Rift: interview with game designer Will Cook

World of Warcraft is the king of massively multiplayer online games but a recently released competitor called Rift looks like being the most polished competitor to emerge. We recently spoke to Rift game designer Will Cook.

What is Rift and what does it bring to the MMO genre?

Rift is a massively multiplayer online game focused on bringing players a dynamic world full of unpredictable experiences, as well as one of most customisable class systems found in any game. We truly want the player to have as much control as possible over how their character plays, and then toss them new and exciting challenges every day. Beyond these features, Trion also hopes to set a new bar for polish, stability, and service in an MMO, and we hope that the smooth experience of our recent launch and the rapid turnaround of our first game update have supported this aim.

WoW is the obvious competitor – how are you going to attract players of this and other MMOs over?

Between our class system and our dynamic content, Rift should feel like a graduation game for those who have played past MMOs. Not only can you make classes reminiscent of your past favourites, but you will also be able to dream up combinations that you never thought possible. Players who are tired of levelling with only questing content will find our rift events and dynamic invasions a breath of fresh air. However, regardless of your MMO history, the first time you are swept up in a massive zone event you will know you are playing something special.

What sort of customisation is available in Rift?

One of the first things that any player, whether an MMO veteran or a novice, will be struck by is our incredible class system. Players will be able to spend points in up to three souls (a sort of mini-class) at any given time in order to determine how their character plays and what role he or she might take in a group. We also allow players to save up to four of the soul arrangements to encourage experimentation. Feel like dishing out the damage tonight? Well then try out a Pyromancer soul mixed with a little Stormcaller and Warlock. Need another healer? Swap out the Stormcaller for Chloromancer and watch the group composition problems of past MMOs melt away.

What is your target audience for Rift? Hardcore gamers or those with less time?

Rift is a fully featured MMO meant for old and new players alike. New players can lean on the structure and story of our questing system, and the openness of our social content like rifts and invasions where more players, regardless of experience, are always welcome. Elite players may find themselves spending hours tinkering in the depths of the class system and top tier raid game. However, as I mentioned before players of every skill level will drop everything to jump into a zone event to turn back the surge of rifts and take down the massive Colossi that spawn. Colossi are a particular favourite of mine, being a boss monster of enormous size designed to fight against hordes of players at once, whether you're level 10 or level 50.

Can players with less time ever hope to succeed compared with those gamers who can spend 10 hours a day?

The defining features of our game are available to player from the very beginning of their time in Rift. By the end of the starting experience players will have acquired their first three souls and a good number of points to spend in them. Within minutes you'll see your first rift event and invasion, and you will have trouble making it very far after that without encountering a zone event. Whether you have 30 minutes or three hours, Rift will have a piece of content designed for you. Additionally, every kind of content, from quests to pvp to huge zone events, will give you experience and rewards to help your character progress.

How varied are the quests in Rift? Can you give some early examples?

I created a new Defiant (one of our player factions) at launch, and within my first hour of play I was activating a huge construct to cut a path through a horde of monsters blocking my way. Moments afterwards I found myself fighting through a Rift event as part of a boss fight alongside some of the signature characters from our game. These sorts of quests are available from the very beginning of Rift, and we endeavour to create these epic questing moments throughout the entirety of a player's experience in Rift.

The in-game rifts can be done in pick-up groups – but how important is grouping to Rift as a whole?

MMOs have benefited immensely from catering more to the solo player than the first generations of MMO did, but there is also something wonderful about the communities that can form by virtue of group play. Rift has tried to celebrate the best of both worlds. Our dynamic content, in particular rift events, have a base layer that is designed for the solo player. If left alone, a solo player can close the rift by defeating all the stages leading up to and including its first boss, receiving several rewards in the process. However, as more people arrive at these events more difficult stages become available, and only with the help of these added players will you be able to push past the bonus timers into the advanced stages and earn better rewards for everyone. We also have an open grouping system which makes setting up groups in these large events painless (especially helpful in a large zone invasion when there are dozens of players in the same area). It was the success of an impromptu open group that actually led me to join my current guild in Rift.

For those that thrive on grouping, Rift is also filled with instanced dungeon content that will require an organised group, as well as advanced raiding content meant for several groups banded together. We even have open-world rift raids that will require a core organized group to tackle, but which encourage additional players that walk by to join in!

How does crafting work and how important is it in Rift?

We wanted crafting to be something in which everyone could participate, so Rift's crafting system is designed to be something than can compliment a player's progress through the world. Players will gather resources both from the world they adventure through, as well as from the planar content they defeat like rift events and invasions. Using these materials players can create some of the most competitive items at any given level. Players can also augment the power of these crafted items using some of the materials they gather from their planar encounters, which can add a unique touch to every item you create.

A lot of MMOs are going down the freemium route but Rift is using the subs model. Are you worried this may impact on the number of users you get?

Something that is difficult to get across in a tagline or marketing buzzword is that Trion is here to work for your money. Rift is a service, not a static release. We do not believe that a content update every three to six months is all that it takes to earn a monthly subscription. That is why you have already seen a feature and balance update for Rift when the game has been out barely more than a week! Anyone who got a chance to play in our beta events knows that we take the feedback of our users very seriously. Key features like zone events and open grouping did not exist until we received player feedback in our beta events, and the even larger forms of dynamic content (more info soon!) we have coming in our next major content update came as a result of player wishlist suggestions.

All of the above is a long-winded way of saying that we are not very worried about the model that we have chosen. We are making AAA products that guarantee a consistent level polish for every player, and those players who stick with us will get to see us fulfil our promise of continued updates and an ever-evolving game service.

Have you looked into using mobile or non-PC as a way for users to interact with Rift?

Absolutely. Our twitter integration was the just the first toe in the water of what we have planned. The possibilities are so vast that it can be a bit daunting. What do we create first? An app to tinker with your souls arrangements? An auction house link? Or perhaps something that will give you progress updates during one of our upcoming world events? It is a bit like the Wild West out there. We have the capability, so now it just remains for us to pick our favorites first. We encourage our community to call our suggestions, because you can be sure that anything that makes it to the top of the players' list will be sure to end up on ours as well.

Where do you see Rift in a year's time?

Frankly, I did not do a great job of predicting where we would be now, so I am sceptical of any guess that I make for the future. At one time invasions were just a dream, and zone events were the delusions of a mad man. I am running out of crazy features to pitch, so hopefully the players can offer us some assistance. For the near future, I hope that our first attempt at world event proves to be something that players like so that we can try some even grander designs. For the longer term ... well I suppose I can say with some certainty that I work at a place that always pushes for more than was planned and has the patience to make possible what seems crazy. In the end, the most important thing we can do is pay attention to the individual elements of our game that prove successful and try to evolve naturally from those. With any luck, that strategy will lead us to something involving space dinosaurs, because that is an undervalued genre for which I have much fondness, but if it turns out that players want us to grow our dynamic content and custom classes, well then that would be pretty neat too.