RIFT's Update 1.9: An interview with Scott Hartsman and Hal Hanlin

[Slipmat]

As we eagerly await 1.9 coming tomorrow, Massively sat down with Scott Hartsman and Hal Hanlin to talk a bit about 1.9

All the goodies coming in 1.9 were discussed and a few interesting items were let slip...if you're a lowbie on a 40% mount, rejoice..

One situation that comes up with high- and low-level players participating in IAs and zone events is the speed disparity between mounts. The potential problem is that low-level players end up one step behind when traveling to locations on the map. When asked whether the devs have come up with a solution, Hanlin said they have addressed it; the solution is that the entire group will move at the speed of the fastest member of the group, so everyone moves together (and lowbies feel like they're on a rocket ship).

Seems the Barber shop is only at the first phase at the moment...

Next, the team was asked about the barber shop and whether there are future plans for increased customization. For the first run, the team wanted to make sure to get the tech and the lighting in because there's a lot of systems work that needs to happen to get things up and functional. The devs are starting with re-customization among existing options, and they're working on a plan to add a greater palette of greater things to do, which they hope to be talking about in future releases. Those will range from new styles to new assets from scratch as well as some existing extensions of some of the current options too. They're looking at a staged release over time, and the initial release is as much about the underlying tech as it is anything else.

Full article at: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06...-and-hal-hanl/

[Khelendros]

Hartsman also mentioned that he wants to eventually (nothing concrete) do LFR. Seems like he was referring to just 10 mans. But yea.

[Tarien]

Hartsman also mentioned that he wants to eventually (nothing concrete) do LFR. Seems like he was referring to just 10 mans. But yea.

All depends on implementation. If it's a toned down difficulty for all tiers, well, goodbye RIFT. If it is just a tool to find people and restricted to lower tiers with no change in difficulty, I am not bothered.

I don't know if anyone remembers but the first version of WoWs LFR tool was just a place that you could advertise that you were available and what roles you could fulfill, and see what raids were being built/what players were available. It helped remove the need to spam global channels, you could just say that you could tank and dps, and were available for x, y and z raids, and then you sat back and waited for whispers. Something like that I would be fine with.

[alturic]

All depends on implementation. If it's a toned down difficulty for all tiers, well, goodbye RIFT. If it is just a tool to find people and restricted to lower tiers with no change in difficulty, I am not bothered.

I don't know if anyone remembers but the first version of WoWs LFR tool was just a place that you could advertise that you were available and what roles you could fulfill, and see what raids were being built/what players were available. It helped remove the need to spam global channels, you could just say that you could tank and dps, and were available for x, y and z raids, and then you sat back and waited for whispers. Something like that I would be fine with.

Exactly what you said. I think the saddest thing to happen to the WoW raid-scene was LFR "difficulty". I just started paying Trion I sincerely hope they don't make me quit paying.

[Deleted]

All depends on implementation. If it's a toned down difficulty for all tiers, well, goodbye RIFT. If it is just a tool to find people and restricted to lower tiers with no change in difficulty, I am not bothered.

I don't know if anyone remembers but the first version of WoWs LFR tool was just a place that you could advertise that you were available and what roles you could fulfill, and see what raids were being built/what players were available. It helped remove the need to spam global channels, you could just say that you could tank and dps, and were available for x, y and z raids, and then you sat back and waited for whispers. Something like that I would be fine with.

I liked that raid finder where you just added what raids you were interested in running, roles and stats. I even got my fair share of invites, more than I ever thought I would get. I was hoping they would make similar thing for rated battlegrounds in wow but it never happened =/
And that would be a great feature in rift as well, and better than LFR. Wow need LFR because it has several half dead servers making it impossible for people to raid unless they pay to change server, but in Rift that's not an issue cause you can change server for free.
So, just suggest on official forum, they seem to listen to people there :P

[Pachycrocuta]

I agree with Tarien. And I remember that "lfr" system WoW had but didn't think anyone actually used it. At least, the few times I looked at it there was just 3 people total. Of course, Blizz never advertised that thing so no one really knew about it.

[russykh]

I agree with Tarien. And I remember that "lfr" system WoW had but didn't think anyone actually used it. At least, the few times I looked at it there was just 3 people total. Of course, Blizz never advertised that thing so no one really knew about it.

It got used loads during WotLK I found, when it was a lot more pug friendly. Hell, I used it plently. It was good, but requires having people that want to use it, and that meant content that people felt confident in making pugs for. They upped the difficulty for the first tier of cata raids so people didnt use it (or queue'd, never got a group and then just stopped). They went a bit too far with how easy they made it still.

