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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!
Enter at your own Rift: Checking out Update 1.3
The calm before the storm. That's the best way to describe the RIFT screenshot above. As I puttered around and wasted time trying to frame my screenshot from the ideal angle, working that nomad model to his full potential, I was seconds away from a zone event opening up on my head. Instantly, about 50 gigantic desert warriors emerged to attack us for their leader's amusement. And for the next half hour, Fortune's Shore was overrun with warriors, stone golems, and dog people. Fortune's Shore isn't the only place to experience chaos and danger, though. Whatever the Dwarves did in Hammerknell, it's finally caught up with them -- and with all of Telara. Abyssal and Endless Court forces are posing a real threat, and the Ascended are now tasked with repelling the invasions and charging back into Hammerknell. In this week's Enter at your Own Rift, we'll look at a few of the changes from Update 1.3. Read on for a look at tithes, character transfers, trial servers, and towering colossi!
Enter at Your Own Rift: Necessary diversions
I have to begin by saying that I really enjoyed Justin's column last week about the "no quest" challenge. It's actually a philosophy that I've subscribed to for almost a decade now, going back to my first time grouped with a somersaulting Dwarf in EverQuest who advised me to stand against the zone wall in West Commonlands while he chain-pulled spiders and skeletons over to me to kill for experience. Ironically, I've quested more in RIFT than I have in any other MMO. It's not that I find it faster to level; it's that I actually enjoy the lore behind the quests, another area that I have tended to ignore in other MMOs. Questing can be extremely frustrating for me, though, because I'll almost always bump into someone else doing the exact same quests as me, and yet he won't group up and join forces, even with the luxury of the public quest button. So when I reach my limit in trying to politely suggest to people that we group only to get a few grunts in reply, I decide to take a breather from questing and find an outlet for my frustration. PvP would be the natural choice except that I'd get my rear handed to me on a platter, adding insult to injury. Luckily, there are lots of fun little mini-diversions in RIFT that give me an opportunity to burn off some steam and have fun at the same time. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, we'll look at a few of them, from prize fighting to centaur racing.
