Astral Diamionds

[chewysangel]

What are astral diamonds and where can you get them. I know to buy some of the airships you need so many but I cant seem to figure out where you get them or what they are?

[Lorien_the_First_One]

First you meet Tarant out behind TS.

Then he <editted for G audience>

And if he liked your performance he gives you an Astral Diamond as compensation.

[Deaeth]

Well there is our answer!

[Crell_1]

Meh. And the going rate for TP to AD? are items purchased with AD at least permanent?

[Pardish]

Well there is our answer!

I expected raid chests. Well I hoped for raid chests.

Denied.

uncool imo.

[PopeJual]

We were all wondering how people would buy stuff for their guild with DDO points. Would people have to mail real life cash to their guild leader or something? Would the guild leader just be stuck for all the payments on his/her own? Would anyone be able to spend money on the guild just because they felt like it:? Would people be able to pitch in together with their TP to buy a guild thingie together?

Now we know. It's about what I expected.

[zorander6]

So let me make sure I understand the astral diamond thing, you have to have them to get airships and the only way to get them is to buy them from the DDO store? Or can you buy airships and stuff with plat/gold earned in game? If you can only buy airships from the DDO store that seems rather ludicrous. Or is it specific airship models are only available in the DDO store?

[RobertVesco]

So let me make sure I understand the astral diamond thing, you have to have them to get airships and the only way to get them is to buy them from the DDO store? Or can you buy airships and stuff with plat/gold earned in game? If you can only buy airships from the DDO store that seems rather ludicrous. Or is it specific airship models are only available in the DDO store?

I know some of the airships, including the big ones can be purchased with in game plat. Some ships you seem to need Astral Diamonds.
Let's be fair about this. Turbine needs to make money. Smaller guilds, casual players may appreciate the ability to buy a ship after earning their renown with TPs. But no one has too to enjoy this feature. Win for everybody.

[Deaeth]

There are 2 classes of airships, one that looks wooden, and one that got some blue coloring. Yes the blue ones are considered top of the line.

In each main class of ship, there are 3 "sizes". Obviously you start with the smaller sizes.

Now the wooden ships, is purchased with in game plat.

The deluxe ships, are purchased with TP.

Any guild member may go to the airship showroom and talk to the npc. There's an option to "dontate" to the guild funds.

So any member may add plat, or astral diamonds to the guild funds to help purchase the airship.

No clue on Astral Diamond to TP comparison as the DDO store is bugged, err I mean not working, there's no bugs in DDO :P

[zorander6]

I know some of the airships, including the big ones can be purchased with in game plat. Some ships you seem to need Astral Diamonds.
Let's be fair about this. Turbine needs to make money. Smaller guilds, casual players may appreciate the ability to buy a ship after earning their renown with TPs. But no one has too to enjoy this feature. Win for everybody.

More curiousity than anything, personally I doubt my guild will have an airship any time soon as I personally don't have a computer that will run DDO currently, the wife does but she only plays when I do, one of our members has moved on, and another member only plays occasionally if the wife and I are on. If I was that worried about it I'd disband the guild before this goes live and have us all join an active guild. Half tempted to anyways just because none of us are online regularly. :/ If it's specific models of the airship I see no problem with that. Worst case once I start working again and have some dosh set aside I could buy one if everyone wants one.

[RequiemVampie]

/sarcasm on

Gee...I didn't see THAT coming.

/sarcasm off

And many more people thought it would be easy. Apparently not.
Elite, Epic or Raid chests would be understandable. But exclusively from the DDO Store. Just another money sink.

Step 1: Introduce new guild leveling system....with Airships.
Step 2: Make the only currency that can be spent on the new airships only available from the DDO Store.
Step 3: Profit!

Just like the Underpants Gnomes only Turbine actually has a Step 2.

I am aware that there are some pretty cool stuff as far as the guild system goes, but I can honestly see some guilds either:
a) all contribute or implement a 'monthly guild fee' towards the Astral Diamonds or
b) only level the guild to 20 to get an airship (maybe a few levels after wards) and that would be it.

Oh, and if you read the Guild Renown post about the decaying of renown, I would not be surprised if :
"Your guild renown has decayed to level 19 and thus you lose the airship and must purchase another one."

I know that the decaying does not start till level 26, but that would not surprise me, either.

[Angelus_dead]

Has someone done up a comparison of what the real gameplay benefits are for buying an airship with Astral Diamonds versus plat?

It had already appeared that the new guild features would encourage players to consolidate into bigger guilds simply to get the buffs and utility features. But these Astral Diamonds probably mean that in addition a guild with some members who are willing to buy many extra TP will be more popular, and players will want to join because it gives more benefits.

But I haven't personally checked the list to know how big the benefits of Astral Diamonds really are, or if they're more like a convenience to avoid spending plat.

[RobertVesco]

/sarcasm on

Gee...I didn't see THAT coming.

/sarcasm off

And many more people thought it would be easy. Apparently not.
Elite, Epic or Raid chests would be understandable. But exclusively from the DDO Store. Just another money sink.

Step 1: Introduce new guild leveling system....with Airships.
Step 2: Make the only currency that can be spent on the new airships only available from the DDO Store.
Step 3: Profit!

Just like the Underpants Gnomes only Turbine actually has a Step 2.

I am aware that there are some pretty cool stuff as far as the guild system goes, but I can honestly see some guilds either:
a) all contribute or implement a 'monthly guild fee' towards the Astral Diamonds or
b) only level the guild to 20 to get an airship (maybe a few levels after wards) and that would be it.

