What content is not free now?

[Gordo]

Guys-

Serious question and want to know if VIP has any value now that so much content was just made free.

Can anyone explain the logic of this except to compel VIP to go FTP?

Do they want more PTW at the expense of VIP annual fees?
Are the economics of the DDO store proving to be more valuable than the VIP memberships?
Seems to me they want to bring as many players into the game as possible and then have them spend money in the DDO store.

It is clear (to me) that VIP has almost no value to SSG or why do what they did?


Thanks

[slarden]

The newest pack is not included. Forget the name, but the entrance to the area in sharn near the guild ship entrance.

But as far as VIP you lose

6 character slots which can't be purchased
A few races and classes
Harper Agent
10% stacking xp
shared bank
monster manuals
time-out decreases from 60 min to 30 min
500 bonus points per month (6k per year)
You can't open elite which primarily impacts favor farming on other servers and running on hardcore.

As for what they want - to attract new players presumably. They understand the economics here is at best break even with existing players, although I suspect they actually profited from existing player investment in alt accounts.

[rabidfox]

Same value as the previous 2 times they did this coupon. It's great for new/returning players and it let's people decide the value they place on the other stuff from VIP (XP VIP bonuses, 500points, etc.).

[Oliphant]

Oh yes, SSG gives everyone access to content so new people would realistically try out our game and instantly let's center it on SSG hurting VIPs (relatively of course). We all have the option to make boo hoo with facts and logic. Fine I guess is you like wallowing and you think that's real life.

[Bacab]

Negative first:
Is 10% bonus XP and opening on elite on new characters worth $9.99 a month to you?
I am not throwing shade here. Some people are retired and/or on disability or they have a few kids or more real life expenditures...so 10 dollars a month may seem like a lot to them.
Some people make a lot of money or don't have as many expenditures and that 10 dollars a month...they don't even notice it. In fact they often buy points when they go on sale.
My thinking is that SSG sees the delta between those two groups of people and that influences how they make decisions.


Positives:
I play exclusively on Ghallanda. As you may know...a lot of our server went to Orien. I feel that wasn't handled really well by SSG. They have since made Ghallanda the default server. I have played with new players, but they are limited to what they can play. I have a buddy that used to play this game with me at 10 cap.
Now with this new coupon, these new players can do Delera's or Gianthold or Three Barrel Cove etc etc. My buddy can also do that stuff. This lets them try out the game even more and maybe they end up buying whatever packs that aren't included (I am sort of unsure which are in and which are out). This means to ME...I have more people to play with and thus, makes my gaming experience better. I like meeting new players and people and perhaps playing with my buddy.

Outcome:
You see...I make good money in the real world. I don't mind spending 10 dollars a month for VIP. I probably spend 100-200 dollars a year on expansions and points. BUT I can't buy new people to play this game with. This coupon helps give me the thing I can't buy. And that "thing" is new people to play the game with.

[Gordo]

The below and others were even tempered and helpful. I also make a good living but I am also considerate to those that may be sensitive to spending VIP money and may be pushed to say "no more" and have that potentially hurt the game. I suspect the cost/benefit of this freebie is that they bring in "x" new players who will spend "y" dollars and that whatever "z" VIP's downgrade or spend less is worth it to SSG.

Cheers-


But as far as VIP you lose

6 character slots which can't be purchased
A few races and classes
Harper Agent
10% stacking xp
shared bank
monster manuals
time-out decreases from 60 min to 30 min
500 bonus points per month (6k per year)
You can't open elite which primarily impacts favor farming on other servers and running on hardcore.

[slarden]

The below and others were even tempered and helpful. I also make a good living but I am also considerate to those that may be sensitive to spending VIP money and may be pushed to say "no more" and have that potentially hurt the game. I suspect the cost/benefit of this freebie is that they bring in "x" new players who will spend "y" dollars and that whatever "z" VIP's downgrade or spend less is worth it to SSG.

Cheers-


But as far as VIP you lose

6 character slots which can't be purchased
A few races and classes
Harper Agent
10% stacking xp
shared bank
monster manuals
time-out decreases from 60 min to 30 min
500 bonus points per month (6k per year)
You can't open elite which primarily impacts favor farming on other servers and running on hardcore.

You will also have to buy the latest pack which I think was at or near 725 pts.

There are a few other things which are listed here: https://ddowiki.com/page/VIP

If you run hardcore you will notice loss of access to things you can earn by favor that are included with VIP.

