Money can't buy everything (if you're not subbed)

[Xev]

Is this true?

So here it is 6 months later and I'm still playing CO...

I want to check out The Secret World, STO & NWO and I would like to revisit Conan and DCUO and I wouldn't even mind checking in on WoW. I even sent Blizzard some dough ($5 incl/shipping..) for their War Chest or whatever it was, only to find out, that even with the CD's, I still had to download the ennnntire 18 bazziliabyte client.

So here it is 6 months later and I'm still playing CO.


What is there that a sub or a LTS offers, that I can't buy?

I can buy FF slots, AT slots, Bank slots, Bag slots, Powers, Hideouts..

Can I buy something that lets me sell something in the Auction Exchange for > 250g?
I can't buy anything that gives me color customization with my powers, huh?


Is there any other gameplay type capability that I can't buy if I'm not subbed?

[Xev]

The reason I'm asking is that I'm thinking about either making a cookie jar for a LTS, or, buying pieces of one via the Z-Store with cash and in-game farming as I go.

I'm not in any hurry, either. I mean I like CO and all obviously but I'm not real demanding on it either. I'm already getting about all I want out of the game.

But it has been 6 months.... So, I'm starting to think about the future of this account and what I want to do with it. I think I won't spend cash for an account that has a 250G limit, for example.

[PunkusJR]

Subs can carry more gold, and can tint their powers.

But whether or not you should buy things out right or sub is based on how much you play. Just going off of free form slots alone, If you were to pay $15 each month and you play for less than four months you'd be better off subscribing for the freeform slot. But that's assuming that you only want one freeform character. If you want two characters than you're better off subscribing until you reach seven months of playing. And that's just assuming you pay each month, which is the most expensive way. But let's say you want to use all eight slots you get for subscribing. That would be 400 dollars to buy the freeform slots. 400 divided by 15 (The price of subbing if you pay by the month) is 26.6 repeating. So unless you know for a fact you're going to be playing for more that 26 months, subscribing is your better deal. And this is only including the freeform characters you can make, if you factor in all the other stuff you get for subscribing that you can also buy (Like the fact that you get a free slot for every 40 you make, or the monthly stipend) it's even a longer amount of time that you would have to play for buying stuff outright to be more cost effective than subscribing. (if you keep making 40s subbing quickly becomes the better deal.)

In short, unless you're going to be playing an unrealistically long time, buying certain things is a rip off vs. subscribing. I'm also an idiot cause I bought a freeform slot. :/ Then again, there were people that played city for 8 years (myself included) and people that will probably be playing WOW even longer. So it really depends. But that whole unlocking a slot for every 40 you get makes subbing potentially being infinitely more cost effective. . . unless there is a limit on how many slots an account can have. (the gold versus silver page on the CO website doesn't list it)

(( btw, if you were buying 6 months at a time of subscription (the cheapest) it's if you play more that 30 months it's more cost effective for just the 8 starting freeform slots ))

Also a lot of this math is just rounding.

[Xev]

I'm thinking I might just be happy to have like 3 or 4 FF slots and like 6 AT slots.

When the next sale hits the Z-Store I should have enough Zen to get my account to 6 AT slots and 1 FF slot and a hideout.

By the time I level the 2 new AT slots and the FF slot, I should have enough Zen to get another FF slot, and, maybe I even buy a FF slot, so now I have 6 AT slots and 3 FF slots and a hideout. Pretty decent.

I'll probably want at least 1 more FF slot but I should have enough saved for that by the time I level my 2 new FF slots, and get everyone geared.


I thought there was no way to lift the 250G cap. That would have been a deal breaker.


The no-power tinting thing *does* suck, but, I think I can get over that, and, they may just offer power tinting in the Z-Store someday too.

[PunkusJR]

Yea, Subs, according to the CO site, cap at 200k gold And like I said, it depends on how long you plan on playing. ^^

[SARobb]

The no-power tinting thing *does* suck, but, I think I can get over that, and, they may just offer power tinting in the Z-Store someday too.

I seem to recall a game near and dear to us all that for the longest time we couldn't tint our powers... 

[PunkusJR]

I seem to recall a game near and dear to us all that for the longest time we couldn't tint our powers... 

heh, I remember when that was announced. =w= good memories.

