Is it really worth the money?

[M113k7262]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

[phalaeo]

Only you can decide if it's worth the money. Yes, there are bugs and glitches and lag, but I continue to pay my VIP because this is more than an online game to me, it's a way for me to spend time with people I've become very close to over the years.

Complaints and all, nothing is as good as spending time laughing with friends, and that to me is worth it.

[Dandonk]

Foe me, yes. I still have lots of fun in DDO.

[PermaBanned]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)Well, you could always shop around for the month and see if there's any other games you like better... and if you don't find any then the answer is probably yes ^^

Of course if you're planning to keep playing regardless of wether or not you renew the sub, then it's just simple question of value. Would you lose access to anything (that you'd like to retain access to) with the loss of your sub? If so, do you have enough points to regain the lost access, or could you obtain sufficient points for less than the cost of a sub?

[AbyssalMage]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)
It's a personal decision. I personally can't afford VIP status and even if I could, I would not find it worth it.

Broken code and bugs exist in every MMO. DDO seems to have an exceeding and growing list of them yet I attribute many of them to stubbornness on Tuirbine's part. Not sure what part's of the game that "plain don't function" but maybe I consider them "bugs/broken code" and you just have a broader group.

Finally, the offer they are now promoting is a very good deal, all things considered. When you consider the deal is equivalent to less than $10/month and with today's inflation, that's a trip to McDonald's (or your favorite fast food restaurant) then you have to decide "Is the money better spent doing one activity once or playing DDO for a 'month'?" Therefore it becomes a personal choice.

From a purely financial standpoint it is a good deal.

[AngryDude]

Depends if you intend to play. New games for the new game systems are what 60 bucks nowadays. How many hours are they good for? Now a better use of time and money is worth thinking about. Gym pass 100 year minimum. Won't use it after 6 months probably. So looking at it as relative to other games probably worth it. As a entertainment expense probably worth it. It's not really a good use of time and it sucks up a lot of it. Depends on what u want. $100 is probably ok to spend for a years worth of gaming. Could just commit to only one game to save it back by not buying games for a year. If 100 bucks per year is a big deal you should look at your situation as an emergency and focus on fixing your financial situation.

DDO is cheap for entertainment expense. Fun but waste of time.
People (players) in DDO are decent and make the gameplay more enjoyable.

Really depends on what you want to do for the next year. Play DDO alot which is ok. Get good grades, DDO won't help. Find a job. DDO won't help. Save some money, DDO may help quite a bit. Lose 50 pounds, DDO might work against you.

[morkahn82]

i personally never unterstood why to pay subscription. i invested in premium buying all content and spend about 150 dollars since 2009. Still have 4000 tp for future content. i never regreted that deal.

[moomooprincess]

My VIP breaking point was when Turbine brought out the 79.95 for Menace of the Underdark. I decided that since Turbine was going to charge for new packs, my VIP was no longer worth it. When I joined, I paid 14.99 per month. I then grabbed the 59.99 per six month deal when that was offered, I have two accounts. I was VIP for roughly six years.

Turbine was not offering any carrots at all to VIPs once the game went F2P, other than the 500 TP per month.

After three years of F2P, VIPS began to unsubscribe in droves. Why? There was nothing to be gained by being a VIP or the game had gone stagnant for players. Once VIPs began to unsubscribe, Turbine kicked in things like opening on elite. This is the only thing I miss, having the ability to open on elite. The other VIP carrots mean nothing to me. Run in public space faster? More XP? 500 TP? I forget what else.

Other than that, I have no regrets. The games flaws are not subscription killers for me. Charging me for expansion packs, made me stop paying for two accounts. My estimate, I have paid around $1,500 to play the game for eight years.

My advice if you go premium, save up TP to buy character space. If you have more than four characters that you play, you have to weed out the ones you don't like and then buy more slots if you play more than four. If you have more than four when you go premium, you can choose which four to play, and the remaining ones are GRAYED out and you cannot select them or look at them or anything. But they are NOT deleted.

If you have special characters or races, (Warforged/Monk) you lose access to those characters also. They are greyed out until you buy that content and buy that extra character slot.

