Rift Articles

[Morreion]

New RIFT trailer shows off dynamic invasions (Massively)

Unlike the previous CGI extravaganza, this trailer is composed entirely of in-game footage. The highlights were captured in the game's latest beta event, and the clip illustrates the zone-wide invasions made possible by the RIFT's dynamic content system.

Includes a 1-minute video.

Gamer Day: Roundtable Discussion with Trion Worlds (ZAM)
During his visit to Trion Worlds' office for the third Gamer Day event, Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland got to participate in a roundtable discussion with members of the Trion team to talk about Rift.

As for dungeons, the team has “about ten” in the works, with a few of those being level 50. According to Scott, players can expect seven key features for end-game at release. These are:

* level 50 dungeons (tier 1)
* level 50 expert dungeons (tier 2, a modified version of all the dungeons available)
* a raid (Greenscale)
* the prestige system
* warfronts
* expert rifts
* raid rifts

Part Four of My Visit to Trion: Embargo Lifted and Final Thoughts (HorRiftic Intentions)

Engineering

We were fortunate enough to see some very cool things here. We were shown a real-time map that has the average player FPS in colors all over the map. They can tell at a glance what areas are getting low FPS and then take a look at optimizing that area. They can also pull up just about any information they want from the UI. Gold distribution, PvP hotspots….just about anything.

Yes, Trion knows what you are doing!

RIFT podcast features Trion dev roundtable and fansite questions (Massively)

Also on the docket are tidbits concerning a RIFT random dungeon finder, target autofacing, and Trion's ultimate goals for RIFT (as well as a few thoughts on exceeding them). Head over to The Rift for all the audio antics.

Rift: Hands On Event Report
MMORPG.com's Ben Per Lee has a hands on report from a recent event for Rift. Ben has a few thoughts about dungeons, characters, rifts, PvP and more. Check out Ben's Hands On Report and then let us know what you think in the comments below.

Invasions are, bar none, the most unique and exciting facet of Rift. Almost constantly occurring somewhere in Telara, one of the six enemy factions, as well as Defiants or Guardians, will charge into an area from a rift an attempt to take over. These are often worldwide events as well, and while some people may find the events to be intrusive to the rest of the game, the general consensus is that these are fantastically fun. Since the six factions fight each other as well, smart players will let the game “play itself” as say, Life and Fire forces duke it out. Once the enemy troops are weakened, smart players can swoop in for a kill. The invasions are all scaled to the amount of players and other variables in an area, and they can make a huge impact on Telara, as once players control a point, they gain area-based benefits.

Massive Attack: Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer of RIFT (Games.on.net)

And then also at the high end our fourth Warfront, the Battle for Port Scion, unlocks, which is a 20-on-20 PVE/PVP Warfront instance. So for us we’ve been focused on making sure there’s as much of an endgame, as there is to do while you’re levelling up. It’s so hard to get an MMO that’s fun and of the right quality, and so many people get to that point and go “Phew! Now we’ve got to build content to level 50!” and then they realise “Oh crap! We now have to meter how very carefully how long it takes to get level 50 because - dun dun dun - there’s nothing to do afterwards.” And we’ve been focused for the last year or so on adding content JUST for the endgame. We have an endgame content rollout plan that extends through the life of the game also.

Rift: The Dungeon Finder Brouhaha
The Rift dungeon finder tool has caused a bit of schism, or at the very least a lot of heated debate, in the Rift community since its introduction recently. In today's column, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy splits his personality to examine both sides of the issue and to offer a few thoughts about the controversy. Check it out and then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments below.

First and foremost, though I’m sure the cynics would say otherwise… we don’t know what the shape of Rift’s group finding tool will be. Are the chances high that it will be akin to WoW’s? Yes, I think we can say as much, considering how quickly and effortless it made finding groups for dungeons and how Trion has stated that this is their goal with their own tool. And while I understand the sentiment that such a tool breaks the community, especially when presented as cross-server, I also understand why Scott believes there is a need for one.

A Dungeon Finder is Coming to Rift (Rift Watchers)

I approach it like this for one reason: I’ve been around long enough to know that pessimism and doubt is no way to approach a hobby. Seriously. I’ve been down that road many times before and it always leads to the exact opposite of what I do this for: fun. Let me share this truism: the WoW way of doing this is not the only way of doing things. That’s what the critics need to remember. Hopefully you all know by now that we strive to keep a fair and balanced view here at Rift Watchers. Right now, fair and balanced means “wait and see.”

[url=http://www.thelastbastion.net/?p=142
]I’m over Rift, but… (The Last Bastion)[/url]

At any rate, I’m over Rift. I’m done being annoyed that it’s yet another game I won’t enjoy. I’m done being frustrated at Trion’s marketing and community “building”. It’s time to move on and let the chips fall where they may. I’m sure some people will enjoy Rift…it wasn’t the game for me even before I watched the fall of the community. It’s happened many times before, and I was actually pretty sure it would happen again, but it doesn’t make it all right. I hope to see all you early Rift community members, all those purists who have moved on, in the next community.

Enter at Your Own Rift: Pre-launch checklist (Massively)

While there certainly is a cornucopia of activities to pass the time during these next couple of weeks, there are a few pitfalls I've seen in many other MMOs during this unique period.

The first is that you should probably keep from dwelling in the official forums -- or just avoid them altogether. Nothing against RIFT's community managers and moderators, but no official forum this close to launch is a healthy place to marinate. I've often said that if you want to hate a game you currently love, then visit the forums, because that is where poisonous attitudes and malcontent trolls congregate. Sure, there are a few uplifting threads and useful tidbits of info, but people get crazy stupid in the month before launch, and you don't want that influencing your enjoyment of the upcoming game.

The UI, how to change it, what you can change, and what it looks like. (This Is Not A Rift!)

If you wanted to load your other character's UI, you would select UI Layout and hit Import. If you wanted to load your UI on your other character's you would first have to log on that character and select your character that you changed the UI on and select UI Layout and hit Import.

