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RIFT celebrates its second anniversary with a freebie weekend and sale
There's nothing quite like a birthday to put a studio in the mood to give things away. Really, if more people thought like that, the world might be a happier place for everyone. If you've been looking for a chance to get into RIFT, however, your world can be a happier place right now. Starting today and running 'til the 25th, folks can return to Telara for free to celebrate the second anniversary and check out the Carnival of the Ascended. Of course, you can't return to a place you've never been, so what's a newbie to do? Trion hasn't forgotten you: Until the 25th, RIFT's standard and infinity editions are on 25% sale.
Celebrate RIFT's second anniversary with 2.2 and the Carnival of the Ascended
What's a party without a dragon piñata or two? Luckily, RIFT fans won't have to find out as the annual Carnival of the Ascended will have those and plenty more for revelers joining in the game's second anniversary celebration. But the carnival -- with its games of skill, pie-stomping contests, and special anniversary cape -- is not the only goody in today's 2.2 update. Besides the previously revealed features, PvP gets a tier 2 attunement of war. Want to see what awaits in the update? Watch the trailer after the break. As an added bonus during the anniversary, from March 21st through April 4th all subscribers will receive a 20% increase to kill XP or planar attunement, prestige, guild XP, dungeon currency, zone event currency, and planarite. And don't forget that players can return for free from March 21st through 25th. [Source: Trion press release]
Trion prepping bonuses for RIFT's second anniversary bash
Can you believe that RIFT is almost two years old? It's true, and Trion is marking the occasion with another incarnation of the Carnival of the Ascended. This year's addition features Tier 3 planar attunement, the PvP Wheel of Fate warfront, and the usual collection and quest festivities along with their associated rewards. If you're not currently subscribing, you can revisit RIFT for free from March 21st through March 25th. If you are a subscriber, you'll get bonus XP, guild XP, prestige, favor, dungeon currency, and more from March 21st through April 4th. Head to the official RIFT website for all the celebration details.
RIFT's newest State of the Game teases updates 2.2 and 2.3
As promised in last night's first part of RIFT's State of the Game, tonight's part two is coming to us from Lead Game Designer Bill "Daglar" Fisher. In it, we hear brief word of game updates 2.2 and 2.3, which will bring the Carnival of the Ascended and Dendrome content, respectively. While 2.3 will remain a mystery for now, Daglar teases new carnival games, new zone events, the expansion of the Planar Attunement system, a few PvP updates, and more with the 2.2 update. Although this State of the Game is short, it introduces Daglar to the players in this new role and lays the groundwork for what's to come.
Enter at Your Own Rift: A carnival recap and a war on the horizon
Over the past few weeks, RIFT has been celebrating its first birthday with the Carnival of the Ascended. It started off pleasantly enough, with games, prizes, turducken, and fireworks. But recently, some of the revelers got a little too rowdy, and players had to help subdue drunk and disorderly guests. Now, the event has entered its fourth phase, and the two sides have begun to attack rival outposts that have been set up along parade routes. If you haven't had a chance to check out the Carnival of the Ascended, now is a perfect time. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, I'll highlight the carnival as it prepares to pack up and leave and peek at what's in store for Telara as this world event wraps up.
GDC 2012: RIFT's Adam Gershowitz talks raiding, mentoring, and housing
Last week's GDC came at a perfect time for Trion. The conference overlaps perfectly with RIFT's one-year anniversary, and Producer Adam Gershowitz took us through some highlights of the past year as well as the current Carnival of the Ascended content. But he also gave a peek at what's planned for the future, not only showing off the new raid zone Infernal Dawn but also talking about the team's plans for some fan-favorites like the leaderboards, mentoring, and housing.%Gallery-150682%
Trion launches RIFT's Carnival of the Ascended anniversary events
It's hard to believe that RIFT is a year old, but it is, and Trion has taken the wraps off a substantial world event to celebrate. The Carnival of the Ascended kicked off yesterday, with festivities that include four weeks of bonus XP, various minigames and rare reward opportunities, and "hours of new solo, group, raid, PvP, crafting gameplay, and more event quests than ever before," according to Trion. RIFT is a high fantasy MMORPG that features two opposing factions, dynamic quest content, and a customizable class system. More info on the one-year anniversary event, including images of many of the reward items, can be found at the official RIFT website.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Looking back at RIFT's first year
As I ran around smacking loot piñatas (finally, someone acknowledges these things for what they are), I wondered how on earth RIFT's first year went by so fast. The Carnival of the Ascended is just around the corner, and on March 1st, the game officially celebrates its first birthday. In just one year, RIFT has seen seven game updates, a handful of world events, and all sorts of new additions and improvements to the world of Telara. Rather than being a straight-up retrospective, this week's Enter at Your Own Rift is looking back on the first year with a Justin-style list of highlights and even a glimpse of what's coming in 1.8.
