rift-lite
Latest
Enter at Your Own Rift: What Scott Hartsman's AMA portends for RIFT
The Trion team is nothing if not persistent. In an elaborate plot involving Dr. Pepper and a one-way locked office, the devs were able to finally get Trion CCO and RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman to participate in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. It was an engaging discussion that touched on a variety of topics, from up and coming titles such as End of Nations to Hartsman's journey from GM of the MUD Scepter of Goth to his time with SOE and his current endeavors with Trion. We learned that he's a pretty hardcore raider, that he plays incognito, and that his raid drink of choice is Grimbergen Blonde. But the focus of the conversation was RIFT, and while he didn't shed too much light on the upcoming expansion, he did drop a few hints about what we might see in the future. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, we'll look at some of the highlights!
Storyboard: The RIFT project - week 2
This week, the RIFT project slowed down a little bit. Oh, we didn't stop playing by any stretch of the imagination, but when you're also playing (and roleplaying) in two other games, you're going to find some time crunches, especially when the novelty of a game starts to wear off and gets replaced with the more mundane tasks of playing the game into the doldrum levels. And the middle levels are always the doldrum levels, no matter how elegantly they might be handled on a whole. New characters were made and played, but as of yet, they haven't really interacted with the main group, so the focus remains on the same quartet as the first installment. As such, I'll be jumping right into a recounting of the week's events and an examination of where the project is going. And the splinter I mentioned in passing is still there, but I don't think that needs to be discussed this week, does it?
RIFT exclusive: Storm Legion lore bonanza
With fall on its way, the dark forces of the Storm Legion are preparing to invade RIFT and give its players a new challenge. Fans of Trion Worlds' maiden MMO are no doubt scouring the internet for any scraps of relevant information about the expansion, which is why we're pleased to offer you two exclusive lore pieces on the Infinity Gate and the Storm Legion itself. In addition to this lore, we've got brand-new concept art and screenshots to give you a taste of what's to come with Storm Legion. When you're done soaking all of this in, you may want to check out Executive Producer Scott Hartsman's Reddit AMA (ask me anything) that's going on today!
SWTOR dominates GDC Online Awards nominations
The nominations for the Third Annual GDC Online Awards are up, and Star Wars: The Old Republic is represented across the board. BioWare's sci-fi MMO netted six nominations, including one for Online Innovation. That's not to say that SWTOR is the only MMO in the running; quite the contrary. Glitch is up for Best Online Game Design, World of Warcraft has a shot at Best Community Relations, RIFT is a strong contender for Best Live Game, and TERA might snag Best Online Visual Arts -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's also a broader Audience Award that encompasses an even wider field. 2012's Game Developers Conference Online is taking place from October 9th through 11th and will be keynoted by John Smedley.
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: The RIFT mobile app
In this day and age, it's a complete mystery to me that pretty much everything in the world has an official mobile app except for most MMOs. If there was ever a clear call for mobile synergy, here it is, and yet most developers keep such a project on extremely low priority if they're even considering it at all. Fortunately, some studios seem to be coming around in this respect, and Trion's ahead of most of them with its portable connection to the game. Available for both iOS and Android devices, the RIFT mobile app was an extremely pleasant surprise when it came out early this year. I know Karen's touched on it already, but I've been spending a good deal of time with it lately and thought I'd give it my own overview. Is this "eternally in beta" application a useful tool, a silly toy, or something in the middle? What could this app expand to include in the future? And what does Trion have to say about its continuing development? The answers you seek are on their way... now.
RIFT gives previous subscribers a free weekend of play, hosts Conquest event
To prepare for the coming of RIFT: Storm Legion, Trion Worlds is throwing open the doors to previous subscribers in an attempt to lure them back to Telara. From July 25th through the 29th, anyone who's previously played the paid version of the game can access the full version for free. Trion's also putting the spotlight on its new three-faction Conquest PvP during the week. Players have a limited opportunity to snag special titles if they engage in combat or craft with excellence in Conquest, but these titles are going away as of the 30th. The dev team will be joining the fun as well; the devs plan to make appearances in each Conquest wargroup for those foolhardy enough to take them on. These grudge matches are scheduled on the 26th and 27th.
Storyboard: The RIFT project - week 1
While I had expected this project to get shoehorned into a footnote over the next few weeks, the majority vote was in favor of seeing this recapped every week. So it's time for the first recap of the RIFT project, which will cover just about a week of time spent in the game as of Wednesday. That means recapping characters, giving a brief summary of events, and giving everyone an idea of how well the project is working out thus far. I'm going to go on the record stating two things, just in case they weren't clear from the first column. The first thing is that this project is not an official Massively thing by nature, just something that I had dreamed up and figured would be interesting to read about. Second, I'm well aware that I'm probably going to have one or two enormous lore holes in my recaps or character summaries. Those of you who read regularly probably already know that I lose precisely no sleep over this fact, and you should not either. It's just a game; we should all really just relax. With the preamble out of the way, let's get into the story so far.