Gamer Day: Trying Out Rift's High-Level Content (ZAM)
During his visit to Trion Worlds' office for the third Gamer Day event, Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland stepped into the Abyssal Precipice instance and prepared for high-level Warfronts.

As we moved on, I noticed we were gaining reputation with the Icewatch faction; expect reputation grinding again at max level. Non-elite seacap enemies would swarm out in relatively clear areas, posing more of an annoyance to casters than any real damage (although a half dozen enemies doing 200 damage per hit each could kill someone given enough time and no healing). The bigger issue was watching for patrolling enemies; giant water elementals would at times run into us while we were fighting cultist packs, leading to a few more wipes.

[Morreion]

Today is head-start day!

RIFT's endgame detailed in 18-minute video (Massively)

RIFT's endgame features both 10- and 20-man raid types. Trion calls the 10-man exterior raids "on-demand rifting," and in a nutshell, the encounters function similarly to the game's public quest system. The main raid group initially opens the rift and deals with the resulting enemies. Random players can also join, and the more who do, the harder the content becomes. What about loot? Only members of the rift-opening group are eligible; late-comers will receive tokens and cash. The 20-man raid experienced by G4 was an interior instance named Greenscale's Blight, which featured a more traditional setup in that there was a lockout timer and no provisions for public participation.



Greenscale (Rift official site)

There was no trail through the forest, so Arissia found her way along the pulsating vines, avoiding the snapping jaws of carnivorous plants. The vines wound like a maze, sometimes zigzagging, sometimes doubling back or forcing Arissia to climb and descend for miles. She was chased by horrible lizards that stood on two legs, taller than a man. She was captured by trolls and bound hand and foot with vines that stung, but before the trolls could eat her, they themselves were devoured by an enormous snake.

One Shots: When good fae go bad (Massively)

"While traveling around Telara, you sometimes get to places where you just have to pause and enjoy what Trion accomplished: a beautiful rich world, as seen in my shot. This image shows an area of the game where fae are doing their evil things -- yes, evil fae, how great is that? While this place has the look and feel of being corrupted, it still holds some beauty."

Rift raid info still leaves me with questions (Keen & Graev)

Some questions I have:
1) Do 10-man rift raids give loot that is just as good as 20-man?
2) Does this gear make you competitive in PvP?
3) How focused on raid progression is the future end-game?

Enter At Your Own Rift: The first day FAQ (Massively)

What's this planar focus thingy?

Your planar focus is a container that holds planar essences, which provide stat buffs and unique effects. You can place essences in the planar focus and then equip it to give you a nice stat boost. You can purchase larger focus items from planar merchants, and you can get essences as rift rewards or from NPC merchants. There are special planar essences that you can get from faction merchants in town, and as you level up, you'll have the ability to build some pretty powerful planar focus items. These can be swapped in and out so you can create multiple focus items and interchange them depending on whether you're soloing, PvPing, or grouped up.

Unboxing the RIFT Collector's Edition (Massively)

Like hyperactive kids on Christmas morning, we've been tearing into our copies of RIFT's Collector's Edition with unbridled excitement. Although Trion Worlds has offered a variety of versions of the game, from the standard to the Digital Collector's Edition, we're most interested in checking out the many physical goodies that come with the deluxe CE.

Trion Worlds posts RIFT's official server list (Massively)

On the RIFT forums, Community Manager Abigale finally posted a full list of the servers available for the game's launch. The list includes 17 US and 12 European servers, associated with PvE, PvP, PvP-RP and RP types. The European servers also are categorized according to language: French, English and German.

Exclusive: RIFT details Cabalist soul (Massively)

All aboard the soul train! It's time for another information smorgasbord courtesy of the folks at Trion Worlds. Today the devs bring us a closer look at RIFT's Cabalist, a practitioner of ancient rituals and arcane magic who decimates hordes of foes with a tremendous outflow of dark energy.

Exclusive: RIFT details Bard soul (Massively)

The Bard is a fairly traditional buffing and support class that makes use of magical songs to both inspire her allies and hinder her enemies.

Exclusive: RIFT details Chloromancer soul (Massively)

While the class deals a bit of damage, much of its offensive power is sacrificed in favor of channeling energy into healing spells. The Chloromancer also lacks crowd control abilities, making it vulnerable to focused enemy attacks. The class earns its keep by recycling destructive magic to mend its allies and is also able to remove harmful status effects and resurrect fallen comrades.

[Morreion]

Head-Start Launch!

Trion Worlds: RIFT has surpassed one million registered accounts (Massively)

In case you couldn't tell by now, Trion has officially confirmed that a lot of people are interested in its RIFT fantasy MMORPG. The new title has surpassed one million registered accounts, according to a press release that coincides with today's headstart kickoff.

Exclusive: RIFT details Beastmaster soul (Massively)

Unsurprisingly, Beastmasters are RIFT's answer to traditional pet-handling classes. In addition to being one half of a fearsome fighting duo, the Beastmaster soul also functions as a buffer for allies but is rendered weaker than his companions if the spirit-bond that binds him to his pet is severed.

Are other game studios taking countermeasures against RIFT? [Updated] (Massively)

Although we obviously can't be certain that all of these events are due to RIFT, timing, as they say, is everything. Have you seen any other MMO studios stepping up their game today as a distraction from the new shiny?



Rift: Head Start Journal
Rift's head start program for players who preordered the game began yesterday. Included in the mob that flocked to Rift servers was MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy who is keeping a diary of his experiences during the pre-launch days leading up to March 1st. Check out why Bill is buried in a pile of turtles and more of his thoughts about the Rift Head Start. Let us know what you've experienced in the comments.

