Roundup of Rift Awards in 2011

[Slipmat]

Good news for us Rifters, Elrar posted a list of all the Awards Rift has garnered from the industry, magazines and various websites

IncGamers – Best Games of 2011 – #21
BioBreak - Best Launch & Most Improved
EGM - Biggest Surprise
Gamasutra - Top 5 PC Games of 2011
GamesRadar - Most Massviely Multiplayer Game
Gameswelt.de - Game of the Year
GamingXP - Online Game of the Year
IGN - Best PC Persistent/ MMO Game
JeuxVideo.com - Best MMORPG 2011
MMO Reviews - Top 10 Best MMOs – #3
MMOCrunch - Best MMORPG
MMOCrunch - Best New MMORPG
MMORPG.com - Game of the Year
VideoGamer - Most Important MMO of 2011
Ten Ton Hammer - Reader’s Choice

Source: http://community.riftgame.com/en/201...wards-in-2011/

IGN further gave a very glowing complement...

Rift may not be the most inventive MMO ever created, but it is arguably the most bug-free and out-of-the-gate high-quality MMO ever created

Source: http://ie.ign.com/wikis/best-of-2011...World/MMO_Game

Knowing how fickle most Forum users are, it's a surprise to see Rift win Readers Choice on Tentonhammer...

Trion Worlds made a huge splash in the industry with their first game ever, Rift. Here was a game that took all the elements players enjoyed from existing MMOs, added in some new clever mechanics and twists, and packaged it all up in an original IP full of rich, deep story and lore.

Trion Worlds also shocked audiences at launch with what was then being called the smoothest MMO launch in history. They were prepared for the masses, they handled the server load, they were quick on the hotfixes and best of all they were stable.

Since its launch in March of this year the game has rocketed to success drawing in more players than anyone had expected. Once in the world of Telara it's easy to see why. Rift is just plain fun and anyone who has any iota of MMO experience will find it easy and intuitive to pick up and get started. The story immediately pulls you in and the conflict in the world keeps you interested. This game was destined to success before the first Rift even opened. Big grats, Trion Worlds!

Source: http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/211513/page/6

Even the Germans love Rift
Haven't a clue what it says but i just assume it's good

Source: http://mmoprime.de/news,id10380,mmop....html#details2

Here's to 2012 and looking forward to what Trion can surprise us with, assuming the Mayans don't upset the party in December

[Sleepysnik]

Yeah this is why I laugh at people that call Rift a failure. To the haters!

[woosheee]

rift has so much to offer! my favorite game of all time.

I think if its not innovative enough its because players cant handle innovation. rift is still new and a work in progress. the biggest concern players have is "best game ever, but I'm bored" because they liked it so much they played every day, got to max level, did everything, and caught up to content. a player saying "I played rift in beta and it sucked, there wasn't enough to do, it doesnt have 7 years of content patches" is different than a new player starting today and saying "I've been missing out, this is such a great game. wish I started sooner" and spending the next 9 months doing content, leveling characters, professions, learning dungeons (theres like 30 of them) exploring the well designed zones, collecting artifacts, trying to solve the in game "puzzles" rift.zam[dot]com/wiki/Puzzles_%28Rift%29

[probert]

I actually forsee a time when Rift ends up holding the mantle of 'best classic holy trinity MMO' as all the new players to the market go for their niches.

SW:TOR is going for space opera and personal storylines. LOTRO is a F2P long grind pve game... alot of the other fantasy MMOs don't have the polish or exeuction of Rift. Which leaves WoW...which is going through an identity crisis of sorts, the game is almost unrecognizable to me now. Panda pokemon land might very well kill the franchise.

Which leaves Rift -- a modern, up to date engine with great support and ongoing content. I think it has great potential to build over time, especially once this current wave of new titles washes over. I don't foresee Archeage, Tera, or anything else coming down the pipe competing in this space EXCEPT for GW2.

[Deleted]

Congratulations to Rift ! Best PvE content so far Hope they keep up with the good work.

[Sobek]

I actually forsee a time when Rift ends up holding the mantle of 'best classic holy trinity MMO' as all the new players to the market go for their niches.

SW:TOR is going for space opera and personal storylines. LOTRO is a F2P long grind pve game... alot of the other fantasy MMOs don't have the polish or exeuction of Rift. Which leaves WoW...which is going through an identity crisis of sorts, the game is almost unrecognizable to me now. Panda pokemon land might very well kill the franchise.

Which leaves Rift -- a modern, up to date engine with great support and ongoing content. I think it has great potential to build over time, especially once this current wave of new titles washes over. I don't foresee Archeage, Tera, or anything else coming down the pipe competing in this space EXCEPT for GW2.

I agree. I'm starting to cheer for each new patch, which seems to have positive improvements, and no bugs. I like that there's no 8 hours maintenance every week, and no "servers down till 5 pm" on patch day. they release quality and quantity content, I'm hoping they keep it up. I see limited future with swtor, though many enjoy it, I think there was a lot of hype, and copying wow's content model will probably hurt it. they want to release major content patches every 4-6 months like wow? not for me. I definitely think rift deserved the award, they keep making progress in the right direction. I think wow is doing some pretty questionable things now, for whatever reason. maybe they're trying to push players toward diablo or maybe they want more casual players and encourage the $25 mount store. listening to players concerns lately, it seems like there's less fanboys, and more people unhappy with the current state of the game, wanting to try something new, but maybe burnt out on MMO and felt that in wow, but didn't leave because they had commitments.

I think rift is doing good things and excited about next patch. hoping for more chronicles, dungeons, maybe a zone, instant adventures for lower levels, 10 and 20 man raids, master mode dungeons... they still have room to grow and obvious things they could add, instant adventures came out of no where, and great idea. same with chronicles and ember isle onslaughts. can't wait for the next feature they release.

[MistsOfPandariaIncoming]

Aaaaaaaaaaand I'm sold on Rift. Going to buy it come payday.

[Saladbar]

Well deserved. I've played lots of subscription based MMOs in the past, and this is my favorite by far, and the ONLY one I've been willing to pay a multi-month sub for. I just changed my recurring sub to a year renewal because I'm having so much fun.

Trion has gained my respect and trust. Keep it coming!

[Migey]

Rift was not FANTASTIC, but it was pretty damn good methinks. I liked very much the inclusion of a fourth viable role (support) and Rift gave me the single best end game PvE experience i have ever had, ESPECIALLY in regards to 5 mans. Never been more challenged in a non-ridiculous way by bosses near launch such as the last boss in Abyssal Precipice (was brilliant that one) Plutonus, last boss of Charmers Caldera, and some other dungeons. Fantastic!