in Water Works.
I had already done Water Works, and may have sold it to a vendor by mistake if I got it at all. I'm willing to bet that the 9-12 sigil will be close to non-existent. I'm sure the 5-8 free sigil will be an example of " see you can find things in game " but that will be short lived.
In my short two months play I had covered ALL " adventuring packages " that are now for sale in the store. What I'm saying is that you NEED THEM ALL to have fun, and not be handicapped to fellow players and guilds, and I'm not even a power player and I still easily covered all this paid content.
If I were to buy any points at the cash shop it would have to be 3300 points=$38.99 or nothing at all, because the " adventuring packs " are that important to the game.
If the purchase of " leveling sigils " and "adventure packs " are transferable to ALL our characters and forever, it maybe advantageous to buy them. Kind of like paying for a lifetime subscription for around $50 or so. But not sure they are transferable.
But until I know for sure I could not see buying anything, because once you pay the monthly fee you fore fit everything you paid in the store.
You can view all "adventure packs " to end game, but " leveling sigils " only to level 8. Their is a good chance the leveling sigils could be very very expensive, and you will not get a life time sub for very cheap.
Be careful of D&D Online, their marketing people covered everything !!!
You do realise that you can get points from playing the free to play version of the game without having to spend a cent. Completing the adventures on elite as well as just getting to a certain level or point in the game will earn you points to spend in the shop, all free.
I have one level 3 character so far and 150 points to spend, so I can buy one of these levelling sigels if I'm unable to find one as a quest reward. Also you can continue to get xp up until 1xp short of the next level before they are wasted.
Personally I'm going to look for the sigel as a reward and save the points I'm earning to buy an adventure pack or two.
Ok i'm sure you can make a hobby out of trying to play the game for free. But I'm absolutely sure the "free Sigils " well be much harder to find, and Wayyy more expensive at higher levels. Some of the " adventure packs " are affordable, but most are expensive, and from only two months experience I'll tell you that YOU NEED THEM ALL. Because you'll be all over the game world fast once you know what your doing .
I'm sure the experienced players know what I'm talking about. And i'm sure the experienced one are the ones that can pull off the free to play the best !
ya this f2p model is close to gw model without the initial cost .ddo might be on to something here without knowing it!
at least for me it make lot more sense the aion p2p model
Sorry, but this is nothing at all like GW.
In the GW store you can buy things like new characters slots, unlocks for things for PVP-only characters, name changes, and appearance changes.
In the DDO story you can buy things like the ability to level higher, the ability to go to certain places, and the ability to create characters of certain races and classes.
They are not at all alike in any way.
The way Turbine is doing this is just one more in a very long line of examples of their poor business sense. They have so many great ideas, but they always have such horrible implementation, marketing, and design. I know I should no longer be surprised by how horrible these people are. Their store is worse than many asian grinders. While I am not surprised, and I more disappointed than ever.
Yea its actually better than the GW buisness model since you can choose what you want from the game and dont need to get it all from the box, flexibility is great for the customer
Seeing how many people playing DDO now I think Turibne have done a great job to create the biggest MMO re-launch ever. I think this will have a big impact on the industry.
Until they sell 4+ million copies of the game they do not have a better business model then GW. Guild Wars is a huge success, DDO dreams of being that big even thought the game itself is better.
I think I'm removing D&D Online off my computer NOW. Screw Water Works, and the level 5-8 Siegel. This game is just too nasty. Its less than a free trial !!!!!! I may play around with EQ1
Ok i'm sure you can make a hobby out of trying to play the game for free. But I'm absolutely sure the "free Sigils " well be much harder to find, and Wayyy more expensive at higher levels. Some of the " adventure packs " are affordable, but most are expensive, and from only two months experience I'll tell you that YOU NEED THEM ALL. Because you'll be all over the game world fast once you know what your doing . I'm sure the experienced players know what I'm talking about. And i'm sure the experienced one are the ones that can pull off the free to play the best !
And I can tell you from 3.5 years of playing that you absolutely do not need them all.