I will say that the drawback of starting a game on day one, even a pre-order head start event, is that so many other people will be vying for the same objectives and kills as you. The bulk of questing in Rift is made up of kill this and collect that type content, and players who are unwilling to group up will find their first few hours rather annoying. My suggestion, as I quickly learned, was to join a Public Group at a rift event, and then remain in the thing once the rift was defeated. Most everyone willingly did so, and the next thing you knew you were roving the grounds with a group of twenty or so players taking out quests like they were nothing.

RIFT's head-start is standing room only (Massively)

In some cases, estimated wait times approached 15 hours (though in fairness to the folks at Trion, the counters did fluctuate quite a bit). Demand was so great that a whopping 13 additional servers were added around noon, with 10 more going up as the day wore on.

Tell us about your head-start horror stories in the comments (if you're not too busy playing, that is).

One Shots: While you're waiting (Massively)

"I woke up to a massive blanket of snow outside and a text message from work telling me to stay home. The RIFT open beta was ending, so I decided to jump on for the last few hours. Poodoo, my cat, and I finally found a good spot to stop and relax in the sun when a rift decided to ruin the view. It's just one of those days I guess."

Rift Shard Status Page (Rift official site)

Very useful!

One Shots: Hey Ladies (Massively)

"I've played multiple characters since the first closed beta of RIFT. This is a screenshot of my Dwarf Mage hanging out at Quicksilver college. I thought I'd plop down next to these students. They don't seem impressed by me."

Global Chat: Pre-launch frenzy edition (Massively)

When head-start began, "queue" was the word of the day. Scott Hartsman, Trion's CCO, saw it coming as the clocked counted down, and RIFT responded throughout the day by bringing new servers online right and left. Meanwhile, our readers had lots to say on the issue. They shared their own queue stories, speculated on why things were set up the way they were, and offered ideas on how developers could avoid these problems in the future. Massively reader Scuffles had some thoughts on the matter:"Thats why I don't understand why new MMOs don't at least start off with a channel server setup. Even if they don't intend to support it in the long run. Then they can have say four to five servers each with a handful of channels and you scale channels accordingly. You kill three birds with one stone. You avoid queues because initially there is enough room for everyone. You avoid massive zone overcrowding (there will still be some). You avoid the false stigma of failure during your impending server mergers after tourist season."

Head Start Community Update (Rift official forums)

We are thrilled that so many people showed up for our Grand Opening! Every business wishes to be so successful! Imagine a cafe owner who opens his doors the first day and sees people lined up around the block! He would celebrate and immediately start making plans to expand so that he can accommodate everyone, all the way to the back of the line! But at the same time, he doesn’t want to rush or skimp on anything for those who are at the front of the line. He wants them to enjoy their experience so they will have the best possible experience once they’re inside.

It’s been no different here! We are all doing everything we can to accommodate you all as quickly as we can. Please remember that it’s no different for us than our café owner. There are a lot of things to consider and schedule. I am amazed at all the moving parts.

I am a gamer. I also ask things like “Why don’t they just open a bunch more servers?” and “Why don’t they just raise the server capacity?” I even asked those things the past couple of days. Well, having a front row seat, I have heard conversations, been in chats and seen emails and to be honest, I don’t always understand the technical side of some of what they are saying. But there are reasons for all of these decisions. They might be technical or logistical, but these things are being executed in the way that makes the most sense. Everyone is trying to make the best decisions to make Rift the best it can be, and balance between the short and long term health of the game and its server communities.

That being said, we are reading your feedback and we do hear your concerns. We have always tried to be as up front with you as we can and that isn’t going to change now. So without further ado, I’d like to address some of the hot topics here in the community now.

Queues:

Unfortunately, queues are part of launching an MMO. No one can predict how that is going to go. You make an educated guess and then you adjust as fast as you can. Our pre-order numbers continued to rise so quickly that we were adding servers right up until launch and are still continuing to add them. As for the queues for some of the servers, we understand that this is an issue for those who already have friends tied to that server. If you’re new, we do suggest choosing a server with a lower population. There are servers that have little or no queue at all. Our web team went as far as to get the first draft of a server status page with a queue watcher out this evening:

www.riftgame.com/en/status/index.php
www.riftgame.com/de/status/index.php
www.riftgame.com/fr/status/index.php

Rest assured, we are aware that some of you are in long queues and we are doing all we can to accommodate everyone and still maintain our quality of service.

AFK Tricks

We have been reading your complaints about this issue. An update to address the majority of them was just sent out to the EU servers, and is scheduled to hit the US servers tomorrow morning at 8am Pacific.

Transfers

We have seen all of the posts requesting character transfers and while it is not something we will be able to offer this instant, it is something we are absolutely working out the logistics on for when and if it is needed once the initial overpopulation subsides.

We are reading your feedback and we will always try to get you answers when we can. Thank you all for joining us in Head Start!

Cindy Bowens
Community Lead
Rift

[Morreion]

Rift Launch Day

Enter at Your Own Rift: Getting a head start (Massively)

I kind of liken rift events to pick-up games of basketball: You just jump in, become part of the team, and do a basic role without worrying about finesse. (Dungeons and raids are where the teams get more professional and organized, which is great if that's what you're seeking.) It's low-stress, it gives everyone a sense of camaraderie, and it helps train tanks, healers, buffers and DPSers in how to use their skills in a group context without a lot of pressure to get it right or wipe. This is why RIFT is much more social for me than I'd anticipated.

RIFT adds 31 additional servers for launch (Massively)

If you thought Trion Worlds was running out of hardware for RIFT after the previous week's onslaught of new realms brought online, think again. In anticipation for tomorrow's official launch, the studio is bringing a whopping 31 additional servers to bear between the North American and European markets.