What you will need TP for
1. Buy More Character Slots
2. Buy Shared bank
3. Buy Adventure Packs
4. Buy more Inventory Slots (if you have not already done that)
5. Buy more Shared Bank Slots (if you have not already done that)
6. Keep your credit card handy for new expansions

[walkin_dude]

Well, I was lucky enough to be gifted with a couple of months of VIP a while back. I loved it. I'd have it for myself all the time if I could. :)

[Qhualor]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

ive been VIP since 2009. the cost is cheap compared to what you get out of the deal plus you are getting an extra 3 months free right now if you sign up. the only bugs that have really affected my game play usually gets fixed by next hot fix or patch. the only broken codes that affect my fun are the exploits that can last for weeks/months before finally getting fixed. there will always be something broken in this game, but that's the norm for games like this. VIP is better for someone who is going to play DDO regularly and not sporadically.

[Stoner81]

I have been VIP since about 1 week after I started playing and have not regretted it once (except for 1 month where I couldn't afford it), it costs me £21 GBP for 3 months which is £7 a month! I can't even get a cinema ticket for that let alone anything else and I can play the game when I like and for as long as I like! What's not to like? Sure there are bugs/glitches/etc but so what for that kind of money I'll happily put up with it (though I do hope/expect Turbine to keep fixing bugs etc).

Getting your monies worth out of being VIP is a rather relative and subjective matter, for me it is more than worth it, yes I bought both expansions (MoTU at 50% off and I pre-ordered Shadowfell) but even with having to buy those I could not stand the thought of losing a lot of the stuff I really like.

Stoner81.

[slarden]

It's definitely a great value. I doubt you would regret buying VIP.

[Flavilandile]

For me is cheaper than going to watch a movie each month... for longer entertainment... so yes it's worth it.

Now it's going to be very dependant on how much time you spend in game and how much money you want to spend on this form of entertainment.

( note : I have always been VIP, as when I started F2P didn't exist, so I'm technically biased )

[Lonnbeimnech]

For me is cheaper than going to watch a movie each month... for longer entertainment... so yes it's worth it.

Now it's going to be very dependant on how much time you spend in game and how much money you want to spend on this form of entertainment.

( note : I have always been VIP, as when I started F2P didn't exist, so I'm technically biased )

It's cheaper than buying a cup of coffee once every 4 days, and I'm talking about the cheap kind.

[Sam1313]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

I believe it is worth it. Although I am going to wait until Halloween to renew my VIP subscription so I can see if they mess up my Arcane Archer or not. If they goof it up then I will not renew. If they get it right then I will go vip for a year.

[KGWiking]

With the reduction to 6.67/month this seems a superfluous comment as you are talking about a quarter or less per day. A betters question might be is it worth the time which could be spent doing something more productive, but I doubt most of us are curing the world's ills when we are bashing bad guys.

However, the ability to go ONE and DONE on quests by choosing Elite (or hard) rather than doing the N H E grind - this is assuming you solo or small group a LOT - as well as having access to all the game content other than Epics --- make this one of the sillier questions one comes across.

[AzB]

I was VIP for many years and just cancelled yesterday. I just couldn't justify it anymore since I don't play much.

I enjoyed the VIP perks for quite a while, but all the old friends are gone and there's just no end game. I fell for the pl hamster wheel for a couple years, but it was a hollow thing. And when it simply became a chore there was nothing left to do. The last pl I played was Warlock to keep my completionist status and it was a freaking joke. With no consideration towards planning or gear, I soloed my way to 20 without even trying. It was ridiculous.

But I have a lot of fond memories of the old days when we'd group because we had to in order to succeed and failure was always a possibility.

There were certainly some good times, and if the game had some sort of future and all my old friends were still around, I'd still be VIP.

[Paleus]

No one can tell you if it is worth it to you, only if it is worth it to them. With a 2010 join date you should have at least five years of experience with the game, enough to form an opinion.

For me, no it's not worth it. But I've been premium for several years now with most packs bought and a lot less playtime available these days. Having most packs bought makes it less worth it, but oddly having less playtime while still playing (and having a good job) makes it more worth it. Since the return value on favor farming vs time available is too low to give me what I want update to update, as long as the new content is interesting, along with minor leveling perks to make playtime less grindy. So shelling out a little money for some entertainment is a good trade.

