[Off Topic] UPCOMING 3.0 Livestream reveal!

Live Stream Reveal

 

     Holy spawn of Regulos! I just got done watching the Live stream that happened just this recently ended Friday (yesterday) and I am totally blown away! I must honestly say, I did NOT see ANY of this coming! Maybe I bury my head in the sand too much with the games I play? Or maybe I'm just so busy with everything else in my life that I don't have time to pay attention to stuff that is not relevant right at the moment...whatever the case is, I'm in shock and incredibly...THRILLED! about what's coming! Seriously, I'm thrilled. So excited. I can't state that enough! I didn't watch the Livestream last night sadly because, honestly, I forgot about it for one thing. And for another, the time it was being broadcasted was the time that I had to leave for work sadly. And I didn't get off work until 11pm my time (I think it's central? Or maybe mountain time?) but oh well, at least they keep it saved so I can view it later!

 

     While searching for internet pics for my latest lore section, I came across a pic of what looked like a cut away section of water, with "Plane of Water, next expansion" above it and that led me to the Live stream archive! There's SOOOOO much info that they released in this stream, it's insane! So here's my attempt at categorizing it!

 

Potential new content/info/things to come in Rift:

• 4 new souls!! A healer rogue (zomg for real?), a tanking mage (ugh, lousy mages always demanding the ability to tank), a healing warrior (that just seems bizarre!) and a support cleric (that one makes the most sense...)
• Venturing into the Plane of Water! Holy fudge! We actually get to visit one of the Planes! I wonder what that means lorewise...will we venture through a rift? Open a rift of our own? Maybe technology will pave the way? or the gods will show us? Oooooo I can't wait to find out more!
• More functionality for pets?! Oh wow, that sounds neat! I just hope that it doesn't turn out like WoW's version of Pokémon...bleh! But having "familiars" sounds so cool! Especially for mages. I can see all kinds of RP potential for that!
• More zones, dungeons, quests, mobs! Oo, my most favorite part about new content is all the new and fun things to explore! This also breeds more unique shinies, puzzles, armor, achievements, titles, pets, etc etc! Ooo goody!
• Fishing crafting Rifts! Not sure how I feel about that! Although it does fit nicely into the whole Water theme. It sounds like it could potentially be fun. I just hope it doesn't get daily/grindy. I really hate dailies...

     Interesting extra tidbits to take away from the Livestream: The Plane of Water 3.0 expansion thingy will not just focus on water-themed content! There will be emphasis on dreams, madness, ice, etc.  That seems very promising and I am looking forward to the all kinds of content that could come from that. And one of CaptainCurser's comments about "dream people" was really interesting there before he left. They did mention something about underwater mounts, but I'm not sure if that means it's going to happen or if it was just an acknowledgement of the players desires. And they also mentioned that they will work on making the Plane of Water a fun place and not a place where you're constantly swimming around underwater. Personally, I loathe swimming underwater in Rift and WoW...There was also some random murmurs in the background about fortifications that resemble keeps or citadels? I'm not sure what to take from that because I'm not familiar with that sort of thing and end game stuff. Also, they mentioned something about a new Chronicle that doesn't require 2 people and will be more story/lore ish and less about the stabbity kill stuff. Which sounds awesome. Maybe like the Attunement Chronicle?

 

     All in all, what an exciting hour of info I just watched. It sounds incredibly promising and fun and I'm glad I decided to stick it out with Trion instead of fold when I heard about their F2P decision. Although I must point out, the livestream was actually quite frustrating to watch because of the trouble hearing the actual information being given. The in game volume was so loud, it was driving me crazy, and all the pointless babble and time wasting was quite annoying as well. Other than that, I'm just pleased to have learned about this!

 

Thanks Trion, you're amazing and I look forward for more stuff to play with in game!

~Verhysa

[Off Topic] Rogue Soul Reveal!