Rift sets Guinness record for most in-game marriages
Tapping into the rich vein of lonely people playing video games and their desire to establish world records, Rift -- which recently just added a free-to-play option -- held a day-long event on Valentine's Day seeking to marry as many in-game characters as possible. It was a success, and now Rift has the Guinness World Record for most in-game marriages in a 24-hour period.21,879 marriages took place on February 14, starting at 9am PST. Marriage was introduced in Rift's seventh major update, Carnival of the Ascended. Each participating player earned a unique in-game title, "The Avowed," and quite possibly a nagging significant other.
Enter at your own Rift: Want to play RIFT for free? Now you can!
Before rumors start spreading around like planar creatures through a tear, no, RIFT is not going free-to-play. You can, however, play RIFT for free through the first 20 levels now, thanks to the launch of RIFT Lite. Anyone with a Trion account can now play through the first 20 levels at no cost and with no time limit. RIFT Lite arrives alongside Update 1.7, the Carnival of the Ascended. Let's take a the significance of RIFT Lite, as well as the changes in the new update today.
'RIFT Lite' announced, makes first 20 levels free to all [Updated]
Trion Worlds has just announced that its fantasy MMO RIFT, which released to wide acclaim just 11 months ago, will today launch an introductory version of the game known as RIFT Lite. Similar to Warhammer Online's Endless Trial and World of Warcraft's Starter Edition, RIFT Lite will allow "anyone with a Trion account to experience the game's first 20 levels at no cost and with no playtime restrictions." Players will be able to access the capital cities as well as Terminus, Mathosia, Freemarch, and Silverwood, all the way up to level 20 and on any server, for the low, low cost of zero dollars. In the press release, RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman, who told fans last November that Trion had "absolutely no plans whatsoever" to turn RIFT F2P, stated that his company believes "a Lite edition with no time limit is the best way for players to see what an amazing experience RIFT continues to be." Diet RIFT launches today in conjunction with the latest patch, Carnival of the Ascended, which brings player weddings, dungeon overhauls, and PvP tweaks to Telara. [Update: The official RIFT Lite website has now gone live.]
RIFT details upcoming Expert Mode dungeon changes
RIFT's patch 1.7: Carnival of the Ascended is bringing with it some pretty neat things, such as in-game marriage, PvP improvements, and the eponymous Carnival of the Ascended. But long-time, high-level players are probably most curious about the changes coming to Expert Mode dungeons. Tier 1 and tier 2 Expert Mode dungeons are merging into a single Expert tier. What this means is that all players with tier 1 gear will keep that gear (which will be improved by item changes being introduced in the patch), but it will never drop again. The upgraded versions of tier 1 gear will drop in its stead. Previous tier 1 dungeons have had their difficulty increased to be more on par with tier 2 dungeons, and Trion Worlds has also "turned the dials up a bit higher on some encounters to keep things interesting with your flashy new gear." For the full details on all of the changes coming to the Expert Mode system and the endgame gear system, just click on through the link below to the RIFT official site.
RIFT's 1.7 patch filled with content, coming soon
What's next for RIFT? Well, the 1.7 patch, for starters. The update is called Carnival of the Ascended, and if it sounds a bit festive, it is. Telaran weddings are in the offing, as Trion is introducing a marriage mechanic to its fantasy MMO. There's also the new River of Souls Chronicle, which the official forums bill as an "undead adventure for two." A new master mode dungeon is coming too, as is an expert dungeon overhaul with more options and better loot for endgame avatars. Finally, there's a free weekend coming your way on January 19th, and you can return to Telara (or check it out for the first time) for no charge through January 22nd.
