So, I have to ask...

[fatherpirate]

I get the impression that the day of the free update is dead?

When was the last time a new major area came out that was free or at least you could purchase
each dungeon separately ala'card?

[jalont]

I get the impression that the day of the free update is dead?

When was the last time a new major area came out that was free or at least you could purchase
each dungeon separately ala'card?

Erm the one before this one. lol

[Charononus]

Only motu and shadowfell are expansions, the rest have been standard turbine model. The last f2p pack was u13 though and unless you want to count beyond the rift which came out in u14 since it was a f2p quest as well.

[jalont]

Only motu and shadowfell are expansions, the rest have been standard turbine model. The last f2p pack was u13 though and unless you want to count beyond the rift which came out in u14 since it was a f2p quest as well.

u18 was a f2p pack with an extra quest for people who preordered the expansion.

[Charononus]

u18 was a f2p pack with an extra quest for people who preordered the expansion.

completely forgot about that one lol /facepalm

[Shorlong]

U18 - Shadow quests (one was not free, you had to buy the expansion...)
U17 - Return to Gianthold (yeah, I know this isn't techinically new, and it wasn't F2P, but most everyone had GH already, and this made it epic and gave us a new raid.)
U16 - High Road of Shadows (Free to VIP)
U15 - The Druid's Curse (Free to VIP)
U14 - MotU (Expansion, everyone pays)
U13 - Spinner of Shadows (Completely free, both heroic and Epic)
U12 - Vault of the Artificers (Free to VIP)
U11 - Secrets of the Artificers (Free to VIP, two raids!)
U10 - Reign of Madness (Free to VIP)

There you go...9 updates in two years, and all but two were free to VIP (the two expansions) and two of them were free in general....not really seeing anything that supports your claim.

[fatherpirate]

U18 - Shadow quests (one was not free, you had to buy the expansion...)
U17 - Return to Gianthold (yeah, I know this isn't techinically new, and it wasn't F2P, but most everyone had GH already, and this made it epic and gave us a new raid.)
U16 - High Road of Shadows (Free to VIP)
U15 - The Druid's Curse (Free to VIP)
U14 - MotU (Expansion, everyone pays)
U13 - Spinner of Shadows (Completely free, both heroic and Epic)
U12 - Vault of the Artificers (Free to VIP)
U11 - Secrets of the Artificers (Free to VIP, two raids!)
U10 - Reign of Madness (Free to VIP)

There you go...9 updates in two years, and all but two were free to VIP (the two expansions) and two of them were free in general....not really seeing anything that supports your claim.

lets see
U10 not free must pay subscription or buy
U11 not free, must pay for subscription or buy
U12 not free, must pay a subscription or buy
U13 FREE
U14 pay a small fortune
U15 not free, must pay a subscription or buy it
U16 not free, must pay a subscription or buy it
U17 Not free..but was not free earlier
U18 Not free..pay a small fortune

There is a problem with what free is....if you can't use it unless you fork over 15.00 a month...that's not free

so in the last 10 updates.

1 free
1 just changed something that was not free
6 you pay
2 you pay through the nose

my original post stands

[Azarddoze]

or at least you could purchase each dungeon separately ala'card?


my original post stands

Does it?

[fatherpirate]

Does it?

lol most of my original statement

I was answering the post that a whole bunch of the updates were free......'to vip'
free to vip is not free

but if I have a choice of being forced to buy a huge pack of stuff that I want maybe 1/3of....or the choice of ala' card
I will take the lesser of 2 evils and go ala'card

[enochiancub]

It would be very interesting if this game (or any) offered content truly a la carte. I'd likely remain vip, but I do wonder.

[Azarddoze]

lol most of my original statement

I was answering the post that a whole bunch of the updates were free......'to vip'
free to vip is not free

but if I have a choice of being forced to buy a huge pack of stuff that I want maybe 1/3of....or the choice of ala' card
I will take the lesser of 2 evils and go ala'card

I must have missed the part when you thought a free games could keep itself uptaded for years. Sorry.

Do what you think is best for you. Posting this in a forum won't help you resolve a problem which you already know the answer to.

[fatherpirate]

I must have missed the part when you thought a free games could keep itself uptaded for years. Sorry.

Do what you think is best for you. Posting this in a forum won't help you resolve a problem which you already know the answer to.

True

However, DDO used to be pay to play...it almost went bankrupt.
What saved the game was a free to play model that included just the right mix of free stuff
and pay stuff.

They are moving away from that back to pay to play
the system that fail them before.

I don't think everything should be free....but a certain % should be

[Ryiah]

I don't think everything should be free....but a certain % should be

Personal opinion does not always make for good business sense. The point of free content is to make money in a different sense. It is there to give a taste of the game/expansions. If it fails to attract attention, then it might as well not be free or even made in the first place.

