Rift Articles

[Morreion]

Rift: Planes of Telara official site

Join legions of adventurers in Rift: Planes of Telara, a new fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in a world being torn apart.

Rifts violently rip into reality across the land and release powerful forces that threaten the very existence of Telara. Each breach brings with it new characters, events, and treasures, while the world itself changes dynamically around you.

Play with your friends across vast, lavishly detailed environments, or go head-to-head in challenging Player versus Player (PvP) combat as you battle to uncover the secrets of the planes. Build and advance your character using an innovative new class system with limitless possibilities.

The rifts have divided the people and endanger the world. Whether you fight to seal the rifts forever, or harness their power for your own, epic adventures lie ahead for those willing to fight for the future of Telara.

Rift: Planes of Telara Facebook page

Rift: Planes of Telara on Twitter

Rift: Planes of Telara: Demoing Rift
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy recently traveled to the Trion offices and sat in on a presentation and demo for Rift: Planes of Telara.

Once we had seen the character creation Morgan loaded us into the proper world and I immediately became slack-jawed at the artwork. The screenshots simply don't do the game's beauty justice. You can really see that the company has hired a top-notch art team to create a distinct and gorgeous looking world for the game. People mill about an NPC camp with believable weight to their movements, each person looks different, and I can't stop staring at a short clergyman of sorts with a very squared and tall hat. He reminds me of a fatter version of the priest from The Princess Bride and I catch myself chuckling each time Morgan steers her Inquisitor past the little guy...

I couldn't argue with that decision, especially when I saw just how playable the game seemed in such an early alpha stage. The animations are gorgeous and Simon told me that they have something astronomical like over 10,000 plus animations in the game and that each class, character, and mob has a wealth of different movements to pull from. The armor and clothing on the Inquisitor Morgan played flowed and bounced very fluidly, and when I asked if the game was going to have an extensive array of armor and weapons with customization available, Simon assured me that they team is working very hard on making sure players will have oodles of options available to them and that dying for armor and clothing was already available in the game...

Morgan pulled back for a brief moment to show us how the sky around the area of the Rift had changed greatly and it was apparent that players from miles away should be able to see where a Rift might be occurring and head to the aid of their fellow players in such an event. As she used her hammer and developer-invincibility to beat down the giant plant, Simon pointed out to us how each character that takes part in an encounter gains loot as they participate in the Rift. No stopping to loot corpses, it all goes into a sort of personal sack that you can check out once the fighting's done. The longer you participate and the more you actually do during the encounter, the better you'll be rewarded. But this system ensures that everyone will get something for helping...

And with that our brief tour of Rift was complete. There is still so much more to see of the game. Guilds, the class system, PvP, and all of that are yet to be revealed but Simon promised that they were going to include all the "Greatest Hits" players have come to expect from a Triple-A MMORPG. That's a pretty bold claim to lay down, but with the financial backing Trion has at their disposal, the developer should be able to do just that.

[Morreion]

E3 2010: Hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara (Massively)

Your very first decision in game will be to choose a faction: the Guardians or the Defiant. Both are tasked with saving a world under attack, although they each have their own approach and butt heads against the other in the process. The Guardians are blessed by the gods and are chosen to be their holy knights, while the Defiant take the anti-hero route and rely on their own technology to wage this war. The Defiant had created vast cities in the desert using their magical tech, but they were infiltrated by dragons and saw their great achievements wiped away, reducing them to desert wanderers. There are races unique to each faction, as well as races shared by both. We learned that the Defiant have access to both the Eth (human) and Bahmi (human/elemental) races.

We then moved on to classes, which lie within four basic "callings," as Rift likes to toss around. Choosing an initial calling -- Warrior, Cleric, Rogue and Mage -- locks you into that role, although you can go on to pick a specialized class within that calling, such as Blade Dancer or Reaver. Rift offers a spin on class selections by allowing players to mix-and-match elements of several classes by capturing souls and making your own unique blend. Like coffee, just with souls. You get your second soul at level 15 and your third at 30, but it's up to you to find and acquire these souls in your journey. The only restriction is that all of your souls have to fall under your calling, so you can't utilize a Warrior soul if you've chosen a Rogue calling.

Preview: Rift: Planes of Telara Makes MMOGs Dynamic (and Gorgeous) (Escapist)

The moment a rift spawns and word gets out, it could become an instant hotspot for PvE and PvP alike - and yes, there will be PvP between the more lawful Guardians and more chaotic Defiants, naturally. The two factions could cooperate to seal the rift and get loot for all... but then again, why help your enemy gear up? Why not sabotage their attempt?

One area that might just help Rift: Planes of Telara stick out from the crowd at first, though, is the strength of its graphics. While it might not be the first "truly HD MMORPG" as Trion is claiming, Rift is a visually stunning game - even a year (or more) away from release, they already have over 10,000 character and NPC animations with more created every day, said Ffinch. The lighting effects are phenomenal in particular, and it arguably looks better (if not quite as stylized) as NCSoft's eye-candy-tastic Aion.

