SWTOR, see Rift's Subscriber Bonuses

Both Rift and SWTOR are free to play.  Their plans are wildly different though, specifically what subscribers get.  They can be broken down into two different philosophies, one where subscribers get everything they had before, the other where subscriber get that and bonuses.

Rift's subscriber program is called Patrons.

Every Patron receives a store discount, extra Loyalty rewards, and priority queue status, plus special bonuses to currency, mount speed, and various types of experience. In addition, Patrons have improved daily log-in rewards and exclusive weekly log-in chests that provide the best chance at bonus currency and premium items. Subscribe today for access to all of the following benefits!

That's a pretty good summary, by subscribing you get all sorts of bonuses.  Trion went with the honey route.

In SWTOR, subscribing basically gives you access to everything plus an allotment of Cartel Coins.  By not subscribing, players get the stick, as in they face restrictions.  So the major reason to subscribe is not to be restricted.

Which method works better?  It's hard to tell.  I have no idea how many patrons and Subs Rift has, nor how many f2p conversions each has.  I prefer Rift's method, as the bones are very nice and it makes me feel like I am getting something for my sub.  That being said, I am subscribed to SWTOR and not Rift.  Go figure.

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PvP: Rift vs SWTOR

Lately, my two games of choice have been SWTOR and Rift.  I'm subscribed to the first game and a free player for the second.  However, Rift's F2P model has little in the way of restrictions, so I can PvP as much as I please.

Ever since I left WAR, there has been a void in my gaming life.  That void has been PvP.  I really miss it, so I've been looking for something to help fill that void.  My first choice was SWTOR since I was already playing.  To be clear, I consider SWTOR a PvE game, so my PvP expectations are not very high.

PvP in SWTOR is pretty limited.  You have a handful of Warzones (scenarios) and that's about it.  There are world PvP opportunities in the Gree Event, but I have not experienced much on that front.  In patch 2.4, SWTOR will be introducing arenas which feature a solo queue.  That certainly kicks things up a notch, but so far my time spent on the PTS has not left me with a great feeling.  We'll see how it goes once it is live.

Overall, I don't have nearly as much fun in Warzones as I did in WAR's scenarios.  It's hard to put my finger on why exactly.  Part of it is due to all the CC and interrupts, but that could just be because I'm a Commando healer.

Next up is Rift.  Rift also offers their version of scenarios called Warfronts.  There are a limited amount of them, but some feature alternate rulesets which help liven things up.  Rift also has a mega-warfront called Conquest, which is a 3 way pvp zone.  I have yet to experience it, so I can't offer my thoughts about it.  There are also PvP Rifts, of which I know nothing about.

For me, warfronts are more enjoyable than SWTOR's offering.  I don't feel as locked down by CC and Interrupts like I do in SWTOR.  There is also the frequency at which they pop.  Rift uses cross server technology and they are always popping, which is a big plus.

Then there is the clincher.  When you kill an enemy in Rift, you get Experience, Favor and coin.  I never realized how much I missed that small detail.  In SWTOR, you only get rewarded at the end of the match.  There is just something very satisfying about receiving those small incremental rewards.

So for PvP, I would have to give the edge to Rift.  SWTOR may make a comback with arenas, but only time will tell.

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Sweet Rift Mount

I have been playing Rift a bit lately, as it is now free to play.  Most of my time has been spent in warfronts doing PvP.  I eventually hit 25 and was able to purchase a new mount.  I opted for the an Eldritch Steed.  These guys are like clockwork horses, very cool I thought.  It also marks the first time I used Rift Credits, as it cost 40.  I figured I'd save my platinum... for something.  Here is my Dwarf styling on his new mount.

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Rift 2.4 Giveaway on The Noobist

I have been playing a good bit of Rift lately, as it has been giving me my PvP fix.  I do miss WAR, but Rift has some of the same features and is being actively updated.  That's a post for another time though.  This one is about a Giveaway!

I am running it over on The Noobist.  To go along with the giveaway, we have a Q&A with Rift's Creative Director, Bill Fisher.  It's pretty decent, so go give it a read.  The 2.4 patch is shaping up to be pretty big (much like SWTOR's of the same version).

