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The Oculus Rift S is impressive but unnecessary
VR technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the past few years with optics and capabilities steadily improving even as hardware prices continue to decrease. Leading this revolution is the newly revealed Rift S from Oculus, the company's first headset released in nearly three years.
'Rift S' hints revealed in Oculus PC software
After Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe left the company late last year, TechCrunch reported a shift in strategy from developing a "Rift 2" to a more lightly-refreshed "Rift S" VR headset. Now UploadVR cites code found in the Oculus PC software referencing the new device and giving some hints of its capabilities. A "lighting frequency for Rift S cameras to adjust to room lighting" toggle suggests built-in tracking cameras, while a software setting to adjust "IPD (Interpupillary Distance)" shows it will drop the original Rift's hardware IPD adjustment. Not surprisingly, it seems to have some things in common with the standalone Oculus Quest. Even if it doesn't follow the original Rift's path in pushing the envelope and showing people the cutting edge of what VR experiences can be, a simpler setup that's slightly more accessible is closer to what the company's owners at Facebook have in mind.
E3 2012: The world of Defiance
Can Defiance work? The cross-media venture between Trion Worlds and Syfy is one of the most interesting projects in the industry right now, if for no other reason than that a TV/MMO crossover has never been done before. At least, not like this. We hunted down the Trion crew at E3 this week to play the Xbox version of the title and chat with the devs about the setting and specifics of this game. While Jef will have his hands-on impressions of Defiance in the next The Firing Line column, we wanted to share some of the lore and setting that the devs talked about at the expo. Join us after the jump for a look at the world of Defiance!
Wings Over Atreia: Twelve activities for Daevas under max level
You know me: I'm the lollygagger. In no rush to zoom through games, I tend to wander about just taking a gander at things. I peek into all the nooks and crannies and am easily sidetracked by all the shinies. In the journey vs. destination debate, I am a proud pompom-waving, card-carrying member of "the journey is half the fun" crowd. It's a wonder I progress at all! But progress I do, and in Aion I had been max level for quite some time. Emphasis on "had." Then 3.0 rolled around. It's actually odd being lower-level again, unable to participate in everything because of level restrictions. Sorry MJ, no dungeon for j00! It's my fault really, since I could level but have been distracted with housing, mentoring, etc. Then I got to thinking about just how many things there are to do even without being max level. Whoa! Sometimes people have the (in my humble opinion, erroneous) idea that Aion doesn't really start until max level, that everything you do before reaching that exalted pinnacle isn't playing. Don't be absurd! The game doesn't start at level 60; it starts at level 1. Remember the part about enjoying the journey? Why worry about reaching some magical number! Just play. After all, experience happens -- before you know it, you will level up. Previously, Wings Over Atreia discussed some things to do once you reach endgame. Here, in no particular order, are 12 ways to take your eyes off your experience bar and just play with reckless abandon before maxing out.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Rift evolution
RIFT has seen a great deal of new content and features over the past year, and each update tends to generate a lot of buzz about things like new raid zones, new warzones, world events, and yes, even fishing. But there have been quite a few subtle (and not so subtle) changes to the core of the game -- that is, the rifts themselves. Last summer, Justin wrote a great piece wondering whether rifts were in "danger of collapsing," and his point was that they were a good idea on paper but needed tweaks in order to stay relevant to the game. It's worth looking back at the evolution of rifts over the past year to see what's changed since launch day. Read on for a look at what's new with rifts!
