Subscriptions have gone up.

[tazelbain]

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/10/ddo-free-to-play.ars

You can still buy a subscription, and that comes with a number of benefits, but you can also download the client for free, and play a huge chunk of the game without paying a single cent. We caught up with Fernando Paiz, the Executive Producer of the game, to explore what might be the next big thing in online gaming: not charging.

"We're hitting and exceeding our internal targets, so far we're very happy," he told Ars when we asked how the game has grown since becoming free. "All aspects of our business are growing. Hundreds of thousands of new players in the world are playing for free, with a very high percentage using the store." The internal projections for growth were doubled. Even more surprising, subscriptions have gone up 40 percent since the game has gone free-to-play.

It seems counter intuitive that subs would go up when they move to F2P.  I hope this "internal projections for growth were doubled" leads more polish to the game not just more content packs and consumables.

[Xilren's Twin]

Well, the true test will be how long the average duration of those new subs is.  I can see why this might happen, if people try it for free but get content locked or want the other races/classes easily, rather than nickel and dime themselves to death in the store they convert to sub for covienence sake.  Staying truely free to play and not spending money in the store takes a level of internal discipline that might be lacking among average gamers :)

That being said, i have recently played with a F2P on my server who has made it to level 18 without spending one penny on the game, so it can be done.  I know he did a lot of grinding in the "kill X" outdoor area quests, which can give good XP at the high end (i.e. Kill 750, kill 1500, kill 5000) but i find generally boring and slow.  It's funny, a lot of low level f2p folks from other games think grinding in outdoor areas is how you are "supposed" to play b/c...

(as a side note, my Wiz/Rog is level 20 and still quite fun, but the new devil's battleground area sucks for spellcasters.  I generally only do Shroud runs for ingredients and loot runs with him now.  Working up a Bard/Ranger (level 11 atm) and having a paralyzer in one hand and a "X Burst" weapon in the other is pure love.)

[tazelbain]

The average time may drop for subs as people choose "buffet" for a month or two in order decide if DDO is right for them in the long term.

The only thing that feels like NnDing to is the leveling sigils.  The rest of it unneeded or content expansions.  The unneeded can safely be ignored.  Content expensions, I am use to paying them *and* now I have no sub.  Even better I can choose to ignore shitty expansions like Devil's Assault.  You call it NnD.  I call it buying a lifetime account is bite-size chunks.  It does seem like established players got cheated and didn't get nearly enough tp for the favor already earned by their characters.

I guess people who try to f2p to 20 are: unable or unwilling to pay, or want the challenge.   Eventually I'll probably start a new f2p account just to try it hard core.  But for now I prefer not to have to run Depths 1.3 billion times to a silver sigil.  That is their choice. It's pretty cool that it is possible.  It may seem boring but I don't remember is being any worse then Perfect World or RoM and the content is more interesting in DDO.

I think the bottom line for sub vs packs is still TBD.  What perks will Turbine added to VIP? And what rate will Turbine be able to push out content?  But right now feels like packs is leading.

[Evildrider]

Well they must be doing pretty damn good.  They are opening up another server.

I'm really glad for DDO doing so much better.  Too bad it was too late to keep me interested.  A year of no updates was too long for me to stay playing.

[waylander]

I brought in about 8 friends within the past week who never would have looked at it had it not gone F2P.  None of us want to pay monthly subs, but we have no problem buying from the store for things we need.  I spent 45 bucks this weekend for some unlocks, so that's like a 3 month sub offa me for just that. I can see where they can make money offa F2P, and it certainly expands their audience.

I don't know if I'll want to go VIP or not, and it just depends on how much I like the F2P areas as I progress.  I'm doing a 18 ranger/2 Fighter spec for fun while I learn the game, and if I ever decide to go hardcore for serious end game stuff I'm sure I'll roll something else.

[Ard]

If you're going to play longer than a week, subscribe for a month.  At the very least, it gets you two character slot unlocks and 500 points, which pays for itself if those were things you'd buy anyhow, as well as all the adventure packs unlocked for a month, so you can bypass needing to buy some of the low or mid level ones for a while.

edit:  Although, now that I think about it, with the amount you've spent it might have pushed you to premium and unlocked the other two slots anyhow.  I can't remember how it works.  The information is out there though.