With last week's launch of the Rift v1.5 "Ashes of History" update, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy's one decked out dwarf cleric thanks to the new veteran's rewards. Bill is awfully impressed with the rewards program implemented with Ashes and some of the ingenious rewards players can earn. He's got a few thoughts to share and then wants to hear your ideas in the comments. Read on!

A lot of games hand out loyalty rewards these days. It’s a great way, when done right, to keep subscribers well… subscribed. But more often than not, they’re usually throw away crap no one really wants, except the most hardcore of hardcore fans. I mean, in a way this makes sense because you’re likely rewarding the hardcore players because they’d be the ones subscribed for the longest amount of time. But Trion and Rift seem to be thinking on their feet as we head into the dangerous SWTOR and GW2 infested territory of the next several months. The stuff they’re giving to those who’ve been subscribed for a while is pretty wicked.

Read more of Bill Murphy's Tripping the Rift: The Best Loyalty Rewards.

It is best to save the xp potions for max level. They actually work with Planar Attunement xp and it is nice to have a stack of them before going into a instance or chronicle.

Also at this rate by the time you hit 50 we will be on 1.6 or 1.7

The veteran rewards are rather poor and don't seem to be recepted very well in general.

It makes me wonder though...Trion did such a great job with some of the stuff ingame, but then often fails at the easy tasks! 

Why not giving the 12 month subs a drake-mount that breathes fire and burns npcs as a mount or such. Potions...guys, come on! Why not aleady slapping in a ton of fluff, pets, mounts, gimmicks anyway and everybody's happy?

Remember how underwhelming the 6month b-day rewards were, it's the same here. Start a thread on the official forums and i'm shure you'll get overkilled with player's suggestions. Take on some, profit.

The vet rewards are well recieved on the defiant end of things, on Guardian they want their uniform to look cooler. I'm more worried that Trion will be expecting everyone, or trying to encourage us all to pay for 12 month subscriptions for full vet perks all the time. They've already said that the vet shop will be updated from time to time with new things, but there are items limited by month and I have a feeling they'll just continue beyond the 24 month (which is mounts right now) instead of updating with new things for 1 year, 6 months etc.

The veteran rewards are rather free for doing what I was already doing...so thanks Trion.

Kind of funny how people dont see this for what it really is:

a cash grab.  Because its not based on how long you have been playing, its based on how long you are paid for.  People have already gone ahead and gotten the 24 month rewards.  24 month rewards, for a game thats been out 1/4 that time.  

Also with 6 month subs being up and people on the fence between going month to month now, they are mor einclined to saty with 6 months even though there is a good chance they wont stick around tha long.   I dont doubt Trion started this with good intentions, but how it was rolled out looks pretty damn greedy.

It's more like a bribe than a reward. :/

GW1 has a true veteran reward since it only rolls out once a year in a form of a B-day gift -- no sub required.

Originally posted by teakbois

Kind of funny how people dont see this for what it really is:

 

a cash grab.  Because its not based on how long you have been playing, its based on how long you are paid for.  People have already gone ahead and gotten the 24 month rewards.  24 month rewards, for a game thats been out 1/4 that time.  

 

Also with 6 month subs being up and people on the fence between going month to month now, they are mor einclined to saty with 6 months even though there is a good chance they wont stick around tha long.   I dont doubt Trion started this with good intentions, but how it was rolled out looks pretty damn greedy.

 Business' are in business to make money.  Its not just a cash grab it is also a way to reward people for their dedication.

Giving something to players who like their game is a good thing. If you dont like the game thats one thing just say that and move along but please dont criticize a company for rewarding their players for loyalty. Not enough companies do that in todays market  =/ 

Trion? Hats off to ya ;)

Originally posted by blueturtle13

Originally posted by teakbois

Kind of funny how people dont see this for what it really is:

 

a cash grab.  Because its not based on how long you have been playing, its based on how long you are paid for.  People have already gone ahead and gotten the 24 month rewards.  24 month rewards, for a game thats been out 1/4 that time.  

 

Also with 6 month subs being up and people on the fence between going month to month now, they are mor einclined to saty with 6 months even though there is a good chance they wont stick around tha long.   I dont doubt Trion started this with good intentions, but how it was rolled out looks pretty damn greedy.

 Business' are in business to make money.  Its not just a cash grab it is also a way to reward people for their dedication.

Giving something to players who like their game is a good thing. If you dont like the game thats one thing just say that and move along but please dont criticize a company for rewarding their players for loyalty. Not enough companies do that in todays market  =/ 

Trion? Hats off to ya ;)

 

But I do have a major problem with them having rewards obtainable in game if you pay 18 months in advance.  As I said it may have started out with good intentions (though more than likely its an 'oh crap what can we do about our declining subs) but it got distorted along the way.

I also thought vet rewards were more or less standard now.  SoEs been doing it for 6 or 7 years now.  WAR, Aion...they have it too...

I just get annoyed with the little, greedy things form Trion.  I know i can pay $10 for a turtle mount and a bigger bag, I dont need to be reminded of it every single time I log on.

I just think they shouldn't make rewards available for longer than the game was available for.

It was a good idea to let people get the rewards from time paid and not time spent, but making 12/24 month rewards available just made it too obvious they want money.

Still, I have to say this is far better than implementing a cash shop, because here you still have the mask of a veteran reward instead of plain good ol' double dipping in a monthly subscription game (not to mention how much of a rip off it is if you compare the $15 monthly subscription which gives access to the whole game versus a $25 mount).