That said, if you preface the question by focusing on bugs, then you've already answered it for ypurself most likely. I suspect it's not worth it for you. But you could still keep playing for a while as premium and maybe your internal calculus will change at some point later. And, the fact that it is worth it for other people does not make your decision wrong, it just means each person values different things differently.

[Basura_Grande]

Yes, VIP is worth it.

Do you expect this game to last forever? No rational person should.

So why buy when you can rent?

[Balrogbane1]

I just buy the content I want. I've been playing on and off for about 8 years now and I've spent about 150 dollars US, so I think it is money well spent.

If you ask me if all that time was time well spent, well that's a different question.

[Hazelnut]

Yes, VIP is worth it.

Do you expect this game to last forever? No rational person should.

So why buy when you can rent?

To answer your question ... Because in the long term it is usually less expensive to buy.

On the other hand there are many good reasons to pay for VIP in DDO.

- You get access to all the quest packs right away. If you buy this is a one time cost of around $200 vs a much lower monthly cost.

- you can open quests on elite right away. This might not matter for your first character but will after a few.

- helps manage your monthly budget.

and so on.

[Erdrique]

I have been VIP/paying the subscription since I started playing when the game was released back in 2006. This is really all based on your perspective. The bugs and code issues have never been a deal breaker for me. What has kept me maintaining my subscription is that it is wall worth the expense for the huge amount of fun I get out of the game. I currently have two accounts. One a VIP and one a premium account and definitely notice the difference. There are a number of features that I lose on my premium account that makes me enjoy my VIP account even more. In any case, I enjoy my subscription currently.

[TitoFireknife]

if you play a lot and wanna do some TR VIP is a must have in my view

but when you done with that premium should be enough

thats the way i go for the moment

[TheDarkTraveler]

It used to be worth it, now ... not so sure.

After 5 years of fairly constant play I recently left the game, with the intention of really LEAVING the game, and I returned. I've been A VIP for about 5 years now and to my mind things have steadily declined. Sure, new content, crafting systems, bravery bonus (which I personally don't care for) and airship improvements weigh the balance on the positive side. However, the same problems seem to go on and on, and new problems and glitches arise with every update. (My personal "favorite bug" (sic) is having to click on the Who panel to get the lfm panel to populate. It's an incredibly stupid bug to allow to go unresolved. What new to DDO player knows to click one to get the other to work?) Lag, bugs, glitches, lower server populations, none of these are conducive to either keeping the existing populations of the "faithful" nor enticing new players, hopefully paying players as some point, into DDO. It does no great good to create new game content over an engine that is "dated" and showing it, problems that go unresolved, etc. Sometimes I wonder if DDO isn't being allowed to just "go away" by intent.

My VIP sub is up in May. I'm going to give it until then to see if the situation improves, but with the "track record" Turbine has on addressing some of these long time issues, I have to remain pessimistic.

Cheers.

[ddo.rsmo.pt]

I was only VIP for a time. I think Premium is more than enough to enjoy the game (even if I'm struggling atm to play more than 1 instance at a time).

Carry on.

[Deadlock]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

For me it is. What are the elements of broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function are causing you such concern that you need to ask what others think?

[KoobTheProud]

If you already own 95% of the content then VIP isn't worth it in my opinion. That's the situation I'm in.

I wouldn't be playing DDO right now if they hadn't gone F2P. I don't subscribe to games like this any more and I'll only play the ones that allow me to buy the content I want to play and then play it without a further fee. I was a lapsed subscriber by 2 years when DDO went F2P and when I returned I spent enough to play the levels I wanted to play and that's what kept me playing.

[cdbd3rd]

... --- make this one of the sillier questions one comes across.

It is in no way a "silly" question. However, the answers so far strongly (and correctly) point out that it is a question only the OP can answer for themselves.

I have been on both sides of the fence. I subbed for years in the early days even when I was vacationing over in LOTRO-land to support the one true D&D game. I came back and subbed for a short while, then did the buy-in and went Premium for several years.

Recently, like earlier this year, re-subbed to VIP for what was gonna be a short sub, then grabbed the first 12+3 deal. Now that I've done all the TRing I'll likely ever do, I'll probably return to Premium after this run of VIP expires next year.


