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Posts
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Joined
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Thanks a lot for the quick update.
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I want to point out that reward level 5 requires only 27 months, not 33 (9 veteran badges + 2 yearly tokens + 1 token for retail box + 1 free token = 13 required for level 5). So if the OP has been continuously subscribed since the forum registration date, he should be at that level.
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Nyx, I don't want to get into the argument about the game and the store, but I do want to help you find the best way to get that Controller. Though far as I remember you also had IO's on it and had a problem with them getting disabled. But assuming that's somehow solved (you've decided to pay the $2 rental for example), let's see how far you are from unlocking the Controller.
How many reward tokens do you have now? And how many Paragon Points? Each VIP month gives you another token and 400PP, so even if you don't have any PP then after 3 VIP months you should be able to buy the controller without paying extra. -
Exactly. We had to walk dozens on miles on foot, avoiding groups of twenty trolls five levels higher, while Frostfire laughed and laughed at how we couldn't even get to his lair without dying ten times. And then we had to cross chasms and climb mountains, traveling an hour to get to some cave at the other end of The Hollows for a five minute mission. And back, and again, until all we could think of was how much easier it is to die and go to the heaven that was the field hospital. We didn't have these fancy shmancy rocket boards, or those level four travel powers. Back then a Blaster was called a Blaster because we kept saying "blast that stupid game for repeatedly killing me and having mobs with a longer range that even spending ten minutes gaining enough altitude with Hover doesn't protect me."
Ahem. Sorry, I think I went on long enough. -
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Please don't use "CoX Freedom". It's a cool name for a porn movie, but not for an MMO. CoH Freedom is the official name and is fine.
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Quote:The technical problems aren't insurmountable, since they're not much different than going from VIP to Premium (they're a superset, but the basic solution is there). The social aspect is still probably the main issue. However, I agree that this is a service that people would pay for.And just in case the OP was going wondering why the devs aren't going to consider adding this to the game, it's because there are too many things characters have access to that are account specific. Vet/Paragon rewards, power sets, archetypes, Going Rogue, badges, account locked IO's, costume pieces, enhancement trays, salvage slots, market slots, incarnate items, costume slots, etc.
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That's true, but it's not the problem. The problem is that we had to wait until our knees were weak and our hair grey to get them, while they can get them while they're still young and healthy.
(Oops, I guess I did manage to insert some rage time for this into my schedule.) -
But we did get 400 PP both for September and for Head Start, so unless it was a one time bonus there's no reason to believe that the cycle stayed at the beginning of the month. If anything it could be speculated that it's now on the 13th for everyone.
Me, I think it's just some bugs rearing their antennas. There have been quite a few reports of tokens and PP not being awarded. Hopefully this will be corrected soon. -
Far as I remember it was said that the unlocks for Premium and VIP are separate. So if you unlock for Premium you'll still have only 12 slots when going VIP with the global slots returning to being global unless you unlock them specifically.
Let us know how it turns out. -
Quote:It's still $30. $30 gets you all subscriber benefits for two months, including the 800PP (or 1100PP), reward tokens, server transfers, etc. You can't count their costs on top of that, since you don't pay extra for them.in the past, the new subscriber and the referrer got 1 month's time for a total of 30 dollars. If that same system went into place now, it would be 40 dollars because each person gets the equivalent of 400pp for a month's sub too.
As for how much they're giving, all they do is provide an incentive to stay VIP and go VIP. It may have less monetary value than before, but it's not necessary less of an incentive than before.
That they give it only when your friend goes VIP and not for buying points on the market could mean that what some people said before is true: the hope is for Freedom to bring in more subscribers, not that Premium players will bring in the money. This is IMO a mistake for a "free to play" model. On the other hand it could be that this was done simply because it's easier to achieve technically. -
Well, I could rage about it, but if you don't mind I'm rather busy arguing whether the Head Start is a beta, like a beta, or just an illusion meant to make us feel special while free accounts were being activated behind our backs. I do have an opening in my rage schedule in mid-November (17th of November, at 11:20-11:30AM BST, to be exact), so if you want I can schedule some rage for this subject on that date.
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Great ideas all around here. I'll +1 every one of them. Badges for giving to charity NPC's, charity missions, all that stuff is great. A hero really should be able to do such things and not just beat bad guys.
It may be cool if there were some charities created in-game, and the hero could select to donate to specific ones. Then those which get more inf will develop with time into more respectable ones, or possibly into big and corrupt organisations which the hero will then have to fight. -
Quote:I'm sure I'm repeating everyone else (haven't read the thread), but I just find this funny. It's kind of like saying: I rented a PC, installed software on it, how is it fair that I can't use the software I paid for now that I stopped renting the PC?So tell me how is it fair that someone who spent their own money on a service gets that service taken from them just because they aren't paying the 16$ a month.