VIP has never been a great value vs. pay as you go purchases, but if money is no issue the little conveniences add up and are worth every penny. 10% stacking xp is the cheapest way to buy xp for someone that plays alot. I have never been a big user of customer service, but you lose access unless you have a recent purchase (45 days I think).

If you are dropping out of principal - I get it - been there and done that. You probably will be fine living without the extras, but if it's just about money you might miss them. At least for me expectations are much lower as a software user instead of a customer.

[Oliphant]

I think its helpful to the game and to the players to take the handcuff off VIP and let folks have the packs. To the extent people that feel the squeeze are able to cancel VIP that's helpful and they will save money. They prolly spend some of that on points.

[Drunkendex]

As a VIP do I think I get my money's worth out of VIP?

No.

Do I resent SSG for putting up free code + 4 exp for 400 points, invalidating my purchase of VIP plus ALL packs for points before I went VIP?

Emperor perverse me NO!

I APPROVE of that move.

Does SSG need to improve VIP perks (is there any news on what they will be, or is that monthly unlock final?)?

YES, I'm VIP because I can afford it and being on TR train those 10% XP is something I'm not willing to drop, but I DON'T think I'm getting my money's worth.

SSG needs to attract new players but still give long time players reason to go VIP instead of just buying points for that money.
Because ATM if you don't care for VIP exclusives (toon slots, 10% XP, etc) you're getting better deal just buying points for VIP money.

[Zuldar]

Harper Agent

Harper Agent is kinda free since you can unlock it with favor and the expansions for harper favor are cheap enough for now to realistically unlock with favor ddo points.

[Annex]

For me, a subscription offers 4 critical perks:

* 10% experience bonus
* saga quest skip
* 500 game shop points per month
* subscriber bonus experience weekends (this perk is not listed anywhere)

Monster manual access is useful for some of my accounts.
Shared bank space is useful for all of my accounts.

The 10% experience, saga skip, bonus experience weekends, and monster manual access allow me to push through levels much more quickly, especially 15 to 20, which is a huge problem for me.

Time equals money. Let us say it takes me 80 hours to run from 1 to 20. If a subscription saves me 10 hours, and I convert that 10 hours into money via a job, and that job pays $20 US an hour after taxes, a subscription saves me $200 on every run from 1 to 20. The reader may advance from 1 to 20 much more quickly than me, but for me, the ramifications of this calculation are inescapable.

Even if I cannot convert my time into money, a subscription still saves me 10% to 15% of my time. I can convert that time into more DDO progress, education, other forms of entertainment, sleep, or whatever. It does not matter. The point is, a subscription gives me back time.

At the moment, I am not playing DDO at all. Instead, I am converting as much of my time as possible into education. My hope is that the education will convert in much higher revenue generation for the rest of my life. That will make things like purchasing a DDO subscription so obviously advantageous that I would never consider not purchasing one.

If you do not generate enough revenue to make purchasing a DDO subscription obviously advantageous to you, stop what you are doing and increase your earning potential. Spend your short term entertainment time on long term generation of revenue. Once you max out on revenue generation and work hours you can handle, then return to entertainment. You will have plenty of money for a subscription to make your entertainment time more efficient.

Anyway, that is the current plan.

[Oliphant]

Before they gave away the packs in 2020 or whenever it was, my mentality as a premium that paid a lot for the packs was to never go VIP because I saw VIP mainly as access to packs and the value of the packs in DDO points was so huge it seemed foolish to go VIP. Then they gave away all the packs which sort of broke that spell and then I'm looking around and feeling the good will, and in the state of openmindness I take another squint at VIP and see the 10% xp bonus, and again remember the good will of giving people the packs, and went hey why not me? Went VIP. Still VIP.

[Isolani]

I am VIP and I think SSG should just have this deal permanently. It's the only way for new and returning players to get into the game without spending a ridiculous amount of money. The most recent expansions are not included, so there is still some money to make there for SSG.

I don't really care about the VIP "value" argument. I stay VIP purely for convenience.

Nice move SSG, but I think it should be permanent. Or do something like what EverQuest does, if people buy the newest expansion, they get everything before it for free.

[axel15810]

I do not see the Eveningstar Challenge Pack listed as included for the current code on the DDO.com page:
https://www.ddo.com/news/ddo-free-dungeoncrawl

It's possible this is an error on the page, maybe someone who has claimed the current code can let us know if the code gave access to it.

Also the newest pack Grip of the Hidden Hand isn't included.

They are adding extra perks for VIP this year through a monthly claim system, which they unveiled in a Q&A a few weeks back.