I just finished watching the reveal for the new rogue soul, which I think is called Tactician. Although silly me, I watched it at 5 in the morning so what I put here may or may not be coherent enough to explain it properly. So far, from what I've seen of the Livestream, I can gather that the Tactician(sp?) is going to be a sort of semi ranged rogue soul. It appears to work a lot like a mix between a Saboteur and a Bard. Which is totally okay, I love both. In fact, I love all the souls of all the classes in the game. Strange eh? But anyway, back to the Tactician. It seems to us a lot of technology and less of the blade and bow method. Some new terms and new abilities I noted, including "turrets" "cores" "remotes" and "flamethrowers". Which by the way, makes the one Saboteur in my guild crazy happy...just what we need, a trigger happy bomb specialist with more toys to work with...

The Tactician appears to be able to do healing and damage, and seems to excel in a group setting more than a solo setting, much like the bard. It compliments the Bard also in the way that it is a support class. I'm okay with that. After all, mages have 2 support classes-Archon and Dominator- so it shouldn't matter if rogues have 2.

Another thing I noticed was the cosmetics. The armor that Elrar was wearing on his Tactician is darn sexy, wow. *purrs happily*. That is just what I was hoping for in the expansion. That they would expand and branch out on the armor color and design! Cause that armor is fantastic! It reminds me of something from Marvel comics. Pretty neat! And don't even get me started on those mounts! I saw a bear, strange new raptors, the flying pink thing, different horses, all kinds of new things! And I haven't even collected half of the unique mounts in the game yet, darn! My favorite is still going to be just the ordinary black horse though.

The scenery in the Livestream was gorgeous. Amazing! Expansive. Realistic. Everything and more that I'd expect from Rift! Everything just seems soooo....awesome. My fingers itch to explore the new Telara. Which reminds me....is the world Telara, or just the continent we are on now? Hmm, I should have to ask that on the forums at one point.

And lastly, I have to say I was greatly amused by the antics of other players. Apparently the Beta servers are verrrrrry busy and populated. And everyone seems to stick to Elrar's character like a magnet. It was so amusing watching the players zipping after him as if attached by elastic band. He couldn't seem to shake them lol! It was so funny and cute. I would go stir crazy before too long if I was any of the Devs or GM's. Constantly having an audience following your every move is liable to give you either a giant ego or a serious need for therapy and a quite corner. Or perhaps both? *shrug*

Bear mounts that apparently will be
available in the expansion!

All in all, I didn't mind this reveal. It went much better than the last one, which I thought was a complete waste of my time. The Warrior reveal was so disappointing that it makes me mad just thinking about it. And warrior is my favorite class too. Grrr, they totally wasted the entire 40 minutes of Livestream doing stupid pointless things and nattering on about nothing. I'm not sure if that was deliberate or not, but either way it was very annoying. I'm glad they've got their stuff together this time, although they spent a lot of time stumbling over what they wanted to say. I don't know if that was to kill time, or if they didn't actually prepare speeches before hand. Every reveal I've watched so far has seemed like a last minute event that they planned on the way to Subway and hashed together in a tiny study room a half hour before going live. That's what it feels like! Come on Trion, we love you and all, but try to act a bit more serious and professional! That's all I ask.

After watching the live reveal for the rogue, I am very much in love with them. More so than before. And I am super duper off the wall excited for SL. Of course I was before too, but every little snippet I watch makes me thirsty for more! But at the same time, I don't want to see it because I want to be surprised by it! Oh, and since I'm an RPer, I need to figure out how to fit the new souls and the new content into my RP lol! Hmmm, that's going to require some thought and planning. I put so much work and love into my characters, and now they change everything on me! I wonder how RPers in WoW did it? Hmmm....

Ohhh I just can't wait for SL! I want to pre order and get into Beta, but at the same time I don't. Perhaps I could just explore a few low lvl things and check that out instead, and not visit new content? That might work. I'll have to pre order first and I can't do that until next week at the earliest.

Well it's 6:00 in the morning and even though I don't work tomorrow, there is a guild event going on that I'm hosting, as well as I need to clean the apt and do the dishes, as well as do laundry and straighten some things out! Oh and PS: Happy Thanksgiving to those who are Canadian!!!!!

[Off Topic] Patch 1.10

A screenshot from the Rift website, of Defiant and
Guardian working together!

