I'd like to add some information about the referral program here
Perhaps it can be refined and added to your guide!
Around the beginning of July, I decided to come back to City of Heroes in anticipation of the new Freedom transition. I'm one of those players that this free-to-play change is really targeting. I do enjoy the game, but have never been willing/able to pay full price non stop, year after year.
The first thing I did was hit up Twitter and asked around for a referral invite. It took about 30 minutes for me to get one from someone I'd never met. I used the #CityofHeroes hashtag. You can also ask me directly @CandarieHeals, as I now have VIP and of course would be glad to do so.
Paying for the first month cost me $15, and both me and my benefactor received an extra month for doing this. This brings the immediate cost of the first two months to $7.50/ea.
Immediately after getting reactivated, I did the same invite process for my wife. We always enjoy playing together, so this worked out very well. We then paid another $15, and she received 2 months of play and I got an additional bonus month. At this point, I've not paid any more money than I would have paid for two months for myself; so if you have any friends or family to bring with you, this is a real saver.
We paid a total of $30 for 5 months of VIP. This breaks down at this point to an effective $5 per month for myself and $7.50 per month for my wife.
We could have done better however, if we had read this guide first. The guide contains great information on discounted game cards, which can be used for reactivation in this way. However much you saved on the cards themselves would compound this bonus. I am not personally sure if you can use the "old box set" method, but perhaps?
There's alot players coming back to the game these days just like me. Even if you are already a subscriber, you can probably use this technique with anyone you know that might be coming back for Freedom. Hope this can help your pockets!
