Rift: Planes of Telera Beta

eXist · 11 Feb 2011 at 10:38

cant wait for tuesdays beta

valkia · 11 Feb 2011 at 10:46

Don't forget free shipping for loyal forum members too!!!

valkia · 11 Feb 2011 at 11:36

Lots of pre-orders coming in! You will get emailed with info on your early access key. You will receive this within 24/48 hours

Dr Who · 11 Feb 2011 at 12:13

drunkenmaster said:
Quick couple questions about getting into the open beta as I want to try out the game, are they planning on doing mass key release for the open beta or is it a case of pre-ordering the game and getting a pre-order code to try it out?

On pre-ordering the game, does anyone know for sure if no matter where you buy it you get open beta access most of the other places to buy it don't mention anything but the headstart, and some don't even mention that.

Seeing as its £25 some places and £35 direct through them I'd prefer to buy somewhere else, lastly, can you pre-order, use the code and cancel if you decide its not for you?

You can get into the Beta by registering on their website, no keey required, the beta ends 3 days before headstart begins so you may need to order promptly during the beta for the headstart code.

I was going to start my own PVP/PVE guild http://splinterfaction.guildlaunch.com/index.php?gid=171998 but I could be convinced to go with the OCUK guild if you are gonna do it properly with decent website etc, I have a 20 user vent server which can be expanded.

Stusteel · 11 Feb 2011 at 12:32

I have joined the OCUK Rift group..can we call it a guild yet?

It has a forum but not a web portal like guildlaunch, but as you have done, they can be knocked up quick enough.

drunkenmaster · 11 Feb 2011 at 13:21

valkia said:
Unfortunately due to the key which you will get in a note on your Overclockers Account (follow email instructions) it gives you full access to the whole game a week early. Therefore you can not return/refund the game.

Yeah, I'm wondering if some more game focused places let you cancel, I've seen others cancel pre-orders before but don't know how much being a **** on the phone for hours it took to get their money back in those situations

I've been burnt SO many times on MMO's its a joke, its a shame, I both hate Beta's as it always feels a little like spoiling the final game for yourself, but hate hoping for a good game, then getting caught.

Warhammer and Star Trek Online come to mind, I've still not activated my STo copy as the headstart/late beta was SO poor but I just didn't have a chance to cancel, not sure if I could have, felt no urge to play anymore at the time and just never bothered going back to play my 30 days.

Looked at a build manager type site to see what stuff different classes get. Warlock cracks me up, may aswell just have copied all the names off WoW aswell as the powers and entire class concept

I was going to ask about dl'ing the game before the beta goes live, it wouldn't let me log in last night but did this morning which let me dl the game.

Certainly looks interesting but would prefer not to throw away another £25 on a MMO I play for a couple days then never look at again.

valkia · 11 Feb 2011 at 13:37

drunkenmaster said:
Yeah, I'm wondering if some more game focused places let you cancel, I've seen others cancel pre-orders before but don't know how much being a **** on the phone for hours it took to get their money back in those situations

I've been burnt SO many times on MMO's its a joke, its a shame, I both hate Beta's as it always feels a little like spoiling the final game for yourself, but hate hoping for a good game, then getting caught.

Warhammer and Star Trek Online come to mind, I've still not activated my STo copy as the headstart/late beta was SO poor but I just didn't have a chance to cancel, not sure if I could have, felt no urge to play anymore at the time and just never bothered going back to play my 30 days.

Looked at a build manager type site to see what stuff different classes get. Warlock cracks me up, may aswell just have copied all the names off WoW aswell as the powers and entire class concept

I was going to ask about dl'ing the game before the beta goes live, it wouldn't let me log in last night but did this morning which let me dl the game.

Certainly looks interesting but would prefer not to throw away another £25 on a MMO I play for a couple days then never look at again.

A wise decision to play betas or ask people what they think to be honest

. Normally you can just cancel the pre-order and get your money back. But because they keys will be sent out on order we can not do this. See what you think of the game!

eXist · 11 Feb 2011 at 14:05

Dr Who said:
You can get into the Beta by registering on their website, no keey required, the beta ends 3 days before headstart begins so you may need to order promptly during the beta for the headstart code.

I was going to start my own PVP/PVE guild http://splinterfaction.guildlaunch.com/index.php?gid=171998 but I could be convinced to go with the OCUK guild if you are gonna do it properly with decent website etc, I have a 20 user vent server which can be expanded.

You would be more than welcome to join up with our ocuk guild as i dont really know how to run a guild etc, atm we only have a forum so a website and vent server would be a massive boost, add me to steam and we can talk

steam = garrynicol693

Stusteel · 11 Feb 2011 at 14:21

Creating a site in guildlaunch is easy peasy, it's a template with a theme that you choose. It's all done for you really.

Running a guild can be as easy or hard as you want it to be. Have a plan as to what the guild is about, get some people around you to help steer/action this and have fun together.

Either be casual or hardcore, very hard to be both.

Caseh · 11 Feb 2011 at 14:36

valkia said:
A wise decision to play betas or ask people what they think to be honest . Normally you can just cancel the pre-order and get your money back. But because they keys will be sent out on order we can not do this. See what you think of the game!

I have to wait until the 15th to buy the game. Forgot I had lent the monies to my parents.