The Calm Before the Storm

     I've had some time to look over the things that came out with patch 1.10 and I figured I'd like to put down my thoughts and opinions on what I've seen so far.

     The night that they implemented the patch, I logged into Rift like usual and got the update button. Woot! While waiting for the update to complete I read the patch notes, and like I'd seen on the forums, we will definitely be seeing some cross faction co-operation. Is that a bad thing? No, of course not! I've never played a game where factions would unify for a common goal and it makes a lot more sense than duking it out simply because of differing views while all around us the world goes to pot. (Of course anyone who knows me knows that my only experience with computer games stems from WoW anyway so that probably doesn't count!)  Doesn't that make more sense? Everyone knows the Dragons are here to destroy all we hold dear and the strife and antagonism going on between the two sides is nothing but petty sandbox disagreements compared to that. I've always thought it was rather silly that we argue and fight over morals and methods when Crucia is plotting our total subjugation. (You know she is....) I just wonder, game mechanic wise, how it's going to work.

     I already know from comments in the guild that I, as a Defiant, can't enter Sanctum, despite faction friendliness, and vice versa. But I guess it's the minds of individuals who have changed, not the faction as a whole. That makes sense. I haven't actually tried for myself yet, mostly due to not having any time to spend playing casually, and a little due to the fact that I'm too scared to get my butt whupped by the "bad guys". When it's all over we will still be Guardians and Defiant, not one unified force. There will always be conflict in Telara and there will always be those on both sides of the fence in that conflict. That's how it is anywhere, in any situation so I guess both sides need to keep their base of operation to themselves. Wouldn't do to let Cyril see Orphiel's tower workshop or let Orphiel see Cyril and Shyla's inner sanctum now would it?

     One thing I found kind of glaring and distracting, as well as a bit glitchy, is the little faction symbol icons in the guild roster. When you look at the guild roster of the guild, all Defiant characters have an overly large red Defiant seal next to their name on the left hand side. All Guardian characters have the Guardian symbol next to their name. It's a good concept, I can see where it could come in handy in telling the difference between your Defiant and Guardian guildies, but it's rather outrageously large, those symbols. I hope they can skim them down to size, they don't need to be so big. After all if we are a close guild who treats our guildies with familiarity and friendliness, we should know for ourselves which faction we belong to. And isn't the whole point to blur the lines? Than why glaringly point out which faction each one is from?

     Oh, one other thing I wanted to mention was Trion's sales of Storm Legion. They have a billion different ways to buy it and get cool things. For one thing, you can buy a years worth of Rift and get SL as a bonus reward added on. With this comes that strange looking Landslide mount that everyone and their dog has as well as a title...Stormbringer I think? Than, you can get the Infinity edition, which is like the collectors edition. This comes with a strange pink, ground skimming mount with strange reptile like wings (that's actually pretty cool looking), your own personal porticum gate and a rather creepy and disproportionate little baby Regulos mini pet. I know, I can call him "Lil Reggie"....But it does seem like a pretty neat deal! Unfortunately it is rather pricey. I'll have to wait till I can afford it sadly. On top of that, if you pre-order just SL, there are a few different places you can pre-order it from and get an extra neat reward: A beautifully designed cape. Each cape is unique and very visually pleasing! I already know a few that would look good on several characters. Too bad I can't afford to buy all those editions just for the capes. Depending on which major outlet you buy it from, you get that unique cape design. I'm not sure if it goes to all characters or only just one, or if it is a costume item, BoA item, or what. I don't know at this point. All I know is darn it, I want all of them!! I hope they put them up in their little shop they have going. Which reminds me of the next thing...

     Trion also added a shopping cart to the in-game system bar down at the bottom at the end. From there you can supposedly buy SL, game time, the tiger mount, a name/guild name change, and a lot of other things. In a way I can see how that would be handy, but on the other hand it reminds me a lot of those stupid F2P foreign games that I despise. Why do we need this in the game, seriously? We can just go online and check our accounts. I like that a lot better. When I log into the game, I intend to play it, not buy things. If I wanted that I'd go to the website. I don't like that extra little icon. Grrrr. But of course that's just my 2 cents worth and in the long run, I'm just a pebble among many other bigger rocks. Oh well, it's there, might as well get used to it. Although I'm not sure what key bind it is but all of today I keep accidentally hitting the key that brings up the shop and it's driving me nuts. One of those things I need to get around to is filter through my key binds and modify/remove those that I never use or find inconvenient.