Rift Day 1: Queues and Lots of New Servers (Keen & Graev)

What really has me concerned more than the temporary inability to play is the fact that they have launched lots and lots of new servers. I stopped counting at ten and that was somewhere around two hours after launch. They continued to make announcements about new servers all day long and I wouldn’t be shocked if the number were above 20+ new servers. They added the servers to satiate what is claimed to be more demand than they expected. Without getting cynical and calling that a humble brag, it’s not a very bright idea. While it may be nice to saturate us with servers right now, what happens in a month when the numbers inevitable fall? If it’s not done just right, you’re looking at ghost town servers like WAR and I know first hand how that absolutely destroys peoples desire to play the game. Rift is not WAR, as the fanboys have already shouted at me for even alluding to the fact that this server saturation is similar, but it’s not rocket science to see a very clear and dangerous pattern.

Despite my grievances with queues and fear of empty servers, I had fun for the two hours I got to play today.

What's the Deal with Queues? (Rift Watchers)

The queue times actually speak wonders of how the gaming community is viewing Rift. They are not a bad thing. It proves that the amount of players is healthy, and that means a strong future for the game itself. I, for one, was very optimistic as I sat in queue the other day, waiting to get in. It means that my new favorite game was going to be around for a long time to come. Yes, it was excruciating having to wait, especially as long as some of us did, but I trusted in Trion to do everything in their power eliminate, or at least relieve, the pain we were feeling. They delivered, as they always have in the past, and as I trust that they will in the future.

Right on the first try: Trion Worlds' Buttler confident in RIFT's launch (Massively)

What's the formula for a successful MMO in Buttler's opinion? "We took the time to try to get it right. We built the right technology first, we built an entire new platform architecture first, we then recruited the best team on the planet, and then we took a lot of time to build a complete and polished game, and then also focused very very strongly on slightly improving the things that are already great in MMORPGs, and introducing a lot of things that we and many gamers think are missing."

RIFT launch-day roundup (Massively)

So grab your favorite beverage, fire up your installer or downloader, and settle in for some of the highlights of our RIFT coverage. Of course, if you manage to make it through all of these posts before you're able to log in and play, there are tons of other great information in our RIFT archives to check out as well!

Rift: First Impressions
Today is the official launch day of Trion Worlds' Rift. MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy has spent quality time in Rift during the head start which began late last week. He's got some first impressions about Rift to share with our readers. Check out Bill's thoughts about Rift and then add some of your own in the comments below.

I maintain my stance that Rift is a game for people who love the traditional take on MMORPGs and want something new with a mix of innovation and standards to play. It is not a title for those disenfranchised with the old guard, and therefore if you find yourself waiting on a true revolution in how these games are played, I’d suggest you steer clear. If on the other hand you have fond memories of Everquest, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, and you are merely craving something new along those more traditional lines I highly suggest you give Rift a shot. It’s easily one of the most polished and fully-fleshed out titles to be released in years, and has something for pretty much every type of player. Did it reinvent the wheel? Not really. But then, who’s to say it needed to?

Launch Day Judgement for Trion Worlds' Rift (ZAM)

Of course, much of Rift's incredible launch day stability can also be attributed to the extensive closed and open beta tests that Trion Worlds ran in the months leading to their official launch, and these tests were probably instrumental in allowing Trion to prepare for what was to come. It's rather sad, however, when you consider that many other MMOs have run extensive closed and open beta testing periods, often these very same MMOs would be the ones having server stability issues and overcrowding problems.

More Rift Impressions, Combat weird? (Keen & Graev)

Rifts remain decently fun, distracting, and at times in the way. I both love the fact that they’re always popping up and posing a threat and hating it. I’m loving it because I feel that the only reason they’re worth anything at all is that they’re not easily done. I’m hating it because they’re pretty much the same every time and after you do them a few dozen times it gets a bit old. Maybe I’m just ready to move on to the next area and see some diversity.

RIFT details Greenscale's Blight raid (Massively)

Who is Greenscale, you might be wondering? Well he's no orc or goblin, as fantasy stalwarts might suppose after a cursory glance at the name. No, Greenscale the Primeval is a dragon most foul, responsible for unimaginable destruction and terror by virtue of his penchant for "seeding the world in vines and vegetation that could devour cities" according to Trion's latest literature.

Understanding the Leaderboards in Rifts!? (This Is Not A Rift)

The higher your score, the better your rewards. I'll get more into that in a bit though, for now I want to talk about how to get the medals. You get medals by helping during the rift, you have a bar that shows how well you are doing on the side of your screen. The higher you get the bar the better of a medal you will get.

Healing 101: A simple healing guide to Rift (Part One) (MMORPG.com The Adventures of Pokket)

The first step to making a healer is, of course, deciding what kind of a healer you want to become. There are a few choices one can make. First, people should know the difference between the Class Type of an Offensive, Defensive, and Reactive healer. Next, there are the Ability Types, such as AoE heals and Single-Target heals. Lastly, there are the Ability Sub-Types of Utility heals, Burst heals, and Sustained heals. I've defined these terms in the most simplified way possible and sure, even these simplified definitions are left up to debate by multiple players.

Cleric Guide (Rift Watchers)

The Templar soul is the Cleric’s PvP soul. This soul focuses around being able to survive and be able to better assist your allies. Like other PvP souls you’ll have distinct paths you can take. One path allows you to passive abilities that reduce the damage you take when you receive spike damage, reduce the duration of player-cast silence, when you are stunned you get healed by some a percent of the damage you receive and the top skill grants you immunity to crowd control and increase the healing and damage you do. Another path reduces the cooldown of break free and when you are the victim of CC you take reduced damage. With the top skill debuffing your enemy to transfer 50% of their healing to the cleric. The next path allows you to get % of health when you use a single target health and a passive ability to AoE your single target spell. With the top tier ability to summon a spirit of life which heals nearby party/raid members every 2 seconds for 30 seconds. Finally the last path can increase the damage your ally does when you heal then when they were under 50% health and ability to self-ressurect yourself and give your single target heals the ability to cure a curse, disease, or poison. With the top tier ability granting your ally to reflect 50% of the damage they receive and the other 50% converted to healing.

