Okay...not trolling here...serious hehe.
Fact: You get free months of gameplay with some of the pledge levels.
Fact: The lowest levels (up to 10 I heard) are free to play.
Fact: Pantheon will be tough, and levels (maybe not even the low levels) will not fall like rain from the sky.
So my question is, do you have an educated guess on just how long it will take for someone to get to level 11?
I seem to remember Everquest taking me at least a month in 1999 to get to level 10.
I'm about to pony up a grand for free months I'd get for free anyway LOL.
Again, not trolling...I'm just an Engineer who nitpicks hehe.
That definitely depends on your own personal game time corpserunner. What would take you a month to do , could only take a week for that person who has all the time in the world to sit and grind xp. I am glad that VR has made it a point to not leave out those who are limited by time
Kelem said:That definitely depends on your own personal game time corpserunner. What would take you a month to do , could only take a week for that person who has all the time in the world to sit and grind xp. I am glad that VR has made it a point to not leave out those who are limited by time
Yeah, there is literally no real answer to this question, as it varies so greatly. Not to mention the fact that even just the sheer amount of XP required will probably change at some point in between now and launch.
The least amount of months included in a pledge is 3. Three months is a pretty long time tbh. Idk what your personal situation is, but I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that most people will be able to reach level 11 within 3 months. Well, let me put it this way - even if you only play 10 hours/wk, thats 120 hours over 3 months. If, in testing, it takes more than 120 hours to reach level 11, I'd personally write up a suggestion that initial progression is too slow. But that's just my opinion. My memory is obviously a little fuzzy cause it was 18 years ago, but I don't even think original EQ took that long to get 11. Just think about how long 3 months is lol.
Hmm because the contribution is in the hundreds / thousands, it may be worth considering if the extra game time (not the one month included with the base game) can be given as game time tokens (or equivalent)... so that you can apply the game time at your choosing.
However, I'm not sure how many people would use it in this manner - or the potential issues that would arise from people selling the game time tokens to other players, etc.
The more I think about it, the more I think it's probably a bad idea.
I might be wrong but what a lot of MMOs do during the free trial period of say levels 1 - 10 is to restrict what you can do in-game such as saying you can't talk in certain chat channels to remove the possibility of chat spam or they might restrict the ability of characters to trade with each other to try and stop gold sellers and they might not let you join or guild or something like that so I would imagine the free game time in Pantheon would start from level 1 so none of the pledgers have to put up with those restrictions.
At least that is the way I'd do it. Giving people free accounts for level 1 - 10 can result in a lot of people trolling and the devs of Pantheon might want to try and restrict free accounts to stop that from happening. So yeah having your free game start immediately would have some benefits.
To clarify;
We have not set a free trial level yet, it will probably be timed for 7-14 days with some restrictions in place to make the rest of the community are able to still enjoy their game and not be spammed, plus we want to minimise gold farmers and troll accounts etc.
The pledge free month is completely different and unrestricted, the first month free (depending which pledge you choose, some have more), so it is worth its reward right there, plus you get all of the in-game items, rewards etc. and can play from level 1 to whatever you make it too in 30 days (which is completely up to how often you play within that month) before your sub will kick in, so they are really two different things completely.
Once the free trial is up, that is it, no more extensions, you either pay a sub or remain locked out of the servers forever.
The free month is connected to everyone's pledge/account at our admin level so there won;t be any codes or transfers etc. once you log in you either start a free restricted timed trial, level cap or both or you enjoy the benefit of an unrestricted first free month from a pledge with other rewards associated with whichever pledge you purchase. :)
Hopefully, that helps explain it a bit better! But they are completely different from each other and not in competition or eating into your free time by any means. :)
Kilsin said:To clarify;
We have not set a free trial level yet, it will probably be timed for 7-14 days with some restrictions in place to make the rest of the community are able to still enjoy their game and not be spammed, plus we want to minimise gold farmers and troll accounts etc.
The pledge free month is completely different and unrestricted, the first month free (depending which pledge you choose, some have more), so it is worth its reward right there, plus you get all of the in-game items, rewards etc. and can play from level 1 to whatever you make it too in 30 days (which is completely up to how often you play within that month) before your sub will kick in, so they are really two different things completely.
Once the free trial is up, that is it, no more extensions, you either pay a sub or remain locked out of the servers forever.
The free month is connected to everyone's pledge/account at our admin level so there won;t be any codes or transfers etc. once you log in you either start a free restricted timed trial, level cap or both or you enjoy the benefit of an unrestricted first free month from a pledge with other rewards associated with whichever pledge you purchase. :)
Hopefully, that helps explain it a bit better! But they are completely different from each other and not in competition or eating into your free time by any means. :)
Thanks for the clarification. Having a free trial period is great but unfortunately is does bring in some undesirable players at times so I'm glad there will be some restrictions in place to stop the worst offenders.
