trion-world-network
Latest
Rift gets new website, videos detail nightblade and shaman soul trees
Rift: Planes of Telara made its presence felt at Gamescom 2010, and the folks over at RiftNexus.com have captured a couple of the noteworthy reveals on video. Both the shaman and nightblade soul trees were detailed at the event, and, for those new to the world of Telara, souls represent the game's answer to traditional MMORPG classes, albeit with several unique twists. Trion showed off the shaman's skill tree, and the melee cleric is stocked with abilities including the requisite heals and attacks. The shaman soul also appears to have some debuffing capability, as evidenced by the Vengeance of the Frozen ability that reduces both the strength and the dexterity of a given target. RiftNexus also brings us a brief video of the nightblade's skill tree, and it's clear this particular soul owes much to the classic rogue archetype. You can view both videos after the cut or on RiftNexus.com The Rift: Planes of Telara team has also been busy outside of the convention circuit, as a revamped website made its debut this week. Check it out for more information on the classes, world lore, and more. [Thanks to Brennan for the website tip!]
Rift: Planes of Telara announces Sentinel Soul
Information on Trion Worlds' upcoming Rift: Planes of Telara is starting to flow fast and furious, and we couldn't be happier with that fact. In addition to what looks to be a novel take on dynamic gameworld events, the title features unique class elements in the form of Souls. Souls are, in lore terms, the actual souls of dead heroes that the player uses to realize his full potential. In game terms, they fill a role similar to that of the traditional talent tree, albeit with a few twists. Today, the fans at TelaraCentral.com have unearthed some tasty information on the Sentinel Soul. The Sentinel Soul enables players to be defensive clerics, focusing on group support and boasting a strong defense and comparatively weak offense. Head over to TelaraCentral.com for more lore-centric details.
Rift: Planes of Telara unveils Gloamwood
At first glance, the newest zone revealed for Rift: Planes of Telara looks to be marginally more cheerful than the last zone we heard about, but looks can be deceiving. Gloamwood is an area populated by giant spiders, undead shade, goblins, and vampire bats. There's a human village that seems to offer a refuge, but the people of Gloamwood Pines haven't had it easy. Years of grisly murders by an unknown creature have left the villagers fearful and unwelcoming to outsiders, even as they seek their help. The Mathosian Mill is another landmark in Gloamwood. What used to be a profitable mill is overrun by undead, and while some speculate on the possibility of taking it back, it's a daunting prospect at best. These are only a few of many places to explore in Gloamwood. Overall, it looks like this zone will provide both a challenge and some interesting exploration for players. Check out the gallery and trailer video below for a closer look at Gloamwood. %Gallery-99479%
Rift: Planes of Telara introduces the Plane of Death
The world is a dangerous place in Rift: Planes of Telara -- you never know what's going to pop out at you. You could be strolling along and enjoying the scenery, and someone nearby opens a rift. If you're lucky, it will just be a giant or a griffon or something. If you're not, you'll find that a death rift has opened in front of you. The Plane of Death -- the realm of Regulos -- is one of the more unpleasant areas that you might stumble into: "there is nothing of rebirth and healthful change in Regulos's realm. The Plane of Death devours, it erodes the flesh from living bones, stealing vital energy. Its denizens spread slow, painful rot through virulent diseases, or infect the mind with fear, nightmares, or outright compulsion." It's a realm of endless graveyards and familiar creatures such as mummies, zombies, and vampires, as well as some less familiar horrors. The umbral shadow elementals "leave their victims' faces frozen forever in terror," while the lorn, remnants of the glorious Ascended, spread pain and suffering in an effort to recapture who they were. Forewarned is forearmed, and the team at Trion has shared a sneak peek at the Plane of Death. Check out the gallery below and the trailer video after the jump, and get ready to spend some quality time with the followers of Regulos. %Gallery-98073%
Massively Exclusive: A Q&A on Trion's upcoming MMORTS End of Nations
