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

[kanordog]

opinion

You bought tickets to the premier of the movie "Bachelor of the year" to watch it with your partner. You bought popcorn and drinks way overpriced.
I watched the movie with my wife at home four years later for free on a free TV channel, we had cheap store bought drinks and popcorn.

Are you mad at me?

[Impaqt]

@Cordovan

Any announcement about the season pass holders yet? You are also giving away the content that we got to keep for free as part of the season pass updates 43,44,45, & 46 which helped give the season pass the extra value over just VIP.

ive also bought every adventure pack in the game so how much have i lost out on when i could have got everything for free. I think its great that people have been given stuff and its a really nice thing to do, but they need to value there long term players who have supported the game with their $ and have spent $300 on a pass that is vastly loosing in my opinion its value.

Didnt you buy and enjoy all that content Prior to April 2020?

[Samiusbot]

Also, after reading a bunch of posts, I will admit that we do get some benefits as VIPers that others may take for granted. Some of them have been mentioned numerous times already

I am very aware of the VIP perks and ins and out of the options. Feel free to visit a vod of last night's stream it was the main topic of discussion on my stream and on many of the discords I follow and likewise.

I realize that you might not be trying to inform me personally but others that have over looked them I have been linking the VIP page on the wiki since SSG made the move public.

I also know that in many circles how I feel is very common. The move of making the content free is good. Great even! But for many of us the reason we pay a sub is for that access. For me personally that access that is the primary reason to be a VIP. By removing that a hefty part of the equation to be VIP is gone. I would like to see that math worked on. That is all.

I am not mad for people getting what I have paid for for all these years. I just want to be able to keep my sub in place and feel like it is the smart move for my money. In a few months it wont be unless there are a few more tweaks to the program to nudge it back the other way. And I really feel that SSG can make it happen. If not when the time comes I will do the math and change the way I pay accordingly.

I would be remiss if I didn't voice my thoughts while things are still malleable in the hopes I can help keep my sub the best value for my buck in DDO.

[Chnodomar]

But hey, I guess, based on your rants, that you're a member of the "Me First, Me Only" generation. If that's true, I can't exactly blame you. It's society's fault as a whole that a generation of people feel that entitled.

Literally every generation throughout history has claimed that other generations are selfish. That attitude dates back to the ancient Romans at least, and probably earlier.

[Fedora1]

Dumb comment

Try reading my posts. When you do, come back and we can talk.

Let me post a couple for you since you and Red Knight are too lazy too read what I said.

My First post:

While I am happy for the community as a whole, I feel like my Season Pass was a waste. The daily gold rolls are not typically much more than a free potion and 2-4k xp, hardly worth the 150% VIP cost I paid for it now that all the content will be free anyway. That was 2 years VIP for $299, versus the normal $99 per year. And as a long time solo player, the buddy xp does not apply to me.

So "Yay" for everyone else I guess.

My second post:

The Season Pass expires this December. So only 4 months past this freebie. Whats that, maybe 1 update and then a couple of patches/fixes to the update? Again, happy for everyone else, but I paid $300 for the 2 year Season Pass which is basically wasted. My VIP for the last 2 years would have only been $200.

So my opinion is that SSG could have made their "Thank you" to the "community" be more applicable to the "community" than what they did.

Everything else has been trying to get people like you to stop misquoting me as "mad", or "upset", or "want a refund" and fail to recognize that I agree this is a good deal for the community in general.

My posts have been very mild until people like yourself seem to be rolling me into the same category as a few who are actually "mad" or "upset".

[Tols]

Just chiming in to say that I very much appreciate both the current free questing event and the upcoming free questing coupon.

I have been occasionally playing this game for the past nine years, playing for a few weeks or months, then taking a break and returning months or even a year or two later. I have never been VIP since the ten levels I made per year on average didn't justify that, but I kept buying the new content each time I returned.

I will not benefit much from the free questing coupon, but have no bad feelings about people receiving content for free now that I once paid for. I got my value out of the content I bought already, and quite frankly speaking I am used to the fact that computer gaming content gets cheaper over time, or is even given away for free in these digital times.

I also think that the free-to-play promise does play an important role in this game beyond offering a free trial: the completely free-to-play players may not pay for the developers or the servers, but they do provide company for those who do. And the more quests they have access to, the more fun we can have together.

So altogether I am very happy about this announcement and hope that it will help solve a structural problem for this game.

Tols.

[Yvonne_Blacksword]

You bought tickets to the premier of the movie "Bachelor of the year" to watch it with your partner. You bought popcorn and drinks way overpriced.
I watched the movie with my wife at home four years later for free on a free TV channel, we had cheap store bought drinks and popcorn.

Are you mad at me?

yes. you both were supposed to invite me.... both times. I still haven't seen it.