There are a bunch of new missions to do, so it is serving as a nice test bed for Sites with Benefits.  Youtube watching and subscribing are both new kinds of missions which seem to be working well.

On to the rewards!

3 x Infinity Edition Storm Legion Expansion Packs.  Basically the Collectors Edition for the Expansion pack.  You get a mount and other good stuff.

6 x 30-Day Patron Pass.  This is their subscriber tier.  You get bonus... everything pretty much.

Interested?  Head on over to http://noobist.com/ and get started!  The widget is on the right side of the screen.

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Now, Where Was I?

Yesterday, I logged into Rift for the first time in a long while.  Probably since launch.  I just can't resist a new expansion, plus I liked what I saw during my tour of the new content.  It's a bit jarring logging into a game after so long, I didn't even know what kind of character I had.

Turns out I had a level 12 Warrior on Seastone (PvP Server).  I thought I had a rogue, but that must have been beta.  He had his points reset and bags full of I don't know what.  Plus, he looked a little bit chilly.

I really need to get him some decent looking armor.  It also looks like I have a free server transfer, so I may get off of the PvP server.  Really don't feel like getting ganked.  When I logged in, I decided to give the Instant Adventure system a try.  It was.... interesting.

It put me in a group very quickly, and before I knew it I was getting experience and quests were advancing.  I was not even with the group yet, so I had no clue what was going on.  I finally caught up with them and they were just slaughtering the quests, must have been mentored down?  Anyway, I finished off level 12 by just doing what I could with my un-allocated souls.

The expansion goes live today, so I'll spend a some more time with the game and see if I can get myself a nice soul build.  Going to hard to resist the tempest soul as it adds a ranged component.

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Werit and the Storm Legion

Last week, I had the opportunity to see Rift's new expansion first hand with a guided tour by former WAR Community Manager, James Nichols.  It's no secret that Rift isn't my game of choice, but as a MMO fan I've been following it for quite a while and played during beta and launch.  Is Storm Legion enough to get me back into the game?

First, let's start with a montage of some of what I saw. I think every morning should start like this actually.





PvP.  One of my first questions was about PvP, of course.  Trion will be including a new warfront in the expansion, called Karthan ridge.

Karthan Ridge – Opposing sides must run empyrean bombs into their enemies base and detonate them at designated Power Sinks. We’ll be testing this mode out in Open BETA this weekend and make adjustments or try out other formats depending on the feedback we get.

Blowing stuff up does appeal to my inner Dwarf.

Carnage Missions.  The full fruition of Kill 10 X quests without having to actually pick up the quest.  Kill something and the quest will just start.   I expect this to lead to the mass slaughter of creatures on these new continents.

Dimensions.  Rift will be including player housi.... err zones in Storm Legion.  Full free form placement for a zone instead of just a house.  I saw some amazing creations and that was just beta stuff.  Crafters will get to build items to decorate these new areas.  You can even add some NPC's to your area.

On the downside, there does not appear to be much in the way of functional items.  So no true vendors, auction house guys or banks it seems.  For someone as anti-social as me that is a bit disappointing.  I can understand why Trion would not want to go that route though, as it might empty out their social areas.

Crafting.  No new professions, but a new tier of crafting will be added with new recipes.

Visuals.  I was very impressed with the visuals of Storm Legion.  Thew new areas and raid zones looked fantastic.  As did the creatures, and especially the bosses.  This was on my 5 year old box too, so I suspect it might look better for a large chunk of you with newer systems.

Mechs.  As you can see in the video, one of the new dungeons ( Storm Breaker Protocol ) allows you to control a Mech ( think Play as Monster WAR fans ), who has rocket launchers.  Rocket launchers.

New Souls.  There are 4 new souls in the expansion, during my tour I chose the Tactician. He has a big gun and shoots fire and ice, how could I not?  He seemed pretty fun in my brief time playing him.

To answer the question I posed at the start of this post, yes I will play Rift: Storm Legion.  I love new expansions, and there is a lot about Rift I want to check out.  Instant Adventure, Conquest PvP, 2 huge landmasses,  Dimensions and more.  How long will it hold me?  We shall see.