Oh, and if you read the Guild Renown post about the decaying of renown, I would not be surprised if :
"Your guild renown has decayed to level 19 and thus you lose the airship and must purchase another one."

I know that the decaying does not start till level 26, but that would not surprise me, either.

AFAIK, The decay stops before you hit 20 so you can always keep your ship and you can buy a ship without going to the DDO store with in game plat. Or just ignore the ships and the guild renown altogether.

[RequiemVampie]

AFAIK, The decay stops before you hit 20 so you can always keep your ship and you can buy a ship without going to the DDO store with in game plat. Or just ignore the ships and the guild renown altogether.

In an above screenshot, an NPC states that they can only be purchased with Astral Diamonds.

And this is from the 'Guild Leveling System' post:
"Renown Decay

A guild’s level represent’s their current stature, and that stature is based on their renown. If “renown” is your guild’s “fame,” then your guild is like a famous actor, but in more ways than one! With a successful actor, the level of their fame can decline if they’re removed from the public eye for an extended period of time. The same is true for a guild’s renown – it can fade if the guild is not keeping active around the city thwarting monsters and waging battles of glory. If a guild were able to rise to an impressively high level and then cease to be active, their renown would start to decay as the tales of their heroics faded into memory.

For the first part of a guild’s level progression, decay of a guild’s renown isn’t a concern, but as a guild’s level increases beyond a certain threshold, they start to face additional challenges progressing – and maintaining - their renown and guild level. This mostly pertains to ambitious guilds that attain very high renown; we felt that this would create an exciting dynamic and foster some friendly competition! Who can rise to the top, and stay at the top, of the city’s list of famous guilds?

Guild levels below 26 do not decay. As a guild reaches the highest levels, the rate of decay will increase."

Hence, why I said that the decaying does not start till level 26. However, it would not surprise me if they lowered it so that a guild would lose their airship and have to purchase a new one.

[RobertVesco]

In an above screenshot, an NPC states that they can only be purchased with Astral Diamonds.

And this is from the 'Guild Leveling System' post:
"Renown Decay

A guild’s level represent’s their current stature, and that stature is based on their renown. If “renown” is your guild’s “fame,” then your guild is like a famous actor, but in more ways than one! With a successful actor, the level of their fame can decline if they’re removed from the public eye for an extended period of time. The same is true for a guild’s renown – it can fade if the guild is not keeping active around the city thwarting monsters and waging battles of glory. If a guild were able to rise to an impressively high level and then cease to be active, their renown would start to decay as the tales of their heroics faded into memory.

For the first part of a guild’s level progression, decay of a guild’s renown isn’t a concern, but as a guild’s level increases beyond a certain threshold, they start to face additional challenges progressing – and maintaining - their renown and guild level. This mostly pertains to ambitious guilds that attain very high renown; we felt that this would create an exciting dynamic and foster some friendly competition! Who can rise to the top, and stay at the top, of the city’s list of famous guilds?

Guild levels below 26 do not decay. As a guild reaches the highest levels, the rate of decay will increase."

Hence, why I said that the decaying does not start till level 26. However, it would not surprise me if they lowered it so that a guild would lose their airship and have to purchase a new one.

Yes, certain ships can only be purchased with Astral Diamonds, others with in-game plat. Here is article that will show you some of the different kinds of ships and their cost. http://ddo-daily.com/lama-lookout-guild-airships
I seriously doubt turbine would lower the decay past 26 as there is no real upside for them to do so.

[RequiemVampie]

So I was right about the level and you were right about being able to buy them with plat.

I highly doubt they will decrease the decay level, but I wonder if they ever thought that the 'better' ships would have an Astral Diamond equivalent to plat. Like, 1,000 AD = 1 billion gold.

[Angelus_dead]

So here are the ships in compact form. Fields are cost, amenities (L/S/C), and population.

50kpp: 0/4/3, 30
360kpp, 2/8/6, 40
1800kpp, 4/12/9, 60

1kAD, 2/6/4, 35
1.65kAD, 4/10/7, 50
3.85kAD, 6/14/10, 70

So the pattern is that the Astral Diamond series has 5-10 more passenger population, +2 amenities, and +1 crew slot. I guess that's not too much of a gap above what you can get without spending TP->AD, but that would depend on how many of the amenities are really useful.

[RobertVesco]

I'm wondering how many Turbine Points Astral Diamonds will cost. I would guess somewhere in the 2000 TP range for the smallest ship

[Deaeth]

So here are the ships in compact form. Fields are cost, amenities (L/S/C), and population.

50kpp: 0/4/3, 30
360kpp, 2/8/6, 40
1800kpp, 4/12/9, 60

1kAD, 2/6/4, 35
1.65kAD, 4/10/7, 50
3.85kAD, 6/14/10, 70

So the pattern is that the Astral Diamond series has 5-10 more passenger population, +2 amenities, and +1 crew slot. I guess that's not too much of a gap above what you can get without spending TP->AD, but that would depend on how many of the amenities are really useful.

They changed the AD cost on the airships!

[Coldin]

Well, it wasn't that much of a leap in imagination that Turbine would make some ships DDOstore exclusive. On the bright side, everyone in the guild can contribute to the cost if they like.

Makes me wonder what other guild things will be in the store though. We already saw Airship Beacons. Maybe there's some guild airship dyes to make them colorful like the ones flying over stormreach.