[Morreion]

Rift: Staff Impressions
We wrap up our Rift Weekly today. As we did with DC Universe Online, we are offering a couple of MMORPG.com Staff Impressions of Trion Worlds' Rift. This time, Community Manager Mike Bitton and News Editor Suzie Ford throw out their thoughts about Rift. Keep your eye on this space next Thursday when we begin a new game weekly column.

Rift is incredibly polished and hits a lot of the right marks for me: it’s fun, the gameplay is solid, and Trion’s put in enough of their own spice to set the game apart, but ultimately, as Bill put it in his impressions it doesn’t “reinvent the wheel” and I think that’s where a lot of gamers are divided. I personally don’t have a problem with some of the samey feel, and even Trion hasn’t shied from the fact that Rift is very much a traditional MMO with a few (important) twists, but your mileage may (and will) vary. If your first MMO was World of Warcraft you’ll feel right at home in Rift, and if you’re an MMO vet who’s been yearning for something truly different you might find yourself disappointed with the level of familiarity you’ll experience. But disappointed or not, Rift is still a solid game that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of the bunch.

Rift: Breaking the Trend… of Big Boobs? (Game By Night)

The thing is, who really cares? I mean, who really wants their MMO to be sexy? I can’t help but imagine some 15 year old, up at 2AM in the glow of their monitor, typing up their missive about the wrong being done to boobs everywhere.

Then the reality hits me that it’s probably not a 15 year old. More than likely it’s a 20-something guy who spends too much time playing games. A guy who likes to analyze things, read into them, and compare one game to another in every way he can. Breast size must fall into that category. But, honestly. Honestly. Does it matter? Then again, I did get a good chuckle out of it. So really, Trion. Where are the bewbs, man?

Rift Puzzles Guide (KF Guides)

Warning- spoiler alert here!

One Shots: Drawing down (Massively)

"I took this shot of my little Dwarf Rogue, Natia, in the Guardian beginning zone, to show some friends how great RIFT's Dwarf girls are. Nevermind the doom, gloom, and destruction of poor Mathosia hanging around in the background -- her sheer awesomeness will take care of all that. Well, that plus her giant boar, who kindly tanked a random Defiant construct so that I could take this action shot."

We Will Add RvR if the Players Want It – The Community Responds (Rift Junkies)

The truth is that the community as a whole has been asking for these kind of changes since Trion opened the PvP servers for the first time during the closed beta. A oft-repeated argument has been that unless there is incentive to PvP outside of Warfronts, then the game would firstly become boring for PvPers within a short period of time and secondly the game would provide very little new or alternative to other popular MMOs that are available already – specifically World of Warcraft.

One Shots: We can't stop here. This is bat country! (Massively)

"Hey, this is Tizmah. My Dwarf gal Septerra was enjoying the gloomy view of a town in the distance in Gloamwood -- all right, through her peripheral vision -- but I enjoyed it!"

Rift: The Endless Court
One of the most prominent enemy factions in Rift is the Endless Court. Throughout the game, these dark souls make their appearance as they strive to bring Regulos back to Telara. MMORPG.com has partnered with Trion Worlds to bring you an exclusive look at the Endless Court, who they are, where they've come from and what they want. Check out the lore behind the Endless Court and some brand new screens.

Six are the Dragon Cults, one for each of the Blood Storm, yet the most powerful and nihilistic of these cabals is the Endless Court. From the purest child to the vilest deviant, revulsion is the understandable reaction when one’s entire world is threatened with destruction. Yet some wretches fall outside understanding, people so twisted and perverse that annihilation seems a blessing. And from among their number come the cultists of the Endless Court. Offered a place in Regulos’s midnight realm, they trade flesh and breath for the hollow promise of power over the dead.

Enter at Your Own Rift: A closer look at wardstones and public groups (Massively)

During events, if certain key wardstones are destroyed, players fail the event and miss out on the rewards. But a quick trip to the nearby planar goods merchant can solve that problem. For 50 planarite, you can purchase the ability to heal up and upgrade a wardstone. For Guardians, it's called "Bless Wardstone," and for Defiants, it's called "Augment Wardstone." To use it, you need a planar charge, which you can get from sealing a rift. You can have up to three planar charges at any given time, and you can see how many you have in your character's target window (they're little blue crystals).

Player-run event in RIFT kicks off an eight-month war (Massively)

Run by the Gaiscioch Family group of players, the event is taking place on the Faeblight server. It's a roleplaying-friendly gathering of players for both PvP and PvE clearing during the march to the home of the Defiant faction. Players who arrive are promised equipment, instruction on the game's mechanics, and plenty of support in the overarching quest to cleanse the land of the opposing faction.

Player-created Telara Saga adds official trailer and website (Massively)



Level 30 in Rift, more thoughts (Keen & Graev)

My biggest gripe with the game is still the Global Cooldown (GCD) on my Warrior. It is so freaking long. I’m waiting and waiting to use abilities all the time and even with “full queue” on for abilities (which makes the combat feel like early LotRO) it still makes me almost feel like I’m lagging when I play. I made a Rogue/Bard alt last night and it’s freaking fluid and amazing feeling as though they have no issues with the GCD at all. The Warrior GCD absolutely 100% must be like the Rogue’s; no excuses. I have to throw in a plug for one of Graev’s biggest gripes too: Spell effects being reused everywhere. Between souls within archetypes and even between different archetypes the same effects are seen over and over.

One Shots: Good for the gander (Massively)

"Another RIFT screen... I know, I know, RIFT overload! I just wanted to point out that instead of objectifying females in RIFT, they objectify us men! This is 'plate' armor -- that does NOTHING to protect my heart. One quick stab and my tank is dead! I'm THIS CLOSE to losing a nipple!"

What a Launch it's Been! (Rift 1.01 update) (Rift Forums)

...On top of ongoing new content and large feature development, many of which you’ll be hearing about on our site and others, there are some other, smaller improvements we’re working toward – I wanted to call these out specifically since they’re pretty frequently commented on.

