Enter At Your Own Rift: What Scott Harsman's AMA Means For RIFTS

The Trion group is nothing if not persistent. In an elaborate plot involving Dr. Pepper and a one-means locked workplace, the devs were capable of finally get Trion CCO and RIFT Government Producer Scott Hartsman to take part in an Ask Me Something session on Reddit. It was an interesting discussion that touched on a variety of matters, from up and coming titles comparable to Finish 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 realized that he is a reasonably hardcore raider, that he plays incognito, and that his raid drink of choice is Grimbergen Blonde. However the main target of the dialog was RIFT, and whereas he didn't shed a lot gentle on the upcoming growth, he did drop a number of hints about what we would see sooner or later. In this week's Enter at Your individual Rift, we'll take a look at among the highlights!

Free-to-play and RIFT

We're in the age of free-to-play proper now, so it is not a shock that one recurring question was about whether or not we might eventually see RIFT join the ranks of the free. Prior to now, the answer has always been that RIFT was comfortable with its subscription-based mannequin, but in the course of the Reddit discussion, Hartsman hinted that Trion might certainly add in one thing resembling free-to-play. He defined:

One of many things that shocked me when we first launched RIFT and were doing our personal analysis was the number of people who admitted they have been earlier Sub-primarily based avid gamers only, who, in 2011 would now simply refuse to play any sport that required a subscription. Clearly there were lots who were okay with sub nonetheless present, however the swing in the final sentiment was positively there, and very pronounced. We took that as our challenge to make rattling positive we were going to be able to go above and past by way of what individuals have been actually getting for that sub, which we express via our updates and what they comprise. When we drilled down, the resistance to a sub in 2011 was in no small half due to the overall state of the economic system. The quantity of people that merely would reply with: "Look, I would love to play - This is precisely my kind of game, however I simply plain cannot afford the $15 a month I used to on entertainment. It sucks, however I can not."
He went on to say that RIFT Lite was one solution that makes the sport accessible to those that is likely to be tight on cash. Later within the dialogue, he added that the main target is on the expansion and the dwell recreation, so players shouldn't anticipate to see a brand new fee model until after that. It's noteworthy that Trion is exploring methods to create a more flexible plan, however much more eye-opening is the revelation that players haven't solely accepted the free-to-play mannequin but expect it from fashionable video games.

Bards, sing and rejoice!

While we all know that Storm Legion can have new souls, one individual requested about whether present souls will see any major adjustments. Hartsman confirmed that souls can be tweaked and that the Bard in particular will likely be given some consideration. He mentioned he's been playtesting it and his staff is looking at methods to make it a more fun class to play, notably on raids.

PvPers are like snowflakes

Some gamers expressed dissatisfaction with the brand new three-faction Conquest instance and believe that Trion has neglected its PvP group. Hartsman gave a stunning reply, with a little bit pushback to the oft-heard complaint:
On segmentation.. One thing I've undoubtedly observed since we got Rift off the bottom - is that lots of people use "PvP Participant" as if it was a single minded phase that's straightforward to address, "if only we'd pay attention!" I will use a completely unfair and exaggerated example just for illustration's sake - It's almost like referring to "The Liquid Drinking Public" and trying to provide you with one reply that matches them all - while forgetting that even amongst themselves, there are various, many contradictory opinions.

At this point, there are at least a dozen forms of "PvP gamers" out there, who all have a tendency to explain themselves as "The PvP Participant." Individuals who assume arenas are the end all be all, but want gear development. People who need TF2 - No gear, simply cosmetics, good steadiness. Convey your ability solely. Individuals who need Frontiers. People who want Alterac Valley. Individuals who for some cause Actually enjoyed six hours of "beat up the keep door" in video games in the past (PvDoor? Did we just invent a brand new genre right here?) Game servers ...and a lot more.

