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Need Help Confirming a Rumor

So, someone mentioned the other day that it is not possible for a Silver player to convert a leveled AT to an FF character. For example, say you're a gamer and you got bored with your old game and saw that CO had been around for a decade, so you figure it must be good. So, you jump on, grab a cool-looking AT, say the Tempest, and level it up, kind of enjoying the content since it is your first time through. Then you start playing endgame content and you join a few endgame channels and people are talking about builds and you get some inspiration and decide you want to tweak up your build, so you go to buy a token to convert your level 40 Tempest to an FF and FIND OUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT?

Is this really a thing???
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    lezard21lezard21 Posts: 1,510 Arc User
    There is currently no way to turn a silver slot into a FF slot.
    Buying a FF slot creates a separate empty slot.

    The devs said they are looking for a way to make converting silver into FF possible.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    so you go to buy a token to convert your level 40 Tempest to an FF and FIND OUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT?

    I don't know why you felt the need to type that in caps locks. Did you know that my dog IS NOT A GREAT DANE?

    Far as I can tell everyone in that situation just shrugs like it's the no big deal it is and either keeps playing their AT or does something to get a FF. It's not like having to level a second character if you want to play something other than what you leveled up your first character as is some insane crime in MMOs, or anything but a standard fact of the genre.
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    narf#9213 narf Posts: 108 Arc User
    You can subscribe. (But don't, see below.) If you subscribe, you can use your one free retrain token (per character) to change that character from an AT to a Gold freeform. This character can never become a special freeform (the slots you get when you buy a freeform slot, that aren't silver or gold slots and are always available to play regardless of your sub status) character. It can become an archetype again, but you'd have to buy a retrain token. (Note: not respec, retrain. Two different things.)

    The game has three types of character slots:

    Silver: These can only be archetypes, either the base free ones or those that have been unlocked through the zen store or events.
    Gold: These can be freeform, or any archetype, including those you haven't unlocked for play as Silver.
    Special: These are the freeform slots you get from the zen store.

    The slot types are constrained by what kind of character they can hold.

    A Silver slot can become a Gold slot when you subscribe. You just have to use the conversion button and pick the option to keep your archetype. This does not burn up your free retrain token. If you unsub, you can then switch back, also for free . . . almost. Your Specialization tree will now be borked, and you'll have to either pay 50G to reset it, or use up one of your character respecs.

    A Gold slot can become a Silver slot, but ONLY if the character in that slot is an Archetype that you have access to as Silver, or if you convert it to one using your one freebie retrain token. You cannot convert a Gold (or Silver) character to a Special freeform slot.

    The Special freeform slot can be bought in the Zen store. It will be an empty character slot that you start a new character in. It will not let you convert an existing character. If you change subscription status, it doesn't affect the character in the slot. It'll be accessible in either Silver or Gold account status.

    Finally . . . they're going to be getting rid of subscriptions, so don't subscribe. They've delayed the rollout, but it's very likely they'll proceed at some point, so if you make a character in a Gold freeform slot, its fate is basically up in the air at this point. If you want a freeform, you can wait until the freeform slots go on sale again and pick one up. Maybe farm some Q to help pay for it while waiting.

    As far as leveling a new character: It doesn't take long. There are fairly regular bonus XP events, and the leveling is decently fast anyway.
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    stealthriderstealthrider Posts: 86 Arc User
    So, someone mentioned the other day that it is not possible for a Silver player to convert a leveled AT to an FF character. For example, say you're a gamer and you got bored with your old game and saw that CO had been around for a decade, so you figure it must be good. So, you jump on, grab a cool-looking AT, say the Tempest, and level it up, kind of enjoying the content since it is your first time through. Then you start playing endgame content and you join a few endgame channels and people are talking about builds and you get some inspiration and decide you want to tweak up your build, so you go to buy a token to convert your level 40 Tempest to an FF and FIND OUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT?

    Is this really a thing???

