A cheaper, more limited Shared Bank

[suszterpatt]

Consider this: 1 slot, and once you take something out, you can't put anything back in for 3-7 days. Available for ~200 TP. Still useful for passing the occasional BtA item, but doesn't render the 20 slot unlimited access extravaganza that is the current shared bank useless. Heck, it may even prompt people to upgrade to the full bank once they get a taste.

I know I'd pay that price, while I'm very hesitant to shell out almost 1.5k for the shared bank since it wouldn't see much use.

[Angelus_dead]

Currently the Shared Bank purchase provides really 3 benefits:
1. The ability for Account-Bound items to actually BE Account Bound, instead of effectively Bind To Character with no way to trade them at all.
2. 20ish new slots of storage.
3. The convenience of moving 20ish items between two characters before having to relog.

All of those are sold for 1 price, although #1 is by far the most important. So consider this: What would be the reaction of everyone who paid the full Shared Bank price just for #1 be if they later see #1 sold for vastly cheaper by itself?

Turbine may want to pretend that the Shared Bank is more about storage and less about getting permission to shift an account-bound item from one char to another, but that's not how they've decided to sell it.

[suszterpatt]

Currently the Shared Bank purchase provides really 3 benefits:
1. The ability for Account-Bound items to actually BE Account Bound, instead of effectively Bind To Character with no way to trade them at all.
2. 20ish new slots of storage.
3. The convenience of moving 20ish items between two characters before having to relog.

All of those are sold for 1 price, although #1 is by far the most important. So consider this: What would be the reaction of everyone who paid the full Shared Bank price just for #1 be if they later see #1 sold for vastly cheaper by itself?

Turbine may want to pretend that the Shared Bank is more about storage and less about getting permission to shift an account-bound item from one char to another, but that's not how they've decided to sell it.

I'm well aware of this, hence the time limit. There's a vast difference between "I just farmed 20 Crystal Cove items, gonna put them all in the shared bank, then log into each of my alts and take the ones I need", and "I just farmed 20 Crystal Cove items, I'm gonna distribute them among my alts over the course of the next 2 months".

The 20 slot unlimited shared bank would still be popular with the powergaming crowd, especially now with BtA crafting shards to distribute between up to 12 toons.

[Kahless_of_Cannith]

/signed

I'm unlikely to shell out the 1k+ points for a shared bank any time soon, though I'd love to have it. I would certainly take this option, and would be happy with significant limitations so long as I can pass a nice item to an alt every once in a while.

[Alex301]

I don't understand why we can't just send items to our other toons, or why the price for a shared bank account is so high (I sort of answered my own question there ) I could buy several adventure packs just for the ability to actually give BTA items to other toons on my account.

[Shade]

Shouldn't cost you a cent in tp imo.

You get a BTA item, it should REALLY be BTA.. Not BTA if you shell out 20 bucks.

So my suggestion:
Allow us to mail BTA items to our alts.

[Cyr]

Shouldn't cost you a cent in tp imo.

You get a BTA item, it should REALLY be BTA.. Not BTA if you shell out 20 bucks.

So my suggestion:
Allow us to mail BTA items to our alts.

I can't agree more. Requiring game mechanics to only work correctly if you buy something extra is bad design.

[joueur]

I can't agree more. Requiring game mechanics to only work correctly if you buy something extra is bad design.

Bad design makes money.

[Dysmetria]

I can't agree more. Requiring game mechanics to only work correctly if you buy something extra is bad design.

They could go back to the p2p model and make everyone buy the game and pay subscription fees to use the shared bank, that is what that game mechanic was designed for.

[varusso]

They could go back to the p2p model and make everyone buy the game and pay subscription fees to use the shared bank, that is what that game mechanic was designed for.

And it was failing, which is why F2P was added, with the intention that players would 'sample' the F2P content and be encouraged to purchase more content from the DDO Store, under the premise that 'micro transactions' would pay the bills for them -- which it is doing so far.

