Free Player Ristrictions..

[Lithic]

Ok, thanks for the input everyone (pretty active community), it doesn't seem that bad if the restrictions are only the 2 char slots and the AH thing. The chat restriction is what scares me though..

Chat restrictions are supposedly there, but I have yet to hear from someone that found out what they are. Chances are they are something like "not allowed to send PMs to more than 25 individuals in an hour", or something similar that is barely noticeable to normal players, but crippling to plat farming advertisement characters.

[exvanguard]

fyi: the "can't advance past lvl 4" was an old mechanic they have gotten rid of. players used to have to find tokens to open up the next 4 lvl "block" every 4 levels but it was so poorly received that Turbine got rid of it.

[EllisDee37]

Level cap is 20 for all: free, premium, and VIP. A free player can make it to the midrange levels with the free content in the game. It would take some xp grinding to level to near cap but can be done. Unlocking favor rewards and eventually building up a pool of Turbine points will let you purchase an adventure pack or two for 'free' (Gianthold & Vale will easily carry you from mid to high level).

I dropped $20 a couple weeks ago on the double bonus point Tuesday deal, so now I have a little over 2000 TP. (Just started playing the game ~5 weeks ago.)

If I wanted to get to level 20 without spending any more money than that first $20, what would be the most efficient way of doing that?

I really spent the money to get more character slots plus more auction house postings, but now I'm realizing that I may never get to level 20 if I'm not careful. So now I'm optimizing xp, specifcally:

- I run each quest on Normal, Normal, Hard, Hard, Elite, and then more Elites while it still produces decent XP.
- All runs are done exactly 1 level below character, so my level 5 toon runs lvl4 normals, lvl3 hards and lvl2 elites.
- Aim is to hover at xp cap as long as possible without ever hitting it. (1 less than xp needed for 2 levels.)
- All free wilderness areas will be completed (rares, explorers and slayer)

Given this approach, what would be the best adventure packs to get to get me to level 20? If I have to favor farm a few hundred extra on other servers, so be it.

[Teech]

I dropped $20 a couple weeks ago on the double bonus point Tuesday deal, so now I have a little over 2000 TP. (Just started playing the game ~5 weeks ago.)

If I wanted to get to level 20 without spending any more money than that first $20, what would be the most efficient way of doing that?

I really spent the money to get more character slots plus more auction house postings, but now I'm realizing that I may never get to level 20 if I'm not careful. So now I'm optimizing xp, specifcally:

- I run each quest on Normal, Normal, Hard, Hard, Elite, and then more Elites while it still produces decent XP.
- All runs are done exactly 1 level below character, so my level 5 toon runs lvl4 normals, lvl3 hards and lvl2 elites.
- Aim is to hover at xp cap as long as possible without ever hitting it. (1 less than xp needed for 2 levels.)
- All free wilderness areas will be completed (rares, explorers and slayer)

Given this approach, what would be the best adventure packs to get to get me to level 20? If I have to favor farm a few hundred extra on other servers, so be it.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=199945

(I don't get anything from sirgog for this btw =p)

Essentially, you're looking for adventure packs lvls 12 and above.
Vale, Sands, Gianthold, Necro4. Vale may still be on sale? Not sure.

You may want to invest in delara's for Master's voice (xp trinket)

[Lithic]

I dropped $20 a couple weeks ago on the double bonus point Tuesday deal, so now I have a little over 2000 TP. (Just started playing the game ~5 weeks ago.)

If I wanted to get to level 20 without spending any more money than that first $20, what would be the most efficient way of doing that?

I really spent the money to get more character slots plus more auction house postings, but now I'm realizing that I may never get to level 20 if I'm not careful. So now I'm optimizing xp, specifcally:

- I run each quest on Normal, Normal, Hard, Hard, Elite, and then more Elites while it still produces decent XP.
- All runs are done exactly 1 level below character, so my level 5 toon runs lvl4 normals, lvl3 hards and lvl2 elites.
- Aim is to hover at xp cap as long as possible without ever hitting it. (1 less than xp needed for 2 levels.)
- All free wilderness areas will be completed (rares, explorers and slayer)

Given this approach, what would be the best adventure packs to get to get me to level 20? If I have to favor farm a few hundred extra on other servers, so be it.

If I were you I would get the vale of twighlight and gianthold. Those two alone are enough exp to get normal characters from 12ish to 20, and they have great loot as well. Anything else is just bonus.

