RIFT game

It's been about 2 years since I last paid a monthly fee to play a pc game. I hadn't even heard of RIFT until a few days ago, but I've very quickly become a fan boy. Maybe you've also seen the recent television ad?

I do have a VIP key that I can give out to people who are interested in trying out the beta program.  Reply here, and I'll message you with the key. It requires a large download (~8GB), but the next beta test begins January 25th. Let me know, and I can send you the key which is good for 25 users who sign up for an account.

Some of the great RIFT points that I have been wanting in an MMO for years:

• although there are still character levels, you suffer few punitive mechanics
  (translation: newbies can fight alongside veterans and everybody gets rewards)
• although there are still classes, you can choose and rearrange from many skill lines
  (translation: you can have a mage healer or a rogue tank or other interesting combinations)
• there are landscape-wide invasions with consequences
  (translation: everyone may hear the call to drop what they're doing to help in the defense of their homelands, otherwise player areas may end up scorched and unusable (dunno how long))
• players can assist random passersby without having to be grouped
  (translation: skill bonuses are usually tied to group members, but skills still have some effect even for non-grouped players)
• players can heavily specialize with up to 4 totally different character roles
  (translation: each character has 4 "callings" and each calling can have 3 "soul" trees of skills, so you can be a warrior if your group needs it or a mage instead, without logging out and changing characters)

Other unrelated trivia:

• Scott Hartsman is a former Sony employee from back in the days of EverQuest 1 (and 2).
• Tradeskills are included at launch, but they are very basic.  Some players like me are hoping for more thorough crafting later.
• Houses are not included at launch, but Trion drops hints that they want to do a good job before implementing that one.
• No shared bank at launch, but you can mail items cheaply between characters.
• I think some land mounts are included at launch, but that system will expand more later.

So... I'll certainly be there at launch.  I've pre-ordered the game, and I'll be joining the Head Start gaming on February 24th.  I haven't yet decided what kind of server (heavy PvP or light PvP) or faction (divine or technology) I'll join.  I'll probably end up sheeping along with the crowd when someone finally chooses the unofficial giblets server.

p.s. Ouch!  My tongue and tonsils are swelling up tonight.  No fever, at least.