    Yes it's really a thing. Been a thing for seven years. It's just as stupid as it was back then and yet some people still defend it for some inane reason.
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    flyingfinnflyingfinn Posts: 8,408 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    If you're truly a gamer, you sub and then convert.
    Or you buy the FF Slot and play the game, because you know you being a gamer.
    :#
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    silvergryphsilvergryph Posts: 63 Arc User
    belwen wrote: »
    Finally . . . they're going to be getting rid of subscriptions, so don't subscribe. They've delayed the rollout, but it's very likely they'll proceed at some point, so if you make a character in a Gold freeform slot, its fate is basically up in the air at this point. If you want a freeform, you can wait until the freeform slots go on sale again and pick one up. Maybe farm some Q to help pay for it while waiting.

    I don't know if I agree with this part. It might be a good time to subscribe actually. It's hard to tell right now until they come out with more information. But, the plan they recently announced indicated that as long as you kept paying for your sub, you would keep the benefits even after they stopped offering new subs. The problem was that if you let it lapse then your sub ends and you can't sign up for a new one. Meaning all your freeform characters are stuck in an unplayable state unless you convert them to an archetype. That's what all the fuss was about and that is presumably what they are trying to address by delaying the change. Probably...

    The way I look at it is that if you subscribe and they end new subs you have the option of keeping your sub active to retain freeform or cancelling if the way they finally implement the change is not to your liking. It's not like there is a contract or anything.
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    pwestolemynamepwestolemyname Posts: 978 Arc User
    To be clear, I bought LTS at launch, so I really did not know this was a thing. I just assumed it was because it would have been a nice cash-flow for the owners.
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    pwestolemynamepwestolemyname Posts: 978 Arc User
    spinnytop wrote: »
    so you go to buy a token to convert your level 40 Tempest to an FF and FIND OUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT?

    I don't know why you felt the need to type that in caps locks. Did you know that my dog IS NOT A GREAT DANE?

    Welcome to the internet. We love first-timers.
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    soulforgersoulforger Posts: 1,649 Arc User
    spinnytop wrote: »
    so you go to buy a token to convert your level 40 Tempest to an FF and FIND OUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT?

    I don't know why you felt the need to type that in caps locks. Did you know that my dog IS NOT A GREAT DANE?

    Welcome to the internet. We love first-timers.

    That would actually be Spinny's message to you. There was absolutely no need for the caps there. Than again, to many people assume that making an entire section out of caps is making a point, when, in reality, a single word in the section would have sufficed.
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    beezeezebeezeeze Posts: 927 Arc User
    Are there any other mmorpgs that allow you to take a character to max level then buy an item that allows you to switch classes to something entirely different? Say I was playing WoW and I spent the entire time leveling as a warrior but then I hit max level, am I allowed to buy an item that suddenly lets me switch to a mage?

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    narf#9213 narf Posts: 108 Arc User
    belwen wrote: »
    Finally . . . they're going to be getting rid of subscriptions, so don't subscribe. They've delayed the rollout, but it's very likely they'll proceed at some point, so if you make a character in a Gold freeform slot, its fate is basically up in the air at this point. If you want a freeform, you can wait until the freeform slots go on sale again and pick one up. Maybe farm some Q to help pay for it while waiting.

    I don't know if I agree with this part. It might be a good time to subscribe actually. It's hard to tell right now until they come out with more information. But, the plan they recently announced indicated that as long as you kept paying for your sub, you would keep the benefits even after they stopped offering new subs. The problem was that if you let it lapse then your sub ends and you can't sign up for a new one. Meaning all your freeform characters are stuck in an unplayable state unless you convert them to an archetype. That's what all the fuss was about and that is presumably what they are trying to address by delaying the change. Probably...

    The way I look at it is that if you subscribe and they end new subs you have the option of keeping your sub active to retain freeform or cancelling if the way they finally implement the change is not to your liking. It's not like there is a contract or anything.

    You could be right. But IMO it's rolling the dice. I'd hold off until they make a more firm announcement of their plans. OTOH, if you wait for an announcement to sub, it may be too late.

