Massively multiplayer game Rift has just launched its first companion app for Android. Not only does it have the usual stuff like chat with in-game friends and event notifications, they've also included mini-games through which you can win proper in-game items. Here's the full feature list.
- Chat with friends and guildmates - Check if your comrades are online, and communicate instantly from anywhere! Send messages from your phone to in-game, or plan your adventures mobile-to-mobile! Push Notifications help your friends call you back to Telara.
- Full guild support - Guild and Officer chat run smoothly on your mobile device, so you never miss a big decision.
- Guild MOTD and Guild Wall - View your Guild Wall and Message of the Day at anytime, anywhere.
- Zone Event notification - Hear the call when Zone Events erupt on your shard, and pick your battles with flexible alert settings.
- Earn in-game loot! - Win real loot through the mobile app with Lootables. Artifacts, crafting items, and planar treasure shoot straight to your character’s mailbox!
While World of Warcraft still claims the throne of high fantasy online roleplaying games, I've seen a lot of WoW veterans switch guys and get involved with Rift. Although I haven't played it myself, it seems like Rift offers a lot more in terms of class customizability, and the art style seems to err more on the side of realism rather than cartoony chariactures. Otherwise, it's very much the same sort of stuff - world-spanning player-versus-player combat, cooperative raids, friend-packed guilds, and seasonal events.
World of Warcraft also has mobile app, but they're kind of jerks for tacking on an extra $3 to your subscription fee if you want to make use of them. It's good to see Rift isn't making such a shameless moneygrab, and are more interested in winning the goodwill of their players before pouncing on their credit card.
If you're interested in giving Rift a shot, you can download the free week-long trial over here. After that, you'll need to shell out $15/month to keep playing. Hopefully the guys at Rift will be able to add some item database and character look-up features in the future, but in the meantime, you can download Rift Mobile for Android below in the Market.
Reader comments
Rift MMO launches Android app with in-game items
Honestly you shouldn't write about these things if you don't play the games involved or understand the vast difference between Blizzard's app and Trion's (hint: Auction House).
10 million people sending $15 a month to Blizzard. You don't think it's a Jerk move to charge an extra $3 to use the mobile auction feature of the app? This article is spot on.
Guild Wars 2 is going to have an app like this for Android and iPhone. They aren't going to charge any monthly fee for their app either. It will have access to the Auction House, in-game chat, a real time map of the Dynamic Events where you can actively watch your friends move around and fight (with their permission, ofc. And you can even tell them when new events are near by), there is going to be a desktop website to get all the same functionality and connectivity, it's been hinted that you may ever be able to craft in-app, and they promised even more when the app goes live. Which will only be a few months since beta has already started, and open beta will be coming in a couple months.
I'm excited, if you can't tell.
I know it's been a couple years since you wrote this article, but you can now play the game for free. Only time you have to shell out money is if you want to actually buy the game, or get stuff from the item-mall in-game. I've been playing for a while now, and absolutely love the fact that I can play no matter my financial situation.