Trion releases RIFT Endless Adventure trailer
As we inch closer to some big MMO releases in the latter stage of the year (and on into 2012), Trion is looking to keep RIFT firmly established in the minds of gamers everywhere. To that end, the company has just released a new two-minute trailer called Endless Adventure. The clip highlights all of the big bullet-point features (raids, world events, PvP, etc.), and shows a smattering of gameplay footage from each. The trailer also focuses on the flexibility afforded by RIFT's soul system, and though the huge, blocky fonts and bright text colors are somewhat distracting when paired with the game's lovely visuals, the clip does a good job of summing up RIFT for the uninitiated (or the unsubscribed). See for yourself after the break. [Source: Trion press release]
RIFT's Ashes of History world event begins tomorrow
Since RIFT's release, the developers at Trion Worlds have staged frequent world events and mini-events to add some variety to the game. A brand-new Ashes of History world event kicks off tomorrow, putting players against the elemental forces of earth and fire. The event begins as disease-spreading Golden Maw cultists discover artifacts in the sea of Telara and begin plotting to use them for their own ends. The world event opens up new daily quests for players to try out, and participants will be able to collect a rare Magma Opal currency from frequent rift events and invasions. The opals can be spent on rare equipment, companion pets and an exclusive Ash Strider mount. %Gallery-136281%
PvP, slivers and crocodiles: RIFT outlines patch 1.4
While RIFT's patch 1.4 has been on the test servers for a couple weeks now, we've finally received concrete details about Trion Worlds' latest update to this dynamic MMO. Titled "Legacy of the Fallen," 1.4 follows up the recent world event with a new epic quest line and a 10-man instance revolving around the continued threat of the Abyssal. The epic chain, called the Water Saga, not only reveals the truth about the origins of the Abyssal cult, but gives players an opportunity to score high-end loot and a special crocnard mount. Those looking for more group-oriented activities may want to check out the Drowned Halls, a 10-person sliver that presents an alternate view of history where the Abyssal have conquered Telara. Patch 1.4 has plenty of PvP action as well, including PvP rifts and alternative forms of warfronts. There are plenty of other goodies in store from the RIFT team, including quest item storage, the LFG tool expanding cross-server, and several new crafting options. Currently, there is no date for the patch.
RIFT's first State of the Game address floods players with news of the future [Updated]
Trion Worlds has never been shy in talking about RIFT's upcoming content, especially considering how fast and furious said content's been flying down the pipe. However, the studio may have topped itself today as it gave its first State of the Game address, opening up about the title's history to date and both the near and far future of the team's plans. It's difficult to try to summarize all of this news in a brief paragraph -- so we're not even going to try! Instead, Massively joined a number of other news outlets for a conference call with the RIFT team and Scott Hartsman to clarify all of the exciting content, fixes and features mentioned in this address. So join us after the jump as we look at quality-of-life improvements, new types of rifts, vastly improved PvP experiences, solo dungeons, and something intriguing called "Instant Adventure."
Enter at Your Own Rift: Are rifts in danger of collapsing?
Like many of you, I've been exploring RIFT's Waves of Madness event over the past couple of weeks -- and enjoying it, too. You can really see how Trion Worlds has taken some of the lessons learned from River of Souls and improved its second world event. There just seems like more to do, much more in terms of atmosphere (I love the dripping ceilings in Sanctum), I'm not feeling as rushed, and the event story is coming through loud and clear. One of the interesting things I've noticed is that the event's daily quests have subtly shifted our focus from single-player activities to group ones. In phase one, it was all about boring solo quests: find hidden invaders, collect eggs, defeat a few underwater baddies. But just when we started to get used to (and bored from) the routine, the successive phases have moved us toward the game's dynamic content. Namely, rifts, rifts and more rifts. I think this is brilliant, because we're now given a solid reason why we should participate in rifts above the mere rewards. I've been worried that Trion's letting its focus on dynamic content slip as it's been rushing to get other game features and endgame raids out the door, and RIFT without people playing rifts would be sadly ironic. Today we're going to look at just how much RIFT depends on its titular feature, and what Trion should be doing to ensure that it doesn't become another nice yet abandoned idea.
Enter at Your Own Rift: The no-quest challenge
OK, I know you all probably want to talk about the news that addons are coming to RIFT, but the truth is that it's not that big of an issue for me. My feelings on addons are that I'm for them if they enhance the game and encourage player creativity, but I'm against them if they reduce players to mere statistics in the eyes of others (GearScore) or are absolutely necessary to tackle the game's content. So if you feel passionate about this topic, I give you leave to vent more about it in the comments below, but as for me and mine, we're going to look at quests today. More specifically, not doing them. Now, I generally like quests. They give me a feeling of accomplishment (as I am fond of checking off items from my to-do lists in real life), the stories are occasionally interesting, and they give nice boosts to leveling. But I've come to realize something interesting about RIFT that might run under the radar of most: Quests are superfluous to the game. Well, at the very least, they're optional and not the mandatory tasks that most modern MMOs make them out to be. So I had a thought. What about playing RIFT without questing at all -- taking on a "no-quest challenge" of sorts? Is it not only possible but fun too? Hit the jump and we'll examine this from all the angles.
