Anyone Playing Tribes: Ascend?
 

https://account.hirezstudios.com/tri...campaign=email

(If you sign up through the above link, it'll throw some in-game XP my way. No different than signing up from the main website other than saving me a little time!)

This game is probably the most online fun I've had since the reboot of Tribes 2 & Quake Live. It's a Free-To-Play model, and the only things that actually cost real money are cosmetic skins. Everything else can be bought with the XP you earn from matches. It also has "badges," which are tiered in-game achievements that when reached, gives you another large lump of XP to spend on perks, weapons, or upgrades.

It's also basically a skiing simulator. With jetpacks.

Another nice thing is that the 3 already unlocked classes (1 light, 1 medium & 1 heavy) are all excellent and competitive in their own right, so you'll get a good feel for the classes before you spend your hard earned XP. I would recommend either Pathfinder (insane speed/flag capping), Soldier (dueling), or Sentinel (if you like sniping). The heavy classes are great for base defense, but only if you're playing CTF (the standard mode). There's also Team Death Match (ehh) and an Arena mode (which is honestly pretty fun)!

Download and check it out! Once you get a feel for it, you'll get into the groove of the different classes and probably settle on a playstyle.

Feel free to add TheJoeMan and when you see me online, hop on in and play!

Thanks for reminding me about the game. :) I've registered using your link, though I don't think I'll have the time to play for a week or two.

Just a heads up to folks: I've been playing awhile in the Beta, and if you do decide to drop like $10 on lifetime VIP status (permanent 50% XP gain), you'll get a lump of gold with it. Here's my suggestion on what to do with it. I dropped $10, and I've gotten maybe 30 hours of playtime out of it, so it was worth it to me just for the permanent increased XP gain. I don't plan on giving them any more money though. ;)

Since the actual real money purchases are insanely overpriced, you'll basically only be able to buy one "big" thing or a bunch of little things.

You should get 800gp if you drop $10 (I think). As of right now, the Technician's Thumper and the Infiltrator's Jackal are pretty overpowered. Personally, I'd go for the Thumper because I predict that they'll continue to nerf the jackal.

So, assuming you drop $10:
1) Play for awhile and unlock the Technician with the XP you've earned.
2) Unlock the Thumper using the GP you received with the $10 VIP purchase.
3) Ruin everyone's day and continue to upgrade your Tech's armor, weapons, etc...

Playing Tech, you'll also end up with a lot of XP lumps from the multiple stacking badges you'll earn repairing base assets (turrets, generator, etc...). Hard to do and defend against incoming base assaults without that Thumper though.

Large patch dropped today including a new mode: Capture & Hold

It is absolutely ridiculous and complete pandemonium. For newcomers that want to rack up some Badge XP (for further unlocks on better classes), my advice for C&H is to unlock the Brute and upgrade his Fractal Grenades to 1 (+1 grenade).

Then use those Fractal Grenades in tandem with his Heavy Spinfusor non-stop inside the capture points.

You will murder absolutely everyone.

(Do not spend any more XP on Brute, at least not until he gets buffed (ie never.)

It's pretty hard earning XP the free way, I must admit, so if anyone's playing that way they should invest all upgrades into one class at the beginning. They'll have a pretty decent fighter for a while. :)

Maybe this will help: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04...-weapon-on-us/

FREE SPINFUSOR FOR THE SOLDIER TODAY ONLY

Grab it before all the codes are gone. When I used mine like 3hrs ago, I think there were 8,000 left available.

Also: The Soldier is a really strong, mobile class and excellent for dueling, base-defense, and arena.

More free keys to flesh out the Soldier (easily the best all-around class):
http://www.fileplay.net/keys

Free Spinfusor & Utility Pack

So far I am digging the Capture and Hold mode. It always ends with a slaughterfest at point A in the Outskirts map. :3:

Capture & Hold is fun but it's too chaotic for me. I just end using Brute and spamming grenades, dying, then doing it again.

Found out that the custom servers allow full XP/Badge gain. The amount of XP you gain is more tied to time in a match rather than performance...which means that the 24/7 shrike servers (that are timed to end after 20mins) are the best way to rack up XP.

This isn't me, but it's from doing what I just described:
http://i.imgur.com/D8Cb2.png

Without boost that's still like 5000+.

For anyone put off by how long it takes to unlock stuff (or how much $$$ if you just want to pay), they've started doing a "deal of the day." Doesn't affect XP price, but it massively affects GP price (assuming you dropped $10 or something).

Don't buy anything unless it's 75% off (which is the maximum discount tier). You should be able to stretch out every dollar a loooooong way.

The game is slowly getting better but time will tell. Join us folks! TotalAnarchy & I are still playing plenty.