DISNEY Dreamlight Valley MASSIVE BACKLASH! Free-to-Play is Cancelled. Is The HATE Deserved? 

Regarding the expansion, I feel like this take isn't being raised enough: my issue with it is that it includes content that was 'promised' within the current game. I'm pretty sure we've seen them in trailers and key art before this. It feels a bit scummy to lock those characters behind a pay-wall. I'm also concerned that they'll lock the next part of the main story behind the expansion (I'm okay with DDLV not being F2P IF it's a complete game itself). If they had made the expansion characters completely different to ones we've seen/stories we currently have I would have been more okay with it (like I'd be less upset with Mulan or something because that hasn't been 'shown' as part of the base game, even though I would love to have her more than Rapunzel)

I feel like it’ll be better for the game in the long run. Yes it sucks for people who were waiting for free to play, but I think it’s going to be a good decision later on. I’m willing to spend money for expansions etc if they are quality - if it’s more like the wall-e bundle then no, sorry.

Thanks for being positive. I seen a lot of streamers who stopped playing the game having nothing but negative things say.

I think it’s ok. Most games are not free. And they have to get their money from somewhere. I also heard that Disney have some major money problems. 🤔 And let’s think about all the things they did for free. Not many games ask their Players what they can change and actually do that.

I did buy the ultimate edition and it was very expensive, but I'm loving this game so much that i fint mind paying extra for the expansion pass because of all the amazing content that we've already had in this game

I think that this is the right decision. I got a LOT for my early access fee and don't mind paying $30 a year later for free moonstones and an expansion pack. I do feel bad for people who have been waiting for free to play (like my sister). They've missed all the really good star paths and now have nothing to show for it. Luckily for my sister it will be my Christmas gift to her so hopefully others can get it gifted too.

I am happy that it's not going free pla

Pokémon main game costs 60$ and the dlc costs 30$

See I'm okay with it not being F2P. Also the DDV Reddit for 6 months was nothing but negative about it being F2P. GL listened and pulled that aspect. Speed Storm is now F2P and the micro transactions are wild now. Gonna point out that these are the same people who WILLINGLY buy Kits and Packs from SIMS for more that have significantly less content or buy single map expansions in COD and Battlefield for the same amount with less content. Like it really feels like the people who play this game have never played an online MMO. It feels like this game is going in the direction of WoW or FF online. They're trying to make it big and follow the giants in the industry who already set the standards. I feel for ppl who were waiting but, at the same time I was waiting with so much anticipation for the second Jedi game. I have a PS4 and they said nope its only playable on PS5. NO ONE batted an eye even tho they gave stupid reasons as to why its only a next gen console game. So I either budget for it or I watch someone play it. No biggie. Them being mad about it not being cross platform play, meaning the game transfers DOESNT EXIST ANYWHERE. Even in bigger games like Destiny, FF Online, WoW, etc you have to buy for that console/PC or you don't play it at all. This is not a GL issue. This is a standard cause of coding being different between platforms. On the DDV Reddit someone said "well most games choose 2 sources of income. Not every option." Tell me you've never played an online MMO without telling me you've never played one. FF Online has a premium store, you pay for an online subscription AND you pay for every expansion that hits the floor. It's STANDARD. It's kinda frustrating to hear people dog on GL for stuff that they are not the only ones doing it. Like wut? It really feels like the people complaining are just complaining to complain. Just say you want the entire game for free and don't want to pay developers what they deserve for their work cause you "deserve" it as an early access member. It's shorter, to the point, and cuts through the whining/complaining on the toxic cesspool that is the DDV Reddit.

Something these guys don't want to understand... even if you don't pay for the DLC, there will be free Updates and Contents in the future. So why the hate? The game will not die at december the 5.

The negatives mostly target specific people(people who wanted more than one platform and people who were waiting for the game to be free), while the positives are purely speculative, it 'might' increase the quality of the game, it 'might' prevent them from adding harsher microtransactions, and it 'might' prevent trolls and what not. So it is hard to really have a strong opinion as an average player who owns the game currently. Mostly I have sympathy for people who are suffering the negatives, and am cautiously optimistic that the benefits will come.

I am so glad I follow positive streamers, I don’t think DDV deserves this hate, it’s a great game and they are giving us so much.

Thanks for making such a great video! Love your analysis, and your understanding of both sides. I just want to add another Gameloft x Disney game: Disney Magic Kingdoms. For those who haven't played, it's a mobile game of make your own Disney theme part. I played initially, had fun, the limited events were such that you could easily finish in the time frame, and if you were smart and saved your premium currency, you could easily get the specialty characters/rides. I watched it turn into you couldn't earn premium currency, the events were shorter, lots of new content were event only rather than permanent story-line, and you couldn't earn the characters without paying. And the pay for the characters pretty much tripled in price by the time I finally said "I'm done'. Knowing Gameloft was in charge of Dreamlight Valley made me so nervous about F2P because of previous track records, so I'm very glad they're going the more traditional route of pay for the main game and occasional DLC content along the way. (Destiny 2 has been around for years and keeps going with free events, but also paid DLC, and it's a great game.) I'll admit, I do feel bad for them pushing the F2P narrative so long, as you said, for those who were waiting to play for free. But I genuinely think they were planning on making it the same as the others, and then realized this kind of game won't run as well F2P. (And, they probably learned from their Speedstorm mistakes.)

