Is my money every month not enough?

[Baralai2345]

So I came back after a 3 year break, seeing Menace of the Underdark, Kings Forest, and Epic Destinies. I took my level 20 monk, did the starter quests to get myself to Eveningstar, learn I can take on this new Epic destiny, and decide to do so.

My travels to the Fateweaver show me I cannot take an Epic Destiny, I ask people why, they ask if I purchased the adventure required. I answer that I am VIP, I should have them all. I am answered back that even as a VIP, someone who pays every month to play a fully unlocked game except some of the favor unlocks, needs to BUY an adventure pack.

So along with my 15 dollar a month sink into the game, I have to purchase 35 dollars worth of Turbine Points to purchase the adventure I SHOULD ALREADY HAVE BY PAYING MONTHLY.

I will admit I have purchased my fair share of Turbine Points and spread them around the store for additional experience, loot stones, etc. but I never purchased an adventure pack, because as a VIP I have access to all of them. I feel like Turbine is wiping their bums with my money and buying slurpies with it, because with all the 5-8min lag spikes consistantly popping up, they certainly arent putting it back into the game.

[shadereaper33]

Menace of the Underdark, which includes the epic destiny system, is an expansion pack, not a regular adventure pack. And just like every other MMO with a subscription fee, you are required to purchase the expansion pack in addition to the monthly fee to get access to the new features.

[FestusHood]

You can also buy the epic destinies separately. You won't have access to the quests in the menace of the underdark pack, but the last 2 packs that came out in the forgotten realms i believe can be payed by vip's even if they didn't buy the expansion.

[coldblade000]

Deep breaths. I know it's a huge bummer to find this out but you are looking at it WAY in the wrong way. Yes, it was a little cash grabby of them but if you were still enthralled in the community when it came out, you may have looked at it differently.

First of all, the area's you cant get too aren't really adventure packs. They're more slapped with the label "Expansion.". They have had numerous sales on this content, and it was a fun and big deal in the community when they released they're three choice bundle "Collectors, standard, basic."

Coming back from a break when all it's hype has died down and it's established itself as another routine of quests on the TR checklist could definitely make this appear much bleaker than it is. If you've been paying the VIP price all three years, I can understand.

BUT if you came back from a 3 year break and just signed up without reading any of the new fine print, then I'd say you only have yourself to blame.

I will agree, VIP has lost a lot of it's luster with the release of so much content and classes at this point that they don't get. It may need some updating. But they have thrown little things our way. I'm much faster in cities now with my VIP subscription and I still enjoy being able to unlock Elite content for all my guys.

Silver linings and all that.

[GeneralDiomedes]

1 Terms & Conditions Apply. Does not include expansion packs. Content and offers may vary and are subject to change.

Anyways .. did you shell out one-time $$ for the original game? You did? This is the exact same thing.

[jambajuicey]

love the entitlement.. look at other mmo's with monthly subs.. guess what, you pay for the expansion packs...

[Memnir]

Turbine has been worming around the VIP content issue for a while now. Artificers are pretty much a pay to play class, since the favor to earn them without payment is such a PITA. Yeah, the option exists, but they made it about as hostile to earn as they could. Now, the MotU content was labeled an Expansion and not an update - enabling them make it pay to play for everyone.


It's annoying to VIPs. It makes you wonder why you keep paying them. I know - at the time I was VIP. But, that is the course Turbine has decided to chart. /shrug

[Baralai2345]

Oh, my bad, after playing the game and having all the additional content be Modules, and have this "expansion" get snuck in. Maybe instead of relying on the T&S, they should rewrite that VIP is a situational plus that doesnt cover what they said it does.

[GeneralDiomedes]

Now, the MotU content was labeled an Expansion and not an update - enabling them make it pay to play for everyone.

It was labelled an Expansion, but was it also really an Expansion? By DDO's standards I think it was. Definitely a significant ramp-up from their usual output. I think the Destinies were more effort than people realize, not to mention the sheer amount of new artwork and content.

[Baralai2345]

1 Terms & Conditions Apply. Does not include expansion packs. Content and offers may vary and are subject to change.

Anyways .. did you shell out one-time $$ for the original game? You did? This is the exact same thing.

Yeah, I bought the original game, but ya know what, not the same. An expansion is not the original game, they can only roundabout force you to purchase it. I for one will not, to get any additional adventures people have to pay for TP and buy them, or pay monthly, end of story, they changed how that worked not me. If its a sense of entitlement whatever, but that's how it worked, so my choice is to not waste any more money, and if they want to release more modules in the form of "expansions" then this game will get old faster.