[Yvonne_Blacksword]

I occasionally "4 box" with my 4 accounts while "soloing" with those 4 accounts on artificers sending all 4 iron defenders with the one fighting mobs. then i all loot together. I have a soloing guild comprised of those 4 accounts so that the two that are(ahem... were) FTP don't have to play through content 3 times to get full favor even though (at times) there is marginal xp. I get buddy bonuses.. yay. I like that free accounts will now get to feel the pain of (soloing, perhaps) the chain that is catacombs for the first time... 3 times for favor only on all their characters for perhaps the first time ever... just think, VIPers. catacombs in its entirety. Now without slime + shadows. (times threeeeee for the Shipmate!) (sailors will get that)
I think some of the lowby quests should be free.

I like that this might bring more questers (even if I never group outside my [soloing...remember] guild), i like that those people might bring more money to the game. I <3 new content, and if encouraging others to play and maybe pay brings me that kobold sorcerer hireling in an future <paid> expansion in the collectors edition....

LETS DO THIS.

I can't wait until he jumps, squaks and curses me because,"Kobolds never forget!"

[Saelnaydar]

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.

Yes it seems but it its not enough to be incintative giveway should be 10% per player in game to get a 50 % more xp in dungeon, plus the 50 % XP potion, plus the 10% VIP plus, the daily bonus , plus the guild bonus this way we could reach 30K xp in heroic mission an not the poor current 20K heroic with every boosts.

[Vooduspyce]

Click here to read more!

Thumbs up on this! nice move. Would love to see the VIP group bonus be +2% per party member.

[santiago66]

Amazing. Good on you SSG.

By the way, I'm premium, hubby and I have purchased everything up to this most recent adventure pack x2 including expansions, our son's account has most everything except the most recent expansion and a handful of packs and our daughter has 2 expacks and a handful of adventures and I do NOT feel slighted in the least. I feel grateful that people that I otherwise would not get to group with have access and can all group up for adventure.

This is a great opportunity to grow the player base and I'm pleased as punch SSG is doing so.

Instead of complaining about everyone having access to something you already paid for... invite friends, family, and people that might never have given DDO a try before to join in the fun.

This.

At first I was a thinking of all the other stuff I could have bought with my points if adventure packs had been free but then I thought a bit more and realised that I got to play all that content years ago and what this generous offer does is allow all of us to be able to join groups for all adventures. No more "I don't have that pack, bye, thanks for group" messages in the party chat box.

[santiago66]

I am very aware of the VIP perks and ins and out of the options. Feel free to visit a vod of last night's stream it was the main topic of discussion on my stream and on many of the discords I follow and likewise.

I realize that you might not be trying to inform me personally but others that have over looked them I have been linking the VIP page on the wiki since SSG made the move public.

I also know that in many circles how I feel is very common. The move of making the content free is good. Great even! But for many of us the reason we pay a sub is for that access. For me personally that access that is the primary reason to be a VIP. By removing that a hefty part of the equation to be VIP is gone. I would like to see that math worked on. That is all.

I am not mad for people getting what I have paid for for all these years. I just want to be able to keep my sub in place and feel like it is the smart move for my money. In a few months it wont be unless there are a few more tweaks to the program to nudge it back the other way. And I really feel that SSG can make it happen. If not when the time comes I will do the math and change the way I pay accordingly.

I would be remiss if I didn't voice my thoughts while things are still malleable in the hopes I can help keep my sub the best value for my buck in DDO.

I'm sure there will be new content coming out that will be PTP and only free for VIPs. It's only the old adventure quests that have become free. Many of those packs have been offered at 75% discount or given away with expansion packs anyway. As a premium player for 9 years who has bought TPs to open packs in the past, I'm happy to be able to do those quests with new players. Far too often it's difficult to find a party to do the less popular adventure packs.

But maybe VIPs need a bit more of an incentive.

[Malleable]

Amazing. Good on you SSG.

By the way, I'm premium, hubby and I have purchased everything up to this most recent adventure pack x2 including expansions, our son's account has most everything except the most recent expansion and a handful of packs and our daughter has 2 expacks and a handful of adventures and I do NOT feel slighted in the least. I feel grateful that people that I otherwise would not get to group with have access and can all group up for adventure.

This is a great opportunity to grow the player base and I'm pleased as punch SSG is doing so.

Instead of complaining about everyone having access to something you already paid for... invite friends, family, and people that might never have given DDO a try before to join in the fun.

This.

At first I was a thinking of all the other stuff I could have bought with my points if adventure packs had been free but then I thought a bit more and realised that I got to play all that content years ago and what this generous offer does is allow all of us to be able to join groups for all adventures. No more "I don't have that pack, bye, thanks for group" messages in the party chat box.

I am VIP and a season pass holder, and think this is a great idea. I don't feel slighted in the least. Ultimately, more people to play with!! A big thumbs up to SSG from me.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

This is a great opportunity to grow the player base and I'm pleased as punch SSG is doing so.

Exactly this.


This move by SSG was never intended to insult VIPs - in fact, it was to help them because then there would go away more moaning because of "too few players" and "server merge" because of that.

Let's be frank : In fact, it was to help VIPs simple because : MORE PLAYERS = MORE FUN

Making all packs free and virtually free expansions does however devalue everything I've spent money on to next to nothing.

