Here is a recommedation for those people trying out the free to play, pay for just one month VIP and you will get 500 TP's for the trouble.
In addition, once you go back to free to play you will be a premium free to play. So 4 characters slots, less restrictions, etc.
Considering that a character slot is 595 TP's (or round about $9) x 2 = $18, paying for a $15 subscription for just one month is very good value.
Alternatively go through bargain bins at gaming stores and pick up the DDO box, it has been found for as cheap as $1 (but probably paying around $10-$20). That will give you a VIP subscription for 1 month.
And in that VIP one month, you will have access to all the content. So level up a toon as much as you can, earn favor as much as you can (because you earn TP's from doing that as well!) and when you go back to free to play you will only need to get leveling sigils for that toon past the level you are at, eg lvl 11 toon, only need to get 13-16 and 17-20 sigil's.
I'm already Premium actually. I had a pre-existing account, but wasn't active. Can't renew just yet either. Banks closed, so I can't put money on my pre-paid visa.
Finding ones past, present, and future in the threads of destiny.
I'd go review the updated info about the differenced between Free, Premium, and VIP access. http://www.ddo.com/vip
While I know you're just trying to help new players get a "better deal", the truth is, you can get the same 4 character slots, and open access to chat, mail, and the auction house (as well as the removal of the maximum gold per level restriction)... all with smply purchasing the lowest package of points from the DDO Store (400 TPs for ~$7). The only major difference being that a single month of VIP would grant access to WF, Monk, and all purchasable content from the get-go... which would be removed upon cancelling the sub at the end of the month. So, pay the $15 VIP access and essentially 'rent' open access for a month for $7.50, and the other $7.50 effectively pays for the "free" 500TPs you gain as a short-term VIP (and still have to pay out for the shared bank/WF/Monk/etc. after the end of the month)... or just pay for a points package, and possibly save money if you only get the lower quantity.
Cent-for-cent, VIP is worth the money if you are planning on really pushing for Favor and moving straight to Lvl.20... You get free access to zones that will allow you to level as efficiently as possible, especially since Lvl.13+ practically requires purchased content to reach.
My advice for the seriously money-conscious would be to get a pre-paid C/C, pay for a points package (and purchase WF/Drow/Monk/FS, if you really wanted any of them for your main or three alternate characters), and level as far as you feel comfortable in finding groups and quests you enjoy. When you either reach the current leveling limitations imposed by the purchase-only content, or just decide you want to see some of the areas that other players keep going on about, then reconsider going VIP for full access. (content-wise, VIP is the way to go if you're planning on playing for the long haul... piecemeal content purchases, while permanent regardless of account status, are certainly the more expensive prospect).
Dinenae Althenineth - Reclusive Survivalist (Rog/Rng/Ftr) - Khyber
Kaljnir "Kael" Swiftaxe - Dwarven Dervish (Rng/Ftr) - KhyberSEPARATE - ISOLATE - NULLIFY
The game is SIGNIFIGANTLY more fun at high lvls, as is the case with almost all games. Also getting into a good guild wll help wit the "fun" factor.
Trust me, sometimes the vets do want to blow their heads off with the low lvl content. However, once you have completed the tutorial quest (called ingame as "The Grotto"), along with miserys peak at least one time - the next time you talk to jeets the rogue upon creation of a new character, he does give the option to skip The Grotto and go strait to (sunny) Korthos!
P.S: sorry if this has allready been discussed to death by someone else, but i never read the whole thread :P
Best thing to do is go VIP.....If you plan on really playing then you will be better off just paying the monthly fee and have access to EVERYTHING.
This F2P is, IMO, an advertising bump. "Let's get them in with the F2P, and when they realize how much of a pain in the A$$ it is to purchase everything, they will just subscribe."
Excellent tatic if you ask me, because it doesn't take long to get addicted to the game.
I AM THE FPOON!!!
There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots KHYBER
I understand why VIP would be worthwhile for people who plan on playing long-term, and I can certainly see the appeal, but the thing with F2P is that it allows people to play who otherwise would not be able. I myself am an example of someone who loves the game, and would happily pay the subscription fee for VIP, but is lacking both money and a credit card and can't go VIP. So being F2P, even if I have to pay for some areas/races/classes etc; allows me to play the game without forking over money I don't have.
And more on-topic with the original stream of thought, I got a level sigil as an end reward from the Den of the Kobold Brothers quest from Durk the Deranged in the Leaky Dinghy, and was at level three at the time. Perhaps I just got lucky, but it seems like they aren't too hard to find if you are doing quests that offer a selectable end reward.
Where does my post say that I wouldnt pay it if it were worth it? My issues are with repeated content and time, not money. Id happily fork it over, heck Id sub on up, if the game were worth it to me. Its not. Im just dabbling around until I either get stuck due to no leveling sigil or am forced to repeat content in order progress. Since I already know that the game was purposely made to require repeating content I wont be all shocked and come in here screaming how bad the game sucks when that happens. Ill just take my leave. I havent repeated a thing yet and have made level 3 tho so who knows lol.
Oh, and you could try to be a little nicer to people you know nothing about.
M
I would agree but for one thing. If someone really dug the game and was willing to grind their guts out they can actually purchase all that stuff in the store with TP that they earn while doing so. It CAN be totally free to play in full. Which actually is kind of cool.
M
I understand that finances can be tough and that obviously people wish everything was free but really the amount of money that it costs to VIP is negligible. If you can afford to have a computer capable of playing DDO and if you can afford monthly internet access for that computer you can afford to be a VIP you just choose not to. You might even have convinced yoruself that you can't afford it but you can ... about 50 cents a day.
Congrats! I still haven't found one.
There's a fine line between ignorance and arrogance and only I can cross that line.
id(-.-)bi
Finding ones past, present, and future in the threads of destiny.
That really depends on how long you think you are going to play this game, if you think you will play it for at least 2 years, and you trust that Turbine will still have the servers up in that time...you are actually probably better off buying all the adventure packs/races/classes and getting out of VIP. You'll save money.
that's funny, i've played through to level 6 now, without a single need to buy anything. However, I do understand that once you get to around 8th level, if you haven't bought some content, you're going to prboably be pretty bored with what's available.
btw, got my first level sigil at 3rd level
My level 2 wizard was offered a copper Sigil as a quest reward in one of the early Harbor quest, a level 2 quest. As a note, this NPC offered about 20 items to select from as a reward rather then a hand full like a lot of the NPC's offer.
So, instead of taking the first item wiched looked realy good, I scrolled throght all of them and there the Copper Sigil was down tward the bottom. So I think the NPC's that offer a lot of differnt rewards could be replayed and maybe a Sigil will be generated after a few times.
Erzskalde (Warchanter) / Erzassassin (just passing through - ignore me) / Erzsoldat (waiting for TR-time) / Erzschmied (ranged Artificer)