I'm shocked no one has done this yet.
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Account:
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That is an, AFAIK, exhaustive list of the reasons to be a VIP, or not.
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Originally Posted by ParagonWiki
Accounts have access to a wide variety of game features depending on the type of account, the account's Paragon Rewards status, and any made on the Paragon Market.
For Free All accounts have access to the following core features.
Paragon Rewards, VIP Status The following features can be earned as part of the Paragon Rewards program. Additionally, VIP accounts automatically have access to all of these features.
Paragon Rewards, Paragon Market, VIP Status The following features can be earned as part of the Paragon Rewards program or purchased from the Paragon Market. Additionally, VIP accounts automatically have access to all of these features.
Paragon Market, VIP Status The following features can be purchased from the Paragon Market. Additionally, VIP accounts automatically have access to all of these features.
VIP Status Only The following features are available to VIP accounts. These features are unavailable to Free and Premium accounts.
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@Draeth Darkstar
Virtue [Heroes, Roleplay], Freedom [Villains], Exalted [All Sides, Roleplay]
Code:
I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30)) Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.
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Originally Posted by Draeth Darkstar
VIP Status Only
Priority server queueing |
Maybe this is why, when the servers crashed last week and I logged back in, I saw something like this:
You are 38 of 875 in the queue
I was wondering why I jumped to the head of the queue almost immediately. Seemed weird.
my lil RWZ Challenge vid
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Fair enough. But, clearly, the most important word in that sentence is "I". For a lot of people, once you hit Tier 9, there really is no reason to staying VIP. And, for lots of other people, there's plenty of reason.|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
So...aside from incarnates and SG creation/rent, I see no point.
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I actually like all the incarnate stuff. Also, I have about 35 characters on my home server that I play at least occasionally. On my main account, I take the 12+2 deal every winter. On my second account, it's set to auto-renew at 6-month intervals. It's possible I'll let the 2nd account go Premium once it hits Tier 9 (still over a year away). Or maybe not.
P.S. If anyone is wondering why I don't just get more character slots on my main account - I got the second account long before there was any way to have more than 12 slots per server. And 12 just wasn't enough.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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A new player has never had more. The OP, however, stated he has been around since launch (with some breaks) so he would have a lot more than 2 slots if he went Premium. If I went Premium, my main account would have 34 slots available.
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Originally Posted by Ukaserex
1. Server slots. Whether vip or not, anyone would use up more than 2 slots. I dunno how a freebie can get by with just 2.
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Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Really if you don't feel that VIP is giving you value for it there is no reason you shouldn't drop to premium. Really if that is where you feel your best value is go for it.
That said I've had my account since 2 weeks after launch. And I will be staying VIP for the foreseeable future. But like the Incarnate stuff even though as a primary soloer I don't have lots of access to it. And I love the access to lots and lots alternate characters. Even though I have a fair number of slots available I would lose access to a lot of my characters if I dropped to premium. So for now I'll stay VIP.
But again if you are not feeling that it benefits you don't remain VIP. That is my advice.
But it's MY sadistic mechanical monster and I'm here to make sure it knows it. - Girl Genius
List of Invention Guides
I subscribe for the incarnate system...plain and simple. I love doing almost all the itrials and DA arcs. Before the incarnate system came out I was seriously considering unsubbing completely....
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Originally Posted by Paladiamors
I love you, I Burnt the Toast!
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For me its the character slots. I'm not particularly enamored with incarnates tbh, but I do have a lot of toons. More than 100 level 50's that I wouldn't have access to.
When freebies/preemies whine about not getting everything for free I want to smack them. There is so much content available for free that I often have to remind myself why I pay.
Honestly, if I started playing City Of Heroes today, I would have 50 free accounts with the 2 free toons on each.
________________________________
"Just cause you don't understand what's going on don't mean it don't make no sense
And just cause you don't like it, don't mean it ain't no good" - Suicidal Tendancies
Why do I subscribe as a VIP? Here's my reason:
I really like this game. I've been playing it for a long time, and I want to continue playing it. If the game no longer makes enough money, it will be shut down. Hence, by remaining VIP, I am helping the game I like so much to keep going.
10joy
Do you use the forums a lot? You lose posting priveleges on them (except the four ALL ACCESS areas), and you lose all access to the Beta Forums s its like they don't even exist.
Other than that, everything's been rehashed to death.
