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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!]
Getting down to earth with Stonefield in Rift: Planes of Telara
The team at Trion Worlds has been stepping up its game of late with Rift: Planes of Telara, showing off more and more of the gameplay and zones. The preview of the Fire Rift was appropriately dynamic, but with the most recent preview at Rift Nexus, the game shows off a more grounded region in Stonefield. An early zone for the Defiant faction, the area features battles against both titans and undead for low-level characters on their way through the leveling process. The ancient Eth were responsible for bringing the titans to the land, using them as guards for the precious mines of the area... until the titans raised an army and engaged in a brutal war against their would-be masters. Now the titans are imprisoned within the earth, but their influence still spreads throughout the zone. It's quite possible they're behind the undead that are slowly spreading from Granite Falls, something players will have to investigate for themselves. The description alone doesn't do the zone justice, however, so click past the break for an embedded flythrough of the region. Rift: Planes of Telara doesn't yet have a solid release date, but it's shaping up nicely, especially if it continues to build upon such a solid foundation.
Rift: Planes of Telara unveils the Fire Rift
The newest location revealed for Rift: Planes of Telara is the Fire Rift, and as you can guess, it's going to get pretty hot for Telaran heroes who venture in. The Fire Rift is a landscape of scorched mountains, seas of fire, and volcanoes thousands of feet tall. The inhabitants of the land have adapted nicely, both to the heat and the violent atmosphere. Players will find devils, goblins, fire elementals and even a fiery red dragon -- Maelforge the Flame Sire -- all ready and willing to do battle. Finally, those who take on the Fire Rift will find themselves up against The Wanton, a fanatical dragon cult. The entire area and its citizens should prove to be a dangerous but exciting challenge. Check out the gallery and trailer below for the latest view of Rift: Planes of Telara. %Gallery-99479%
A look at Gamescom 2010: Part two
As promised earlier this week, we present part two of our video series documenting Gamescom 2010 from the good people at Maverick Media. In this one, we have a look at Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online, TERA, End of Nations, The Secret World's amazing booth and Ben before his morning coffee and makeup. If you enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek humor of the first video, you'll certainly love this second video found just after the jump. So check it out and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Rift character creation detailed, with HD videos
We here at Massively are becoming ever more excited for Rift: Planes of Telara. The more information that Trion Worlds reveals about the upcoming fantasy MMORPG, the more we crave. Ciovala, webmaster of Riftnexus.com, sends word of a new hands-on review of the title from the recent Gamescom 2010 in Cologne, Germany. The initial segment of the multi-part article touches on aspects of character creation and the title's user interface, with more to follow on the game world and gameplay in future installments. Much like we did with our own recent Rift hands-on, the reviewer came away impressed. The piece also features two high-definition video segments, both dealing with character customization and both viewable after the cut or on YouTube.
Massively's hands-on with End of Nations' PvE and PvP
You know that scene in Contact in which Jodie Foster is looking out at the cosmos, telling the folks at mission control that they should have sent a poet? All the while I was playing End of Nations at Trion World's Gamer's Day event, I kept thinking, "Massively should have sent a StarCraft guru!" I initially felt very much out of my element. MMOs and RPGs are my shtick; I only rarely dive into turn-based strategy games. And RTS games? Forget it. They don't agree with me. If it doesn't have a pause button, I probably don't have time for it. I'm too easily distractible, too impatient, and too exhausted after a work-day of multi-tasking to spend my playtime multi-tasking even more. There's just no time for cooking meals, browsing lolcats, and chatting with the spouse when you're neck-deep in an RTS. RTS games are serious business; they require my undivided attention and concentration, and I don't like doing things halfway. And yet maybe that makes me just the right person to try out an MMORTS hybrid like Trion's EoN. Most people who give it a spin when it hits the market will probably have a lot in common with me -- they'll be loyalists to one side or the other, not to both. Maybe an RTS novice is just the sort of person who can test out the game, present it to MMO gamers, and explain just what the heck this game thinks it's doing playing around in our end of the pool. Or maybe I'll end up sobbing amidst the charred remains of my tank minions. You'll never know if you don't hit the break! %Gallery-99563%
Massively's hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara's dynamic content
Just a few weeks ago, I was invited to attend Trion Worlds' Gamer's Day in San Francisco to get some hands-on time with a couple of the company's upcoming titles, including Rift: Planes of Telara. If Rift seems to have come out of nowhere, that might be due both to the acquisition of EverQuest II veteran Scott Hartsman to head the project as executive producer, and to a clever name change meant to reflect the team's shift in development focus. In fact, that shift in development focus is precisely what I was at Trion's studio to test -- I got to check out the Rifts themselves in all their glory, in the context of the greater dynamic content system that the developers are so excited about. Massively's writers have been able to play and report on character creation and the starting areas of Rift several times over the last year or so, including earlier this summer at E3. But until today's embargo lift (coinciding with the reveal at Gamescom), no one had quite seen the fabled planar invasions and takeovers in action. Now we have.
Exclusive Rift dev diary unveils the lives and times of Dwarves
They may be short and extraordinarily hairy, but across all fantasy realms, Dwarves have built a reputation as a hardworking race, masters of both ale and craftsmanship. In Rift: Planes of Telara, the Dwarves are a fallen race, even though it was by their hands that the great cities were built. In this exclusive dev diary, Trion Worlds lays out the foundation for the stocky, proud race from the beginning of time up to the start of the game's events. Hit the jump to discover how Rift's dwarves aren't just a stereotype, but a rich and complex people to whom the world owes a great debt.
