Greetings, Ascended!
It’s been a long road since an intrepid band of developers introduced the world to RIFT in 2010 by opening the original Alpha shard. Being able to share the game with external testers for the first time was a transformative experience. RIFT was no longer just a product, RIFT became a service, a living breathing game world. That idea was central to the team early on, but it really came to fruition the moment we threw the switch and let people in.
How can we make the game better for our players? This is the same question we've continued to ask ourselves and the community since that first day of Alpha. Every week of pre-release we added new content, new features, updated balance and pressed onward. That same spirit guides the RIFT team today. We strive to provide meaningful game updates and push the game forward just like we've done since that fateful day in August of 2010. We push to provide hotfixes every week that address issues brought to our attention.
As Rift approaches its second anniversary this March it could be all too easy rest on our laurels and focus on the past – but that’s not what the RIFT team is about. We’re about looking forward and finding ways to improve upon what we have built. The team is busy actively working on our next two major game updates, 2.2 and 2.3 – and the game updates beyond those are starting to solidify more with each day.
With 2.2 the Carnival of the Ascended – a celebration of the first appearance of the Ascended - will return to Telara. Along with it, new carnival games as well as some old favorites will be available, a slew of new Zone Events will appear in the Storm Legion zones, the Planar Attunement system will expand to tier 3, and we hope to add our first activated Hard Mode encounters to Endless Eclipse and Frozen Tempest. Of course, you can also expect more bug fixes, and updates to classes as we always provide. There are also some updates to PvP that have been sneaking out to the live servers before 2.2 hits.
What secrets are hidden behind the walls surrounding the Dendrome? As we approach game update 2.3 we’ll start to peel back the layers of mystery – but that is a story for another day, Ascended.
We look forward to sharing those secrets, and the continuing saga of RIFT as we boldly step into 2013.
Bill "Daglar" Fisher
Lead Game Designer: RIFT
Basically all that was said was 2.2 is the Carnival and 2.3 is dendrome.... kinda underwhelming :P