Is Rift truly "Free to Play"?

Free to Play, or Pay to Win?

Hey guys, another edition of Rift Rumour, this week I will try to answer this testing question that causes much debate among the Rift players, is Rift really "free to play"?

When Rift was originally launched it was a pay to play game, it required the purchase of the game and a monthly subscription fee. Many players from the likes of WoW flocked to it, it was a normality in the MMO world for high quality games to charge a subscription fee, however Rift was not all that Trion had promised it would be. Rift was full of bugs and little annoyances which had the player base drop drastically. Trion were quick to act, they ironed out what needed ironing and got their heads down to work on Rift: Storm Legion, the first Rift expansion. With player numbers still low Trion announced that Rift would become "Truly Free to Play" and in my opinion, they were honest.

Being a free to play player limits you very little in Rift, you have 2 fewer bag slots, and you cannot sell on the auction house without having "loyalty points" this was introduced by Trion in an attempt to foil "gold sellers" and for the most part it works well, you are also limited to two characters per shard and 2.5k platinum (in game currency) per character. Never fear though free players, as REX saves the day! REX is a currency designed by rift, and stands for Rift Exchange. Many free to play players can save up their free to earn platinum and trade it for REX, one REX usually costs around 1.4k Platinum and can be exchanged for 1250 credits and 2500 loyalty points, which would lift the cap on your platinum and allow you to sell via the auction house! Although subscription gives some minor perks it does not effect advancement so greatly that without it you cannot play. 

One thing free players cannot access is the new "souls" from the storm legion, although these can be purchased through the Rift store, or by purchasing Rift: Storm Legion. Again, the game is not broken without the ability to use these souls, however they are more powerful than some Free to Play souls.

In my eyes Rift truly is a free to play MMO, it can and should be enjoyed by all players, whether or not you pay a subscription fee. There are a few snags here and there (always remember that it is a business and they cannot run the game if they are not in profit) but almost all purchasable items are cosmetic. All content is available to free players!

So with that settled and your pockets full of cash from the subscription fee you will save, i'll see your happy faces in Telara.

/Dakra