Notes

Enter At Your Own Rift The Scott Hartsman's AMA Portends For RIFT
The Trion team is nothing if not persistent. In an elaborate plot involving Dr. Pepper and a one-way locked office, the devs were able to lastly get Trion CCO and RIFT Government Producer Scott Hartsman to participate in an Ask Me Something session on Reddit. It was an attractive discussion that touched on a variety of topics, from up and coming titles comparable to End of Nations to Hartsman's journey from GM of the MUD Scepter of Goth to his time with SOE and his current endeavors with Trion. We learned that he is a reasonably hardcore raider, that he plays incognito, and that his raid drink of selection is Grimbergen Blonde. However the focus of the dialog was RIFT, and while he didn't shed a lot mild on the upcoming growth, he did drop a few hints about what we would see in the future. On this week's Enter at Your own Rift, we'll look at some of the highlights!

Free-to-play and RIFT

We're within the age of free-to-play right now, so it is not a shock that one recurring query was about whether we'd finally see RIFT join the ranks of the free. Prior to now, the answer has always been that RIFT was comfortable with its subscription-primarily based model, but throughout the Reddit discussion, Hartsman hinted that Trion would possibly certainly add in one thing resembling free-to-play. He defined:

One of many things that shocked me when we first launched RIFT and have been doing our own research was the number of people that admitted they had been previous Sub-based players solely, who, in 2011 would now merely refuse to play any sport that required a subscription. Obviously there were a lot who had been okay with sub nonetheless existing, however the swing in the overall sentiment was undoubtedly there, and really pronounced. We took that as our problem to make damn sure we had been going to be able to go above and beyond in terms of what folks had been really getting for that sub, which we specific by means of our updates and what they comprise. After we drilled down, the resistance to a sub in 2011 was in no small part because of the overall state of the financial system. The number of people who merely would reply with: "Look, I might like to play - This is precisely my kind of game, but I just plain cannot afford the $15 a month I used to on leisure. It sucks, however I am unable to."
He went on to say that RIFT Lite was one resolution that makes the sport accessible to those that might be tight on money. Later in the discussion, he added that the focus is on the growth and the live recreation, so players shouldn't count on to see a new fee model until after that. It's noteworthy that Trion is exploring ways to create a more flexible plan, but even more eye-opening is the revelation that players have not solely accepted the free-to-play mannequin however anticipate it from modern video games.

Bards, sing and rejoice!

While we all know that Storm Legion will have new souls, one individual asked about whether or not current souls will see any major changes. Hartsman confirmed that souls will probably be tweaked and that the Bard particularly will likely be given some attention. He mentioned he's been playtesting it and his team is taking a look at ways to make it a more fun class to play, notably on raids.

PvPers are like snowflakes

Some players expressed dissatisfaction with the new three-faction Conquest instance and imagine that Trion has neglected its PvP group. Hartsman gave a shocking reply, with somewhat pushback to the oft-heard complaint:
On segmentation.. One thing I've definitely seen since we received Rift off the bottom - is that lots of people use "PvP Participant" as if it was a single minded segment that is simple to handle, "if only we would listen!" I'll use a completely unfair and exaggerated instance just for illustration's sake - It's almost like referring to "The Liquid Drinking Public" and attempting to provide you with one reply that fits all of them - whereas forgetting that even among themselves, there are various, many contradictory opinions.

At this point, there are no less than a dozen types of "PvP gamers" on the market, who all tend to describe themselves as "The PvP Participant." People who assume arenas are the end all be all, however need gear development. Individuals who need TF2 - No gear, simply cosmetics, good balance. Bring your talent only. Individuals who need Frontiers. Individuals who want Alterac Valley. People who for some cause Really loved six hours of "beat up the keep door" in video games up to now (PvDoor? FELA.LONDON Did we just invent a brand new style here?) ...and plenty more.