EVE Evolved: Casual gameplay and public groups
I've always held a belief that EVE Online isn't really at its best until I get into a good group. A lot of the most fun gameplay I've experienced over the years has been in a small group of strangers, friends or people who would soon become my friends. The year I spent in faction warfare and the two years I spent on wormhole expeditions with friends were incredibly good times that I look back on fondly. I've even found that the parts of EVE that aren't specifically intended for groups, such as exploration, mission-running, and trading, are a lot more enjoyable if I take a few friends along for the ride. There's no doubt in my mind that EVE is primarily a group game. Two weeks ago, I talked about how EVE is more of a giant social sandbox than a game and that it's EVE's social nature that really motivates people to keep playing in the long-term. The remarkable ability of social communities in MMOs to self-organise when faced with challenges could be a massive asset to EVE's development if used well. When faction warfare was first released, for example, players rapidly organised themselves into fleets. People who had never met each other, many with no PvP experience at all, were soon practicing core fleet maneuvers together as a cohesive unit and facing off against hostile fleets. With nothing but a war declaration, some cosmic anomalies, and a few medals, EVE turned thousands of newbies into four terrifying fighting forces. That is something I'd definitely like to see repeated. In this week's opinion-filled EVE Evolved, I delve into the world of casual gameplay and ask whether new public group activities could dramatically broaden EVE's appeal and keep gameplay fresh.
Enter at Your Own Rift: A case for player housing
Earlier this week we were treated to the news that Trion Worlds is going to offer free character transfers between "select servers" once Update 1.3 hits. Now, how useful this will be is anyone's guess -- as some have noted, this may just be a clever ploy to redistribute the population from high-pop servers to low-pop ones -- but generally it's been met with applause from the community. I remain impressed as a consumer with how fast and aggressive Trion is pumping out content, and the fact that this is a free transfer once per week is really cool considering how most other subscription MMOs charge for a similar "premium" service. Whatever Trion's motive and however it'll play out, I do know this: The company needs to continue to bring the heat to the competition. It's vital that RIFT distinguishes itself from the rest of the pack in some way, whether it be polish, originality, speed, customer service, or innovation. Today I'd like to make a case for what I think should be high up on Trion's development schedule: player housing. We know it's something the devs have discussed, with some very much for and some very much against, but I'm hoping it's gone past the brainstorming phase. Why should we care about what might seem like fluff? How could housing work in RIFT? Tune in after the jump, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel to find out!
Does RIFT want to be a sandbox?
RIFT's launch was the biggest launch of an MMO in years, and unlike flash-in-the-pan MMOs, RIFT continues to innovate the MMO space. Recently, Trion Worlds hosted a massive event, the River of Souls. Granted, there were issues with server queues and players missing the entire event, but that does not negate its creative intentions. In an interview with Game Reactor, Design Director Simon Ffinch said that the team has learned its lesson from the event. "We made some drastic improvements to the way the servers handle large loads of players during that as we reacted to various things," he says. But what is the next step for RIFT? Are the designers looking to add more sandbox elements to the themepark RPG? Ffinch says, "There are definitely some plans for [adding more sandbox elements]. That's actually a personal sort of favorite thing of mine, I'm the one who puts all the puzzles and stuff in and stuff for the explorers to find and stuff that is off the beaten path, that is absolutely my passion." In the same interview, he hints about other sandbox staples like housing. "We actually do talk about [player housing], that does come up quite a lot. Not only is there a lot of players that want that, but a lot of us here in design that want that as well." Catch the latest weather report from Telara after the break, and skip over to Game Reactor to see the whole Simon Ffinch interview.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Looking for groups
Like some of you, I feel that RIFT's Update 1.2 can't get here soon enough. A good content update, in my opinion, has a little something for everyone, and in talking with Trion Worlds last week, I definitely got that feeling from this patch. The team is catering to endgame players with Slivers, build-enthusiasts with a fifth role, rift-runners with new types of dynamic events, and people who aren't content to merely spam my Twitter feed with accomplishments but must now do so from inside Facebook as well. I'd be lying if I said I'm not planning on spending huge amounts of time assembling dashing and fashionable outfits for my characters once the wardrobe is in the game, too. I'm all about outfits in Lord of the Rings Online, so it's great to see RIFT bring this type of system into the game (unlike some other stubborn studios, which shall remain nameless). Players like to feel powerful while looking incredible, and this outfit system will hopefully allay some of the complaints of similar-looking toons. Above all this in Update 1.2 towers one of the biggest changes to the game yet: the Looking for Group (LFG) tool. Designed to assemble teams of players to tackle dungeons and group quests, the LFG tool will certainly change how we play RIFT. Will it be a good change or bad? That's the $1,000,000 question, which I will tackle after these brief messages, by which I mean, "after the jump."