[Xev]

Oops I think I skimmed too quick earlier..

If I'm not subbed, there is no way to lift the 250g cap at the Auction Exchange, right?

I plan on playing until they shut the servers down. CO may not always be my main game but it is now and it will always be a backup.

[PunkusJR]

Oops I think I skimmed too quick earlier..

If I'm not subbed, there is no way to lift the 250g cap at the Auction Exchange, right?

I plan on playing until they shut the servers down. CO may not always be my main game but it is now and it will always be a backup.

To my knowledge, no, there isn't. And I see. ^^ I mainly did that math for myself when I read your topic. I said to myself, "Sure you can buy most of it, but which one is more cost effective?" So I wanted to see xD

[Brou]

My advice is wait a few more weeks. We might... might get an LTS sale. The LTS sale is a whimsical unicorn.

[Xev]

Hehe it's laundry/chore day, sorry 'bout skim-mode.

Well, I was thinking.. I like playing AT's to learn more about power/ss combos. 6 slots is decent to do that with and if I really need more.. I Could break down and use my second account.

Meanwhile, having 4 mains is usually plenty.. The FF slots could be main/main alts.

These guys would always be here, no sub required.

It kinda sucks to not have power tint, when I could have it. And it definitely sucks to have the 250G limit, that I can generally get around, but it still sucks.


I'm kinda leaning towards LTS at this point. It would be cool to come and go as I want and have the whole game there waiting to be played whenever I want.


>>

Brou posted while I was clunking through my reply and I have to say that if they do a decent LTS sale. I'm all over it.

[Kaos Arcanna]

I personally feel the lifetime sub is worth it.

I like the freeform options and the retecon and extra slot for every 40 is pretty nice. 

[PunkusJR]

how much is lifetime sub?

[Xev]

Ahh the good ol' days when a decision like this wouldn't even be a debate. It'd be "where do I send the $300 bucks" and "wanna go out and drop $1k at the club again tonite?" "Lemme grab my convertible".

Then there were the $500 a month on NWN days and the buying 2 years of subs x 2 + paying $500 a month in Internet usage fees just to play EQ, days.

Today, it's... if there is a sale and it is good and the mood is still right... it may very well unpry the $$ from my steely grip.

lol  : )

Thanks for helping me decide how to best pinch and squeeze my pennies. Too bad they don't have an option to buy something in the C/Z-store to get rid of the 250G limit at the AE. If they had that, and the powers color tint as buyable things, I think I would just farm/buy my way to a ghetto LTS since I'm not in a big rush for the slots and not planning on having a bunch of mains/main alts.

>>

LTS is $300, not on sale.

[PunkusJR]

ahh, thanks. Going off the numbers for those freeform slots it's still cheaper than buying all 8 outright xDD But I know that's not what you're doing so I'll can it xD.

[Xev]

If they'd sell me a way to take that 250G cap off then I'd farm Q->Zen for probably everything except a couple FF slots. This still might not end up being a terrible option for me. 6 AT slots, 4 FF's & Hideout, perma, for $100. Over time I could farm more FF slots if wanted but more likely I'd farm the bank/bag slots first.

So.. what happens when I get a FF slot and I only have access to the Silver AT's...? Do I only get to choose from the Silver AT powers?

[PunkusJR]

you get them all, I know this first hand ^^

[Brou]

A freeform slot gets access to all powers the game has to offer, even the ones being released now.

[PunkusJR]

A freeform slot gets access to all powers the game has to offer, even the ones being released now.

Haha, on that note. How are the lightsabers. . .  I mean laser swords. They worth respecing my FF to play with?

[Xev]

Well no matter how things work out - that's a relief! At least I know no matter what I'm gonna end up with a fun FF slot to goof off with soon.

Always wondered how that worked..

[Brou]

Haha, on that note. How are the lightsabers. . .  I mean laser swords. They worth respecing my FF to play with?

It's fast-moving. You are building up accelerator to 3x to make Unified Theory an instant strike, then hitting Particle Smash to blow up your target and it's friends from up to 35ft. If you like the sound of that setup, then give it a shot.

[PunkusJR]

It's fast-moving. You are building up accelerator to 3x to make Unified Theory an instant strike, then hitting Particle Smash to blow up your target and it's friends from up to 35ft. If you like the sound of that setup, then give it a shot.

