Free Questing Coupon and a VIP Update – Thank You From Standing Stone Games

[Sylvado]

Do you mostly solo?

I rarely get lag when I solo, but I see quite a bit when I'm in a full group.

That could be it

[Zwentibald]

To be fair, I feel like VIP complaints come from the impression that their supposed superior financial commitment to the game (some premium might have paid as much or more over time) isn't acknowledged or rewarded enough compared to this gift to f2p/premium.

Yet, besides the fact that vip involves much more than free quests as extendly said before (some of those perks, like hardcore server, being unavailable by other means), this is more than a generous gift and to some extent a political stance, it's also a promotional move. Any company can give their longtime subscribers some costless freebies, they only give a significant reduction on your subscription (or other significant gifts) once.
Now considering that mmo survival depends on an abundant player bases, I guess that if it seems like a pretty bold move, it's very smart, and long time vip player should see it as a commitment to them too, to keep this game running and evolving.

[Sylvado]

Ooooh I totally forgot about the saga skip. Suck it Just Business!

It would be nice if it could upgrade a quest, I have missed a level in the past by completing them all where taking one as Elite for free would have bumped me to the next level.

[Stoner81]

Can we yet purchase things from the in game store and give them to other players? I would love to do this with the expansion packs coming up on sale along with other things.

Stoner81.

[Tscheuss]

Can we yet purchase things from the in game store and give them to other players? I would love to do this with the expansion packs coming up on sale along with other things.

Stoner81.

I think the best way to do that is to start dragging them along on a favor train until they have the points they need to buy them directly.

[Gniewomir]

Now considering that mmo survival depends on an abundant player bases, I guess that if it seems like a pretty bold move, it's very smart, and long time vip player should see it as a commitment to them too, to keep this game running and evolving.

No, it's dungeons and dragons. It's better to sit alone like a dragon on his hoard than share the wealth.

[Matuse]

This is an amazing move.

Now I don't need to keep logging in multiple characters to collect challenge tokens! Such a relief.

[count_spicoli]

I own all the game except 2 packs and i think its pretty cool.

Suspecting when ssg opned it up to every one free for covid they actually found they were making more money with people buyin g store stuff like races xp pots destnies and all that. Either way its a pretty cool gesture that i guarentee will have word of mouth spread and probably get new players involved.

Would like to see a general 1% buddy bonus for all and maybe 2% for vip. Lets encourage grouping for all.

And then bring on mega server pls.

[Samir]

Can you provide a link to where it was ever promised the season pass would get a specific amount of content each year? And furthermore, can you provide a link that proves the Season Pass isn't providing what it said it would? If the season pass has already granted the content this code is going to grant and will grant additional content that will release after the code has expired, there is no reason to get mad about not getting something "extra". You're already getting what you paid for.

I hope you're joking. Can YOU point to exactly what content the extra $100 for season pass paid for? Or maybe you think a daily gold roll that fills your bags with **** is worth $100?

[Zwentibald]

No, it's dungeons and dragons. It's better to sit alone like a dragon on his hoard than share the wealth.

Are you suggesting raids on vip lairs?

[Cordovan]

Menace of the Underdark and Shadowfell Conspiracy are going to be on sale for 99 DDO Points. And that's awesome. But I can see a bit of a problem with this sale. As far as I can tell, the ability to see account upgrades you already have access to (for example due to being VIP) in the DDO Store got removed. Now, normally this isn't an issue. But currently all AP are Free, and will be through August 31st. This means any unowned AP are not showing up in the DDO Store. So... how exactly do we take advantage of when those two expansions go on sale?

These expansions will be available to purchase for anyone who does not already own them, whether VIP or not.

OMG!

Just one question though....

Will this coupon code count for VIPs who haven't bought all packs or will we have to let our VIP run out before using it and then getting VIP back?

VIPs will be able to redeem the Coupon Code.

I don't quite understand.

Are VIP getting 10% to all XP plus a 1% per party member bonus to quest XP? Is the VIP-buddy-style bonus instead of the 10% XP bonus to all XP that we currently get now?

I'm confused on how this works.