Not only does the world look cool, but your character should look cool too: We saw a bit of the character creator, and it's clear that Trion has taken great pains to ensure that your character will look like an actual person instead of a freak of nature no matter how you position the little slidy-bars. "It's very hard to make something ugly in the game," said Ffinch.

One of the most interesting innovations in Rift might be something that players won't ever see. Rather than having "location-based" servers - where a given server represents a given city or dungeon, and gets overloaded if too many people are in that area - the game divides its servers into systems. You have an AI server, a chat server, a collision-detection server, and so on - which means that it's easy to add blades to struggling clusters without taking an area offline.

Thus far, Rift: Planes of Telara looks like something that's very familiar but with a few refreshing twists - and that seems to be the point. The game is currently slated to come out sometime in 2011.

Rift: Planes of Telara: WarCry Interviews Scott Hartsman

8. Why high definition graphics?

It's time. Traditionally with MMO graphics, you end up with roughly the following:

1) High Detail, 2) Acceptable Performance, 3) Amazing Visuals. Pick two.

We're at a point with PC and display technology where we're starting to see all three become possible.

You can play it on a standard monitor and it looks great, you can play it on a 50"+ HDTV and it still looks phenomenal. If you can do that while not requiring a supercomputer to run it, you've got something really special. That's our goal.

9. You've said that Rift has 'dynamic content and that the play experience will not be identical every time the game is played'. Can you explain what you meant?

Sure, but it's going to take a little background.

The game's backend servers and entire platform architecture is built around the idea that an MMO's world can be made more fun and interesting if it's not the same thing, all the time.

Worlds that never change except through updates, downtimes, and patches are fun, but they're basically static.

The premise is that by integrating new types of dynamic content into an already-rich world, you can create a more interesting experience.

The goal is to create a world where you'll run into changes and elements of "life," if you will, that you might not have otherwise expected.

Some of them are there to provide ambient story on a small scale - For instance, a merchant who packed up moved on elsewhere because no one was shopping with her. Others are there to provide larger-scale story reinforcement, like when an invasion occurs from the Plane of Death that provides combat content and gameplay.

10. What exactly is a rift? How randomly will they appear in Telara?

A rift is an active opening between Telara and one of the planes, where either a planar force is actively invading, or where it was ambushed by players before the invasion was entirely ready.

Players can spot places where invasions are going to occur by looking for what we're calling "tears" (as in, fissures in reality). Places where the air literally appears to twist and warp.

Emergent behavior to be produced in Trion's Heroes of Telara (Massively)

Emergence is one of the aspects that many MMOs aspired to, only to drop in favor of static storytelling. The problem with emergence is that simple decisions would have a compounding impact on the world. Heroes would solve problems, only to perhaps create further problems with their implemented solutions. Most game architecture can't handle decision making of that nature, as it would need developers to constantly code in the new events that would occur.

However, Heroes of Telara seems to be aspiring to that using server-side gaming. Their proposed method, as it appears in an interview between Trion's CEO, Lars Buttler, and GamesIndustry.biz, is to run the game entirely server side, letting developers change and alter the game on the fly. As Buttler puts it, "There are small events, there are big events, there is even emergent behaviour in the game that changes the game world. A lot of it is not even known to us, it's like the ghost in the machine. The game is almost alive, and that allows you to create heroes."

First Look at the Warlock
Our series of class previews continues with a first look at Rift: Planes of Telara's magical Warlock class. (MMORPG.com)

Rift: Planes of Telara: First Look at the Ranger
The folks at Trion have decided to reveal the classes for the upcoming MMORPG Rift: Planes of Telara. Today, we start with The Ranger.

Rift: Planes of Telara: First Look at the Nightblade
Our series of class previews continues with a first look at Rift: Planes of Telara's stealthy Nightblade class.

First Look at the Champion
Our series of class previews continues with a first look at Rift: Planes of Telara's warrior class: the Champion. (MMORPG.com)

[Morreion]

Rift: Planes of Telara's Photos - Wall Photos (Rift Facebook page)

E3 2010: Rift: Planes of Telara hands-on (GamePro)

* Following a devastating calamity, Telara has been split into two opposing factions. On one side stand the Guardians, revived by the gods and tasked with redeeming the world and returning things to the way they were. On the other side are the Defiants, who've resurrected their people with forbidden technology, and strive to remake the world anew.

* There are three selectable races in either faction, with male and female options for each.

* The in-game rifts are multi-staged events that alter the game's world in real-time. For instance, I was shown a life rift that, once opened, rejuvenated nearby plants, growing them to sizes double their own and energizing local fauna. As soon as a rift opens up, everything changes.

* Rifts tend to create deadlier monsters, but they also spawn cool little interactive objects that can help players. This point was demonstrated to me when a life rift opened up, growing a plant that, upon clicking it, restored my life and mana. During a death rift, my character enlisted the spirit of a fallen warrior to aid him in battle for a minute or so.

* There are six elemental planes that can seep through a rift: life, death, fire, water, earth and air.

