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Highlights assembled from Friday's RIFT livestream
Fans of RIFT are probably feeling a little jumpy right now. The community was surprised when community manager James "Elrar" Nichols abruptly left the game, especially in wake of the other shakeups moving through Trion Worlds. The game's community team did run a livestream event on Friday, and fansite RIFT Junkies took the time to comb through the whole thing and separate out the highlights. Trion in general is focusing right now on ArcheAge, RIFT, and Defiance, with End of Nations on hold for the moment. The company is still committed to the game's European playerbase and has not changed the RIFT development team; improvements are still in the works for the game's next two patches, including engine optimization. New CEO Scott Hartsman also stressed his love of RIFT and the fact that he has no intention of allowing the game to creep into "pay-to-win" territory. You can watch the whole stream on the company's official Twitch channel.
CM James Nichols leaves Trion as part of studio shakeup [Updated]
RIFT CM James "Elrar" Nichols is no longer with Trion Worlds, according to Director of Community Elizabeth Tobey. "As we mentioned last week, we are undergoing some changes here at Trion and that also includes changes among your community team," she wrote. "In addition to all the names you already know on the dev tracker, you'll want to keep an eye out for me, OverloadUT, and Morgana –- we'll be around a lot more from here on out. I'll also be your main point of contact for all things community as Elrar is no longer with the company." The former community manager's departure is part of the recent shake-up of Trion's organization. Tobey said that this is according to the new plan that CEO Scott Hartsman has put into place: "I'm not going to be able to give you the exact details, but I want to let you guys know that this is part of a plan helmed by Scott, and one I believe in. That doesn't mean it's always easy, or fun, but it will result in something better and greater than ever before." "We all love RIFT," Tobey assured players, "everyone on this team, Scott -- everyone. It's not going anywhere or getting worse if we have anything to say about it." She concluded by promising the community more communication and details of the future of the game in the coming weeks. [Update: Elrar has posted his goodbye on the forums. Thanks to Dengar for that tip!]
ArcheAge gives import progress report
Wondering what's going on with ArcheAge and when-oh-when will we ever see it in North America and Europe? While Trion Worlds is still being cagey with its time frame, CM James Nichols gave a progress report to give us some info as to what the team is doing. Nichols reported that the team is tackling several hurdles, including connecting the game to Trion's billing system, setting up the server architecture, and translating over a million words for those of us that don't speak Korean. He said that players should expect any changes to the Korean version to be "very minimal," so players shouldn't expect huge new features or differences. He urged patience for those looking to beta test ArcheAge: "We're just as excited to get to the point where we can invite external testers, but expect the closed testing period to last at least a few months." [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
RIFT is breaking down faction walls and normalizing PvP in 1.10
"In 1.10, change is happening in a big way," RIFT CM James Nichols proclaimed on the forums. He then went on to announce that RIFT's two competing factions, the Guardians and the Defiant, will start to make steps toward unification in the final pre-expansion update. According to Nichols, while the two factions will remain philosophically opposed, they recognize the greater threat to the world and are coming together. For players, this means that there will be a lot more inter-faction communication and interaction. To start with, both factions will be able to join together for public groups, trading, the dungeon finder, raids, instant adventure, and weddings. The team also has plans to open up chat channels, quest sharing, guilds, friends list, and more between the two sides. There will be exceptions to some of these features on PvP servers, however. RIFT is also preparing to implement PvP normalization, which means that all players competing in PvP will do so with the same stats and no benefits from gear. Trion Worlds promises that there will still be "meaningful PvP progression" but that this should put the emphasis on skill rather than gear. [Thanks to Warbs and Marc for the tip!]