RIFT updates River of Souls world event
RIFT's worldwide River of Souls event, starring the charismatic Alsbeth the Discordant, has been trucking in game for a few days now, but Trion Worlds didn't want to rest on its laurels even so. After evaluating how the event was progressing, the team added a patch yesterday to make a number of improvements and adjustments. The biggest change is that the game is now spawning event-related rifts at a much-increased rate, to the relief of frustrated players looking for a good death rift and finding none. The update also encourages players to stay in level-appropriate zones by not counting closed rifts for the player if the player is far above that zone's level. Trion added several new items to the event merchant, including additional pets and death-themed accessories. It's now easier to purchase these items, as the game is handing out Otherworldly Sourcestone -- the currency for the event -- in increased amounts. The notes also indicate that players will have better chances at big rewards as the River of Souls event progresses, which gives us something to look forward to in the next few weeks! You can read the full patch notes over on the RIFT forums.
Aion double AP event looks to temporarily revitalize endgame
Spend any time at Aion's endgame and you'll quickly realize that everything revolves around Abyss Points (AP). Hitting 55 is really the tip of the iceberg when it comes to PvE progression and the ability to be competitive in PvP, as you'll need plenty of pricey gear and stigmas to stand a chance. AP is so important, in fact, that even PvE mobs in the Abyss and Inggison dole it out. Unfortunately for Daevas everywhere, the AP gods are undeniably stingy. Acquiring a full set of 55 armor, jewelry, and the weapon of your choice literally takes months (or even years) depending on how much AP you manage to farm on a daily basis. NCsoft is temporarily addressing this problem with a new in-game event dubbed For War and Glory. The event's double AP bonuses (and halved AP losses) kick off today and will run through the server reset on March 30th. NCsoft is also tweaking the game's rifting mechanic yet again, and defensive buffs in Heiron and Beluslan will be removed until March 23rd (buffs in Eltnen and Morheim remain). Both events are part of the larger Spring 2011 Reactivation Celebration, which runs from March 24th to March 31st and welcomes back Daevas to "train for the greatest battle this planet has seen yet." Check out all the details on the official Aion website.
The Daily Grind: Is dynamic content the wave of the future?
With the recent launch of RIFT fresh in our minds, one of the key aspects of the game -- the dynamic rifts and invasions -- has a lot of people talking. For some, it's a breath of fresh air to encounter a virtual world that challenges the status (static?) quo by changing the landscape as mobs erupt onto the scene, fight common enemies, and charge into the local towns with the intent of conquering it all. Guild Wars 2 is also holding high the torch of dynamic content with its shifting "events" that will change the game world depending on players' actions or inactions. Players seem intrigued by content that responds to their decisions rather than standing in place and expecting imaginations to fill in the gap. So do you think that dynamic content is the wave of the future for MMOs? Should we expect to see more games develop systems that mold, manipulate and morph the game world around us, or is this just an experiment that will ultimately fall apart? 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!
The Daily Grind: Do betas affect your enjoyment at launch?
MMO betas get a lot of press these days, and whether you feel they've devolved into pre-release marketing campaigns or are serving their original testing purposes, one thing almost everyone can agree on is that open betas (and even some late-stage closed betas) offer a pretty accurate representation of the game you'll be playing at release. This can lead to premature burnout (or at the very least, a bit of boredom once the game goes live), and this phenomenon is particularly noticeable if you play a lot of themepark games where there's a very definite character progression path and an optimum route from zone to zone. Titles like RIFT can build a lot of positive buzz by inviting tire-kickers in to "test" early and often, but the strategy could conceivably backfire if folks feel they've played their fill prior to release. What about you Massively folk? Do you scale back your beta activities so as not to spoil a game's launch, or do you go all out and play a beta as you would a live game? 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!
Trion releases new RIFT CG cinematic
If it wasn't already apparent that Trion Worlds is spending a lot of money on its new RIFT MMORPG, one look at the game's newest trailer should erase all doubts. Up to now, the title's teaser videos have featured in-game footage which, while undeniably pretty, frankly pale in comparison to the CG trailer Trion has just released. The clip features a tense chase and eventual standoff between a pair of Defiants and a Guardian, followed by the activation of an awe-inspiring rift and the arrival of its nasty denizens. As per MMO custom these days, the entire production is liberally laced with over-the-top violence, and serves to amp up the excitement level for fans of fantasy-related combat. Check out all the details after the break and let us know what you think in the comments.