Part of that transition means (Turbine) having to adapt to the new model. Requiring players to purchase additional upgrades in order to get the best out of any upgrade they have already purchased is not right. Players who have invested in adventure packs should be allowed to transfer BTA items from toon to toon without having to shell out even more $$ to do so.

And no, transferring items only once per 3 days or whatever is not reasonable. Even if you can only transfer a couple of items at a time, you should be able to do so if you have spent money on the game. Regardless of what any of the VIP players may want to say, Premium players ALSO pay for the game. We ALSO pay the bills. We just choose to 'own' content rather than 'rent' it.

This is rather like going up to the video store and buying a video off the rack, rather than renting one. I (premium) pay more as a one-time fee to buy the video, but I get to watch it over and over. You (VIP) pay less to rent it, but you have to pay over and over if you want to continue watching it multiple times. Both of us contribute to keeping the store's doors open, and without both, the store would fail, as evidenced by the fact that DDO went to the F2P model to begin with. There is no reason for either type of customer to try and get the store manager to bar the other from the premises, which is what all this 'go VIP or shut up' nonsense really boils down to.

Now I HAVE the shared bank; I made the investment. But I would still advocate a smaller version 'free' to premium players, perhaps awarded when a minimum amount of $$ was spent, perhaps when ANY amount of $$ is spent. I can tell you from personal experience that 1-5 slots would NOT have stopped me from buying the full shared bank -- its just not enough slots. Having to log in and out 3 more times per trading session IS that inconvenient. But it would allow players who have purchased one or two packs to at least get the minimal trading done that they are entitled to do with the content they paid for. If someone then chose not to spend their $$ on the shared bank, they would almost certainly spend it on an adventure pack instead; Turbine gets $$ either way. Bills get paid either way.

And yes, giving things away for free *IS* a great idea. Thats what sample-size and trial-size products are all about. Let the customer sample a small portion of the product, without having to make an all-or-nothing investment, then hoping they are satisfied with it. Customers are MUCH more likely to buy something if they get to try it out first. Ask any car salesman about test drives, or furniture stores with 2-week return, no-questions policies. Or Turbine about the F2P model.

Try it before you buy it works. Making a major purchase on any product, then finding out afterwards you have to make another major purchase just to use all the features built into the original product SUCKS.

[Truga]

Shouldn't cost you a cent in tp imo.

You get a BTA item, it should REALLY be BTA.. Not BTA if you shell out 20 bucks.

So my suggestion:
Allow us to mail BTA items to our alts.

This. Plus, with the base cost of some higher level bta items (i.e. epic CC), the amount of plat required to mail this **** around would be quite hefty. :P

[Uska]

Shouldn't cost you a cent in tp imo.

You get a BTA item, it should REALLY be BTA.. Not BTA if you shell out 20 bucks.

So my suggestion:
Allow us to mail BTA items to our alts.

Yes to this

[AcesWylde]

Shouldn't cost you a cent in tp imo.

You get a BTA item, it should REALLY be BTA.. Not BTA if you shell out 20 bucks.

So my suggestion:
Allow us to mail BTA items to our alts.

This. Plus, with the base cost of some higher level bta items (i.e. epic CC), the amount of plat required to mail this **** around would be quite hefty. :P

If they go this route, they should have a 1-20 TP postage cost instead of plat for BtA items depending on it's level.

Or you could just buy a shared bank and transfer as much as you want.

[MsEricka]

/not signed

If you want the shared bank then pay 1500 points for it or go ViP. There is no reason to ask for a cheaper alternative other than perhaps you do not want to support Turbine and further development of DDO.

[suszterpatt]

/not signed

If you want the shared bank then pay 1500 points for it or go ViP. There is no reason to ask for a cheaper alternative other than perhaps you do not want to support Turbine and further development of DDO.

But you see, I don't need all the features of the current shared bank. I'd get better value out of my TPs from buying adventure packs or races/classes, because I'd be using those to their full potential, whereas I don't need unlimited access to 20 shared slots. It's kind of like forcing me to buy a car when all I want is a bike.

[Memnir]

I really think that Premium players should get five Shared Bank slots, VIPs the standard twenty (maybe up this to 25 default), and totally F2P none. Because right now, BtA is a fairly subjective term.