One of Trion Worlds' upcoming games that we've had the chance to experience hands-on recently at E3 and earlier in April is the RTStastic offering, End of Nations. C'mon -- heavy machinery, a dystopian setting, RTS elements, high-explosives.... What's not to like? Well, when they offered us this exclusive developer Q&A on End of Nations, we couldn't resist. We knew we couldn't be the only ones interested in what they have in mind for the future of this fun title. (Editor's Note: They've written the questions and answers, not us. ~Sera) For those who, like us, hunger for a game that will involve large chunks of twisted metal and the ability to play RTS-style with a bunch of friends -- all at the same time -- then you'll definitely enjoy this batch of questions. From their plans for live world events to the burning question of why RTS players might be willing to pay a monthly fee for this game, the development team at Trion Worlds have given us a very solid first Q&A to read. You can check it out in full behind the break, or poke through the gallery of shiny screenshots offered for your eyes below. %Gallery-96732%
Newest Rift trailer highlights Telara's Defiant faction
Opposing factions are a familiar story in the world of MMOs, and the creators of Rift: Planes of Telara are bringing their own world conflict to the forefront with their latest trailer. The Defiant faction of Telara have grown tired of what they view as sitting around waiting on the gods and their representatives to defend them. "The gods have failed us too many times." The Defiant are taking matters into their own hands, using forbidden technology to take the fight to whatever lies beyond the rifts. Follow along after the jump for a look at the trailer, and check out the full story of the Defiant (and the opposing Guardian faction) on the official Rift: Planes of Telara page.
E3 2010: Hands-on with End of Nations
We at Massively have been loving all the hands-on time we've been getting with new games at E3 this year. End of Nations was no exception -- we played through this MMORTS back in April and were eager for a second look. We revisited some features of End of Nations that caught our eye back then, such as the war room, home base, and the announcement feed, then moved on for some more gameplay! While crashing our tank through the local vegetation in an attempt to take down the Order of Nations, we also had the opportunity to ask questions of the Trion team. Follow along after the jump to see what they had to say, and take a look at the gallery for some gameplay photos.
Trion reveals new End of Nations trailer
Civilization as we know it has collapsed. Anarchy reigns. People are dying in the streets. Things are looking desperate when the Order of Nations steps in to restore "security and basic necessities on a global scale." This powerful new organization seems like the answer to the crisis. Unfortunately, "peace comes at a price," according to the new trailer video for End of Nations, the upcoming MMORTS from Trion Worlds. Thanks to our hands-on with End of Nations back in April, we have a pretty clear idea of how gameplay will work, but this trailer gives us the story behind the game. Follow along after the jump to see what you'll be up against once End of Nations launches.
Breaking: Palladium Books sues Trion Worlds over "Rifts" title
Back at the end of April, we heard a fair amount of news from Trion Worlds, including the name change of Heroes of Telara. The name change came about during testing and development as the game's portals or "rifts" emerged as a central feature of the game, inspiring the new name Rift: Planes of Telara. Evidently MMO fans weren't the only ones that heard this news. Palladium Books has filed a lawsuit citing trademark infringement of the name of Palladium's popular long-standing RPG, similarly titled "Rifts." If you're unfamiliar with the title, Palladium's version of Rifts is a PnP game centered around rifts that open on earth, exposing the players to monsters and elements from many other lands -- a very familiar concept. Rifts is Palladium's primary and most familiar IP, so they are understandably anxious to protect it. Not much is known about the lawsuit at this point other than "it was filed." Basic details such as the parties involved and Palladium's sources are available, and we'll keep our eye out for more information over the next few weeks.
This week on The MMO Report
It's Thursday night, which means Uncle Casey and his mailbag are back to review this week in The MMO Report. Casey Schreiner gave us a rundown of all the latest and greatest MMO news. The rundown began with all of Trion's big news from earlier this week, including the newest look at Rift: Planes of Telara, End of Nations, and MMO that ties in with SyFy's One Earth. Star Trek Online's Season One -- the latest batch of content centering around DS9 -- got a look in, as did LotRO's birthday celebration. BioWare's new SW:TOR dev diary earned a "holy crap" from Mr. Schreiner (we agree), and then it was off to the mailbag after a quick stop by the WoW store to check out the newest goodies. Follow along after the jump to take a look, and check out The MMO Report every Thursday at G4TV.
