Is VIP worth it anymore?

[firemedium_jt]

I stopped mine a while back. I was Premium and just would go VIP over the summers. They got me for one year though until the expansion came out. Then I figured I owned a few packs over the years of Premium and decided to just use points again. Points seem to be a better deal. You can get just about everything with points that VIP gets you. Now VIP was a good deal at 3 months for $30, but has become less of a good deal. If they want to keep VIPs they need to add more monthly points to the package or lower the price point. Premium with money spent on points is more flexible IMHO especially if you run more than one account. You can call them to split up the points among different accounts.

[mikarddo]

One thing is certain - swapping back and forth between VIP and Premium isnt a good deal. Just make a choice and stick with it.

For me its VIP. I like the perks (not going to bother listing them here) and I like not having to spend time figuring out which packs to buy and when. So I both like the things I am getting and the convinience.

[Arnhelm]

For me VIP was not a viable option. I did better spending about the same amount on points bundles and buying the game piecemeal.

That's what works for me, your results may vary. ;)

[rjbutchko]

If I was able to buy packs while being vip I would stay vip for as long as it took to get all the packs and classes/races then go premium.

[enochiancub]

I enjoy VIP personally. I pay my yearly fee and can come and go as I please, enjoying the benefits as I go. Though, and I am loathe to admit this, I am beginning to see why some folk think VIPs deserve slightly better benefits.

The one perk I've never made use of are TP. I've got 4 years of TP saved up and have absolutely no idea what to do with them. So that feature is wasted on me. Though I suspect that this is because I'm one of those "loser casual flower sniffing carebear gamers" that are so loathed on these forums and there isn't anything of use to me in the store. ;-)

Basically, it's only worth it if you enjoy it. If you feel the game is dying or no longer enjoyable enough for you to waste your wages on...well then the answer is fairly obvious.

[Hendrik]

I enjoy DDO, even with our sporadic issues.

For me, the $.33 a day is a small price to pay to support a game I enjoy.

Ask yourself, is the cost of some pocket change worth it for the amount of entertainment you get a day?

[moomooprincess]

Five year VIP that decided that Turbine was going to make me buy the expansions, I might as well not pay for the other stuff. I stopped in April of this year.

I am happy with my decision. Especially since I am getting exactly what I am paying for this weekend.

I did buy the expansion though.

My only inconvenience is, I lost the ability to open on elite. Nothing else I lost has mattered.

[darkrhavyn]

I have tried it both ways, and ended up going back to VIP---other way may be cheaper but more convenient for me to stick with the sub model...and at this point my sub is <10$ per month so im not sure about the cheaper.

[Extispex]

It depends what you're after in your subscription.

I'm VIP because it's convenient. Money isn't really an issue for me, as the subscription fee is pretty low.
I don't really care about the extras that the VIP's get. To me those are perks rather than incentive. It's nice to know I can open any quest I want to without having to check if I have it or not first.

If money is an issue, you should probably stay Premium. If it's not, VIP is a very good alternative. :)

[Arnez]

My family plays (though my wife & I play wayyy more than our kids do)- we have 4 accounts: 2 VIP, 2 premium.
The 2 VIP accounts got the Collectors MotU Pre, and the 2 Premiums got it later when it went on sale for 75% off.

Diligently waiting for sales, the 2 Premium accounts own 75% of the content with an investment of maybe ~60$ (in points & the 75% off MotU) They also own WF, & shared banks.

When I let my VIP's expire this year -which I will do- they will own less than 50% of content with an investment of ~600$ (2 years of VIP, MotU Pre, TP's). Not to mention they will need to buy WF, shared banks & monk in order to keep playing our mains.

So.... with this data VIP may not be worth it if you are playing for the long haul. Though you will have to wait if you want to take full advantage of sales.

[toaftoaf]

I enjoy DDO, even with our sporadic issues.

For me, the $.33 a day is a small price to pay to support a game I enjoy.