RIFT community team answers (almost) anything
RIFT's intrepid community team took to Reddit for a freewheeling ask-me-(almost)-anything (AMAA) today, and we've gleaned a few nuggets of knowledge from the discussion. Why "almost" anything? The CMs said they couldn't address unrevealed information about the expansion or things like balance mechanics. Taking part in the AMAA were James Nichols, James Weeks, and Amanda Fry. So how does the CM team think the game is doing and what does RIFT need at this point? Weeks addressed this one: "We've definitely added content faster than the speed of light. Honestly, as RIFT is here to stay, most everything I would want is probably coming at some point. Keep in mind, I started playing RIFT before I came to Trion. It was already the game for me." Nichols did speak to the crowd of anxious would-be RIFT homeowners about Storm Legion's Dimensions: "We're dying to show you -- but the reality is Dimensions were brand-new, still drying on the whiteboard. We're making progress towards them becoming a reality but it's probably going to be around or after Gamescom/PAX that you'll really get to learn more!" Other topics of the AMA included what goes on during server downtime, what other games the team plays, favorite moments with the team, and of course, the game's fascination with Corgis.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Into the flames of the official forums
Over the summer at a game convention, I was having a conversation with a friend who asked me about RIFT. But curiously, he didn't ask me the usual questions about gameplay, souls, or invasions. He wanted to know whether the rumor was true that the official forums were just full of sound and fury rather than productive discussions. In the initial weeks after launch, I had to admit, the forums were a lot like the wild west. On one hand, you had post after post from people arguing about whether the game was good or bad, whether it was too much like World of Warcraft, and even whether the game would survive more than a year. On the other, you had grizzled veterans showing disdain for newer fans by posting curt replies to their questions about the game. There were some good discussions on the forum, but they often got lost in a sea of emotion, and as a result, I ended up avoiding the forum in the months that followed. For this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, I've decided that it's time to don my flame-retardant suit and wade back into the forums to see if things have settled down at all. I've always been a believer that forums are an important part of that community feel in MMOs, and I'm channeling a bit of Jef's Community Detective to see how things fare today. Read on for my findings and for some helpful threads that I encountered in the process!
Trion extends RIFT half-birthday bonuses because of Hurricane Irene
"Trion, you should extend the birthday celebrations due to Irene," one East Coast player wrote on the forums. "They did," came the next reply. The many, many half-birthday bonuses that came with RIFT's kooky in-game party were set to end tomorrow, September 1st, but are now being extended until September 6th so that players affected by last weekend's hurricane can enjoy it as well. Subscribers are still expected to receive their in-game gifts tomorrow that include bonus potions and a reusable birthday cake. James Nichols delivered the happy news: "We know many of you have been weathering out the storm on the east coast -– so we're keeping the subscriber bonuses turned on an extra week. You now have until September 6th to enjoy all the bonuses to XP, Guild XP, Favor, Prestige, Planarite, and dungeon & raid currencies. Have fun!"
RIFT patch 1.4 arriving on test servers tomorrow
"The seas have not calmed here at Trion as we continue to bring you more to enjoy with each update," Trion Worlds' James Nichols writes. Why doth the seas continue to roil? Because RIFT's patch 1.4 is landing on test servers tomorrow, July 14th, at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Patch 1.4 follows 1.3's Waves of Madness world event, Hammerknell raid and guild banks with even more high-profile goodies. Probably one of the most-requested features, the ability to look for groups across servers, will be part of the update. This will allow the LFG tool to draw from a wider range of potential dungeon runners. Also included in the testing process is an alternative gameplay mode for the Whitefall Steppes PvP warfront. Players will have to collect and hold Sourcestone at their base to activate powerful rune cannons to obliterate the enemy. Instructions on how to participate in RIFT's public test server can be found over at the site.
RIFT world event extended due to technical difficulties
It looks as though the end of the world will be postponed -- at least for a week. Due to issues on RIFT's European servers, Trion Worlds has announced that the current world event will postpone moving into its second phase until Saturday, April 16th. In a post on the forums, James Nichols said "With the opening of the final phases of the River of Souls World Event in Europe we have identified several issues that only came to light in a live server environment." Originally, the River of Souls event was scheduled to head into Phase Two on the 9th, but issues cropped up that prevented this from happening. All told, RIFT's first world event will go through three phases before it is through. Because of the delay, Trion said that it is both increasing the event currency players can earn and the amount of rewards available for purchase. These changes will be rolled out during the week.
RIFT podcast 35 addresses hacking issues and possible server transfers
The RIFT podcast is back with episode 35, and there's plenty to discuss. The recent hacking issue and Trion's response to it are near the top of the list, but in-game spam and RIFT fansites has some time too. Last -- and of great interest to players who may have rolled on whatever server they could access in the first few days -- the podcast team discusses the potential for server transfers. As usual, the discussion includes members of the RIFT crew. Community Manager Cindy Bowens and Assistant Community Manager James Nichols sit in on the podcast to provide some insight. Check out what they have to say at the RIFT podcast site.