I don't feel so. I was always aware that what I'd buy via DDO points was rather a way to support the firm so that they could do more adventure for me and for everyone else.

Makes it feel like a poor investment spending the tens of thousands of ddo points on [... snip... ]

I don't feel like I'm "investing". I'm no banker. I'm not a capitalist.

I was spening thodse DDO points because I wanted to have stuff.

And in contrast to most people I was and I still am CONSCIOUS about that.

It was a CONSCIOUS decision that I was buying stuff with DDO points, KNOWING that IF I'd ever become a VIP, I'd devalue all the srtuff I had bought up to that point FOR MYSELF.

I DID realize that if I'd become VIP - which I have never ruled out - I'd get everything - so to say - "for free" , what O had bought via DDO points up to then.



Looking, however, how much being VIP costs, and how much buying via DDO points costs, it is more or less the equal sum of RL money for me. Personally.

If people are talking about "value", they often forcefully ignore (read : throw outta their minds) how much actual costs are there - mainly because NO-ONE ever did a really good side-by-side comparison of the cost of stuff within DDO for either points or by being VIP.

I think that this is mostly because VIPs are so much exalted as Elitists that they just don't want to lower themselves into the lower kastes to compare themselves - and their VIP money - with those Lowlings.
Plus, they just don't have any comparison data, because they have never been F2P or Premium.

Lowlings, however, at least those who hade been F2P or Premium forever just don't have any comparison scale because they have never been VIP (or only for a short time).


What disturbs me is that there is a schism between those who are VIPs and those who are not EVEN ALTHOUGH the F2P and Premium people have to spend money via DDO points to get stuff. In fact, VIP people often outrigfht ignore the fact that F2P and Premium players have to pay via DDO points for stuff because it doesn't fit into their argumentation line.



I'm conscious about me : I do know that most people will outright ignore this reply by me because it doesn't fit into their argumentation line.
People are easily ready to ignore all kinds of arguments if they believe that these arguments don't support their cause. We see this everywhere throughtout the world.

So, I'm conscious about being ignored. - My "inner cynic" comments this with saying to me : "And you feel like an Elitist now as well because you believe you are better than the rest becuse you are conscious." Sometimes, one must take a healthy dose of self-criticism. But most people have never learbned to take that.









P.S. : All time I have ever been playing DDO I have been F2P & Premmium, spending LOTS of money via points, even lots of DDO points on cosmetic items ! I emphasisew that, because to most players the spending of DDO points on cosmetic items might seem irrelevant because NOT mechanics.

[Chnodomar]

I don't feel like I'm "investing". I'm no banker. I'm not a capitalist.
I was spening thodse DDO points because I wanted to have stuff.

As Karl Marx once said, "(Dungeons & Dragons Online) is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions."

[parttimewarrior]

Huge thanks to SSG for this decision. I swear I won't make any sarcastic posts about horses anymore.

And some people seem to be missing the whole point of paying for the game. I ultimately believe that when you pay for something in-game, you do that because you enjoy the game, to support the developers, not to gain bragging rights and to feel superior to plebeians.

[Earthbound Misfit]

I think that this is mostly because VIPs are so much exalted as Elitists that they just don't want to lower themselves into the lower kastes to compare themselves - and their VIP money - with those Lowlings.
.

I am kind of hoping English is not your first language. Some of your points I agree with, some I don't. But they are general points that are subjective, and you leave room for people to be on one side or the other. Thats cool.

The quoted point, however, in it's current form labels all VIP's together as elitists. ALL. I strongly disagree with this. If you had said 'I think this is because most VIP's etc', or similar, I would have the freedom to put myself outside the 'most' category and think 'that may be true.'

I have run with some of these 'elitist' types, so I know they exist, but in my experience, on my server (Thelanis) they are very much a minority.

I have no knowledge of how people i play with pay (or don't pay) for the game. I also don't care. As a VIP I say if i chose to group it does not matter. All have a valid contribution to make, even if it is just company.

So I would ask you to reconsider the phrasing of this part of your post.

Thanks

[barecm]

I like the idea as it will encourage folks to stick around after the stay at home restrictions are lifted. However, as a VIP subscriber, I do feel that it is becoming less and less advantageous to maintain a VIP subscription. Maybe a larger xp bonus, a bigger ddo point monthly distribution, or more frequent gold rolls. Something to let us know our subscription fee, that some have been paying well over 10 years, is really valued at SSG.

[NemesisAlien]

I like the idea as it will encourage folks to stick around after the stay at home restrictions are lifted. However, as a VIP subscriber, I do feel that it is becoming less and less advantageous to maintain a VIP subscription. Maybe a larger xp bonus, a bigger ddo point monthly distribution, or more frequent gold rolls. Something to let us know our subscription fee, that some have been paying well over 10 years, is really valued at SSG.

Hah I S pass, the daily gold rolls suck man...

[gv1807]

Is it the expansions of MOTU and SF that are being given away or just the quests?
MOTU expansion comes with Tomes of Learning/Druid/Eds
SF comes with Iconics.

Are you giving away all of that or just the quests and you have to buy the extras?