It will always amaze me that there are people who expect to be able to play a high quality, high production cost game for $0 the entire way through. Companies exist to make money to make more products to make more money. They don't do so by giving stuff away. F2P is another business model to MAKE MONEY. This means there is cost to the player involved.
Yes you can get level sigils for free, they are there to buy for those who would rather not wait to find one and just move on.
But yes there is content you have to buy in order to play it, because content costs money to make. Same goes for different races/classes you can buy and character slots.
But the core of the game is free, and you can keep leveling up for free if you are willing to wait to find a sigil. That is exactly what a free to play is supposed to be. But to think that you're going to get all the content for free and then be shocked that you will have to spend money to experience everything is, to put it as nicely as I can, fairly unintelligent.
You do realise that you can get points from playing the free to play version of the game without having to spend a cent. Completing the adventures on elite as well as just getting to a certain level or point in the game will earn you points to spend in the shop, all free. I have one level 3 character so far and 150 points to spend, so I can buy one of these levelling sigels if I'm unable to find one as a quest reward. Also you can continue to get xp up until 1xp short of the next level before they are wasted. Personally I'm going to look for the sigel as a reward and save the points I'm earning to buy an adventure pack or two.
I have to be honest after reading this today, I'll admit that I may be taking this issue too far, Of all the replies to my OP this in the only one that makes any sense.
I 100% back my original posting, but I really had gone too far after the fact. I also 100% believe that $14.99 pay to play is the answer, unless your obsessed with getting this game for free ( kind of like a game within a game ), and that can be fun too, especially if your on a budget.
Originally posted by page Still level 3, was unable to play the last few days. How many got the "free level 5 sigil " yet, and is it only for level 5 or 5-8, ? And if it's only for level 5 how hard is 6 to get ?
i got lucky cuz i got a copper sigil, to lvlup 5-8, as quest reward for an early quest at the harbor Recovering the Lost Tome really easy quest so i was really happy that i didnt have to buy one off from the store its kinda random but im juz sharing that info though
I just started the game today and I'm actually finding it pretty good.. although the whole leveling thing is kind of strange tl me... I don't plan on spending any money yet until I spend more time in game and decide whether or not its worth it... but mostly if I'm playing this its because I'm waiting on something else... so I think I'd be willing to try and get everything free instead of paying in the store.... Is it true that after a certain level you HAVE to buy something to raise the cap?
I just started the game today and I'm actually finding it pretty good.. although the whole leveling thing is kind of strange tl me... I don't plan on spending any money yet until I spend more time in game and decide whether or not its worth it... but mostly if I'm playing this its because I'm waiting on something else... so I think I'd be willing to try and get everything free instead of paying in the store.... Is it true that after a certain level you HAVE to buy something to raise the cap?
Every 4 levels you will need a leveling sigil to level up. The first one costs 120 TP in the store and then they become a bit more expensive up to the 17-20 sigil which costs 300 TP. Theese can drop as quest rewards from quests of that leveling range but since not many Free players have gotten to higher levels yet, we dont know how rare they are. The first one is very common. Since you also get TP from running quests you could save thoose to buy leveling sigils instead of buying points.
So it may take some grinding to get the sigils for free. Personally I think they should remove the 5-8 sigil because I think its to early and confuses alot of people, thats my biggest gripe with the store so far.
If WoW = The Beatles and WAR = Led Zeppelin Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I was level 2 and had 50 turbine points by the time I went to stormreach. Once there I bought a leveling sigil since it was on sale for that exact amount. Maybe it still is?
I might actually reroll a couple of times to try some of the other classes, or maybe custom design one as much as possible. One thing is for sure, if you're trying to solo and you don't know how to lockpick - you'll be frustrated by the amount of tempting loot you cannot get to.
IMPORTANT : If the purchase of " leveling sigils " and "adventure packs " are transferable to ALL our characters and forever, it maybe advantageous to buy them. Kind of like paying for a lifetime subscription for around $50 or so. But not sure they are transferable. But until I know for sure I could not see buying anything, because once you pay the monthly fee you fore fit everything you paid in the store.