VIPs will continue to enjoy their +10% XP in addition to this new +1% XP per party member (up to +5%).

[Samir]

But you folks that did pay for the Season Pass... you did get 3 Updates Prior to this Free to play promotion. Youve gotten VIP benefits as well. Plus the extra perks for that season pass. Gold Rolls.. That Ottos box.... So its not like you got nothing.

Fist off, no one has "gotten VIP benefits as well". We paid for VIP plus $100 extra. 2 yrs of VIP is $200. We paid $300 for season pass. Secondly, what "3 updates prior to this free to play promotion" did we get that every other VIP isn't getting with this coupon? If I had just paid $200 for 2 years VIP in Dec 2018 I would have the exact same thing I currently have having paid $300 for a season pass, except for two things you listed...

So what did we get? An Otto's box? A gold roll each day?

I've only missed logging in about 7 times over the past 1.5 years. I've hit the 98+ jackpot on gold rolls about 6 times. Half of those have been useless/ugly armor skins that have been in the game for 10 years - none of them have been "unique". The other half have been +4>+5 upgrade tomes for random stats, and those are basically worthless unless you are super lucky and happen to have someone who ate a +4 tome of that exact same stat. In other words, gold rolls are pretty pointless aside from the few thousand xp they give.

So I guess I paid $100 for an Otto's box and a trickle of xp as it stands currently.

https://www.ddo.com/en/seasonpass

[Gniewomir]

Are you suggesting raids on vip lairs?

I'm not sure yet, those are dangerous beasts, they'll eat you whole if one coin will be missing.

[Zwentibald]

Fist off, no one has "gotten VIP benefits as well". We paid for VIP plus $100 extra. 2 yrs of VIP is $200. We paid $300 for season pass. Secondly, what "3 updates prior to this free to play promotion" did we get that every other VIP isn't getting with this coupon? If I had just paid $200 for 2 years VIP in Dec 2018 I would have the exact same thing I currently have having paid $300 for a season pass, except for two things you listed...

So what did we get? An Otto's box? A gold roll each day?

I've only missed logging in about 7 times over the past 1.5 years. I've hit the 98+ jackpot on gold rolls about 6 times. Half of those have been useless/ugly armor skins that have been in the game for 10 years - none of them have been "unique". The other half have been +4>+5 upgrade tomes for random stats, and those are basically worthless unless you are super lucky and happen to have someone who ate a +4 tome of that exact same stat. In other words, gold rolls are pretty pointless aside from the few thousand xp they give.

So I guess I paid $100 for an Otto's box and a trickle of xp as it stands currently.

https://www.ddo.com/en/seasonpass

So you played and lost? bouhou... This is unrelated to the current question.

Now I guess they could extend the season pass...

[Greeka]

I will agree that this is a nice move by SSG, however as mentioned in other parts of this thread this does not do much for premium players who paid up front for this content. I have not read the entire thread yet and will return to reading it to see what the dev's have to say, but I am a long time premium player and have purchased all the content, expansion packs (the majority of them as the collector's editions) and this is sounding like it may do nothing for me personally and probably a number of other players. Hoping that this may draw more players back to the game by giving them access to more content to experience the joy that is this game and its occasional frustration of lag and odd quirks.

Anyway back to reading.

So I just read through the thread in its current state looking for dev responses and saw only 2 more from cord. This is a good thing, but I will iterate once again it does nothing for players like me and I do not think I am alone in this. I have all content (adventure packs), classes, expansions, and universal trees. From what I have read it appears that players like me will get nothing. The VIPs get an additional exp boost, and if they have not purchased any of the the packs or a few, they can get all the packs added allowing them to play everything should their sub lapse.

Now for those that mentioned concern about the expansion that contains the epic trees and destinies that is not that much of an issue. The pack that contains that content will be on sale for 99 points. All a player has to do (free or otherwise) is run quests (speed farm or otherwise) and get 200 points which can be achieved by completing the harbor, korthos and borderlands on elite. Then you can purchase both expansions and have permanent access to the epic content as well.

Will continue to watch this thread to see what other things the Cord may reveal in the next day or week about what the entire community can look forward to in regards to this generous gift they are offering.