* Rifts feature multiple stages of play, each with a "challenge-and-reward" focus. Each stage comes with a decent reward -- such as shiny new armor and weapons -- and the first stage can always be completed by a solo player, with later stages benefitting from a full-fledged party.

* Rifts get bigger at higher levels, affecting larger areas of land and a wider assortment of creatures.

* If left alone, rifts can overtake an entire zone. These aren't static events that re-loop when the players don't bother with them -- they do their own thing if you leave them be.

Rift: Planes of Telara - Making the Most of Your Souls
Damage-dealing Cleric, or teleporting Ranger? The choice is yours. (IGN)

As the game progresses and you level up, you unlock soul points, which can be spent on a "soul tree" that looks very similar to World of Warcraft's talent system. There is a very important difference, though. As you plug points into the tree's upper part or "branches," you automatically progress along the tree's winding "root," unlocking new skills along the way. These are the core abilities of the class. Pretty basic stuff, right? Then, fairly early on, you acquire your second soul.

Wait, what? You can have more than one soul?

Yep. In fact, that is the core of the class system. This second soul comes with its own talent branches and ability root. In fact, you can eventually get a third soul as well. Of course, you have a limited number of points to spend; by max level, at the moment, you're going to have 51. While that may sound pretty standard, things can still get crazy.

An example we witnessed was a rogue-calling character whose main soul was the Bladedancer – a purely damage-focused soul. It was capable of tearing things to shreds, but could not stealth, could not attack from a range, and had very little in the way of escapes and evades. Introducing the Ranger soul, and adding a few points, allowed the rogue to attack enemies from afar, and as they got near, switch to the powerful blades. Another soul introduced the stealth mechanic, but at the loss of some potential damage. A third option was a more caster-type soul that could augment weapon damage with the elements, and allowed the rogue to teleport backwards. Very neat stuff, but it gets cooler when you consider that another possible combination is the caster-type and the ranger, allowing players to attack from a range, and teleport away when the enemy gets too close.

There are much more specialized souls that we were told players wouldn't be able to acquire until they were comfortable with the game mechanics. We were told that there would be, for example, a soul that excels in buffing party members that would be extremely difficult to solo with. Mentioned, too, was the fact that souls don't necessarily have to be combat focused. Seasonal holidays, such as Halloween, could have purely social souls tied to them that allow players to transform or do other non-combat actions, just for fun. Now, we don't know if you can switch between souls on the fly. We think that you can only swap out a soul that has no points invested in it, meaning that you can switch souls when you are respecializing your character. We were told that there is a way you can save certain soul specs and switch between them, but we weren't given any details.

Rift - Class and Callings Q&A with Scott Hartsman (Ten Ton Hammer)

Ten Ton Hammer: So with all of these choices at hand, let's talk a little bit about the inevitable - revising your choices with a respec. Could you describe the respec options you're planning to make available to players?

Scott Hartsman: What we're going for is, I think, pretty ambitious for a launch feature set, but this is one area that there was no way in hell that we were going to skimp on. What we are doing from the outset is, yes, you absolutely can from the outset go to a trainer and pay (with in-game currency) to reset your souls. You can then re-invest those points any way you choose.

Characters will also have multiple attunements - multiple specs - from the get-go, so you do have the ability to buy multiple specs immediately in the game. All of those have hotbars saved with all of your loadouts, and once you have those multiple loadouts, you can switch between them in the field.

For example, my current character has a high-end DPSing plate-wearer. He's got his 'I am übertank' spec, which is mostly invested in a single tank soul. He also has a hybrid soul where he's 50-50 with a DPS soul to really plow through soloing, questing, that kind of stuff. I can switch back and forth between those two anytime I want, and later on I'll go buy a third spec. And maybe later on when I find a different role for myself - PvP perhaps - I'll buy a fourth spec. The idea is to give players the ability to come up with loadouts that they like and be able to switch them at will.

Rift: Planes of Telara Interview (G4TV)
Russ Brown from Trion Worlds explains the world of Telara, the setting for their upcoming PC MMO.

Exclusive video diary of the souls of Rift: Planes of Telara (Massively)

[Morreion]

Rift: Planes of Telara 720p HD gameplay trailer (YouTube)

Scott Hartsman talks about Rift: Planes of Telara (YouTube)

What I like about this video is that it shows a Life Rift spawning- it looks fantastic!

Rift: Planes of Telara: Rift Community Q&A with Simon Finch (Rift Facebook Page)

From Kalbuir: What is the team currently working on? As in what are the major goals after E3.

Simon: We are continuing to add content at a feverish pace. We want to make sure that there is enough there to keep people entertained at all levels. We have had people play through from 1 to 50 already so the base line goal has been achieved. One of the primary focuses for us now is fleshing out the dynamic content and finding the right balance between static and dynamic. Too much Dynamic becomes chaos and not fun, not enough and we do not fulfill our promise of a dynamic living world. I can say that most of the people playing on our Alpha Shard right now are pretty much hooked and having a lot of fun, including myself. I have lost a lot of sleep lately as it is hard to tear myself away from ‘just doing that one last thing” or “I really want to go and explore that area”.