[slarden]

I am VIP and I think SSG should just have this deal permanently. It's the only way for new and returning players to get into the game without spending a ridiculous amount of money. The most recent expansions are not included, so there is still some money to make there for SSG.

I don't really care about the VIP "value" argument. I stay VIP purely for convenience.

Nice move SSG, but I think it should be permanent. Or do something like what EverQuest does, if people buy the newest expansion, they get everything before it for free.

I think making older content easier to get is all they need to do. Like offering several 100 point starter packs and then adding some different cash starter packs to the store with perm hirelings, some quality of life items, a class or race and content. It also gives people a sense of accomplishment as they check off the list of things to get.

Like:

In store $25 starter pack 1
Keep on the Borderlands
The Lost Gatekeepers
BTA Mount
Shared Bank
Level 1 Barbarian Hireling
Warforged Race

Starter Bundle 1: 100 DDO points
The Catacombs
The Seal of Shan-to-kor
Tangleroot Gorge

In Store $25 Starter Pack 2

The Sharn Syndicate
Phiarlan Carnival
Three-Barrel Cover
1 BTC Hireling Folder
32-point Build
Veteran Status I
Level 4 Cleric Hireling
Favored Soul

Starter Bundle 2 - 100 DDO Points
Necropolis Part I
Tangelroot Gorge
Vault of the Artificers

etc. at various level ranges.

Caveat - not sure if the value is there are the store packs, but they can balance it out by adding consumables or other items to make it a decent value.

[Torkzed]

I'm not certain, but I think VIP gives access to many of the Monster Manuals as well.

I was VIP for over a decade, but I dropped it when I left the game for about 18 months. I am recently returned (as premium) and I have been running with a TR partner. I noticed I was consistently falling behind in XP compared to my buddy. We tracked the difference down to the fact that he has purchased Monster Manuals and I never did.

[slarden]

I'm not certain, but I think VIP gives access to many of the Monster Manuals as well.

I was VIP for over a decade, but I dropped it when I left the game for about 18 months. I am recently returned (as premium) and I have been running with a TR partner. I noticed I was consistently falling behind in XP compared to my buddy. We tracked the difference down to the fact that he has purchased Monster Manuals and I never did.

Yes you are downgraded to premium and should get Monster Manual I for free (although it still will show up as available in store if you earn it through going premium). You have to buy the others.

If for some reason you don't get Monster Manual I included you have to contact customer support and of course you can only do it if you paid $ in the last 45 days.

[Isolani]

I'm not certain, but I think VIP gives access to many of the Monster Manuals as well.

I was VIP for over a decade, but I dropped it when I left the game for about 18 months. I am recently returned (as premium) and I have been running with a TR partner. I noticed I was consistently falling behind in XP compared to my buddy. We tracked the difference down to the fact that he has purchased Monster Manuals and I never did.

Somebody posted once about what percentage of their total xp on a TR life was from Monster Manuals, and it was more than I expected. I forget the exact amount, but it was something like 5%. I know when I do House K faction quests every life, I get quite a lot of MM xp from killing various dwarves. Same for killing Abishai in Grim and Barrett. You don't always notice getting it, but it adds up.

[Isolani]

I'm not certain, but I think VIP gives access to many of the Monster Manuals as well.

I was VIP for over a decade, but I dropped it when I left the game for about 18 months. I am recently returned (as premium) and I have been running with a TR partner. I noticed I was consistently falling behind in XP compared to my buddy. We tracked the difference down to the fact that he has purchased Monster Manuals and I never did.

Since I read your post I have been paying more attention to the MM xp I get. I just did The Final Vintage from Ravenloft saga. I got 19,236 xp for completing the quest. I got 23,117 xp from MM in that quest from killing various plant creatures and oozes. The MM can definitely make a real difference in xp gain in some quests.

Edit: Oh, and yes VIP includes all the Monster Manuals.

[slarden]

Somebody posted once about what percentage of their total xp on a TR life was from Monster Manuals, and it was more than I expected. I forget the exact amount, but it was something like 5%. I know when I do House K faction quests every life, I get quite a lot of MM xp from killing various dwarves. Same for killing Abishai in Grim and Barrett. You don't always notice getting it, but it adds up.

I didn't isolate mm vs. greater tome of learning, but on my loaded premium account running with ftp characters without mm and without tome of learning - when my main was ready to take 20 my ftp accounts were almost ready to take 18.

To fix the problem next life I gave my ftp accounts 10% xp potions from eberron dragonshards and had them take saga rewards as xp once my main was ready to take 20. This seemed to balance it reasonably close.