Really it would be more for a buddy key than anything. You can probably get by without. For the horse you can catch one and tame it but you will be walking for awhile (20?) and the donkey is just slow.
I like my horse for long distance travel (between towns) but he can die if attacked by mobs so you have to go back to last stable and revive him.
I just got the 29.99 option. I figured that with a newly launched game, taming my first horse should be part of the experience given this game's nature. I'm sure it has advantages, though. For me, it wasn't so much the extra 20 bucks (lord knows I've wasted lots more money on dumber things in the past). It was simply wanting to start small with no advantages.
The permanent horse flute is worth around $13-$15.
The value of the horse is very subjective though, it just depends on an individuals value of their own time since it is possible to eventually obtain a horse in-game.
I got the $50 package and after playing it for a week here are my thoughts...
Pets (all characters in your family can use - they instantly appear on all characters when you play): I thought they were essential after playing in the beta and they are nice to help you pick-up your loot drops. Thing is... they need to be fed often by either crafting your own feed or buying feed from stables and picking up your own loot is really no problem. Conclusion: nice to have but not nearly as essential as I first thought.
Horse flute (single character only - but you can pass it to alts through warehouse): Whistling for your horse to come from farther away is nice. However, the distance is not infinite and if you're far away from the horse you'll still have to go find it the normal way. Second, finding your horse is dead simple: right click on horse icon on the top left of the screen. That sets a path right to it. Run there or press "T" to autorun to it... easy. Conclusion: helpful for noobs who don't know how to find their horse the normal way. Otherwise, meh.
T3 horse (shared by family - swapped at stables): It's a good horse one tier higher than most horses you can find and tame in the wild. You get multiple free donkeys at around level 15 or so (Western Guard camp and Velia) but they are very slow compared to horses. You can also buy a cheapo T1 horse from any stable for ~ 10K or once your riding skill is high enough (leveled by just riding your ass) and you're level 20+ you can go find and tame your own (most likely a T2 horse.) There IS mounted combat in this game - you need a horse, not a donkey for that. Conclusion: very nice to start with the T3 horse.
And to the guy above wondering when you can start using it... right away. There is a stable in the starter town. You can go there with your horse scroll, register it and start riding... IF you get the claimed perk delivered to you quickly. This past week with all the volume it has been taking 12-18 hrs to get it delivered. By then you will have been riding your donkey for a good long while Another way to do it (not for your first character - for alts) is to take a horse or donkey, ride it to the stable in Olvia (the starter town) and drop it off there for any new character you create to use. Or better yet, you can leave it at the Western Guard Camp stable instead since it's probably better to run from Olvia to there doing the beginner tutorial quests and grinding imps while you go.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
I preordered the 29.99 package and then bought pearls once they were available. I wanted pets and they are on sale right now and I wanted character slots. I knew that I didn't want any of the outfits as I personally think they are all ugly. The pets are nice because all characters can use them without using a warehouse or stable to transfer them. Just depends on what kind of extras you want in game.
Bad buy vs good buy as determined by your playstyle and budget. My general rule of gameplay has been to buy it if you can afford it as those little perks can come in handy from time to time. Especially account wide perks.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
If I knew what I know now about this game I would have bought the 100 euros package. BDO will be my game for a long time, it really surprised me on the amount of content and diferent play styles available. Each time I think I am getting deep on the content I just realise that I am only scratching the surface, that said it really justifies the higher package.
I'm also considering which package to buy and I won't level beyond level 45 since I am not going to PvP but the rest of the game intrigues me enough to invest my time, money and energy in. I have not even played the beta of this game but based on the discussions and interesting anecdotes and stories you guys have convinced me.
The tier 3 horse with the 50 Euro package is the horse permanent or if it dies it will it disappear. Not terribly confident with my ability to keep my horse alive might as well invest in the 30 euro package if it does.
The pets are on the average 7-8 Euros for one I take it which I suppose I can buy one hmm then I am spending 38 Euro .....oh bother might as well spend 50 Euros.
I bought the £30 package and spent £20 in the cash shop - that way you get a bit more options. For anyone wondering, here is my thoughts:
Horse: Unlike most MMOs out there, not having a horse to begin with is not a setback. In fact, you level up your stamina walking, so getting a horse later may be more viable. The horse you get in the pack is male, which is a lot less valuable than female (due to breeding). You can tame your horse at level 20. The positives and negatives seem to be equal - so owning a horse at early levels is more about preference.
Pet: Pets auto loot items for you every X seconds, plus each pet type has an additional skill (detecting enemies / resources). If you kill many enemies in a short amount of time, your pet won't manage to loot all of it (unless you wait). As mentioned, pets need to be fed. You get food for 2-3 days (20ish hours of playtime) with the pet. It is not likely you will be able to produce more at early levels, at which point the pet will stop collecting loot. For me, the vanity aspect of owning a pet is more significant than the convenience. It seems to be one of the most bought cash shop items, so chances are you will end up getting one at some stage anyway.
Furniture: This may be easy to miss, but the £50 package actually offers 2 extra pieces of furniture. This allows you to pick any two pieces of furniture from the cash shop (items are valued at £2-5). Some pieces of furniture give slight buffs, like minor passive healing or stamina regeneration. These buffs do not scale with levels, so they will be most useful to a low level player. Having 5 pieces allows you to cover a good range of buffs available. Crafting furniture is very difficult in the beginning, so you will be stuck with the cash shop furniture for a good while.
Value: The £50 package is not a bad buy - you get extra items valued at £30-40. In no way are these items necessary (and they actually don't provide that much convenience). The only exclusive thing you won't be able to get ingame is the pet. The rest you'll be able to obtain with time.
