Rift Follows World of Warcraft, Offers First 20 Levels Free

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By Kevin Parrish
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Rift has introduced a "lite" version similar to World of Warcraft Starter Edition, offering free gameplay for the first twenty levels.

You can't really call it free-to-play, but it's not quite a demo either. Call it an extended trial that doesn't feature playtime restrictions or a monthly fee, allowing gamers to play the first twenty levels worry-free for as long as they want. That's what Rift Lite now offers, following the footsteps of Blizzard's World of Warcraft which introduced a similar feature-limited "trial" called the Starter Edition back in June 2011.

"In the past ten months, Rift has evolved at a breakneck pace, through seven massive updates that set new expectations for live MMOs, in features, in content, and in service," said Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer of Rift and Trion’s CCO. "We think a Lite edition with no time limit is the best way for players to see what an amazing experience Rift continues to be."

Developer Trion Worlds reports that Rift Lite is accessible across all servers to anyone with a Trion account. Players can create a character and experience the first 20 levels in the plane-besieged world of Telara, working their way through the zones of Terminus, Mathosia, Freemarch, Silverwood, and visiting their faction’s capital cities.

Rift Lite arrives along with Trion's latest patch for its "World of Warcraft killer," updating the MMORPG to v1.7. The patch includes improvements to the PvP system, Ascended weddings (!), an Undead adventure for two called River of Souls Chronicle, an Expert Dungeon overhaul and more.

"Today’s update marks the initial stage of the Carnival of the Ascended. In a few weeks, the largest and most spectacular World Event Telara has ever witnessed will kick off, celebrating the heroic feats of the Ascended," Trion said on Wednesday. "Amazing in-game events, special loot, and prizes will make the Carnival World Event something that won’t be soon forgotten."

For those looking for a new fantasy-based MMORPG to experience, this is a good way to sample Rift. Now through Feb. 5, both the Standard and Ashes of History Editions of Rift are 50-percent off on Amazon, so here's your chance to get started on the cheap. Head here to learn more.

Kevin Parrish
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • malicemizer
    Weird, I get emails from them all the time saying first month free, free weekends, free 2 weeks. Now free 20 levels. Its a good game but I wonder if the player base is still there. Like in age of conan or warhammer online I log in and no one is around to level with and when I talk in general chat no one is around to respond.
    Reply
  • Goldengoose
    I find when games suddenly have a free to play option/free trials and such the game will get flooded in the next few weeks with new players and then die down again (happend on star trek and a few others).

    It's not a brilliant indicator, but i like to use google trends to check out how 'popular' stuff is:http://www.google.com/trends/?q=rift,+world+of+warcraft&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
    Reply
  • crisan_tiberiu
    Every MMO needs to be better the WOW not only in the graphic part. I guess, 99% of the MMOers played WOW. I played aswell...since the release. I tried AoC, RIFT. They miss 2 things: 1. Content and 2. Players. WoW, even if it has a 12+ age recomendation is still very complex (even if nowdays with the cataclysm release it kinda got rly booring .... proof its the 1000000 players that cancheled subs). Many players say that the Vanila/BC times was the best time in WoW..so the new MMOs need to be better then that age in WoW ...
    Reply
  • alienresurec
    since ppl use wow instead world of warcraft this one should be more accurate

    http://www.google.com/trends/?q=rift,+world+of+warcraft,+wow&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=2
    Reply
  • distorxn
    The 2 servers I visited as well as my home server seem to be alive and well. And when the server is dead, I'm able to queue up quickly for a dungeon that pulls from a collection of servers to fill the group. There is so much additional content that has been added that it actually is the "game that starts at 50." Best mmo experience in years. I was in AoC and War, and I can say Rift is in stark contrast to sub'd accounts.

    2 things Rift did to bring me back was add lots of content regularly (instant adventures/revamped dungeon teirs/4 duo-solo chronicles/more fluid and frequent world events/new continent), and patch quality of life changes regularly (when i craft it pulls directly from my bank so no more annoying bag swaps; better queue times).

    Also they added a good deal if you sub for a year, works out to 8.25/mo. I can't go to the theaters for that.
    Reply
  • zak_mckraken
    alienresurecsince ppl use wow instead world of warcraft this one should be more accurate http://www.google.com/trends/?q=ri all&sort=2Interesting. Still :

    http://www.google.com/trends/?q=porn,+wow&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=2
    Reply
  • warezme
    I used to be a wow adventurer like you, ...., until I took an arrow to the knee.
    Reply
  • SetZ
    World of Warcraft TBC was the best imo. Not too overly complicated and was just kinda right for an MMO.
    Reply
  • Ragnar-Kon
    SetZWorld of Warcraft TBC was the best imo. Not too overly complicated and was just kinda right for an MMO.I agree, although I had fun throughout, even though I'm no longer playing.

    I wasn't a huge fan of Rift, so only played that for a month. SWTOR is an excellent game, but for some reason I just can't get into it like I could with WoW. I canceled my SWTOR account yesterday after noticing I hadn't played it in 2 weeks.

    Don't know what it is about WoW, almost ashamed to say that I playing that game for 6 years, but I did. And honestly, I'll probably go back after they release that Pandas and Pokemon expansion, even though I don't really want to.
    Reply
  • srgess
    Rift Lite !? at when Riet Diet !
    Reply