complete noob questions

[darkkenzian]

what are turbine points? can i earn them in-game?
are there vendors in-game? do mobs drop loot & trash loot for spare in-game gold??
is there in-game gold or any kind of economy?
can potions etc be purchased in-game w/o having to really BUY them with DOLLARS??

[calavel]

what are turbine points? can i earn them in-game?

They are the points you spend in the DDO store (accessed in-game through the interface) and yes, you can earn them in-game but it's slow and it's not enough for a whole lot of content.

are there vendors in-game? do mobs drop loot & trash loot for spare in-game gold??
is there in-game gold or any kind of economy?

Yes, yes and yes. Note that this is different from Turbine points

can potions etc be purchased in-game w/o having to really BUY them with DOLLARS??

Yes, except SP ("mana") potions, which can only be bought on the auction house, found in chests or bought in the DDO store (using Turbine points).

The main use for Turbine points (if you're playing for free) is for buying new quests/campaigns.

[Kalari]

what are turbine points? can i earn them in-game?
are there vendors in-game? do mobs drop loot & trash loot for spare in-game gold??
is there in-game gold or any kind of economy?
can potions etc be purchased in-game w/o having to really BUY them with DOLLARS??

1. Turbine points are points tied into the turbine store you can buy them in packs ranging from the price 6.50 for 420 to 49.99 5000 you can use these points to buy items such as adventure packs if your free to play or premium or general purpose items such as tomes, 32 point builds veteran status and other more fluff items. You can also earn points by unlocking favor by running quests. When you run a quest n/h/e you earn favor for doing so elite nets you the most favor and for ever 100 favor you earn you wrack up 25 turbine points. When your first character hits 1000 favor you get a one time bonus 100 points. If your vip you get 500 allotted turbine points given each month around the time of billing (thought there has been issue with such and calling customer service is sometime necessary.)

2. Yes there are various vendors in game from Korthos to the houses you will see a special icon over their heads on the map, there are general vendors, weapons vendors (specially in house d) Armor vendors (house k) the marketplace and tavern keeps allow you to sell items to them as well though going to the vendors tend to net you a little more gold. the marketplace also has clothing and jewlery vendors where you can find nice stuff every once in awhile.

3. Mobs only drop collectibles which depending on what they are can be sold on our auction house or turned in for special weapons (normally lesser banes). Most loot drops in treasure chests the higher the difficulty you run the quest the better the loot in the chest drops it also is individualized so even if your in the party if your there when the chest is opened loot will be in your name. End rewards for completing a quest also net you items that you can use and some of the low level harbor quest givers give gold (small amounts from 20-45 gold pieces) Some advice depending on your class you may want to go into options and take off the rewards based on class. Some people dont do this due to getting spell potions and the like for their casters/divines but I found I get a better mix of end rewards with it off.

5. Our economy hmm well we use Platinum, gold, silver, and copper the most I think any one character can carry on them is 4.5 million plat (but not sure about that never have too much money on me im a shop aholic lol). You earn money from finding rare drops that you can sell at vendors or auction if its not bound to your character, selling rare collectibles and just vendoring and spending wisely. It will be hard coming into a game thats been around for 4 years many people hear have tons of plat and items, while I do not encourage begging (in fact abhor it) letting older players know your new and may need help can net you help with items and plat as long as you do not beg for such and please never send tells asking for money it will more likely get you squelched.

Hope this helps ya

Edit yes you can find potions in chests as the poster above me said and as end rewards and certain potions can be found in barrel drops I believe during an elite crucible a mana potion dropped from an explosive barrel. Then again I was kinda tipsy so may have mis remembered it

[Brennie]

what are turbine points? can i earn them in-game?

Turbine Points are the real-world-money equivelent currency, use to purchase premium content, such as restricted races, restricted classes, restricted quests/zones, and bonus character slots, as well tomes, bags, and other items to be used on/with characters.

You can earn them in game, by achieving favor milestones. Robi has an excellent guide on that right here: Robi's Free-To-Play Guide

are there vendors in-game?