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Invasion and Conquest

Today, WAR Stratics and 6v6v6.com embark on their invasion of Mythic HQ.  They are not in this alone, as I will be throwing my support behind the operation.  Of course, I will be doing it from the safety of my own home.  Basically, it's a press type event where we will get a glimpse of what the Mythic folks are working on.

The trip is primarily about Wrath of Heroes, so I don't expect much about Age of Reckoning although we know what they are up to (1.4.6!).  There will be an embargo on what we see, so sadly I probably won't have anything good to immediately share.  It should be fun though!

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For your Friday reading, I suggest Massively's hands-on with Rift: Conquest.  I've written about Rift's new PvP system, Conquest, before but now have a better understanding about what it actually is.  Primarily, it is much bigger than a warfront, but is still an instance.

Conquest has certainly piqued my interest.  However, I don't think I have it in me to PvE to the cap just so I can check it out.  Trion made a short developers video about Conquest, watch it here.

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Rift's 3 Faction PvP

While I do not play Rift, my interest was piqued when they announced 3 faction PvP yesterday.  I like PvP and the more factions the better I say!  So I figured I should look into it a bit more.  It is not exactly what I expected, but interesting none the less.

Warning Signs.  While reading about Conquest, a couple things stood out to me:  "the excitement of Open World PvP at its best"  and  "Capturing the Essence of Open World PvP".  They never say what, exactly, Conquest is, but from these it sounds like it is not Open World PvP.  That means it is probably a warfront (scenario) or something similar.

Three Factions, sort of.  Trion is not adding a new player faction to the game.  The Defiant and Guardians remain.  Instead, they are adding 3 new factions which players from either side can choose to align with.  When in the Conquest instance, that is the side they will fight on.

Capture Points.  There will be no fortifications/keeps, instead a number of capture points.  Holding these grants you buffs and new abilities, which actually sounds pretty interesting.  These do not seem to be game wide though as it mentions they are for you and your team.

It Ends.  The article mentions that 'the match ends' when a specific condition has been met.  That makes it really sound like a warfront, rather than a persistent PvP area.  BUT.....

They add this condition as well:  "or 5,000 players are killed"  That's a lot of players. So maybe it is not a warfront exactly.

I do have to applaud Rift for trying something new.  They may not be adding a true 3rd faction, but they are adding to the game.  Who knows how they can build off of these 3 mini-factions in the future?  It probably won't be enough for me to re-subscribe to the game, there is just too much out there to play.  I will be following how it goes though.

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It's not you Rift, it's me

It seems that I have not logged into Rift in about a week.  During that time I have played other games: WAR, STO and LoTRO.  Development of Stellar Fortune has taken a good chunk of time as well. Still, I've decided that I will not be playing Rift beyond the first month.

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Is something happening today?

Oh yea, some game called Rift launches.  I'm surprised that no one is really talking about it.  They really should do something about their marketing.  Launch day is an interesting time for a game.  It might be laggy, buggy and frustrating but that is all a part of the fun.

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Rift Plans

With Rift's head start happening in 3 days, I figure it is time to decide on what I am going to do.  I can't believe the launch is already here, where has the time gone?  I did pre-order, so I am all set to play on Thursday.  Read on for more information about my plans.

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Rift and Combo Points

With the launch of Rift right around the corner (Feb 24th head start), we are hearing and seeing more of the game.  For some, the facade is cracking a bit.  One of Rift's most touted feature is the soul system.  Overall it's a neat way to do character building but I do have some issues with it.

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Rift and Me

There has been a lot of talk about the new MMO on the block, Rift.  I was fortunate enough to participate in the last two betas ( video 1 and video 2).  It was certainly an interesting experience, but does it have enough going on for me to buy in?  Read on for my impressions of Rift.

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Rift Video

Yesterday, the third beta event for Rift began.  I received an invite for this one, so I could not resist logging in and checking it out.  For those who could not attend the beta, I recorded my time there with some audio commentary.  Continue on for the video.

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