I just had to jump in here for this, in case no one else caught this...
You say that 'you forfeit everything you paid', but no, that's not true. If you're F2P, and you purchase, say, The Necropolis, and then you subscribe for a month or two, that will NOT negate your purchase. If you become F2P later on, you will still have The Necropolis. You bought it, it's yours, regardless of the state of your account- forever. Same if you purchase the Drow race- you can make a Drow on any server, whether you be VIP or F2P (this is something VIPs do not get automatically, they have to unlock Drow by gaining 400 Favour on the server they want to play them on- unless they purchase the unlock).
Leveling Sigils are not 'one time only purchase per account'. They're 'consumed' when you use them, so they're a per-character item (whether purchased or received as a quest reward). Think of a Sigil as a potion, that's probably the best comparison to make. Many things in the store ARE either account-wide (Adventure Packs, races, classes, the shared bank) or transferable between characters on your account (these are 'Bound to Account' items, such as the Collectible/Gem/Ingredient Bags).
Oh, and to your 'must have' list: My current character is 11, and I've never set foot in Three Barrel Cove, the Catacombs, or Sorrowdusk. I'm not saying those zones are bad or anything, I've enjoyed them on other characters, just that I have easily leveled this one without once doing them. I only set foot for the first time in Necropolis last night, and it was for exploring Orchard of the Macabre, not the quest series. I haven't done Gianthold yet, but I'm sure I will, it's darn near the only thing people in the low teens run, sadly. Tangleroot & Delera's are really too hard to pass up, as well. If you've a friend who's VIP, though, and you aren't expecting to spend a vast amount of time in any of the above, you might be able to wing a Guest Pass from a friend.
Any F2P player who gets serious in the game really should consider going VIP, then there wouldn't be any 'running into roadblocks'. If VIP isn't feasible, there is still the slow Favour (and thus Turbine Point) gain from doing quests, for free. Or if you prefer to just 'pay as you go' and 'purchase only what's necessary', all I have to say is- just make sure you're not paying more than what you'd get monthly for being VIP! Don't get suckered into spending $30 a month when you could get it all for $15...but if you could spend $30 one month and then not see a need to purchase anything for the next six months, that IS a bargain.
Sorry for my belligerent tone in some of my replies, as of yesterday people are giving great feed back as how they are playing the game. Turbine does seem to have some hart because I got 5-8 leveling sigil for 50 points, and had 100. Of course Turbine has to make money so I'm sure things will not always be on sale.
Everyone has their own goals, and my belief is either pay $14.95 or play for free, no middle ground, but thats just me. Everyone seems to have their own strategy. I decided to stick around before playing EQ1 because I don't have much time to start a new mmo for the next three weeks. I guess you cant beat FTP games for reasons like that.
I am FTP, cause I play other MMO's as well, and welcome the opportunity to "pay as I go".
So far I have purchased a small points pack (using PAYPAL - so no credit card required), just because I wished to have a Drow Favooured Soul. This 1 purchase also unlocked the Mail system, AUction System, and gave me 2 more character slots on each server.
You DDO points are a pool, so in my case where I am playing about on a few servers to choose 1, playing about with a few toons to decide what I want, etc, I am earning favour on each one which as you reach certain points such as 25,50, 100 earns you extra FREE DDO points PLUS bonus FREE points for first time on EACH server.
Now I don't intend to buy health pots, extra xp, or hair dye, so I can see that whilst it will require a bit more work than PTP, FTP seems to be perfectly do-able. This suits me, in fact I see it as a challenge. Just as you go mining in other games to "get things", I need to sink a little time into a few alts to "get things".....no problems with that.
I actually wish that more MMO's will start to go with a similar model
PS: to the OP ...if you played before release, either as a player or in BETA, you get even MORE free points when you start...at least 250
This is how I do my accounting on DDO. Everyone can view it differently.
My first week of playing and viewing the ddo store I was like " wow this is kind of nasty ". However after learning all the variables, and becoming more educated, I would have to say that it's not ALL that bad.