[Fencers]

I understand LFR mode in WoW isn't actually the "real" raid difficulty. That would not please me in Rift.

[Edge-]

I understand LFR mode in WoW isn't actually the "real" raid difficulty. That would not please me in Rift.

It's babby difficulty. If you have a pulse it's pretty hard to wipe (but when I did it oh man did the groups I was in ever wipe in spectacular fashion).

On one hand I don't think it's a terrible feature and if done right, but on the other hand it's something I wouldn't want to see in Rift. I'd much rather see an interface like what WoW used to have (similar to the one Aion uses for LFG) to help players identify themselves as looking for a raid(s) and help raid leaders find more players.

[Khelendros]

Yea I doubt heavily that Trion would do that (ezmode raids), I think a plain LFR is actually a good idea for those trying to PUG the next tier down or PUG 10 mans.

Honestly ezmode raids aren't even necessary in Rift because of Chronicles. You can show people what is happening in the raids by having chronicles which show off the raid and some of the bosses and give you the story, without trivializing the actual raid itself.

[Deleted]

What made me look for other games...

1) The wierd cataclysm raiding model, the one that kills 25 people raids for 80% of the RAIDING population.
2) LFR, that makes majority of people completely unreliable, intentionally bad, and due to its nature substantially more ill manered.
3) New concept of heroics summed up in the sentence: "You liked Wrath easy heroics? We can make em easier, come back!"
4) And ofc the trilogy Panda's, Pokemon, Farmville.

I have chosen Rift because
It has seperate content for big raids, so it doesnt run the risk of people asking for "10 people version of Infernal dawn"
It does not have LFR
It has smt of what i am familiar with and enjoy, human interaction.

What i seriously hope for, is Trion not to look after Blizzard's tricks and try to copy them, because if they ask their player base, it is the differences from wow that made people come to Rift, not the similarities.

[Fencers]

I have chosen Rift because
It has separate content for big raids, so it doesn't run the risk of people asking for "10 people version of Infernal dawn"
It does not have LFR
It has smt of what i am familiar with and enjoy, human interaction.

What i seriously hope for, is Trion not to look after Blizzard's tricks and try to copy them, because if they ask their player base, it is the differences from wow that made people come to Rift, not the similarities.

I have to agree here as reasons why I stuck with Rift as a main MMO. Despite having issues.

I am not really interested in the Warcraft endgame environment. Perhaps I get a bit antsy because Trion did make some decisions to the game recently that were off putting to me. So things like "LFR" and "pre built souls" raise alarm bells.

[Azuri]

LFR watered down raid content is nothing I would like to see in RIFT, ever. (It's got nothing to do with I'm a special snowflake I want to be better then some baddies) I'm ok with nerfs after the content has been out for set amount of time. I'm ok with a LFR type system if it just helps put a pug together but again I'm not interested in the "easy or story" mode of instance. I think this just opens the window for lazy development and just trivializes the final encounter(s) in a given tier of content. What would be next LFR, normal and heroic of the same content? Oh wait that model already exists. Game breaker for me anyways if they do that nonsense with the current model based on a monthly subscription.

I'm all for adding content for every aspect of the game be it casual players, PVPers, RPers or w/e but just don't make a derp copy of an epic raid instance. Trion has delivered very well on content and if they feel they need to give content to the derp crowd so be it just find a different type/kind of playground for them imo.

Anyone have a link to said feedback about this?

[Pachycrocuta]

So things like "LFR" and "pre built souls" raise alarm bells.

Honestly, I don't like the "pre-built souls" that Trion added. I preferred the previous system they had back in August 2011 (not sure if this was in during launch as I was still into WoW at that time), but going to the NPCs with the <Stormcaller>, <Saboteur>, etc under their names for a lure to kill a creature from a rift to learn that new soul. It actually explained why they were called souls to begin with. You kill a stormcaller or void knight, and you absorb their soul, thus learning their abilities. Starting out as an empty husk and absorbing the souls of a stormcaller or such actually made sense. I wish that you could still do that.

And I agree with Archidamos about why he chose Rift. It's why I did as well.

[Ricen]

Honestly, I don't like the "pre-built souls" that Trion added. I preferred the previous system they had back in August 2011 (not sure if this was in during launch as I was still into WoW at that time), but going to the NPCs with the <Stormcaller>, <Saboteur>, etc under their names for a lure to kill a creature from a rift to learn that new soul. It actually explained why they were called souls to begin with. You kill a stormcaller or void knight, and you absorb their soul, thus learning their abilities. Starting out as an empty husk and absorbing the souls of a stormcaller or such actually made sense. I wish that you could still do that.

And I agree with Archidamos about why he chose Rift. It's why I did as well.