I also firmly believe that it would get more people hooked on the Shared Bank, and more willing to shell out for the upgrades. I think that the Shared Bank is one of the best things one can acquire for your account, and have bought the upgrades promptly when they have come out.

[AZgreentea]

I really think that Premium players should five Shared Bank slots, VIPs the standard twenty (maybe up this to 25 default), and totally F2P none. Because right now, BtA is a fairly subjective term.

I also firmly believe that it would get more people hooked on the Shared Bank, and more willing to shell out for the upgrades. I think that the Shared Bank is one of the best things one can acquire for your account, and have bought the upgrades promptly when they have come out.

Not a bad idea. It might make some VIP's upset that their status is further reduced.

You might need to break the initial 20 slots down into two tens to make it easier to buy the upgrades. Otherwise, it would be a bit of a puzzle to figure out why you have to buy 20 to get 10 more. Alternatively, you can reduce the initial shared bank down to 15, and expand by 10 from there.

On a side note, the shared bank is more than worth the full price. I bought mine on sale, like I bought all that cant be unlocked, but if I had to do it over again, I would be fine with paying full price. Well, as fine as a sale junkie can be paying full price.

[Memnir]

It might make some VIP's upset that their status is further reduced.

It might - but it's only 1/4th the space VIPs get... so while it opens up a small bit of convenience for Premium players, it's still a long shot to what VIPs have. But, that is also why I suggested upping the base VIP Shared Bank to 25 to compensate - and have that five new slots stack with the upgrades.

I think that would be a fair exchange.

[varusso]

I really think that Premium players should five Shared Bank slots, VIPs the standard twenty (maybe up this to 25 default), and totally F2P none. Because right now, BtA is a fairly subjective term.

I also firmly believe that it would get more people hooked on the Shared Bank, and more willing to shell out for the upgrades. I think that the Shared Bank is one of the best things one can acquire for your account, and have bought the upgrades promptly when they have come out.

^^This. And add a spot to transfer $$ between toons to the friggin **BANK** UI, available to all players, with caps based on f2p, pre, or vip, and NOT requiring shared bank to utilize the cash transfer feature. Use it as an additional 'teaser' to the staged shared bank.

No, OP I would *NEVER* purchase your proposed feature, even if it were 1 TP. When I buy an account upgrade, I expect to have it always available, not wait on timers to be able to use it again. It would be a complete waste of TP that I could have saved up to buy the actual shared bank. Shared bank was the 3rd purchase I made in DDO. I waited for it to go on sale (50% off!!) and snapped it up, farming the last 100 or so TP i needed to get it. One of the best investments I ever made in DDO -- before buying up everything else

BTAs cant be mailed (even to your own account) because its simpler just to put a no-mail flag on an item and leave it at that, than to perform a check for whether or not the target is on your account, then decide if it is mailable or not (allwing for bugs and glitches to creep in). Or...say you mail it to a toon on your account, delete the toon, a friend creates the toon on their account, and if done quickly enough, hit a lag spike, etc, you just sent a BTA item to another account. Avoid all the potential abuses and unintended side-effects by simply making it no-mail.

Oh yeah, and people buy shared banks because of it too Memnir has the right compromise. Spice the pot just liek they do with so many other things. Let players get a taste of the freebie version, then make them want to buy the better version when they get tired of such a small transfer rate.

[Zorack00]

I really think that Premium players should five Shared Bank slots, VIPs the standard twenty (maybe up this to 25 default), and totally F2P none. Because right now, BtA is a fairly subjective term.

I also firmly believe that it would get more people hooked on the Shared Bank, and more willing to shell out for the upgrades. I think that the Shared Bank is one of the best things one can acquire for your account, and have bought the upgrades promptly when they have come out.

I agree, I don't have the TP to buy the Shared Bank, so on certain packs such as Chronoscope I am somewhat reluctant on buying them since I feel as if I'm not getting all my money's worth. So 5 Shared Banked slots for Premium sounds nice, I probably do sound needy here though. Ah well, a man can dream can't he.