900 points=$11.95 This will still not buy you much
1500 points=$18.99 This will buy you some freedom, and make the game more enjoyable. However you will be paying more than the the monthly rate of $14.95. Also you will find that after one month of play, you will begin to out grow your purchase, and need more.
3300 points $38.95 This is almost the price of THREE months of subscription of $14.95 anyway, and you will still have some limitations.
Now the above is still " Kind of nasty ".....BUT, the variables are that DDO ( Turbine ) will give free points, and spoon feed you more as you play, along with at random free unlocks found as you play for free. This is very nice, However you have to take into account that you have to be lucky to get the free points and find the unlocks. And prices will go up as you level. If you don't find the unlocks you could find yourself loosing time invested, energy, and boredom to the point that you will have to face quiting or paying.
By now your saying............. " Just go away, were sick of your crap ".
I'm saying.............. " Let's just see how many of you are still here next month ". Put it this way, this forum is slowing down already, whats that telling you ?. The novelty is over let's get down to business.
My advice still stands :
1) Make the best of free to play without making ANY purchases EVER.
2) Play the game FTP and use it as a free trial. Then pay the $14.99 a month if you like it. JUST LIKE ANY OTHER MMO. Also I would suggest waiting until the FTP novelty weirs off because you will be playing along side with others that have limited capabilities.
Sorry to rain on your picnic everyone. But i'm not the one that decided to create a Free To Play / Pay To Play game, and expect people to play well together. I'll give Turbine credit for re-advertising a good game that was dieing.
Now its time for you to twist my words around and find fault....... Let me have it
Don't forget about the 5000 Turbine Points for $49.99 deal they had last weekend. Hopefully it will come around again soon. It's by far the best deal if you look at it from a 1 TP per $0.01 perspective, and it will unlock a hefty chunk of content if you are willing to make the large purchase for a F2P game.
Also I see a lot of people telling folks just get the VIP subscription rather than buy modules. Personally I don't think this is a good idea because as a VIP when you stop subscribing you'll no longer have access to the content and you'll have fewer Turbine Points to unlock it and keep playing free compared to if you had just bought TP.
For example you are a VIP for 6 months, you pay $90 and at the end you have 3000 Turbine Points to unlock content.
Or you spend that same $90 on TP and you get 2 of the $38.95 packages and one $11.99 package. Now you have 7500 Turbine Points. You'll be able to unlock way more content with this many points.
Thanks for your view Redline65, and good catch on the 5000 points +$49.95
I'm sorry, but I feel that my Original post is very important.
I for one started it with limited knowledge, and seen how players of DDO helped it expand. well most of them. SOME would respond with Turbine fluff. Remember it's up to us to interpret in real-time what's going on with most MMO's. Developers of video games seem to somehow have clauses as to stability, content, and fun and get away with it, so it' is up to us to sort this out.
Just always keep in mind Vanguard, AoC, Warhammer, Darkfall as what their devs were telling us vs how the games are in real-time.
We have a disclaimer that we could be wrong in some of what we are saying, but thats the nice thing about message boards. Others can fix them, or everyone can be right, just a different view. I don't feel bad when I'm wrong or un-informed, I'll take the punch to the face for the good of all !
A little off topic, but you'll understand my point with this:
A few months ago I purchased Warhammer Dawn of War II ( off line strategy ). In order to play the game I had to log online and register with Steemworks, and keep my account active to play this game. I NEVER SEEN THAT COMING. No place on the box did it say anything about keeping an active account with Steam in order to play, I would be getting adds during loading the game. Maybe I could have found a way around it BUT it led me on that I must. Their was a trusted " Games for Windows" stamped big on the top of the box, just like Age of Conan had one. So what is the "Games for Windows" stamp on games for, maybe I don't know, and who profits from this stamp, It does not seem to be the consumer ?
I think you get my point by now, we have to protect our selfs.
I was level 3 and did most of the quest. I may have received it, AND DELETED IT AS JUNK, I'm not sure. So keep your eye on any junk you get from long instances. In what people say it's easy to delete important stuff.
