Just to Whet Your Appetite

As of late, a lull has hit the Rift community.  There's almost completely solidified concerns that PvP isn't really a focus for Trion.  Rumors abound regarding a supposed desire for Defiance to take over as Trion's flagship MMO thus leaving Rift to dwindle away in its shadow.  My last post detailed out a bleak future for the game we love and patch 2.2 left a bit to be desired as its only sizable contributions to the game were 4 hard mode alternates for their 20m raids and a world event.

So is Rift truly heading for a bleak future as my last post might lead one to believe?  The jury is certainly still out with respect to that and I am personally not convinced one way or another.  However, some very interesting information has come to light over the last few weeks that paints a very different picture for Rift's future than all the aforementioned doomsaying would have us believe.  This information, laced throughout livestreams and developer posts, points to a very promising and exciting future for what, at this time, is Rift's flagship game.

To begin, I'd draw your attention to a livestream from approximately three weeks ago.  During this event, it was pointed out by one of the developers at Trion, who was sitting in for this particular livestream that something large was in the works for Rift's three year anniversary.  He wouldn't divulge any specific information but he hinted at it not just being a patch.  Of course the jump up from a patch takes us to an expansion and speculation has been rampant regarding what this expansion could add to Telara.  Perhaps, however, Telara itself won't receive any additions but rather subtractions in myriad players heading into the planes to take on the blood gods in their true forms!  It's long been hoped for that we'd be able to enter the planes and, by next February or March, we just might get our opportunity.

Speaking of entering the planes, it used to be something of a dream for us Telarans but, as of late, it's been confirmed by Trion that we will be entering the planes themselves in Rift's future.  Not only is this exciting to hear, but if that plane of death looks anything like the plane of death you brave to fight Regulos in Endless Eclipse, I'm going to be one ecstatic gamer.  The encounter area for Regulos is one of the single coolest areas I've visited in any MMO simply for the aesthetics.

As if the above wasn't enough it seems Daglar has, of late, been willing to drop small tidbits of information regarding future developments within Rift.  One of his latest forum posts was most notable where he mentioned that Ailion and Kervik are hard at work on new souls as well as other "class related features".  New souls?  New class features?  Entering the planes?  Something huge coming to Rift for Rift's three year anniversary?  We can't carve it in stone yet but it certainly smells like an expansion to me.

Less notable than the above but still interesting are some other pieces of information recently dropped by the devs.  Firstly, we can expect incentives to be implemented to encourage mentoring.  Additionally, lower-level zone event bosses will be getting a "measure of defense" against high level players.  Lastly, it's worth calling out that, during another livestream, it was confirmed by a Trion dev that patches 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 are all well under way.  Additionally, patches 2.6 and 2.7 are both already in the planning stages.  What's more is that all of these patches are slated for 2013!  To close all this out, I'll offer an honorable mention from another developer:  without Greenscale's corruption, the Plane of Life isn't very hostile so expect some interesting content dealing with an "alliance of sorts".

And finally, we have some more niceties coming our way.  A Moonshade Highlands dimension near cascading waterfalls has been selected by the Joy of Dimensions contest winner and will drop soon (potentially 2.3).  Additionally, a Three Springs dimension is planned as well as the ability to have multiple active dimensions.

So let's recap for our TLDR users:

1. Something "huge" is coming for Rift's three year anniversary
2. We will absolutely be entering the planes
3. New souls are in the works by Kervik and Ailion
4. New class-related features are also in the works
5. Incentives for mentoring are to be implemented
6. A fix for high-levels "ruining" low-level zone events is coming
7. Patches 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5 are well under way
8. Patches 2.6, and 2.7 are in the planning stages
9. Patches 2.3 - 2.7 are all slated for 2013.
10. The Plane of Life is relatively friendly with Greenscale gone so expect content centered around this point in the future.
11. Moonshade Highlands dimension has been selected by the Joy of Dimensions contest winner and may hit in 2.3
12. Another Moonshade Highlands dimension, Three Springs, is in the works.
13. The ability to have multiple active dimensions is under development.