Rift is rapidly closing it on the one year anniversary in March of this year. With both the start of the new year and the upcoming one year anniversary of the game, let’s look at some of the most popular predictions for Rift in the coming year.
1) Rift Going Free To Play – There is a lot of talk about the game going free to play in the next year. The reason this prediction is popular is because of the multiple other MMOs coming out this year, including Guild Wars 2 and Mists of Panderia. This is not even including Star Wars, which just came out. The problem with this prediction is that it has already been squashed by Trion on multiple occassions. They have already stated that the game is doing well financially and they have no reason for it to go free 2 play at this time. Chances of Happening in 2012: 0%
2) RvR Zone – Many of the PvPers in the game are hoping for a shot in the arm for the PvP game by inserting a raid versus raid PvP zone. This zone would probably end up being a large PvP area with a faction either defending or attacking a certain area. The prize for capturing the area could be anything from an area wide buff to a special PvE raid only available to the winning faction. In a recent interview, Hal Hanlin already said they are planning to drive a wedge between the factions. The best way possible to do that would to add a RvR zone. Chances of Happening in 2012: 99%
3) Server Merger – There is a lot of predictions about Trion merging servers soon to help increase populations on shards. If you are looking at the base statistics, it would appear that server mergers would be beneficial since many shards are only reaching a maximum of medium occupancy even at peak times. Don’t be surprised to see a server merger happen in the first half of this year. Chances of Happening in 2012: 80%
[EDITOR'S NOTE: It's happening already!]
4) Box Expansion – With the game approaching the one year mark, many people are speculating that we will see an actual box expansion for Rift. This expansion would include a raising of the level cap to 60 and opening up new areas for leveling and raiding. While it may be possible, Trion has added enough with new raids, new areas, planar attunement, and instant adventures that they really do not have to have a box expansion in 2012. With the speed that Trion is putting out new content, I’m not even certain if they ever have to release a box expansion where they have to raise the level cap. Chances of happening in 2012: 10%
5) Arena – This is another feature that a lot of PvP players are requesting to be added into the game. However, this is a feature that PvPers should not be expecting. If competitive arena is added to the game, it adds in more balancing issues that Trion will have to take time to fix. In turn, if something is retuned for arena, it will likely become broken in PvE, which is where Trion has seem to be focusing much of its resources. Many players would much rather have Trion keep pumping out new PvE content and adding new warfronts instead of balancing the game around the small arena community that would likely arise from them. Chances of happening in 2012: 0%
There are a lot of other predictions out there for Rift in 2012. Some have more validity than others. Regardless of what happens, you can be sure that 2012 will be a great, although challenging, year for Rift and Trion.