Additionally we are continuing to work on building out more souls to give a staggering variety of class make ups. I was dubious of this mechanic at first as I am somewhat of an OCD person and get obsessed with trying to complete one thing. But I am a convert, and love to try out new combinations of souls and soul point distribution. I have had so much fun with so many of the classes that it is impossible to say what my favorite so far is, it all depends on what mood I am in. I will say that My Assassin has grown very fond of her Wolf Ranger pet. Throw a little Bladedancer in there and we are a killing team.

Create three-class combos in Rift: Planes of Telara (PC Gamer)

You can ultimately embrace up to three different souls at the same time, and they can be different classes to your own. You then pick and choose how to invest your powers across them: spreading them evenly across three different classes, keeping your original as your primary, or even investing everything in one of the new souls you’ve picked up to completely change your character. “It lets players create their own combinations of classes and cool combinations of powers that even we didn’t really foresee,” says Scott.

“In all the MMOs I’ve worked on, people have always wanted more and more ways to do interesting things with their classes, and what we’ve done is taken class play and class experimentation and almost turned it into primary gameplay.”

Rift: Planes of Telara: Death Rifts: A Rot Upon the Land (MMORPG.com)
Death rifts are the subject of a new lore article from the Rift: Planes of Telara development team. Death rifts are gateways to the planes of doom where the spectres, mummies and lichs wander hopelessly. Find out more about these blighted planes and the dangers that await the unwary.

Tainted by Death: The Dead and the Doomed

When a Death Rift opens, the plane’s denizens pour into Telara to spread terror and despair in the name of Regulos. One group of invaders, the lorn, are hollow imitations of the glorious Ascended, husks that yearn to reclaim their lost spark by spreading pain and suffering to the living. They are often accompanied into Telara by the shadow elementals called umbrals, who leave their victims’ faces frozen forever in terror.

Anything from the Plane of Death can enter Telara through a rift, from its monstrous natives such as mummies and vampires, to fell energies that send corpses shambling forth as zombies, or bind the souls of the wicked dead to Telara as spectres.

Even the living are touched by energy from these awful rifts. Mortals who run afoul of death-tainted witches are cursed to stalk the moonlight as ravenous beasts. Madmen in hidden laboratories stitch corpses together into loathsome abominations, composing with flesh as a musician composes an overture.

In-depth about Rift: Planes of Telara with Trion (Zam.com)
In Part One of our interview, we chat with Scott Hartsman, Creative Director of Trion, to get the scoop on PvP and PvE in Rift, as well as what makes Rift a "social" MMO and why Rift will be so unique as an MMO

ZAM: In a different vein, you've often mentioned that you wanted Rift to be a true "social" MMO. What do you mean by this, and how do you intend to do this?

Scott Hartsman: Think of other MMORPGs you've played in the past. You wander around, you level up, you mind your own business and then, suddenly, you see a cool thing. Let's say, for example, that this "cool thing" is a monster, and it drops something that you want. I would imagine that you would want that "cool thing" to be all yours; as in, if you see another person coming along, you would tell them to leave you alone with your discovery.

What we want to do is change that mindset so that you want to see more people show up, and we've done this by simply making it so that the more people that show up… the better off you are! For example, take the most common event that we've demonstrated thus far, the Rifts themselves. If you see a Rift open, you might say, "I'm going to go kick that invasion's ass," and then you'll decide to work your way through by yourself. You'll still get a good reward for it, but if more people show up to fight, all of you will get better loot because you're all doing it together. The fact is, more people equal more rewards and higher quality results. That's really the philosophy that we're trying to bring to a lot of things. We're trying to get away from that "it's mine, so you can't have it" mindset.

In-depth about Rift: Planes of Telara - Part 2! (Zam.com)
In Part Two of our interview with Scott Hartsman, Creative Director of Trion Worlds, we talk about character growth, Rift's innovative "soul" system and the economics of an MMORPG.

ZAM: What about player growth when it comes to endgame? Will players be focused on growing via equipment once they hit that maximum level, or will there be other opportunities for a player to grow in power, and not just by getting a new sword?

Scott Hartsman: We really wanted to focus on collecting things; be it notoriety, gear, quests, faction standing or even souls. You see, once you get a brand new soul and you try it out, you'll want to begin the process of mastering your soul. We're talking about an entirely different way of playing, and that takes time to practice. We want players to take the time to practice, or else they're going to get stomped. That's where a lot of our endgame progression will come from, although getting equipment is always fun.

Slotting a new soul at a high level doesn't mean you're good at it - it just means that you can do it. I think we're actually doing harm to our players if we say, "OK, you're done leveling, but now we have… even more grind!"

[Regolyth]

From the screenshots, the game looks awesome.

[Morreion]

It does look good!

