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I was told Rift had the best F2P ever. How does it compare to WoW?
Hi all,
Looking for something different from WoW. Would Rift fit the bill?
I will also be trying out TESO, and TOR.
Checked a few youtube videos and the combat still seems very non twitch. Is it the standard MMO fare?
Anything cool in the game I should know about?
Thanks!
Comments
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
-Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
-Luke McKinney
Thank you.
I tried the game out but it seemed like a WoW re-skin. Going to stick to TESO for now. The game is not perfect, but it does enough things differently to interest me in MMO's, plus I got it for a whopping $10, so can't complain lol.
TESO has a great 1-50 experience, but you have to level to essentially level 150 for end game content. And believe me, it feels like 150 levels.... and worse still you stop essentially building your character at level 50. So you for levels 50-150 you have the same character with only minor skill upgrades.
Rift has the best world events of any game, and I have tried many of the big names in MMOs in the past 6 years or so.
Rift has something like 36 or more "souls" to build from. 8 (or 9) of which belong to the specific class you choose. So you can heal/tank/dps on the same character, kind of like FFXIV, except you don't have to level all over again.
Rift has a great Macro System, if you like that. If you don't enjoy macros you may be at a disadvantage. Hope that helps!
Looking forward to: Crowfall / Lost Ark / Black Desert Mobile
Originally posted by laokoko
"if you want to be a game designer, you should sell your house and fund your game. Since if you won't even fund your own game, no one will".
It's kinda a WOW clone but there are serious differences in some respects.
WOW has massive support online from the community where Rift's online support is meager in comparison and much is out of date. Solo can be tough for new player due to the lack of clarity and available knowledge. There are very useful pre made builds to get a person going effectively. Respec is no big deal later on. Lots of guilds happy to help newbies.
What some stuff will do on Rift is not crystal clear. Some of the concepts, Planar for example, are tough to wrap the brain around since the concepts are so mysterious at first. Attunement? (brain cells explode) etc.
WARNING: Macros do not work the same as WOW. Macro dependent classes should get expert with Rift macro scripting and execution ASAP! Rift Macro philosophy may seem wrong at first but there are advantages to the Rift way.The world is big. Horses and other critters to ride are available and are level dependent. Instant transporter stations are plentiful. (nice)
Graphics good but need more computing power than WOW. The coding seems to not be as good as Blizzard's. Lag is a common complaint in every game.
Community just like WOW. Usual troll/perv crowd you can report but Rift doesn't care so just use ignore. My ignore list is no where as big as it is on WOW. There are a LOT of cool, generous, helpful players you'll NEVER hear from on regular chat. Ask for help on chat, get perved / trolled, I put them on ignore list and almost always I get PM'd offerring me help. Your friends list will grow. After kissing a few frogs I found a prince of a guild.
GM's and Tech support are very very very slow. Like reeeaallly slow. Maybe there's only one of them working part time an hour a day? /end sarcasm
Grinding exists but various emergency situations pop up to make things interesting and you get various benefits from dealing with these emergencies. I found some useful gathering help sites on the internet.
I do enjoy the game and find more variety of things to do than in WOW.
Oh, Did I mention GM and Tech support are very very very slow?
Rift is a good game and a wow clone; it was even marketed that way at launch with "You're not in Azeroth anymore!"
It has a terrific F2P system and can also boast probably the finest building system in a themepark mmo, called Dimensions.
Not sure whats wrong with people with this wow clone and stuff, yeah they did try to copy some part of wow, but wow copy pretty much everything so not really wow clone just many copy of a other type of game.
There are parts of rift are very good like zone event, rift, pvp, AI, ect. even the 3.0 going make it very lets say new what you seen in a mmo.
But I will not call rift the best mmo, it is the best f2p how much you can get away with out paying a dime, but its a good mmo if you die to some thing not a big deal just need to get better, dont need op type of gear to do stuff in rift event pvp its all amount what to do and know how to do it in your own way.
Its good game and some people kicks it off befor trying and getting in to it, I am sure for some not there taste but for other want to try it they will not try it as some people dont point out the good stuff only the bad, I met few people loving the game, what stop them in the first? people with wow clone saying its bad never try it p2w all this junk.