• Mages. Yes, we’re both listening to you and paying attention to the post-launch gameplay data on our servers. While a well-played mage does do extremely well, and mages are very well represented in the overall number of active characters, there are issues with competitiveness in some low and mid level ranges and certain combinations of souls, due largely to mages’ overall fragility and cast times.

• Mail Spam. Chat spam protection has been going really well on the whole, which, predictably, pushed spammers into mail. We’ll be putting more protection in place there soon.

• Event Contribution. This system is being reworked to be more in line with the idea of events being massively social occurrences, and the focus on abilities themselves will be going away entirely.

• Anti-Hacker Protection. As a very high priority, we’re working on new and interesting ways to help you make sure your account is protected from password phishing and keyloggers. In the short time since head start, we’ve already banned a couple thousand spammers, hackers, farmers, and thieves. We’ll continue improving our detection and ability to take action on them well into the future.

• Dismount and Exposed. Expect some changes here as well.


Thank you all for your dedication so far – We look forward to this first small update, and a host of even larger ones in the future!

- The RIFT Development Team

Update on Hacked Accounts (Rift Forums)

Coin lock sounds interesting.

One Shots: A photo postcard (Massively)

Today's contributor, Felipe, decided to try the HDR process with a series of RIFT screenshots so as to convey the tones he saw in a storm that was going on in-game -- with lovely results! He explains: "This is a pseudo-HDR shot I made from snapping the same shot at different times while the storm passed through Moonshade Highlands. It's not an optimal result, but given that you can't adjust the exposure in the game, I'm pretty happy with this shot."

On the Freedom of Roles – and Why People Don’t Use It (Game By Night)

On this weekend’s episode of Rift Watchers (coming Wednesday), we talked a little bit about all this and the fear people still have about stepping outside of their comfort zone. RIFT gives you the buffet and players still stick to the one or two dishes they had at that other restaurant. I don’t begrudge them, or you, this. You can, and should, play what is the most fun to you. With that being said, I’d like to talk about that transference of fear.

I'll admit to sticking to 1 or 2 roles because, especially if you have an alt, it can get quite overwhelming remembering what all of those dozens of ability icons do.

Only in RIFT (Game By Night)

I was questing in Stonefield, talking to guildies in vent, when all of the sudden our resident 50 exploded, “Guardian invasion in Granite Falls! Come quick! Guardian invasion right now!” I’m nothing if not a sucker for un-planned adventure, so off I ran, a lowly level 21. When I crested the nearby hill, I was met with a sea of red. At least 30 Guardians had stormed the bridge and were taking over the town. As I sat on the atop, ready to run down, a full on invasion spawned shaking my screen and destroying the ground as an earth rift opened over my head. I checked my map and nearly a dozen footholds had spawned. Not just rifts but real footholds with rifts interspersed.

Rift Titles (ZAM)

A handy list of all of the titles available.

5 Tips for Cleric Healing in PvP (Rift Cleric)

#1 – It’s a Good Idea to Trade Potential Healing for Surviability

Here’s the number one rule of warfronts – dead healers don’t heal. And when healers die, most of the healer’s team dies as well, particularly if the enemy team still has a healer alive and kicking.

Many players try to improve their healing by stacking their healing souls together. They also usually make a bee-line for the healing improvement talents. And those are great in PvE, where you rarely need to worry about being snared or stunned or even attacked.

But in PvP, where you’re always going to be a high-priority target, things change. Given the choice between a 5% improvement in healing and an instant CC-break or a nice big damage shield, you’re often better off with the latter choice.

ZAM opens up a full database for RIFT (Massively)

Although the system has just gone live, it already includes a robust listing of abilities, items, and quests for players to browse, as well as details on the various collections available in-game. Complete with a soul calculator, the new repository of knowledge should be welcome for any and all RIFT players looking for quick and easy reference

One Shots: What light through yonder screenshot breaks? (Massively)

"This is the absolutely fabulous view upon entering the level 38ish dungeon Runic Descent in Moonshade Highlands, which is a garden on a slope in late afternoon light. So far this is the dungeon that has impressed me the most. Fantastic setting, colors, graphics, a few puzzle-like quest mini-events and a lot of different mobs in different zones. Very well-made."

PAX East 2011: Massively interviews RIFT's Scott Hartsman (Massively)

Massively: Sunday at PAX East, Julian Murdoch hosted a panel talking about how 2010 was the year of F2P. RIFT stuck with a monthly sub based/cash shop free plan. Why go against the trend? Do you feel like you're leaving money on the table by not going with F2P or RMTs?

Scott: That's interesting. The reason we are what we are is because the particular genre for Trion's first game is fantasy, and it's a fantasy MMO, and more importantly, it's a triple-A fantasy MMO, complete with all the features that make it competitive. And there's a certain sensibility around what those games should be. You have a lot of achievement-based players that have a certain sense of fairness. And I think that since we were launching into such an established genre, we wanted to make people respect us for the ways we were being different. But we wanted to be different in the game that we were making, with the events and the rest of it, not in the way we chose to charge people. We wanted to go with something that we knew large numbers of people were comfortable with.

As for whether or not we're leaving money on the table, we might well be, but again, I think that if you make a good enough game and you try to take a run at being really successful with it, it turns out you're probably not leaving money on the table, because you're focusing on entirely different things. We get to focus on making good content; we don't have to focus on what the optimal store flow is for people to buy more and so on and so on. A lot of it comes on the focus. Over time, could I maybe see doing some cosmetics? Maybe, but it's not even something we're talking about at this point. We're not interested in making the game something where you're paying for power or anything like that.