Ask yourself, is the cost of some pocket change worth it for the amount of entertainment you get a day?

for a meager 33 cents a day, you can help feed the nterns.. insert sad pic of WB CEO

[Amundir]

If I was able to buy packs while being vip I would stay vip for as long as it took to get all the packs and classes/races then go premium.

You can, I believe. You just have to chose the "Show All" options instead of filter by account or character or what not in the store and then you can select packs, from what I remember.

Personally I have never been VIP via subscription, but I have been premium via buying points alot. I don't buy points often, but after playing for a few years now I do own almost all content from buying TP and getting TP rewards in game. Now, along with being on my third life and being able to open quests on elite on first go, I don't really have a need for anything.

I still have enough TP currently to possibly get the +4 -> +5 supreme upgrade tome and maybe the expansion pack, but I'm waiting to see if they come down any. It'll be a bit until I will be level to use expansion pack anyway so I'm cool with it.

[jalont]

For me, Yes.

1: It's ridiculously cheap when you consider the free TP you get. I would be spending money on TP anyway to buy xp pots.

2: I rely greatly on the VIP xp bonus for my weekly lives. It's already factored in the TR plan.

3: I couldn't imagine not being able to open elite. I hate people that beg for openers and I refuse to be one of them.

[Hendrik]

for a meager 33 cents a day, you can help feed the nterns.. insert sad pic of WB CEO

Yea, you show them WB CEOs!

Only buy those huge TP bundles when they are on sale and numerous Otto Boxes!


That will show them!

:rolleyes:

[firemedium_jt]

I enjoy VIP personally. I pay my yearly fee and can come and go as I please, enjoying the benefits as I go. Though, and I am loathe to admit this, I am beginning to see why some folk think VIPs deserve slightly better benefits.

The one perk I've never made use of are TP. I've got 4 years of TP saved up and have absolutely no idea what to do with them. So that feature is wasted on me. Though I suspect that this is because I'm one of those "loser casual flower sniffing carebear gamers" that are so loathed on these forums and there isn't anything of use to me in the store. ;-)

Basically, it's only worth it if you enjoy it. If you feel the game is dying or no longer enjoyable enough for you to waste your wages on...well then the answer is fairly obvious.


I am total casual. I rarely grind. Only thing I ever grinded was EAGA. It helps in so many ways with the Metalline and Red Slot. Heck I enjoy spending time figuring out how not to grind. I find that more of a challenge bucking the norm.

Turbine Points if you get them on sale for Double bonus or Triple bonus are a good way to go now.

They are great if you are a caster because...
DDO mana pots are cheap at 500-700 sp X100 for about 1200TP on sale.

You can buy lesser/greater reincarnations when Turbine changes everything although they have been smart with major expansions/changes giving out some free LRs.

You can by the expansions too.

You can buy elite opener.



Thing is about points is you do not have to grind all that gear, and I hate grinding. I pick my grinding carefully because I know what I grind will become obsolete over time. This should not be a surprise. Heck I look forward to expansions now. I mean sure I have wasted money on Bloodstones... but I did not grind for them. Bought them at AH. So seeker is on everything now. It just gets you to the new content quicker. Heck I might even TR now that it is so easy to level up.

Lets get rid of Risa and the Cove now. All it does is eat up bandwidth. And what do you get from it now that is not obsolete. Heck all I saw on the Cove was seeker and I had that with bloodstones. Those hats are a waste now and the ML was too high on it anyway.

Turbines problem is that the Raid loot is not what it once was in Heroic content and really if they want to replay value to be there they need to be creative with the heroic raid loot. I guess they could just transfer everything to epic with epic loot too.