So I say just try it give it a few week then move on if people didnt like it.
Rift is the best f2p model, but not (IMO) he best f2p game. That would be EQ2, which does have a decent f2p model until you get to the high levels where they expect you to sub.
The reason why Rift was considered a WoW clone is because almost all of its components were directly from WoW. The combat style, the UI, the endgame structure, three tree system with buying upgrades every 2 levels, battleground PvP as the main PvP focus, no-fail, guaranteed skill up crafting, etc. Yes, many games have a couple of these elements, but none have all of them. For instance, EQ2 has none of these (well, maybe the BG PvP focus).
Over time Rift has moved away from WoW and more closely towards EQ2 (with housing a near direct copy of EQ2's amazing system), however the minions look awfully similar to WoW's garrison followers.
The only thing Rift really has over WoW is slightly more challenging group content, but that's really more of a knock on WoW than a plus for Rift. Oh and you can play Rift for free.
Rift's biggest weakness is it feels generic. Boring races, poor presentation of lore, and a general soulless feeling. Its mechanics are sound, but just lacks that something special.
Ill reiterate.. try EQ2.
Rift, hands down, has the BEST f2p system out there. Trion seems to know what players have known for a long time: Free 2 Play doesn't mean Free 2 Try. They advertise a game that is truly Free 2 Play. The only restriction is quoted directly from their FAQ page:
To combat gold farmers, free players are limited to 2,500 platinum and cannot sell items on the Auction house. Both of these restrictions are lifted if the player ever makes a credit pack purchase or if they spend credits purchased through REX. You can find more information on REX below.
Also, F2P get 3 starting bag spaces, whereas those that buy the game get 5 starting bag spaces, and everyone having the ability to purchase extra bag spaces from the cash shop. Keep in mind that each bag slot is able to hold the largest purchasable bags. Couple this with the ability to open the store window and vendor your stuff, you could spend DAYS not visiting a vendor. Me like very much this feature.
Also, notice the above statement regarding REX. With enough patience (and saving your in-game currency) a F2P could earn in-game enough platinum (around 1500 per REX) to earn credits (real-money currency) for spending in cash shop or purchasing patron status.
I've played just about every F2P out there and this is, hands down, the BEST model ever used for a F2P game. Below are my opinions regarding the philosophy of certain game companies toward players in their games, both FREE and SUB:
Trion (Rift): "No restrictions for the FREE; Awesome bonuses for the SUB".
EA (SWToR) - "If we restrict everything but the story, you'll want to sub...heck, you'll HAVE to sub for those titles!" Note: I truly recommend subbing to this game at least for a month. While subbed, attach a mobile authenticator to your account to earn 100 free credits each month, even after subbing ends. I was among those sorely disappointed by SWToR on launch, but after F2P the game has become very enjoyable. During my sub time I used ALL credits earned to unlock ACCOUNT WIDE locks, so that when I went back and played F2P, I wouldn't feel so...well, restricted. However, seeing as how credit cap cannot be unlocked ever, even with real money, I still feel restricted. This is even more apparent now that Strongholds has released with many unlocks above the 350k mark (350k credits is the max subs have, 250k for F2P). EA is just too restrictive, and I purchased and subbed for over a year total time. So, even as a *paying customer*, I believe that the philosophy of "restricting F2P" is ridiculous when you advertise a game as F2P.
Funcom (Age of Conan) - "Endgame content for the SUB...RP and Leveling Dungeons for the FREE." Note: Played AoC from launch for several months, left, came back later only to find that CLASSES were restricted behind a sub. It's amazing how off-the-mark that many of these companies can be when attempting to convert to their version of what a F2P game is/should be.
Sony (Everquest II) - "High Level FREE, sub-par skills available; Low Level SUB, kick FREE butt." Note: EQ II was a fun game, with a very in-depth crafting mini-game, but capping player SKILLS? That's part of the CORE of the game and should have never been restricted. EQ II is yet another Free to Try mislabeled and mismarketed as Free 2 Play.