I had 100 points, and bought it when it was on sale for 50 points, to be safe.
I went ahead and bought a ton of points myself. I figured if I spend 120 bucks for nearly 10K points, it would be just as if I got the lifetime sub like in LOTRO - only cheaper. I have almost all the modules, races, and classes, so I'm set to play for a few years. Now, if I was to stop in six months or so, then, yes, it would be a loss compared with a 15/mo sub. However, if I play a year+ I save.
It is strictly they way I chose. I understand there are others who are doing it different. As long as DDO doesn't bomb and close it's doors in under 9 months, lol, I'll be ok.
Comments
I would agree with Dubhlaith, that their cash shop is kind of nasty. I'll try and get their 5-8 free leveling sigil today, with the advice from a previous poster saying you can get it in Water Works.
I had already done Water Works, and may have sold it to a vendor by mistake if I got it at all. I'm willing to bet that the 9-12 sigil will be close to non-existent. I'm sure the 5-8 free sigil will be an example of " see you can find things in game " but that will be short lived.
In my short two months play I had covered ALL " adventuring packages " that are now for sale in the store. What I'm saying is that you NEED THEM ALL to have fun, and not be handicapped to fellow players and guilds, and I'm not even a power player and I still easily covered all this paid content.
If I were to buy any points at the cash shop it would have to be 3300 points=$38.99 or nothing at all, because the " adventuring packs " are that important to the game.
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
IMPORTANT :
If the purchase of " leveling sigils " and "adventure packs " are transferable to ALL our characters and forever, it maybe advantageous to buy them. Kind of like paying for a lifetime subscription for around $50 or so. But not sure they are transferable.
But until I know for sure I could not see buying anything, because once you pay the monthly fee you fore fit everything you paid in the store.
Hay I just logged into the store.
You can view all "adventure packs " to end game, but " leveling sigils " only to level 8. Their is a good chance the leveling sigils could be very very expensive, and you will not get a life time sub for very cheap.
Be careful of D&D Online, their marketing people covered everything !!!
I think I'm removing D&D Online off my computer NOW. Screw Water Works, and the level 5-8 Siegel. This game is just too nasty.
Its less than a free trial !!!!!!
I may play around with EQ1
You do realise that you can get points from playing the free to play version of the game without having to spend a cent. Completing the adventures on elite as well as just getting to a certain level or point in the game will earn you points to spend in the shop, all free.
I have one level 3 character so far and 150 points to spend, so I can buy one of these levelling sigels if I'm unable to find one as a quest reward. Also you can continue to get xp up until 1xp short of the next level before they are wasted.
Personally I'm going to look for the sigel as a reward and save the points I'm earning to buy an adventure pack or two.
The Enlightened take things Lightly
Ok i'm sure you can make a hobby out of trying to play the game for free. But I'm absolutely sure the "free Sigils " well be much harder to find, and Wayyy more expensive at higher levels. Some of the " adventure packs " are affordable, but most are expensive, and from only two months experience I'll tell you that YOU NEED THEM ALL. Because you'll be all over the game world fast once you know what your doing .
I'm sure the experienced players know what I'm talking about. And i'm sure the experienced one are the ones that can pull off the free to play the best !
Sorry, but this is nothing at all like GW.
In the GW store you can buy things like new characters slots, unlocks for things for PVP-only characters, name changes, and appearance changes.
In the DDO story you can buy things like the ability to level higher, the ability to go to certain places, and the ability to create characters of certain races and classes.
They are not at all alike in any way.
The way Turbine is doing this is just one more in a very long line of examples of their poor business sense. They have so many great ideas, but they always have such horrible implementation, marketing, and design. I know I should no longer be surprised by how horrible these people are. Their store is worse than many asian grinders. While I am not surprised, and I more disappointed than ever.
Yea its actually better than the GW buisness model since you can choose what you want from the game and dont need to get it all from the box, flexibility is great for the customer
Seeing how many people playing DDO now I think Turibne have done a great job to create the biggest MMO re-launch ever. I think this will have a big impact on the industry.
