Recently our favourite MMO game Rift went F2P with also the release of a new zone the Dendrome, new raids, new chronicles and much more. So that is what we have been doing for the past week or so levelling our rogue which we now have to level 60 (our second level 60) but what do we think of the game going Free-2-play?
Storm Queen Crucia
In most F2P games, spending real money usually gives you a huge benefit on other players who decide not to spend tons of IRL cash on digital items. Is this the case with Rift? No. Although you can purchase mediocre gear with real money, the top notch gear has to be earned yourself, through raiding or PVP which ever path you choose to take.. which is great.
There are some things I disagree with however. The fact that you can purchase holiday event items with real money at any time of the year, Items such as mounts or companion pets which a lot of us spent many hours grinding and doing daily quests to earn. Also it makes them a hell of a lot more special when they aren't an all year round thing you can just purchase off the Rift store.
Its sad to see that a game like Rift had to go f2p, Almost everyone playing the game now who did not want to pay for the subscription are loving it and saying its the best MMO. I think if people realised this earlier the game would still be p2p, but hell who's complaining. The servers are full and there are world events everywhere. No longer is it hard to find a group for anything. They have already had to open a few more servers to deal with the enormous queue times with new players and old returning players trying to get back onto the game.
If you have not played Rift yet, we suggest you give it a go, Why not? its free.
Gaming is my biggest hobby so as you can imagine when its time for E3 I get quite excited, So what have I thought of it so far? Ill start with what I thought of each conference separately.
Microsoft
Let me just start by saying I have always been an Xbox fan, I loved the original Xbox and the Xbox 360, hell we have two Xbox 360's so we can both play the games we love without that tedious split screen and Siri screen watching. As many of you know me and Siri even met on Xbox Live. However this year Microsoft has disappointed us both and many other people according to our Twitter with its latest console. I'll start with the pricing, the console costs £420 for the UK, $499 or 499 euros, You don't need to be a genius to work out the massive price difference between the £ and $.
Sure the exclusives for Xbox are great, one of my favourites being Halo, But Microsoft have been completely greedy this year. Especially with their not allowing used games rubbish. The rules for being able to give a used game to a friend or lend a used game to a friend is ridiculous. Pre-installing the game on your Xbox One and needing a internet connection at least once every 24 hours is also ridiculous. Microsoft's defence to this was that it is easier to play a game you own while you are at a friends house while logged into your Xbox Live account. Surely its easier to just take the disc over to their house?
What makes me chuckle though, are Xbox fan boys that will defend the Xbox and say its the greatest console ever, Then when you ask them why they can't tell you why they think that. At least now they have the excuse to say "the exclusives". There are even people on our Twitter feed that have already pre-ordered the Xbox one 10 minutes after their conference even before Sony took the stage. What's the rush guys? If that is not fanboyism I do not know what is, especially when you don't give the other consoles chance to show themselves off.
Sony
Never been a Playstation fan, I owned a PS1 and gave my PS2 away and did not buy a PS3, but Sony are doing things right. They had a great conference apart from some embarrassing freezes. The new FF looks great, I have never been a Final Fantasy fan but hoping to give this next one a go. The dig's at Microsoft I found quite amusing as they announced the PS4 supports used games. They did not stop there though, they went on to further destroy Microsoft by stating the console will not need to connect to the internet every 24 hours. If I had to choose between the two consoles, I would definitely choose the PS4, The kinect on the Xbox also pisses me off, our current kinect for the Xbox 360 has fallen behind the TV and we have not been bothered to pick it back up.. What a load of junk.
Sony finally revealed their console design, at first I thought it looked a lot like the Xbox One.. well it does but looks a bit more sleek and smaller. Another attack on Microsoft which I think everyone found amusing was this, their step by step tutorial on how to lend a game to a friend. Overall Sony done a great job at the E3 conference and I am sure they have won many Xbox players over to their console.
Nintendo
We currently do not own neither a 3DS or a WiiU, but are looking very forward to getting one, I'm personally really looking forward to Pokemon X/Y and Super Smash Bro's for the WiiU. It's also great that they are bringing out a 3DS version also I always thought it would be great to have Super smash bro's on a handheld. Siri is mostly looking forward to Donkey Kong. I'm hoping soon we can splash out and get these two glorious creations by Nintendo.
Although Nintendo done it differently at E3 and instead announced their future game releases with Nintendo direct, I think it was the best way.. they cut out all the shit and focused on what really mattered. The games. GG Nintendo.
What a lot of people are excited about, us included is that Megaman is joining the fight in the new Super Smash Bros and also a weird arrival is the Wii trainer.