Personally, I would consider the £50 package if you think you would be buying the items in the cash shop at a later stage anyway. Another option is buying the £30 package and spending £20 to buy 2 pets and inventory slots. While it won't be "better value", one could argue 2 pets are more exclusive, given you can't get them ingame - plus inventory slots may be useful.
The tier 3 horse with the 50 Euro package is the horse permanent or if it dies it will it disappear. Not terribly confident with my ability to keep my horse alive might as well invest in the 30 euro package if it does.
Horse death is not permanent. You just have to pick it up at the stable nearest its death afterwards and either feed it lots of carrots or pay a small recover silver fee to get its health and stamina back. Random mobs will attack it while it's unattended so you have to be a bit careful where you leave it.
They're also not 100% essential since running is not all that slow and helps level your stamina.
After a bit you just get used to leaving it in a safe zone near where you'll be questing / grinding... unless you want to use it for mounted combat.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Comments
I like my horse for long distance travel (between towns) but he can die if attacked by mobs so you have to go back to last stable and revive him.
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.
Pets (all characters in your family can use - they instantly appear on all characters when you play): I thought they were essential after playing in the beta and they are nice to help you pick-up your loot drops. Thing is... they need to be fed often by either crafting your own feed or buying feed from stables and picking up your own loot is really no problem. Conclusion: nice to have but not nearly as essential as I first thought.
Horse flute (single character only - but you can pass it to alts through warehouse): Whistling for your horse to come from farther away is nice. However, the distance is not infinite and if you're far away from the horse you'll still have to go find it the normal way. Second, finding your horse is dead simple: right click on horse icon on the top left of the screen. That sets a path right to it. Run there or press "T" to autorun to it... easy. Conclusion: helpful for noobs who don't know how to find their horse the normal way. Otherwise, meh.
T3 horse (shared by family - swapped at stables): It's a good horse one tier higher than most horses you can find and tame in the wild. You get multiple free donkeys at around level 15 or so (Western Guard camp and Velia) but they are very slow compared to horses. You can also buy a cheapo T1 horse from any stable for ~ 10K or once your riding skill is high enough (leveled by just riding your ass) and you're level 20+ you can go find and tame your own (most likely a T2 horse.) There IS mounted combat in this game - you need a horse, not a donkey for that. Conclusion: very nice to start with the T3 horse.
And to the guy above wondering when you can start using it... right away. There is a stable in the starter town. You can go there with your horse scroll, register it and start riding... IF you get the claimed perk delivered to you quickly. This past week with all the volume it has been taking 12-18 hrs to get it delivered. By then you will have been riding your donkey for a good long while Another way to do it (not for your first character - for alts) is to take a horse or donkey, ride it to the stable in Olvia (the starter town) and drop it off there for any new character you create to use. Or better yet, you can leave it at the Western Guard Camp stable instead since it's probably better to run from Olvia to there doing the beginner tutorial quests and grinding imps while you go.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
FYI - Game wasn't for me. I did not like it so I'm only out $29.99
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
BDO will be my game for a long time, it really surprised me on the amount of content and diferent play styles available.
Each time I think I am getting deep on the content I just realise that I am only scratching the surface, that said it really justifies the higher package.
The tier 3 horse with the 50 Euro package is the horse permanent or if it dies it will it disappear. Not terribly confident with my ability to keep my horse alive might as well invest in the 30 euro package if it does.
The pets are on the average 7-8 Euros for one I take it which I suppose I can buy one hmm then I am spending 38 Euro .....oh bother might as well spend 50 Euros.
For anyone wondering, here is my thoughts:
Horse:
Unlike most MMOs out there, not having a horse to begin with is not a setback. In fact, you level up your stamina walking, so getting a horse later may be more viable. The horse you get in the pack is male, which is a lot less valuable than female (due to breeding).
You can tame your horse at level 20. The positives and negatives seem to be equal - so owning a horse at early levels is more about preference.
Pet:
Pets auto loot items for you every X seconds, plus each pet type has an additional skill (detecting enemies / resources). If you kill many enemies in a short amount of time, your pet won't manage to loot all of it (unless you wait). As mentioned, pets need to be fed. You get food for 2-3 days (20ish hours of playtime) with the pet. It is not likely you will be able to produce more at early levels, at which point the pet will stop collecting loot.
For me, the vanity aspect of owning a pet is more significant than the convenience. It seems to be one of the most bought cash shop items, so chances are you will end up getting one at some stage anyway.
Furniture:
This may be easy to miss, but the £50 package actually offers 2 extra pieces of furniture. This allows you to pick any two pieces of furniture from the cash shop (items are valued at £2-5). Some pieces of furniture give slight buffs, like minor passive healing or stamina regeneration. These buffs do not scale with levels, so they will be most useful to a low level player. Having 5 pieces allows you to cover a good range of buffs available.
Crafting furniture is very difficult in the beginning, so you will be stuck with the cash shop furniture for a good while.
Value:
The £50 package is not a bad buy - you get extra items valued at £30-40. In no way are these items necessary (and they actually don't provide that much convenience). The only exclusive thing you won't be able to get ingame is the pet. The rest you'll be able to obtain with time.
Personally, I would consider the £50 package if you think you would be buying the items in the cash shop at a later stage anyway. Another option is buying the £30 package and spending £20 to buy 2 pets and inventory slots. While it won't be "better value", one could argue 2 pets are more exclusive, given you can't get them ingame - plus inventory slots may be useful.
They're also not 100% essential since running is not all that slow and helps level your stamina.
After a bit you just get used to leaving it in a safe zone near where you'll be questing / grinding... unless you want to use it for mounted combat.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED