The 22nd episode of Rift Podcast has been released.
Today Cindy ‘Abigale’ Bowens joins us to chat about beta from the other side – from behind the scenes. She briefly covers the following:
* VIP Invites etc
* How the servers held up
* The overall response to invites
* How the CSR programme was received
* What they learned from the process
* How what they learned can make the next events better
* Ice Cream
Originally posted by Abigale (Source)
Hi, All-Another update thread. I know a lot of you have questions about the status of the invites. So I have gotten us some up to the minute answers.
Emails were sent to everyone with a VIP code registered before 1:00 p.m. (PST) today. If you have registered a code before that time and did not get an email, you can go to your account page here. Log into your account and you should have a link to the EULA at the bottom of the page. You must agree to the EULA to proceed to the download for the game. If you had a VIP code in time and you do not see the EULA link, send an email to accountsupport@trionworlds.com
If you registered a code after 1:00 p.m. today, you still have the chance to get into this weekend’s event! We will do our best to get as many people in as we can. I will let you know when we have stopped sending invites.
We will also be sending out more non-VIP codes, possibly tonight. I will keep you updated on that as well.
Thank you for your enthusiasm. We hope to see all of you in Telara soon!
Originally posted by Abigale (Source)
Yes, that’s right! The first batch of Beta Event 1 emails just went out!
But I must let you know that they are going out in batches. It will take a while for them all to go out. So give it at least until tomorrow night before you panic.
I will make a post when all emails have been sent and we will address any problems then. But for now, sit tight and watch for your email. And make sure you check those darn spam filters!
Update: 10:12 p.m. PST
I posted further in this thread that all the emails have gone out for tonight. We will start sending batches out again tomorrow. That’s as much as I can tell you right now and I will give you an update tomorrow.
Check out this week’s Podcast from Rift Podcast.com.
Abigale talks to us in this episode about the fine line they walk trying to make sure they fulfill their development, stress and focus testing needs; balance getting the word out about the game; and try to include their supportive community at the same time. Sadly, it is a fine line and not everyone will be happy – If they did manage to find a way to accomplish it, they could bottle it and make a fortune.
Posted on Wednesday on the Official Forums, Abigale tells us about her time and questions with Art Director Darren Pattenden. We see some new screenshots and other art assets. Here’s a sneak peak.
Many of you have asked me when we would start doing our Lunch with a Dev feature again. You all know everyone has been really busy around here. But I finally managed to catch up with our Art Director Darren Pattenden to ask him some of your questions! I really enjoyed this interview. I don’t know Darren well and I wanted to hear the answers to many of your questions myself!
I started with the questions I ask everyone at these lunch interviews.
How did you get into the game industry?
Darren: I have been a games player since Space Invaders. I was working as a commercial illustrator and becoming increasingly interested in 3D graphics after seeing some early Pixar work. When Quake came out in the early nineties I started to teach myself 3D modeling when I realized that people were modding the game. So I started out making plug in player models for Quake. I was doing it as a hobby for a while and continued to release models for Quake 2 and Quake 3 until I realized I wanted to do it for a living.
I applied at Bullfrog and got a job as a 3D modeler. I worked on Dungeon Keeper 2 as a character artist and a few other Bullfrog games. I then worked on a number of titles at EA UK.
Originally posted by Abigale (Source)
We promised there would be several ways to get your hands on VIP All-Access beta passes and it’s time to start handing some out!
Starting tomorrow, 10/20/10, we will be giving away a code each day here on the forum, on FaceBook and on Twitter. So that’s 3 codes a day! Make sure you are signed up in all three places to increase your chances of getting your hands on one!
The codes will be given out at random times throughout the day. On FaceBook & Twitter, just watch for the code to be posted. The first one to grab and use the code gets it!
On the forum, we will be posting questions about Rift and our community. The first person to post the correct answer will get the code sent to them in an IM. So make sure you are registered and ready to post! Some questions will be harder than others. But all answers will be public information.
Keep your eyes peeled! There will be lots of places around the web where you will be able to get a code. This is just the beginning!
It may be an understatement to say that Trion has been very busy since E3, GamesCom, and PAX.
Originally posted by Abigale (Source)
I thought you all might like an update on how things are progressing. There have been some pretty big changes recently! We just added the new and improved starting areas for both the Guardians and the Defiants. I was anxious to try them both out. Especially since I still haven’t decided which faction I will be playing at release!
First, I had to create new characters. Things have changed a lot in the way of character creation. Lots more choices now than what you saw in footage from earlier presentations. It took me quite a while to finish creating my new characters. That always takes me a long time because I am very picky about my avatars. So I loved having lots more choices as I created them.
Then I played through both newbie zones. All I can say is wow! Both zones have been overhauled in every way. And both are amazing! They look really nice and they present the story and background of the game in a clear way. I would highly recommend playing both starting areas when the game is released. It was really cool to get the history and background on both factions.