Until they sell 4+ million copies of the game they do not have a better business model then GW. Guild Wars is a huge success, DDO dreams of being that big even thought the game itself is better.
You want it all and for free?
And I can tell you from 3.5 years of playing that you absolutely do not need them all.
It will always amaze me that there are people who expect to be able to play a high quality, high production cost game for $0 the entire way through. Companies exist to make money to make more products to make more money. They don't do so by giving stuff away. F2P is another business model to MAKE MONEY. This means there is cost to the player involved.
Yes you can get level sigils for free, they are there to buy for those who would rather not wait to find one and just move on.
But yes there is content you have to buy in order to play it, because content costs money to make. Same goes for different races/classes you can buy and character slots.
But the core of the game is free, and you can keep leveling up for free if you are willing to wait to find a sigil. That is exactly what a free to play is supposed to be. But to think that you're going to get all the content for free and then be shocked that you will have to spend money to experience everything is, to put it as nicely as I can, fairly unintelligent.
I have to be honest after reading this today, I'll admit that I may be taking this issue too far, Of all the replies to my OP this in the only one that makes any sense.
I 100% back my original posting, but I really had gone too far after the fact. I also 100% believe that $14.99 pay to play is the answer, unless your obsessed with getting this game for free ( kind of like a game within a game ), and that can be fun too, especially if your on a budget.
$14.99 or Totally Free, one or the other !
Thanks DanitaKusor
i got lucky cuz i got a copper sigil, to lvlup 5-8, as quest reward for an early quest at the harbor Recovering the Lost Tome
really easy quest
so i was really happy that i didnt have to buy one off from the store
its kinda random but im juz sharing that info though
Have fun storming the castle! - Miracle Max
I just started the game today and I'm actually finding it pretty good.. although the whole leveling thing is kind of strange tl me... I don't plan on spending any money yet until I spend more time in game and decide whether or not its worth it... but mostly if I'm playing this its because I'm waiting on something else... so I think I'd be willing to try and get everything free instead of paying in the store.... Is it true that after a certain level you HAVE to buy something to raise the cap?
Every 4 levels you will need a leveling sigil to level up. The first one costs 120 TP in the store and then they become a bit more expensive up to the 17-20 sigil which costs 300 TP. Theese can drop as quest rewards from quests of that leveling range but since not many Free players have gotten to higher levels yet, we dont know how rare they are. The first one is very common. Since you also get TP from running quests you could save thoose to buy leveling sigils instead of buying points.
So it may take some grinding to get the sigils for free. Personally I think they should remove the 5-8 sigil because I think its to early and confuses alot of people, thats my biggest gripe with the store so far.
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I was level 2 and had 50 turbine points by the time I went to stormreach. Once there I bought a leveling sigil since it was on sale for that exact amount. Maybe it still is?
I might actually reroll a couple of times to try some of the other classes, or maybe custom design one as much as possible. One thing is for sure, if you're trying to solo and you don't know how to lockpick - you'll be frustrated by the amount of tempting loot you cannot get to.
I just had to jump in here for this, in case no one else caught this...
You say that 'you forfeit everything you paid', but no, that's not true. If you're F2P, and you purchase, say, The Necropolis, and then you subscribe for a month or two, that will NOT negate your purchase. If you become F2P later on, you will still have The Necropolis. You bought it, it's yours, regardless of the state of your account- forever. Same if you purchase the Drow race- you can make a Drow on any server, whether you be VIP or F2P (this is something VIPs do not get automatically, they have to unlock Drow by gaining 400 Favour on the server they want to play them on- unless they purchase the unlock).
Leveling Sigils are not 'one time only purchase per account'. They're 'consumed' when you use them, so they're a per-character item (whether purchased or received as a quest reward). Think of a Sigil as a potion, that's probably the best comparison to make. Many things in the store ARE either account-wide (Adventure Packs, races, classes, the shared bank) or transferable between characters on your account (these are 'Bound to Account' items, such as the Collectible/Gem/Ingredient Bags).
