Rift Articles

[Regolyth]

Geez that game is gorgeous!

[Jaema]

In that 4 minute game video the dev says something about "when the plane of water opens, I've seen players drown on the spot for not reacting quickly enough" *starts crying now*

[Morreion]

*laughs* As long as you don't have to dive underwater you'll be OK! I think!

[Morreion]

Rift: Planes Of Telara Hands-On Preview (IncGamers)

"Telara seems well aware that its routine interface, commonplace leveling and standard instances are all there to ease people in. Where the title really seeks to mix things up is the complex (yet absurdly flexible) skill tree system and (of course) the dynamic and organic potential of the Rifts. Throw in some fresh lore and the 'just one more go' allure of the shiny rewards for closing said Rifts, and something quite different from the norm begins to emerge."

Hands-On: Rift: Planes of Telara (Destructoid)

The author visited Redwood Studios in San Francisco and said that the game looked polished and had no overt bugs- a good sign!

Rift: Planes of Telara is an MMO That Wants You To Go Solo (1Up.com)
Trion's unique approach to character building, and other twists on the traditional MMORPG formula.

Rift: Planes of Telara Hands-On (Eurogamer)

Trion Worlds is spending 100 million dollars on Rift!

"Among the dispiriting number of titles released to face Goliath, stand their own ground and give something back to an audience craving innovation rather than re-iteration, Rift is a refreshingly complete game offering enough new experiences to make it worthy of close attention. In the battle of the heavyweights, Trion's first venture into MMOs may turn out to be the sucker-punch nobody saw coming."

Trion talks Rift (Eurogamer)
During our visit to Trion Worlds to play its debut MMO, Rift: Planes of Telara, Eurogamer sat down with the magnificently mutton-chopped Hal Hanlin, design producer for Rift, to discuss endgame content, working with a hand-picked industry team and the opportunities for introducing change to a persistent online world.

Combat and Abilities - Rift: Planes of Telara Reader Submitted Q&A #4 (Ten Ton Hammer)
Lead Systems Designer divulges combat system philosophy, abilities, souls, and PvP.

22 October 2010 dev chat with Cameron McNeil. (Telarapedia)

The Rift: Episode 16 Podcast Notes (Rift Podcast)

Executive Producer Scott Hartsman answers lots of game questions. He's leveled up 1 character solo, is leveling up another as part of a duo/trio; he mentions that leveling up all the way with a full group will be tough due to content, indicating that soloing and small groups are the focus of the game.

Rift: Planes of Telara: NYCC '10: Trion Worlds Panel Report
Trion Worlds featured a panel on their upcoming games Rift: Planes of Telara and End of Nations at this year's New York ComicCon and MMORPG.com's Drew Wood was on hand to get all the details.

"While he spoke, Rick treated us to a slideshow of some of the visuals from within the game, which did look stunning. He was eager to point out to us that these images were not renders of visuals, but rather in-game visuals, which should make for a very striking visual experience while playing the game."

Icebound: An exclusive survey of Rift's Iron Pine Peak (Massively)

"If you're a fan of winter-themed zones, then you're in for a doozy! Iron Pine Peak may seem beautiful, sprinkled as it is with snow-swept vistas and scenic views down vertigo-inducing cliffs, but only the hardiest of souls will survive to appreciate it. It's a place of solitude, history, mountains, watchmen, evergreens, and one terrifying dragon encased in a prison of ice. Both factions will be converging upon this location in an effort to unravel mysteries and prevent a possible terrifying future from taking place."

A 1-minute video is included.

[Morreion]

Rift: Planes of Telara: Q&A With Scott Hartsman
With their flagship game’s beta period fast approaching, MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy had the chance to catch up with Trion Worlds’ CCO and Rift’s Executive Producer, Scott Hartsman. Scott’s a well-travelled veteran of the MMORPG industry, and chances are you’ve enjoyed some of his work at one point or another. But Rift is aiming to be his most ambitious project to date, and Bill figured that now was as good a time as any to see what Scott’s hoping Rift does for MMO gaming.

"This dynamic game that plays out in the existing world is something that has a hell of a lot of potential, both for interesting content and new kinds of dynamic happenings in the world, on top of Rifts, Invasions, Defenses, and other fun things people are doing."