What I don't get are the "VIPs are getting ripped off!" sentiment that a few people have expressed. I play a LOT. Probably more than the average player. 100 hours/month is a totally believable estimate. That means I pay $0.15/hour I'm playing the game. I've heard of some people who play 5 hours every day. That's $0.015/hour. If you are super mega casual and only play 1 hour a day, only on Saturday and Sunday, you're still not even paying $2.00/hour.
I don't know about anyone else, but when I was a kid, and I went to the arcade, I'd cram $5 or more per hour into those machines (holy crap! Was I really feeding them $20-50 every month?). As a teenager buying console and computer games, I'd drop $40-80 a month on new games - most of which are still sitting - uncompleted - on my shelves 10+ years later. Now, I pay $15 a month, and once every 3-4 months throw them an extra $50 for some extra points.
Now that I think about it, I *am* getting ripped off! All the other VIPs are getting a free shaft, and I've never received mine! That's it, I quit until I get personally shafted by each and every one of the devs!
@Roderick
@Hopeling
On your points, you neglected to consider so things...such as tier 9 would mean your widow would be unlocked. Also, by prepaying a year, you still wait on reward tokens, by spending the $15 monthly on points, you get tokens each month.
And then you forgot to consider the vet costumes and the packs you bought before Freedom. In my case, I had all but the wedding pack.
And...although as a VIP you have more slots available...you still have to spend points to unlock them.
And then consider this...buying the items unlocks them permanently, whereas prepaying a year only unlocks them for 14 months.
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10 slots of you only play on a single server. Many more if you play on multiple servers. |
Originally Posted by Atomic_Avenger
As I understand it your only benefits as a VIP over a Premium Tier 9 player are:
~550 Points for "free". ~Access to Incarnate content and abilities. ~Ability to pay for the upkeep on your SG base. ~Additional award token per month which can be used to purchase the repeatable rewards. |
Elec Control, dark control, demons, several other sets.
I think some costume sets, but can't be sure.
You could purchase all those things, but it is a non-trivial amount - especially if you have characters on multiple servers.
A key point many here are missing...my original question was whether, at tier 9, it is worth being VIP, or better to buy points with that $15 per month.
Buying the points would get over 14,400 points over 12 months...as opposed to 6,300 with VIP.
You would have all the costume packs you bought before freedom...the mutant, science etc.
You would have 12 paragon tokens to use...same as VIP.
Server transfers? I bought 6 a while back..and still have 5.
BIG ALSO:
VIPs cannot buy items on sale that normally come free as a VIP perk...so you cannot plan ahead.
BUT MOST ALSO GLANCED OVER THE SOLUTION I OFFERED.
Give VIPs a 50% discount on the market. It would instantly justify the cost...even if it were given in the form of a discount ticket that could only be used once per month.
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That's what the 400 points a month is. One you can save up, even.
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Originally Posted by American_Angel
Give VIPs a 50% discount on the market. It would instantly justify the cost...even if it were given in the form of a discount ticket that could only be used once per month.
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Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
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Those big numbers are nice and all, but when a new update comes around, I don't see $15 of points paying for everything that a VIP might get for free, along with whatever other stuff nobody gets for free, plus other stuff that you haven't gotten yet and want. You'll be playing a perpetual game of keep up.|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
A key point many here are missing...my original question was whether, at tier 9, it is worth being VIP, or better to buy points with that $15 per month.
Buying the points would get over 14,400 points over 12 months...as opposed to 6,300 with VIP. |
Also, you still won't have access to incarnates. If that matters.
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There are NO Tier-based unlocks for Epic Archetypes. EATs are (officially) unlocked ONLY by being a VIP or paying for their unlock. I say "officially" because there's a bug that unlocks them on some Premium accounts, however there is no guarantee that you will be affected by it, so until you know for sure, someone planning to drop to Premium should budget for EAT unlocks if they have EATs they want to retain access to.
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Originally Posted by American_Angel
tier 9 would mean your widow would be unlocked.
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@Roderick
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Your solution doesn't include access to the incarnate content. For a lot of people, that's a deal-breaker. It's not that we ignored your comments, it's just that many people (of which I am one) have reasons to stay VIP that outweigh all of your points.
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Originally Posted by American_Angel
BUT MOST ALSO GLANCED OVER THE SOLUTION I OFFERED.
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Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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I think A_A wants the discount in addition to the stipend.
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Originally Posted by Rajani Isa
That's what the 400 points a month is. One you can save up, even.
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That's because it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
BUT MOST ALSO GLANCED OVER THE SOLUTION I OFFERED.
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If people feel that access to VIP only features is worth $15 a month (or $10 on a yearly plan), then they can pay the sub and use the features.
