It’ll be launching on the 1st of March, with a headstart for pre-orders beginning February 24th.
That’s all pretty standard, though a little sooner than many were expecting. The pricing is a little more peculiar though:
Founder’s Subscription: For a limited time, Trion Worlds is pleased to offer Founder’s Subscription pricing. If you choose a subscription plan by 3/15/2011, you’ll be able to pick one of the special pricing plans listed below. You’ll get to keep this special pricing as long as you retain an active subscription to RIFT.*
*Your payment method will be charged (on a recurring basis at your selected subscription rate) until you cancel your subscription. If you choose to cancel your Founder’s Pricing subscription and later re-subscribe to RIFT, the Founder’s Subscription plan will no longer be available.
Monthly
3-Month
6-Month
$14.95/month
$11.99/month
$9.99/month
$14.95
$35.97
$59.94
This is a little weird, as what we’re seeing is not the normal pricing rates. These are the special Founder rates that you’ll be able to get if you play from launch, up until the time you decide you want a break, whereupon you’ll end up on the, yet to be announced, normal subscription rate.
It’s an interesting way of locking people in to subscribing continuously, for fear of losing that special rate. Unsurprisingly, I don’t much like it, as while it is certainly “interesting”, it’s a bit heavy-handed for my liking, and feels a little like a punishment.
$14.95 a month seems to be the special Founder’s pricing. We’ve not seen the regular pricing yet, and so I am wondering if we are about to see a new price-point set for a subscription MMO.
One good sign is the lack of a lifetime subscription. Lifetimes have become a big red flag for me that says that a developer does not have faith in the longevity of its product, and wants to cash in as soon as possible. Not having one means that Trion believes in Rift.
Update: Starseeker’s comment below suggests that the Founder pricing only means the 3 and 6 month bundles. I’ll be looking about for some clarification on that.
Why had I not heard of The Sims Medieval before today? I’ve not really played a Sims game since the original incarnation (which I enjoyed immensely), but never got around to trying any of the later versions. I was distracted by MMOs and strategy games, I guess. The possibility of combining The Sims with a sort of kingdom-building strategy game is going to get me diving back in to the fold.
Introducing next-gen Sims tech and features
* A world of Sims filled with stories, adventures, romance, drama and comedy
* Enhanced environment and character graphics, lighting, and gameplay
Rich dramatic medieval setting
* Experience epic stories of the age, full of drama, fantasy, conflict, comedy, romance, and intrigue
New Features: Heroes, Quests, Kingdom-Building
* Create Heroes – Build up their skills and send them on epic quests
* Quests – Drive your kingdom’s story – Good or evil, cruel or kind, romantic or warlike
* Build a Kingdom – Start with an empty field and build up your kingdom, deciding its ultimate ambition and working to achieve its destiny
Other Features
* Achievement system – Be rewarded you for your skill in reaching your kingdom ambitions and completing your quests.
* Magic – Your wizard will learn a variety of powerful spells that will help him complete quests and carry out his duties to the kingdom.
* Crafting system – Your blacksmith will forge weapons of varying quality you’re your physician will create cures for a variety of ailments.
* Diplomatic system – Negotiate treaties, conduct trade or declare war on surrounding kingdoms.
* Fishing – Yes, there is fishing.
I am just a little bit psyched. Alright, it’s probably not going to have a truly deep strategic side to it, but maybe I don’t need every strategy game I play to brutally crush me beneath its heel. Sometimes I just want a game to be cheery fun, and this looks like it might fit the bill.
I’m going to have to see if I can squeeze enough out of my gaming budget to be able to pre-order. I wonder if it will be moddable.
I need to get my dancing feet on if we’re going to check out any new features, as this phase of the beta is due to end today.
5:00 pm GMT, 31st of December
That being the case, I’ve just been bashing my way through the Divine Landing quests, harvesting resources when I can. I expect if I keep on going I’ll either find a crafting trainer, or one or more dynamic rifts.
The server has just gone down again, before I could even take a nice screenshot!! Hopefully just for an update. I *think* beta phase 3 is going for a few more hours yet.
5:27 pm GMT, 31st of December
Back in, and here’s something new!
While the books I collected back in the tutorial seemed to be static, I’m now finding sparklies in the world which do seem to give random artifact collectables. In this screen, I have a choice of which of two different collections I want to add the Principia Conflagera to.
We left Osgard up on Ascension Hall, dithering over which soul to claim as his reward. While Ranger was quite tempting, I wouldn’t be spending many points in that tree, meaning that my pet would be forever limited to being level 5, so it would cease to be of any use pretty quickly. Marksman fits Osgard well, especially once he gets rid of this silly bow and finds himself a decent rifle!
As it turns out, this is not the end of the tutorial area, and the Messenger of the Vigil sends me back to Valor’s Hold for more instructions. Two more tasks await me.
1. I must seek out one of the undead steeds that I’ve previously noticed about the place, cleanse it with a magical bridle, and ride it back.
2. I must gain control of a catapult, and use it against the necromancers and their ettin friend.
Now we’re cooking with gas! These sound like mighty and worthwhile deeds, not to mention fun!
Wheeeeeeee! Unfortunately you don't get to keep this one!
He stands now at the Thontic’s Fountain quest-hub in the village of Ardenburgh, having just gained his second soul, and spent some soulpoints. It’s time to get going again.
As Minsc would say, “Evil, meet sword. Sword, meet evil!!!!”.
4:35 pm GMT, 30th of December
The Defiant have placed machines around the village which are capturing innocent villagers and draining their essence, reducing them to undead. Truly diabolical behaviour, and Osgard has been tasked with destroying those machines. He has also been asked to slay a number of Ardenburgh Horrors, and retrieve the holy Sanctified Spheres that they have stolen. Continue reading The Rift Beta Bonanza – Part 3
This is phase 3 of Rift’s Beta, and for this one we can play either Guardians or Defiant. You can check out the patch notes for phase 3 here. As mentioned, I’m going with Guardians for this liveblog.
10:16 pm GMT, 29th of December
Osgard regains conciousness in a great hall, the Sanctuary of Rebirth. Before him stands a Messenger of the Vigil, an Angelic being that has come down from the heavens to give Osgard his first newbie quest, and grant him his first soul (subclass).
The Sanctuary of Rebirth in Rift.
This is a good spot to take a look at the UI. There’s nothing there that will particularly surprise anyone who has played an MMO before. We’ve got a radar, a hotbar, healthbars, and the little buttons in the bottom left will bring up the more specialised UI elements like the character interface, quest log, collections, and achievements screen. Continue reading The Rift Beta Bonanza – Part 2