     Some bugs so far on 1.10 are Rogue ranger pets hitting like babies and thus reducing ranger dps by a large chunk. The in game shopping cart won't let you buy anything from it. The vet rewards vendor of the opposite faction are blank, Some characters who were Guardian that joined our Defiant guild had their icon display them as Defiant, despite their being Guardian and sitting in Sanctum. The world event quest won't consistently stay on your screen. Every time I log in, I keep expecting info on the world event on the right side of my screen like normal but it's never there this time around.

     Edit on the bugs: Today there was an update and supposedly it addressed all of these issues. Yay Trion, that is why you get my money! Cause your so amazingly awesome. Also ps....there are a lot of spelling errors on the world event info stuff....

This is one of the lootable games on the Rift mobile App
available to you during the World Event only.

The World Event of 1.10:

     My opinion of the world event was rather reserved at first. I wasn't sure if I was ok with another seasonal event that seemed to mirror WoW's seasonal events so closely. So for the first few days I just ignored it's existence and went about my daily Rift life. Than a guildie asked me to join him in doing world event stuff and I mustered up my courage to see what it was like. Apparently most of the world event stuff happens in the Realm of the Fae. Or the Autumn Harvest realm. In order to get there, you find little mushroom icons on your map. According to my guildie they disappear after a time so you need to be quick getting to one.

     Otherwise you have to run across the zone again to get to another one. They are called Faerie Rings, which totally tickles my RP/Lore fancy! I love getting more into the Fae lore. They have always been my favorite fantasy race, of all creatures/races of fantasy creatures ever. And the Fae in Rift are so cute. The satyrs are always amusing, and the little faerie tricksters so silly! I love the butterfly faerie too! (random side tangent: I almost wish they had kept cleric Fae pets the same...I rather liked my fae with the overly large butterfly wings!)

     There are a buncha daily quests, and one quest that persists throughout. That quest is called "Fight for Life". To complete it you need 15 Autumn Harvest Signets. The reward for this quest is one of 4 ghostly mounts. A croc, a raptor bird, a Namjok, and a spider. The actual names of the mounts escapes me at the moment. You only get 1 signet per day apparently, by completing a daily quest given to you by Atrophinius, who is apparently running the show. I only know Atro from doing Greenscale's Blight chronicle earlier on with a guildie. I found him rather hilarious in that chronicle and he's no different in the Realm of the Fae. Standing next to him is always a hoot because of the things he's always ranting about. He's such a cute satyr! But so tall...And here I thought Kelari were tall!
     Other quests for the World Event include helping Atro about the Realm of the Fae with odd tasks, like kicking those little compost shamblers back to their pen (they are constantly getting out ugh!), saving minions from frostjacks (it took quite some time to figure out why I kept getting turned into a snowman..), freeing trapped life forces (rather confused by that one...), and finding Autumn Fungus Caps, which are apparently radioactive green mushrooms that can be found everywhere in Telara. I actually wrote a rather amusing story about my main character's experience in tracking those shrooms. I used to have a link to it, but it seems to have been lost, I'll post a link when I relocate it!

My take on the World Event this time around? I'm rather liking it so far! Of course I've loved all the world events! Yes, even the summer festival one! I love special little events that send me out on tasks!! It's most of the reason I play Rift.

     This event has a lot of interesting things to do around the alternate realm. In addition, I drank one of those autumn eyes potions and lo and behold I suddenly was in shiny heaven. There were like thousands of artifacts ALL OVER!! My shiny senses were going through the roof. I drank all of my potions in rapid succession trying to get my hands on all the shinies I could see. Unfortunately I ran out of potion and inventory space before I was able to collect even half the shinies I wanted. I'll have to go back often and hunt for more!
     And that's it for now!