Free for All: Why the unlimited trials of RIFT, WoW, and Ryzom are perfect for me
I think there are some pretty basic but complicated concepts going on behind MMO gaming. There always have been. There's some sort of driving force that makes many of us want to reach that max level or grab every last achievement or (in my case) get to a comfortable level and stay there. I did it in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes: I reached level 32, cast a spell to stop my character from gaining anymore experience, and continued playing and exploring the game. Not only was I tired of leveling, but I knew that if I continued to level, I would probably continue to try to level. Like I said, it's a basic driving force. We all have them inspiring us to play in different ways. I don't want to reach max level. Not really, anyway. I want to have a unique character, one who is fragile in some ways and strong in others. When I do reach higher levels, I start to feel generic and a bit too powerful. I want to have some force stop my character, to give him his own maximum level while others reach the true maximum level. Unlimited free trials have shown me just how fun it is to have a sort-of-max-level character within a game filled with other max levels. It's like playing a different race or class, something unique.
Enter at Your Own Rift: The joy of mentoring
One of the reasons I like RIFT so much is that it has similar features to my other favorite MMO, EverQuest II. That's not really surprising, since RIFT's Executive Producer is Scott Hartsman, who was formerly EQII's Senior Producer and Creative Director. Since mentoring is one of the cornerstones of Norrath, it's something I was hoping would make its way into the world of Telara. But mentoring in RIFT is a little different what's in EQII, and it's worth taking a closer look at those changes because they've broken the major hurdle to allowing high- and low-level players to do things together. In fact, I think mentoring is something that every level-based MMO should add as a standard feature.
Trion releases new concept art for RIFT's Storm Legion
The last bit of news coming from the RIFT front was about a new feline mount players could purchase. Today, Trion Worlds turns the attention toward the game's upcoming expansion, Storm Legion, slated to release later this year. To help ease the wait (or simply to whet players' appetites), developers have decided to give fans a taste of some expansion foes by releasing new concept art. Check out the four new images as well as other RIFT screenshots in the gallery below.%Gallery-101448%
Storyboard: The RIFT project
The biggest problem with roleplaying in an MMO is that there's a certain amount of enforced stasis. No matter how determined you are to bring about long-term change in your group, there's the simple fact that you generally need to have characters working together and staying alive. Game considerations force you to refrain from anything that would rock the boat too severely. So most main characters have plot armor, most relationships need to stay at a functional professional level, and most villains have to be guest stars. It's a compromise we make so that the game itself remains playable. But what if you didn't have to make that compromise? This isn't a story about RIFT, and it isn't a story about PAX East, but both of those elements come into play because that's how the idea came to me. What would it look like if you had a month during which there were no restrictions on roleplaying? How would things play out if you could feel confident about a month of play that's completely self-contained, with no need to preserve characters any longer than the story required? Would it make roleplaying more interesting, or would nothing change?
RIFT offers a new cat mount for sale
In a bold move not at all reminiscent of the actions of any other gaming company, Trion Worlds has launched a new product for RIFT players to purchase via the account page. It's a special mount, a white tiger that we imagine would be extremely sparkly due to all of the gold trim and so forth. And it can be yours for the low price of $15, which is $10 less than it would be if it cost $25! Tongue-in-cheek jokes aside, the White War Tiger was originally an exclusive bonus for players of RIFT over in Korea. The mount has been ported over to the US version for a limited time so that more players can access it. If you've already got your wallet out, just log into the main site and check in the same spot for the game edition upgrades to get your very own tiger. While it may sparkle, you can take solace in the fact that it does not fly. [Thanks to soundersfc.tif for the tip!]
Enter at Your Own Rift: Leveling the achievements way
In this week's Soapbox on Massively, I explained why I admire achievement systems in MMOs. Today I'd like to continue that discussion with a specific case study in RIFT. Consider it a companion piece. When I came back to RIFT last month and started a new character, I had a choice as to how I would level back up through the game. There was the traditional questing path, pursuing dynamic events, running endless streams of dungeons, engaging in (shudder) PvP, or queuing up for instant adventures. I decided to blend them all together like premium yogurt and use the achievements system as a guide. I don't tether myself to achievement systems in all MMOs I play, but RIFT's makes it fun and natural. It's easy to parse what's left to be done on a zone by zone or system by system basis, and the little noise and graphic that pops up makes me feel like a good doggy, indeed. It's turned out to be an incredibly good decision. I've had so much more fun this time around than the first, greatly in part to achievements nudging me off the path well-traveled.