[FranOhmsford]

True

However, DDO used to be pay to play...it almost went bankrupt.
What saved the game was a free to play model that included just the right mix of free stuff
and pay stuff.

They are moving away from that back to pay to play
the system that fail them before.

I don't think everything should be free....but a certain % should be

There's a real easy fix for this:

Up to Lvl 5/6 {OK so 90% of Lvl 5 Quests are P2P but bear with me here} there's large amounts of F2P Content.
From Lvl 7-10 F2P Content Drops off {Lvl 9 has ONE F2P Quest - Church and the Cult!}.
Lvl 11-13 {Lordsmarch helped} have a few F2P Quests.
Lvl 14 - NONE
Lvl 15 - Delirium
Lvl 16 - Lords of Dust, Servants of the Overlord, Spinner of Shadows, Beyond the Rift, Acid Wit
Lvl 17 - NONE
Lvl 18 - In the Demon's Den
Lvl 19 - NONE
Lvl 20 - NONE
Lvl 21-25 - LoD Chain Epics!


Lvl 4-8 Adventure Pack - Quests mainly Lvl 5 - 3 Barrel Cove
----------------------------------------------------------
Add to Vet Status as a Bonus.

Lvl 8-12 Adventure Pack - Threnal
---------------------------------
Epic and Add to Vet II {This may require Boosting Vet II's Price of course}

Lvl 10-14 Adventure Pack - Restless Isles
----------------------------------------
Epic and give as a Bonus when Buying ANY Iconic Race!

Lvl 15 Adventure Pack - Harbinger of Madness
--------------------------------------------
Make F2P

Lvl 18 Adventure Pack - Reign of Madness
----------------------------------------
Make F2P

The Last two are simply not worth paying for any longer!
Restless Isles and Threnal are Older Packs that need Hvy Re-Work to bring up to date as P2P Packs {Make them F2P while that work is done!}.
3 Barrel's tragically ignored by most of the Player Base {In my view this is the Best Explorer Zone in the Game!} - Too Expensive and in an area of the game Inundated with P2P Quests:

Lvl 5 = Delera's Pt 1, Carnival, Necro I Flags, STK Pt 3, Tangleroot Pt 5 and 6 + 6 3 Barrel Quests!
Lvl 6 = Valak's Mausoleum, Bloody Crypt, Tangleroot Pt 7&8, Sorrowdusk Pt 1&2 + 1 3 Barrel Quest!
Lvl 7 = Delera's Pt 2&3 {We'll ignore Return}, Final 2 Tangleroot Quests, Sorrowdusk Pt 3&4, The Sentinel's Chain in House D and 2 3 Barrel Quests!



While we're bringing in NEW P2P Packs at the Highest Levels of the Game the Devs should be looking at providing F2P Content to Reach Said Lvls.
IF Someone Has Bought Iconics they SHOULD be able to Play the Game at Lvl 15 without instantly being required to pay more! - This is Currently just NOT Possible!

Making Older and Less Popular Packs F2P would alleviate these issues and keep Premiums without oodles of cash in the game that much longer.
Possibly long enough for them to find the cash or earn the TP to Buy what they need i.e.
Vale, GH, IQ, Amrath, Sands, VoN, Carnival, MotU!


Reaver's Refuge and Druid's Deep could also do with being looked at btw.

[Ryiah]

While we're bringing in NEW P2P Packs at the Highest Levels of the Game the Devs should be looking at providing F2P Content to Reach Said Lvls.

Technically no longer an issue as the new quest repeat penalty system would allow you to farm the Lords of Dust chain endlessly to level. Given how easy the first quest is that probably isn't a bad way to do it either.

[Ironclans_evil_twin]

not supporting the OP at all but I would like to see them make a bunch of the old content F2P to breath new life into it.

There is no mistaking which quests are F2P they show up more in the LFM and fill fastest time after time, besides the most popular "farm packs" like VON.

Make these free:
STK
Delera's
Threnal
Restless isle
Sub T
Amrath
Druids pack
E-star challenges

Consider House C some time after the above are made free.

[CoasterHops]

not supporting the OP at all but I would like to see them make a bunch of the old content F2P to breath new life into it.

There is no mistaking which quests are F2P they show up more in the LFM and fill fastest time after time, besides the most popular "farm packs" like VON.

Make these free:
STK
Delera's
Threnal
Restless isle
Sub T
Amrath
Druids pack
E-star challenges

Consider House C some time after the above are made free.

Instead of making the packs free, I think they should nominate two packs a month to be free entry for the whole month, this will not only get people playing the packs but encourage people to make purchases if they are impressed enough with the content.

