Ever venture into the forums of your favorite MMO to comment about the state of the game, rage about some n00b who keeps ganking you in a neutral zone, or make a suggestion to the devs? I’m sure you have. But how often do you see a user’s suggestion implemented? Well that’s exactly what the community staff members of Rift have done. According to a recent post on the Rift forums by a community leader, anyone who purchased the game or previously subscribed will be able to play Rift for free until 6/12/13 when the game makes the switch to a free to play model.
An MMO with demos?
Rift, if you’re unfamiliar with the title, is a fantasy MMO that heavily features public quests and large group events (think Warhammer Online, with a lot more end game content). Since it’s release in 2011 Rift has used a subscription model–$15 a month, or a bit cheaper if you pay for multiple months all at once–to fuel development and upkeep costs of the game.
Unlike many other subscription based MMOs, Rift would host free-to-play weekends after major content patches for anyone who had purchased the game. Personally I loved this.
I had played Rift in beta, preordered, and subscribed for a few months. After my sub ran dry, I jumped on Rift’s numerous free to play weekend opportunities. How many subscription based MMOs do you know say “Hey, we just put out a bunch of new content, why don’t you come back and see how you like it?” Single player games often have demos, why shouldn’t MMOs?
A shocking reveal
This past weekend Rift hosted another free weekends after an announcement that the game would be dropping it’s subscription based model in lieu of a free to play system. Not long after the weekend came to a close, one hopeful subscriber, with the forum handle Papardelios, reached out to Trion Worlds (developer and publisher of Rift) asking if they wouldn’t mind extending the free weekend. Surprisingly community manager Elrar responded with this:
“Since you asked so nicely, I guess we could
Consider it done. RIFT is now FREE to Play for all owners – everyone else can enjoy RIFT Free-to-Play when it launches with RIFT 2.3: Empyreal Assault next week, June 12!
Have fun,”
Did that really just happen? No mass uprising of angry posters. No torches and pitchforks. Just, let’s count, 1… 2.. 3 posts, then BOOM free to play for anyone who has purchased the game, even if they are not current subscribers.
Here’s a little taste of what’s to come:
So what about you?
How do you feel about this? Will you former subscribers out there be firing up your Rift patchers to give the game another shot?
Comment below, game hard, and stay safe!