Massively's hands-on with Trion's End of Nations
Trion World recently unveiled a wealth of new information on three of their current projects, including the MMORTS that so many fans have been wondering about. End of Nations is the newly revealed title of this game, and Massively enjoyed a firsthand look at it. End of Nations promises to be a great blend of traditional MMORPG action play and MMORTS strategic play, something that could be tricky to deliver. Can they succeed in offering fans the best of both worlds? Follow along after the jump to see what we found when we played End of Nations.
Massively's hands-on look at Rift: Planes of Telara
While Trion was happy to announce the name change for Heroes of Telara to Rift: Planes of Telara, we were stoked to be able to get our hands on the game for the first time and really see it in motion. We've heard all this talk about delivering dynamic content, high quality "HD content," a deep back story, and an evolving world. But, could Trion deliver all of the hype they were promising? Well, if the titular rifts are any indication of how the rest of the game will progress, then this game seems to be in good hands. Join us as we pilot a cleric through the dangers of Telara, take on a rift from the Plane of Life, and learn just what makes Telara tick. %Gallery-101448%
Trion names upcoming MMORTS, renames Heroes of Telara
If you've been waiting for information on... well, pretty much anything from Trion Worlds, it's your lucky day. Trion has come forth with information about three projects that have gotten a fair amount of attention in the past, but left fans wanting to know much more. To begin with, Heroes of Telara is no longer Heroes of Telara. The game has been renamed Rift: Planes of Telara, a new title that reflects one of the most important mechanics of the game. Trion also revealed a little more information about the mysterious SyFy MMO that they're working on. No elaborate details are forthcoming quite yet, but we now know that it will be an "MMO action game" set on Earth between 50-100 years in the future. Finally, Trion unveiled End of Nations, which they say will be "the world's first premium massively multiplayer real-time strategy game." The fact that the game was an MMORTS has never been a secret, given that Trion actually named the game MMORTS for a while, but we've got a fair amount of new information with the unveiling. The game is aimed at existing fans of the genre rather than looking for converts, so players will be able to jump right into what they enjoy. Check out the full story on End of Nations and Trion's other projects over at Gamasutra.
The Daily Grind: How does your MMO integrate with TV?
The SyFy Channel's television show / massively multiplayer game is definitely a one of a kind idea, but we find ourselves wondering how the whole thing will work. It's really a question of how the two mediums -- one being an MMO and the other being the television show -- will effect one another. A recent, specific quote from a video with Lars Buttler, CEO of Trion World Network and SyFy President David Howe seems telling, "They not only promote each other, they literally depend on each other and co-evolve." Can we expect a game that allows players to alter the course of the show and vice versa? It would seem so, or at least that's what we're hearing in so many words. But we'd like to know what you think, and more specifically what you'd like to see from this decidedly big project. Would you be happy with a television show and MMO that bounced off of each from time to time, or do you want something more from this joint project between Trion and SyFy?
New information about hybrid SyFy MMO and television show
Back in June of 2008, we first heard about a neat little idea from SyFy -- then the Sci-Fi channel -- involving a combination MMO and television show. The project is still going strong as a collaboration between SyFy and Trion World Network, and now has the intriguing working title of One Earth. One Earth has since received financial backing from Peacock Equity, a global fund from NBC Universal and GE dedicated to investing in digital media companies (among other ventures). New video -- featuring Lars Buttler, CEO of Trion and President of SyFy David Howe -- delves deeper into the project. "...we are making this game now with a lot of support from every side," Buttler says. "we can, in this unique setup, do things that other people would never even dare before: create a video game world, a television show, they're based on the same universe, they take place at the same location in the future. They not only promote each other, they literally depend on each other and co-evolve." For the full story and video, take a look here.