Heh. So how's that for a fairly non-answer to the OP question? :o Other than being a budget thing for some folks, it really just boils down to what mood you're in at any given time, I think.

[Bill_Jones]

It's worth the $ to me, ymmv.
The best bits:
I get +10% quest XP (more if there is a Bonus Event).
I get access to all the adventure packs (more content = more favor/XP).
Bag and bank deposit slots (to transfer items to alts).

[Novalis]

In this thread among my other postings you will see how I have detailed many things and you can also witness how things have gotten to this point and continue in it's current direction.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/463762-New-players-in-jaded-vet-players-out-AGAIN

I predicted u27 being prematurely released even before Summer hit. This was when warlock and Archons was supposed to be released together. I even highlighted FOTW having issues before the u27 patch 1 wrecked adrenaline damage. I have tried to bring attention to many issues only to be met with snark, sarcasm, elitist condescension, and ignorant indifference. I suggest saving your duckets. Especially when they try to tempt you to spend during the next lag fest. Those otto boxes and tomes are really nice and make up for the lost progress when you can't attack and move.

[dunklezhan]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

That depends upon what you ascribe value. If you feel that your sub entitles you to a bug free existence, or a lower bug rate than DDO has... well then it's clearly not worth it for you, is it?

My own view right now is that I don't particularly like the content lately (it's too simplistic and brute force for my liking and even on new heroic content where I'm happiest the view seems to be that fights are 'challenging' if the mobs are meatsacks whether it makes sense or not, e.g. ToEE cultists). Also, the direction that game mechanics are going is s not close enough to what I really want (I hate the new armour system, I dislike the very existence of melee and ranged power, I loathed the mimic hunt reward system and the concept of a shared enhancement tree based on something from FR but available to characters who aren't even high enough level to go to FR for instance). Those are the things that made me drop my sub.

But I haven't stopped playing - I just buy the content I want and if I'm not 100% sold on the idea or the price then I wait for it to go on sale or don't buy it (e.g. warlocks). The VIP 'perks' I think were and are still great... but I weighed it up and decided that they just weren't worth what I didn't like anymore, and that I didn't want to be posting here and saying what I didn't like whilst potentially providing the marketing and finance department with any 'generalised' ammunition to be able to say that the current game is "what people want". Going premium means that I can at least provide more granular metrics to them when content is released. I can't do anything about design decisions except post here, but over the years I have recognised that my views represent a tiny proportion of the forum population. And in my brief stint on Mournlands I was in a tiny, tiny minority there, too (though given the smaller numbers there I suspect proportionately I probably had a louder voice, lol - still didn't seem to make a difference mind you, because my general approach does seem to be a long way from what most players want). So I'm kinda resigned to the fact that nothing will change on that front regardless, because far more people do seem to like the very stuff I dislike.

That's a shame but if i'm in such a tiny minority of course it's not going to meet my 'needs', is it? I don't have a grudge against Turbine for that, but... no sub from me, thanks.

Yeah of course I want all bugs fixed naaaaaoooow, like everyone else. But DDO having bugs is not exactly a new issue, and its not like they never fix any bugs so if you've put up with it thus far I'm not sure why it would be that much of an issue now. I don't think its actually any worse than it's ever been, bugs-wise. New stuff, new bugs, that's how these things work. But older ones have been fixed (not some very old ones mind you, grrr).

Personally, I have always said that I would much rather that they did an update or two blitzing bugs, balance and putting in QoL updates and then went back to content design. That's not new either, and on it's own wasn't enough in the past to make me drop my sub. However, they've left it far too late for that, there's just too high a proportion of the playerbase now that really really wants a proper end game again - so they have to get that done. But they can't get that done without the balancing pass, so they have to do that, then do end game... and in the meantime QoL possibilities and bugs are not being 'blitzed' as I would like them to be. Honestly, much though I personally loved the 3BC revamp and mimic hunt (very much not the random reward system though) for the anniversary, I really think they should have done a bug/QoL blitz instead and phoned in the anniversary with another round of cards, or cake, or cove, or something. Then done balancing, and then started on more content, classes etc..


And none of the above tells you anything except that no one can tell you if it's worth it for you.