XL Games (Archeage) - "No SUB, no Labor Points; No Labor Points, then you get to PvP!" Note: Archeage Impression:
No Labor Point regeneration for F2P while logged off is stupid and is one of the main contributors to the entire QUEUE DISASTER 2014. I was hoping that XL Games would remedy this with 5/5 regen of LP for F2P and give subs 10/10 LP regen, but it hasn't happened. Until that happens, I'm avoiding Archeage. Before commenting on this, keep in mind that mobs don't drop money...they drop BAGS of money. These bags have to be opened with Labor Points. Needless to say that I have close to 300 unopened money bags on my level 34 character because I have no LP. In other words, I can't open the loot that I earned by killing. Not cool, man. Not cool. Oh, and my goodness at the BOTS.
Turbine (Lord of the Rings Online) - "No SUB, no bags. FREE players, enjoy your DEED grind." Note: LotRO is my second favorite in the F2P list. Although there are many restrictions, free players can do deeds in-game to unlock cash shop currency. This allows F2P to unlock ALL restrictions, although it would take hundreds of gameplay hours to do this. I've unlocked several zones and content doing this. Because of Turbine just allowing F2P to do this, I spent a few bucks in the game. This is another game I recommend subbing to for at least one month. During that sub time, make one of each class just for the bag space and other perks. If one can get past the dated engine/models (although, LotRO has one of the most beautiful landscapes/skyboxes) then I believe they'll have a good time. Also, there is great potential for awesome RolePlay on this game, and the Lore is one of the best around.
TL:DR - Rift is the best F2P model out there. I recommend trying these each for yourself, but regardless of which one you stick with you will NOT find a better F2P model than that which is offered by Trion's Rift. All others are Free 2 Try.
Happy gaming, and God bless.
"I am handicapped...I'm psychotic."
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
I will agree that Rift has a great F2P model, but to suggest you aren't limited is ridiculous. Did you play the game? You talk about Rex like every enemy drops like 20 or 30 of it. Not the case at all!!
SWTOR is equally good as far as models go. If you had played the game you'd understand that any unlocks in SWTOR can be purchased through the auction house using in-game currency earned from quests, drops, etc. not some "special" currency.
As far as SOE, their F2P models are limited, but it's still not as limited as you're making it out to be. Also, they offer the greatest upside since they have an option for a subscription that applies to all of their games. Nobody else I'm aware of does this, so it's easily the greatest value for your dollar.
Without splitting hairs, yes, Rift is a good model.
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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Regarding REX, I stated that with enough patience (platinum gathering is not fast...never claimed it was) you can gain the platinum. I never EVEN hinted at it falling from mobs, or that it would be quick. I stated the going amount of platinum for which it sells, even. The key word here is PATIENCE. Also, REX sells for about a thousand platinum cheaper that F2P currency cap, so it's very viable. Also, to answer your question, I am currently playing Rift.
To say that SWtOR F2P model is even remotely as good as Rift is a blatant falsehood. Although I neglected to mention that you can purchase CERTAIN unlocks in the AH, it was due to the fact that many of the best/most-desired account wide unlocks are far above the currency cap of 350k (Preferred users) or 200k* (F2P users). Also, there is *special currency* in SWtOR, bought with real money. One can't deny that SWtOR's F2P/Preferred models has the most ludicrous of restrictions! Edit: I wanted to add this for F2P that are wanting to play/try SWtOR. It's an excellent GUIDE to attempt to overcome them and enjoy the game. Constant Warfare has many good ideas and they've helped me.
Also, to address your suggestion that I may not have played the game, I most definitely have played the game and am aware of all the restrictions. I have played as Preferred and Subscriber. I have purchase from the Cash Shop for unlocks, and have purchased from the AH account-wide unlocks.
I've already stated that I believe that SWtOR may be worthy of at least ONE month of subscribing for no other reason that to get some of those unlocks, either from free coins (from subbing a month and also attaching a mobile authenticator to one's account) or from the unrestricted/uncapped currency (while subbed). I did neglect to mention that you could purchase certain unlocks from the Auction House, but with the currency cap in place some of the best account-wide unlocks are above the cap and difficult to obtain. This can be looped around if you can:
Also, SOE's *subscriber models* are not unique. All the above games/companies have the option to sub and offer lifted restrictions when you do subscribe. The exception to this are those F2P games that have no/very few restrictions and offer bonuses to Patrons instead. I believe that Rift is one that should be listed in this category. Note: Keep in mind that bonuses and lifted restrictions are NOT the same thing.