[psykopeta]

I stopped mine a while back. I was Premium and just would go VIP over the summers. They got me for one year though until the expansion came out. Then I figured I owned a few packs over the years of Premium and decided to just use points again. Points seem to be a better deal. You can get just about everything with points that VIP gets you. Now VIP was a good deal at 3 months for $30, but has become less of a good deal. If they want to keep VIPs they need to add more monthly points to the package or lower the price point. Premium with money spent on points is more flexible IMHO especially if you run more than one account. You can call them to split up the points among different accounts.

don't go vip, u'll have to buy expansions, so it's a waste of money

get as example motu standard edition, u get some packs and tp with it (also lots of stuff, check it) add more tp via some wise purchase(double/triple bonus) and get rest of useful packs

there're packs u'll never run if u're pugging, so there's no need of having em, of course u can buy em later if u want with the tp u get tr'ing (im premium, started with motu, and have everything right now, only missing fvs and drow, y i got em with favor, but only miss 2 things to have everything lol)

u'll spend less money than a year with vip and will keep that stuff til they decide it's time to close ddo

also, if u're vip u'll feel robbed with a service u're paying and u aren't getting

[Kalimah]

VIP is a good deal for me. I enjoy having all the content, the exp boost, the shared vault, etc. Lets me spend my TP on stuff I want other than packs and such. Its a good investment IMO.

[firemedium_jt]

DDO points are the way to go.

You can by Raid Timer Bypasses and sell them for Plat or trade them.

For a casual player this beats VIP hands down.

[jalont]

DDO points are the way to go.

You can by Raid Timer Bypasses and sell them for Plat or trade them.

For a casual player this beats VIP hands down.

Sell them for plat? Trade them? For what? I have an infinite amount of plat, and I don't need any gear. What the hell?

The problem still remains, how do you open elite difficulty on a first or second life?

[silinteresting]

for myself im thinking of going vip.and i have bought everything in the game.
the only reason for me to go vip is simple. the opening of elites on a first time toon.
this i feel is huge, ive come to the conclusion i would have a lot more toons if i
could open this.....

your friend sil :)

[Kalimah]

DDO points are the way to go.

You can by Raid Timer Bypasses and sell them for Plat or trade them.

For a casual player this beats VIP hands down.

VIP gets points every month also and you have all the dungeons open.

[Glithanes]

Hey,

I am brand new newbie player just got the 3 month VIP deal which for 29.99$ that is 9.99$ per month that alone makes it worth to me.
I mean to me the VIP access to all alone is worth it for 9.99$ per month also get the 500 turbine points a month to me just even sweetens the deal even more.
I am loving the game , I also bought the Collectors of the new expansion.

My biggest issue being less then 5 days brand new to the game has been finding a good severs and character names that aren't all taken that is huge issue for me plus this 2 days down on Holiday weekend I had planned to play a lot due to holiday as well as being new. so it sucks even more for me to have the servers down Holiday and being new just discovering the game so barly had time to get my feet wet in the game so to speak due to this downtime.

thanks.

[Yehediah]

For me, the $.33 a day is a small price to pay to support a game I enjoy.

I think you got a basic math problem here. Yes, .33 is cheap for support, but when you compare to .33 to free, well, it looks like someone is getting taken for a ride...

The question is how much of a value is VIP compared to Premium? It sure seems to be dwindling in value to many of us.

We might be willing to pay for the game and to be VIP, but it needs to mean something. I just don't see things like you get an "gold" version of the daily **** roll (weekly) with even more **** to fill your inventory - too much being BTC at that...

[Yehediah]

Points seem to be a better deal. You can get just about everything with points that VIP gets you.

Agreed and it's a crying shame...

Players that want to spend money for VIP, but just don't see it as worthwhile because Turbine doesn't seem to...


If they want to keep VIPs they need to add more monthly points to the package or lower the price point.

That's been my point too.. even started another thread on that about a month or so ago...

[jalont]

I think you got a basic math problem here. Yes, .33 is cheap for support, but when you compare to .33 to free, well, it looks like someone is getting taken for a ride...

The question is how much of a value is VIP compared to Premium? It sure seems to be dwindling in value to many of us.

We might be willing to pay for the game and to be VIP, but it needs to mean something. I just don't see things like you get an "gold" version of the daily **** roll (weekly) with even more **** to fill your inventory - too much being BTC at that...