Rift: Planes of Telara First Hands On Preview – Part 1 (Ten Ton Hammer)

Shadowlands is darkly gorgeous, heavy in contrasty blacks and purple hues and pierced by otherworldly light. Dead souls fell ominously from the sky like a meteor shower, only to be absorbed by the Shadowlands' soil. Meanwhile, ghastly creatures kept guard over the paths to the purifying shrine (Guardians) or technological wonder (Defiants) that would take my reincarnated character back to Telara. These creatures were a little terrifying too, especially if you zoomed into first person view. And yes, you can go first-person, and it's one of Rift's many little wonders - fun in snatches but inadvisable when fighting with potential adds beside and behind you. But it's not all darkness and despair; the landscape is full of trees, glens, streambeds, and comfortably twisted takes on a nice enough earthly landscape.

At spawn-in I was told that I have two soul tree points, so I immediately I got a taste of one of Rift's defining systems. Disparaged by some as simply Rift's take on talent trees, having experienced the soul tree firsthand I can say that it's not just a system of enhancements for your abilities. Instead, your choices in the Soul Tree determine what spells you'll have, both directly and indirectly. As a direct damage-dealing pyromancer, for example, I started out by enhancing my fireball and flame dart abilities with soul tree points. So far this sounds pretty familiar, right? But spending those points on unrelated abilities unlocked a new flame armor self-buff in a separate part of the soul tree. A few short levels later I obtained my fourth point which, once spent, granted me a spell which drains charge (charge builds as spells and abilities are used, much like rage with a WoW warrior) to increase the damage output of my fire spells. It's worth noting that in addition to Soul Tree enhancements, players can spend money at a trainer in town to rank up their spells and abilities too.

Rift: Planes of Telara: Scott Hartsman Interview
Earlier this week, MMORPG.com's Michael Bitton had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco to visit the Trion Worlds HQ. While there, Mike spent time talking with Trion's COO Scott Hartsman. The discussion centered around Rift: Planes of Telara with topics ranging from multi-classing, rift invasions, exploration and PvP.

Of course, the obvious key feature to Rift is well, Rifts! But it goes further than that; Scott describes the high-end of the rift feature as “invasions”. Invasions are masses of forces entering the world of Telara from a particular plane (or several planes) complete with their own agendas, which can get real hairy as the forces of the six planes don’t necessarily get along with each other. Of course, players can also choose to ignore these invasions if they occur in territory of an opposing faction or they can actively participate in the invasion aiding the NPCs in trashing their enemy’s footholds. If ignored, players will find that their quest hubs are overrun by invading NPCs, and the world around the areas that have been invaded will look reflective of the particular plane that overran it. Players will even be able to tell where an invading force came from by visible “planar tracks” along the ground.

Very cool. This sounds like what Horizons was attempting to do with the Blight.

Rift: Planes of Telara: Character Creation
Last week, MMORPG.com Community Manager Michael Bitton had the opportunity to visit Trion Worlds HQ in San Francisco. As part of Gamer's Day, Mike scored a hands on look at Rift: Planes of Telara. The first feature that Mike looked at was character creation and he's got the skinny on what it's like.

On the Defiant side you have the desert-dwelling Eth, who are basically your human race. Next up are the strong and clever Bahmi, who are a tribal race that make their home within the Rhaza’de Canyons. The Bahmi share similarities with the Eth by basically being Human, however, Bahmi male characters are generally quite large and burly by comparison. Finally, you’ve got the Kelari. The Kelari made their debut at the Gamer’s Day event and are basically the counterpart to the Guardians’ High Elves race. They’re basically Dark Elves. The Kelari are fairly similar in appearance to the High Elves, however, you can select from an array of darker skin tones as well as different facial patterns.

The Guardians feature three distinct races as well. The basic human race is represented by the Mathosians who are a legendary race of humans whose history is filled with great heroes. Next are the High Elves who are fairly typical in their strong aptitude for magic and elegant appearance. Last but certainly not least are the Dwarves, who, like the Kelari made their debut appearance at this week’s event. Dwarfs are restricted to the male gender, though we aren’t sure whether or not Trion plans to add female versions to the game. Someone at the event suggested female Dwarfs have beards and we were told that would certainly make adding them to the game quite a bit easier!

Rift: Planes of Telara: The Pyromancer
The Pyromancer is the latest class to be revealed by the Rift: Planes of Telara development team. These destructive and very powerful mages focus their will on mastering the flames, whether it is trapping enemies behind a wall of fire or launching devastating fire blasts on the heads of the foe. Check out MMORPG.com's exclusive background lore and screenshots of The Pyromancer.

A nice little story is included with the article:

Background

“Stay here. Those tricks the Elves taught you won’t frighten the Storm Legion,” Phynnious Rothmann’s brother said, laughing.

Imbecile, Phynnious thought, watching his fellow tribesmen ride to battle. My tricks frightened even my teachers!

Sickly son of a Mathosian chieftan, Phynnious Rothmann was sent to study magic with the Elves — less to bring the arcane arts to his people than to stay out from under stomping, booted feet. But the Elves sent him home early: not because his research into fire magic nearly burned their sacred grove to the ground, but because the urgency of human youth made them uncomfortable.

Rothmann trudged over to the edge of the cliff to watch as slowly, the valor of the united tribesmen overcame the mindless discipline of Crucia’s Storm Legion. Suddenly, an electric blast erupted in the middle of the battlefield. Whether thanks to lightning or terror, the hair on the back of Phynnious’s neck stood up and he whispered, “Stormtouched.”