Getting that content was hinged on paying a subscription fee. CoH Freedom could have easily launched without letting anyone go to their old account for free, just letting them create a limited new free account and upgrade it (in fact, I think it would have been less controversial). You were never promised the ability to play anything for free.
Whether it's a smart thing to give more to free players, or if the game would make more money that way, is a different discussion, and a valid (but moot) point. Being disappointed that certain options aren't available is also fine; I know many returning players are and will be. Regardless of what the devs would give, there will always be those who are disappointed. Still, there aren't any really good arguments that the devs must supply certain features for free. They could give just two AT's for free and make you buy content over level 40 and that would still be something they'd have a right to do.
Quote:So this thread is pretty much pointless whatever we do? I doubt anyone has figured that one out yet...
But other than this, yes, it's pretty much pointless. These forums have seen this discussion several times before, and while I'm not masochistic enough to go over this entire thread I'm sure there's nothing here which hasn't been said before. Even if there was some nugget of gold hidden somewhere inside, I'm sure none of the devs will ever see it, simply because it would be a waste of time for them to read this rehash of previous arguments just for the unlikely possibility of finding it. -
Quote:I don't think there's need to worry about that. First of all, the only people getting most of the game for free are the top tiers, and these are people who have subbed for long or paid a lot on the market. Besides, this model has been tried with a lot of other games. The only thing which differs are the number of restrictions. CoH Freedom is better in some ways and worse in some ways than what other games provide for free.I honestly don't get how anyone can think that all of this should be available to Premiums... Frankly, I am unconvinced that they haven't already offered too much (not sure... not calling doom... I just have to wonder if more people will go premium than expected... I am not planning to, for whatever that is worth).
There will always be some argument about whether Freedom gives too much or two little. It's a matter of your point of view, and as long as the game will make more money than it did before it doesn't matter. The devs will look at the game, see what makes money and what doesn't, and it's entirely possible that a year from now the restrictions will be different. -
All my account pages for Premium/VIP accounts say "Subscription: none". Looks like it's a leftover, since "Account Type: VIP" indicates the difference between subscribed and not.
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In my experience the total paid time is never correct. I think it doesn't consider months from boxes, and maybe has other problems. Judging purely by "paid time" the accounts are 5 months from the end of the year, but judging by badges they would be 1-3 months away.
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Like you Snow Globe and Zombie Man were only going by what devs said. Problem is what devs and reps say doesn't always remain true. It's typically just the plan, and that plan changes with time, or can't be easily implemented as desired, or there are simply bugs, and there's not always an official update regarding the change.
But I agree that I can make it a little clearer what I'm basing the answer on. -
Quote:It's still a good game, and the recent downtime shouldn't be representative, so I think that you all will have fun. So just punish Paragon Studios by having fun for free.I'd so send the invites to friends who used to play, but they are from the EU, so what's the point when Paragon treats us like ****?
I'm happy Freedom is finally released. I'll be waiting for the full release on Tuesday, create a new free account, and play that, because I'm curious how that would be like. I want the full free experience. -
I have two accounts which are near the end of their subscription year. I plan to play premium, but if a month or two of sub will give me another token for the year that may be a good enough excuse for VIP status until then. Is there any way to tell exactly how far I am from the end of the subscription year?
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Quote:The aim of the FAQ is to provide a real world guide to what people can expect, not an idealised one. If what is being applied to accounts is different than what was announced, even if due to bugs, that's what people will see. People who go back to their trial accounts will see four slots, even if this happens not to chime with what we expected. If at any point there will be an update to fix that, then this guide should change, but I can't imagine that happening, and in any case it hasn't yet happened.You can't reliably judge based off of what it says right now; you have to judge based off of what we've been told.
As another example, well respected members of this forum (Snow Globe, Zombie Man) initially claimed that getting a token for the first $5 purchase of points is a bug, or that it won't apply if you already have a token for a retail box. It turned out they were wrong. That wasn't announced, and yet it's the real world situation. That's what people would get, so that's what should be included in guides. -
Quote:This is not entirely accurate, and may be completely wrong. At least the two trial accounts I have were both created after issue 12 and both have 4 slots. As for the GR slots, I remember it said that they could be applied at any time, but of course that may have changed. Have you seen anyone report about this from personal experience? I never trust "common knowledge" because I've already been told wrong things several times by knowledgeable people.You only get 2 global character slot tokens if you applied GR Complete BEFORE I21/Freedom launched Sept 13. Additionally, you get 2 slot tokens if you were subscribed for the launch if Issue 12.
Wiki page on slot tokens:
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Global_Character_Slot_Token
Edit: My currently active account also has 6 global slots, and it has less than a year of total subscription time and GR. It wasn't active during I12. -
I think that game downtime should be compensated with game time, not money equivalent.