Kilsin said:To clarify;
We have not set a free trial level yet, it will probably be timed for 7-14 days with some restrictions in place to make the rest of the community are able to still enjoy their game and not be spammed, plus we want to minimise gold farmers and troll accounts etc.
The pledge free month is completely different and unrestricted, the first month free (depending which pledge you choose, some have more), so it is worth its reward right there, plus you get all of the in-game items, rewards etc. and can play from level 1 to whatever you make it too in 30 days (which is completely up to how often you play within that month) before your sub will kick in, so they are really two different things completely.
Once the free trial is up, that is it, no more extensions, you either pay a sub or remain locked out of the servers forever.
The free month is connected to everyone's pledge/account at our admin level so there won;t be any codes or transfers etc. once you log in you either start a free restricted timed trial, level cap or both or you enjoy the benefit of an unrestricted first free month from a pledge with other rewards associated with whichever pledge you purchase. :)
Hopefully, that helps explain it a bit better! But they are completely different from each other and not in competition or eating into your free time by any means. :)
This may be answered elsewhere already but, so it sounds like (as standard) every purchased copy of the game comes with the first 30 days free. So the question then is the pledges that include free months of game time, would they be tacked on after the first month that comes with the game purchase or are they including that in the count. For example the Champion pledges include 3 months of game time. So are you getting a total of 4 months free or 3 (effectively loosing that free 30days included with purchase)
When you are making a pledge like that, what does it matter saving 15 bucks. At that point you are supporting the game and IMO thats the best thing you can do with games you love. @Kilsin I would also like to make a request. Trial accounts should have their own Q for logging in. Paying accounts should get priority.
What Nanfoodle just said (as others have also said before, of course).
The game time that comes with the pledges is nice but if what you want is game time save your money and buy it when the game comes out. It will cost far less.
The reason to pledge is to support the development of Pantheon and, depending on the pledge level, the other perks that you won't be able to buy at release.
We have not set a free trial level yet, it will probably be timed for 7-14 days with some restrictions in place to make the rest of the community are able to still enjoy their game and not be spammed, plus we want to minimise gold farmers and troll accounts etc
Maybe they can make trial accounts unable to trade money/items to other players. You will only be able to buy from npc vendors. that way they can control the amount of money the gold farmers will be able to get thru free accounts. Once you sub to the game the restrictions are lifted.
And if possible maybe the games free 30 day period will start after the level limit for free trial is over. But it should include the restrictions that all free trials get. I am not sure how it works but I know they can restrict the ip adresses to one account if possuble. So maybe restrict the ip addresses to one free trial. It will keep people from just playing free trials one after another. If you want to try multiple classes/races then do it in the 7-14 days you have. Or sub. That way you can make as many alts as slots allow.
As I remember it with Vanguard, you had to buy the game and enter that validation code for lack of a better description and that started your 30 day free trial period. Because I was in late alpha/early beta of Vanguard I was given another code to enter once that 30 day trial ended to get my specified amount of free game time. For me it was 2 months because of helping with some minor bugs/login issues but I digress. I suspect that RotF will be much the same way as Vangaurd was. IF you have pledged/helped/earned free game time in addition to the 30 day trial that you get when you buy the game you will be given a validation code specifically designated for your account and you must specify which account you are going to use the code on if you have multiple accounts. Then after that specified amount of time is gone you have to pay the subscription rate that you qualify for. Again I reiterate that I suspect that RotF will be a LOT like Vanguard was when it came to free time and rewards system.
jimm0thy said:Kilsin said:To clarify;
We have not set a free trial level yet, it will probably be timed for 7-14 days with some restrictions in place to make the rest of the community are able to still enjoy their game and not be spammed, plus we want to minimise gold farmers and troll accounts etc.
The pledge free month is completely different and unrestricted, the first month free (depending which pledge you choose, some have more), so it is worth its reward right there, plus you get all of the in-game items, rewards etc. and can play from level 1 to whatever you make it too in 30 days (which is completely up to how often you play within that month) before your sub will kick in, so they are really two different things completely.
Once the free trial is up, that is it, no more extensions, you either pay a sub or remain locked out of the servers forever.
The free month is connected to everyone's pledge/account at our admin level so there won;t be any codes or transfers etc. once you log in you either start a free restricted timed trial, level cap or both or you enjoy the benefit of an unrestricted first free month from a pledge with other rewards associated with whichever pledge you purchase. :)
Hopefully, that helps explain it a bit better! But they are completely different from each other and not in competition or eating into your free time by any means. :)
This may be answered elsewhere already but, so it sounds like (as standard) every purchased copy of the game comes with the first 30 days free. So the question then is the pledges that include free months of game time, would they be tacked on after the first month that comes with the game purchase or are they including that in the count. For example the Champion pledges include 3 months of game time. So are you getting a total of 4 months free or 3 (effectively loosing that free 30days included with purchase)
We have still yet to decide how we will manage pure game purchases when we launch the game if they do come with 30 days free then that is all they will get as the pledges are separate and have their own rewards. Some Champions pledges, for instance, have 90 days (3 months) but the game time is already included with other rewards in your pledge so it doesn;t get an extra 30 days on top of that my friend.