Sounds nice. Thankyou for the info. I might work them in if I start playing again. ^^

[General Idiot]

I thought Accelerator didn't stack?

[Brou]

I thought Accelerator didn't stack?

Oh, I forgot they changed it. Just one accelerator proc.

[General Idiot]

The only problem with it though, as an overall set, is the same problem almost all melee builds have in CO. No PBAOE. I know that doesn't bother some people but it always annoys me because melee cones are finicky to work with, even moreso in CO than in CoH because things move a lot faster. Not in actual movements, but combat just seems to flow a lot faster than it ever did in CoH for the most part. Which means that by the time you've lined them up to hit them all with a melee cone, they're dead or they've moved to attack the ranged guys pounding on them.

If it were me, Particle Accelerator would be 120 degrees instead of 90 like it is, and Lightwave Slash would've been upgraded to a full PBAOE and doing full damage to all targets instead of half damage to secondary targets like it is now. Of course, were it up to me all the melee sets would have PBAOEs just as a general point of balance.

Always seemed weird to me that almost all of the ranged sets have PBAOE powers, when they're not meant to be next to enemies to use them anyway. And then almost none of the melee sets that ARE meant to be next to enemies have them.

[Brou]

The only problem with it though, as an overall set, is the same problem almost all melee builds have in CO. No PBAOE. I know that doesn't bother some people but it always annoys me because melee cones are finicky to work with, even moreso in CO than in CoH because things move a lot faster. Not in actual movements, but combat just seems to flow a lot faster than it ever did in CoH for the most part. Which means that by the time you've lined them up to hit them all with a melee cone, they're dead or they've moved to attack the ranged guys pounding on them.

If it were me, Particle Accelerator would be 120 degrees instead of 90 like it is, and Lightwave Slash would've been upgraded to a full PBAOE and doing full damage to all targets instead of half damage to secondary targets like it is now. Of course, were it up to me all the melee sets would have PBAOEs just as a general point of balance.

Always seemed weird to me that almost all of the ranged sets have PBAOE powers, when they're not meant to be next to enemies to use them anyway. And then almost none of the melee sets that ARE meant to be next to enemies have them.

The passive (unreleased) had PBAOE qualities in it. There are also other powers in power armor that are pbaoe. One of them is Energy Wave.

[Xev]

aoe...

*stares off dreamy*

I could use some good ol' dmg boost, sprinkled in with some dmg insps while I'm on fire and turning up the heat when I start burning mobs to the ground and aoe sucking their hps down for more Powah as I go into a spin, blades flashing and then hit the room with a final room-clearing blaze of destruction.

Afterwards I'm happy. I stacked my damage good and had plenty of crits. My Brute Fury was high, and I timed all my aoe's just right.

Fire everywhere. Waves of mobs melting to the ground.

*sigh*



Yeah, aoe is fun.

[General Idiot]

The passive (unreleased) had PBAOE qualities in it. There are also other powers in power armor that are pbaoe. One of them is Energy Wave.

Yeah, I know. I still kinda wish there was an actual laser sword pbaoe though, and an ego blade one. Because if you can have all your powers be the swords you can conceivably RP them as something else, while if you're having to take other stuff that limits your options as far as concept goes.

Especially the ego blade one, Ego Blade Frenzy even uses the animation from one of the pbaoe powers in Dual Blades if you have the ID blades advantage on something but remains a cone.

[SARobb]

aoe...

*stares off dreamy*

I could use some good ol' dmg boost, sprinkled in with some dmg insps while I'm on fire and turning up the heat when I start burning mobs to the ground and aoe sucking their hps down for more Powah as I go into a spin, blades flashing and then hit the room with a final room-clearing blaze of destruction.

Afterwards I'm happy. I stacked my damage good and had plenty of crits. My Brute Fury was high, and I timed all my aoe's just right.

Fire everywhere. Waves of mobs melting to the ground.

*sigh*

Yeah, aoe is fun.

*sniffle*
wave after endless wave of http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Fiery_Aura#Blazing_Aura backed up by http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Fiery_Aura#Burn and http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Fiery_Aura#Consume with a sprinkling of
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Kinetic_Melee#Burst