[Zwentibald]

I'm not sure yet, those are dangerous beasts, they'll eat you whole if one coin will be missing.

Met some friendly (most of them), even toss you invites you don't need... Seams it's a difference between golden and black (oops... acid one, shouldn't be read by southern us people)

[Stoner81]

VIPs will continue to enjoy their +10% XP in addition to this new +1% XP per party member (up to +5%).

I know this makes sense for normal quests but will it scale up further when raiding?

Stoner81.

[Dark_Lord_Mary]

Excellent move - very classy - great for Biz, the game, and community -

[Samir]

So you played and lost? bouhou... This is unrelated to the current question.

Now I guess they could extend the season pass...

I'm not boohooing. I'm laying out exactly what the extra money purchased since this thread is filled with people who don't even know what the season pass consisted of. It's up to the individual to decide if it was worth it, with or without this give-away. I personally don't care if they extend season passes or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did something like that.

https://www.ddo.com/en/seasonpass

[Fedora1]

Did you know there would be a global pandemic that would bring everything to a screeching halt when you decided to pay for the season pass? Do you think SSG knew there would be one when they offered the season pass? Cause I highly doubt either you or SSG knew about the current crisis that far in advance.

Completely irrelevant. I mean completely. My issue is not with the original offer.

Do, or do you not, think that SSG should try to make their gifts universally beneficial? Yes or no, simple as that.

At the time of purchase, knowing that you had no real idea how many adventure packs would be released during the period of the Season Pass, did you consider it to be worth the $300? Have you gotten what you paid for? If the answer to both questions is "yes", then why are you suddenly thinking you didn't get value for your money?

Once again, irrelevant. But the answer is actually "no" for "at the time", I did it because it was "ok", not great, but SSG needed some support, so I went in on it.

No, I don't think I'm entitled to the devs spending time and resources on free bonuses that will mainly benefit me and others who spent money on the game. I do on the other hand think it's a good thing that they are doing. Is it a little annoying the new player in my guild will be able to get every adventure pack for free while I spent money on them? Yes, it is. Am I enraged by this fact? No, I'm not. Do I think *I* need something special as a reward for supporting the game? Once again, no I don't. My reward for supporting the game is, and has been, the ability to play the game. And I understand that this is what one should expect as the reward when paying for an MMO.

Wow, a long winded answer with a lot of "word changing" from my original question. I never said "entitled", and your statement about "devs spending time and resourses" is the dumbest thing I have heard. It has nothing to do with the time and resources (its not like they are coding new adventures or trouble shooting lag), its simply putting more thought into rewarding the community for the support and patience during the troubling times we have gone through.

My question (which you were trying to answer from your soapbox) was a simple "Should they be more all-inclusive". You know the answer is "yes, they should try to make it more all-inclusive". But you can't bring yourself to admit it because you prefer to lecture others on how appreciative we should be that we spent $300 and got what we payed for. My stance is just simply that SSG did not make the "Thank you" reward apply to everyone. They could have, but they didn't. And just for the record, I never said, nor did my post indicate, that I am "enraged" about anything. You people with the soapboxes seem to try twist other people's words to make yourself appear more righteous.

I mean, I get it, you paid for something others are getting at a reduced cost (or even free), I'd be annoyed too.

And that is simply what I am, a little annoyed that they didn't put more thought into it.

That said:
Given the state of the world, the series of events no one could have predicted when offerings were made, current skyrocketing unemployment, the pandemic, acute shiftings of values across the entire consumer space, etc etc,

Irrelevant. They didn't have to have foresight to know what would happen. It's current, right now, that they made the decision to give away all the content for free. They could ALSO have made it so everyone benefited, and not just some.

I'd gently recommend defining your happiness based more on what you have and are receiving, rather than what others are or aren't. Or temper your frustration with happiness for others in need getting a break. It's a good time for it.

Not sure where that came from. I'd gently ask where you got the idea someone isn't happy? Or that this issue is causing anger or frustration? You certainly didn't get it from my post. I'm good, just expressing my opinion about being all-inclusive. I did state that it was good for the community, go back and read my OP.