Oh, and to your 'must have' list: My current character is 11, and I've never set foot in Three Barrel Cove, the Catacombs, or Sorrowdusk. I'm not saying those zones are bad or anything, I've enjoyed them on other characters, just that I have easily leveled this one without once doing them. I only set foot for the first time in Necropolis last night, and it was for exploring Orchard of the Macabre, not the quest series. I haven't done Gianthold yet, but I'm sure I will, it's darn near the only thing people in the low teens run, sadly. Tangleroot & Delera's are really too hard to pass up, as well. If you've a friend who's VIP, though, and you aren't expecting to spend a vast amount of time in any of the above, you might be able to wing a Guest Pass from a friend.
Any F2P player who gets serious in the game really should consider going VIP, then there wouldn't be any 'running into roadblocks'. If VIP isn't feasible, there is still the slow Favour (and thus Turbine Point) gain from doing quests, for free. Or if you prefer to just 'pay as you go' and 'purchase only what's necessary', all I have to say is- just make sure you're not paying more than what you'd get monthly for being VIP! Don't get suckered into spending $30 a month when you could get it all for $15...but if you could spend $30 one month and then not see a need to purchase anything for the next six months, that IS a bargain.
Thanks Zharre for the post.
Sorry for my belligerent tone in some of my replies, as of yesterday people are giving great feed back as how they are playing the game. Turbine does seem to have some hart because I got 5-8 leveling sigil for 50 points, and had 100. Of course Turbine has to make money so I'm sure things will not always be on sale.
Everyone has their own goals, and my belief is either pay $14.95 or play for free, no middle ground, but thats just me. Everyone seems to have their own strategy. I decided to stick around before playing EQ1 because I don't have much time to start a new mmo for the next three weeks. I guess you cant beat FTP games for reasons like that.
I am FTP, cause I play other MMO's as well, and welcome the opportunity to "pay as I go".
So far I have purchased a small points pack (using PAYPAL - so no credit card required), just because I wished to have a Drow Favooured Soul. This 1 purchase also unlocked the Mail system, AUction System, and gave me 2 more character slots on each server.
You DDO points are a pool, so in my case where I am playing about on a few servers to choose 1, playing about with a few toons to decide what I want, etc, I am earning favour on each one which as you reach certain points such as 25,50, 100 earns you extra FREE DDO points PLUS bonus FREE points for first time on EACH server.
Now I don't intend to buy health pots, extra xp, or hair dye, so I can see that whilst it will require a bit more work than PTP, FTP seems to be perfectly do-able. This suits me, in fact I see it as a challenge. Just as you go mining in other games to "get things", I need to sink a little time into a few alts to "get things".....no problems with that.
I actually wish that more MMO's will start to go with a similar model
PS: to the OP ...if you played before release, either as a player or in BETA, you get even MORE free points when you start...at least 250
This is how I do my accounting on DDO. Everyone can view it differently.
My first week of playing and viewing the ddo store I was like " wow this is kind of nasty ". However after learning all the variables, and becoming more educated, I would have to say that it's not ALL that bad.
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400 points= $6.95 This will not buy you much
900 points=$11.95 This will still not buy you much
1500 points=$18.99 This will buy you some freedom, and make the game more enjoyable. However you will be paying more than the the monthly rate of $14.95. Also you will find that after one month of play, you will begin to out grow your purchase, and need more.
3300 points $38.95 This is almost the price of THREE months of subscription of $14.95 anyway, and you will still have some limitations.
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Now the above is still " Kind of nasty ".....BUT, the variables are that DDO ( Turbine ) will give free points, and spoon feed you more as you play, along with at random free unlocks found as you play for free. This is very nice, However you have to take into account that you have to be lucky to get the free points and find the unlocks. And prices will go up as you level. If you don't find the unlocks you could find yourself loosing time invested, energy, and boredom to the point that you will have to face quiting or paying.
By now your saying............. " Just go away, were sick of your crap ".
I'm saying.............. " Let's just see how many of you are still here next month ". Put it this way, this forum is slowing down already, whats that telling you ?. The novelty is over let's get down to business.