Russ Brown talks on Heroes of Telara
Information is scarce on Heroes of Telara, one of Trion World Network's upcoming MMO titles, but Trion's Russ Brown is helping to fill in the gaps by sitting down for an interview and talking about what the game will have to offer.Russ's interview with the MMO Gamer (all the way back from E3, according to Trion's Stephen Reid) is a great read for anyone exciting about the game's "emergent world" possibilities, as Russ talks frankly on how the team can get into the game and hijack the monster AI to control them, or how they can even do little things like have merchants who have limited time sales.Russ also talks about the game's class switching system and subclass system, where you can pair classes with your main class to emphasize or change their traits. If you want more of a fighting paladin than a healing paladin, for example, you could pair the paladin class with the fighter subclass.If you want all of the gritty details though, head on over to the MMO Gamer and check out the full interview. As we said earlier, it's worth the read.[Via MMORPG.com]
Trion World Network hiring for PS3 MMO development
Whenever we post about MMO developer Trion World Network, two facts inevitably come up: It's working on some mysterious TV show/MMO for (ugh) SyFy It raised $100 million We mostly like mentioning the $100 million because we enjoy thinking about the possibility of just convincing people to give us a bunch of money, but both of these facts are entirely relevant to the latest development out of the company. Trion is using some of that money, according to job listings on its site, for PlayStation 3 developers, including Senior Programmer, Senior Graphics Programmer, and Interface Designer. All of these new hires will be working on the SyFy project, meaning that Trion is planning to bring the MMO to PS3.Now all we need to know is anything at all about this game.[Via Massively]
Trion World Network hiring PS3 programmers for SyFy Network MMO?
What's this? Well, it looks like the developer behind the new SyFy Network MMO and Heroes of Telara is looking to branch out from the PC world. In a swath of new job openings, the new developer is also seeking to hire those with PlayStation 3 experience.More specifically, Trion is seeking a PS3 graphics programmer, senior programmer, and interface designer. Three very important things if you're looking to perhaps move a game across platforms. All of the job listings are specifically mentioning the SyFy Network project, so it looks like we might be seeing some sort of downloadable MMO that will be appearing on the system.The SyFy Network MMO will be tied into a television show, and it will be an action RPG, so it only figures that they want to take a more television/console oriented approach with the game. Watch the TV show, then boot up your PS3 and play the game. Sounds like a perfect match, if you ask us.
Emergent behavior to be produced in Trion's Heroes of Telara
Trion World Network is trying a very different approach with their fantasy based MMO, Heroes of Telara, by pushing into an area currently untouched by most MMOs -- emergence.Emergence is one of the aspects that many MMOs aspired to, only to drop in favor of static storytelling. The problem with emergence is that simple decisions would have a compounding impact on the world. Heroes would solve problems, only to perhaps create further problems with their implemented solutions. Most game architecture can't handle decision making of that nature, as it would need developers to constantly code in the new events that would occur.However, Heroes of Telara seems to be aspiring to that using server-side gaming. Their proposed method, as it appears in an interview between Trion's CEO, Lars Buttler, and GamesIndustry.biz, is to run the game entirely server side, letting developers change and alter the game on the fly. As Buttler puts it, "There are small events, there are big events, there is even emergent behaviour in the game that changes the game world. A lot of it is not even known to us, it's like the ghost in the machine. The game is almost alive, and that allows you to create heroes."
E3 2009: Impressions of Heroes of Telara
To be honest, when the Heroes of Telara trailer first released, much of what we heard was "been there done that" from readers and friends. "Fantasy has been done to death" was another. That's why we were glad to see the game actually in play behind closed doors this last week at the Trion World Network space at E3. While we only saw a pre-alpha copy of the game (and would point out that it's what they used for the trailer) it's certainly raised our interest over the initial impression we had. In motion, Heroes of Telara actually made some of us of think of an updated, shinier version of Guild Wars in terms of very pretty and highly-detailed stylized (yet somewhat realistic) graphics. As was explained to us by Chris Mancil, the Director of Community Management for Trion, one of the largest things that they feel will set Heroes of Telara apart from many others is that they are working to keep the game server-based. Their plan is to attempt to keep most of the "action" server side as is possible so that they can add new events into the game without having to send along enormous patches to players all the time. All assets will still reside client side, but they'll be able to manipulate game-play by telling the client to modify where things spawn, how things interact, and the like. From little things like different vendors having sales to large zone-wide events, it will allow them to change anything and everything on the fly and make Heroes of Telara feel more like it's taking place in a living, breathing, dynamic world that players will want to "live in, explore, and play." %Gallery-64646% %Gallery-64649%