Rift: Planes of Telara: Defiant to the End
Today, MMORPG.com is pleased to announced the first in a series of articles exploring the lore behind Trion Worlds' Rift: Planes of Telara. The first article is called "Defiant to the End: Death Comes for Me" and is a great read. We've also scored three never-before-seen screenshots for your viewing pleasure. Keep reading!

"The Defiant have tried to keep the encroaching planes at bay with their technology. I've never pretended to understand such technical things, as I have always been best at letting my blades deliver my messages. But one thing I do understand is that the gods have failed us, a truth that becomes all the more evident as I see the smoldering remnants of homes and villages."

Music to kill by: The making of Rift's score (Massively)

Includes a 4-minute video on scoring Rift- they are not sparing any expense on the music! Check out the orchestral action.

Abyssal Precipice Zone Revealed (Rift News)

Includes a 1-minute trailer of the zone.

Rift: Sleeper of the Deep (Bio Break)

"It’s not to say that I’m championing Rift as the savior of 2011 — I think GW2 is going to be massive, and TOR (no matter how much backlash it gets) is going to do just peachy. But Trion Worlds is taking the slow, steady and polished path to launch, and I think that spells a sleeper hit for sure."

38 Studios development blog (38 Watch forum)

Fozzik (of Vanguard Silky Venom fame) discusses Rift in post #5 on this thread and has an interesting observation:

"So anyway...Trion Worlds as a company is in a very odd place. They are designing a game for the mass-market casual gamer, and almost none of those type are following the game. They instead have a community full of people who they are only targeting in a very indirect, tangential way because they believe the alpha-gen community to be too small to be worth the investment. The majority of their community right now is made up of folks who are there because there's nowhere better to go. Ironic that it will likely be the community they disregarded in their initial game design which will keep the game afloat when it launches...although banking on old school players to continue to subscribe when the game doesn't cater to them at all is obviously not an ideal business strategy. It's my belief that Trion is currently re-evaluating these facts, and the game is already undergoing some changes which may lead it to actually being more of the game that people think it is (i.e. more of a challenging, long-term experience)."

Racial abilities ,(Defiant) dps/crit and (Guardian)prot/heal !! (Rift forum)

A fan discussion of racial bonuses.

Interviews from Meet and Greet with Trion. (Rift forum)

Short video clips of statements at a Rift public meeting, including a controversial statement about some alpha testers making it to level 50 in 2-3 weeks.

The Rift: Episode 18 Podcast Notes (Rift Podcast)

Interview with Will Cook, Rift Events Lead.

"The most compelling reason to do Rifts (in his opinion) are Invasions and Footholds. The invaders are attacking regardless of your actions and it is up to those around to decide if it should be stopped."

Rift: Planes of Telara Reader Submitted Q&A #5 – Lore (Ten Ton Hammer)
Lore Leads delve into the background lore and factions of Telara

Rift: Planes of Telara Reader Submitted Q&A #6 – Equipment and Itemization (Ten Ton Hammer)
Getting the details on loot drops, gear rarity, looting systems, and all things gear related in Rift.

[Morreion]

Gamer Day 2 articles are up!

Rift: Planes of Telara: Hands-On Preview
MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh recently had the opportunity to attend Trion's Gamer Day in Redwood City, California. During the day, Carolyn played the alpha version of Rift: Planes of Telaraand was able to check out several level 30 characters and classes, different builds and several areas of the game. Check out her experiences with Rift and then leave us a comment below.

"It was a packed day which continued with a Q&A session in a conference room with an HDTV and an NVIDIA 3D Vision box, so for fun, the game was run through the box and the glasses passed around so everyone of us could see the game in 3D – and that really rocked – but on with the Q&A where community questions were answered. Most answers were based on their philosophy of making the game fun, not tedious."

"Dragon cults are themed for personality, for example, the Golden Maw are rich, evil and villainous, the Wanton are crazy, chaotic and use fire."

"The only zoning you will encounter are specific instances and some dungeons."

Hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara at Gamer Day II (Massively)

"It seems that several of the MMOs due out next year are doing things the right way -- companies like Trion are not basing their games on get-rich-quick schemes or pop psychology or the gimmick du jour. Rift: Planes of Telara embodies that philosophy. It feels like a neo-traditional MMO, a game that's gone back to the genre's roots to reimagine all the things that made pre-WoW games great, then layered in all the best post-WoW innovations. I still worry that it might be too traditional for the next gen of MMOs, but you know what? The beauty of this genre is that a game doesn't need to win to succeed. I can't really call the game an underdog, given how much money and talent is being poured into it (and how ardent and large the fanbase is), but it's certainly giving off an underdog vibe. It's the industry's hidden gem, and I'm starting to think that's exactly how Trion likes it."

Rift Fans Get Some Answers at Trion's Gamer Day (ZAM)
A handful of fans from the official Rift: Planes of Telara forums were recently invited to tour the Trion Worlds office and get their hands on the game. They also had their questions answered by the Trion team.

"Q: What is your ideal server size?

Hartsman: The cool thing about our architecture is that we can add more capacity just by adding more processes. Our initial guess is that the world is going to be fun with 2,000 to 2,250 players leveling up. We'll have cross-server Warfronts right off the bat, so those really don't count as people in the world."

Rift Unleashed – An Interview With Scott Hartsman on Crafting and Community (Ten Ton Hammer)
Scott reveals all-new and exclusive information to Rift fans

"A perfect example – last night there were lots of guild members, officers and leaders there and we got into a discussion about numbers of guild ranks. The question was asked of us about how many guild ranks there were in the game, we told him and the response was that while our number was good, it simply wasn’t enough. He was using many more ranks in his guilds current game and their guild used them in a very specific manner. He told us that if he wasn’t able to have the same number of ranks they may not migrate to our game when it launched, he just couldn’t see demoting his members simply because we didn’t provide enough ranks. Those are the sorts of small details that, if we are just sitting at our desks all day, we aren’t going to be thinking about that. Now that we are face to face and can see that this is something he is very serious about, he was talking to me and Russ Brown, our V.P. of development, and we looked at each other and said, yeah we are pretty sure we can handle that fairly easily."

Grouping in Rift - A Hands-On Preview of Group Gameplay in Rift: Planes of Telara (Ten Ton Hammer)

"My favorite encounter was probably found later in Darkening Deep. The fight pitted us up against a werewolf who knew nothing but how to pwn players. I was grateful to have a particularly bright warrior in our group during that run as he reminded us that werewolves are more powerful in the moonlight. I won't say more than that, but once he pointed it out, the strategy became a lot more clear."

Rift: Planes of Telara - Hands On (Warcry)
Trion Worlds hits the nail on the head in its upcoming MMORPG.

"The fights throughout the run required more attention than I generally expect from a run-of-the-mill dungeon, and all required attentiveness and quick reactions else the party would perish. While I'm sure part of that came from getting used to our new characters and their abilities, the multiple ways to handle a given situation due to the complexity of the Soul Tree options were a pleasant surprise."

Rift: Planes of Telara: The Archon
MMORPG.com and Trion Worlds have partnered to bring you news and information about four of the classes players will be able to choose from when Rift: Planes of Telara goes live. The first in our series is the support specialist, the Archon. We have screens, basic class information and a lore story to breathe life into the Archon.

"Archons are support specialists who steal their opponents’ strength and convert that raw energy into beneficial magic. These mages bolster their allies and unleash potent kinetic blasts, quickly turning the tide of battle."

[Morreion]

Rift - The Planet of Telara gameplay interview nov-2010 (YouTube)

A 6:23 video where Scott Hartsman gives a whirlwind tour of Rift with live gameplay- a good short overview of the game, worth watching.

IRC Friday: Abyssal Precipice 11/19 Chat Log [Raids/Instances] (Rift Forum)

"[Question] Kelrath asks is there a reward for completing a dungeon aside from the loot that drops from the bosses?
Allen: We give faction rep as well
Berenger: Every instance you enter automatically gives you a quest to defeat every available boss.
Adam: Also consider that for Expert mode, we have lots of difficult achievements for players who enjoy that sort of thing to pursue
Adam: Berenger: in particular has cooked up some very cruel achievements
Berenger: cruel? moi?"