If people feel that access to VIP only features isn't worth the price of the sub, then they can drop to Premium and use the money for Paragon Points.
That's a choice we have now that we didn't have before Freedom. The fact that some people choose one option and some the other doesn't mean that the choices are broken in some way. In fact, there's very little point in offering a choice if everyone chooses the same option.
If you, personally, don't feel that the sub is good value, then stop paying it and switch to Premium instead. That's why Premium is there -- to give you the choice.
Arc#314490: Zombie Ninja Pirates!
Defiant @Grouchybeast
Death is part of my attack chain.
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I was going to respond, but Tony pretty much did it for me. As others have stated, I find VIP a remarkably good value for my entertainment dollar. I find market prices fair for most items and if they aren't, I simply don't buy them. I also am invested in the longevity of the game and am willing to pay to help ensure it.|
Originally Posted by TonyV
Ultimately, you have to decide as an individual whether or not being VIP or being premium is the best way to go.
Personally, I'm a VIP because of two reasons. The first one is the price point is actually very worthwhile when you subscribe during the holiday stea-- er, I mean, deal. Subscribing that way, the average monthly cost is just over $10, which is exceptional in my opinion. The second one, and I know a bunch of people won't feel this way but oh well, I do, is showing loyalty to the game, its developers, and its publisher. I think they do a great job--much moreso than most game companies. I want them to keep doing so for a long, long time, and I know that to do so, they have to have a continuous stream of income. I know this sounds corny, but I'd feel a bit guilty about enjoying the game as much as I do without shelling out something for it. That's how I roll. I'm also the guy who shelled out for shareware back in the day, even for (especially for) software that you could use indefinitely for "free" without nag screens and such. Even paying the bare minimum subscription fee I can get away with by taking advantage of the holiday deal, I still spend probably way more than my fair share in the Paragon Market. Not because I'm such an über-powergamer (if you saw me play, you'd know), but because I want to say, "Hey, this is cool, nice job!" And more selfishly, "Keep making more stuff!" Now don't get me wrong, I don't feel like I throw money foolishly at the game. I do take advantage of any discounts I can get (like the aforementioned holiday discount, and sales on the market). On the other hand, I also spend what some might consider a crazy amount on hosting the Titan Network sites, which I'm doing semi-selfishly for the purpose of learning and hanging out with cool smart people, and some of which is offset by very cool people making donations. At any rate, I can't imagine canceling my VIP subscription anytime soon. Yeah, the Incarnate stuff is nice, as well as the store stipend and Paragon Tokens and the bonus access to stuff I'd otherwise have to pay for. I really do feel that is reason enough to subscribe. If you don't, fair enough. But this is also a seven-plus-year hobby I've invested in that I like quite a bit, and that counts for a lot, too. |
PS - I'm also proud to be a very cool person that Tony alluded to! Thanks Titan Net!
Justice Superteamer
Current Project - Water Blast Superteam starting Friday, 7/20/2012.
Come out and join us Fri/Sun 8pm ET on the "Justice Superteamers" channel.
All players welcome!
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Definitely a very cool person! |
Originally Posted by Big_King
PS - I'm also proud to be a very cool person that Tony alluded to! Thanks Titan Net!
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Oh, and to anyone who has a VIP subscription and is thinking of dropping down to premium, if this matters to you, I'd suggest hanging on to it at least one more month.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
A_A, this entire thread highlights why the entire Freedom package is a good thing. You now have an option for how much you want to pay, and for what content you want to pay for. Before Freedom, you either had to subscribe, or not play at all.
Whether you go VIP or Premium is entirely up to your own personal playstyle, and there's really not much we can do to say one way is better than the other. Only you can make that call. The pros/cons have already been enumerated by others.
It being your choice also means that if others want to play as a VIP (like me), they made the right decision for them. Incarnates, being able to post in the entire Forums, etc, are all important enough to pay the monthly sub, and that decision is neither good nor bad.
Loose --> not tight.
Lose --> Did not win, misplace, cannot find, subtract.
One extra 'o' makes a big difference.
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VIPs get 12 slots per server as part of their subscription. I currently have 75+ characters and I have never spent cash or points to unlock a single slot on my VIP account. But if I went premium, I would have to pay through the nose to unlock the slots to play all those characters. For those who only play a handful of characters, this isn't a problem. But for those of us with serious altitis, it can be a major issue--that's the main reason why I keep my VIP status.