My advice still stands :
1) Make the best of free to play without making ANY purchases EVER.
2) Play the game FTP and use it as a free trial. Then pay the $14.99 a month if you like it. JUST LIKE ANY OTHER MMO. Also I would suggest waiting until the FTP novelty weirs off because you will be playing along side with others that have limited capabilities.
Sorry to rain on your picnic everyone. But i'm not the one that decided to create a Free To Play / Pay To Play game, and expect people to play well together. I'll give Turbine credit for re-advertising a good game that was dieing.
Now its time for you to twist my words around and find fault....... Let me have it
Don't forget about the 5000 Turbine Points for $49.99 deal they had last weekend. Hopefully it will come around again soon. It's by far the best deal if you look at it from a 1 TP per $0.01 perspective, and it will unlock a hefty chunk of content if you are willing to make the large purchase for a F2P game.
Also I see a lot of people telling folks just get the VIP subscription rather than buy modules. Personally I don't think this is a good idea because as a VIP when you stop subscribing you'll no longer have access to the content and you'll have fewer Turbine Points to unlock it and keep playing free compared to if you had just bought TP.
For example you are a VIP for 6 months, you pay $90 and at the end you have 3000 Turbine Points to unlock content.
Or you spend that same $90 on TP and you get 2 of the $38.95 packages and one $11.99 package. Now you have 7500 Turbine Points. You'll be able to unlock way more content with this many points.
Thanks for your view Redline65, and good catch on the 5000 points +$49.95
I'm sorry, but I feel that my Original post is very important.
I for one started it with limited knowledge, and seen how players of DDO helped it expand. well most of them. SOME would respond with Turbine fluff. Remember it's up to us to interpret in real-time what's going on with most MMO's. Developers of video games seem to somehow have clauses as to stability, content, and fun and get away with it, so it' is up to us to sort this out.
Just always keep in mind Vanguard, AoC, Warhammer, Darkfall as what their devs were telling us vs how the games are in real-time.
We have a disclaimer that we could be wrong in some of what we are saying, but thats the nice thing about message boards. Others can fix them, or everyone can be right, just a different view. I don't feel bad when I'm wrong or un-informed, I'll take the punch to the face for the good of all !
A little off topic, but you'll understand my point with this:
A few months ago I purchased Warhammer Dawn of War II ( off line strategy ). In order to play the game I had to log online and register with Steemworks, and keep my account active to play this game. I NEVER SEEN THAT COMING. No place on the box did it say anything about keeping an active account with Steam in order to play, I would be getting adds during loading the game. Maybe I could have found a way around it BUT it led me on that I must. Their was a trusted " Games for Windows" stamped big on the top of the box, just like Age of Conan had one. So what is the "Games for Windows" stamp on games for, maybe I don't know, and who profits from this stamp, It does not seem to be the consumer ?
I think you get my point by now, we have to protect our selfs.
I'm a lvl 2 freebie player, just starting out, and I already have the sigil to open up lvls 5 to 8. It dropped on my first Stormreach quest.
Great Dibdabs, and congrats !!
I was level 3 and did most of the quest. I may have received it, AND DELETED IT AS JUNK, I'm not sure. So keep your eye on any junk you get from long instances. In what people say it's easy to delete important stuff.
I had 100 points, and bought it when it was on sale for 50 points, to be safe.
Also you can earn free turbine points for gaining favor. I have over a thousand points so far and have not paid a dime for anything!
What essential varies from people to people
some will be happy with some adventure packs other need all the content
I went ahead and bought a ton of points myself. I figured if I spend 120 bucks for nearly 10K points, it would be just as if I got the lifetime sub like in LOTRO - only cheaper. I have almost all the modules, races, and classes, so I'm set to play for a few years. Now, if I was to stop in six months or so, then, yes, it would be a loss compared with a 15/mo sub. However, if I play a year+ I save.
It is strictly they way I chose. I understand there are others who are doing it different. As long as DDO doesn't bomb and close it's doors in under 9 months, lol, I'll be ok.