It means Rift is basically still a pure box/subscription game, they have no other revenue besides game sales and monthly subscriptions.

Do anything at all and be criticized. Thats the society we live in now. We are very entitled people. Shame. Enjoy games for the fun. Dont remove joy for the sake of complaining. 

Originally posted by blueturtle13

Do anything at all and be criticized. Thats the society we live in now. We are very entitled people. Shame. Enjoy games for the fun. Dont remove joy for the sake of complaining. 

 

So people shouldnt be called out for doing something greedy?  If they had just done it for 12 months (within the current subscription plans) then no one would say anything negative.

But it is possible in a game SIX MONTHS OLD to pay for 'veteran rewards' for TWO YEARS.  You can get something that is earned for subscribing until march 2013 now.  And you don't see any issue with that?

Originally posted by teakbois

Originally posted by blueturtle13

Do anything at all and be criticized. Thats the society we live in now. We are very entitled people. Shame. Enjoy games for the fun. Dont remove joy for the sake of complaining. 

 

So people shouldnt be called out for doing something greedy?  If they had just done it for 12 months (within the current subscription plans) then no one would say anything negative.

 

But it is possible in a game SIX MONTHS OLD to pay for 'veteran rewards' for TWO YEARS.  You can get something that is earned for subscribing until march 2013 now.  And you don't see any issue with that?

 No because I renewed my sub for another 6 months because it allowed me to pay 9.95 a month instead of 15 and got rewards for doing what I was going to do anyways. win win    its just a game not my job

Originally posted by teakbois

But it is possible in a game SIX MONTHS OLD to pay for 'veteran rewards' for TWO YEARS.  You can get something that is earned for subscribing until march 2013 now.  And you don't see any issue with that?

Yeah, but a mail box is not exactly game breaking. I think the guy with 18 months gets some gloves and pants that are vanity items. Aion vet rewards were like a hot that could not be remodeled so not sure what the big deal is.

The problem is this is Rift doing it. If Bioware offered the exact same vetern rewards for ToR it would be praised up and down the internet. I am seeing an almost non stop double standard right now and it is sad. They are a quality dev

Vet rewards are a sure way to make sure i dont go back and check out a game i unsubscribed from for a while, they are essentially a punishment for unsubscribing, and when i only unsubscribed in the first place because of lacking content, they are basically an industry ploy to ensure people stay subscribed to games they dont even have anything to do on, just to make sure they get any potential vet rewards. Much like preorder bonuses are tricks to get people to drop money on a game before they even know if its going to be good or not.

Originally posted by Sidraket

Vet rewards are a sure way to make sure i dont go back and check out a game i unsubscribed from for a while, they are essentially a punishment for unsubscribing, and when i only unsubscribed in the first place because of lacking content, they are basically an industry ploy to ensure people stay subscribed to games they dont even have anything to do on, just to make sure they get any potential vet rewards. Much like preorder bonuses are tricks to get people to drop money on a game before they even know if its going to be good or not.

or they are rewards for staying subscribed....it is a vendor and a mail box seriously guys this is getting silly.

Originally posted by Puremallace

Originally posted by teakbois

But it is possible in a game SIX MONTHS OLD to pay for 'veteran rewards' for TWO YEARS.  You can get something that is earned for subscribing until march 2013 now.  And you don't see any issue with that?

Yeah, but a mail box is not exactly game breaking. I think the guy with 18 months gets some gloves and pants that are vanity items. Aion vet rewards were like a hot that could not be remodeled so not sure what the big deal is.

 

The problem is this is Rift doing it. If Bioware offered the exact same vetern rewards for ToR it would be praised up and down the internet. I am seeing an almost non stop double standard right now and it is sad. They are a quality dev

 

 

 

Actually, this IS getting praised up and down the internet, like this article here.  Veteran rewards are a pretty standard MMO feature now.  Everyone but Blizzard has em, and Blizzard gives everyone a free pet each year to celebrate WoW's anniversery.

I see articles like this making a huge deal about something so standard, and done with an element of greed to it.  SoE doesnt get praise for basically pioneering this concept do they?  Heck if they had allowed people to sub two years in advance just for the 24 month award there would be a 30 page hate post about how greedy they are.

Again, Im reminded EVERY TIME I LOAD UP RIFT that I can give them money to upgrade my account.  Its extremely tacky, its something games with free to play trials do (well maybe not that extreme, there isnt an in game pop up or anything, but still...)

I think vet rewards are a great idea and Trion didnt go overboard with what they give, but you cant deny its tacky to offer them for 24 months in advance when there is NO BENEFIT IN PRICE to subscribe *that* far in advance.

I like the vet rewards and I really like how I have access to them for the time I've paid.  This is the nicest vet reward system in any game I've played that has the feature.

Originally posted by teakbois

Again, Im reminded EVERY TIME I LOAD UP RIFT that I can give them money to upgrade my account.  Its extremely tacky, its something games with free to play trials do (well maybe not that extreme, there isnt an in game pop up or anything, but still...)

I think vet rewards are a great idea and Trion didnt go overboard with what they give, but you cant deny its tacky to offer them for 24 months in advance when there is NO BENEFIT IN PRICE to subscribe *that* far in advance.

 

They advertise their game. Maybe if other companies did this we would be talking about them. I mean some of these other companies got just as much or more money then Trion by one very big margin.

SoE has what kind of budget, but we get FF14 seriously and people can not figure out why WoW has dominated American subs? It is a very simple harmless feature and come and few days from now they will be advertising something else.