Thanks for the positivity. I've been playing since day 1 (and following yout channel since the beginning), initially on gamepass and later i bought the ultimate founders edition when it was on sale on epic games. Im Brazilian so dollar priced games are pretty expensive, still it was worth every cent spent on it. And ill absolutely pay for the expansion (it will cost a lot more for me taking in account 1dolar = 5x my local coin). Anyway, the game developers have as job that is seen like glamorous and 'dream job' but in reality most of them are underpaid in relation to the amazing work they do, so its fair that after all the free expansions (and the free ones to come) that we pay for another hundreds of hours of fun. And for those who doesn't want to purchase it, you will still have the game and all the free content still to come!!!

I love the game and I don't mind paying for the expansion. DDV employees need to get to paid for their work. I'd prefer to pay 30 bucks then have the premium shop get so expensive I can't get any of the awesome items available there. I pay for the other games I play, some with a monthly fee, so $30 for the expansion pack doesn't bother me at all.

Mr. Star.......I have to say thank you for giving me a new perspective on this whole thing.....I like a lot of others was sad that the "new" gold players could get the game and expansion that I paid the same amount for (in the ultimate package) and I still had to pay the extra $30 to get the expansion pack.....after listening to you I realize that I have all the extra digital items that came with the ultimate pack that the new gold players will not have in their package....now, do I think they should have access to all those items......answer: yes just as I think all players should be able to have access to ALL the past star path items. They could do it like this: I would LOVE to see them add a list of all past star paths and you could choose one to do (after completing the current one) and then with the next star path they list the past ones (again after completing current path) and you could choose one to do, etc., etc. All players could eventually get all the items from past star paths, and it would be a win-win for the player (who gets the past items) and for Gameloft (as they would get more money from the moonstone purchase).

How funny all these people are mad about a paid expansion. But are the first people to purchase a dlc for their favorite games when they come out 😂😂

My only problem is that being Early Access or F2P I can accept bugs, missing QOL features and whatever. For example, last update in Beast's castle was barely playable during certain parts like flying books and Lumiere costume (and my PC can run AAA games on Ultra settings, for reference). If they end the Early Access phase and start charging full price for a full game, they must improve the QA department. And if they're asking for 30$ dollars for an expansion pack, I won't accept a bugged and laggy experience anymore.

I was upset at first but then I talked to my son. He was like mom you love the game and you're always playing it. He was like the expansion pack is worth the extra money. The devs put a lot of hard work into the game and I'm looking forward to more content.

Can you imagine how much it costs to build this game? I love it and was happy to pay for it. You KNOW I’ll be buying every expansion pack they have! This game is the bomb diggity! I feel bad for people that can’t afford it but the basic game isn’t all that expensive. Rock on Gameloft and ddlv! And you too, Mrstarinsky!

I paid $25 for Happy Home Expansion for Animal Crossing New Horizons. And all it is is a decorating expansion for random animals. You do get more chances to get better furniture than just having the base game. I'm not against paid dlc. I also play Elder Scrolls Online and that game is waaayyyy more expensive than anything Gameloft has thrown at us yet when it comes to dlc and microtransactions.

It's so annoying people don't get that F2P would be so much worse..

I play wow every expansion i want i need to pay for and they are 70.00 dollars for each expansion .so 30.00 to me for the expansion doesnt bother me

I love your videos because you actually sit here and explain to everyone how things work. I feel like a lot of people just don’t understand that at the end of the day people also need to make money and be paid. Same as your dreamsnaps videos you just do a great job of really diving into things and explaining it to the best of your abilities! Thankful to have someone like you in our community!!

I am happy F2P was canceled I'm super excited!

To be honest I am going to play regardless if it was going to be free to play or paid cuz it’s very relaxing while I play I just wish the price for the expansion pass was more like $15 but it is what it is. Plus I can’t wait to see all the new characters they are going to put in the game. If you stop to think about it Dreamlight Valley is much better the Animal Crossing which there is not much you can do with that game and now they are not doing anything with it.

I’m gonna buy it!! $30 for a year of enjoyment was totally worth it and I can’t wait for more

I need cheese before going on reddit to go with the whine

Not going free is probably the best thing for this game. Otherwise we have to pay for every single new character, biomes, and such. Plus, this is DLC, which is completely optional, and has nothing to do with the story. And we are still getting a free update with the next update, which will include Jack Skellington.

