Rift cost too much to play

[Slipmat]

Rift at its current state does not offer nothing close to what Wildstar offers to a F2P gamer.

Rift: three Free Expansions, fourth one you buy with cash/gifted/in game plat

Wildstar: no Expansions, it's only been 2 years and six months since it launched so yes, three free Expansions worth of content for a totally F2P player over zero Expansions, no brainer.

[Letobrick]

Rift: three Free Expansions, fourth one you buy with cash/gifted/in game plat

Wildstar: no Expansions, it's only been 2 years and six months since it launched so yes, three free Expansions worth of content for a totally F2P player over zero Expansions, no brainer.

Rift has had 3 expansions (Storm Legion, Nightmare Tide, and Starfall Prophecy), so I'm not certain what 4th expansion you are referring to. Regardless, two free expansions worth of content is kind of moot when it is no longer relevant to the current state of the game. Wildstar has also had some major content updates this past year, including a new 20 man raid, so its not like they haven't released any further content since its initial release.

[Valfador]

Rift: three Free Expansions, fourth one you buy with cash/gifted/in game plat

Wildstar: no Expansions, it's only been 2 years and six months since it launched so yes, three free Expansions worth of content for a totally F2P player over zero Expansions, no brainer.

Other mmos do perfectly well without releasing a reset button every 2 years. That is all the Rift expansions has ever been, sadly this time around the reset button didn't provide anything to do after the purge.

[Laraninni]

Other mmos do perfectly well without releasing a reset button every 2 years. That is all the Rift expansions has ever been, sadly this time around the reset button didn't provide anything to do after the purge.

I think they got the reset button idea from WoW

[Fia]

The way I experienced the 2 games from the F2P aspect:
Rift makes me feel like I am doing a second real life job in order to achieve things. If I do not bleed my fingernails I won't be able to reach the the staff I like to do (end game, professions, raids etc). In Wildstar though, I never thought of that... I can compete with every subscriber as the only difference between us is minimum 20-25 % more income which is not so noticeable as in Rift. After all, that difference I was able to nullify it, after about 4 months of playtime. How? I bought subscription with in game gold. Can you do the same in Rift? Can you buy a monthly subscription after 4 months of gametime in European Servers?
Maybe before the changes of February 2016 we could do a more fair comparison... But then again, if you add the extra soul cost and the earrings too, Rift is still in disadvantage stage once again.

I think you, and many others here, look at it from a slightly wrong perspective. Imo, the problem is not what Rift has to offer in terms of how much you have to pay for it, the problem is that there is no real endcontent for PvE or PvP players, at all. If Rift had to offer the same endcontent as it had back in classic days, I bet almost no one would complain. Currently though, the expert dungeons are a bad joke, and there's only 3 of them, of which 1 is recycled, and 2 are filled to the brim with trash mobs. The best part is, that a very valid tactic is to simply skip all the trash, because the trash mobs are an absolute no brainer, 0 mechanics, 0 use, I'm wondering why they bothered to include them at all ... :V Furthermore, the difficulty of expert dungeons is catastrophicly easy, I mean seriously, for most bosses you don't even need a healer ... this is just bad, very very bad and no fun at all. :/ Ofc this leads to the question how easy raids will be and as I and many others have already pointed out, it is highly likely that the new hardmode level will be equal to the old normal mode level raids (in which case I will really stop paying anything for this game and maybe even quit it altogether, and I know of many other players that will do the same).

TL;DR: Rift needs A LOT more challenging content to legitimate its expensive price tag.

[Darkcleros]

I think they got the reset button idea from WoW

with content in mind I was thinking it was more on the line of...

[Malificarr]

Rift: three Free Expansions, fourth one you buy with cash/gifted/in game plat

Wildstar: no Expansions, it's only been 2 years and six months since it launched so yes, three free Expansions worth of content for a totally F2P player over zero Expansions, no brainer.

I'd consider Ember Isle an expansion during the subscription days. Also I'd consider it the high point of Rift.

I also wouldn't be making comparisons with Wildstar. It's a known failed MMO on death's door making less revenue than it takes to sustain servers and salaries for the developers according to publicly available NCSOFT financials.

[Honoun]

I don't know, my main consideration is, "Am I having fun?" if my answer to that is yes then any other argument is moot. And frankly I am having fun playing Rift so... *shrugs*

[Oldar]

Rift: three Free Expansions, fourth one you buy with cash/gifted/in game plat
Wildstar: no Expansions, it's only been 2 years and six months since it launched so yes, three free Expansions worth of content for a totally F2P player over zero Expansions, no brainer.

From all that I wrote, this is what you have to say? That Rift has more expansions than Wildstar while you agree that the first one has more years in the market than the other???

Oh my! How did I miss that? You are absolutely right! Then of course Rift is by far the best MMO. One second though: All the zones in Wildstar have events going on every day. All the time you are seeing people forming raiding groups to face the world bosses in each zone where the event takes place. When was the last time you saw something like that in Rift?

Let me guess: It doesn't matter as long as Rift has more Expansions. Wildstar offers open end game zones with events almost every 6 months plus phases of a big Raiding scene, when each phase is ready! You disapprove such effort from a company who is trying its best and they build brick by brick, zone by zone their idea of an expansion because they do not release all the content at once behind a price tag in order to feel like you play a "complete" expansion? In other words, you feel like what Trion did with the SFP release was a success and you wish for other companies to copy this move?

Wildstar did not place end game behind a paywall and the money to pay for your monthly subscription is by far more easy to obtain. Even if I prefer to farm my way in order to buy the SFP, don't you think a couple of the new unlocked Souls are going to make a huge difference?