WAR's summer celebration event has begun
Warhammer Online is celebrating the fourth of July and summer in general by offering some in-game bonuses, and providing some explosive incentives for participating in RvR. WAR's James Nichols announced the event's official opening yesterday, saying, "It's our way of saying thanks, have fun, and enjoy the start of summer with a BANG!" As part of the event, all players can now take advantage of a 10% bonus to experience and renown gain. On top of this, slain enemy players will drop fireworks that can be used to revel in your victory -- we imagine large skirmishes will end with a whole bunch of colorful explosions for the duration of the celebrations. These bonuses will be in effect for about a week and a half, ending on the 7th of July.
Warhammer Online alters loot drops in city dungeons
Bearers of some coveted armor and items found in Warhammer Online's dungeons may have found they lost a few bragging rights this week. WAR's Community Coordinator, James Nichols, recently let players know about some changes to city dungeons that increase the frequency of rare item drops. The dungeons impacted are: Bilerot Burrow, Bloodwought Enclave, Sigmar's Crypts, and Warpblade Tunnels. New "Rare" and "Very Rare" items have been introduced into all of the city dungeons, but even general loot is now better distributed amongst lower-level monsters found throughout the dungeons. These increased amounts of (lower level) item drops that are less tied to main bosses provide greater rewards to those players unable to complete a given dungeon.
WAR Preview Weekend attendees can start playing Friday, September 5th
We'll keep this short and sweet. Anyone who was part of the Warhammer Online Preview Weekend can join in on "Preview Weekend+." Tomorrow. That's right. Friday, September 5th, for North American Preview Weekend attendees. Warhammer Online's Community Coordinator James Nichols made this announcement today:"WAAAGH!!!WAR is Coming and the world is ready. Hundreds of thousands of players will descend upon the Age of Reckoning this Sunday, September 7th. In order to make this world-wide event the best it can be we're welcoming all Preview Weekend attendees back for two more days to rev things up and get the party started. We invite all Preview Weekend players to join us for Preview Weekend+ this Friday, 9/5 and Saturday, 9/6 starting tomorrow morning.This epic weekend will be one to remember as you herald in Open Beta and the Age of Reckoning to the entire world! The tides of WAR are coming...we'll see you on the battlefield!"There you have it. We haven't received word on what time, exactly, the servers will open up, but since they've stated "tomorrow morning"... it might be time to call in 'sick' and have yourself a 3-day WAR weekend. Thanks Tom and Zak.Edit: It seems that Preview Weekend + will not include WAR's European player base. This post will be updated if that situation changes. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Mythic on the WAR guild beta phase 2 contest: We're on it
Several players over on the ever-busy Warhammer Alliance forums recently raised concerns about Mythic's commitment to fulfilling the terms of the contest they held for guilds trying to get into the second round of the Warhammer Online guild beta. The contest required guilds to construct WAR-centric guild websites full of guild fan fiction, and winners were going to earn themselves slots in the beta. Problem is, the contest ended back in September of last year!James Nichols, a WAR community coordinator, stepped in to reassure players that winners have been selected and will be notified "soon." While James explained the delay as a necessary function of the development process, we have a sneaking suspicion that everybody simply forgot about the contest after former community coordinator Richard Dufek left around that time last year. In any case, we're happy to hear the goof was cleared up, and hopefully players will be getting notifications soon.
Interview with WAR's James Nichols
Genda over at The Grouchy Gamer recently interviewed James Nichols, EA/Mythic's community coordinator for Warhammer Online. James talks about leaving Sigil Games for EA/Mythic, how their focused beta testing is coming along, and what it is like to work at EA/Mythic. Electronic Arts, you'll recall, has had trouble in the past with having people work unreasonable hours for long periods of time.Warhammer Online is in a unique position for upcoming MMOs. It's the only one that feels it has a real chance of pulling in World of Warcraft-like numbers, based on the 500,000 beta application numbers. James Nichols feels he has a tiger by its tail, and he won't know how big and mean it is until he lets go. We're all eagerly waiting for the curtain to lift so we can see the world of WAR for ourselves, but until then, we appreciate these glimpses into EA/Mythic's Waaaaaagh!-shrouded corridors.
Warhammer beta will resume any day now
An EA Mythic representative responded to complaints that the North American Beta Center for Warhammer Online is down, saying, "the Beta Center is currently down for maintenance getting it ready to go for when we kick Beta back into gear next month."He also said they'll be bringing in many new testers, and that as soon as that's done and "everything is in tip-top shape," the Warhammer Online beta will resume! So, if you're already in the beta, just sit tight; you'll be back in the RvR action any day now. If you've submitted a beta application but haven't been invited in so far, cross your fingers and keep an eye on that e-mail inbox! You might get some hands-on time with the game this coming month![Via Ten Ton Hammer]