Seriously? Please tell me people aren’t mad about the free to play shit… does anyone realize that by doing free to play… that means everything HAS to be micro transactions, quests, characters, biomes, cosmestics… cosmetics is ONE thing, but paywalling quests is ridiculous… and that’s why free to play is HORRIBLE. Not to mention how many people paid 80$ for this game only to find out it’s going to be free… EXPANSION packs costing 20-40$ usually means better quests, multiple quests, more items, more characters etc…. But as we saw with the Wall E and Ursula pay walked quests… what did you actually get? One quest that was hardly good, crumbs of cosmetics and furniture for 4K moonstones… and since you can’t buy 4K moonstones, you have to fork over 30$ for 5500… for less content, less items compared to the USUAL 30$ expansion packs of any other game, not to mention, once free to play happened, more than likely dreamsnap would be revamped and you’d get less moonstones because they have to make their money back via premium shop to justify free to play. Honestly FREE TO PLAY GAMES HAVE TO END. The culture around micro transactions and half assed game content… it’s terrible. Name any game that is GENUINELY GOOD and consistently has more content, gameplay etc compared to paid games… I can’t think of a single one. People who are complaining… stop it, go buy the game it’s not expensive 😂 you can buy the ultimate for 80$, or you can pay 30$ for the base game… free to play games are terrible. End of story. They never last. They are always terribly cash grabby, bugs and content updates are always ignored… EDIT: wow these people are actually so unhinged and disconnected in reality…. So these people look at this companies profit from the game and think they don’t deserve to make anymore money… you realize everyone working for that company is paid by that company? They paid 80k+ for their university, so your angry at people who went to university, honed their skills and got a job getting paid fairly for their time, effort and skills… let me guess your also the same person complaining that minimum wagers deserve more money… I’m not gonna lie… I genuinely hate that Gen z joined the gaming scene… I whole heartedly believe they’re responsible for how shit and riddled with micro transactions so many games have become, not to mention the insane amount of terrible free to play games… these developers work hard, they learned and developed the skills to make these games… and it’s not easy dude, coding and 3D modeling isn’t a skill anyone can just pick up and be amazing at, it takes years of trial and error, practice, learning everything you can, not to mention talent or having the brain power to do it period 😂😂😂 a companies profit on a game isn’t their take home profits… they have to pay their workers, their office rent/mortgage, taxes, servers etc… these people aren’t developing this game in their basement and running with the cash bag. They have expenses… if you don’t wanna buy a product. DONT. Those of us who paid for an early access game… kinda insane to be charged to pay for an early access game for it to become free… that was the strangest thing I ever heard in my life. This game shouldn’t have ever been free to play… especially when you charge people to pay for early access 😂 Go play Palia if you want Free to play… enjoy the micro transactions and terrible content updates 😂

MrStarInSky thanks for sharing your thoughts and trying your best to keep the DDLV community positive! I feel like there’s good things and bad things about DDLV and everyone can’t be pleased at the same time. Hopefully the November 1st stream can shed more details as to how and why things are moving forward in the way it is, and hopefully people can find peace with it and the DDLV community can continue to be positive and fun! 👍🏻⭐️🙂

Nah I would’ve been mad if it became free to play after I spent my money

This decision probably saved the game, but the community is mental.

Very glad that it's not free to play to be honest. Micro transactions are killers and I would have immediately been turned off if that's the route it went. On the topic of games with paid DLC and paid shops (like the premium shop), take for example the newest Assassin's Creed game which, as the past 2 or 3 have had at least, comes with a shop where you use Ubisoft credits paid for with real money to buy nonessential cosmetics and weapons. Plus, I spent $120 on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet for example (two pack of games) and the DLC came out for $35 per game. Even if I just bought Scarlet and DLC for example, it evens out to the same as what DDLV is doing. It's completely normal business practice, but people are just salty because they feel led on by the promise of a free to play future.

So here is my humble take that no one asked for. I personally don't really have a problem with them making the decision to stay as a pay to play game instead of free to play. I don't know why they made that decision; maybe they just don't have the momentum to transition to F2P like they thought they would. I also don't have a problem with the fact that you have to buy multiple copies if you want the game on additional platforms; that's very normal, but I do understand the frustration that Switch players have with the state of the game. The devs really should address that and work on it more. I play on both PC and Switch and the performance on the switch is horrible. What I do have a problem with is this trend with games now where you buy the base game, then there is a battle pass system, then there is also a cash shop with micro transactions. What happened to just buying the game once and getting all of the content? Or at least buying the base game and then maybe expansions at reasonable paces with a lot of new content? But I think sadly this is just the way of the gaming industry now; you might have some outliers like Larion studios with Baldur's Gate but overall most companies are going to want to have their cake and eat it too.