You missed the important part about supporting a game they enjoy. It's only this current generation coming up that believes they should have whatever entertainment they please for free. There are many many older people that realize this is an unsustainable entitlement issue and have no problems actually paying for services and entertainment.

[Oxarhamar]

You missed the important part about supporting a game they enjoy. It's only this current generation coming up that believes they should have whatever entertainment they please for free. There are many many older people that realize this is an unsustainable entitlement issue and have no problems actually paying for services and entertainment.

Not to mention how many threads there are that claim VIP get too much and its not fair. pfft

one way or another Turbine has to keep making money or the game will shutdown.

[MartinusWyllt]

...

The problem still remains, how do you open elite difficulty on a first or second life?

The same way we used to (or at least I used to): 2nd account with bank toons parked at the appropriate levels as openers...though this gets more expensive if you want to include expansion quests...on the upside those high xp quests that require flagging but can be red-boxed can always be available.

[MartinusWyllt]

Y...It's only this current generation coming up that believes they should have whatever entertainment they please for free...

I've tentatively dubbed this the "get off my lawn" fallacy, though this might already be named something else.

[Oxarhamar]

I am total casual. I rarely grind. Only thing I ever grinded was EAGA. It helps in so many ways with the Metalline and Red Slot. Heck I enjoy spending time figuring out how not to grind. I find that more of a challenge bucking the norm.

Turbine Points if you get them on sale for Double bonus or Triple bonus are a good way to go now.

They are great if you are a caster because...
DDO mana pots are cheap at 500-700 sp X100 for about 1200TP on sale.

You can buy lesser/greater reincarnations when Turbine changes everything although they have been smart with major expansions/changes giving out some free LRs.

You can by the expansions too.

You can buy elite opener.



Thing is about points is you do not have to grind all that gear, and I hate grinding. I pick my grinding carefully because I know what I grind will become obsolete over time. This should not be a surprise. Heck I look forward to expansions now. I mean sure I have wasted money on Bloodstones... but I did not grind for them. Bought them at AH. So seeker is on everything now. It just gets you to the new content quicker. Heck I might even TR now that it is so easy to level up.

Lets get rid of Risa and the Cove now. All it does is eat up bandwidth. And what do you get from it now that is not obsolete. Heck all I saw on the Cove was seeker and I had that with bloodstones. Those hats are a waste now and the ML was too high on it anyway.

Turbines problem is that the Raid loot is not what it once was in Heroic content and really if they want to replay value to be there they need to be creative with the heroic raid loot. I guess they could just transfer everything to epic with epic loot too.


I don't agree with doing away with Risia or Cove. how about Mabar?

These events have become a part of the game.

sure I don't need any loot from cove. However the loot should be available to new players even if not updated. There are still items that are viable for TRing that come from cove.


Risia as well Hands down the best twink gear I have for Melee are ML6 Festival Icybursted Shocking Burst of Lacerating items and the like.

while the caster gear from Risia needs a revamp I don't think Risia should be removed.

same goes for Mabar a lot the gear is outdated sure but, some is still viable.

update the loot sure remove the events no thanks.

[EllisDee37]

The problem still remains, how do you open elite difficulty on a first or second life?That's the primary value of VIP.

[Ryiah]

Ask yourself, is the cost of some pocket change worth it for the amount of entertainment you get a day?

Between convenience items such as True Hearts of Wood and Cosmetic items, I easily spend more than $0.33 per day on the DDO Store. Being Premium does not mean you automatically spend less on this game.

[Yehediah]

That's the primary value of VIP.

Right...

If I recall, 2nd life you can open Hard, and 3rd elite. So, only on first life and E BB isn't that critical on first life.

But, in any event, yes, that could be considered a perk but if that's the big reason, it's a waste of money.

Only 1 person in the group has to open E for all to benefit. Yep, stinks if no one has that ability. But, wait, for most quests (except the few where the opener has to actually be the one going in), you can if need be swap to an "opener" character who has done it or has it opened, and then the group can go in. So, it's a definite convenience, but not the end of the world...