Dwarves (Rifts official site)

The Dwarves are a fallen people now. Without a homeland, they wandered for many years, taking shelter with the Mathosians, Elves, and even the Eth, as few towns would turn away a dwarven craftsman looking for a home. When Borrin Gammult returned as an Ascended Guardian, many Dwarves rallied to his banner in Sanctum, vowing to build a new home with the Vigil’s blessing, and to seek redemption for the sins of Hammerknell. Holy Sanctum owes much of its beauty and strength to the efforts of Dwarven heroes, mortal and Ascended, whose genius never faded even as their hope guttered to embers.

Sentinel Soul Announced (Telara Central)

Overview

The Sentinel brings the blessings of light to all who do the will of the gods. Capable of healing many wounded at one time, Sentinels bolster their allies and protect themselves with divine wrath.

Strengths

Sentinels are defensive clerics who excel at group support. Their divine powers aid the weak and ensure that everyone in their group lives through the fray.

Weaknesses

Sentinels sacrifice offense for a strong defense, and thus struggle to deal massive damage to their opponents.

August 13, Berenger Fish - Dungeon design (Telara Central)

WarpCode asks: Will the instanced dungeons be accessible to the opposing faction?

Berenger Fish: Every dungeon is available to all factions. Some of the earlier dungeons are much easier to reach based on their proximity to the starting zones but there's nothing to prevent players from entering.
Berenger Fish: The factions do have separate quests related to the dungeons.

Mercury asks: How easy or hard will dungeons be while levelling? A concern with overtuned levelling instances is that when the game population lowers, which is inevitable, noone will want to invest time in trying to get together a party for them. However, that makes them too easy to people who want a challenge. Are there plans for including a toggle-on/off easier mode for non filled out groups?

Berenger Fish: The earlier dungeons on our "Standard" difficulty will definitely be a bit easier. We take into account what kind of abilities or builds players will have at a given level range. The "Expert" difficulty for each dungeon sill be significantly more challenging.
Billy Shaughnessy: Leveling dungeons are a fun challenge and have sweet rewards. As for grouping, the rift system does a great job of bringing people together in the main world, so it’s easy to roll onto a dungeon with people you meet doing rifts.
Adam Hetenyi: we tune the dungeons on Standard mode to be fun, interesting, but because many people will still be learning their characters (or trying out all new soul builds), we save the really ball-breakingly difficult stuff for the max-level Expert modes

Video: Darkening Deeps Flythrough (YouTube)

Anyone Following Rifts: Planes of Telara? (Keen & Graev's Gaming Blog)

There’s a lot to talk about and it really won’t read well if I try to regurgitate all the things I’ve read. I’ll simply wrap up by saying that I’m happy to see a game being made by a Western studio, that isn’t going to be microtransactions, and appears to be all about a big beautiful and diverse world and traditional MMO gameplay. I’m also interested in some of the talent they’ve brought in to work on the game and hoping that it all comes together.

Rift has moved up on my list of anticipated games. I want to see and learn more before I get excited about the title, but I have a good feeling about this one so far.

Game director Scott Hartsman shows up in the comment section, which is cool

[Morreion]

PAX 2010: Hands on with Rift: Planes of Telara (Massively)

The devs explained that the game is smart enough to slow down the process of rifts appearing and opening when players aren't around (say, in the middle of the night), and to move the action to where the crowds are. When a rift appears, players have the option of jumping into it -- although I wasn't shown this aspect -- or combating the inevitable invasion that follows. An opened rift changes the landscape around it according to its element and launches a dynamic invasion of demons and other nasty critters that march toward wardstones to take them down. Seeing as how invasions can be repelled and wardstones repaired, it behooves players to join the fight instead of ignoring it and going on their merry way.

Massively's hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara's dynamic content

In any case, it's not just the characters who are appealing -- everything is exceptionally beautiful. The game is clearly employing clever tricks to reduce the strain of all the eye-candy (low polygon counts on things like foliage and reduced landscape textures when your attention is elsewhere), but the world is nevertheless gorgeous, and the devs are sparing no expense when it comes to the stuff players look at all the time. The particle effects are splashy and fun; the level-up effects are compelling; and the NPCs are ridiculously detailed and appealing. Heck, in some places, the terrain was so lush and the grass so thick that I could hardly see the LotRO-style targeting circle at the mobs' feet. It was fun to hear some of the Trion employees (who hadn't yet seen all of the characters we were running into) gasp with surprise at how amazing it all looked as the sum of its parts. They almost seemed shocked at their own handiwork. And maybe they should be -- I was similarly unprepared for the shock of seeing an NPC in game who looked identical to the impressive concept art on the site. Not since Guild Wars have I seen something like that! I was also gratified to see that female NPCs had a nice mix of clothing and armor both chaste and racy, unlike characters in some games I could note.