As the OP said: As a Rift player has to make your transition from the place where nobody wants to have you to their Raid group (either PvE, either PvP) because you do not have the required Souls to offer to the party, to the place where at least some of the guilds/pugs/groups/raids are going to strongly consider letting you join them. The only way to do that is by unlocking locked content with less money! Simple as that.

I think you, and many others here, look at it from a slightly wrong perspective. Imo, the problem is not what Rift has to offer in terms of how much you have to pay for it, the problem is that there is no real endcontent for PvE or PvP players, at all. If Rift had to offer the same endcontent as it had back in classic days, I bet almost no one would complain. Currently though, the expert dungeons are a bad joke, and there's only 3 of them, of which 1 is recycled, and 2 are filled to the brim with trash mobs. The best part is, that a very valid tactic is to simply skip all the trash, because the trash mobs are an absolute no brainer, 0 mechanics, 0 use, I'm wondering why they bothered to include them at all ... :V Furthermore, the difficulty of expert dungeons is catastrophicly easy, I mean seriously, for most bosses you don't even need a healer ... this is just bad, very very bad and no fun at all. :/ Ofc this leads to the question how easy raids will be and as I and many others have already pointed out, it is highly likely that the new hardmode level will be equal to the old normal mode level raids (in which case I will really stop paying anything for this game and maybe even quit it altogether, and I know of many other players that will do the same).

TL;DR: Rift needs A LOT more challenging content to legitimate its expensive price tag.

I respectfully disagree, my friend

How I see it, at the moment the end game (SFP) content has been butchered and it has been placed behind a paywall. So, in order to access it you have to pay for it. But wait, in order to be fully prepared to enter in end game, you have to pay for souls and other goodies that will ease your pain and will make your journey bearable.

So, again: what you pay and what you receive? Even if you face the ugly truth and you try your best without paying anything... well you will wait A LONG time before a player will take you seriously to let you join his group. What I wrote in Slipmat above, is that in e.g. Wildstar, GW2 etc. something like that you do it a lot easier and with a lot less cost.

I'd consider Ember Isle an expansion during the subscription days. Also I'd consider it the high point of Rift.

I also wouldn't be making comparisons with Wildstar. It's a known failed MMO on death's door making less revenue than it takes to sustain servers and salaries for the developers according to publicly available NCSOFT financials.

With the way you are thinking my friend, the same goes for Rift. Rift is by far dead because his numbers have took the downhill the last term. In my experience, Wildstar is more alive than Rift at the moment because it offers what Rift failed: End game content. The previous month they released the second phase of their newly arrived Raid (2016 Raid). And do not forget that at least NCSoft has the "balls" to show the avenues of their games. Can you say the same for Trion games?

I don't know, my main consideration is, "Am I having fun?" if my answer to that is yes then any other argument is moot. And frankly I am having fun playing Rift so... *shrugs*

I am glad to hear that. Although, because you are having fun does not mean that all the others are feeling the same way. That is why we should not judge them only because we do not agree with their arguments and jumping to conclusions as to what they smoke etc....

There are so many veterans in these forums who they are feeling like their favorite game has took a road in which they are being skeptical if they should follow it or not... If we can help them by adding our thoughts and arguments as well, then let's do it! If we are not going to be helpful, then maybe it is for the best to read what others have to offer to the table

[July13th]

Planewalker:Water and Earrings need to be free now.

[Doveblack]

Planewalker:Water and Earrings need to be free now.

They have been for months.

[Meowy]

Considering there is no raid yet, you can be perfectly happy just paying for the expansion and nothing else

[Slipmat]

All the zones in Wildstar have events going on every day. All the time you are seeing people forming raiding groups to face the world bosses in each zone where the event takes place. When was the last time you saw something like that in Rift?

Every day?

[Tyrinthiel]

Why would a new player immediately jump to end-game content? And I don't mean leveling 65-70, I mean immediately going for level 70 content. They wouldn't. Even the more hardcore MMO players would want to experience the core gameplay before they decide if they want to get involved in end-game content. The core gameplay is the leveling experience, not the end-game. Sure, souls evolve over time and require people to change/relearn certain things as they level, but the base gameplay? That's pretty consistent across all levels.

A new player has 1-65 completely free to try out the base gameplay. If at that point they wish to continue, they can then start by buying SFP and getting to 70. If they still enjoy the game at that point and wish to continue, by playing end game content, then they have the option to farm or straight up buy the Essentials Pack or whatever else they want.

The Essentials Pack and SFP are NOT required for new players to start playing the game.

Are they less effective than people who did drop all the money upfront? Sure. Does it matter when you're not at endgame? Nope, not in the least. Especially for old content, where you're not doing expert dungeons but rather leveling dungeons, you don't need to be optimized and have the best specs and perfectly geared and whatnot.

Could the price for everything be lower? Sure. Would it be nice for the Essentials to be discounted heavily now, or included in a slightly higher cost SFP? Sure. But that's not the reason new players avoid the game, unless you as a veteran trying to recruit them make it so.

Don't be like "oh you need to pay $90 to play the game" because that's not true. Be like "the game is free up until the current expansion, and has a lot of content. Play until then, and if you like it then you can buy the extra content". Yes, old content is outdated but it's still content, especially for a new player who hasn't played anything. For them, the content isn't stale as they have never done/experienced it before. Likewise, yes, grouping is important with MMOs...so why are you complaining about the people you're trying to get into the game not being able to group? Why are you not grouping with them?

Like I said earlier, if people you're trying to get into the game immediately go "no $90 is too much" without even trying the game, then it's because YOU are not thinking of things from the right perspective and are not telling them the right things.

[July13th]

They have been for months.

I think you need to check again.