Despite the fact that we’re right in the middle of RIFT’s second anniversary and Sanctum, Meridian, and the dock area of Tempest Bay are full of cheerful NPCs, colorful balloons, and carnival games galore, there’s one thing missing among the festivities on many shards. One group of things, rather. Well, okay, not things exactly. People. Despite the popularity of last year’s Carnival of the Ascended, this year our carnival grounds seem a little sparse.

Not all shards are experiencing this sparseness, of course, but even on high and medium population shards, folks are noticing the lack of carnival goers. I know I have. It was hard to miss the giant raids of balloon stompers last year even on low population shards. This year, the first day had a few smaller raids forming up on the two PvE shards I frequent, but now even during peak hours there are rarely more than three people wandering through any of the carnival attractions. So, what gives? Why aren’t the carnival games as popular as they were last year?

This year’s Carnival of the Ascended is now well underway. We have games to enjoy, spacebars to wear out, and plenty of currency to collect. There has been a few new additions this year as well as some pretty hefty changes from last year’s Carnival of the Ascended. This guide will go over all of the reward vendors, carnival games, and the current activities, repeatable quests, and regular quests associated with the first two phases of the world event that marks RIFT’s second anniversary celebration.

Note: Since the event’s in progress, this guide is still a work in progress. I’ll update it as the next phases roll on out. If you notice we’re missing anything, feel free to drop us a line in the comments section below!

As part of today’s RIFT 2.2: Carnival of the Ascended major update, we received another update to the RIFT Mobile app. Yep, we finally have a new world event-themed scratcher mini-game. This one is called “Carnival Candy” and can be explained quite simply: Find the anniversary cake and win a prize! The prizes are mostly Glass Beads this time around, but it’s also possible to get rare goodies from other world events like companion pets and wardrobe items. Each Glass Bead win seems to net you between 8 and 15 of them. All-in-all, the mini-game seems to be a decent source of complimentary Glass Beads, although like the most of the games, the odds can be somewhat unpredictable.

Whether you’ve seen him yourself yet or not, if you followed the news leading up to Storm Legion’s launch you know about the Volan encounter. The giant robot appeared liberally on live streams and in trailers, and the combination of the giant scale of the fight and exciting new player mechanics (jumping!) made Volan one of the stars of Storm Legion. But now that the expansion is out and many people are level 60, has the Volan encounter lived up to its billing?

Fae Yule 2012 is here, and snowballs are in season! As part of Rift Junkies’ series of holiday event guides, here is our take on Fae Yule, complete with lots of screenshots, details on the rewards offered, and hints, tips, and descriptions for the event’s quests and activities.

Fae Yule is essentially the same lighthearted, goodie-filled holiday it was last year, except this year there is more to do, and more ways to spend Unique Snowflakes, which will be great for players who found themselves a little overrun with the currency last time around. There are some new items, including items for Storm Legion-leveled players, festive dimension items, and pets and mounts that are both new and returning. The event itself is still largely centered in Meridian and Sanctum, though Iron Pine Peak plays an important role this time as well.

Over the weekend, RIFT’s Public Test Server (PTS) received a fairly large update, and within that update was a preview of the holiday cheer headed our way in RIFT 2.1. I’m talking of no other world event than Fae Yule, of course, which debuted last year as Trion’s first annual holiday event. We already knew the team had some extra goodies in store for us this year, but we didn’t know what exactly. Now we do– and here’s a preview!

Note: All information from the PTS is subject to change at any time, especially item prices, etc.

Fae Yule is essentially the same lighthearted, goodie-filled holiday it was last year, except this year there is more to do, and more ways to spend Unique Snowflakes, which will be great for players who found themselves a little overrun with the currency last time around. There are some new items, including items for Storm Legion-leveled players, festive dimension items, and pets and mounts that are both new and returning. The event itself is still largely centered in Meridian and Sanctum, though Iron Pine Peak plays an important role this time as well.

We haven’t seen a whole lot of development on RIFT’s Mobile App lately, but we do have a nifty, new Lootables mini-game to accompany Autumn Harvest. The new Scratcher-like mini-game is called Pumpkin Patch, and offers players a chance to grab some bonus rewards straight from the in-game holiday World Event, including Ambersap currency and two types of goodie bags– Alo’s Amazing Bounty and Autumn Harvest Bounty.

Alo’s Amazing Bounty contains various Alo-style transformation foods from the different World Events, and the Autumn Harvest Bounty contains buff food items from Autumn Harvest, including turkey, cranberries, and wine. The rewards aren’t spectacular admittedly, and the odds seem about the same as the other mini-games, but it’s a nice little bonus for those times when you’re away from the computer and have your smartphone in hand. Pumpkin Patch will only be available for a limited time.

Note: This guide was originally written during PTS testing, and as such, there may have been some changes or additions between testing and the event’s release on live servers. Notice any changes? Drop us a line in the comments section!

RIFT 1.10: Calm Before the Storm is now live! With it, we get to explore our brand new autumn-flavored holiday event– also known as Autumn Harvest. This event will run from 9/12/2012 to 10/10/2012.

Yay for fall events! I’ll be the first to admit I adore fall events in MMORPGs. Autumn’s my favorite time of the year, and I dig all the fall colors, tasty foods, pumpkins, goofy Halloween costumes– all that stuff. I love the fact that most of these fall attributes make their way into MMORPG holidays, and RIFT’s is no exception. Trion has added in some fun activities and items, all centered around Telara’s fall harvest. Oh, yeah, and we’ll also get to visit Realm of the Fae one more time, which has been kinda transformed by Atrophinius. The place also comes with a new name: Realm of the Autumn Harvest.

Preparation for the launch of Storm Legion is well underway at Trion Worlds. On the Public Test Shard yesterday, players got a chance to provide a little feedback and see Phase 3 of the expansion’s precursor World Event, Tempest Rising, in action. Phase 3 largely continues where Phase 1 and 2 left off, in Iron Pine Peaks. Queen Miela of Brevane relocates to IPP to issue out some new dailies, and slowly but surely, the enemy armies of Storm Legion make their way to Telara through portals, causing havoc in the streets.

Phase 3 reads: Tempest Rising
Alliances strain as minds bend and break beneath Crucia’s will. Madness seems to sweep through villages, towns, and cities as mortal after mortal falls victim to the Storm Queen’s insidious commands.

• Find and purge the corruption Curcia’s will is unleashing throughout Telara.

Note: As always, any PTS information is subject to change at any time.

Update: Time has been moved to 2 PM PST.

Yesterday, some hints of the second phase of Tempest Rising, Storm Legion’s precursor world event, appeared on the Public Test Shard. During Phase 2, it seems our main cities arm themselves for battle and prepare to face the enemies of the Storm Legion– along with a bit of help from the Ascended, of course. The World Event frame reads: Phase 2: Cold Wave– Crucia’s Storm Legion runs rampant throughout Telara like a tidal wave. The Ascended must stand strong against this onslaught or all is lost.

This achievement, which was originally found a couple weeks ago, is also making a comeback:

Yes, Phase 2 will feature the City Siege Instant Adventure. Here’s a teaser image from the brief preview Trion demonstrated yesterday. Trion will be holding a second PTS playtest this coming Thursday at 2:00 PM PST, so expect some juicy first-hand information in the days to come. The playtest will showcase the City Siege IA, some new IPP event dailies, and maybe even a new zone event. This announcement was posted yesterday in the official feedback thread for the Tempest Rising.