New Rift: Planes of Telara dungeon detailed
Curious about the dungeon-crawling experiences to be had in Rift: Planes of Telara? We are too, and thanks to new information released today by Trion Worlds, the PvE picture has been made a little bit clearer. Darkening Deeps is the subject of the latest Trion dungeon reveal, and the region plays host to all manner of rift-spawned denizens of the dark. Goblins form the bulk of the foes to be fought in the Deeps, along with water elementals and a mysterious power that calls to all Telaran heroes. In a press release heavy on lore-centric detail but light on gameplay specifics, Trion describes the dungeon as "a vast chasm, choked with smoke and the reek of goblins." Trion also highlights the Gedlo priests, spawned from Fire Rifts and responsible for directing the vast goblin horde. Adventurers looking to explore the region can begin in the Gloamwood Pines, a small village from which several denizens have gone missing. Stay with Massively this month for more Rift: Planes of Telara coverage, as we bring you news and views from tomorrow's Trion Worlds Gamer Day event. %Gallery-99479%
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%
Exclusive video diary of the souls of Rift: Planes of Telara
You could be forgiven for not catching it immediately from our E3 hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara, but there are some unique things going on with the game's class system. It's hardly the first game to allow you to change classes, but the game also goes into combining them, shifting aspects, interplay between multiple class types... it's a maze of inter-relationships. Luckily, we have an exclusive video developer diary from the staff at Trion Worlds that discusses the whole setup at length, giving future players a much clearer overview of how the system works. When players start, they choose one of four Callings -- Warrior, Rogue, Mage, or Cleric -- which determines the player's core playstyle. As they level, they gradually acquire Souls, and it's there that the bulk of a character's abilities come from. It's a fusion of the talent tree system popularized via World of Warcraft with something much more interesting, and the possibilities for mixing the different Souls together can give rise to all sorts of interesting theories. But don't take our word for it -- watch the exclusive developer diary just past the cut.
Rift: Planes of Telara and End of Nations get exclusive comics at Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con is traditionally not known for its game-related content. (The name is something of a dead giveaway.) But this year it's hosting quite a bit of MMO-related content, such as a large NCsoft presence covering Aion, City of Heroes, and Guild Wars 2. Add Rift: Planes of Telara and End of Nations to the mix, as both will be previewing a special comic mini-series with a limited-edition #0 issue at the convention. They've also provided some previews of the rough art for each series, included in the gallery below. Both series will be written by Ricardo Sanchez, with the interior art for Rift: Planes of Telara provided by Pop Mhan and the interior art for End of Nations by Yvel Guichet. Published under the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics, both limited series should be hitting store shelves in the fall, but attendees of SDCC will be getting a special preview. If you're attending, you may well want to pick up a copy, and even if you're not you can take a gander at the rough art in the gallery below. %Gallery-97523%
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 Rift: Planes of Telara
We've had our eye on Rift: Planes of Telara for some time now, especially after getting a little face time with the game back in April. Fortune smiles upon us all once more as Trion Worlds made the trek to E3 to showcase this gorgeous fantasy title. Shouldering our way to the front of the line -- hey, hey, I'm reporting here! -- we took the wheel of an interactive demo while the developers were kind enough to answer a few questions about Rift. Your very first decision in game will be to choose a faction: the Guardians or the Defiant. Both are tasked with saving a world under attack, although they each have their own approach and butt heads against the other in the process. The Guardians are blessed by the gods and are chosen to be their holy knights, while the Defiant take the anti-hero route and rely on their own technology to wage this war. The Defiant had created vast cities in the desert using their magical tech, but they were infiltrated by dragons and saw their great achievements wiped away, reducing them to desert wanderers. There are races unique to each faction, as well as races shared by both. We learned that the Defiant have access to both the Eth (human) and Bahmi (human/elemental) races.
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.
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 Worlds 'Syfy Action MMO' likely coming to consoles; publisher shows off two additional MMOs
Four years and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment capital later, Trion World Network finally has a couple of "connected" games to show ... and a new name, to boot. Now known as Trion Worlds, the company held an event in San Francisco last week to take the wraps off of the Petroglyph-developed "MMORTS" End of Nations and its home-grown MMORPG Rift: Planes of Telara (formerly known as Heroes of Telara). End of Nations is the latest game from the developer of Mytheon, Star Wars: Empire at War and Universe at War, which hopes to break new ground in the RTS genre by introducing elements such as a persistent game world and player-vs-environment battles that support more than 50 players simultaneously. It's set in a near future where resistance fighters battle a totalitarian one world government that possesses superior technology, including battleship-sized tanks called Panzer Hulks. (Check out our End of Nations image gallery for a closer look at the title.) Shown at E3 last year, Rift: Planes of Telara has undergone more than a name change. The game's visuals have improved substantially and its new hook -- "rifts" that appear randomly and spawn creatures from other dimensions -- is something Trion Worlds is focusing heavily on, calling it "dynamic content" that only its server platform can deliver. (Peep the Rift: Planes of Telara image gallery here.) Both games are due out in 2011 and are expected to be playable at E3 in June. The company is also working with Syfy on a hybrid action MMO / TV series believed to be called One Earth. The project is not being shown just yet, but it was revealed that factions and players from the game will be written into the show -- should they emerge victorious in tie-in challenges. We were also told by a Trion World rep that the game, while currently announced only for PC, will likely be released for console platforms. Check out the first concept art from the game in the gallery below. %Gallery-91785%