It BAFFLES me that people who already own the game through a Founder's Edition are going off the rails about this, with the exception of wanting it on multiple platforms, what's the fuss about? You already have the game, you aren't losing anything. The original game will get regular, free updates. The expansion, is extra content if you want it. I have several hundred games, 99% of them release PAID expansions and content. And if it is a game I truly enjoy, I purchase them. Imagine someone going into Starbucks, paying $12 for a foo-foo coffee, then going into a rage when they don't get a cake pop for free. "Starbucks is PREDATORY! Tempting me with things on signs that I have pay for!" That's essentially what this is, an add-on, which costs extra. As for buying once and playing on a different platform, the only way that's possible right now is with Xbox GamePass Ultimate. I originally had DDLV on Xbox, and was able to play on PC due to the Xbox PC app, which did install a PC version of the game. Several of the games are like that through Xbox. Nice job on the video, most of those people don't even know why they're upset. They've been waiting on something to be angered over, and this was it.

Another thing could be that speedstorm was a test to see how it would do as a f2p game with prices and stuff. Disney overall hasn't been doing very well. They've lost alot of money this year. Me personally I love Disney. I bought the full founders pack in the beginning and I'm still wanting the cozy edition for the moonstones and cosmetics. Plus I'm gonna buy the expansion for both consoles. To me it's worth it. I don't play many games. I'm into some of the older games. It's rare I find a game I'm into. I get bored easily but this is a game you can chill after work playing and I can enjoy playing with my partner who's an avid gamer. I'm not complaining especially since they gave us dreamsnaps. I might have a bad week but I'm still getting free moonstones. Plus they are giving you the opportunity to get the game and extra stuff if you get it now. Plus the holiday sales will run into January so you know the game will be on sale after it fully releases for all systems. 30 bucks is not bad for that big of an expansion either.

By not going F2P Gameloft has ensured that we shouldn't have to pay for any of the updates that come during each expansion. I know people were afraid that if it was F2P they would lock characters and realms behind a paywall, but now that shouldn't be an issue. Moonstones should only be required for cosmetic items, and as things are now Moonstones are not hard to get if you don't want to pay for them. If it was F2P Moonstones would be much harder to get and you'd have to pay out of pocket pretty regularly. If all this means that I drop 30 dollars a year on a game (I'm guessing that expansions will last that long due to this past years Act 1 story arch) to have the best quality experience I am all for it.

I honestly dont care! I love the game that much I am happy to pay for the expansion! I soooooooo cant wait! roll on Nov 1st for more info! Mrstarlin ur also amazing I never miss a video! :) PS As for them changing it to not free to play - we all have been playing the game while they are creating it and improving it... theres always going to be changes for the future of the game in mind to make the game the best it can be - Nothing is set in stone - Im honoured to have been allowed to play from the start :) x

I agree with a lot of what you have to say! I’m a little sad, that some people will now be quitting the game, but I do think as long as they play their cards right it could be a positive thing long term !

Thank you for giving us all the tea on yesterday's surprise bomb drop. I'm so excited for the future of DDV! Mostly I came here to say how proud I am of the Starlight Dreamers community. Everyone has been positive, reasonable, respectful and supportive and helpful in the Discord.

Gameloft has disappointed a lot of families especially little kids with the lie about F2P plan. if they are really sorry and mean it, they should make the base game in big sale/discount, not only the base game including Deluxe/Ultimate so it is like they did something with a discount. i don't mind any company getting profits and see their product thrive, but not upon lies especially to little kids. shame on them, they should be ashamed of themselves.

I'm excited! I love the game and I am really enjoying it and since DreamSnaps I have zero problems with the premium store. I get enough moonstones to have a cushion for future StarPaths and pick up the handful of items I want.

I bought ddv the expensive one when it was on sale in June, I am happy with this game! I see that they listen to the people when they suggest something. They didn’t lie, they had the idea of being free but I imagen something happen that they had to change their mind.

think about this sir , what ddv is doing with the expansion pass is no different than the sims game , which people buy like candy !! with sims , you also have to buy different packs for items ! I play House Flipper , and they also have different dlc's to buy and it is wonderful ! the dlcs have so much content ! I personally am so glad they willl not go free to play ! I do hope if they have more expansion (dlc) passes that they do not overcharge. I o think this price is as high as they should go !

"We have enough negativity in our lives from just being alive" is the most relatable thing I have heard in a long time 😂I 100% sympathize with the people who have been waiting for the last year to play this for free, it really sucks that Gameloft has decided to not make it free to play for these individuals. But I think in the grand scheme of things, this announcement is hugely beneficial to the people who are already playing.

I have no more crashes on my switch after the last update! Much better!

I'm good paying 29.99...I love this game and will continue playing it. I have never missed a day of playing....thank you Gameloft for fixing the issues.