But what really impressed me was the game play in these starting zones. It was great! I was put into exciting situations from the start. I did not feel like it was a tutorial, even though I was being led through adventures that were setting me up for what to expect as I level up in the game. It’s very exciting to see these changes and improvements. Personally, I didn’t think the starting areas were bad to begin with. But now that they have been improved, I am very impressed!
It’s really an exciting process to watch. I have been impressed with the game since I first started playing it. It’s been fun and very enjoyable. But now they are in the process of taking things that are good and making them better, along with fixing all the little bugs that rear their ugly heads during alpha and beta. Having been an MMO gamer for so long, I really enjoy watching the process. It’s like being on the set of your favorite movie!
I can’t wait for you to see it for yourself! But until then, I wanted to let you know that things are definitely moving right along!
From the Official Forums:
(Press Release Version)
Originally posted by Abigale (Source)
Hi, Folks!We have a decision to make around here and we thought we would ask for your input. We have bounced around a lot of ideas of our own but decided that it would be nice to hear your ideas as well!
We have a Mage soul that we’ve been calling a Chloromancer. But somehow, that just doesn’t seem like the best name we could give it. We’d like your help in making this important decision.
First, let us tell you a little bit about what this soul is and does.
Overview
Drawing on the vital energies of plants and nature, this mage finds a balance between life and death. Only [Soul]s can focus these life energies into a devastating force, or recycle destructive magic to heal their allies.
Strengths
Their every destructive spell generates healing magic, so a [Soul] can survive situations that would kill most mages, and keep their allies alive even as they annihilate the enemy.Weaknesses
Invaluable allies though they are, [Souls] possess neither the destructive potential of their fellow mages, nor the restorative spells of most clerics, and their ability to heal is dependent on the damage they deal in combat. A [Soul] who cannot hurt her foes cannot effectively heal her allies.What do you think? Do you have any ideas for what we should call this soul?
Post your ideas here in this thread. We will pick out the best of them and list them in a poll. You as a community will vote with us to decide which name it should be. Your vote carries the same weight as a developer’s!
The name that gets the most votes will be the name of this soul when Rift: Planes of Telara is released!
Let’s hear your suggestions and then watch for the poll in the coming days so you can cast your vote!
My opinion? I like Cholormancer
Itching to play Rift with your Guild-mates? Time to sign up.
Originally posted by Abigale (Source)
Hi, Folks!Many of you have been asking me about getting your guilds into beta. We are certainly going to want to have some guilds participating. We will need help testing things like raiding, pvp, guild progression and the guild tools themselves.We will want to have a variety of guilds participating. So we will need all sizes and play styles.
To help us with that, I would like to start a list here. Please provide the following information to be considered as a beta guild.
Guild Name:
Number of active members:
How long has your guild existed?
What games have you played together?
What is your guild play style (casual, raid, PVP, etc,)?
Please link to your guild website if you have one.Please note: it is very important that you make sure your guild members have signed up for a Trion account. If your guild is selected, we will only be able to invite those members who are registered with us. So make sure they are all signed up and ready to go!
Please keep this thread free of discussion. This thread should only be a list of potential beta guilds. And please only post your guild once. Multiple posts in this thread does not increase your chances.
From the Official Forums:
Hi, Folks-
Things sure have been busy these past few weeks! Gamescom and PAX were great shows for us and we enjoyed meeting many of you there. It was especially fun to be able to visit with you at our parties and get to know you a little better. We all really enjoyed that. And I also want to say hello to those of you who have joined us since the shows. Welcome!
In addition to working on the shows, the team has also been very busy with Alpha. There has been a lot of great feedback and they are working very hard to make changes and fixes in the game, as Scott mentioned in his post last week. It’s very exciting to see all of this unfolding.
I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know what to expect from us in the near future. As Scott already mentioned, we will continue to run Alpha, adding more people as we can and listening to feedback to see where changes need to be made. There have already been some pretty big changes and I am sure there will be more to come. This team is really dedicated to listening to the feedback of the people playing the game.
This means that some things are in flux right now. And as we have said before, we will not announce or talk about anything that isn’t certain. So that means there is probably going to be a lot we can’t address for a while.
We will still be revealing more of the game, though. There are plans to show you more dungeons, rifts, zones, lore, etc. But we won’t be answering some of your bigger questions just yet. I know there are things you want to hear about such as crafting, PVP and raids among other things. But we won’t be talking about those things until we are ready.
We really appreciate your enthusiasm and support and we have plans for some fun things to do while we wait for a time when we can answer more of your questions. We are also going to be getting back to some of the features we had before. We’ll have devs in IRC, on the podcast and featured in interviews on the forum.
And finally, no, we don’t have dates for anything yet. We will add people to alpha as we can and when we have a firm date set for beta, we will let you know. But again, we won’t announce anything until it is 100% for sure.
Thanks for your patience. I know it’s hard to wait for details on a game you are anxious to try. We will let you know more as soon as we can.
LET'S GET SOCIAL