The RIFT

Welcome to Part 1 of our Tips & Tricks to Improve Your Account Security! We’ll be releasing some information over the next few days on how you can better protect yourself! Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comment section!

There has been a lot of talk lately in Rift about internet accounts being hacked, passwords being stolen, and a general lack of security. Cindy ‘Abigale’ Bowens even posted some information on Protecting Your Account on the Official Forums. Many people have been asking for Authenticator-type security, and while it is very helpful, using strong security ideas will help not only keep your account safe, but also anything else you do on the web. Using both in conjunction should provide you with ample security.

Check out some of the tips we have to help you improve your Account security and overall web experience below the cut!

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Hey everyone! Hope you’re having a great Friday! It’s been quite a busy week at The Rift and I know Trion’s been quite busy too! Today marks the final day of Official Releases with Europe finally joining the rest of us on live (well, for those who didn’t pre-order)!

I know quite a few of you were disappointed that there was no Podcast last week – but don’t fear! We have a brand new that will be ready for your ears on Monday! This upcoming episode will detail Rift’s headstart and will feature a roundtable discussion with Esloan of HorRIFTic Intentions, Karen Bryan of Massively, Cindy ‘Abigale’ Bowens, and of course Arithion and Desikis!

As well, The Rift is looking to expand! Yes, we’ve been quite dedicated to bringing you weekly (usually!) Podcasts, but with the game finally being release we’ve decided to bring even more to the community!

Check below the break for some opportunities, announcements, and maybe some secret contest details!

UPDATE: You can join our Ventrilo server on the right, or by using the following credentials (There is no server password):

Hostname or IP: riftpodcast.typefrag.com
Port number: 3784

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I just wanted to say congratz to Arithion and Zerkin of The Rift Podcast for obtaining the 4th and 5th level 50′s on their server (following a couple others in their guild). Congratulations!

Now for some much deserved rest and relaxation!

[EDIT] As her Twitter failed at the worst possible moment – Ari is adding proof :p

Beastmaster!

Hey all, just over 24 hours left until the Head Start begins! If you haven’t already pre-ordered, you should still be able to grab a copy! For those who have, make sure to download the Official Rift release client and have everything ready to go!

For those who didn’t not already know, the Head Start for RIFT will being on Thursday February 24, 2011 at 10:00am PST (18:00 GMT) and the official launch date will be on Tuesday March 1, 2011 (North America) or Friday March 4, 2011 (Europe) at 10am PST (18:00 GMT) for both.

As promised, the pictures are below the cut!
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One of the reception areas

Pre-launch MMORPG’s often get a bad reputation, at least after the fact. They promise everything, and deliver very little of it.

Trion, it seems, has decided to throw off the stereotype and be the company that doesn’t beat around the bush.

Over the last eight months, I’ve had the opportunity to interview and record with the team on a pretty regular basis. They’ve never answered anything they weren’t 100% sure of at the time, and if that answer changes down the path, they’re the first to admit it and get the change out to their fans. Inviting Fansites to their offices along with the Press, just reiterates their stance.

When we sat down on Friday with Scott Hartsman, Russ Brown, and Hal Hanlin (not to mention the community team and several media attendees), it became very obvious they weren’t holding back. It doesn’t matter if you’re not going to like their answer, they will still tell it to you like it is. I personally dislike Dungeon Finders, but Scott assured us, if it’s needed, they will deal with it.

Add-ons will be allowed, the preparation just isn’t there for launch yet. They’ve been concentrating on getting the game out with as much polish and finish as they can.

They will be releasing more Endgame content than any game that’s been released in a long time. Two level 50 dungones. Ten expert Dungeons as well as expert Rifts. Then there are Raid Rifts and the Greenscale Dungeon. This will be followed shortly by another dungeon – and a little bit later by Hammerknell. And Hammerknell is not a myth. We all saw it, it does exist, and all we can say is it’s Imposing and quite awesome. But it’s definitely there.

Not forgetting there are factions to grind, recipes to craft and puzzles to find that award level appropriate gear when you complete them.

There are already remedies in place for botters, hackers and spammers. Accounts will and have been banned and preorders canceled because of this already. And that spam text we all hate? Just report it and the spam filter will learn what to filter out.

This company knows when to push their own ideal of the game and when to listen to the player base. They make changes quickly and efficiently, incorporating a surprising amount of vocal feedback by the player base. Want all souls at the start? Done. Want public groups? Done. Just to name a couple. Although these changes are indicative of beta and the game in a not quite finished state – it still shows a lot of willingness on behalf of Trion to listen to their player base. They see every issue that gets brought up on the forums, they’re just too busy working on remedies and fixes to answer.

To Trion’s RIFT Team, their community is everything.

Now this article is a personal opinion and I know I’m going to get called a fangirl. But you know what? I guess I am.

It’s not that I agree with everything in the game. Hell, I despise the possibility of RDF’s, I wish the customization could be prettier and more varied, even though I now know that would take away the awesome fps I get in most zones (except Meridian – evil Meridian). I want more emotes, I’d like the rest of endgame definitely in sooner rather than later. The lower level armour design really gets to me and frankly I want individual race starting areas.

But the gameplay, the soul system, the little reasons to explore hidden all over the world, and the mass of endgame they already have in, not to mention the invasion and event system that can all operate automated or manually… Those are much bigger and more important elements in a game for me. The things I love in the game far outweigh those I don’t. And the Team’s attitude about their game and the reasoning behind their processes makes the little things seem insignificant.

The Fansites got a reward for having faith when there wasn’t much to build faith on. I think the team sells themselves a little short – Their histories, passion, and dedication to the game they’re building has shown through since the beginning.

Placing faith in Rift was placing faith in their team. And I, for one, am happy I did.