VIP Downgrade to Free F.A.Q.

[Alhanalem]

What happens if your character is in a place you can't access as a result of downgrading?

[ZEFFLON]

Tarrant isn't it true you can not buy to heart's content but to thirty, that is awesome, but I wanted to clear that up.

Thanks

oh lord, you've done it now. million and a half zeffy's running around. just what argo needed. [/QUOTE]

LOl Lerincho, hey I have twenty all ready and if buy any more slots it will be for another class only, 10 mules and ten slots are one for each class so one or two more will add to the population of the elite on argo and ck.

[Lerincho]

oh lord, you've done it now. million and a half zeffy's running around. just what argo needed.

LOl Lerincho, hey I have twenty all ready and if buy any more slots it will be for another class only, 10 mules and ten slots are one for each class so one or two more will add to the population of the elite on argo and ck.[/QUOTE]


and people wonder why alhaanna and i appreciate you and rowan so much

[ZEFFLON]

LOl Lerincho, hey I have twenty all ready and if buy any more slots it will be for another class only, 10 mules and ten slots are one for each class so one or two more will add to the population of the elite on argo and ck.

and people wonder why alhaanna and i appreciate you and rowan so much [/QUOTE]

and of course i appreciate both you two as well, so hope yto see you in game more.

[Rabbi_Hordo]

Yes, if you were a VIP and downgrade, you'll have 4 slots.

What if we were waiting on the next mod to pay our sub and it is suspended...if we pay it up are we automatically back up to VIP or do we have to jump through all the hoops?

[iraiqat316]

So if I keep paying my $15 a month nothing changes

[ahpook]

Answered in the FAQ.

Not certain that it was adequately answered though.

For example, if you have 3 characters one with 20 million gold, one with 5 million gold and one with 0 gold and the gold cap is 5 million gold, what happens? Do you end up with 5 million, 5 million, 0 million? Or do you keep 20 million, 5 million and 0 million but char 1 and 2 cannot accrue any additional gold until they drop below 5 million (giving you the opportunity to ship 5 million over to the char with 0).

Or is the cap account based?

And is the VIP cap really unlimited or is it still at the current cap of 4 million plat (or whatever it is now)?

[lazlow]

No limit! You can buy character slots to your heart's content. You'll just get more base character slots if you're a VIP.[/QUOTE]


thx t

[Steiner-Davion]

Patience some new questions that need to be asked:

1. Now that Favor Points for completing quests on N/H/E for each character will grant your account some as of yet unspecified number of Turbine Points (TPs) for the In-Game Store, will the current Favor system also remain in place for the various factions? For example will getting 150 points of Favor with House Phiarlan still get me their Buffs and the Pendant of Time?
2. Will the question of Respecing be readdressed and added, as something we can purchase through the In-Game Store?
3. Why was the decision made to not retroactively reward current subscribers/soon to be known as VIPs TPs based upon their earned favor?

[cforce]

I'm pretty disappointed by this policy. As someone who signed up shortly after launch, I've ponied up... let's see... $50 license plus ~36 x $15 = close to $600 since launch. If I was to hazard a guess, a Free Player who wants to buy 10 slots, Monk, and Warforged access will be able to do it for less than $600! The notion that my 3 years of subscription support doesn't entitle me to any of these unlocks if I choose to move to Free *really* rubs me the wrong way.

[wrigghawk]

and the answer is YEAH! Now to clarify: I understand what Turbine is doing here, and which they have kind of presented poorly. They are adding in a limited account status for people who don't want to continue to pay the subscription fee or for new players who want to try the game out. If you take that option, you only get 4 slots, and are prevented from using certain in game features, some of which you can purchase with a one time payment (kind of like purchasing the game in installments). If you continue on with paying for your account you retain full access to the game. Turbine has decided that if you elect to downgrade your account you get what every one else gets for free and no more.
I agree with you that this doesn't seem fair considering that subscribers have already purchased the game content. I think that certain things ought to be preserved when downgrading like access to warforged and to any area of the game that you had access to before you downgraded.
I can see the limiting of the character slots to 4 unless you purchase more. So in my view the difference between a subscriber who maintains their account and one who doesn't would be access to new areas in the game (released after they stopped subscribing), having access limited to only 4 character slots (unless they elect to make the one time payment for each additional slot), and not getting the store credit every month.