The Plane of Air Revealed – Video and Screenshots (Rift Junkies)

"Like the onset of madness in a sane man, Telara may be scourged at any moment by evil from its very air. The sky could split above an open plain, or crack over the highest peaks. Crisp, serene air twists into a hateful storm, winds whipping and swirling with such fury they tear boulders from the earth, whirling them about like a mad juggler’s toys."

Includes a 1:06 video.

Rift: Warlord Revealed
In the final installation of our exclusive Rift: Planes of Telara character class reveals, we take a look at the Warlord. The Warlord is a powerful ally to have as the support and empowerment abilities the class brings into battle is a must for any party. But beware the Warlord's vulnerability. Check out the lore and a few screens of the Warlord.

Rift: The Paragon
In the second installment of our exclusive Rift: Planes of Telara class overviews, MMORPG.com is pleased to show off the dual wielding specialist, the Paragon. Paragons deal damage at a steady, brutal pace and have the ability to hurt enemies at a distance as well. We've got exclusive screens, information and lore behind The Paragon. Check it out and then comment below.

Rift: The Riftstalker
In the third installment of our series of Rift: Planes of Telara character class reveals, we are pleased to present the Riftstalker. The Riftstalker is known as a defensive specialist that uses magical abilities to avoid enemies' blows. They also have the ability to shift out of the physical realm to suddenly reappear behind a foe. We've got exclusive screens, information and lore. Let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

Rift: The Shaman
Trion Worlds and the Rift development team have teamed up with us this week to reveal four of the classes upcoming when Rift goes live. Our final installment features the Shaman, an elemental force who can wreath companions in powerful shields and provide healing as well. We have lore, screenshots and a basic overview of the Shaman. Check it out and tell us what you think by commenting below.

Gamebreaker.tv – This Week in MMO: Rift (Rift Junkies)

A 49-minute MMO TV show where the 2 hosts discuss Rift. Several video clips are shown.

One MMO to Rule 2011? (Stratics)

"Our overland Rift raids are non-instanced and somewhat contested, yet somewhat controllable through player action. Our goal is to strike a balance, and the dynamic content system is a great tool to let us include some of the better parts of over-world raid content without having to return to the old days, where only 1% of the players ever got a crack at the toughest opponents.""

Will Rift Have What it Takes? (Rift Junkies)

"A new benchmark has been set and the standard has been raised. The charm of seeing a world with our eyes, instead of through our imaginations from the books we’ve read is over. We’ve been there done that and we expect more. Any game in development now needs to deliver content and polish. It needs to release with enough content to keep players immersed in the game until they are ready to add more, and what they release needs to work without any major flaws."

[Morreion]

Rift classes and capital city detailed (Massively)

The Sanctum of the Vigil

The city takes its name from this domed basilica, the Sanctum of the Vigil. Dominating the Sanctum is the Covenant of the Guardians. So long as we keep to the will of the gods, this ward of graven sourcestone will protect Sanctum from the dragons.

Sanctum, City of the Guardians (Rift News)

Includes a 1-minute video.

Rift Watch 5 (official newsletter)

Podcast 21: Hal Hanlin on Souls, Endgame, and Rift Rewards (Rift Podcast)

[19:42] What are Essences and Foci?
* A Focus is an item that you can equip, purchased via currency earned by doing rifts.
* Essences – Greater or Lesser – also drop from rifts, and can be placed into Foci
* The Lesser Essences have stat adjustments and resistances to a specific planar type.
* As an example, Hal has a Focus that has 1 Greater slot and 5 Lesser slots.
* His Greater Essence has a “vampiric” effect – it sucks the life out of the enemy and gives it back to him.

Rift: Planes Of Telara Interview - Hal Hanlin Explains The Nature Of Rifts (Inc Gamers)

"Wardstones keep Rifts from forming. Invasions will target wardstones - if wardstones are destroyed, it creates a 'foothold.' Footholds can summon more enemies to invade locations. When an Invasion force destroys a wardstone, they put their own in its place."