Yes indeed. You will see one right in the middle of Korthos as you first start the game, and the bartenders in the Korthos tavern will also buy and repair goods just as vendors do.

do mobs drop loot & trash loot for spare in-game gold??

No. "Loot" and gold come from chests placed strategically in quests, and quest end rewards. Enemies drop collectables which can be turned in to various NPCs for loot (usually poor loot, but good to sell to the aforementioned vendors!) Do not worry, though, as there is more than enough filthy lucre to go around. Selling "Junk Loot" makes us a sizable part of every characters income.

is there in-game gold or any kind of economy?

... yes? The "economy" is utilized through brokers and the Auction House (brokers re-sell player-found items sold to them, and the Auction House is... well an Auction House. DDO E-Bay.) utilizing in-game currency only. At higher levels, rare items and ingredients become more valuable than ingame currency. Neither of these are affected by Turbine Points in any way (all are earned through playing, not through paying!)

can potions etc be purchased in-game w/o having to really BUY them with DOLLARS??

Most potions can be purchased with in-game gold. Low level potions can be purchased from vendors (theres that word again!) smack dab in the middle of the marketplace zone. Potions are rather expensive, and often unnecessary to be purchased by new players (You can find a lot of potions simply by smashing barrels, vases, and boxes in quests! Cure potions are easily stocked up on in this way).

You never need to spend real-world money for in-game items. Almost all shop "items" are available in game (Such as tomes, mana potions, etc), while others are "perk" items that are not necessary for gameplay (large bags, xp/loot boosters, etc).

To answer the question which i feel underlines the spirit of your post: Can you get phat filthy in-game rich, loaded with great loot, toting your own alchemist shop worth of potions and never have to spend a real-world penny? Yes. Yes you can.

[darkkenzian]

i don't care about getting rich in-game, (yet) i just don't want to play a free game & have to spend real cash for needed in-game items like potions seems like a rip-off if so...lotsa currency in-game is i'm sure needed later in game so of course i will try to make some by being careful.
is there crafting in D&D & what would 500 points get me? is that enough of a boost to get me rolling & would i be constantly paying out to advance? i already pay monthly for an MMORPG.

[darkkenzian]

& TY for the multitude of helpful replies some gamers only flame noobs.

[Brennie]

i don't care about getting rich in-game, (yet) i just don't want to play a free game & have to spend real cash for needed in-game items like potions seems like a rip-off if so...lotsa currency in-game is i'm sure needed later in game so of course i will try to make some by being careful.
is there crafting in D&D & what would 500 points get me? is that enough of a boost to get me rolling & would i be constantly paying out to advance? i already pay monthly for an MMORPG.

Depending on your playtimes, and how often you like to make new character, you could play the game for a month without ever feeling the pinch of being a free player.

If you are willing to spend some time playing a new character on ever server (Which is actually quite fun, and lets you try different classes and builds) you can set yourself up with a great boost to TP, in order to get some of the content for later levels.

In all honesty, you never have to spend a dime on DDO if you don't want to. And you will never be inferior to other players of your level (barring player skill and the ability of other players to hand down in-game money and in-game items to lower level characters, which is a common practice).

The *best* use of limited TP is to get extra content, especially for levels 12 and above. Content rotates through sales, letting you get modules you want on the cheap, so if you are patient, you can make a clear path from 1-20 (max level) using only the bonus Turbine Points from your per-server characters!

All of this is covered in Robi's free-to play guide, which i linked in my last post. Go have a gander.

Also, download and jump into the game! You will not be restricted by your free-ness at all, and it will let you get a good feel for the game itself! After you've played a few weeks, then you can decide whether you want to splurge on content or extras (or whether you want to see how far the earned TP can stretch, heh), or even go full VIP for the bonuses therein. Just make sure you don't spend a single Turbine Point until you have a clear vision of what you want to use them for (AKA to buy modules!). There are a lot of "Traps" in the turbine store for new players - items such as hirelings, potions, low-level junk weapons, etc, which are a complete and utter waste of TP, and which *do not make you any more effective in the game*.

