RIFT gets an “endless trial” with RIFT Lite

– February 1, 2012Posted in: Gaming News

Rift Logo Following the footsteps of games like World of WarCraft and Warhammer Online, RIFT will allow players access to an endless trial period with the introduction of RIFT Lite. Unlike more traditional trial periods, including what Trion has previously offered for RIFT, this type of a trial is not limited to a 7 or 10 day period. Rather, players can freely enjoy the game for as long as they want up until level 20. To progress beyond level 20, they will need to become a paying subscriber, but by experiencing the content up until that point, it becomes much easier to know if it is the sort of game they’re looking for.

This update is coming with the Carnival of the Ascended patch that is being released today. This update also includes new content for players, updates to the PvP system, in-game weddings for player characters, a new “Master Mode Dungeon,” and more. It sounds like a fairly sizable update, although likely one that will matter more to the existing player base than characters who are capped at level 20.

Trials such as this aren’t so much a move toward Free to Play, but rather just that: trials. It is a way for players to be certain that they’re happy with the game enough to actually pay for it, or to move on. According to Trion, there is currently no plan for the game to transition to a fully Free to Play model, which makes it something that is rapidly becoming a rarity among MMOs these days.

RIFT was pretty well received when it came out, noted for having a very smooth and polished launch, and the team at Trion has suggested that it has been doing well ever since. The fact that they are so staunchly against a Free to Play transition – something that has often been shown to actually increase the earnings of MMOs – suggests that it is, in fact, trucking along just fine. Although the competition in the MMO market is heating up, this could be a good time to wander through the lands of Telara.