You may not like Rift, SWToR, or any of the above games, but we're not speaking of whether or not a person will ENJOY the game. We're speaking of the PAY MODEL and RESTRICTIONS for said model(s). Enjoyment can be debated. Facts regarding pay model and restrictions cannot be (successfully) debated. Place each of these in a comparison window and one can differentiate which company/game has the LEAST-RESTRICTIVE, BEST F2P MODEL out there.
Finally, I clearly stated that a person should check out ALL the games above and compare them for themselves. All are Free 2 Try, but just a couple** are truly Free 2 Play. If you're enjoying playing SWToR, then keep playing! It's a fun game, no doubt. I would just like to see some restrictions lifted, and removed currency cap for Preferred Players.
*Note: I had originally stated that F2P Players in SWToR have a 250k credit cap, but it's 200k.
**Note: I forgot to mention Aion. Aion is also now Free 2 Play and appears to have few restrictions as well. I suggest checking it out.*
"I am handicapped...I'm psychotic."
Funny how someone can throw that on Rift as being a WoW clone, yet you see no complaints of the fact WoW pretty much cloned after EQ in exactly the same way (aka changing up bits and pieces to give it its own identity while keeping the same core elements). Part of Wow's success came from refining systems already all there without actually adding much new to the formula. Just wanted to mention the silliness there.
In short list form, ignoring population.
1.) It has a much richer Class system using talent trees allowing many different variations on a character. Aka, it does a good job slapping blizzard in the face showing you can pull it off and its not all 'cookie cutter' and you can have many variations. There can be multiple Viable builds for each of the various roles. A build might be 'optimized' better then another in one fight can end up pulling off lower numbers in another fight. It rare has a '1 build to rule them all' choice.
2.) Raid wise Rift has shown great competence in its design. Hammerknell I feel stands out far above the raids Blizzard has gone about creating in the last few expansions, to the point if you look at it objectively I'd claim that anyone with raiding experience who played it would vote it being in their top 5 raids of all time list. I can't really claim much about its newest raids unfortunately, but none the less I would say its very hard to 'diminish' the feel of a raid in the way WoW has managed to do with MoP in particular just giving rather 'meh' raids.
3.) WoW has much more content. Age gives that huge advantage on it. That said, it does trivialize much of its content particular of the new expansions, though rift unforutnately does the same though to a lesser extent. If you care less about 'up to date' content to do, WoW will have a lot more to offer.
4.) WoW is a much more polished game. Having a lot more time to 'shine' itself, it has made itself well polished. While its graphics are from from looking modern (something that will to some extent be touched up with WoD) it does pull it off in a clear manor. Rift's art style is more realistic and tends to come up a bit more dull. While some prefer this, in the end it means rift will likely look much more outdated as time goes on faster (granted that issue is far less then it use to be).
5.) Rift tends to emphasize 'hardcore' elements more. Its not as casual friendly as WoW. Its not Wildstar Hardcore mind you, but it isn't as friendly to rolling your face across your keyboard and winning. WoW LFR is designed for people to smash their faces in the keyboard and win. There is harder content, but boy does it feel worn out far quicker due to it being the same thing over and over. Progression is through difficulties which make going through the same dungeon just on a harder difficulty one or two times through progressing to be rather painful a LOT quicker.
6.) WoW zones have a rather clean and appealing look behind it. The environments tend to hold character behind them that make them stand out from one another better then Rift. While there are some very iffy places (MoP portion being very lack luster) it over-all gives zones character. Rift just doesn't do that well. Areas feel like they blend in with one another to often.
7.) Rift has a simple and less facepalm story. WoW has a more 'large scope' story though it really makes you shake your head at times and cringe at others. If you ignore what they did to WoW, the warcraft universe itself is much more interesting.
8.) Rift community is... better... to an extent. That said... the wow community to me is the laughing stock of MMos full of people who are just god awful at the game and just have little care about others. The "its a game, relax" mentality when someone is wasting your time can be common and people just reach a whole new tier of bad. That said, almost every MMO will trump wow in this area so its not really much of a compliment to Rift.
the current SOE sub model is unique
pay one sub price of 14.95 and it makes you a subscriber to ALL SOE mmos
http://www.pcgamer.com/soe-launch-unified-all-access-subscription/
what other mmo dev does this?