Kilsin said:We have still yet to decide how we will manage pure game purchases when we launch the game if they do come with 30 days free then that is all they will get as the pledges are separate and have their own rewards. Some Champions pledges, for instance, have 90 days (3 months) but the game time is already included with other rewards in your pledge so it doesn;t get an extra 30 days on top of that my friend.
So those of us with Champion or VIP pledges will have some game time included (3months - lifetime) however those with Supporter pledges get no game time included and need to pay for the sub right from day 1? Sorry if I'm making this confusing, just think it should be clarified as I'm sure everyone is used to MMOs coming with a free 30days. I'm currently at Champion and debating VIP, but also assumed Supporter and anyone post launch buying the game would get 30days free. While it's not a big deal, following that thought process I did assume that the 3 months game subscription that is included with the Champion teir pledges would start after the industry standard free 30days for new accounts.
If you're considering pledging $1000 to a game in pre-pre-alpha, yet 15 dollars a month is also a concern, you may want to reconsider the prudency of becoming a VIP in the first place. Pledge what you're able to reasonably afford without putting yourself into credit card debt, because you believe in and want to see the product become a reality, not because you're trying to squeeze every last ounce of value per dollar from advertised pledge levels.
Lokispawn said:If you're considering pledging $1000 to a game in pre-pre-alpha, yet 15 dollars a month is also a concern, you may want to reconsider the prudency of becoming a VIP in the first place. Pledge what you're able to reasonably afford without putting yourself into credit card debt, because you believe in and want to see the product become a reality, not because you're trying to squeeze every last ounce of value per dollar from advertised pledge levels.
Has nothing to do with $15/month being a concern. It has to do with does the game come with the industry standard free 30days. Every pledge tier comes with 2 copies, I plan on giving the second copy to my wife. I assumed she could play for a month without paying, to decide if its to her liking. If not then she may as well simply do the free trial portion first, and since I doubt you can have a free trial on your account after you register a copy of the game, its good information to have ahead of time. Never once did I say anything about the monthly subscription fee being an issue.
jimm0thy said:Has nothing to do with $15/month being a concern. It has to do with does the game come with the industry standard free 30days. Every pledge tier comes with 2 copies, I plan on giving the second copy to my wife. I assumed she could play for a month without paying, to decide if its to her liking. If not then she may as well simply do the free trial portion first, and since I doubt you can have a free trial on your account after you register a copy of the game, its good information to have ahead of time. Never once did I say anything about the monthly subscription fee being an issue.
Sorry bro, I was responding to the original post, not you. I didn't make that clear, my bad.
Lokispawn said:jimm0thy said:Has nothing to do with $15/month being a concern. It has to do with does the game come with the industry standard free 30days. Every pledge tier comes with 2 copies, I plan on giving the second copy to my wife. I assumed she could play for a month without paying, to decide if its to her liking. If not then she may as well simply do the free trial portion first, and since I doubt you can have a free trial on your account after you register a copy of the game, its good information to have ahead of time. Never once did I say anything about the monthly subscription fee being an issue.
Sorry bro, I was responding to the original post, not you. I didn't make that clear, my bad.
np, jumped the gun on that response myself
Rocon said:Does the 2nd account also get the free 6 months? You guys are confusing me.
No. On the Pledge page it says, "Pledges with multiple copies of the game receive listed rewards on one account only."
jimm0thy said:Kilsin said:We have still yet to decide how we will manage pure game purchases when we launch the game if they do come with 30 days free then that is all they will get as the pledges are separate and have their own rewards. Some Champions pledges, for instance, have 90 days (3 months) but the game time is already included with other rewards in your pledge so it doesn;t get an extra 30 days on top of that my friend.
So those of us with Champion or VIP pledges will have some game time included (3months - lifetime) however those with Supporter pledges get no game time included and need to pay for the sub right from day 1? Sorry if I'm making this confusing, just think it should be clarified as I'm sure everyone is used to MMOs coming with a free 30days. I'm currently at Champion and debating VIP, but also assumed Supporter and anyone post launch buying the game would get 30days free. While it's not a big deal, following that thought process I did assume that the 3 months game subscription that is included with the Champion teir pledges would start after the industry standard free 30days for new accounts.
As I said in my quoted post, we are not sure how we will handle basic game purchases yet or if they will get game time or not. So far we only give that to pledge holders.