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Rift's First 20 Levels Now Free To Play

Trion Worlds has announced that Rift's new Carnival of the Ascended patch is now live, and added an enticement for adventure-minded players who haven't yet explored the game. Along with the content update comes Rift Lite, which gives anyone with a Trion account access to the game's first 20 levels, at no charge and with no time restrictions.

“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, Rift's executive producer 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.”

If you've been curious about the game but haven't mustered up the motivation (or cash) to check it out, now's a great time to play the game and see if it's for you. Adam raved about it in his not -a-review, and Trion has been regularly adding new features since he first wrote about it.

Trion says the Rift 1.7 update adds the following improvements and additions:

•    PvP Improvements - Smoother advancement and better rewards
•    Ascended Weddings - Share eternity with your soulmate, Telara-style
•    River of Souls Chronicle - Undead adventure for two
•    New Master Mode Dungeon – Caduceus Rise
•    Expert Dungeon Overhaul - More options, better loot!
•    Better Endgame Equipment - Improved loot for your endgame Ascended

Also, look for a new world event in the coming weeks. Trion says players will be able to get special loot and prizes as Telera experiences its "largest and most spectacular" event yet. And now you'll be able to see for yourself without cracking open your wallet.

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Comments
  • Does this include the game being free, or is it just that you don't need a subscription until level 20?
  • :-( another MMO I bought going with a F2P model. This does bum me out a bit.
  • Does anyone not see the striking resemblance MMO's are starting to have with run of the mill drug dealer's "First Hit's Free" policy.

  • If it's free to purchase and not just subscription-free, I will be downloading this as soon as I get home. I would like to try an MMO, and I think getting the feel of one that's not WoW would be kind of nice. However, if somebody has suggestions as to which one to try F2P, I'd like to know :)
  • 20? How many are their
  • Been wanting to get into a MMO lately,SWTOR just isn't my thing so maybe I'll give this a try.

  • This sounds suspiciously like the "free" version of World of Warcraft; you can download the game and play up to lvl 20 for free but there's some pretty heavy restrictions. You can't talk in public channels, you can't make or join guilds, you can't have more than 10 gold, you can't use mail or friends list features (I'm pretty sure you can't use the Auction House either), and anyone that's ten or more levels above you can't read anything you type, even /say. It kind of irks me when I see these WoW adds claiming things like "Play for free forever" because while it is technically true, the free experience is so vastly underwhelming compared to the paid experience that it's really not worth it. But then again I guess that's kinda the point.
  • Poor Rift. I played it during the beta and just couldn't get into it because of how similar it was to WoTLK era WoW. I thought the setting was interesting, but the art style lacked confidence, and the game mechanics even more so. Maybe now investors will stop blowing dozens of millions on WoW-alikes, dreaming of a similar level of success. It doesn't work like that, guys.
  • Level 19 PVP Twink time..

  • mmo's need to bring somthing new to the table if they what my free download. seriously, nothing has changed since diablo 2. which is sad.
  • Rift is the best MMO out right now.  

    If you are on the fence, try out the first 20 lvls and you will be hooked.

  • So do I still have to buy the base game and play to level 20 for free, then go to a subscription if I want to continue?

  • I like these types of things. I'll definitely look into this. Maybe. They did a week free thing awhile back that I downloaded and never played. Maybe this time.

  • Saw this game a lot in the mag and wanted to check it out, so now i can. I love free to play.

  • I really want to play this game, but the only subscription I can currently bring myself to pay for is Xbox Live.

  • There are so many MMO games out their now a days, its hard to destinguish which are good and which are bad. Though some are costly, as I've "learned" through the years, i have to say i wuld do it again. The anticipation for new stuff, hidden treasures, and lots of laughs are great to play around with. i need to choose an MMO one day and stick with it. Maybe rift will be what ive been searchin for....

  • Sweet. Now I can compare wow's first 20 levels to rift's. Personally I think I will like rift better even though wow is pretty fun

  • Checking back after playing the, and I found that they are is liar enough but different enough to warrant a playing of both. Wow looks better but the combat in rift is a pinch more engaging although you don't cicle through as much loot as you would in wow. A cool feature however is the ability at charge tar creation to see what a high level version of you're character would look like.