The treasure chests in Disney Magic Kingdoms by Gameloft offer random chests of characters for premium currency. If the characters were gone (got one one in a chest before) the odds of the other characters decreased and odd of getting decorations increased. Imagine spending 60 currency betting on a character you need and getting a bench you have 50 of already. Its rage inducing and I’ve thrown my phone multiple times due to this gambling.

I agree with everything you've said - I'm pretty sure Gameloft wasn't trying to hide anything from us, this was probably just a recent decision, and they gave us fair notice. It makes sense, not only because of what happened with Speedstorm, but also because of the major shift in moonstone economy since the release of DreamSnaps. They might have been originally intending to earn more from moonstone sales, but released DreamSnaps in response to player feedback, and gave us major rewards that make actually purchasing moonstones with $ pretty much obsolete. Also, you're right, this is not such a weird business model in the gaming world. Just think for example of GTA V - It's a paid game, which includes the "base" story, and access to GTA V online. Online gets free updates, but almost everything (houses, cars, actual gameplay mechanics, guns/ammo etc) costs an in-game currency that's pretty much equivalent to moonstones - You can earn it in-game and save up, or you can buy it with actual money. The difference is, since the release of DreamSnaps, moonstones have become so much easier to get. And unlike GTA, they're not required for actual gameplay mechanics - You can totally still play and enjoy the game, without ever getting items from the premium shop for example.. It's just cosmetics at the end of the day. I personally have paid for GTA V currency before, but have never paid for moonstones and still managed to get a lot of premium items/house skins, both Wall-E and Ursala's bundles, and every star path we've had so far with no issue. As for your suggestion to sell the DLC for moonstones - I don't think they're gonna do that, exactly because it wouldn't solve their inflow problem. Think about it like this, if most of the target audience for the DLC, are dedicated player who completed the base-game and/or love the game and play a fair bit... Those are basically the same people who normally manage to get 2500-4000 moonstones a week from DreamSnaps. Selling the DLC for a price which most people can get for free after saving up for about 2-4 weeks, just doesn't make any sense from Gameloft's perspective. However, I do believe that if they manage to sell enough DLCs, they still might actually make the base game F2P eventually, similar to how EA has recently done with The Sims.

seems like a lot of people are just used to getting something for nothing. You want to play a game, you have to pay for it, and should have to pay for it. Like anything in life, it's not free. You tube for example, people complain about the adverts, but if there wasn't any adverts, you would have to pay for it! Free to play usually ends up being more expensive, and I feel they are doing the right thing with this, and not trying to squueze little amounts of money out of players, for opening biomes, new characters etc. I'm happy to pay for an expansion, for a game that I am invested in, and spend a lot of free time playing. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said. Another great video to listen to, thanks for your insights and knowledge.😀

Maybe it’s just because for us the updates were spread out, but if new players buy gold edition won’t it take them almost a Year to start the Chapter 2 Expansion Pass?

I personally think canceling free to play is a great thing. It potentially keeps the cost of other things like expansion passes down and it won’t be over run with people who want to try and hack you and lagging

I am just curious; if I buy the expansion pass on my PC version do I also need to buy for my Switch version or will it unlock on both? I don't wanna buy on both but be restricted to only one version having the expansion while the other can't access it :/

It’s staying on Xbox gamepass so I’ve always said technically it was free for me, but I decided to purchase the ultimate edition recently for the exclusive items and I want to support this game! I can’t wait for expansion pass and everything to come after that!

I have never felt that DDV was suited to FTP. I think we will enjoy it a lot more as it is.

I am thrilled that it's not going free to play. I think its better for those that already have it. Also, excited for the expansion. No different than buying extra content on other games.

Thank you MrStarInSky, you raised some great points I hadn't thought of! I want to get excited for the the expansion but I'm personally trying not to. My reason for this is as a cross-platform player I'm not willing to buy the expansions twice everytime they release DLC moving forward. I would rather stick with the free updates and keep cross-platform cloud save feature. If I owned the expansion on PC and not Switch I don't think the cloud save feature would work and I'd risk glitching or worse losing my save game. If there was a way to get the expansion with Moonstones within the game and it be linked through my Gameloft ID I'd be sooooooo happy. I'll still enjoy doing dreamsnaps and starpaths but I don't think I'll continue being a daily player moving forward.

I'm more bummed about not being able to buy the items from cozy edition to the PC. I want the raccoons and the Cheshire cat sweater on the PC .

Actually expansion pass is free to founders as we pay $30 we get 5000 moonstones plus as founders we get a further 2500 moonstones and the additional exclusive items ! My $30 is ready !😂

I’m not mad at any of it. Almost all good games have paid DLC’s. I mean animal crossing had one and they stopped giving us content after 2 years. I do feel bad for the people that were holding out but I’m excited for what’s to come. This game is my relaxation after a long day with my kids.

