MotU

[dterror]

I realize it's been nearly 6 weeks since MotU was released, but since I TR the day of release and I'm a very slow leveler (I'm just shy of the 3rd level 19 bubble right now, 232k xp to go to 20) I haven't run into this issue previously.

Today I submitted a Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint against Hasbro, the owners of Turbine and DDO.

The reason: False Advertising.

I recommend *EVERY* VIP out there who wasn't foolish enough to buy the 'expansion' to also submit a BBB against Hasbro and/or Turbine.

I fully expect this thread will probably be deleted soon. Hopefully enough VIP will see it before it gets removed by Turbine to make a difference.

If you go to the DDO home page you will see a big banner advertising VIP status. Click on that banner, and it tells you all the WONDERFUL benefits of becoming a vip, INCLUDING, quote, "Adventure Packs are story-driven experiences full of dangerous traps, deadly enemies, and of course bountiful loot. All Adventure Packs released in Updates are free to DDO VIPs."

Menace of the Underdark is UPDATE 14. ALL adventure packs released in updates are supposed to be included for VIP. From June 24 through today, Aug 14, the Adventure Pack released by Update 14 has *NOT BEEN PROVIDED TO VIP*. This is a glaringly obvious case of FALSE ADVERTISEMENT and as such, I urge *ALL* vip, whether you've bought the "expansion" or not to submit a BBB complaint.

The ONLY thing that will resolve this issue: Turbine must IMMEDIATELY make all EPIC DESTINY and Update 14 QUESTS available to VIP.

Why do I include Epic Destiny in this complaint? Quite simple:
The "Base Package" for U14 is druids and the challenge pack which VIP have now
The "Standard Package" for U14 is druids, challenges, Epic Destinies, and all quests.
There is no intermediate package that includes the quests but not the ED's. VIP as part of their subscription should have the STANDARD package automatically.

Please, go to www.bbb.org and submit a complaint against Hasbro and/or Turbine. Make them accountable for their blatant false advertising!!

[Glenalth]

All they needed to do to get around that was name it something other than an adventure pack. In this case it was an expansion.

Once they put them in the DDO Store labeled as Adventure Packs, then submit your complaint.

[dterror]

All they needed to do to get around that was name it something other than an adventure pack. In this case it was an expansion.

Once they put them in the DDO Store labeled as Adventure Packs, then submit your complaint.

Not true. They have termed it themselves as "Update 14" in many different places.
Thus, they are bound by their own advertising in that they should have provided all the quests immediately upon release of update 14.

Update 14 release notes alone are sufficient proof that REGARDLESS of whether it's called an 'expansion' or whatever else, THIS IS JUST ANOTHER UPDATE, and as such ALL QUESTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE IMMEDIATELY AVAILBLE FOR FREE TO VIP AS PART OF THE SUB.

Again, quote: All Adventure Packs released in Updates are free to DDO VIPs.

The TITLE of the update 14 release notes is, quote, "1 Release Notes: Update 14: Menace of the Underdark Expansion"
The "expansion" is thus stated directly by Turbine that it is UPDATE 14.

Attempting to sidestep the vip subscriber agreement by calling update 14 an 'expansion' is a blatant example of FALSE ADVERTISING, and it is for that reason that I'm calling for everyone to submit the BBB reports.

Turbine, and their owner company Hasbro should be forced to be accountable for this action!

All updates that have added new content (which is all of the updates so far, I believe) are EXPANSIONS. Just because this particular UPDATE added a bit more to the game than any other update in the past doesn't mean it should be able to be held apart as something different.

[Krelar]

Considering hasbro is not accredited by the better business bureau I'm not sure what your complaint is going to accomplish but ok.

Many people seem to think the bbb has more power than they actually do. Really all they can do is pull a businesse's accreditation which only matters if the business applies for it in the first place.

Otherwise it's just one of many places you can go to look up reviews about a company.

They've been very upfront about what is and is not included in VIP the page even tells you exactly which adventure packs are included.

Just because this particular UPDATE added a bit more to the game than any other update in the past doesn't mean it should be able to be held apart as something different.

That actually seems like a pretty good reason to me but I can accept that opinions will differ.

[Smitey]

You refer to this page:
http://www.ddo.com/beavip

As Krelar states - there is a link in the very description text you quoted showing the precise adventure packs included so I don't see the expectation of Eveningstar quests to be incorporated.

Additionally the note at the bottom of the http://www.ddo.com/vip page makes it clear the expansion isn't included .



It seems you're expecting the quests based purely on the fact xpack1 was called an update, which is just nomenclature.

Here is the xpack1 re-label notice:

This isn't really worthy of a big announcement per say, but wanted to mention it as more news articles start to appear about the Expansion...

Previously we had been calling the Expansion "Xpack 1" and the August update "Update 14". We've shifted to labeling the Expansion as the 14th update, and the August update is now called Update 15. This doesn't change when the Xpack launches, nor the August target for when the Xpack content will be available in the DDO Store. Just wanted to clarify in case you started to see press articles talking about content being in the Store in Update 15.

