Tag: Rift

Reports Of Trion Layoffs Grossly Exaggerated


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Rumors of Trion’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. IGN found this out the hard way when their reports that Trion had laid off 80% of its work force, escorting staff from the premises as well as denying severance to several senior leaders due to undelivered services, turned out to be a complete farce.

The actual number of laid off employees has not been revealed, although Trion has confirmed during a stream that the Rift team was not affected. The Defiance team, on the other hand, has undergone a round of layoffs of the type expected by a recently launched game. Trion’s in-development games were reportedly not affected either.

(Source: IGN)

Rift Is Heading Free To Play On June 12th


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It must be Christmas. Rift, the MMO that served as one of the few remaining bastions of an age of subscription-only MMOs, has announced that it will be making the transition this June. June 12th to be exact. What can players expect to get for free? As far as core content goes, everything:

All of our content is available completely for free: every quest, every chronicle, every dungeon, every continent, every level, and every raid. You can level to 60 without spending a dime. You can earn the best gear in the game without giving us a credit card. No tricks; no traps.

The Rift cash shop will sell boosts, mounts, costumes, treasure boxes, etc. Trion has revealed that gear will be available for sale with the best gear only available in-game as drops. Massively.com has an excellent interview with Bill Fisher at the link below.

(Source: Massively Interview)

Rift Shutting Down In Korea


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Games developed in the west that are then brought over to the east have a tendency to not break into the market enough to sustain profitibility. Rift’s death in Korea has arguably been written on the walls ever since Trion announced that the game would still be operating with a subscription despite the market’s heavy focus on free to play games with cash shops. Even World of Warcraft operates on a pay by the hour model in Asia.

So it comes as not so much of a surprise that Rift didn’t catch on in Korea. MMO Culture is reporting that Rift is being shut down under CJ E&M on April 25th, and players will be refunded for any subscriptions charged past April 17th and that the web shop will be closed March 28th. Rift has just recently gone into open beta in preparation for release in China.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Raptr Increases Rift Player Retention


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Last year, Trion partnered with Raptr to bring exclusive Rift rewards to the game-tracking platform. By playing Rift, or other qualifying games, and ranking up in Raptr’s system, players were able to get their hands on a free copy of Rift. Through ranking up in Rift, they were then able to obtain some exclusive items, including pets, mounts, and a digital upgrade. In a case study posted on the Raptr website, the promotion went very well.

The goal of RIFT’s Raptr Rewards program was two-fold: attract new players into the RIFT universe, and give existing Rift players more reason to return or to further engage with the game. To meet both these targets, Trion Worlds and Raptr offered four distinct tiers of rewards based on a player’s activity levels within RIFT or other related role-playing games.

According to the case study, Rift saw a 470% increase in daily active numbers, with daily playtime per player increasing 58%. The entire case study can be read at the link below, but the final conclusion is that when developers give back to their community, either by lowering the barrier of access or by giving incentives to continue playing, everyone ultimately benefits. Also not specifically noted would be the conclusion that everyone loves swag.

(Source: Raptr)

Trion Removes Falling Damage


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When you have a game centered around exploration, taking a tumble off the side of a cliff can be, well, deadly. One criticism players have held with Rift is over the fact that their character’s bones are made out of crepe paper, as it is apparently rather easy to die from falling off of low heights. In response, Trion added this little note into hotfix #2 for patch 2.1 earlier this month:

Taking damage from falling should be slightly more survivable.

Oh patch notes, you are so silly. The “slightly” is a bit of an understatement, as it is impossible to die after leaping from off of a cliff (unless of course you fall into a pit of spikes or, say, a bag of vipers). Not everyone was entirely pleased with the response of removing fall damage, and Daglar from Rift posted on the forums to explain the update:

When we looked at falling damage, it wasn’t from the perspective of “Zomgz lets dumb down the game because people will fall and then quit” – it was “Will removing this make the game as a whole more enjoyable for the most amount of people, and does it fit into what RIFT is.”

Falling damage, much like the dodo, is gone for good in Rift.

(Source: Rift Forums)

Rift Hit Hard By Layoffs At Trion


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The Christmas season just gets worse for game developers. Trion Worlds has confirmed that a number of people have been laid off “in response to market conditions, product timelines and the natural evolution of our company,” although the developer has not offered an exact number. Trion does not offer figures such as concurrent subscriptions or expansion sales. Rift’s latest expansion, Storm Legion, launched last month. More recently, Trion took control of End of Nations from developer Petroglyph, who suffered layoffs of their own.

We wish the best for Trion’s ex-employees. Numbers by an ex-employee point the layoffs at around 40.

(Source: Gamasutra)

Steam Summer Sales Assault The Wallet


It’s sale time, so get out your wallet and replace the next month’s meals with Ramen because this year is looking fantastic. Right now there aren’t many deals in the MMO realm to speak of, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get in the fun! Check out the current sales below. Remember, as always, prices are in USD and may vary by region. MMO Fallout does not guarantee that items are not region locked, so please read carefully before making your purchase.

Raptr Giving Away 10,000 Copies of Rift


It’s Corgi time. Do you use Raptr? If you aren’t familiar with the program, Raptr runs on your desktop and tracks your game usage over the PC, PS3 and Xbox360. In essence, Ratpr is quite similar to Xfire, except it also tracks your Xbox/Playstation achievements/trophies. As you play your games more and achieve not just time played but achievements in-game as well, you have the opportunity to unlock rewards (generally in the form of virtual items and coupons for tech gear).

If you achieve “experienced” in any of the games below, you will be able to claim a free copy of Rift. Claim your copy of Rift and rank up on that in Raptr to also claim a free digital upgrade to the collector’s edition and a free pair of Dwarven Smithy goggles. Sorry, folks, the rewards system is in beta and is only available in the US, Canada, UK, France, and Germany.

EVE Online (PC)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC)
Aion (PC)
EverQuest 2 (PC)
Diablo III (PC)
World of Tanks (PC)
Champions Online (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)
The Witcher 2 (PC)
Diablo III Beta (PC)
League of Legends (PC)
Everquest (PC)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
The Lord Of The Rings Online (PC)

Rift Introduces Three Faction PvP


Check your pulse, we all may be collectively hallucinating. In an almost unexpected move, Trion has announced the impending release of three faction, cross server PvP in the form of Conquest. Not only will players be pledging their allegiance to one of three factions, they will be battling it out for domination of control points in an open world battlefield.

Three faction PvP is an oft-requested feature for fans of player-vs-player conflict, and a very unconventional move for a game like Rift to take. We’ll find out at Rift hits the public test realm.

(Source: Rift Website)

Return To Telara For One Week


Good news, Telarans. Well, ex-Telarans. It’s been one year since Rift launched, and Trion wants to bring back all of its past subscribers, even those above level 20. Starting today, March 8th, and running until March 14th, anyone with a past subscription to Rift will find their accounts reactivated to join in the festivities. Take part in carnival games, enjoy the festivities, or just go back to your grind.

After the 14th, accounts without a subscription will revert back to Rift Lite, and any character that is above level 20 will be inaccessible without a subscription.

(Source: Rift)