Looking to venture into DDO for the first time...

[Tramp Stamp]

I am looking at the different packs available on Steam, but I have a few questions. They all seem to have different items in them, are they basically just different tiers of awards you can buy, or if I bought the one that is $49.99 does it include all the expansions, etc that the others have?

Just trying to figure out which one is best for a new player, any help would be greatly appreciated :-)

[殺してあげる]

Focusing on 'expansions', and not packs, as I don't think Steam lets you buy Adventure Packs, only the two expansions, and a variant on Catacombs.


For a NEW player? Kinda would say 'none of them'. Underdark is pretty much all level 20+ content, and Shadowfell is 16+ content.

Unless you've an urge for rolling an iconic character (level 15 start, first level pre-chosen, a thematic character), Shadowfell doesn't offer you anything at low to mid levels. Underdark at best offers a few challenges (special quests) that can be ran at 15, but mostly impacts (heavily mind you) at level 20.

I'd suggest: 1-buy when on sale, and 2-buy from turbine direct (because of said sale, and more clarity in what they offer).

http://store.turbine.com/store/turbine/en_US/list/categoryID.58516100/ThemeID.29252200

[Tramp Stamp]

Thank you so much for the response, I will wait until they go on sale then. Thanks again!

[殺してあげる]

For record: sales range from 20~35% off, sometimes half-off, and Black Friday and such? 75%.

So buying the full blown out versions at 75% off is still far cheaper than getting basics now, and if you have no need for it *now*...

http://www.ddo.com/en/store is pretty much what you keep an eye on. Or just hit the dev tracker[www.ddo.com].

There is a twitter but unless it's glitching it's a year out of date?


EDIT: cheaper, not cheater. =P

[Doug]

Tramp, not sure of the thrust of your question, because I haven't looked at DDO's current offers, but your basic choices are VIP (subscription), Premium (purchase stuff a la carte), or F2P (work to earn stuff in-game). The exception is the two expansions, which everyone has to buy (even VIP's). If you spend RL$$ even one time, you get defined as Premium and get some permanent benefits (check the details here: http://ddowiki.com/page/Account_comparisons ).

If DDO is currently offering a for-purchase starter pack, that would skip F2P and make you Premium. Then you would decide whether to subscribe or not from there.

[Doug]

Oh, and when it comes to the two expansions, you can buy them in-game using Turbine Points or from the DDO store using $$. The in-game version is generally minimalist. The DDO store can carry multiple versions with interesting perks. But in any event, I wouldn't buy EITHER of them until you have run at least one toon to L20. By then you'll have a better idea of the value of what they offer and/or be able to ask better questions about them.

[Edit] Just for clarity: The expansions are named "Shadowfell Conspiracy" (SC) and "Menace of the Underdark" MotU. Each comes in more than one version with different perks. Some of said perks on the higher-tier versions can become very valuable as they affect every toon you ever make on your account on any and all servers. OTOH, if you're a one-toon kind of person, that value is less as well.

[Doug]

Just looked at the store. As I see it, your two major options for initial purchase are a VIP time code which gets you a discount on the monthly subscription rate for "buying in bulk". or the $9.99 starter pack, which probably IS worth the price, both for what it contains and for the account upgrade to Premium which will come with it. However, if you intend to subscribe, its value is MUCH reduced, and I wouldn't bother.

[Doug]

And one last thing: VIP subscription doesn't show up on the sales page. If you elect to subscribe, create your account and then sign in with it at myaccount.turbine.com (or create it there). Then under the "Subscriptions" area, click "Get Unlimited Access" and select your preferred subscription plan.

[gamingforfun]

As Doug mentioned, the DDOWiki is a good resource and a great place to start for new players. There is also ddocentral.com.

[Running-Target]

I do not suggest buying anything from Steam store for DDO, since there is always trouble with that system and no sales. Best to go direct to Turbine, Turbine has many sales for it's quest packs. The only thing Steam sells for DDO is the 2 expansion packs and a variant of Catacombs with some players gear.