Rift Is Going Free-To-Play

Subscription MMO’s are slowly changing their ways and embracing the F2P model.

I was full aboard the Rift train when it came out. I was throwing away WOW and embracing a new MMO that had a ton of potential and interesting game play mechanics. The story revolves around a world where rifts (tears in the elemental plane) open up around the world, spilling out enemies and introducing a large co-op experience with a large number of players working together to defeat the hordes. I played this game for about 4 months, closing the rifts, crafting gear, and learning the story. Unfortunately the WOW addiction was too strong, and my ex guildmates were nipping at my heels to come back and raid. So Rift sat and collected dust, I came back a little while later when it hit Steam, but still didn’t do it for me.

The F2P model is being adapted by many once subcription based MMO’s. Star Wars: The Old Republic went Free-To-Play late last fall and saw their profit double  come 2013. The Free-To-Play model makes it’s money from a series of micro-transactions the player can pay extra for while playing to enhance the base experience. Now if you want that special mount, pay $5 and get it. Want to raid more than once a week? Pay $10 and unlock that as well. It’s a model players have been embracing more to only unlock the content they want, not all the extra stuff they will never end up using, or even getting to.

Trion World’s who created Rift will be releasing information about the change to F2P on their website, up until the release of it on June 12, 2013. This change in the game will be two days before the release of their latest update to the game Patch 2.3: Empyreal Assault, which will include some perks for existing players.

Since my time playing Rift, I have kicked the WOW habit and my current MMO is SW:TOR. There is something a little more to being a badass Jedi Guardian tossing droids off cliffs, than being a really ugly female Orc DK (every guildie hated me for my choice in characters).

But with this release of Rift as F2P I may log in and see how my Guardian Paladin is doing, and let you all know how the game has changed.