Ncsoft? Funcom? Turbine? Trion? all a big NO
all of those companies require you to sub to each mmo separately
EQ2 fan sites
If you want a new experience dont play RIFT, I have played Rift and WoW, still playing them both casually. I cant see much of a difference in the gameplay between these two games, I used to be a hardcore raider in Rift (vanilla) I found it, and yes the community is more mature than WoW (at least not as many kids). WoW removing the skilltree sucks, but In Rift there were only one build for each class DPS wise If you did not build the exact dps build you could not top the dps(vanilla). I dont give much for invasion in Rift or the rifts. Yes go with TSW, TOR, ESO if you want something a little different.
RIFT Is a good game and yes I agree they have the best F2P model. If you are insanely rich you can buy the endgame gear, well you could last time I was online in RIFT.
But Rift is the game I have tried, that is most similar to WoW (IMO).
I have raided and pvp'ed in both
I misunderstood the use of the word "unique" in the original statement. I was attempting to make the point that it is not unique in that when you pay a sub fee, then the restrictions are lifted from the F2P game(s). I thought that the point in the above post was that that SoE was unique in that they offered a sub to lift restrictions.
In my opinion the deal that SoE is offering here IS a good deal. Much more "bang for your buck". I've been pleased with SoE as a gaming company, for the most part, and this is no exception.
However, for a person interested in either playing:
"I am handicapped...I'm psychotic."
You can't buy the end-game gear, but you can purchase the Starter Gear for Level 60 (old-world raid gear). It's good gear, but it's for those that want the instant 60 boost and not be naked and killed when starting their level 60 trek.
"I am handicapped...I'm psychotic."
That's not a well-fitting comparison, since you can't get SC in-game, like you can with Zen and TP, so it's somewhat understandable for PWE and Turbine to separate the balances.
Agree with the rest, All Access is a great deal, and in FC's case it was suggested/discussed numerous times actually (since in their games you also can't get currency from playing, just like SOE's games, so an all access could be done). Seems they don't like the idea... probably because of the lifers. Which could be the reason in Turbine's case as well.
I'm not sure, is there a lifetime sub option with SOE? I play only DCUO now that Vanguard is gone (and some PS2 occasionally), I think there's no lifer plan in those.
edit: and to the title: yep, Rift has a very generous f2p model.
(edited the rest, since I agree with you mostly)
That's not true at all. - seriously?
With the same thinking you could've added PS too 
(as in make ingame items, sell through Player Studio, then buy a sub with that money, and getting the stipend)
Krono is exactly the same as subbing and getting a stipend, regardless of the funding source. What I ment with the above is the in-game mechanic to earn shop currency - at will. There's a deal-breaking difference between the two, since in those games (if the balance wouldn't be separated), Turbine / PWE could lose a pretty big chunk of money when players would start to farm the currency in one game, then use it to unlock stuff in the other.
With SOE that's not the case, even if you farm out 12 months worth of Krono, you only get 12 month of sub (with the stipend ofc), but those months were already paid by the selling player, so SOE is at their money. Also the earn-able SC amount is limited through the stipend mechanic, so you can't just farm out let's say 1300 SC for some shiny, you need to find a seller first, then wait for the stipend to roll in, and then SOE is already got their money for it.
Hence my "somewhat understandable for PWE and Turbine to separate the balances."
False,with the new champion system the old veteran ranks will be scrapped and reworked for a better end game progression.
I played Rift and unistalled because I had a in game problem and after 2 weeks without GM response and without playing I could only leave.
Rift is a lot of fun, but it's got loads of 'premium' lockboxes that have a very tiny chance to drop rare items, and other stuff like that. The store is full of stuff that puts you well ahead of others (including subscribers), and with the 3.0 packs you can actually currently get the best gear in game only via cash. This is a change of direction, and seems in line with what Trion's doing with Defiance and ArcheAge.
Since Rift doesn't include any credits at all in the subscriber package, it's not fair directly comparing it with games that do.