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RIFT's Ffinch hopes Trion gives the game 'as a gift to the community'
RIFT likely has a long life ahead of it, but if senior design director Simon Ffinch has his way, Trion's fantasy themepark will never die. "So this is probably going to get me into all sorts of trouble, but I would hope that when that day comes, as we've talked about -- many years in the future -- I would hope that Trion shows that it's the company that I truly believe it to be and gives RIFT as a gift to the community," Ffinch recently told GamerZines.com. "That would be the way I'd like to see RIFT go. It's like, 'guys thank you for playing for the past 20 years, here's the server code. Run it if you wish.'" [Thanks Andy!]
RIFT's Ffinch on monetization and playing incognito
RIFT senior design director Simon Ffinch spoke to PCGamesN about the fantasy title's free-to-play conversion recently. Ffinch said the switch has "been amazing," and he also offers a few quotables with regard to both F2P discourse and the perils of playing a game you've developed. "I just hate that word 'monetize,' Ffinch said. "'Let's monetize our players!' They're people and they're playing a game because they want to have fun, they're not a frickin' ATM machine. I don't like that attitude at all, and in the business world you can't help but hear it." He also drops a few interesting tidbits about his in-game experiences. "I'm in a guild and they don't even know I'm a dev," Ffinch says, before adding that he avoids voice chat but tries to "gently probe" his fellow players for useful feedback. "Some of the responses just make me glow inside," Ffinch explains," but then there's also the other side of it, when they respond with 'I don't know what those devs were doing, they're frickin retarded!'"
RIFT 3.0 will increase level cap, possibly introduce PvP dimensions
Excitement is building for RIFT 3.0, the unnamed second expansion for the game. While we've known that it will include a combat pet system, new souls, and better item advancement, today we have gotten official confirmation of two additional key features: a level cap increase and PvP dimensions. Rift Junkies translated a video from buffed.de in which Trion Worlds Senior Design Director Simon Ffinch dished out the juicy details. He confirmed that players will have five new levels to add, increasing the level cap to 65. He also revealed that the team is working on PvP player dimensions, although it's not clear whether this will be finished in time for 3.0. These will allow players to customize and operate their dimensions for PvP deathmatches. Ffinch said that while RIFT 3.0 is an expansion, it will only be offered digitally. It will also be free except for the new souls which, as with Storm Legion's souls, will be sold through the in-game store.
Trion's Ffinch talks RIFT's 2013 updates
Trion Senior Design Director Simon Ffinch recently gave an interview at OnRPG.com concerning the future of RIFT. As you're probably aware, the fantasy title just celebrated its second anniversary, and Ffinch was asked about the firm's big plans for 2013 and beyond. "We do have updates planned out for RIFT well into next year with some really exciting and much requested things for the players to experience," Ffinch said. "We will be expanding on all the features we have in the game right now and exploring a host of new ones." Ffinch also hinted at some extra-Teleran adventures. "Telara itself will actually enjoy a period of peace and tranquility, but the Ascended will be needed more than ever... uh... elsewhere, to make sure it remains this way. I will just leave it at that," he teased.
PAX 2011: RIFT sifts through the Ashes of History
PAX has come and gone, but the good news keeps pouring out. Over the weekend, RIFT fan site Rift Junkies got the opportunity to grill Trion's Simon Ffinch and Hal Hanlin about the show itself and the upcoming 1.5 patch. Generally, the devs were pleased to see the crowds pack around Trion's booth, especially since playable stations were always full. They noted that many current RIFT players came to log into their accounts and show off the game to newcomers. Patch 1.5 was a major focus of the interview, and Ffinch and Hanlin said that casual players should rejoice at its approach. Tentatively scheduled for September, 1.5 will include the new Chronicles system that has solo or duoing players exploring hand-crafted instances. These instances are designed to be "snapshots" of the larger raids they're associated with, and will give both casuals and raiders a better glimpse into the lore behind the setting. For example, the Hammerknell Chronicle will tell the story of how the king and prince become corrupted. The patch, which is called Ashes of History, will also include the new planar attunement trees ("It's the players beginning to start taking controls of the powers of the planes," Ffinch explained) and the super-tough "master mode" for dungeons. It's interesting to note that this patch is setting the groundwork for the exploration of a larger Telara, as players will begin to find and renovate items that will eventually allow them to head to new zones. Hit the jump to watch the full interview!
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.
Massively Exclusive: Simon Ffinch on RIFT's game update
Just one month after launch, Trion is set to unveil its first major game update for RIFT. One of the biggest parts of the update is the launch of the new 20-man raid zone, The River of Souls, and there is a week-long in-game event that highlights the storyline and kicks things off. Also included in the update are several adjustments to the souls and even some changes to the way rift loot is awarded. To chat about these goodies and more, Massively sat down with Simon Ffinch, Design Director for RIFT. Read on to hear him discuss some details about the in-game event as well as the new raid zone, an update on security, and a hint at what's planned down the road.
Trion Worlds Senior Designer guests on newest Rift podcast
The newest edition of The Rift Podcast has a special guest. Trion Worlds' Senior Designer Simon Ffinch joined the hosts of the Rift: Planes of Telara podcast to give some details on the quest system and more. The quest system is something players have been very interested in, so all these new details were very welcome. Simon covered a lot of ground, providing information on the different types and difficulty levels of quests, starting areas, guild-specific quests and much more. On a lighter note, he also addressed the question of his username "Dead Simon." All in all it's a fun listen for Rift: Planes of Telara fans and a nice source of new information.