I love this game and am with you, I looked and I have 475 hours of game play, I will 100% get the expansion and everything and don't mind because it provides so much enjoyment for me ❤

also i think it would be a good thing like most games,to add a weekly free log in calender for speedstorm and ddv. which makes people log in. because theres stages on ddv where there is nothing to do apart from daily duties which isnt wanting people log in everyday.or a random character quest every day.

I only play Speedstorm out of the two, however you can't really compare the game population. For the Gaston event there were 160k people on the leaderboard, so there are plenty of players in Speedstorm. Dreamlight Valley is more of a game where you play for hours and hours, for Speedstorm you do a few races, come back later for the shop and you're good to go. I agree with you that Dreamlight shouldn't be free to play, but for a racing game it's a must-have.

I was worried ddv going f2p after speedstorms change, i do feel bad for those who cant afford the game hoping it was free. Only after speedstorms change i actually think in the long run it will work out cheaper buying an optional expansion pack rather than nasty surprises in everything you need or do and more than likely less characters free in updates .

I don't think it's fair to say that they lied or went back on a promise. They've been open with their plans for forever and they've just had a change of plan. It's very normal for something like this to happen. What they are offering is very decent for a paid game we just have to adjust to the new plan

Thank you for the video and being so positive and understanding for the ones Who feel robbed. Im glad you have such a positive channel ❤

look at what Disney speedstorm freeplay looks like and come back

Listen, the problem isn't that this game isn't going to be F2P anymore. It's the fact that now this is a PAID game, NONE of the F2P mechanics in this game should be there. THEY PAYWALLED THE MAIN STORY QUEST TO A PAID GAME. And no, character quests ARE NOT THE MAIN STORY. When I purchase a game, I expect to have full access to the ENITRE STORY. But NOO I have to pay 30$ just to continue said story. THIS ISN'T A FREE TO PLAY GAME ANYMORE, THERE SHOULDN'T BE FREE TO PLAY MECHANICS TO IT. They purposely made us think it was going to be F2P at first so we wouldn't notice the fact that once they cancel F2P and make it a PAID GAME, that said F2P mechanics are NOT SUPPOSE TO BE IN A PAID GAME. Do you NOT realize that you have to shell out 30$ just to play every Act now!?!?!? Oh wait, you don't care, you make more than 30$ of off DDLV content on RU-vid. I'm sorry but the "hate" IS DESERVED. Do not sit there and invalidate what a LARGE chunk of players are feeling. You need to do some research on Gameloft and understand why they are not the company you should be worshipping. They're shady as hell, but have fun gaslighting children dude.

I do not have an issue with the DLC and do not mind paying for a quality DLC, what I have an issue with is those of us who spoke of these concerns happening were really treated badly in discord and twitter and told we were being selfish, it is a beta and on and on. Now I see some of those same people saying the same things and now it is a problem. There are issues they will not address for those that have played for a year and now want to complete things can't get morbs to drop(cooking is the worst}, half the time when you feed an animal nothing happens lost the count from when i got an orb from feeding a critter. What I have an issue with is we were still being told Oct ftp was coming and then it didn't happen in oct and so thought nov and then they drop this? I paid the 70 to support the game and did it willingly. I know people who waited for free to play because of budget issues with economy the way it is and were willing to pay for moonstones possibly and the founders day packs have been on sale off and on but they waited because they said it would be ftp. The would have bought the founders package when it was on sale had they been told the truth!!When they started running sales on the game packages I felt this was why and I spoke on it and was told I was being negative and just looking for something. I knew it and I told several the should get it and they did and are glad now. I just know more would have if they knew. So no ultimate players paid 70 and all we get the cosmetics from the gold and have to pa for the DLC, NEW people can pay 70 for gold and get the items and moonstones and get the DLC FREE? I know several people had they known they decided it would not be ftp they would have bought a founders package when they were on sale. Why can't the people who paid for the ultimate get the DLC also free, we have played for a year, we have helped with game and supported them it is the least they could do, or offer it half price? The didn't acknowledge a year of supporting and playing not even a note of thank you. I work on dreamsnaps every week and have never voted on a single winning pic as I have never seen 1 and I vote 10 to 20 daily but never have gotten more than 1200 and that was 1 time. People have done way less and get 4000 every week, so yes it is discouraging and then we are told you earn free moonstones so what is the issue? But if someone who gets 4000 every week suddenly doesn't, now it isn't fair and everyone is saying that is so wrong. LOLOL I am thankful for every moonstone but when you see this kinda thing, it is frustrating. I wish the would fix the things wrong but since they started the premium shop, that seems to be where the priority is and all the patches we uses to get to fix issues have stopped. Why work on completing memories during times of no content or waiting on more when the things to complete memories does not work? Those of us who paid to play and helped with development have to keep buying a new game to get the new items, like the Cheshire sweater and racoons? Why not let us buy those, why do we need to keep buying the game? Why can't we buy a game to gift anyone? There is no option. The game does deserve to be a premium game IF the base issues and game play issues would be fixed. I like the game, that is why I play and I support the game but I am also realistic is all. Honesty should never be seen as a negative especially when all the things people felt have now played out.