But I think you knew that, really. This post of mine was not in all honesty for you, it was just an excuse for me to try to lay out constructively for Turbine a few things I dislike as I suspect they will be looking at this thread. ;)

[Xenich]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

I used to, even with its mainstream direction, but these days I don't think so anymore. They did to the game what WoW did. Content has been made extremely easy, classes homogenized, systems of development unimportant to success, and general play streamlined to simplistic goals and functions. It then comes down to what you want. If you like a game where it is less of a game and more of an entertainment simulator where you just run around, push buttons and constantly win? Well, it may be worth continuing, but if that is not what you want, the answer is likely no. For me personally, the game has lost pretty much all of its qualities that made it stand out from the other streamlined mainstream arcade games of today. Like LoTRO, its core has been stripped and all that remains is an empty husk. /shrug

[Grandern_Marn]

I have played video games for a long time, one of our first machines was a pong gadget from Radio Shack. I've played a lot of the older Dungeons and Dragons games from Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds on the Commodore 64 and I still keep the enhanced addition of the Baldurs Gate series on my laptop for those moments without an internet connection. I have never been able to wrap my mind around paying monthly for a game however and never have. When I heard DDO came out as a subscription based game in 2006 I didn't even give it a though, I later came across an ad for it in 2011 as F2P and thought I would check it out. 4 years later and I am still enjoying it and have got most packages and amenities which I need to get by including some extra backpack, shared and bank space for all toons I have.

The way I see it is I may have to step away from the game for a couple months or so at some point for RL matters and with F2P I have all of my stuff still waiting there, I don't have to think about how long a plan I got and from when until when I will be away. Another thing about VIP is that there still are things that you have to pay for. On the other hand I am a pretty dedicated player and I don't mind dropping some cash each year because that's what keeps the wheels turning. I usually put in 40 - 50$ a year so I may be saving a bit overall but suffer some minor inconveniences. At the end of the day that is fine with me.

[axel15810]

It's worth it for the 10% XP bonus alone if you're really into TRing or you just level a lot.

I can't justify it because I tend to just play my character at level 28 plus I already own most of the content. If I do level I'm in no rush and take my time. They should build in more incentives. The only real convenience I like is not having to go to a fatespinner to change destinies.

[HAL]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

I enjoy DDO. Paying <whatever> to Turbine helps keep DDO running.

[HAL]

In this thread among my other postings you will see how I have detailed many things and you can also witness how things have gotten to this point and continue in it's current direction.

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/463762-New-players-in-jaded-vet-players-out-AGAIN

I predicted u27 being prematurely released even before Summer hit. This was when warlock and Archons was supposed to be released together. I even highlighted FOTW having issues before the u27 patch 1 wrecked adrenaline damage. I have tried to bring attention to many issues only to be met with snark, sarcasm, elitist condescension, and ignorant indifference. I suggest saving your duckets. Especially when they try to tempt you to spend during the next lag fest. Those otto boxes and tomes are really nice and make up for the lost progress when you can't attack and move.

Careful there, don't hurt yourself patting yourself on the back lol.

The things you "predicted" are very low-hanging fruit. Perhaps that's why you got some of the reactions you did.

As for lag issues, 99.9% of the time I don't have any.

[nokowi]

I used to, even with its mainstream direction, but these days I don't think so anymore. They did to the game what WoW did. Content has been made extremely easy, classes homogenized, systems of development unimportant to success, and general play streamlined to simplistic goals and functions. It then comes down to what you want. If you like a game where it is less of a game and more of an entertainment simulator where you just run around, push buttons and constantly win? Well, it may be worth continuing, but if that is not what you want, the answer is likely no. For me personally, the game has lost pretty much all of its qualities that made it stand out from the other streamlined mainstream arcade games of today. Like LoTRO, its core has been stripped and all that remains is an empty husk. /shrug

For me, when the game got to the point where I was no longer even responding to individual mobs (hit attack keys and throw in an occasional heal), I had to cut the cord. Dev's don't seem to understand that while players want to feel powerful, having challenge is an important part of feeling powerful.

I was very vocal against the Bard pass. In its existing form, Bard should have been sold as an easy entry point for new players and stopped at bard. Instead, it became the standard of every new pass has to be at least as good as bard. This was predictable behavior by devs. Why can't a bard do xxx yyy or zzz, turned into why can't every character do everything. You see the result today.