The Official Beta Selection Thread (Rift official forums)

There will be many ways to get your hands on a beta pass. You will hear about a lot of that as things move forward. They will be given away as prizes and incentives through several avenues. So stay tuned to the newsletter, our Facebook page and the forums to keep up to date on that.

Here's the PC requirements for being in upcoming beta:

• Windows XP / Vista / W7 (with latest service packs installed)
• 2GB System RAM or more
• Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor E2180 (2.0GHz) or faster
• 512 MB video card with Direct3D and Shader 2.0b (512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT or better) - NOTE: most 512 MB video cards meet this requirement.
• 10 GB of free hard drive space
• DirectX 9.0c (installed during setup if needed)
• DirectX 8.1 Compliant Sound Card - NOTE: Every sound card made since release of Windows XP meets this requirement
• Keyboard, mouse, speakers (optional)
• Broadband Internet Connection (Internet Connection using DSL, Cable Modem or other high-speed connection)

Rift: Planes of Telara (Keen & Graev's Gaming Blog forum)

This thread has lots of links, worth looking at.

Rift: Planes of Telara: Plane of Fire Overview (MMORPG.com)
Trion Worlds has provided us with an overview of the Plane of Fire, one of the six planes that are tearing through rifts in the world of Rift: Planes of Telara.

The creatures that come to Telara through Fire Rifts make up for a lack of subtlety with pure ruthless aggression. Goblins have lived in Telara since the Age of Dragons, and every mother scares her children with tales of the goblins’ vicious cruelty. Recently, the Gedlo priests have joined their lesser goblin cousins, honing anarchic tribes into war-bands that harass and butcher even well-armed patrols.

Invaders from the Plane of Fire overwhelm their victims with bursts of devastation, but this does not mean they are stupid or without foresight. Tall and beautiful in their monstrous way, Devils can incite victims to mindless fury, or enter such a state themselves when one of the lesser races has the nerve to pose a threat. If bested, they may fall on their own swords in arrogant spite, denying their lessers the honor of ending such elegant malevolence.

Rift: Planes of Telara: The Assassin
Trion Worlds has sent MMORPG.com the latest class overview for Rift: Planes of Telara. This time, the Assassin is fleshed out with background lore and a peek at the strengths and weaknesses of this class. Assassins, as the name implies, will be specialists at sneak attacks and a well-placed shiv in the back.

Background

The dwarf Veseslav grew up in the shadows of Hammerknell knowing one truth: the queen had killed his mother, and one day she would die for it. Veseslav’s father was King of Hammerknell, his mother one of the queen’s comely handmaidens. The jealous queen had the young woman murdered, but not before the child could be spirited away.

Veseslav was taken in by his mother’s brother, Bogdan, who made his living cutting short the lives of others. As Bogdan’s apprentice, Veseslav’s daggers became faster, his movements less detectable, his poisons deadlier than his uncle’s. The young dwarf developed a particularly nasty poison all his own, and named it Ursula, after the queen...

Getting down to earth with Stonefield in Rift: Planes of Telara (Massively)

The team at Trion Worlds has been stepping up its game of late with Rift: Planes of Telara, showing off more and more of the gameplay and zones. The preview of the Fire Rift was appropriately dynamic, but with the most recent preview at Rift Nexus, the game shows off a more grounded region in Stonefield. An early zone for the Defiant faction, the area features battles against both titans and undead for low-level characters on their way through the leveling process.

Includes a short video.

A Video Q&A with Rift's Scott Hartsman, Part 1: Just for Starters (Ten Ton Hammer)
Rift's Newest Classes, New Starting Areas, and the Soul Walk concept highlight our latest Rift Q&A with Scott Hartsman

It’s interesting that both factions (Guardian and Defiant) both start out in the same starting area, the Shadowlands, though they follow different paths. Being a lore junkie, I find it fascinating the differences between the two factions and the reasons why they fight each other. Of particular note is the fact that the Guardians are those souls picked by the gods who were the best in something in their lives, being the most devout holy person or being the most evil, ruthless assassin. It seems that these factions will not be easily pigeonholed.

The 11:48 video interview with Hartsman could be better sound-wise, but there's some info included here that's cool.

A Video Q&A with Rift's Scott Hartsman, Part 2: Planar Invasion! (Ten Ton Hammer)
Rift's Executive Producer describes how a rift progresses from tear to rift to foothold to full-blown invasion

The rift concept is really interesting. Rifts start out as tears, and players are given notice that tears are occurring. To deal with the tear, players need to lure out the invading forces and defeat the planar boss. What makes it more fun is that if more players show up, the enemy forces increase as well. If players do not deal with tears, then they can become full blown rifts, which can lead to bad consequences. These bad consequences are full blown invasions which seek to establish a foothold in the “real world” of Telara.

This video is 14:37, once again sound could be better but it's worth listening to.

Rift gets new website, videos detail nightblade and shaman soul trees (Massively)

Trion showed off the shaman's skill tree, and the melee cleric is stocked with abilities including the requisite heals and attacks. The shaman soul also appears to have some debuffing capability, as evidenced by the Vengeance of the Frozen ability that reduces both the strength and the dexterity of a given target. RiftNexus also brings us a brief video of the nightblade's skill tree, and it's clear this particular soul owes much to the classic rogue archetype. You can view both videos after the cut or on RiftNexus.com.