Enter at Your Own Rift: Zero-sum game (Massively)

With RIFT's soul system, there are a few ground rules that everyone learns early in the game. You can have up to three souls in your archetype active at any one time; you can only spend as many points in a build as you have in levels (such as 10 points at level 10); and you'll end up with 66 points at level 50, which means that you'll at least dabble in a second soul tree with every build. And while you can certainly spread soul points across all three trees, today I wanted to look at the benefits of a zero-point soul, the "third wheel," if you will, of builds.

[Regolyth]

Those were some really good articles. I liked the puzzle/cairn link. That is really helpful. The cleric guide was also helpful. And I'm glad they're considering RvR-type of objectives.

[Morreion]

Rift review (PC Gamer)

Once you hit the level cap a new set of quests open up (some of which require raids of 10 or more players to complete), and all of the lower-level instances are revamped and scaled up with additional bosses and rewards like tokens used to purchase specialized gear. They don’t feel all that different from their low-level counterparts, but the incentives make them worth replaying—especially for anyone looking to compete in Rift’s player-vs-player instanced battlegrounds, called Warfronts...

Virtually all of Trion’s concepts in Rift have paid off, and instead of turning out cheap or punishing, these features help make Rift’s world feel epic and rewarding. Rifts are undoubtedly the best execution of public quests to date. They make exhilarating experiences like slaying massive golems from the Plane of Earth part of the daily routine, and the massive, zone-wide events feel unlike anything I’ve experienced playing an MMO. The core experience of the MMORPG hasn’t been reinvented, but arguably that’s a good thing. Rift’s ideas build on the concepts of MMOs that have come before it, creating a refined game that can stand with the best of the genre.

World of Warcraft bloggers fight back against RIFT (Massively)

While RIFT is certainly a four-letter word, it's becoming that kind of four-letter word for certain bloggers in the World of Warcraft community. Reala of Click the Lightwell went so far as to whip up a graphical badge certifying WoW blogs as RIFT-free zones in response to the amount of virtual ink devoted to Trion's title on Azeroth-centric websites.

Questing in RIFT: Not As Bad As You’ve Heard (Rift Watchers)

I’m not saying RIFT’s questing is perfect. It is a weak point in the game. It’s grindy, like all questing systems, repetitive, and, most importantly, un-innovative. Where they’ve subtly but meaningfully evolved other aspects of RIFT, their questing system remains firmly in The Burning Crusade era of MMOs. It’s easy to see why people would be let down. But what it does, it does well. Quests are interesting and varied; quest text is worth reading for this reason alone. Spell effects are intricate, colorful, and flashy. Quest hubs are designed for the 2011 player: objectives are clearly marked and close together. There’s very little “take this package to Timbuktu via horse and buggy.” That makes quests quick and easy to complete.

Trion details RIFT's Silverwood lore (Massively)

It is through Elven diligence that Silverwood remains pristine and beautiful while the rifts have turned other forests into monster-choked nightmares. Yet this is not to say that Silverwood is free of rifts, for the planes constantly seek toeholds throughout the forest. A wild swath of cherry trees might see pink blossoms replaced with roaring flames as a Fire Rift sets the branches alight. Sunken Marsh, once a thriving wildlife refuge, saw its ecosystem destroyed in minutes by the ravening beasts from the Plane of Life. The remaining Elves of House Aelfwar strive to preserve Silverwood, and no cost is too great.

One Shots: Casual friday (Massively)

"This is Bizket, member of Unrepentant, a Defiant guild on Gnarlwood. Our guild leader, Dao, swam out to an island that you have to take fatigue to get to. The island has a tower with a great view of the burning city in the background. We all stripped, had a few beers, and proceeded to dance. Here is a picture of our party! I'm really loving the game."

One Shots: Don't eat me! (Massively)

"I love the RIFT drop consumables. As if being a bat weren't cool enough, you can be a squirrel for an entire half hour! *mischief!* I'm attempting to exit the the Manufactory without becoming a cat snack."

One Shots: Run away! Run away! (Massively)

"Hi. Possum here from Rasmolov-US. took this picture in Iron Pine Peak. Just questing around when I ran into a water rift -- 8 levels higher than me though! No thanks!"

Rift: Five Things Rift Did Right
Rift has been in commercial release for nearly a month and we will be launching our official review very soon. In the meantime, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy will be spending the next two editions of The List discussing both those things that Trion Worlds did right with Rift and those things that could use some work. Check out today's version of The List and then leave a comment or two when you're through.

Open Grouping

Some will disagree that it’s a great addition, and others will point out that it’s not an innovation (Warhammer had it after all). But both of those conceits are neither here nor there, I think because for Rift the feature becomes relied upon so heavily for open world Invasions, and eventually serves as an excellent way for players on the same quest to quickly group together and share objectives without having to spend a lot of time hunting for players. The downside is that it promotes quick joining and quick leaving of groups with no real social interaction. Or even worse, you join a player, start talking to them and helping them on the quest you both share when without a word you’re kicked from the group. Listen buddy, if you wanted to be a loner, that’s fine… just turn off the public group feature so I don’t mistakenly think you’re actually polite and social.

Enter at Your Own Rift: One month in, how's the game? (Massively)

Training dummies

As players reach the level cap, they're finally able to test out different soul combinations with the maximum allotted training points. Fortunately, they can get some good data by using the training dummies in town. For the Guardians, they're located in Thedeor's Circle in Sanctum, which is the PvP quest area, and there are several different types of dummies. They vary from normal, to elite, to dungeon, and even a boss practice dummy. For healers, there are even two healing dummies located right at the entrance. I noticed that they have been seeing a lot of use lately, and I'm eager to test out how my soul builds do both individually and with a group. A weaker soul combination might end up being a hidden gem if paired up with a particular support class, and it will be fun to explore that a bit.

Rift's 1st Worldwide Dynamic Event Begins March 30 (ZAM)

Trion Worlds just announced that Rift's first worldwide, fully dynamic conflict event will kick off on March 30 and last for about a week. During that time, invasions from the Plane of Death will engulf Telara as Alsbeth the Discordant leads massive invasions across every zone. Players of every level can participate in the battles to earn hundreds of new exclusive items, such as a Spectral Horse and a transmogrifying disguise that turns Ascended into the rotting undead.

