A little while back Chris wrote a great article about the world events in Rift. He made a solid point about them being rather generic and similar to all the others. He also mentioned how I would tease him for knocking something he was essentially getting for free on top of everything else Rift has to offer. Chris is right about the teasing but that is not what I’m here to do today. I’m here to tell you the story of the great Chicken-Raptor victory in the war for the Ding’s honor.
A Purpose
One of the things I like about Rift right now is the fact that it is engaging my guild members outside of our raid nights. People are logging in more often to work on doing zone invasions and the world event dailies. They’re doing so to earn planar attunement experience, funny little items, collect inscribed sourcestones, and reach chicken-raptor glory. Some people would say this is silly repetition and grinding. I would say they’re wrong. My people are not logging in to do these things because they have to. They’re doing it because it is generally fun. They’ve found a new purpose to play Rift other than raiding. They are still chasing that Ding!
All about the Ding
In the past I have not understood the cult of the ding. I never grasped how people would constantly feel compelled to see, feel, and hear it. It was just something that I glossed over on to the raiding part of the game. Now, I get it. Without an experience bar I do feel purposeless. Even though I recognize that the planar attunement abilities are under-powered and largely unnecessary, I don’t care. I don’t feel like I have to avoid every mob. I don’t ignore rifts. I do everything I used to do when I needed experience. Trion has achieved exactly what they set out to do here. Give you a pre-50 feeling without having a pre-50 feeling. Does that make sense? Of course! You get the good part without feeling like you’re behind. Initially everyone in Iniquity was freaking out about the points. The members that play less were worried they would fall behind. Now they see that isn’t a reality and are enjoying the system.
The world (event) needs you
World events are not features. I will admit that. Trion is not positioning them as features. Trion gives us a world event every month or so to sprinkle a little flavor on the same cookies we already eat. They give us silly hats, a little loot, and some fun mounts. They do this for free when everyone else is putting this kind of stuff in the cash shop. This event is super popular because of the chicken-raptor. A brand new unique mount. My guild is chasing them because they’re awesome and fun. How can we begrudge Trion for that? I can’t. World events may be bland but they get my members to log on. Not because they must but because they want to and ultimately that is what is most important. Getting your guild members online.
So to the nay-sayers I say, “lighten up.” If this game was ran by Blizzard or SOE (Sorry guys, I really do love you) that raptor would be $10 or more in a cash shop with no possible way of getting it in game. To Trion, I say thank you!
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So to the nay-sayers I say, “lighten up.” If this game was ran by Blizzard or SOE (Sorry guys, I really do love you) that raptor would be $10 or more in a cash shop with no possible way of getting it in game.
*cough* Spindrel mount *cough*
But it isn’t in the CASH shop!
Technicalities -_- but yeah good point. That is one exception.
No one ever said that you can’t release a new CE every 6 months! Offering the new CE upgrade as a separate purchase since the new CE doesn’t actually come with anything different is merely a matter of fairness to loyal longtime customers. That and there is broad acceptance of CE’s (in the context of new games and expansions) and broad displeasure with cash shops.
In fairness, prices in the Trion cash shop are way more reasonable than any other cash shop out there. Many games will ask for $10 for one bound-to-character mount, but Trion’s offering two additional account-wide perks with the account-wide mount in each $10 CE. Also, the original CE turtle model eventually got recycled into game, and it’s certainly possible that the new CE spider will make the same jump.
Personally, I find Trion’s misleading habit of posting sale prices that do not include any game time a bit more concerning. Yes, there is fine print when you click through, but the apples to apples comparison that people are making to all other subscription MMO’s includes the month of time required for your purchase to be good for something other than a coaster (coaster not included with digital purchase). Do they really win by giving potential customers the impression that they’re happy to trick people into buying a $5 license that requires a $15 subscription to actually play?