While I think compensation would be best, anyone who feels strongly enough about this can drop to Premium for a month or two, play some new characters, and so save the money wasted on this downtime and a little extra. -
Players going from VIP to Premium or returning players will be very interested in which of their characters will be available to play and what the restrictions on them will be. This is unfortunately not documented well enough, so hopefully this FAQ will help people be more prepared for the transition.
Suggestions for improvement and error corrections are welcome.
References:
- This FAQ discusses reward levels (tiers). Check out Snow Globe's great guide for more information about these.
- This FAQ contains prices of some unlocks. For a complete and up to date Paragon Market price list check out Chad Gulzow-Man's spreadsheet.
Unlocking characters
Q: How many characters will I be able to play?
A: The number of character slots you will have as a Premium player is the number of extra slots you had as a subscriber over the normal 12 per server. If you've never redeemed an extra slot, this will be the number of "global slots" listed for your account. The official formula* is: two plus two if you own Going Rogue: Complete plus one per year of previous subscription at the time your account became part of Freedom, plus any character slots you bought. In practice you may get two more slots above that. Slots are purchasable on the Paragon Market. Slots may be used for existing or new characters.
(*) Based on my experience and others', two extra slots may be awarded over what's expected from the official formula. My two trial accounts from 2009 have 4 slots each, for example, and my old Premium accounts also have 2 more. A recently created Premium account has only 2 slots, as expected. It is said that applying Going Rogue no longer adds 2 slots, but I've yet to see a real world account of this.
Q: How will the game select which characters to make available?
A: All characters will be initially locked. You will be able to select which characters to unlock. Simply select to play them and they will be unlocked unless there are other restrictions on them. This choice is permanent until you go back to VIP status.
Q: Will I be able to unlock any character I previously created?
A: No. Only characters with archetypes, powersets and origin available to you as Premium will be unlockable. Origin means that if you have a Praetorian character but don't have Going Rogue or bought the ability to create a Praetorian, that character will not be playable.
Q: Which AT's and powersets will be locked to me?
A: Epic AT's are supposed to be locked, but many players have reported that they are playable. This may be fixed with time, so don't count on it. Controller and Mastermind will be locked if you haven't reached reward level 5. Going Rogue powersets will be locked if you haven't bought Going Rogue. Time Manipulation will be locked.
Q: How can I unlock AT's and powersets?
A: You can buy them on the Paragon Market. Controller and Mastermind will also be unlocked if you reach reward level 5. Note that if you reach reward level 5 after buying these AT's on the market you won't be able to get a refund for them. If you can find a copy of Going Rogue (which is no longer being sold) you can apply the code to the account to get its benefit, including the powersets. The current market prices are 800PP for a powerset, 1000PP for Epic At's, and 1200PP for Mastermind and Controller.
Character abilities
Q: Will the characters remain the same when going Premium?
A: The characters themselves will not change, however some of their abilities may be disabled. Any Incarnate powers will not be usable when playing Premium. In addition, any Invention Origin enhancements will not function unless you have reached reward level 7. The character will function as if there are no enhancements in these slots. Note that if you go back to VIP everything will be re-enabled.
Q: What are my options when the IO's are disabled?
A: The first option is to get to reward level 7. This will permanently unlock IO use and the rest of the invention system. The second option is to buy a 30 day license to the invention system at 160 Paragon Points ($2). The third option is to use normal enchancements (DO's, SO's).
If your character isn't using their second build, you can use that build to create a version of the character for use with normal enhancements, without having to remove the IO's from your main build. For returning players this is a good choice because they will often want to respec anyway, so creating a new build instead will save a respec and will create a newly slottable character without losing the old IO's. There's still the requirement of inf to slot the new build, so that won't work for everyone.
Supergroups
Q: Can I create a supergroup as a Premium player?
A: No. This ability is reserved for VIP players. If you want a supergroup, create it before going Premium.
Q: What will happen to my supergroup if I go Premium?
A: Your supergroup will remain intact.
Q: What will my Premium character be able to do in the supergroup?
A: Your character can be a member or a leader and can recruit others, and can also edit the base. A premium character can't pay base rent.
Note: Officially only VIP players can lead supergroups and Premium players also can't edit the base. Currently it's possible to edit and lead your personal SG, but it may be that in a real SG a VIP player will replace the leader if the leader drops to Premium (I haven't seen reports of that yet). Also, it's possible that the game will be changed to reflect the official line.
Note: This answer is incomplete regarding fully using the base.
Q: What can I do about the base rent?
A: If you have VIP players in the supergroup, they will be able to pay the rent (but may also become leaders). A VIP friend can create a character for the supergroup and help pay the rent. If you're just dropping to Premium for a short while, rent might last long enough. If you plan to play as Premium for an extended period, and want to access the base, a base without rent may be the only solution (I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to).
A base with zero rent will have limited functionality (only teleports, basic reclaimator, a few other things), but can serve as "personal housing" where you can show your design skills and the Paragon Rewards or other base stuff you have.