Rift 1.6 – A mini-expansion

Trion continues to impress me with their grasp of how the MMORPG industry works (or doesn’t, depending on your point of view). Almost monthly the company pushes out some really impressive content for free. These content pushes are usually about as large as the WoW quarterlies and sometimes they’re even bigger. Rift patch 1.6 stands to be so large that you almost have to call it a miniature expansion. It is also no coincidence that it will be releasing later in 2011. Why then? That is when Star Wars the Old Republic is launching. If you run an MMORPG and you don’t have something interesting coming out at that time you can expect to lose some subscriptions for a few months.

The Ember Isle

I’ve actually taken the time to visit Ember Isle on the PTS and have been extremely impressed. It isn’t some tiny, phoned in zone that is just there to tempt you. It is an entirely new step in the world of Telara. I saw at least one new monster model, a huge sum of real estate, new zone events, new rifts, and everything you would come to expect out of this game. The zone is very large and offers a great spot for max level players to earn planar attunement experience, achievements, new rewards, and just a new area to roam around to do the things we already do. It also adds a bit more challenge as I felt the amount of damage these monsters put out was on the high end. Chris asked me what the point was on the Multiverse and I think the best way I can sum it up is this: I want to play daily. This gives me a new place to play in. That alone is enough. My biggest concern is that Ember Isle is so great it might empty out the other “top level” zones.

Rise of the Phoenix

I have not yet tested the new ten man raid but I know others have been working at it. Since release this will be the third new ten man raid, Rise of the Phoenix, and the fifth raid zone overall added for no cost. I’m not a fan of Gilded Prophecies but I truly enjoy the cleverness of Drowned Halls. If this new zone is more like the latter I think it will be something we add to our rotation. You don’t always have to push the envelope with “higher tier” raid zones. In some cases we just want a different way to play the game and enjoy a challenge. I’m not sure where this zone fits in but I’m glad it is there.

Rift Harder, Rift Longer

I’ve always been a rift guy. I chase them, kill them, and love them. I log on daily to do at least one zone event because I like to, not because I have to. I’m not completely certain that this will make patch 1.6 but I know it is coming in soon. Tier two expert and raid rifts have me quite excited. I enjoyed the first tier of them and anything that adds new rifting opportunities is okay in my book. I’m certain these will add a new level of challenge, some pretty cool rewards, and just the chance to do something different. This is a big win for me!

But…

The one thing I haven’t seen is the announcement of a dungeon for this zone. At this point I simply refuse to set foot in a tier two or the master dungeon. I’ve been there, done that, and have the thousands of plaques to prove it. Trion is of course under no obligation to give dungeons as free content but since that seems to be their way I think it is about time. We need tier three dungeons for players that have completed tier one raiding. If not that then we at least need new tier two dungeons that may have one or two things of interest for us. I know that Trion got the message that we did not want the tier two dungeons recycled into “masters” but they’ve got to go deeper to make them feel worth our time. I loathe the Darkening Deeps master. Literally loathe it. I did it one time and I’ll be happy never to go back. The rewards weren’t worth it, the geometry was the exact same, it wasn’t that much harder, and the time it takes to do it plus the lockout push it into the useless category. Trion just tuned up the damage for the most part and that was it it. Why not at least replace the bosses?

Always more good than bad

Despite the lack of a dungeon announcement I still think Rift patch 1.6 offers a whole lot of bang for your buck. I was extremely ecstatic about 1.5 and it did not disappoint. 1.6 offers a whole lot more and I can’t wait to get my paws on it. I’ll be one of those folks going, “Oh, TOR released? Yeah I’ll get that at some point” because of this!

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