Ah well, still definitely buying it from here. I don't even know why I'm bothering with the early access though tbh, I'm on a "Get fit quick" rampage thingy atm, and don't really have much time for games.

j0s · 11 Feb 2011 at 15:10

does this include the free 30 day sub?

valkia · 11 Feb 2011 at 15:51

Yes this does include a 30 Day sub

Oizu · 11 Feb 2011 at 16:35

You can count me in for the rift guild, I've finally decided I will be buying the game.

dr_volki · 11 Feb 2011 at 16:54

will pre-order it next week

Monkeymatt · 11 Feb 2011 at 17:03

Although I have stepped back and won't be part of the guild, I thought I might aswell link the website: http://ocukrift.proboards.com/

eXist is now leading the guild(Of 14 people now) and so if you want to organise anything please contact him. Good luck and have fun

spengos · 11 Feb 2011 at 18:36

A post from Scott Hartsman on the Offical forum. He talks about some of the changes for open beta.

I'm really liking how Trion listen to the community. The PvP change was a result of this. I was one of those people that thought making the guard defence too high in the cities was a dumb idea on the PvP servers. For PvE I understand, but if you roll on a PvP server then you should expect to fight for your territory and not make them invinsible fortresses.

Anyway, here's the full post:

Hi, everyone – We’ve dropped a little below our own bar for keeping you up to date on the state of the game, and for that I definitely apologize.

It’s not out of any desire to not keep you informed, but purely out of how many hours a week that everyone is putting into the builds, features, and updates for Open Beta, Head Start, Launch, and what comes beyond. Not an excuse, just letting you know that’s where every waking moment has been going.

With that said, we did want to get updates out on a few hot topics that have come up since Beta 6.

Let’s start with PvP in the shared world.

Just before Beta 6, we made an anti griefing change that prevented enemy wardstones at hubs and towns from being destroyed by the opposing faction, and significantly boosted guard strength around PvE hubs. We’re pretty happy with how that worked out on the PvE servers.

In time for Open Beta, we’ve developed the ability to repeal those changes on the PvP servers only, to see if they can remain playable without it. Ideally, it’s our hope that there’s gameplay value in having people being able to band together to attack and defend those areas on PvP servers.

If you choose to play on a PvP server, it’s our assumption that you not only don’t mind that level of interruption from that PvP attack-and-defense style of gameplay, but are actively excited about taking part in it. If you want uninterrupted PvE questing, choosing a PvE server is definitely recommended.

On damage tuning from Beta 6

Beta 6 was the largest test we’ve ever done. We had the largest number of people across more level ranges than ever before playing Rift. As we’re fine tuning NPC damage for launch, we got a lot of feedback (and just as importantly, combat metrics from the servers) on how everyone is performing in different level ranges. Expect further updates to these in Open Beta.

So far, in our closed testing of the current tuning, things are looking pretty positive. Finding the right balance between “too easy” and “too hard” across this many level ranges and character capacities is a challenge, and we’re looking forward to seeing what people think, and how well they perform, in the next round.

Raid development strategies, in a world with an entirely new class of content

One of the things that makes Rift different from other MMOs is that we have this entire class of content that most games don’t – The dynamic content systems that provide us the ability to create invasions, events of all sizes, ancient wardstones, colossi, and rifts. To most everyone here, that’s no big surprise.

Once you start talking about rifts, you have minor rifts (largely for solo and small group players), major rifts (for group players), expert rifts (for high end players, on par with an expert-level dungeon), and raid rifts.

Once we’re talking about those rifts at the high end of the game, those give you the ability to lure out specific encounters by picking up specific Lures. It’s that layer of content that we’ve chosen to focus on for our 10-man raid content for starters.

Most people haven’t experienced this yet in this game or any other, so it can seem as if we’re trying to short the 10-man raids by not doing 10 and 20 man versions of every instance.

Our intent is actually the opposite: This strategy lets us tailor more raid encounters for 10 mans, and giving people cooler things to do, faster, without either a) unfairly forcing people to stare at the same raid zones twice every week if multiple versions of the same zones are available, or b) forcing someone to choose between two sets of friends, if they can only do a 10 or a 20 of the same zone in a week.

Both of those are dynamics that have a lot of downside, and we’re trying to avoid things that either force burnout or force wedges between groups of friends. The dynamic content system, and its ability to provide fun content, accessibly, makes a lot of sense as a potential solution to these problems.

We expect 10 mans to be a pretty huge number of raiders all in all, and we expect to continue creating 10 man content rapidly throughout the live run of the game.

With 10 man rifts (via Lures), just like with 20 man instances, people can go do them on demand, which is another part of the strategy that might not have been clear. So, please don’t think that we’re throwing 10 man raiders to the wolves. We're actually trying to ensure that both sizes of raiding can flourish.

As with any of our other development strategies, we’ll be keeping an eye out and seeing how it goes at mass scale, after lots of people have the chance to participate.

Do know that we’ll respond appropriately, to make sure that we’re always iterating to make the best experience that we possibly can.

- The RIFT Development Team

Coolit · 12 Feb 2011 at 00:43

You may be interested in the 47min interview Scott did with Dead Pixel, its pretty interesting, starts at around 30min

http://deadpixellive.com/episodes/1176-589-dead-pixel-live-21011

.Sean · 12 Feb 2011 at 03:16

Just got my BETA invite.

OCDStevo · 12 Feb 2011 at 07:10

It will be interesting after go live when they try and balance the classes due to PvP. That should be interesting to see

Dr Who · 13 Feb 2011 at 00:05

Stusteel said:
Creating a site in guildlaunch is easy peasy, it's a template with a theme that you choose. It's all done for you really.

Running a guild can be as easy or hard as you want it to be. Have a plan as to what the guild is about, get some people around you to help steer/action this and have fun together.

Either be casual or hardcore, very hard to be both.

Except they have no rift themes, I had to do mine with the Riftgame fansite pack

I wont be able to be a hardcore leader so would be looking for a decent officer structure, but I would be proud to be associated with OCUK.

Gary, have sent you afriend request on steam, Galifrey is the name.