Just a thought, even if it's two packs a fortnight, would definitely go a long way into breathing life into some dated content as well as make a little bit of money for Turbine somewhere down the line.

[-Zephyr-]

Instead of making the packs free, I think they should nominate two packs a month to be free entry for the whole month, this will not only get people playing the packs but encourage people to make purchases if they are impressed enough with the content.

Just a thought, even if it's two packs a fortnight, would definitely go a long way into breathing life into some dated content as well as make a little bit of money for Turbine somewhere down the line.

Now that's something I could get behind.

[SisAmethyst]

not supporting the OP at all but I would like to see them make a bunch of the old content F2P to breath new life into it.

There is no mistaking which quests are F2P they show up more in the LFM and fill fastest time after time, besides the most popular "farm packs" like VON.

Make these free:
STK
Delera's
Threnal
Restless isle
Sub T
Amrath
Druids pack
E-star challenges

Consider House C some time after the above are made free.

Dunno but I guess STK and Delera are cash cows for their level, as they bring a lot of XP. Now even more with the repeat penalty change. Restless isle and Amrath however could use some boost, but probably would even need to have a look at the loot first as well.


Instead of making the packs free, I think they should nominate two packs a month to be free entry for the whole month, this will not only get people playing the packs but encourage people to make purchases if they are impressed enough with the content...

That is an interesting option, but I guess even a couple of days/week would suffice to let people sneak in...

[Ivan_Milic]

There's a real easy fix for this:



Lvl 15 - Delirium
Lvl 16 - Lords of Dust, Servants of the Overlord, Spinner of Shadows, Beyond the Rift, Acid Wit
Lvl 17 - NONE
Lvl 18 - In the Demon's Den
Lvl 19 - NONE
Lvl 20 - NONE
Lvl 21-25 - LoD Chain Epics!


Acid wit is lvl 15 quest, also have Disciples of Shar and Escape Plan at lvl 15.

[Shorlong]

lets see
U10 not free must pay subscription or buy
U11 not free, must pay for subscription or buy
U12 not free, must pay a subscription or buy
U13 FREE
U14 pay a small fortune
U15 not free, must pay a subscription or buy it
U16 not free, must pay a subscription or buy it
U17 Not free..but was not free earlier
U18 Not free..pay a small fortune

There is a problem with what free is....if you can't use it unless you fork over 15.00 a month...that's not free

so in the last 10 updates.

1 free
1 just changed something that was not free
6 you pay
2 you pay through the nose

my original post stands


True

However, DDO used to be pay to play...it almost went bankrupt.
What saved the game was a free to play model that included just the right mix of free stuff
and pay stuff.

They are moving away from that back to pay to play
the system that fail them before.

I don't think everything should be free....but a certain % should be

Actually, you missed that U18 was free with one quest you had to buy the expansion for. I also don't think 30 bucks is a "small fortune".

As to the second quote here....it has been a free to play model since 2009. If you would like me to go through updates 1-9 as well, I will, and show you that the model you claim it to have has NEVER existed.

Update 9 - Harbinger of Madness (Free to VIP)
Update 8 - Attack on Stormreach (Free to VIP)
Update 7 - Half Bloods (Half Orc and Half Elf, Free to VIP. Also Included Devil Assault and Chrono, Free to VIP, and the Lordsmarch chain before AoS, completely free to play)
Update 6 - The Red Fens (Free to VIP)
Update 5 - Rise of the Guilds (Includes Phiarlin Carnival, Free to VIP)
Update 4 - Sentinels of Stormreach (Free to VIP)
Update 3 - Four new quests, In the Demon's Den, Acid Wit, Delerium and Mired in Kobolds (Free to everyone)
Update 2 - Dreaming Dark (Free to VIP)
Update 1 - Path of Inspiration (Free to VIP)
Module 9 - Free to Play model introduced, also came with two new quest packs, Devils of Shavarath and The Sharn Syndicate (Both packs, Free to VIP)

So....in the first year of free to play, they had four free quests show up that were not in a pack together, but came in the same patch. That was 2010, almost a year after going F2P. The next free quests where released with update 7, also released in 2010, but later in the year. Three quests leading up to the paid Lordsmarch questline.

The next new free content wasn't until 2012, the Spinner of shadows. Again, three quests, with epic available. Then, this year, two new quests that where free.

Again, no patterns, I fail to see how the model has changed. Since going free to play there have been 21 new quest packs added, if you include the two that launched with the F2P model, and only 4 of those have been free to play. Again, I fail to see this pattern you mention of giving "just the right amount of free stuff." It seems to me the pattern has been releasing packs that are free to VIP, with maybe one pack a year that is free to everyone.