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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    flyingfinn wrote: »
    If you're truly a gamer, you sub and then convert.
    Or you buy the FF Slot and play the game, because you know you being a gamer.
    :#
    or buy LTS and get FF for life. :D
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    Welcome to the internet. We love first-timers.

    You forgot to use caps lock.
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    jonsillsjonsills Posts: 6,317 Arc User
    Okay, there seems to be a bit of a misapprehension here.

    The planned (and now delayed) subscription change is that they would no longer be accepting new monthly subs. If you have a monthly, and are happy with it, just keep paying your $15/month; so long as it doesn't lapse, nothing changes for you. Same for LTS (which is still on sale, and I wouldn't be surprised if the sale stays there until the week after the change happens) - the only thing that will stop is the monthly subscriber reward costume piece. Even the stipend continues, remarkably enough.
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    soulforgersoulforger Posts: 1,649 Arc User
    beezeeze wrote: »
    Are there any other mmorpgs that allow you to take a character to max level then buy an item that allows you to switch classes to something entirely different? Say I was playing WoW and I spent the entire time leveling as a warrior but then I hit max level, am I allowed to buy an item that suddenly lets me switch to a mage?

    Nope, you cannot class change, just race/gender/faction change.
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    deadman20deadman20 Posts: 1,529 Arc User
    You CAN
    -Convert an AT to another available AT regardless of Silver/Gold status
    -Convert a Silver character slot to a Gold character slot and back
    -Convert any character to a Gold Freeform character when subscribed

    You CANNOT
    -Convert any character slot to a Special Freeform slot

    It's important to distinguish the type of slots you are using. Silver slots are limited to the ATs you own. Gold slots have access to all ATs and are Freeform capable, but are locked to the subscription. The Special Freeform slots can be used by either subscription status freely and are the Freeform slots available for purchase in the store. Currently there is no way to convert any slot to the Special Freeform slot, but there's plenty of ways to go from AT to Freeform and back if you're dipping into a subscription.​​
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    narf#9213 narf Posts: 108 Arc User
    there's plenty of ways to go from AT to Freeform and back if you're dipping into a subscription.​​

    What ways? The only way I know of is to use a retrain token. Those can add up fast after the first free one.
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    jonsillsjonsills Posts: 6,317 Arc User
    I only know the one way to go from AT to FF and back.

    It is currently possible to go from Silver AT to Gold AT and back again freely - if you maintain the same AT as both Gold and Silver (that is, don't change your AT; if it's a premium, you'd have to own that as a Silver). That will apparently soon become moot.

    "Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"

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    narf#9213 narf Posts: 108 Arc User
    Yeah, that's why I'm curious about this more than one way to go from freeform and back thing. Guess it was just a minor bit of hyperbole.
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    pwestolemynamepwestolemyname Posts: 978 Arc User
    beezeeze wrote: »
    Are there any other mmorpgs that allow you to take a character to max level then buy an item that allows you to switch classes to something entirely different? Say I was playing WoW and I spent the entire time leveling as a warrior but then I hit max level, am I allowed to buy an item that suddenly lets me switch to a mage?

    Champions Online does. If you level up a FF, when you reach 40, you can retcon it from it's base, changing everything. I have actually done this plenty of times, leveled as something easy, like a defiant electrical dps, then changed it entirely to something different when it hit 40. Did that for my healer, actually.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
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    aesicaaesica Posts: 2,537 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    beezeeze wrote: »
    Are there any other mmorpgs that allow you to take a character to max level then buy an item that allows you to switch classes to something entirely different? Say I was playing WoW and I spent the entire time leveling as a warrior but then I hit max level, am I allowed to buy an item that suddenly lets me switch to a mage?
    Technically, the very first MMO on the market (Meridian 59) allowed you to do this since it also had an open-build approach to character creation. Since it was before the time of nickel-dime microtransactions, you'd just obtain the "retcon item" (Potion of Forgetfulness) ingame rather than by swiping a credit card. These potions would allow you to forget a particular school of spells/skills (weaponcraft, or one of the 1 magic schools) rather than everything in one lump like CO. To prevent players from chugging them all willy-nilly, the potions sometimes had side effects, like forgetting other random spells/skills (you can relearn and recover from this, but it's annoying), max HP loss (you can also recover from this over time), or permanent stat point loss (absolutely horrid, no fix short of rerolling the character).