The best we are able to do on this world is to make one of the best PvP that we will, that actually matches in our gameplay system, and hope an audience is there to get pleasure from it. Could we pick a type of pre-current sorts of PvP and do a extra focused and fashionable updated model of it? Absolutely. However we're making an attempt to make our own means. That may yield some enjoyable things, and there'll even be missteps alongside the way. So - Brief reply. Will we value our PvP gamers? Damn proper. Can we plan on continuing to attempting to create and refine our own PvP? Hell sure. Is Anything we do going to make everyone who identifies themself as "a PvP participant" glad? Not a chance. Perhaps half if we're super fortunate.
This reply really highlights one thing that often gets missed, which is that we simply establish the wide range of PvE playstyles but don't all the time acknowledge the identical to be true of PvP players. It is refreshing to listen to a game designer speak about some of those totally different playstyles, but it additionally helps clarify the challenges of making a sport that includes each PvE and PvP content material. He went on to say that Conquest took months of work from the group with a purpose to create 1,000 player matches on stay servers and make it work. It might not be everybody's cup of tea, however Trion continues to tweak PvP and plan new PvP content material to satisfy a greater number of PvP playstyles.

Alternate-ruleset servers

One query about permadeath and experience loss led to a curious trace about whether or not RIFT followers may see some servers with more hardcore rulesets sooner or later in the future. Hartsman posted:
Funny factor. We've an inside playtest list that also accumulates random ideas. An analogous concept has come up there every now and then. Most just lately, final month! Never know what the longer term will bring. I do agree, though, that particular ruleset/quick lifetime servers could be a extremely fun factor.
I am intrigued by the thought of a brief lifetime server because it is so contrary to the by no means-ending persistance of MMOs. Gamers are used to some form of closure in single-participant video games, but that is not really the case in MMOs, besides when a sport has to shut down from financial difficulties. If there were servers with a particular ruleset and a pre-ordained, limited lifetime, we might change our approach to MMOs and how we play.

The state of gaming

Several questions got here up about MMOs typically and how they've changed through the years. Hartsman provided his view on not solely the evolution of gaming but where we might be headed down the street:
Competitors has gone via the roof, clearly. 10 years ago, simply attending to launch meant that a pretty big number of people would not less than verify you out. Not so anymore. Following on to that, production costs of what it takes to get to launch with something carried out "the traditional manner," that can stir up enough curiosity to get sufficient people to check you out, have gotten insane and are at the point of being unsustainable. I feel that, in concert with the fact that folks use other on-line services (like fb) for social connections, which did not used to exist -- when beforehand many players used MMOs as their outlet for "being social, at home, on a pc" -- has led to the brand new styles of online video games that are centered way more on gameplay -- LoL, Minecraft, and so on. Tighter targeted video games which might be clearly all concerning the gameplay. I think we'll proceed seeing more of "online, more focus" and less "MMO world that prices practically a quarter billion dollars."
He went on to discover the subject in a later reply, and that i added it right here because I feel it is an interesting level of debate about whether or not the hardcore gameplay of early games like Ultima On-line would have been as well-liked if there had been a large number of MMO decisions back then. He defined:
Though at the least contained in the industry is the open question: Did it ever even work for UO in any respect once competition existed? Shedding everything was continuously a dying sentence for the shopper - they'd stroll. Some would keep. Many would bail. Provided that, I don't know that it's as black and white of a subject. Is it "the gang who performs video games now is That much more threat averse" or is it "that it didn't actually work even among a big crowd again then; and it solely worked as long as it did as a result of it was the one recreation in town at that time?" Or something in between? Like I said, I am positively not the expert there - Simply repeating what I've heard others opine on. Some smart folks have mentioned some sensible issues on the subject.
I'm solely ready to highlight a few quotes right here because of column length, however the complete Reddit AMA is properly value studying because Scott Hartsman has so much to say in regards to the MMO landscape over time and the state of the trade at present (including an excellent comparability between Star Wars Galaxies' NGE and EverQuest II's drastic revamp proper after launch). And if you are a budding sport designer, he affords up some beneficial recommendation as effectively. So break out the Dr. Pepper and check it out!

Whether or not they're keeping the vigil or defying the gods, Karen Bryan and Justin Olivetti save Telara on a weekly basis. Covering all points of life in RIFT, from solo play to guild raids, their column is dedicated to backhanding multidimensional tears so hard that they go crying to their mommas. Electronic mail Karen and Justin for questions, comments, and adulation.