All the haters can leave and let the door hit them on the way out in my opinion. The only negative out of this whole thing is the people who missed out on star paths because they were waiting for ftp.. that is unfortunate. But this will be better for all of us players in the long run.

When you said to calculate the hours played with what you paid for the game, I did just that. I bought both the Ultimate & Deluxe editions and have played for over 700 hours, which worked out to about $0.13 per hour. I can live with that!

the folks who are angry about no F2P, would be the same folks whining and complaining about how bad the micro transactions would’ve been had F2P gone through🤷🏻‍♂️

I strongly believe that the decision to maintain the current pricing model for Dreamlight Valley is the best one. The game developers have done an excellent job so far in ensuring that the game remains fair for all players. The ability to earn moonstones is incorporated into many activities within the game, providing everyone with the opportunity to earn some, even if they cannot afford to purchase them. However, I also believe that moonstones are very expensive, given the number of them you receive. This is why I am not particularly pleased with the price, but at the same time, I appreciate how easy it is to gain them without having to pay. Many people were expecting Dreamlight Valley to be free-to-play for Christmas, but I think that maintaining the current pricing model is the best option for maintaining the game's quality. If the game was free-to-play, there would be more "Pay to win" walls, and the prices of other in-game items would increase even more. I have always anticipated that we would eventually have to purchase DLC, but I am pleased to hear that expansions are the way forward. These expansions will bring full content groups and chunks of story instead of tiny little updates behind big pay walls. In my opinion, the developers have done an excellent job of showing appreciation for those of us who have been playing Dreamlight Valley since the beginning. The inclusion of items from the gold edition, as well as some extra moonstones, goes a long way in making us feel valued. Legacy players have had the opportunity to gain many items through all the star paths, one-time events, and giveaways, which makes them unique and unobtainable for new players. Therefore, I believe that this decision is the best for the game as a whole and will match the quality we have all come to expect from Disney Dreamlight Valley.

I’m very happy about the decision,but I’m holding out for the live cast for more information.

I am happy with the decision. I love the game. I have been playing since day one and bought the ultimate edition. I am happy that I will receive the cosmetic items. Thank you for being positive I love watching you. Also most expansion packs cost money that is the real world.

I think we're better of this way. I understand people being ticked off, but it's better for the game. Thank you for this video, MrStar. I can only agree with your reasoning.

The effect of this really depends on how it changes the game going forward. The moonstones and premium shop don't really have a place in a game which is now something you have to pay for. These are free-to-play mechanics. I was worried that it becoming free-to-play would ruin the "comfy" aspect of the game entirely, given what an absolute stress-fest their Disney Magic Kingdoms game is. I could see us having characters only available for a limited time like that game and all sorts of things. So I'm actually glad to see the back of that, though it does limit my ability to suggest the game to others. I do think those of us playing in early access should have been gifted the first expansion pack. We made a purchase on the basis that the game would become free to play and things like moonstones would be needed during that period. I would have likely gone a cheaper route if I had not thought the items with the ultimate pack would have been a boon when it went free to play. A couple of costumes from the gold pack don't really cut it. Where it goes from here really depends on what is still offered without further payment. If what we have now is the complete game and anything else requires another paid expansion pack, together with the premium paths and store items continuing, I think this game is a rip-off.

I'm on Xbox one I have been playing the game since day one waiting on f2p so with that being said do I buy ultimate game or wait for gold edition what do you think is best choice pls

People who've been playing since the beginning of early release know ddlv will be better as a paid game. Those who were waiting for free to play don't get it because they haven't played it at all yet. I do feel bad that people who were waiting missed out on some cool starpaths and what not but I'm sure there will be more cool stuff to come!

My question is do we have to buy it again if only playing on switch and nothing else we bought this at the very beginning of its release and bought the founder's pack which wasn't cheap Do I have to buy it again or will I still be able to keep my game 🎮

I'm so confused. I paid for early access. But now i have to paid for the whole game plus expansion??? Or are they allowing just purchases the expansion.

STILL HAVING HOPE FOR DREAMLIGHT VALLEY. IM LOOKING FORWARD TO EXTENSIONS AND CHANGES, NO MATTER WHAT.

I am an Ultimate user and I do think expansion should be made free for us. At least the first one. 1. Moonstones - now that this is a paid game, and moonstones are fairly easy to farm these days (thanks to Dreamsnaps!), using this as a reason for some pricing package is not feasible. 2. Yes, we got a lot more moonstones and free cosmetics as compared to others… but this should be an incentive for those who are willing to PAY TO BE THE GUINEA PIGS. We paid for an unfinished game so those are incentives for that. Yes many enjoyed the game but many also get an unfavorable gaming experience and still hang on and go thru the bugs etc So with this you should treat us like those who are buying the Gold package. Maybe stop the Ultimate version after 1st Nov so moving forward if they want to spend 70 dollars it’ll be on Gold package. But of course this is highly unlikely - so I like the idea of giving ultimate users at least, a discounted price without moonstones for the first expansion. Given that some platforms aren’t getting the full experience (eg smaller item limit cap etc) - to be charging us is unfair. I hope they will make the game fully optimized for all platforms; and this is only fair. Why are we paying 30 bucks - there are DLCs in other games and I’ve paid for those - but they’re finished products.