[Matuse]

Many people seem to think the bbb has more power than they actually do.

Meaning, they think the BBB has any power at all. It doesn't.

I've never even heard of the BBB influencing anything at any time, ever.

[dterror]

Meaning, they think the BBB has any power at all. It doesn't.

I've never even heard of the BBB influencing anything at any time, ever.

it has some power, and is a good first step for resolving a conflict with a business via a 3rd party.
No, it doesn't have a lot of power, but it is better to submit a BBB complaint than to just jump straight to litigation. Further, in the case of false advertising such as this, the BBB can and will pursue other avenues on behalf of the consumer if it should be necessary.

As for the BBB not influencing things, I've seen many cases where it has served to bring a conflict with a store or other business to a satisfactory conclusion when that business was refusing to deal fairly with the consumer.

[Smitey]

beavip webpage now more accurately states:

All Adventure Packs released in non-expansion Updates are free to DDO VIPs

I didn't consider it false advertising to start with but this further nullifies that stance.

[TrinityTurtle]

I'm a vip. I understood from the get go that MOTU was an expansion, and I had the choice to buy or not buy, but that it would not be free to my sub without buying. I got the collector's edition, and was pleased that I'd gotten my monies worth from the turbine points, tomes, and the cat npc along with the new content. I will not be filing a complaint against them, especially not one based so frivolously in my opinion. Turbine was clear from the get go.

I don't care if Turbine calls it Expanion 14 or Update 14, it wasn't hard to understand.

[Amii]

I realize it's been nearly 6 weeks since MotU was released, but since I TR the day of release and I'm a very slow leveler (I'm just shy of the 3rd level 19 bubble right now, 232k xp to go to 20) I haven't run into this issue previously.

Today I submitted a Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint against Hasbro, the owners of Turbine and DDO.

The reason: False Advertising.

I recommend *EVERY* VIP out there who wasn't foolish enough to buy the 'expansion' to also submit a BBB against Hasbro and/or Turbine.

I fully expect this thread will probably be deleted soon. Hopefully enough VIP will see it before it gets removed by Turbine to make a difference.

If you go to the DDO home page you will see a big banner advertising VIP status. Click on that banner, and it tells you all the WONDERFUL benefits of becoming a vip, INCLUDING, quote, "Adventure Packs are story-driven experiences full of dangerous traps, deadly enemies, and of course bountiful loot. All Adventure Packs released in Updates are free to DDO VIPs."

Menace of the Underdark is UPDATE 14. ALL adventure packs released in updates are supposed to be included for VIP. From June 24 through today, Aug 14, the Adventure Pack released by Update 14 has *NOT BEEN PROVIDED TO VIP*. This is a glaringly obvious case of FALSE ADVERTISEMENT and as such, I urge *ALL* vip, whether you've bought the "expansion" or not to submit a BBB complaint.

The ONLY thing that will resolve this issue: Turbine must IMMEDIATELY make all EPIC DESTINY and Update 14 QUESTS available to VIP.

Why do I include Epic Destiny in this complaint? Quite simple:
The "Base Package" for U14 is druids and the challenge pack which VIP have now
The "Standard Package" for U14 is druids, challenges, Epic Destinies, and all quests.
There is no intermediate package that includes the quests but not the ED's. VIP as part of their subscription should have the STANDARD package automatically.

Please, go to www.bbb.org and submit a complaint against Hasbro and/or Turbine. Make them accountable for their blatant false advertising!!

I honestly believe you are right. IF Turbine wanted to do 'right' by thier vip's it would have been done as you said. Unfortunately, vip's in thier eyes apparently just don't make enough money for them in thier current business model.
I also believe that there is little to nothing besides quitting the game to do at this point since there are so few that consider this to be a breech of contract or false advertising. Even vip's buy into this just because it's the 'thing to do'. Despite it being a lie.
I've long said that this game will do whatever it can to make a profit, that it's entirely accidental that the game is as much 'fun' as it is.
But here we have a case of honesty and integrity losing out to corporate greed and what else can we do in the face of it since they aren't answerable to any law in the land? Quit.
It used to be, a somewhat long time ago that this game required you to know your character, know the quests, have the skill to play your character well to be successful. This has been changed. Now it only means that you have to be willing and able to throw money into your character, (even if it's a lousy build) and at the quests in order to be successful.
It was only a matter of time that the game itself should turn on the long time subscribers that had fun in the game, that have earned thier 'right' to be called vip and any perks that come with it. But it isn't profitable to recognise anyone's rights and priveleges, it's much easier to use a bit of semantic trickery to turn even more profit. It's much more profitable to ask money from everyone equally, regardless of how long they have been playing the game.
This should make me angry. It does. It also makes me very, very, very sad that something like this should be so predictable.