[Memnir]

It was labelled an Expansion, but was it also really an Expansion? By DDO's standards I think it was.

I'm not saying it wasn't. Granted, an argument could be made - but since I'm pretty much on the fence of that argument, I won't be the one to press the point.


I am saying that Turbine has been using turns of phrase and technicalities to undermine VIPs for some time now. MotU being an expansion or not, at one point VIPs were promised all new content free. As such, it's understandable why a returning VIP would be confused why they have to pay for it.

[Alavatar]

I purchased the expansion for my second account, which included Kings Forest, Underdark, Drow City, Demon Web, Druids, Eveningstar Challenges, Epic Destinies, a host of older content, and 1000 TP for $7.50 over Christmas when it was on sale.

Just wait for another sale.

[redspecter23]

The adventures in Eveningstar, Underdark and the Demonweb are labeled as an expansion. This simple wording is enough to make them pay content. One could argue back and forth endlessly about whether it's right or not for Turbine to alter wording to allow them to skirt their own rules about VIP, but the fact is, that's the way it's done.

I agree that the destinies (whether you consider them pay to win or not) are the type of content that is justifiably sold to premium and VIP alike. No issues on that one, but selling adventure packs to VIP's by changing what they are called is a bit shady. VIP's should have been given an option for an expansion pack that had destinies and a few extras and been given the adventures for free (as long as they remain VIP). But that's probably a marketing decision that seemed unpopular on paper. This was what ultimately led to my decision to drop VIP and go to premium when MotD hit. I figured if I'm paying for it anyway, might as well just buy out the rest of the game while I'm at it. They could label the Vale pack as "expansion" starting tomorrow and make all VIP's buy it if they really wanted to and it would be an extremely unpopular move, but that would be the pill we all would have to swallow. It's all in the wording.

[Lelitu]

not sure I have much to add to what redspecter23 and others have said about the adventures at least in MotU

do want to address a technical point though, several posters have claimed that every mmo charges for expansions, this is simply false. EVE online is a subscription mmo that has never charged extra for expansions, they're all included in the subscription cost.

[7-day_Trial_Monkey]

Oh, my bad, after playing the game and having all the additional content be Modules, and have this "expansion" get snuck in. Maybe instead of relying on the T&S, they should rewrite that VIP is a situational plus that doesnt cover what they said it does.

That's a very dishonest characterization of the situation.

There's nothing sneaky about releasing an expansion. It's what MMOs do. If anything you should criticize the fact that they took so long to release one.

And the description for VIP does in fact provide a correct description of what you get.

[shadereaper33]

Yeah, I bought the original game, but ya know what, not the same. An expansion is not the original game, they can only roundabout force you to purchase it. I for one will not, to get any additional adventures people have to pay for TP and buy them, or pay monthly, end of story, they changed how that worked not me. If its a sense of entitlement whatever, but that's how it worked, so my choice is to not waste any more money, and if they want to release more modules in the form of "expansions" then this game will get old faster.

Ya know what, it isn't Turbine's fault that you did not do any research into what you were spending your money on. Choosing not spend any more is completely your choice, no argument on that. The fact remains, MotU is well documented as an expansion pack that costs extra to get access to, above and beyond the subscription price for VIP. If you didn't bother to look into the game at all prior to re-subscribing, that is on you and you alone.

[moomooprincess]

Do I go Premium?

For most VIP players the answer is quite obvious.

[GeneralDiomedes]

Regardless, I hope the Expansion worked out for DDO in the end. I really love most of MOTU and if that's what it takes to produce that kind of jaw dropping eye candy, then so be it.

[brickwall]

Meh Vip is a giant rip off anyways if you play for more then 4 months you should have just bought packs cus 60$ would get you basically everything.

[PLUGintoTHEpowerLINE]

Turbine has been worming around the VIP content issue for a while now. Artificers are pretty much a pay to play class, since the favor to earn them without payment is such a PITA. Yeah, the option exists, but they made it about as hostile to earn as they could. Now, the MotU content was labeled an Expansion and not an update - enabling them make it pay to play for everyone.


It's annoying to VIPs. It makes you wonder why you keep paying them. I know - at the time I was VIP. But, that is the course Turbine has decided to chart. /shrug

This is much more annoying in LotRO. In LotRO, every other addition to the game, even if it's barely enough content to make up a quest pack, it's billed and sold as an expansion pack. I'm astounded that DDO hasn't taken this tack yet.

But yeah, it's frustrating, but it's par for the course. Still, I hope DDO doesn't have the trend of having an 'expansion' every year/year and a half.