Namanda Icehawk and alts on Khyber.
Founder

[ducetrae]

and the answer is YEAH! Now to clarify: I understand what Turbine is doing here, and which they have kind of presented poorly. They are adding in a limited account status for people who don't want to continue to pay the subscription fee or for new players who want to try the game out. If you take that option, you only get 4 slots, and are prevented from using certain in game features, some of which you can purchase with a one time payment (kind of like purchasing the game in installments). If you continue on with paying for your account you retain full access to the game. Turbine has decided that if you elect to downgrade your account you get what every one else gets for free and no more.
I agree with you that this doesn't seem fair considering that subscribers have already purchased the game content. I think that certain things ought to be preserved when downgrading like access to warforged and to any area of the game that you had access to before you downgraded.
I can see the limiting of the character slots to 4 unless you purchase more. So in my view the difference between a subscriber who maintains their account and one who doesn't would be access to new areas in the game (released after they stopped subscribing), having access limited to only 4 character slots (unless they elect to make the one time payment for each additional slot), and not getting the store credit every month.

Namanda Icehawk and alts on Khyber.
Founder

i completely agree i starteed playing 2 weeks after launch. i feel like i have paid my dues and i have earned and payed for everything that i have gotten both content and items. turbine is really giving it to us subcribers hard. we supported them through the thinnest of times and they repay us by saying thanks for the support but now i dont need you that is wrong on every moral and ethical level. they need to allow vips from ddo stormreach to keep all access to everything we have now we are owed that much. what you do from here forward is a new deal. cmon show us some appreciation. you owe us at least that. beides you know he people who have active subs now will be buying every content upgrade you give us not to mention getting our sub fees. you will still get your money. so dont screw us like this. we paid for our content our classes our items let us keep them. WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR YEARS !!!TREAT US LIKE IT!!!

your
loyal subscriber
descartes of khyber : psionic infinity

P.S. I WONT BE HERE ANYMORE IF WE ARE NOT APRECIATED!!!

[Optimistic_Guardian]

So how does the system work, let us say I was a new player and I join the F2P system. I gain 1 Turbine point for every 100 favor. Although when I start off lets say I have only access to Korthos and the harbor... How do I permanently unlock a new zone.?! Purchase it through the store?

[Ash2Dust]

Interesting how all the subscribers are demanding F2P but with all the VIP benefits (unlimited access). Why would they even offer a VIP if they could do that?

Im interested in how a F2P player can make it to level 20 without paying for anything. At least thats what DDO is advertising. No purse strings attached.

Cant wait...

LFM must bring CC to purchase 10 rez's. No Clerics, DPS only.

[uncus2]

As a casual player VIP, can I pay to unlock Drow without having to earn the favor for it? How about 32 pt builds?

Will favor be reset [though unlocked things remain unlocked] for current players/soon to be VIPs?

Will VIPs have to purchace Level Sigils to level or can we train as we do curently?

[ahpook]

I'm pretty disappointed by this policy. As someone who signed up shortly after launch, I've ponied up... let's see... $50 license plus ~36 x $15 = close to $600 since launch. If I was to hazard a guess, a Free Player who wants to buy 10 slots, Monk, and Warforged access will be able to do it for less than $600! The notion that my 3 years of subscription support doesn't entitle me to any of these unlocks if I choose to move to Free *really* rubs me the wrong way.

Well, they are talking about a bonus for subscribers when the system changes. Hopefully it will be a pro-rated Points bonus. So that people like you which have played since launch get enough points that if you choose to go F2P you will be able to use those Points to get most of WF, Monk, extra characters and all the current content unlocked (perhaps not everything but most). You would then have to pay to get future content unlocked but at least you get much of what you have now.

People who signed up a couple of months ago would get many less bonus Points and will not be able to afford as much with their Points. They would have to be more selective or throw in some cash to unlock everything if they decide to go P2P. This would be better than simply giving all subscribers 1000 pts as it would actually reward the vets who have stuck around.

Of course, I have no idea if that is what they are planning. We might just be getting cake.

[Kromize]

Greetings! This post answers many of the questions we have received from players about what happens if they downgrade from a VIP (subscriber) account to a Free account.

Q. What happens if I've already unlocked Drow?
A. If you've unlocked Drow as a VIP, you'll still have access to your Drow character and can continue to create new Drow, as long as you have a free slot.
Good.

Q. What happens to my Warforged characters?
A. If you downgrade to a Free account, you must purchase the Warforged race in the DDO store to play any existing Warforged characters.
Why? They have paid you for months of service, and now your going to make them pay even more to play their own characters? Paying to create new ones, I can understand, paying to play the ones they have already paid to create via VIP, I cannot.