So yeah... go! Play! Have fun! Free players are giving amazing bredth of freedom in DDO. I myself have been playing off an on since free-to-play launched without spending a cent, and still thoroughly enjoying my experience!\

EDIT: There is crafting in DnD, but it is more akin to Raiding in other games. No craft skills, no "harvesting ingredients". Mostly just running through dungeons collecting the peices you need to make super-awesome items, or using collectables to bind and upgrade items you already have. Making items won't happen til endgame anyhow, and binding/upgrading you don't really need to worry about until you get more o fthe basics under your belt.

[Kalari]

i don't care about getting rich in-game, (yet) i just don't want to play a free game & have to spend real cash for needed in-game items like potions seems like a rip-off if so...lotsa currency in-game is i'm sure needed later in game so of course i will try to make some by being careful.
is there crafting in D&D & what would 500 points get me? is that enough of a boost to get me rolling & would i be constantly paying out to advance? i already pay monthly for an MMORPG.

Right now our crafting is limited we have the Shroud high level raid that you can begin to get ready for at level 12 and greensteel which right now to me is king of our our crafting system. Then you have the Dragon touched armor grind, the Tod raid which is a grind for pieces not to get banished for a chance at okay rings and the Inspired quarter which you can used to unlocked named armor/weapons and gear (like the titan gloves) by repeating the quests for the essences.


Currently you cannot craft things such as wands or potions and outside greensteel/IQ/Epic/ The eldritch add ons (such as +1 ac bonuses and force rituals) and Dragontouch. You can do a general forum search for opinions on crafting there are guides in our crafting section to.

And as others have said all you need to do is play but know to get into certain areas you'll need the points to unlock or buy access you can also find nice people to buy you guest passes to see what content is right for you and Sirgog has made a pretty nifty guide on quests packs to show which ones are worth saving your points for. I have a guild mate who has gotten to 20 without buying a single turbine point it was a lot of work for him but he unlocked things using his points and with help from his guildies. So it can be done just be prepared for it to be work. Many find it easier just to buy a small pack and become premium but if free to play is what you really want it can be done all the way to 20.

[darkkenzian]

tyvm may just grind with a guild is fun

[Kralgnax]

i don't care about getting rich in-game, (yet) i just don't want to play a free game & have to spend real cash for needed in-game items like potions seems like a rip-off if so...lotsa currency in-game is i'm sure needed later in game so of course i will try to make some by being careful.
is there crafting in D&D & what would 500 points get me? is that enough of a boost to get me rolling & would i be constantly paying out to advance?

White space & punctuation are your friends

How much RL money you spend/TPs you need to buy depends on your time-convenience tradeoff. If you have lots of time & patience & little money, you can never spend a cent and go all the way in DDO to epic raiding. If you have less time and more money, you can subscribe and buy convenience iems from the store - like I do. If you have neither, you're going to face a challenge..

Yes, there's crafting in DDO, but it's not skill-based, it's just combine a, b, and c to get item x type stuff.

i already pay monthly for an MMORPG.

Realistically, unless you have a lot of time to spend, you can't progress two MMORPGs effectively, so unless you're planning to just muck about in DDO (which is fine if that's your plan), you'll have to decide which game you like better

[Brennie]

Realistically, unless you have a lot of time to spend, you can't progress two MMORPGs effectively, so unless you're planning to just muck about in DDO (which is fine if that's your plan), you'll have to decide which game you like better

DDO is the perfect muck-about game, though! Pop in when you have downtime, run a few quests (Though as you get higher in level, you will have to put aside larger blocks of time to make sure you get all the way through a quest/quest series), and ghave fun with it!

For extreme casual players, especially people who will devote most o fthe their free time to otehr games, DDO is the cheapskates paradise :P! It will take you a long time to get to the mid levels, so you don'tneed to worry too much about the DDO store til then. And you play only a little each day, so you feel no pressure to buy adventure packs immediatly (Giving you plenty of time to check the DDO store every day until you see the Module you want on sale!)