[Lorianna]

As someone who doesn't like to TR, being a VIP is quite handy for me, as I can just hop into quests on elite with any character. Make a new mule to hold all my spare junk, run them around building up 75 kundarak/coin lord favor in an hour, and shove them into a corner buried under piles of spare gear. Yay!

The other benefits are fairly minor, but I'm okay with them. I wouldn't MIND if VIPs got a bit more of a benefit, just to really encourage it, but eh. At $10-15/month, it's well worth the price, even if I only end up playing an hour a day (usually more though).

[Yehediah]

It's only this current generation coming up that believes they should have whatever entertainment they please for free.

Do what??? Are you saying I'm a youngster wanting something for free??? What are you smoking?


There are many many older people that realize this is an unsustainable entitlement issue and have no problems actually paying for services and entertainment.

I'm not a youngster and never demanded anything for free. I do, however, believe in getting something for my money. If I'm paying VIP solely to support giving the game for "free" to freeloaders, then yeah, I feel scammed. And if they are going to charge me as a VIP significantly more over the long haul than the premium payer, then again, I feel scammed - and a few mediocre token VIP benefits ain't gonna compensate for being scammed. I've been paying for this game since long before it was F2P and as I've noted many times I don't mind paying for the game. BUT, the direction they are going is making VIP worth less and less (as opposed to being a premium payer, which BTW is still "paying" and not freeloading). And, if they are going to make VIP worthless (as in the direction they are heading), then yes I'm going to complain - and if Turbine doesn't listen, then, yes, I'll take my money elsewhere...

[Dawnsfire]

I am addicted to the elite opener on my non-TRs. If I could buy that perk seperately I'd drop it and go to points but I solo almost exclusively so I have to be my own opener.

[EllisDee37]

If I could buy that perk seperatelyYou can but it's obscenely expensive: 25 TP per quest.

[zDragonz]

The Free Gold roll for dice per 7 days is nice. This is very nice right now.

The extra 10 percent run in public is only good for those who do not have teleport. But is good for public events so it has a happy medium. In public events it is like having one level of Barbarian, yes this is nice!

The store points are nice. Use them wisely.

VIP have a lot going for them, but are mislead. I wish it would let us go to level 28 and future high levels such as 36. without having to buy any expansion! They are misleading the vip client with old language that used to be vip and is now not vip but they are advertising it as fresh and new, but they have failed to upgrade the language for too long. For example: The wording they use for VIP is misleading and they should be sued for it. Not that I would, but just saying, they are confusing the VIP client into thinking something else than wai and that is fraud. Not surprising though, they never think.

The track record is a solid 0 (zero), out of 0. They have nothing to base their client happiness to. It is so bad that there is no track record to think positive anymore. We all assume the worst too much and cannot believe the bugs that come out of left field!

We only still play this game out of faith in Gary Gygax's dream and not because of Turbine or Warner Brothers,but because of the genre and culture that is D&D! Please get your heads out of........................!

[cnynridr2]

if i was able to buy packs while being vip i would stay vip for as long as it took to get all the packs and classes/races then go premium.

^this

[nibel]

The one perk I've never made use of are TP. I've got 4 years of TP saved up and have absolutely no idea what to do with them. So that feature is wasted on me. Though I suspect that this is because I'm one of those "loser casual flower sniffing carebear gamers" that are so loathed on these forums and there isn't anything of use to me in the store. ;-)

I got full bank/inventory on my main, and pets. I got one or two armor kits when they were bound to a single equipment, but noticed it was not worth it at the time. I might get a few more now that they have an appearance slot.

[Singular]

I enjoy VIP personally. I pay my yearly fee and can come and go as I please, enjoying the benefits as I go. Though, and I am loathe to admit this, I am beginning to see why some folk think VIPs deserve slightly better benefits.

The one perk I've never made use of are TP. I've got 4 years of TP saved up and have absolutely no idea what to do with them. So that feature is wasted on me. Though I suspect that this is because I'm one of those "loser casual flower sniffing carebear gamers" that are so loathed on these forums and there isn't anything of use to me in the store. ;-)

Basically, it's only worth it if you enjoy it. If you feel the game is dying or no longer enjoyable enough for you to waste your wages on...well then the answer is fairly obvious.

