Veteran Rewards!

Received an e-mail from the fine folks of Trion today that talked about their Veteran Rewards.


I'm a big fan of veteran rewards in games. The comments on the Massively article about it are a fun read. MMORPG has discussion on it too, but the comments are nearly as fun to read. The main controversy here is over "when" you get your rewards. With these rewards it's at the time of subscription. A multi-month subscription will earn you all your veteran rewards up front.

I don't mind that since Rift is a subscription model. In fact, that seems to make sense to me that you'd get your rewards up front so you can enjoy them during your subscription. Heck, some of the veteran rewards for Everquest were so nice that I bet you would have had people buying multi-year subscriptions (if that were possible) just to have access to them. ;p

F2P is different. I like how Guild Wars gives you a birthday present of a new pet every year since your account creation. That's pretty awesome in fact. That alone makes me log in at least once a year just to see what new pet I have.

In the end, these veteran rewards are mostly cosmetic, which is cool for the creative community--I'm sure videos with matching outfits will be incoming . . . but your own personal mailbox and vendor are going to be pretty handy.

What do you think?

Happy dueling!

Rift's Half Birthday = A free week of play!

WOOT! I just checked my e-mail and check this out!


Ok, Rift, I had unsubscribed from you because . . . well . . . I got bored of you, and you were costing me money. BUT A FREE WEEK IS A FREE WEEK! I am kind of excited to log on and check my characters again. :) I'm sentimental like that. hehe.

Happy Dueling!

Twittered news of Trion at E3

There are a few Twitter streams I like to haunt for information on Rift, and as luck would have, today there were a couple really cool tweets!

1- Picture of Trion setting up their booth for E3. The tweet links to Rift's Facebook page, which shows this:


Awesome. You gotta read those facebook comments! XD. here's a good one: "I think that christmas tree is builded wrong..." haha. Also from reading the comments, it looks like perhaps they used this life rift model at the last E3?

2- @Missdoomcookie, who's the Defiant Lore Lead for Rift, posted a link to a Trion game called "Defiance" that will be demo'd at E3. This looks freaking hot!


It's basically an MMO that Trion is collaborating on with Syfy. From what I'm reading, the end result will be a cross-over TV Show and game. This has never really been done before. LOVE the concept.

I'll be tuning in to Twitter for more E3 news from Trion. Let me know if you hear anything good.

Happy Dueling!

Couldn't Resist This Offer--Collector's Upgrade

I originally bought my copy of Rift at Walmart, which meant I also got a free Lil' Wally pet to run around with and be my best buddy.


Lil' Wally doesn't do much, but he definitely opens a new door of opportunity for me to be featured on PeopleofWalmart.com every time I summon him.

I didn't spring for the more expensive collector's edition at that time, and now I'm kind of glad I didn't since I just got an e-mail that I could upgrade my regular account to a collector's edition for just five bucks.


Not bad!

In most MMOs, you'd only be able to redeem this cool two-headed turtle mount and pet on one character, but there's no decision like that to make with Rift. Check it out, every character on your account has access to this mount. Every stingle stinking one. :) That's just the way Trion rolls.

The ultimate selling point for me though was the expanded bag space. I swear bag space is my number one problem in any MMO I play.

Such a packrat here.

OH, btw, did you hear about this?



Man, free character transfers back in the days of World of Warcraft and Everquest would have been awesome (and completely mind-boggling to perhaps someone who plays Wizard101 where you can just server jump at will). Unfortunately I'm not high enough level in Rift (or with enough scattered friends who play the game) to care much yet. Still, that's a nice move on the part of Trion. :)

Happy Dueling!

Refer a Friend Program

I gotta say it's great to see Trion following suit as with so many MMO companies before them and providing a "Refer a Friend" program for Rift. I also gotta say, the rewards are pretty awesome (although free game time is always appreciated as a a refer a friend reward . . . jus' sayin' . . . read on!)

All the details about the refer a friend program can be found here.

Basically if you get your friends to sign up you can earn one of three rewards depending on how many of your friends take the bait!

1 friend = Lassie!

2 friends = Pirate hat!

3 friends = FLAMING HORSEY OF POWA!


And now the moment you've all been waiting for!!! MY REFER A FRIEND CODE WOOT! ;p

click me and join!

Just think, it's the perfect opportunity to get on my friends list and auto-port to me every 30 minutes to bug me.

Happy Dueling!

Spoils of War Update

I went to go log into Rift this morning, and I was greeted with a cool new picture in the patcher I hadn't seen before and an update button for Patch 1.12: The Spoils of War!



This led me to the patch notes and the prelude to the Spoils of War Update, which I hadn't read yet:

RIFT 1.2
May 4-9

Shell of mystery, rain of richesStrange things—stranger than usual, that is—are emerging from the rifts of Fire and Earth. Fragments of ancient golden dragon eggs lie scattered wherever the Flame- or Earthtouched set foot. Even stranger, coins have been raining into both Sanctum and Meridian, inspiring unusual greed in the locals. Neither Guardian nor Defiant scholars can solve this mystery without studying these shells and coins, so the Ascended must collect as many specimens as possible.

Beginning May 4 and lasting until RIFT 1.2: The Spoils of War goes live on May 10, these golden shells and sinister coins will spread a hint of mystery and the lure of easy riches throughout Telara. Your faction will offer several daily quests to gather samples of each.

The gifts of burning greedEach of the four daily quests to collect these strange relics will grant you a unique item containing a random treasure prized by the Ascended. Rare artifacts, crafting currency, and plaques of achievement can all be found within.

Hmm, I'm quite young in the game, so I've yet to run into an Earth or Fire rift. I've only seen Death and Water rifts.

Guess I better get leveling! Sounds like fun. It does sound like I might get the chance to race for coins though. You know what that means, right? More Mario music videos! ;-)

Happy Dueling!