Simon Ffinch talks 2.4,3.0 and PvP Dimensions

[Slipmat]

Simon "Dead Simon" Ffinch, Senior Design Director for Rift, recently sat down for an interview with German gaming site 'Buffed.de"

Luckily the interview was with English audio and German subtitles so we got to hear Dead Simon speak of Update 2.4 as coming with 2x20-man raids, the level 60 "alternate" Realm of the Fae 5-man Dungeon called Realm of Twisted Dreams. Also mentioned were a few Chronicles, all this we already knew

However, he ended speculation on what plans they had for advancing our chars by saying the level cap will be raised to 65 in the Expansion 3.0, then he talked about PvP Dimensions which sounds like it has great potential allowing players to set up their own PvP Arenas, PvP matches, by offering them tools to build what they like in a Dimension.

First up seems to be a 'simple' take on Deathmatches, mentioned were items that will add timers to matches, Capture the Flag, Survival etc...

The interview starts at 16mins 25 secs or so....enjoy

[Pachycrocuta]

Adding only 5 levels... Makes me a bit uneasy hearing that.

The thought of pvp dimensions is... interesting.

[Edge-]

Adding only 5 levels... Makes me a bit uneasy hearing that.

The thought of pvp dimensions is... interesting.

If it cuts down on the time to hit the new level cap, I'll be thrilled. Was not a fan of how long the 50-60 leveling took.

PvP dimensions could be neat though. Hopefully this is an experiment that will lead to player created PvE content too!

[Pachycrocuta]

If it cuts down on the time to hit the new level cap, I'll be thrilled. Was not a fan of how long the 50-60 leveling took.

PvP dimensions could be neat though. Hopefully this is an experiment that will lead to player created PvE content too!

My uneasyness about the 5 levels is flashbacks of Cataclysm (and to an extent, Pandaria). But at least with Rift, we don't have to pay full price for half an expansion. 50-60 is horrendously long (just reached 53 on my rogue), which is a problem of the developers choosing to make the experience needed to advance those 10 levels absurd, and not the fact that we had 10 levels to go through.

My only problem with the pvp dimensions, is what are they going to do to make people actually want to participate in them? They tried alternative methods of pvp (pvp rifts, conquest, and now pvp dailies for out in the world), yet people continue to spam warfronts over and over. I think the only reason people even do conquest is because of the conquest power, and the fact that it decays and forces you to continue to do it. They will have to do something similar (though not quite exactly like it) to get people to continuously use the pvp dimensions, instead of doing them for a month or so and then the novelty wears off and they go back to spamming warfronts.

[Recondition]

Let's not at like WoW was the first MMO to do a 5 levels in an expansion thing.
The amount of levels doesn't really matter you could level up just once in an expansion and go through 20 zones to do so if they wanted.
From what we've seen of the Plane of Water there will be a good chunk of zones to go through and hopefully it won't take as long as Storm Legion will.

[Chickat]

My uneasyness about the 5 levels is flashbacks of Cataclysm (and to an extent, Pandaria). But at least with Rift, we don't have to pay full price for half an expansion. 50-60 is horrendously long (just reached 53 on my rogue), which is a problem of the developers choosing to make the experience needed to advance those 10 levels absurd, and not the fact that we had 10 levels to go through.

My only problem with the pvp dimensions, is what are they going to do to make people actually want to participate in them? They tried alternative methods of pvp (pvp rifts, conquest, and now pvp dailies for out in the world), yet people continue to spam warfronts over and over. I think the only reason people even do conquest is because of the conquest power, and the fact that it decays and forces you to continue to do it. They will have to do something similar (though not quite exactly like it) to get people to continuously use the pvp dimensions, instead of doing them for a month or so and then the novelty wears off and they go back to spamming warfronts.

Catas end game suffered because of 1-60, but how can you call it half an expansion? Arguably MoP has the most end game content ever and is as big as OL with more to do in the world and as many zones. 5 levels doesn't make something half an expansion, and im sure rift will be fine with only 5 levels.

[Fencers]

If those next 5 levels take as long as the last 10...

[Primalthirst]

PvP Dimensions sound excellent, I expect it's the next step along the road to allowing players to spawn mobs etc and build dungeons. I have always seen Dimensions being an amazing feature for player creativity and it's only going to get better over time as more functionality is added.