2 short minute-and-a-half videos show the respective skill trees at a recent demo.

[Morreion]

Rift: Planes of Telara: Hands On
Getting a hands on look at RIFT: Planes of Telara for many folks is high on the 'to do' list for 2010. MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller had the opportunity for a hands on preview of RIFT. Garrett has a report about the game and playing as a Dwarf Pyromancer. We who may not get a chance at the game before release can live vicariously through Garrett's report. Check it out!

Rift: Planes of Telara First Hands On Preview – Part 2 (Ten Ton Hammer)
An exclusive look at dynamic Rift gameplay

Rifts, unlike WAR's Public Quests, are designed to be stopped by players- not initiated. I like how they progress from a foothold to an invasion, and that rift forces will engage NPCs, mobs, and other invaders as well as players.

Rift: Planes of Telara: The Plane of Life
In Rift: Planes of Telara, as its name implies, there are planes of many different constructions. There is the Plane of Death, the Plane of Fire and others that have yet to be revealed. Today, MMORPG.com is pleased to present an exclusive look at the Plane of Life, a plane of beauty but no peace and filled with great danger. Find out about the denizens of the Plane of Life, see the beauty of the plane...and the dangers to unwary travelers.

I like how the different types of rifts are stylistically diverse.

Rift: Planes of Telara Class & Invasions Video Feature with Russ Brown (Ten Ton Hammer)
Callings, Focus Gems, Footholds and more from PAX 2010

Video interview is 8:46 long.

Exclusive Rift reveal: The Kelari race! (Massively)

Rift's 6th race.

Deeper into the Rift – A Q&A with Rift: Planes of Telara’s Scott Hartsman (Ten Ton Hammer)
Rift’s Executive Producer talks about unique class system, dynamic content, and more!

There's over 100 people working on Rift, headquartered in Redwood City, California.

Rift: Planes of Telara introduces graphic novel and beta keys (Massively)

[Morreion]

Reader Submitted Rift Q&A, Part 1 (Ten Ton Hammer)
Rift’s Creative Director answers questions on rifts, loot, content updates, and more.

The MMO Report: Rift: Planes of Telara Preview Special

6:26 video at the link.

Towards the end of the video, it is mentioned that Rift is scheduled to release in 'early 2011' *cheers*

Rift: Planes of Telara introduces the Deepstrike Mines (Massively)

0:45 video embedded.

Trion Worlds explains Rift beta sitch (Massively)

Rift: Planes of Telara: Meridian, City of Wonders
Players in Rift: Planes of Telara will choose between two distinct factions: The Guardians and The Defiant. In today's exclusive zone preview, MMORPG.com shows off the home city of The Defiant: Meridian called The City of Wonder by its denizens. We've got screens, lore and a brief fly over video of the City of Wonder. Check it out!

Trion Worlds Unveils Meridian, Home of the Defiants in Rift: Planes of Telara (Ten Ton Hammer)

0:51 video at link.

I get a 'Stormwind meets steampunk' feel about the place

Scarlet Gorge (Rift official site)

Forums » Telara Tribune » IRC Friday logs » IRC #14 chat logs (Telara Central)

IRC chat with devs, lots of info here- including the fact that there are almost 500 player animation sets.

Rift “bonus rounds” & PvP discussed at NY Comic Con 2010 (Ten Ton Hammer)
New and rewarding ways to seal a rift revealed by Trion VP Ricardo Sanchez, plus much more.

[Morreion]

The Rift System - Rift: Planes of Telara Reader Submitted Q&A #2 (Ten Ton Hammer)
Dynamic Content Lead answers questions on rifts, PvP, and gameplay.

The Ascended Class Soul System - Rift: Planes of Telara Reader Submitted Q&A #3 (Ten Ton Hammer)
Producer discusses character roles, builds, and the soul system.


Rift: Planes of Telara: The Plane of Water (MMORPG.com)
The Trion Worlds team has released several screenshots and a description of The Plane of Water. In this moist area, denizens of the deep have the combined the features of sea creatures with the worst of human characteristics. These are dangerous foes and ones of which to be wary.

Man, those screenshots look great!

Trion Worlds reveals the Plane of Water (Massively)

47-second video included.

MMO Report Presents: Exclusive First Look at Rift's Plane of Water, Realm of Iron Pine

4:24 video. This game looks really nice graphically.

"It's a game for gamers." Launching in early 2011, they said it again!

Rift releases dynamic dimensions trailer (Massively)

1-minute or so trailer- man, I can't wait to play!

Rift: Planes of Telara: The Justicar Revealed (MMORPG.com)
Trion Worlds has sent over brand new information about the Justicar class from Rift: Planes of Telara. The Justicar's healing powers are derived from battle prowess and dealing damage to enemies. We've got screens, lore, strengths and weaknesses of the divine Justicar. Check it out!

Includes a background story.