I'm sorry, this is a total newb question, but I haven't found it anywhere on the site so if its somewhere, i apologize, but what is the difference? Does the trial run out of time in which you then have to upgrade? Or does it have less items or something...? Some help would be appreciated.

It's an 8-hour trial. (That's 8 hours of play, not 8 hours of real time). Then you need to pay.

Thanks, that's kind of a shame, I like this game, but I can't pay monthly, i just don't think any game is worth that, not even WoW...

You're absolutely right. Games should be free. The devs should, rather than eating, convert their physical bodies into pure computing power. Then they won't need to pay for computers either. And they should steal bandwidth. Because obviously it's better for luminous beings of light using stolen OC-3 lines to power your favorite computer games than it is for you to shell out $45 for a game every 6 months so that the dedicated team of developers can get their current below-subsistence wages and keep their tiny server cluster running.

Seems like I blow through $10 worth of anything pretty quickly, lately. $10 worth of gas? That's a bit over 3 gallons of gas, so I get 75 miles worth. Food? Heh. That's a stop at the local fast food joint for the wife and I. It'll buy a twelve pack of Miller High Life with change left over for chips.

$10 for a month of VO? Bargain ;o)

normaly i'd agree that monthly fees are evil, but i gladly pay for Vendetta.

There is no difference between the trial and the full versions except for the time limit. Once you log in as the trial, you are using the full game client, in the full game server, with all the abilities as a subscriber who has just started out. Once you decide to subscribe, you can still proceed with your character from your trial, even if you were unable to subscribe for months!

rougelazer, there's a difference between not being able to pay (or not wanting to pay) and thinking the game should be free. Just because I know I can't, and never will be able to, afford a 2 million dollar house doesn't mean that I think that the builders of the house should just give it to me; I realize that I'll have to do without.

I think she was more reacting to the "i just don't think any game is worth that, not even WoW..." part of the post than anything else, Sinclair.

This leads to an interesting question: how far can a newb level in eight hours? I surmise that a vet can get at least to combat 7 or eight and get some pvp in before eight hours is up. Opinions?

terribleCabbage, rogue is a 'he'.

At least 2/2/2/2/2 could be reached without problems, but total would spend time to just exploring things

"I think she was more reacting to the "i just don't think any game is worth that, not even WoW..." part of the post than anything else, Sinclair."

Yea, that part made me laugh... for one, theluckyone is absolutely right in that it isn't a lot of cash; I spend $40 every couple of WEEKS just on gas for my car, and at least $90 a month in insurance. Food isn't cheap either generally, and depending on how I stretch my paycheck during the week, I can spend or save an extra $40 a month just by how I eat. If paying for VO meant not buying a couple of frozen pizzas in a given month, then it's worth it.

and the other side of that I found funny, was the WoW reference... Lynx is absolutely right - WoW isn't worth that... but VO is not WoW, and VO is worth every penny =P

P.S. Most newbs aren't going to cross the 1 threshold in mining skill before the end of their trial, but otherwise those numbers don't look too far off... excepting the fact that newbs are typically too busy exploring the game and learning the basics of how it works or what there is to be concentrating on levelling. I think I was only 2/3/0/1/0 when I finished my trial as a newb, and I can safely say that if I hadn't been a former EVN addict, the game would not have grown enough on me in that time for me to consider buying. If we really want to keep trial players, we need to raise that time bar... take it to 12 hours, or maybe even higher, depending on how things look from there.

toshiro: Gosh-darnit, I thought I was responding to RelayeR. I should look a little more closely next time. :-\

did you know that if they take the mining tutorial they will get to level 1 mining in about 10 minutes?

I'm hopeful that the new mission system will immerse players sooner and make getting those starting levels more enjoyable and less like work.

how many newbs do you think discover the mining tutorial? It's not exactly integral to any part of the game...

Hell if you do a couplea procurements you can get level 1 trade in ~10 min, too, sarahanne... :)

Lynx - this game is worth the $10 a month. I say try it for a bit longer. Without knowing what your financial situation is, it's hard to say, but $10 a month is not too too bad.

Considering that for things like NWN you gotta pay $50 plus $35 for extra "add-ons" plus plus plus....

This game is free to download and it's cheap to play. Although I like Roguelazer's posted reply a lot.

The mining tutorial is the first thing I point to after taking students through their first trade level.

Of course, that's only people I mentor/teach/etc, not everyone. But some new players find out about it either on their own or by their mentors.

Things every good mentor should teach:

Navigation
Trading/missions
The license system
Mining/tutorial
Bots: collectors and hive, different types, what sets them apart, what are worth killing.
PvP what to expect/how to fight.