Few questions

[Mr.Person]

I have read around and saw that this game has one of the best housing systems on the market ATM, and I like that sort of thing. But I also hear some people saying it is P2W as it is really hard to level past 50, there is a currency cap, and some armors require parts from the store or buying it with in game cash, past what free players can get. so:

1: how expensive is housing, how early do I get my first house/plot, can I do much with it without paying, and can multiple characters use the same house?

2: how is combat? Need to watch some vids yet, but is it like WoW, wildstar or guild wars 2?

3: if I like the game enough, is there something I can buy to remove the currency cap from my account?

4: are things account bound, or character bound? recently everything in GW2 including, dyes, currency, dungeon tokens, almost everything was turned account bound instead of character bound, and I loved that change. Is it the same way here?

5: is the store in your face with ads everywhere prompting you to buy stuff, or is it like GW2 (as you can tell Iike that game and have hundreds of hours in it) where the only things offered in the store are non essential things like dyes, skins, and other stuff that does not put you ahead of everyone else?

6: how is population? Will I see people in low level areas? are there still many players, or is it dying? How hostile or friendly is the playerbase?

any answers would be awesome

[Matty]

I can't answer all these, but I'll throw in what I can.

1. No idea.

2. Combat is very similar to WoW. Tab-target and a skill bar.

3. No idea.

4. No idea.

5. The store is very subtle. So subtle that I couldn't find it at first. It's just a menu that you can open like your character panel, etc.

6. It depends on your location/time zone. I'm in Oceania right now and the population is ok. No problem finding dungeon groups if you're a tank or healer. Not sure about low level questing as I do it all through Instant Adventures, so levels don't matter that much.

[Dorgrim]

1) There is no player housing. There is something called Dimensions. This is a place where you can decorate to your hearts' content. They are not shared, nor can they be used to store gear or items. They can only be decorated by specific items designated as Dimension Items. There is a quest you get automatically that teaches you all about dimensions. Each character gets their own, and Dimension items can be found in loot, crafted, or purchased from vendors or the RIFT store.

2) Combat mechanics are very similar to WoW, for a reason. It's so that people who are familiar with WoW and similar systems will find learning RIFT easier.

3) You will rarely hit the 2500 platinum currency cap before level 60 to even notice that it's there. Even after level 60, unless you play the AH well, you would not be hitting it anytime soon. YMMV. However, in order to get past the currency cap, you need 1500 Loyalty. You gain 2 Loyalty for each Credit you buy, and 2 Loyalty for each Credit you spend. You can spend $5US to get 750 Credits. Just purchasing them will net you 1500 Loyalty, and also removes the AH limitations. Some say to just farm platinum and buy REX (tradeable 2500 Credits) from a player. It's not really worth the amount of time it would cost in man hours to farm enough plat to buy a single REX if just starting out. Save yourself the hassle and just spend $5. Then, use the Credits to buy something useful, like an extra character slot, or a premium mount (see below).

4) There are both Account and Character bound items, which are clearly marked on each item. You have to check the item itself, however. For example, when you purchase a standard mount for 2.5plat you get a consumable object which is account bound. Once you use it, then the object disappears but the mount is added to your Mount collection. Only premium mounts are account bound when purchased (each character, old or new, gets mailed a consumable object to add the mount). There is also some gear which is account bound, some vanity for looks, and also useful gear.

5) The RIFT store is never in your face unless you want it there. Also, you can purchase *almost* anything in game that could be found on any other vendor. This includes materials for crafting, dyes, drinks to replentish your health and mana, in addition to any items-for-money you might be interested in. Lastly, you never have to stop mid-questing to clear out your inventory of unwanted items; just open the RIFT store, select a category and then either right+click to sell an item, click the Sell Junk button at the bottom of the RIFT store.

6) As far as I can tell, all the game servers are physically located in US West Coast, and the server times reflect that. It's usually busy until the early morning hours West Coast.

[Mr.Person]

thanks for the detailed answers, but what is the purpose of dimensions if its only for decoration? I mean don't get me wrong, I like decorating and such, but I also like having a sense of functionality, like the old runescape housing system that has teleporters, crafting areas, mount (pet) stables ect. anything like that? If it does not have anything to do besides decorate, what is the point of going there? (not trying to sound rude)

[Raiz]

The dimensions are pretty much just for decorations with the exceptions to some interactive items such as a target dummy. There are PVP dimensions you can make and PVP you friends/guildies there, but those are pretty pricey.

[trufflecrisp]

That person covered it all, pretty much.

Exept I believe you can set your dimension to be edited by anyone.. (or people within your friend list and/or guild) so you -CAN- have a shared dimension in some respect, but if you have more than your alt inyour friend list, any of the people can come and edit yours as you like, if you have that setting on. In all reality... You can set it to editable by all friends for an hour or two and no one will likely visit and find out it's editable.. unless you mention it to them. People don't go randomly visiting dimensions unless they are in the top rated ones without invites.. As a general rule.

You could just have a dimension alt with your main and all your other alts as it's only friends. Just change the settings so only friends can enter that char's dimension.



ALSO.. I believe they are wrong about 2.5plat mounts being BoA. They are bound on pickup. But you could buy one and send it as a gift from the rift store to any alt on any shard.



As for BoA items... The most common form of BoA armor is from random equipment boxes. And the equipment those boxes drop are always for the class of the char you opened it with. So unless you're leveling more than 1 of the same class, they aren't very reliant handmedowns. (In other words, you aren't going to get a rogue weapon for your alt, when you open an equipment box with your mage, in fact, I don't think it's possible. I'm just reluctant to say so because there's probably one exception I'm not aware of... maybe trinkets.. Though I've never had one drop)

Also those boxes always give gear foryour level rounded down to the nearest 10th level. Opening boxes canget you some nice starter level 60 gear. But I wouldn't open them at any earlier level, as you outgrow it fairly quickly. (though, I won't deny the drops for pre-level 50 are OP for the level)