You, uhm, could use all those TP to buy every pack in the game...

[Singular]

Right...

If I recall, 2nd life you can open Hard, and 3rd elite. So, only on first life and E BB isn't that critical on first life.

But, in any event, yes, that could be considered a perk but if that's the big reason, it's a waste of money.

Only 1 person in the group has to open E for all to benefit. Yep, stinks if no one has that ability. But, wait, for most quests (except the few where the opener has to actually be the one going in), you can if need be swap to an "opener" character who has done it or has it opened, and then the group can go in. So, it's a definite convenience, but not the end of the world...

And every lfm is about elite these days. Bravery bonus!

On my lfms, when I want to repeat a quest on hard for xp, I have to write "hard, no really hard. Not elite, hard." because I still get people who join, get in the quest, and type in "what? We're not in on elite???"

[enochiancub]

You, uhm, could use all those TP to buy every pack in the game...

I'm VIP, no need to buy the packs. I wasn't complaining about TP by any stretch of the imagination. Just wish there was something suited to me to use them on. I am sorry I was unable to express that with my English.

[morkahn82]

Imho vip and premium should be two different payment model for the same thing. One rents the game the other buys it. VIP should get expansions free, as the rent them. On the other hand each other benefit from VIP (10% xp bonus, elite unlock, etc.) should be accessible for premium via one-time-buy unlock. Both pay for the same product, hence the product should not differ at all.

[RedOrm]

My biggest issue being less then 5 days brand new to the game has been finding a good severs and character names that aren't all taken that is huge issue for me plus this 2 days down on Holiday weekend I had planned to play a lot due to holiday as well as being new. so it sucks even more for me to have the servers down Holiday and being new just discovering the game so barly had time to get my feet wet in the game so to speak due to this downtime.

Google for "meaning of names" to get dozens of websites with tons of names from all over the world. Pick a culture you feel suits your new character (celtic, vikings, arabic, zulu, whatever), and see what comes up. There's even websites out there that give you the info to construct names in various fantasy languages, from drow to klingon to anything from tolkien.
If you're less interested in a cool meaning and just want somethin that rolls off the tongue, grab a copy of EBON, the Everchanging Book Of Names, and add the free custom name lists to it (Greyhawk is a good one). You'll rarely run into naming problems again :)

Greetz,
Red Orm

[bartharok]

Imho vip and premium should be two different payment model for the same thing. One rents the game the other buys it. VIP should get expansions free, as the rent them. On the other hand each other benefit from VIP (10% xp bonus, elite unlock, etc.) should be accessible for premium via one-time-buy unlock. Both pay for the same product, hence the product should not differ at all.

Nah, while im premium, i must admit that the VIP need the perks, since they are likely to keep on paying for the product after the premiums have stopped. Kinda like i feel getting a little money now and again from surprising sources, but i prefer the steady income my job gives me, and will thus work hard at keeping it.

[patang01]

I still find value in VIP - if not for the traditional model of being able to play all quests without owning a pack. But it's true that the current release of xpacks hollows out that value. It's been 'replaced' by the 10% more XP and now with the free pass to the hall of heroes, but those are minor values compared to the free use of quests.

I didn't complain as much with MOTU - partly because I saw a tremendous value in that pack. To me it felt like money worth spending and I get lots of use of it even now. Good items, so and so raid but with an overall ton of value.

That's not true with the latest xpack. That felt like 2 packs stitched together with no upgrade path, no additional value beyond pulling lackluster loot. To me I feel like I got suckered into buying something that should've definitely been free to VIPs with a possible upgrade to legendary for cash (say the extra value ontop of the pack).

I tell you what tho - if Turbine is going to pull a fast one on us again I might not cancel my VIP but I definitely won't pre-purchase the next twin pack. Shiat like that should be included to VIPs.