The very best we are able to do in this world is to make the perfect PvP that we will, that actually matches in our gameplay system, and hope an audience is there to enjoy it. Could we choose one of those pre-existing kinds of PvP and do a extra focused and trendy updated version of it? Completely. But we're trying to make our personal approach. That may yield some enjoyable issues, and there will even be missteps alongside the best way. So - Brief answer. Will we value our PvP gamers? Damn right. Do we plan on persevering with to trying to create and refine our own PvP? Hell yes. Is Anything we do going to make everybody who identifies themself as "a PvP player" completely happy? Not an opportunity. Perhaps half if we're tremendous fortunate.
This reply actually highlights one thing that always will get neglected, which is that we easily determine the wide range of PvE playstyles but do not all the time acknowledge the same to be true of PvP gamers. It is refreshing to hear a recreation designer talk about a few of these totally different playstyles, nevertheless it additionally helps clarify the challenges of constructing a recreation that includes both PvE and PvP content. He went on to say that Conquest took months of labor from the group as a way to create 1,000 participant matches on reside servers and make it work. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, however Trion continues to tweak PvP and plan new PvP content to fulfill a higher variety of PvP playstyles.

Alternate-ruleset servers

One query about permadeath and experience loss led to a curious trace about whether RIFT fans would possibly see some servers with extra hardcore rulesets sooner or later sooner or later. Hartsman posted:
Humorous factor. We now have an inside playtest list that also accumulates random concepts. An identical thought has come up there every so often. Most lately, final month! Never know what the longer term will bring. I do agree, though, that special ruleset/quick lifetime servers may be a really fun thing.
I am intrigued by the idea of a short lifetime server because it's so contrary to the by no means-ending persistance of MMOs. Gamers are used to some type of closure in single-player games, but that's not really the case in MMOs, besides when a sport has to shut down from financial difficulties. If there have been servers with a special ruleset and a pre-ordained, limited lifetime, we might change our strategy to MMOs and how we play.

The state of gaming

A number of questions got here up about MMOs generally and how they've modified through the years. Hartsman supplied his view on not solely the evolution of gaming however the place we might be headed down the highway:
Competitors has gone via the roof, clearly. 10 years in the past, simply getting to launch meant that a reasonably large number of people would no less than test you out. Not so anymore. Following on to that, manufacturing prices of what it takes to get to launch with one thing carried out "the basic approach," that may stir up enough interest to get sufficient individuals to examine you out, have gotten insane and are at the purpose of being unsustainable. I think that, in concert with the very fact that individuals use different online companies (like fb) for social connections, which did not used to exist -- when beforehand many gamers used MMOs as their outlet for "being social, at residence, on a computer" -- has led to the new styles of on-line games which might be centered way more on gameplay -- LoL, Minecraft, and so forth. Tighter targeted games which might be clearly all in regards to the gameplay. I feel we'll continue seeing extra of "online, more focus" and fewer "MMO world that costs virtually a quarter billion dollars."
He went on to explore the subject in a later reply, and i added it right here as a result of I feel it is an interesting level of discussion about whether the hardcore gameplay of early games like Ultima On-line would have been as standard if there had been a large number of MMO choices again then. He defined:
Although no less than inside the industry is the open question: Did it ever even work for UO in any respect as soon as competition existed? Shedding every thing was continuously a death sentence for the client - they'd walk. Some would stay. Many would bail. Provided that, I don't know that it's as black and white of a topic. Is it "the crowd who plays video games now's That much more risk averse" or is it "that it didn't really work even among a large crowd again then; and it only worked as long because it did because it was the only sport in town at that point?" Or something in between? Like I mentioned, I am undoubtedly not the skilled there - Just repeating what I've heard others opine on. Some good individuals have mentioned some good issues on the topic.
I'm only able to highlight just a few quotes here due to column size, but the full Reddit AMA is properly price reading as a result of Scott Hartsman has rather a lot to say about the MMO panorama through the years and the state of the business at this time (including an excellent comparison between Star Wars Galaxies' NGE and EverQuest II's drastic revamp right after launch). And if you're a budding sport designer, he provides up some helpful recommendation as properly. So break out the Dr. Pepper and check it out!

Whether they're retaining the vigil or defying the gods, Karen Bryan and Justin Olivetti save Telara on a weekly basis. Covering all facets of life in RIFT, from solo play to guild raids, their column is devoted to backhanding multidimensional tears so hard that they go crying to their mommas. E mail Karen and Justin for questions, feedback, and adulation.

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