TheCheshireCat
10-20-2009, 12:17 PM
When DDO first launched, I purchased the game and played for a few months. I had plenty of fun but, as it always seems, life got in the way.
DDO recently went F2P and I leapt at the chance to play it. It had a chance to grow in content and I was feeling like playing a D&D based game again.
The first thing I did was immediately buy Drow. Why? Because I like Drow and I didn't feel like rolling an Elf Rogue or Human Wizard around until 400 favor ONLY to throw them away so I could make a Drow character. I considered myself fortunate to remember this, since this is what happened during live which put a damper on my play experience. Yes, I know I could have just kept the other toons, but it wasn't the concept I -wanted- for the character. So this worked for me, and I was quite happy. Then, during character creation, I remembered that you had to earn the 32 point build and that it wasn't the base by which all players start with and the dampening started again. It occurred to me that I would, again, play a character only to restart him.
Again, I know, I could keep my current Wizard and have a perfectly playable character. But every time I would look at him I would know that he wasn't to his fullest potential, either as a character or as a rolled-up munchkin. These things DO bother me. I mean, I've restarted characters because, hours into a game, I realize that I gave them a hairstyle that I don't like! Having less of something as crucial* as starting build points gnaws at me more than any simply aesthetic problem.
I would certainly buy them if they were in store but it's not simply because I don't want to "grind" experience or whatnot. I'm a completionist so in my wake I leave a trail of fully explored maps and Elite cleared instances. I want to buy it so that I don't have to reroll Vistilantus when I unlock it, which I will for my previously stated compunctions about characters.
I've heard arguments both ways on this message board but my primary focus is time wasted. I've been playing for about two weeks now and am nearing the 400 rep mark. If I follow that trend, it will take me close to seven weeks to make the 32 point buy mark. For me this means over two months of time wasted on a character who I will reroll and then proceed to do the exact same quests I've run countless times so as to catch up to where I was before. This takes me aback. It doesn't immediately make me want to stop playing, but it does dampen my enthusiasm for the game.
Right now, I have more money than free time. If I were able to bypass the nine weeks of grinding so I could make the character that I want I would certainly pay for the privilege. I want to make it clear that I wouldn't be buying it because I wanted to slap the vets in the face. I would be buying it because it would make me enjoy the game more and then I would grind my way up as high as I wanted in exactly the same way as I would have with my 28 point character (especially for the next 7 weeks I would have dedicated to my throwaway character!). It would just let me look at my character and be happy that it wasn't just a toon I was running simply to throw away when I made available the character that I really wanted to begin with.
It seems that tempers flare a lot with this subject so I just want to add that I'm certainly not doing this to provoke anyone, and if that does happen I would apologise to that person profusely, but I would like to see this item on the DDO store. I'm certainly not going to quit over the lack of this option in the store, but I would certainly be more inclined to stay (And give money to Turbine) if it were offered.
EDIT: Perhaps the best thing would be to add more bonuses to the 1750 Favor mark as a reward. Maybe the Half/Races when they are added or change the tome into a +2 all.
Thank you
*I said crucial for two reasons.
1. Comparatively build points are indeed more crucial than any hairstyle you might choose.
2. Simply by the amount of bile thats thrown around from people from both sides of the argument you would figure that someone was about to be bloodily sacrificed to ensure another year of prosperity. People on both sides argue as if it is an incredibly important, game-breaking decision.
DDO recently went F2P and I leapt at the chance to play it. It had a chance to grow in content and I was feeling like playing a D&D based game again.
The first thing I did was immediately buy Drow. Why? Because I like Drow and I didn't feel like rolling an Elf Rogue or Human Wizard around until 400 favor ONLY to throw them away so I could make a Drow character. I considered myself fortunate to remember this, since this is what happened during live which put a damper on my play experience. Yes, I know I could have just kept the other toons, but it wasn't the concept I -wanted- for the character. So this worked for me, and I was quite happy. Then, during character creation, I remembered that you had to earn the 32 point build and that it wasn't the base by which all players start with and the dampening started again. It occurred to me that I would, again, play a character only to restart him.
Again, I know, I could keep my current Wizard and have a perfectly playable character. But every time I would look at him I would know that he wasn't to his fullest potential, either as a character or as a rolled-up munchkin. These things DO bother me. I mean, I've restarted characters because, hours into a game, I realize that I gave them a hairstyle that I don't like! Having less of something as crucial* as starting build points gnaws at me more than any simply aesthetic problem.
I would certainly buy them if they were in store but it's not simply because I don't want to "grind" experience or whatnot. I'm a completionist so in my wake I leave a trail of fully explored maps and Elite cleared instances. I want to buy it so that I don't have to reroll Vistilantus when I unlock it, which I will for my previously stated compunctions about characters.
I've heard arguments both ways on this message board but my primary focus is time wasted. I've been playing for about two weeks now and am nearing the 400 rep mark. If I follow that trend, it will take me close to seven weeks to make the 32 point buy mark. For me this means over two months of time wasted on a character who I will reroll and then proceed to do the exact same quests I've run countless times so as to catch up to where I was before. This takes me aback. It doesn't immediately make me want to stop playing, but it does dampen my enthusiasm for the game.
Right now, I have more money than free time. If I were able to bypass the nine weeks of grinding so I could make the character that I want I would certainly pay for the privilege. I want to make it clear that I wouldn't be buying it because I wanted to slap the vets in the face. I would be buying it because it would make me enjoy the game more and then I would grind my way up as high as I wanted in exactly the same way as I would have with my 28 point character (especially for the next 7 weeks I would have dedicated to my throwaway character!). It would just let me look at my character and be happy that it wasn't just a toon I was running simply to throw away when I made available the character that I really wanted to begin with.
It seems that tempers flare a lot with this subject so I just want to add that I'm certainly not doing this to provoke anyone, and if that does happen I would apologise to that person profusely, but I would like to see this item on the DDO store. I'm certainly not going to quit over the lack of this option in the store, but I would certainly be more inclined to stay (And give money to Turbine) if it were offered.
EDIT: Perhaps the best thing would be to add more bonuses to the 1750 Favor mark as a reward. Maybe the Half/Races when they are added or change the tome into a +2 all.
Thank you
*I said crucial for two reasons.
1. Comparatively build points are indeed more crucial than any hairstyle you might choose.
2. Simply by the amount of bile thats thrown around from people from both sides of the argument you would figure that someone was about to be bloodily sacrificed to ensure another year of prosperity. People on both sides argue as if it is an incredibly important, game-breaking decision.