If Ascended are successful in their efforts to drive back the invasions, they can journey to the "River of Souls" 20-man raid zone at the edge of the Plane of Death to fight through the horde of undead and make Alsbeth pay for her crimes.

[Regolyth]

Rift's 1st Worldwide Dynamic Event Begins March 30 (ZAM)

ARGH! I'm going to Korea on the 31st! I won't get to participate!

[Morreion]

Wow, that's a long trip Rego!

[Morreion]

Rift: 5 Things Rift Does Wrong
Rift has been in commercial release for nearly a month and we will be launching our official review very soon. In the meantime, MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy has detailed 5 Things Rift Does Right in last week's The List. This week, Bill takes a look at the flip side,discussing five things that could use some work. Check out today's version of The List and then leave a comment or two when you're through.

Just Two Leveling Paths

I personally feel that one of the biggest draws of a theme-park MMO is its replayability. I often find myself bored at the cap because I just don’t usually get into the gear-grind that most games rely on. Instead to enjoy a game while I wait for new content, I often resort to running a new character through the paces. Now I think there’s a lot of reason to play at least one of each archetype in Rift, but my problem lies in the fact that I’ll be trudging through the same quests and zones all the way to level 50 on a second run through the content. Maybe new content and expansions will address this, and I’m lucky that these days getting to the level cap takes me eons so maybe I’ll not run into this problem with Rift. But chances are I’m not the only one who’s not all too excited about playing through the same content several times without even a slightly deviated path unless I want to change factions (which I don’t).

This is a valid criticism IMHO.

Rift: Adam Gershowitz Interview
MMORPG.com's Drew Wood recently had the opportunity to sit down with Rift Producer Adam Gershowitz to talk about the upcoming v1.1 patch and the River of Souls live event set to begin this week. Check out the conversation and then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments.

The patch expands beyond just the unlocking of the River of Souls and how that will affect all players, ranging from balance fixes to small pieces of content updates such as performance boosts, unlocks, collections and achievements that will be staying with your character forever. If you do not play through the patch as it progresses, you may lose out on vanity-packs, polymorph potions, new mounts, and a variety of other features that will lock away once the event itself has actually passed. That being said, a lot of the content will be carried over once the event has passed; Players who join the game during this world event won't see a world entirely turned upsidedown, but will see these new story pieces integrated with their play experience.

One Shots: Look out below (Massively)

"I was heading into Stonefield in RIFT to check it out. Once there, I started climbing a mountain and just had to stop... it looked so breathtaking. So I snapped a pic and took the quick way down via falling to my death!"

Trion signs deal with Belver to localize RIFT for Russia (Massively)

"The work going into launching on Russian servers is significant, but with skilled specialists on either side of [the] Atlantic, RIFT's release in Russia is sure to be a solid product," said Belver CEO Slava Plotnikov.

Rift’s PvP Woes are no Secret (Keen & Graev)

Keen's criticisms- lack of balance, too much crowd control, a gear grind, lack of world PvP.

Rift’s Alpha Notes balance classes, other random stuff (Keen & Graev)

Unfortunately, many of these changes carry over to PvE. It’s inevitable that it happens like that in a game with PvP. Any discussion about being on a PvE server or PvP server is meaningless since world PvP is not a factor on either server type. It’s all for warfront balancing. Quite honestly, despite my own classes being nerfed or bug fixed, I’m not too bothered by it. The balance in Rift has been so horrible that I’m willing to try any changes with an open mind.

[Rift] Social Work (Kill Ten Rats)

Public grouping is very similar. Players all have a task at hand, like closing a rift from another dimension. They know the rules. They know the goal. If the players all work together as a transient community, they all get rewarded. And, everybody is hidden behind an avatar, which poorly conveys many personal interactions. In Rift, Trion Worlds created a system to allow for what could be considered one of the most basic social activities in MMOs, simply acting together.

[Rift] The Scatter of Shame (Kill Ten Rats)

Yet, there is a personal downside. Let’s call it the scatter of shame. Going off Melmoth’s last situation involving his wife and many partners, there is another moment where everybody is finished with Melmoth’s wife and the party is over. People still have to run by Melmoth, scamper down the hallway, and jet out of Melmoth’s house. Everybody tries to do it without looking at each other (or Melmoth). No one seems to want to bond or mention that they just partied together and there may be other similar events going on elsewhere.

It’s like a race to see who can exit the raid the fastest.

I agree, public groups are billed as a social mechanic but they result in virtually no communication and people leave as soon as possible. It's like an empty shell of camaraderie.

Of ants and men. (The Last Bastion)

Truly social experiences involve forming relationships. They involve interaction and mutual need. They involve give and take, communication, and sharing. If a game is going to claim to be social on a fundamental level, the mechanics need to encourage and facilitate those types of experiences. The more positive interactions a player has, the more folks you meet and form relationships with and get to know, the more of a global server- or game-wide community forms. This is the hallmark of a social game…an overall community that cares about itself and is made up of meaningful relationships.

Agreed. Rift is a good game in the sense that WoW is a good game. It is technically well-done, just don't expect it to do what older games did with a different fanbase.

But I don’t like the teacup ride… (The Last Bastion)

But here’s what bothers me… In Rift, most of the time you don’t get to decide what ride you’re going to be on at any given time. Because of the way the Rifts/invasions/footholds work, you are at the mercy of either random chance (server spawning things based on number of players in zone), or other players (some guild just decided to start a huge event in the middle of the town you were standing in). So the game takes the theme park idea to a different level… you’re basically experiencing a theme park where someone else gets to pick what rides you go on. It reduces the potential choices you have to…well…zero.

I see Fozzik's point here, but you could see this as a feature not a bug. It adds unpredictability to a theme park.