Personally i want to see DDLV incorporate a feature where we can sign into our account and access our valley if i want to switch from PC to PS5, especially since F2P is no longer. I’d hate to switch platforms and have to start new, id rather pay for the game, sign in and have my Valley on the new platform.

Thank you so much for your nuanced, rational and kind updates on all these developments. Your a gem! I personally am very happy DLV isn’t going F2P but I love that you address other folk’s opinions respectfully. Keep up the great work man.

I recall everybody b*tc#ing about it going Free-To-Play… And now, everybody is b*tc#ing that it’s not. So…color me confused. And, I’m confused about what this means for GamePass. I figure I will be buying the game, regardless.

Still mixed feelings about this decision. I still feel like the base game should have gone free to play. It has so many "micro"transactions in it that were put in place for the transition into f2p, and the decision THIS close to launch (a month is not that much time, especially this late in the year) feels gross. I really hope they shift things around like getting rid of the premium star path purchase and just opening it up to everyone as an incentive to log in every day. I see no reason we can't purchase old star paths as well - I would not mind spending Moonstones on those. The premium shop is fine, but I still feel like we need a catalog and they need to stop with the FOMO in a rotation premium shop. I'm hoping they will reinvest their revenue in the game and not give it all to the top execs. I'll be tuning into their live stream on the 1st!

Do we know if the new expansion realm will have a separate item count? That's the only thing that I'm anxious about, because if it doesn't, I'm kinda screwed.🥴

My olny question is I have the game on my laptop and switch so will I have to buy 2 expansion passes?

I have a question Is there also people who have problems with a black screen I cant play ddv for 2 days now😢

The thing that really disappointed me about the updates is that I have been waiting to do a big remodel of my valley until free to play because I bought it on the Switch. Unfortunately they have not optimized the game for the Switch, so it crashes a lot and I am too scared to do big remodels because I can work really hard on it for a long time and all of it disappear if the game decides to crash while saving the changes. It happened to me once and I have done very little since. I feel like with this new information that they should let people swap for a different system, especially with how frustrating the gameplay is on the Switch.

i hope its free to play cause i would love to play Dreamlight Valley on nintendo switch and i love Disney Speedstorm its the best free to play game :)

Disney has had a history of lying to the public to cover their asses. Ever heard of Push the Talking Trashcan? No? It was a free-wheeling animatronic in the form of one of the park's waste baskets controlled by an inconspicuous Cast Member. Word got out that Push was going to be retired, and there was a whole rally to save him. Parks Entertainment claimed that Push wasn't going anywhere, but one week later, he was gone never to be mentioned again. For a more recent issue, Disney's triple-digit park admissions is now paired with a reservation system where you schedule the time you plan to visit the park of your choice. This was made after the Covid pandemic, and has yet to be discontinued to my knowledge. This is the conspiracy that Disney does not want poor people visiting their parks. Also, I saw Disney Dreamlight Valley: Cozy Edition listed in the chart under Availability as "Physical". Tell me more about that.

Dreamsnaps most likely caused this change and the drop in sales of moonstones. I'm sorry from past gameloft products on mobile they always become a greedy money machine and until now it wasnts so bad but, this is the start to more and more content being monetized and it will get worse overtime from past experiences of gameloft gaming. Early access was a testing ground to see how much we would take as we game tested for free for them to prepare for a full launch to free to play..which is now not happening and now the costs they want to make will fall on us.

At this point people are just complaining to complain. If you're a big Disney fan the game is worth the money including the DLC if not go play something else. 🤷‍♀️

If they are giving the DLC to new ultimate edition purchasers, anyone who purchased the ultimate edition should get this DLC free. There is no but. Those items don’t compare to a whole DLC. Geez! When they start passing out those sponsorships you better be at the top of the list. Disgusting 🤢

I don't mind that it won't be free to play, except for the fact that I was hoping to get it on switch so that I could take the switch to work and get the last couple rare animals that only spawn during the weekdays during the day, when I'm at work and there is no way to feed them :( Now I will have to buy another version just to complete my rare animals.

I don't think they lied circumstances changed with Unity changing things and after seeing how Speedstorm crashed and burned they wanted to keep the same level they had been doing

I was going to wait until it was free to play. But in January when I saw the downloadable version (using a code) available at Walmart I decided against it and I don’t regret that decision one bit.