MMO Rift announced on Thursday that they plan to launch this Spring a brand new server called Rift Prime that will be characterized by the absence of lootboxes. The game transitioned from a subscription to a free-to-play model back in 2013 and introduced widespread microtransactions, including the now infamous lootbox model.
The official announcement stated that the decision came after having, “…paid a lot of attention in discussions […] regarding business models in the MMO and games industry as a whole…” and goes on about how the introduction of a subscription server has been often requested in the past.
The new server will also distinguish itself by dynamic level adjustment (also sometimes called level scaling), dungeon loot scaled to characters, profession caps, trans-server participation awards and progressively unlocked content.
Rift was released in 2011 and transitioned to the F2P model two years later after a dwindling subscriber base. Some of the game’s most distinguishing features include the dynamic world event’s similar to what we have later seen more widespread in games like Guild Wars 2, and by heavily changing the traditional approach in MMOs by allowing all classes to perform at least two of the tank-healer-dps roles.