Soapbox: In defense of achievements
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. I've heard all the arguments before, trust me. Achievements are a waste of space. They're frivolous, meaningless numbers -- a Skinner Box within a Skinner Box for the weak-willed. They can be far too spammy. And then there's that hoary chestnut: They take precious development time that could be used for better purposes from something you personally want. Achievements are a blight upon our games, binding us to the most base of gamer crowds, the yokels on Xbox Live. We should cast off the chains of achievement oppression and live as free men, women, and Elves once more! OK, enough with the histrionics. Many of these points come down to personal preference, and that's impossible to refute. You like what you like, and I like what I like. Still, I'd disagree that the overall notion of achievements is useless. In fact, I fully embrace them in my gameplay and hope that they stick around for a good long while.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Why Summerfest is the best
Over the past few weeks, I've been over on RIFT's test shard to preview some of the changes arriving with update 1.9, like Summerfest. So now that it's live, it was fun to spend some time on the live servers to see it launch. And since I didn't get the chance to spend a lot of time with the Summerfest event, I decided to roll up my sleeves, break out my fishing pole and cooking pan, and try a few of the events and scavenger hunts. I mentioned in a previous column that I thought 1.9 would be the biggest one yet and that it would bring some really important game changes, but my recent adventures in game this past week were even more eye-opening than I expected. Read on!
The Daily Grind: What's the difference between an MMO trial and F2P?
Back in olden times when I sampled my first MMO trial, free game try-outs were short affairs. You'd usually get to play for a week, and then you were done unless you subscribed (or forgot to strike your credit card info). But modern MMOs are abandoning time-limited trials with increasing frequency. Games like Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft, RIFT, and now Star Wars: The Old Republic all allow gamers to play indefinitely -- but only up to a certain level. The "endless trial" model has led to some debate among the Massively staffers as we try to suss out what, exactly, sets an endless trial apart from any other F2P game and how we ought to refer to these sorts of titles on the whole. It'd be easy to say the restricted level cap is the red flag, but if we latch on to that definition, then any free-to-play title with a level cap locked behind a paid expansion -- like Lord of the Rings Online -- could itself be deemed an endless trial, albeit one with a very high (but not max) level cap for free players. Chime in on our debate. What do you think represents the key difference between an MMO that's F2P and an MMO that merely features an endless trial? Is it level caps or content or something else entirely? Or is there not really any difference at all? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Enter at Your Own Rift: Going from zero to Storm Legion in a summer
As a returning player, I appreciated Karen's last column, which outlined some of the big changes to the game since last I played. While I had a level 50 Rogue sitting in Sanctum, I just couldn't connect with her because it had been so long. Even though I knew it would require a bucketload of time and effort, I rerolled a fresh-faced Cleric to go through the game all over again. Was I insane? Probably. My biggest worry at this juncture is that I won't be ready for Storm Legion when it comes this fall. When you've been at the level cap for a while, you probably don't even think about the amount of content you need to chew through to get there. I didn't want to be caught flat-footed when the expansion released, shouting, "Wait up guys!" as I fell behind. Re-rolling was good for me for two reasons. One, it's allowing me to connect with this new character and feel out all of the changes in the game. Two, it's giving me the chance to prove that anyone could start RIFT right now and be totally prepared for the expansion -- even if you're just a casual player. Today I want to share a few of my experiences on the leveling game and why it's not too late to get ready for Storm Legion, even if you're a newbie.
Trion reveals RIFT's 1.9 Conquest patch notes
It's patch day in Telara, which means it's patch note post day at Massively. RIFT's 1.9 update is live without a net, and we're sure plenty of you are as anxious to check out Trion's version of three-faction PvP as we are. Conquest isn't the only thing on today's menu, of course. There's also the new barbershop functionality, a new mentoring system, more instant adventure locations, and the Summerfest world event. Summerfest includes scavenger hunts and some interesting activities like pet wrangling and the chance to ride a barrel over a waterfall. The patch features a number of additional tweaks and updates, all of which are yours for the reading on the official RIFT forums.
Leaderboard: Achievements vs. collections
Some may call them busy work or a fool's errand, but others delight in the additional fluff systems in MMOs that encourage us to take the path less traveled. Two of these systems, achievements and collections, stand out in my mind as the premier ways of encouraging us to game a bit differently. Achievements are ubiquitous at this point, from World of Warcraft to Warhammer Online (and that's just the Ws). Despite usually not offering anything more substantial than a pat on the back and a few numbers for your number collections, they have proved to be an incredibly popular motivator to going outside of your daily routine. Collections are somewhat more tangible: in-game objects that are often hidden for you to seek out, find, and collect all of them for the cool prize on the back of the box. That may be Cheerios, too. Anyway, titles like EverQuest II and RIFT enjoy sending players out on these scavenger hunts, and it momentarily takes our minds off the presence of death and slaughter that permeates everything. So if you had to pick one of these systems as the better motivation to get you out of your comfort zone and try new things, which would it be: achievements or collections?