And it’s One, Two, Three, What are We Fighting For? (Rift Junkies)

"I agree with Scott; a 50/50 server population balance would be near impossible to maintain. He’s also right that if the game is going to have non instanced territorial control, you’re going to need some type of balance for that to be fun. Where I disagree with Scott is avoiding the issue of balance by eliminating territorial control from the game altogether. There are better ways to do this like allowing the players to control balance and creating a political system that they could use to achieve that goal."

Rift reveals new King's Breach instance (Massively)

Scarwood Reach is divided by two opposed elements, ravaged by rifts, and fought over fiercely by spawn of the elements. In the north, Death Rifts spew forth flesh-crafted horrors and turn the land to barren dust. In the south, the Elves of House Aelfwar have spread the surreal jungles of the Life Rifts. These two invading forces meet in battle at King's Breach, which legends say serves as a back door to the sealed Dwarven delve of Lord's Hall.

Trion answers Ubisoft-related questions about Rift (Massively)

Where are the Rift servers located?

Our servers are hosted in Dallas in North America and Amsterdam in Europe. Our goal was to establish a centrally located facility for both markets to ensure optimal performance.

[Morreion]

The Beta Philosophy Behind Rift (Game By Night)

One of the more interesting points is that Scott clearly ties the size of a beta to the developer’s confidence in their product. In effect, if there’s no big beta, there’s something to be worried about.

Rise of the Defiant & Future Beta Events (Rift Forums)

Our first beta event, Rise of the Defiant, is officially over. We were all very pleased with the results! Our servers did well and we had very few problems. Several of the issues that did come up were patched and fixed already. And we received a huge amount of feedback to process now that it is over! Thanks to all who participated and shared your thoughts with us!

Scott Hartsman on the Conclusion of the First Beta (Rift Junkies)

Before the event officially began started, it became obvious that a lot more people took us up on our invitation than we had originally anticipated. Within the first hour of the event, we had to double the available number of servers. Those servers all remained highly active throughout the weekend.

The population of Freemarch never dipped below “more than we’ll need to support in the long term,” and the servers stayed responsive and stable throughout the overload.

RIFT's first closed beta produces "a hell of a sight" (Massively)

"Where we had hoped and expected to see invasions rampaging across the countryside, instead the population density had become far too high, such that invasions weren't even getting off the ground. We updated the game with even more insanely active tuning on Saturday night to give the invaders a chance to come out and play too, and the response in chat and submitted feedbacks was overwhelmingly positive once that started. By the time it worked, it was a hell of a sight -- Huge invasions finally freed up, setting up footholds, wiping out the local populace, and eventually being repelled by defenders."

OnlineWelten Video Previews (Rift News)

3 videos showing a beta participant going through the Defiant starting area. Spoiler alert!

RIFT announces the second beta event (Massively)

For the second testing phase, titled "Guardians of the Vigil," players will be testing the first 20 levels of the game, presumably on the Guardian side.

Trion Worlds reveals RIFT's Plane of Earth (Massively)

The ground shakes. Dust swirls and rocks rain as a monstrous spike of stone stabs down through a tear in the sky. Carbuncles and stalagmites bubble up like boils as hulking monstrosities emerge from this new Earth Rift.

Rift: Planes of Telara - Deepstrike Mines Dungeon Preview (YouTube)

A 1-minute video preview.

There and Back Again… And Again, and Again.. (Rift Junkies)

Hopefully, Trion hasn’t completely left the past behind though. Random Boss mobs, and open dungeons still have a place in MMO’s today. When you’re running from point A to point B you know you might have a Rift pop along your route or you might even decide to go see if that chieftain has spawned in that NPC camp and you want to take a shot at him. You’re not going to be left with the feeling of “there’s nothing to do”. I think that’s the single worst feeling a game can leave you with. So having as many options as possible to keep the adventure going can only help.

[Morreion]

Rift on Steam

Rift has shown up on Steam! 'Available Spring 2011'

Rift: Remembering History
Trion Worlds has provided MMORPG.com readers with a real treat this week in the form of a brand new Rift lore piece called Defiant to the End: Remembering History. It's a terrific read complete with several never-before-seen screenshots. Sit back, get comfortable and enjoy the story.