Q. What if I have a Monk character?
A. If you downgrade to a Free account, you must purchase the Monk class in the DDO store to play any existing Monk characters.
Same here, what a ripoff....

Q. What about the limits on chat, mail, auctions, and gold storage?
A. As a former VIP, you won't be subject to the same limitations that a new, Free player has.
This, is one thing I would actually understand having to pay for after a downgrade...It's a benefit as a VIP.

Q. What happens to my characters?
A. Your characters are never deleted by Turbine! As a VIP who downgraded to a Free player, you'll have four character slots. When you enter the game as a Free player you'll be asked which characters you wish to unlock for these slots. If you'd like to unlock an additional character, you must purchase a slot for it. However, when you purchase this slot you'll also be given the option to exchange the characters in any previously unlocked slots with any of your locked characters.
After some thought, I can agree with this.

Q. What about the Turbine Points I have banked? I got them every month and have some left over.
A. Keep them. They're yours!
Good.

Q. What happens to the things I've unlocked through the Favor system?
A. Nothing happens; you'll still have them!
Good.

Q. What about items in my shared bank slot?
A. If you downgrade to a Free account, the items will go to a "withdraw only" status. You can remove them, but you cannot place any items back in unless you purchase the shared bank slot from the DDO Store.
Understandable.

Q. What if I decide to go back to VIP status? Do I get a credit for the things I've purchased?
A. We're sorry, but there are no refunds or credits for Free players who decide to become VIPS, so choose your path carefully before downgrading! If you’ve purchased any additional character slots above the 10 you get as a VIP, you will still have access to those slots.
Understandable...
Q. What happens to items I purchase if I go back and forth between Free and VIP?
A. Anything you've purchased as a Free player will still be yours if you upgrade to VIP and then back to Free.
(:

Q. If I downgrade, what content will I still have access to?
A. You'll be able to access any content a Free player can access. Additional content will need to be purchased in the DDO Store before you can access it, even if you could access it when you were a VIP.
This is also bad in my opinion. Your going to make a VIP who was paying $15 a month for the game, pay to unlock the content they already had access to as a VIP? At least give them a very hefty discount(75%).

As I've said, I've thought and now agree about the character slots. But I do think it should be that a free player gets 3 slots, and a former VIP get's 5, 2 and 4 just seems a to be to little.
Taking away something that somebody already paid for(VIP $15 sub fee) is horrible.

And I feel you should add more benefits to being a VIP, like: extra bank space, discounts at in-game shops for potions, weapons, etc., %5 xp boost on all characters, etc. You could do a lot with this.

And about the points, retroactive points for favor, or we be mad.

[Steiner-Davion]

Interesting how all the subscribers are demanding F2P but with all the VIP benefits (unlimited access). Why would they even offer a VIP if they could do that?

Im interested in how a F2P player can make it to level 20 without paying for anything. At least thats what DDO is advertising. No purse strings attached.

Cant wait...

LFM must bring CC to purchase 10 rez's. No Clerics, DPS only.

It is not that we are demanding F2P, but we are simply trying to understand the pros and cons of both systems, and morer importantly, why some of the decision Turbine has made, are blatant snubs to those os us who have been here a long long time.

[Steiner-Davion]

Well, they are talking about a bonus for subscribers when the system changes. Hopefully it will be a pro-rated Points bonus. So that people like you which have played since launch get enough points that if you choose to go F2P you will be able to use those Points to get most of WF, Monk, extra characters and all the current content unlocked (perhaps not everything but most). You would then have to pay to get future content unlocked but at least you get much of what you have now.

People who signed up a couple of months ago would get many less bonus Points and will not be able to afford as much with their Points. They would have to be more selective or throw in some cash to unlock everything if they decide to go P2P. This would be better than simply giving all subscribers 1000 pts as it would actually reward the vets who have stuck around.

Of course, I have no idea if that is what they are planning. We might just be getting cake.

Tolero, posted yesterday that we will not be getting Retro-active Turbine Points for use in the store based upon our level of favor when this goes live. I seriously hope they reconsider that decision. And remember, Tolero is just the messenger, not the decision maker. Blame the right people, not her.

[Kromize]

I really hope you look at my above post, and use some of my suggestions. Also, answer my question in the middle of the quote.

Seriously tho, this system needs some work before it should be used. That's what this beta/preview is for right?

ps: Where's my beta key? >.<