[theWocky]

I will just lose it if the leveling is anything as brutal as lvl 50~60. I hated it. I liked the stories, but sheeeez, on launch, it was painful.

I just did a you-tube video on "Warcraft first peek" and am uploading - should be up on Wednesday, but my gods... did I realize just how daunting leveling from 1~90 in a game like Warcraft is to a new player trying out a game. On review, I could actually see how frustrated and how much I hate the leveling process. I honestly don't think I can level another character from scratch in any mmo if it is just going to be a grind and not be an exciting journey.

[gonterf]

I couldn't really get into TSW for a variety of reasons (...LAS...), but the levelling system in that game was really good imo. Rather than increasing your character's power directly, gaining exp just allowed you to specialize further or try out new builds, while the real progression happened via gear. This allowed there to be a large number of zones all designed for the same power level, but which you still cared about exploring, it also allowed you to get right into the action very quickly if you had friends who could help out. I sincerely wish Rift would follow that path, keeping the level cap at 60 but using alternate attractions to draw people into new zones. Another big advantage of doing things this way is that it allows older instances to remain relevant for longer, because they would offer a quick leg up on progression compared to soloing quests. Not like I haven't said all that before though, and I'll say it many times again before a dev gets it right :P

[Fencers]

I honestly don't think I can level another character from scratch in any mmo if it is just going to be a grind and not be an exciting journey.

Well now. Let me tell you about the best designed MMO of this decade. It's called The Secret World...

[zito]

Well now. Let me tell you about the best designed MMO of this decade. It's called The Secret World...

If gear scaling didn't make repeating missions boringly easy and combat was more mechanically interesting rather then math interesting I would agree with you. (If they actually stuck to their original design of action combat....)

I really hope there is something else being added to dimensions besides regular PvP... because it's just boring.

[Fencers]

If gear scaling didn't make repeating missions boringly easy and combat was more mechanically interesting rather then math interesting I would agree with you. (If they actually stuck to their original design of action combat....)

Boring is not gameplay I can measure.

Fairly terrible post.

[lanerios]

Well now. Let me tell you about the best designed MMO of this decade. It's called The Secret World...

According to you!

fairly terrible post.


Seriously fencers, at least attempt to start some discussion instead of these veiled troll attempts.

Yes secret world is fun, is it the best designed mmo? Not by a long shot. It would be if all the skill trees/builds were just as efficient as the next. They're not. Just like any other game, it boils down to "Have build X? You're usefull or not"

[Hellravager]

Before they worry about adding new content maybe they should fix their current issues

[Sanitius]

Fairly terrible post.

Yeah. Isn´t recommending other MMO´s in a RIFT thread in a RIFT forum about a RIFT update kind of derailing?

[Slipmat]

Isn´t recommending other MMO´s in a RIFT thread in a RIFT forum about a RIFT update kind of derailing?

You'll soon learn after a while how to sort the wheat from the chaff. The people who actually do play Rift and those that claim to

[Edge-]

Yes secret world is fun, is it the best designed mmo? Not by a long shot. It would be if all the skill trees/builds were just as efficient as the next. They're not. Just like any other game, it boils down to "Have build X? You're usefull or not"

There's a difference between design and balance. WoW is a well designed MMO but it's historically had serious issues with balancing classes so that multiple specs are consistently viable. Rift has likewise run into some issues, though Trion has done a remarkable job of making sure a wide variety of builds are viable.

You'll soon learn after a while how to sort the wheat from the chaff. The people who actually do play Rift and those that claim to

Someone didn't say something positive about Rift/said something positive about another game, they must not play Rift/must dislike it!

[Lathais]

Someone didn't say something positive about Rift/said something positive about another game, they must not play Rift/must dislike it!

Well of course, I mean if you actually played Rift at all you would understand that it has no flaws, there is nothing negative to say about it at all, it is the perfect end all be all MMORPG.

[Sanitius]

Someone didn't say something positive about Rift/said something positive about another game, they must not play Rift/must dislike it!

Nah, but i asume if i go to the wow forum in some recent patchthread and say "You should totaly play Rift, its so awesome" i guess i´d get infracted for trolling