[axel15810]

I enjoy DDO. Paying <whatever> to Turbine helps keep DDO running.

That's great and all, I hear this alot. However, if your primary reason for being VIP is because you want to donate money that right there shows there's a lack of incentives.

I should want to be VIP because of all the awesome stuff it offers in return, it shouldn't be just because I want to donate money.

[HAL]

That's great and all, I hear this alot. However, if your primary reason for being VIP is because you want to donate money that right there shows there's a lack of incentives.

I should want to be VIP because of all the awesome stuff it offers in return, it shouldn't be just because I want to donate money.

That isn't what I said. That is simply my bottom line: my biggest incentive is to keep the game running.

[Xenich]

For me, when the game got to the point where I was no longer even responding to individual mobs (hit attack keys and throw in an occasional heal), I had to cut the cord. Dev's don't seem to understand that while players want to feel powerful, having challenge is an important part of feeling powerful.

I was very vocal against the Bard pass. In its existing form, Bard should have been sold as an easy entry point for new players and stopped at bard. Instead, it became the standard of every new pass has to be at least as good as bard. This was predictable behavior by devs. Why can't a bard do xxx yyy or zzz, turned into why can't every character do everything. You see the result today.

You make a good point. The Devs could benefit from a little attention to the wisdom of Gygax.



"To obtain real satisfaction from such effort, you must have participants who will make use of your creations: players to learn the wonders and face the perils you have devised for them. If it is all too plain and too easy, the players will quickly lose interest, and your effort will prove to have been in vain. Likewise, if the campaign is too difficult, players will quickly become discouraged and lose interest in a game where they are always the butt; again your labors will have been for naught. These facts are of prime importance for the underlie many rules."


Notice how Gary is talking about the DM providing a solid game for them to play. That the campaign should be a balance to provide challenging play, but not discouraging play. The entire point of the DM is to ensure that their effort (making an entire campaign is a real effort) is not wasted by players that consume it quickly without thought or effort and quickly lose interest or by those who will find that their effort is constantly dismissed by an overly aggressive system. That is, provide challenge to keep interest, but not punishing play.

It reminds me of some campaigns I have been on that exemplify this point. In one campaign, the DM ran it where no choice mattered, that every choice was a success or benefit to the party. There was no "game" being played, just a tale woven with the players given the illusion that their actions had any real meaning.

Another game I played was in a campaign where the DM did not use leniency in situations (ie behind the DM screen) in order to insure the campaign did not become a character grinder ruled by bad rolls. That is, they had designed a campaign where death of your character was not only likely, but expected to happen numerous times. This gave the effect of playing D&D as if it were an arcade game where upon death you continued to start over. The game was so heavily statistical, no real game play could be achieved and as Gygax later points out in the DM guide, you might as well just play chess if that is the goal.


Both styles are extremes, and there needs to be balance. It is a game, so naturally it should provide challenge and interest in problem resolution, but it should not discount the need to keep viability to play. That is not to say that players should not die, that failure should not occur for the party, but that when it does, it should be due to player actions that led to such a result rather than just an arbitrary unlucky roll of a random die.

I think the developers could do well with some strong reading of D&D's past as they are currently running the former campaign to which many are losing interest.

[Uska]

with all the power creep its not as fun for me as it use to be but I just bought another 15 months so yes still woth the price of VIP

Been VIP forever by the way

[Duskofdead]

With no consideration towards planning or gear, I soloed my way to 20 without even trying. It was ridiculous.

But I have a lot of fond memories of the old days when we'd group because we had to in order to succeed and failure was always a possibility.

There were certainly some good times, and if the game had some sort of future and all my old friends were still around, I'd still be VIP.

This post speaks to me a lot. I couldn't count how many times I've been shot down (and often in a very nasty way) by DDO players still happily TR'ing all their time away left and right, but to me: the fun of this game is when at least a third of the challenge was putting together the right party of smart enough people with diverse enough skills to get the job done. And someone with the ability to lead or organize this group to the successful quest completion.

