‘Neverwinter’ Adopting An Optional Subscription, VIP Program With The Release Of ‘Strongholds’


Since its release on PC in 2013, several free expansion packs or modules have been released for Neverwinter. The MMO continues to expand on Dungeons and Dragons lore with official content as well as user-generated missions from The Foundry. New classes, new zones, and many other additions are incorporated into the game as it grows and the new “Strongholds” content releases next week.

However, a new store addition is coming to Neverwinter when the expansion launches as well. As a free-to-play game, players do not have to purchase a client to play Neverwinter and it currently has no optional subscription fee like other games developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Perfect World Entertainment. On August 11, an optional subscription or VIP program will be available to players on the PC version of Neverwinter.

Neverwinter Strongholds
A guild working on their stronghold in Neverwinter

Players will be able to purchase a VIP Pack from the in-game store. The cheapest pack grants 30 days’ worth of VIP time and 100 VIP points. This pack costs 1000 Zen. During the active VIP time the player is bestowed with several benefits, and as the player purchases more VIP time, they earn more VIP points. These VIP points accumulate each time VIP time is used, increasing the benefits of the active VIP subscription.

For example, a player purchases their first month of VIP and activates it. This player is now VIP Rank One and has access to the first list of benefits found on the official website. If the player does not purchase VIP for a few months after that first VIP time expires, the player will not lose the VIP point rank. Instead, the next time the player buys VIP time in Neverwinter the player will start at VIP Rank Two. During the player’s second month of VIP, even though it came much later, is considerably improved since the player is returning to the VIP program.

Benefits from the VIP program include bonus experience, VIP zone access, a boost to Astral Diamonds from quests, and much more. Each month that a player subscribes increases the benefits from being a VIP. For instance, if a player subscribes for a total of seven months and reaches VIP Rank Seven, their characters will be immune to injury while utilizing a VIP subscription.

As stated, the new VIP program will launch alongside “Strongholds” on August 11. Players will be able to purchase a month’s worth of time from the Zen Market which is located within the game. With the release of the “Strongholds” module on the same day, players will be able to aid their guilds in clearing the largest zone in Neverwinter, take over massive keeps, and defend their newfound property from PvE and PvP threats. Last month, an informative video on how strongholds will function in the game was released. In it, players can preview the upcoming content which developers are calling MOBA-styled PvP.

The developer touched on the strongholds place again within the MMO today. A recent blog post on the addition of “Strongholds” goes in to why the development team thought the extremely guild-focused module was a good idea. Basically, Neverwinter is an MMO and community is important enough to warrant an expansion centered on the core of the MMO’s community: guilds.

Do you ever use optional subscription in free-to-play games?

[Images via Arc Games]

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