[Lornman]

If I were you I would get the vale of twighlight and gianthold. Those two alone are enough exp to get normal characters from 12ish to 20, and they have great loot as well. Anything else is just bonus.

I second this.

Sands of Menechtarun, Necro IV, Reavers Reach and other high(er) level adventure packs also give decent to great loot and help pad out the XP for variety.

[oaxadan]

Rather than buying points in game, you could purchase a turbine game card (though I have no idea what they're availability is in europe). That way, no info is put online and you qualify for premium account

[EllisDee37]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Apologies to the OP for the sidetrack, but it seemed at least partially relevant to your question.

I will go with Vale and Gianthold and then create my own thread soliciting opinions when the time comes to buy more.

Vale may still be on sale? Not sure.

It is indeed, 20% off, so I went ahead and picked it up now as opposed to waiting with fingers crossed that it would be a half-off Tuesday item by the time I needed it. I now own the Vale adventure pack, and have 1670 TP left, so I'm in very good shape. Fantastic shape if Gianthold gets put on a Tuesday half-off sale, but I'd be very happy with just another 20% off deal.

I also have 6 untouched servers to farm an easy 750 TP from with the "first 100 favor on a server" bonuses.

[Ttip]

I now have Tangleroot Gorge, Delera's, Gianthold, Sorrow Dusk, Necro 2, Demon Sands and Vale of Twilight and I have Warforged unlocked on all servers...I have purchased one $25 card from GameStop. The rest has been TP earned from favor on my 19 different alts...lol...just playing with only a little favor farming with one toon on Thelanis to unlock VET and closing in on 32 point builds ( I have 1301 favor now). It has been VERY easy to enjoy this game without paying a ton of cash and/or grinding and deleting. Enjoy, the rewards come to you without ever doing anything more than just playing the game.

[Ethiel]

other payment options:

http://www.paybycash.com/ddo/codelist.php

http://www.playspan.com/dungeons-dra...FYxL2godimwA_g

Either of the above offer cash options.

or alternatively Pick up this:

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Drago.../dp/B004DN2Y5O

It comes with a 750 point card.

[zebulartemp]

Here is a great guide that shows all the F2P quests you can do without buying any packs. Keep in mind, most of these you can not only redo as often as you like but you can also do them on different difficulty settings, ranging from Solo to Elite. Change in difficulty not only can make the enemies harder but it can also change how many and how difficult traps are. So as you get better, redoing quests can be a good source of Favor and Income.

Guide to Free Play

[Atree]

As an f2p player the only annoyance I've encountered so far is the inability to send in-game mail when you are over the plat-cap. However this is unlikely to affect you unless you TR, so really nothing to worry about.

I've never bothered running the 100 favor dash, nor have I ever rolled an alt for the express purpose of grinding favor for TP. I do have lots of alts since I like trying out different builds, and they are spread out over all servers (the 2 toon limit per server is actually a boon as it prompts you to roll alts on different servers and get more first-time bonus TPs).

I currently own Catacombs, Tangleroot, Carnival, Devil assault, Delera's, Fens, Desert, Gianthold, Necro 4, Vale, Reavers, and Amrath packs, all gained via favor. I also have vet-status on all servers and 32pt builds on my main server.

If you are patient and can wait for packs to be on sale, then all you need to do is play the game for fun and the TP will accrue for you to get the next pack.

[BossOfEarth]

I'm f2p and getting ready to True Reincarnate (TR) my level 20 Ranger. I own:

Halls of Shan to Kor (Fun!, in a deadly way.)
Delera's tomb (Narrated by Gygax!)
Gianthold (very 'savage' feeling, lots of quests and favor)
Vale of Twilight (Best value!!!)
Vault of Night (Epic! content rewards you with free TR)
Devils of Shavrath (Fun!, in a deadly way.)

I'm strongly ambivalent about f2p v.s. p2p. On one hand, I really want to get more Adventure packs, but on the other hand the f2p unlocking thing is so much Fun!

[Satinavian]

Everything seems fine except my problem with the payment method. It seems that the only way to purchase TPs with real cash is with a credit card (I hope I'm mistaken) and I would love to give maybe 20 euro or so to get the premium status.
Are there any other methods?

@madmaxhunter
I don't mind paying "some" money (like said above).

I use Paypall, which is pretty safe, as it includes a double some confirmation process, one for transferring money to paypall, one for using paypall to pay. So it is not that different to your paysafe. But if this really isn't safe enough for you, it should be possible, to use a paypall-account for exactly one transaction and deleting it after this so it can't be hacked.

[Bahgs]

I was on a F2P account on Korthos testing something or other and started answering newbie questions. As I was busy testing, I was making rather short answers but several of them to get my point across. I got squelched out of advice and general (maybe all) for about 5 minutes because they thought I was spamming.

So, if you put out several messages in a short time into general or advice you may get squelched. It only happened to me once, so I don't know if the length of squelching increases after multiple offenses.

[LoneWolfie]

sorry to thread jack but i think this question is relevant to the topic

how many tp or how much cash do u have to spend to unlock premium?
will a gamestop card work to unlock that? or do i have to purchase the tp straight from the store?

[yawumpus]

Chat limits/mail limits. If you hit these you need to shut up. I've never heard of anyone hitting either (except there is a limit to how much mail you can allow pile up in your mailbox (to keep you from using it as extra inventory)).

Auction house/extra slots. Most people who go premium will say these alone make it worth it. Note that since you will usually be using the "buyout" option, having only one available bid on the AH isn't a big deal. Low level characters get most of their (plat, not TP) money from selling certain collectibles on the auction house, so unlocking that helps the cash start flowing.

Remember the amount of planning has to be inversely proportional to the amount of money you want to pay turbine. Figure out what packs you need (there have been plenty of good links) and how many points you will amass. Note that you can get 700 TP learning your way around the game by getting 100 points of favor on each server (it does take quite a bit of time, though. You will also be sick of Korthos before you are done. Also note that this is a one-time-per-server deal and that buying more slots won't help you get it again).

Also note that just about everything goes on sale around here. Expect to be able to buy 6800 TP for $50US (no idea what the euro cost is) around the end of this month (PAX East, although we don't know that for certain). Adventure packs go on sale often for 25% of and occasionally for 50% off (there was a point in January where you could have bought the $50 sale one week, then all packs 50% off one day the next week. I have no idea if somebody bought every single pack for $50, but is was possible). If you do go this route, consider budgeting for a shared bank. Much of the "good stuff" drops as an end reward for completing a quest chain in a pack, and is bound to account. Bound to account equipment can't be mailed from character to character, but has to go through the shared bank.

Finally, whoever mentioned that fourth level restriction didn't even play the game a year ago (it was removed about a year ago). You needed a "leveling sigil" to get to 4th level. As far as I know, nobody managed to level to 4th level without seeing one drop (it was technically possible since you can run "slayer" quests to get xp without ever opening a chest). Eighth level was slightly more tricky, but if you knew which quests to run you could almost always get it before you needed it. 12th was supposed to be another story, but they were removed before I needed them (not sure of the exact sequence).

[Bahgs]

sorry to thread jack but i think this question is relevant to the topic

how many tp or how much cash do u have to spend to unlock premium?
will a gamestop card work to unlock that? or do i have to purchase the tp straight from the store?

If you spend any real world money you will become premium. Buying the minimum TP package (I think it is $6.50 US) is sufficient.

The absolute cheapest way is to find an old (unused! - US / NA server version only) DDO Stormreach box and activate an account. I found two boxes out there that I paid less than $5.00 apiece for. That gives you VIP for 30 days, 500 TP for the month of VIP and after you cancel the VIP you revert to premium.

I have no idea about Gamestop cards, but my guess is that it does work if it means real world money goes to Turbine.

[bryanmeerkat]

So, I heard of some very disturbing restrictions on free players. I heard that you can't advance to more than lvl4 because you have to buy the modules of the next instances... I don't know what to say about that, it angers me and dissapoints me.

Oh I am sorry that the thing they gave you for free isnt up to your standards . You have every right to be angry about this . Maybe we can get the Developers to do a whip round for you and see if they can at least make sure you have a nice yacht to go sailing in at the weekends to make up for the terrible way they have treated you .

On a more serious note i do remember there being something about having to find something or other at level 4 on free to play to level up beyond level 4 , but think that must of been removed .

[Bodic]

you can reach lvl4 very easy and even lvl 10 without putting a dime in Turbines coffers.

The lvl4 resriction you are refering to used to be true sort of you had to find seals to unlock each 4lvl tier of advancemnt but that has not been the case for a good long time. This was easy enough to achieve I assume as I had seen plenty of F2P toon beyond 12 without paying for the content even with the free TP.

Pay for the game however you want, just dont complain that someone who pays monthly(to yearly depends on payment plan) has a better advantage than you. They are teh ones that keep the game alive. no $$$ no Game