I surveyed the ground where death had been only moments before and saw the sun glint off something almost totally buried in the dirt. A gentle tug unearthed a shield that I vaguely recognized. None of the creatures had carried a shield, which made this find all the more intriguing. I slung it across my back as another puzzle for my Meridian contact.

QVS to distribute RIFT in Australia (Massively)

The global distribution picture for Trion Worlds' RIFT MMORPG just got a bit clearer thanks to an announcement made by the developer earlier today. Trion signed a multi-year retail deal with QVS, a renowned publisher in both Australia and New Zealand.

Trion reveals RIFT's Iron Tomb dungeon (Massively)

To honor their leaders, the Freemarchers built a grand tomb complex where every Warden can rest for eternity in the company of his peers. There, the Wardens lie in spacious catacombs dug into walls of polished sandstone. Eliam himself is buried in a magnificent crypt deep in the complex, and no tomb robber would have dared the fury of the Wardens' spirits... until the rifts came.

RIFT Podcast features Gershowitz, Bowens, and beta talk (Massively)

Gershowitz has plenty to say over the course of the podcast, including info on RIFT's soul system, global cooldowns, a brief recap of the first beta weekend (as well as objectives for the second), and tweaks to the title's invasion system.

A Visit to Trion – the EndGame, the People and the Experience (Rift Podcast)

I’ve made no pains to hide that this is the way I am. A game needs to have Endgame content in order to appeal to me – and with so many recent games failing to deliver precisely that, I was resigned to the fact that RIFT would probably do the same and I’d end up with a game to pass the time for a couple of months before subjecting me to the boredom of nothing to play until the next thing comes out.

I was wrong.

Rift Dev Blog #3: Russ Brown on Player Feedback (ZAM)

I come into work, grab my second cup of coffee and look over what’s going on in Rift. I look at the game logs and the forums, then I see my team’s reaction from them. My entire team has seen the posts and I am almost sure of finding a discussion or debate going on. For example, this morning I see conversations on our death system and corpse runs, starting soul selection and our XP leveling curve. Designers, artists, QA and engineers all chime in with opinions on what is working and what is not. This is what makes MMOs special and unlike any other game.

Rift Reader Submitted Questions #8 – Dungeons and Raids (Ten Ton Hammer)

Ten Ton Hammer: How many dungeons and raids do you have planned for launch?

Berenger Fish: We’re planning, at least for our five man dungeons, on having ten dungeons at launch, which means that there are ten standard versions of the dungeons and ten expert versions of the dungeons. As for the raids, I’m not allowed to talk about that yet. I can say that there will be plenty of content.

Culture Clash (Game By Night)

And to come into a game like Rift, like WoW in all the best ways, unlike WoW in the same, I have to wonder if these players even know what they’re getting into. This is a post-WoW MMO. It’s soloable. It has incorporated all the lessons of questing, character progression, storytelling, and more – many lessons I’m sure taken from Blizzard. Like every successful game before it, it will take what works and make it their own, then add to it with exciting systems like rifts.

Guardians vs Defiant: Social Observation or Close to Home? (Rift Watchers)

Yet, they both fight for the same noble goal: to save the innocent of Telara. Each has their own way of approaching the task, which divides and fills each side with loathing, but as outside observers we can see that unity is their easiest path to salvation. They hate and mistrust each other for how they seek to achieve peace. So, who is right: the Guardians who fight for what they cannot see, or the Defiant who fight with the tools in front of them? It’s completely and utterly grey, open to your interpretation. That, my friends, is one of the defining characteristics of much great fiction. Just ask George R.R. Martin.

What's the Deal with End Game? (Rift Watchers)

What this means is that the End Game in Rift is going to be Inclusive, not Exclusive. Yes, it will have some of your stereotypical group and raid dungeons, but it will also have so much more. Encouraging a server population to work together hasn’t truly been seen since Everquest’s “Planes of Power” expansion, which is largely regarded as one of, if not THE BEST Everquest expansion. And guess who was in charge of the game at the time. That’s right, Mr. Scott Hartsman himself. I will never again get my hopes up about a single producer after the whole Brad McQuaid incident with Vanguard, but I still regard Scott Hartsman very highly. He knows his stuff and I truly feel that he is pointing Rift in the right direction.