I remember that! That was enjoyable to do really. Little be of RP for the casual regular player to go out and kill his "soul" or talent tree to obtain it!

[Fencers]

At some point I expect to shuffle off to like a time locked EQ1 server and live out my MMO retirement there. It makes sense for modern MMOs to broaden their appeal as time goes on. So I don't begrudge too much Rift or WoW adding such features. Though I know ultimately that broadening of audience is not a game environment I enjoy personally.

Such is life.

[Khelendros]

Honestly, I don't like the "pre-built souls" that Trion added. I preferred the previous system they had back in August 2011 (not sure if this was in during launch as I was still into WoW at that time), but going to the NPCs with the <Stormcaller>, <Saboteur>, etc under their names for a lure to kill a creature from a rift to learn that new soul. It actually explained why they were called souls to begin with. You kill a stormcaller or void knight, and you absorb their soul, thus learning their abilities. Starting out as an empty husk and absorbing the souls of a stormcaller or such actually made sense. I wish that you could still do that.

And I agree with Archidamos about why he chose Rift. It's why I did as well.

Pre Built Souls and Soul quests are two different matters. Pre Build Souls were an absolute necessity. As we have seen on these very forums, alot of people find the souls system of Rift daunting and confusing and first impressions matter a great deal. Having pre built soul builds allows new players to get a little more comfortable with the system in a way they may be able to relate to. Those specs are never ideal, but they present familiar ground for rift newbies. I wish they had them when I started.

As for the soul quests, I do miss them. But they pretty much had to take them out with the pre built souls. I'm ok with it, but I do miss the lore aspect of it.

As with many of you I chose Rift because its different than WoW. I like that its not as easymode. I'm ok with them adding other difficulties to things like chronicles cause I would like the challenge. And I am fine with them adding switchable hardmodes to raids, and "challenge bosses to IA's like they have in 1.9". This allows for more diverse gameplay. But WoW seems to start easy and go from there, and I think when you do that you cater to the lowest common denominator. I like to think that Rift doesn't need to do that.

[Puremallace]

What made me look for other games...

1) The wierd cataclysm raiding model, the one that kills 25 people raids for 80% of the RAIDING population.
2) LFR, that makes majority of people completely unreliable, intentionally bad, and due to its nature substantially more ill manered.
3) New concept of heroics summed up in the sentence: "You liked Wrath easy heroics? We can make em easier, come back!"
4) And ofc the trilogy Panda's, Pokemon, Farmville.

I have chosen Rift because
It has seperate content for big raids, so it doesnt run the risk of people asking for "10 people version of Infernal dawn"
It does not have LFR
It has smt of what i am familiar with and enjoy, human interaction.

What i seriously hope for, is Trion not to look after Blizzard's tricks and try to copy them, because if they ask their player base, it is the differences from wow that made people come to Rift, not the similarities.

The problem with LFR is is essentially kills the need for a guild in a mmorpg. It is a super casual friendly system that trivializes 25man content. Now if they did that in Rift I would yank my sub and go play facebook games or something.

If they limit to 10man, then that works with the Rift population perfectly. It also works with the idea that 10man is located over here and 20man content is over here completely separate and this 20man stuff is hard and I need to work with a guild to conquer it.

Trion is pretty damn good at looking at what Blizzard pioneered and screwed up and utterly improving it.

[Orange Joe]

All depends on implementation. If it's a toned down difficulty for all tiers, well, goodbye RIFT. If it is just a tool to find people and restricted to lower tiers with no change in difficulty, I am not bothered.

I don't know if anyone remembers but the first version of WoWs LFR tool was just a place that you could advertise that you were available and what roles you could fulfill, and see what raids were being built/what players were available. It helped remove the need to spam global channels, you could just say that you could tank and dps, and were available for x, y and z raids, and then you sat back and waited for whispers. Something like that I would be fine with.

I haven't done much but the raids in rift seem like more gear checks than skill checks. In wow you have to focus on your dps/healing/tanking almost as much as what is going on if not more. In rift I can pull decent dps with 4 buttons and not looking at anything. Don't get me wrong though I enjoy not having to focus on my dps as much.

Again I haven't done much raiding in rift so I'm only going by what I've seen so far.

[Khelendros]

I haven't done much but the raids in rift seem like more gear checks than skill checks. In wow you have to focus on your dps/healing/tanking almost as much as what is going on if not more. In rift I can pull decent dps with 4 buttons and not looking at anything. Don't get me wrong though I enjoy not having to focus on my dps as much.

Again I haven't done much raiding in rift so I'm only going by what I've seen so far.

This is rather completely wrong.

http://www.riftstrats.com/