When I returned to the game a little over two years ago, that kind of gameplay simply wasn't to be found. Everyone was on a 17th+ life. Everyone simply ran through traps. Everyone was a monk splash frankenstein build of some flavor. People wanted to open and begin quests after joining your LFM with only 2-3 people, none of whom could perform any core role at all, and expected you to play at their pace running through every trap on elite and either in need of utterly no healing of any kind or, (I was actually told this many times by different people) "get DDO store pots."

I can only sadly consign it to the same catch 22 that possesses almost all players of MMO's: everyone wants to hurry to the "finish" and then, when they get there (whether the finish is epic gear, completionist feats, or the ability to solo the entire game) they only then realize (too late) that the part of the game they really enjoyed is gone and over with.

I expressed more or less this same "unhappiness" at what has gone out of the gameplay and the experience of playing DDO and was more or less lectured that this was the perspective of a noob/gimp, and that people who actually know what they're doing in DDO "have long since stopped bothering to smell roses or investigate every nook and cranny of a quest."

But somehow I doubt a player who would say such a thing is having as much fun grinding out a 30th life as I had the very very first time I did waterworks with a group of people who also had no idea what was in the next room.

[Krell]

The 15 month deal is 6.67 a month. During those 15 months you'll get 7500 turbine points. If you would have bought at least 7500 TP during that period anyways, that is roughly a $60 value depending on the special. That drops you to around $2.67 a month. Cheaper than netflix, cheaper than renting a movie online though cable. If you have some entertainment money and play the game a fair amount, I think it is a good deal.

[Coyopa]

With all the broken code, bugs and things that just plain do not function... is it really worth the VIP money? I have to decide by next month whether to keep paying for this game. (BTW don't answer if you're being paid by 'The Company'!)

For me, it is worth the money. There are several things I like about it.
First, I like the extra character slots I get without having to pony up for more.
I like being able to open elite and not having to think about which life the character I'm playing is on.
I like having access to the content from day one without having to first buy it. This is less a benefit now than it used to be and I'm okay with that. It used to be that only VIP users had access to new content the first couple of days it was released. After that, it was available to everyone. At first, I thought this was a nice tip of the hat to VIP users. I changed my mind when I couldn't run the content with friends who were premium, instead. So, now it's just the perk of not having to explicitly purchase the content.
I like the 500 TP I get each month. I know I could buy more TP for less money by just buying them when they're on sale. However, when you look at the subscription as $10 per month, that's remarkably cheap entertainment. If you figure you get roughly half your expense back each month to spend in the DDO store, for me it means I'm paying even less for access to the content, the character slots, the shared bank, and so on.

Personally, I don't want to have to come up with the cash to buy TP just to buy adventure packs, character slots, classes, races, and so on when I can get them for $10 per month. Yes, I could get them for cheaper by spending the TP. I just prefer to be able to use my TP on other stuff that I want, like getting a Daedalean Kraken for my guild and putting a bunch of amenities on it. Or a mirror of glamering so I don't have to look at my bard's horribly ugly Helm of the Blue Dragon, which really looks like a crash-test helmet on her. Or raid timer bypasses for when I want to grind a raid a few times in a day. Things like that.

[caberonia]

I certainly can't speak for anyone else. But for me... if i didn't "own" 99% of the content and had to pay a subscription fee i wouldn't play at all given the current state of the game. Since I can play without any further investment I still log in a few hours here and there despite my negative feelings toward the current state of the game. Even though i consider my current status as quit the game the fact that i don't need to invest anything else means i still log in when no other entertainment option seems attractive.

I find myself saying yes X and Y are broken and I hate Z but its already paid for so lets see if i can glean some fun from a session today. On the flip side I feel no guilt if i don't log in for months at a time since i'm not paying a monthly fee i don't have to justify it.

Contrast that with games that I still enjoyed but could no longer justify paying a monthly fee for and you see that the F2P model in some ways has kept the population from dropping even worse than it has.

[TrinityTurtle]

It is to me. I define is quite simply, how many hours of entertainment am I getting for that 10 bucks in a month, which is not even enough money for one matinee for my husband and I together, which would be 90 minutes to 2 hours if it were enough. :)

I play about 15 hours a week right now due to it being warm out and having outdoor options, but winter is coming and being cold reactive asthmatic, ddo is a great way to spend time with a large and diverse group of friends without going outside so that number jumps to 25 to 30.

Yeah, that's definitely worth the money to me.