    Other than that, games with fixed classes rather than open build systems typically don't allow this. So in WoW, once a warlock, always a warlock. This has lead to me paying for rename tokens when [expansion of the moment] decides to take a colossal dump on what was my favorite class the moment before. Over the last few expansions, WoW's devs have had some sort of fetish for pruning abilities that people like and in many cases, completely redesigning how [class X] plays.

    Edit: Oh, I think FF 14 has its own approach in the form of switching jobs without having to throw away your previous class's abilities. I could be wrong though because I don't play that game. At least not right now.
    (Hopefully) Useful CO Resources: HeroCreator (character planner), Cosmic Timers/Alert Checklist, Blood Moon Map, Anniversary Cat Map, and more (eventually, anyway).
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    soulforgersoulforger Posts: 1,649 Arc User
    aesica wrote: »
    beezeeze wrote: »
    Are there any other mmorpgs that allow you to take a character to max level then buy an item that allows you to switch classes to something entirely different? Say I was playing WoW and I spent the entire time leveling as a warrior but then I hit max level, am I allowed to buy an item that suddenly lets me switch to a mage?
    Technically, the very first MMO on the market (Meridian 59) allowed you to do this since it also had an open-build approach to character creation. Since it was before the time of nickel-dime microtransactions, you'd just obtain the "retcon item" (Potion of Forgetfulness) ingame rather than by swiping a credit card. These potions would allow you to forget a particular school of spells/skills (weaponcraft, or one of the 1 magic schools) rather than everything in one lump like CO. To prevent players from chugging them all willy-nilly, the potions sometimes had side effects, like forgetting other random spells/skills (you can relearn and recover from this, but it's annoying), max HP loss (you can also recover from this over time), or permanent stat point loss (absolutely horrid, no fix short of rerolling the character).

    Other than that, games with fixed classes rather than open build systems typically don't allow this. So in WoW, once a warlock, always a warlock. This has lead to me paying for rename tokens when [expansion of the moment] decides to take a colossal dump on what was my favorite class the moment before. Over the last few expansions, WoW's devs have had some sort of fetish for pruning abilities that people like and in many cases, completely redesigning how [class X] plays.

    Edit: Oh, I think FF 14 has its own approach in the form of switching jobs without having to throw away your previous class's abilities. I could be wrong though because I don't play that game. At least not right now.

    First 3D MMO...it is important to note, the 3D part. MMOs have been around since 1974 (in the form of a game called Mazewar), these games, while not your more modern MMOs, were still MMOs in their most basic form despite being MUDs, the first fully graphical MMO was Neverwinte Nights, a game that was played on AOL from 1991 to 1997 (thats right, the Neverwinter Nights you most likely know...was not the first Neverwinte Nights). Otherwise, yes, the first 3D MMO, was indeed Merdian 59.
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    revanantmoriturirevanantmorituri Posts: 391 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    aesica wrote: »
    Edit: Oh, I think FF 14 has its own approach in the form of switching jobs without having to throw away your previous class's abilities. I could be wrong though because I don't play that game. At least not right now.

    FFXIV (and FFXI before it) work on the Job system, where any character can play every class in the game if they want. In fact, they encourage a certain degree of diversity, as you can slot in abilities from other classes while playing one in particular. So your Gladiator (sword and shield type) can get off a good opening archery shot to grab aggro, or your Summoner (pet class) can toss in some heals while the critter chews on the enemy.
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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    aesica wrote: »
    Edit: Oh, I think FF 14 has its own approach in the form of switching jobs without having to throw away your previous class's abilities. I could be wrong though because I don't play that game. At least not right now.
    Some of the non-multiplayer FF games even had a system that gave you stat bonuses for changing classes during a fight. But.... you had to complete story challenges to unlock the classes and grind mastery of them.
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