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Originally Posted by American_Angel
And...although as a VIP you have more slots available...you still have to spend points to unlock them.
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I was re-reading the thread and noticed this, and just realized how ridiculous a proposition this is.|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
But, there is a possible solution...give VIPs a 50% discount in the store. That way, our messely 400 points would be enough to buy things like Beast Mastery. It would still give reason to remain VIP.
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Right now, the best deal you can get on points is the $100 dollar bundle. Anyone, VIP or not, can buy this and get $120 worth of points.
Under this suggestion, a Premium could spend $100 and get $120 worth of points. Or they could spend $15 to become VIP, getting $5 worth of points in the process, and then add the $100 and get $120 worth on top, totalling $125 worth of points for $115. BUT WAIT! Because they're VIP, everything is half price, so you've just given them $250 worth of buying power for $115! Yeah... not a good idea.
@Roderick
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I did not consider those things because they are all false and/or irrelevant.|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
@Hopeling
On your points, you neglected to consider so things...such as tier 9 would mean your widow would be unlocked. Also, by prepaying a year, you still wait on reward tokens, by spending the $15 monthly on points, you get tokens each month. And then you forgot to consider the vet costumes and the packs you bought before Freedom. In my case, I had all but the wedding pack. And...although as a VIP you have more slots available...you still have to spend points to unlock them. And then consider this...buying the items unlocks them permanently, whereas prepaying a year only unlocks them for 14 months. |
Tier 9 does not unlock EATs, as Roderick said, unless I happen to be one of those who benefit from the bug. Since I cannot guarantee that, and it's a bug anyway and thus ripe to get fixed in the future, I feel pretty safe in assuming I would have to pay to retain access to my Widow. Discount the cost of the AT by, say, half (which is probably very generous) if you want to account for that possibility; VIP still ends up ahead.
Paying a sub and getting a reward token every month is the same as spending $15/mo on points and getting a reward token every month, as far as reward tokens are concerned. In my comparison I was talking about the 12+2 deal vs buying large point bundles, so the points would get me the tokens up front, but since I'm already tier 9, that isn't much of an advantage. I will have exactly as much use for Enhancement Boosters later this year as I have for them now.
I have also bought lots of costume packs that I would retain if I dropped to Premium. That's why I did not name any of them. I specifically named only Imperial Defense and Olympian Guard, which have both been included in my VIP subscription, and so I have never purchased them, and would have to if I dropped to premium and wanted to use them.
As a VIP, I could potentially unlock up to 48 slots instead of 36, but I'm not using anywhere near 36 slots, so that's a non-issue. I'm talking specifically only about the 19 slots I already have unlocked right now. If I dropped to Premium, I'd lose some of them, and would have to pay to unlock them.
It is true that, when the 14 months ends, I'd have to pay for VIP again, while as Premium I'd keep everything. But in those 14 months, many new things will also have been added that are included in the subscription, which I would have to buy as a premium. And frankly, considering how both the game and my own situation and interests change over time, I cannot say with much confidence whether I'll even be here more than 14 months in the future.
So, I stand by my first post in this thread: in terms of just keeping the stuff I already have, VIP is a better buy for foreseeable future, and also includes several things that I cannot buy as a premium for any amount of points.
If you don't care for the VIP features and would rather have extra points, great, more power to you. That is the point of premium accounts. But you should actually sit down and compare what you'd lose and how much it would cost to re-purchase those things, including how you'd buy points ($15/mo? One large bundle every six months?) and how you'd pay for VIP (1 month at a time? 6? The 12+2 deal?) because VIP really might be a better deal.
I find myself asking the same question sometimes. Especially when I roll an alt and not doing incarnate content.
But, I think whether one stays vip or not hinges primarily on a few things.
1. Server slots. Whether vip or not, anyone would use up more than 2 slots. I dunno how a freebie can get by with just 2.
2. Incarnate content. Beating on a bar of hp is simplistic. There's absolutely nothing challenging about any of the content prior to incarnate stuff. Even at +4, it's just a question of kill the npc before it kills you. There are no obstacles, nothing special about it, not when compared to the MoM or UGT.
3. Limitations - As VIP, there's nothing you're not allowed to play. You get everything. You don't have to deal with not being able to team with friends because they're vip and you're not and they felt like running some DA arcs.
Like the others have said, it's up to you. Maybe it would be worth your while to drop to premium for a month and see if you miss being VIP. You can always resub.
"Most people that have no idea what they are doing have no idea that they don't know what they are doing." - John Cleese
@Ukase