I played not long after it came out, but didn't stick around.

Since it's "free" to level 20, I thought I'd give it another whirl. Well, I did, and I do really like the game, but it seems all but a few servers are empty. I went on one toon and did a search and there were 15 people on the whole server, no one but me in the faction's capital city (Meridian).  Even the one "high" population server was barely 50 players or so on my faction's side.

The game is enjoyable, and the people by-and-large are nice and friendly. But man, unless the game's "search" function is bugged,  this seems to be one of the least populated games I've seen in a while.

EDIT: One of the reasons I ask is, when I first played, Silverwood was just a mess of players. Taking on one of those invasion Bosses was like 50 vs. 1, and it was pretty wild. Now, however, I was running around with one other guy trying to clear out a whole zone-wide invasion on a supposedly "medium" server. Just two of us, and it's hard to kill invasion bosses with two tanks and no heals or DPS. The difference between then and now is stark and not a little depressing.

How exactly are you doing the search for people online? For my I play on a rather empty pvp server (since people apparently became pansies and can't accept pvp) due to a mass sever movement causing the other pvp server to become a nice laggy and overcrowded mess. My server right now has 13 level 50s online at 2:30 AM EST time. 

Its not dead, and I'll bet the expansion is likely going to bring a lot of people back around. Big issue with an upcoming expansion it tends to drain numbers away and lower population as people rather not pay and just wait for the expansion.

Simply put: Its not dead, though some servers might not be as full as others due to the fact free transfers exist.

Considering that Trion managed to make a profit due to RIFT, and the fact that they are still Pay to Play with their first expansion in development, I don't think they are dead.

"How exactly are you doing the search for people online?"

Social--> Friends--> Search

Use parameters of level 1-50, as just searching with no parameters, for some reason, doesn't return everybody online.

I also had a very hard time using the dungeon finder even as a Healer. Seemed to take forever to get a group for low-level stuff. If there are only a few hundred people online across all servers and levels, that would explain it.

Last time I played Rift was back when TOR was in beta and rift opened up server transfers.  Seemed like the game was dying as our 20-man raids were struggling to fill as less and less players were regularly logging in.  Not sure what Trion is pulling to keep Rift relevant- but I assume it will be highly polished, minimally innovative, and resemble something proven effective by another developer.

The search box will only return a maximum of 50 at a time. May have just been a bad time of the day? My server (Threesprings-US) is listed as a Low Pop, and the zones are all healthily populated (the IAs and mentoring help a bit here), no issues clearing out zone invasions in this higher level zones either. I've noticed the LFG is just slow no matter what time of day, or what you queue as, I just let it run in the background and do other things (though I've noticed if I queue as a mentor, I get a group faster).

Finding a guild will help a lot as well, there are loads of guilds that recruit just about anyone just to have a social enviroment in game, and being able to transfer servers for free once a week makes finding a group of people a whole lot easier.

The game certainly isn't dead (IMO), just may need to do a little searching to find a good community.

Server transfers are free, My wife plays on a populated server but the previous server she was on had a mass exodus, and im not sure why lol. Grass is greener? I dunno, but they also had to move because economy, finding items on market etc.

LOL, Rift is no where close to dead. In fact I would say its alive. I transferred my mains to a medium pop server as the high pops caused serious lag issues with cnquest. Rift is by far my favorite mmo in 2012. The expansion coming out sounds very groovy.

Ohh, Gms visit player chat :-D Dont see that often! Devs also play with the players as well! Player driven game! Love it!!

The devs are nice guys. The game isn't terrible, it's just kind of turned away from the Rifts (its namesake) and invasions that made the game seem unique.

If you like WoW style raiding or 5 mans then you will probably enjoy Rift.

Originally posted by OldManFunk

The devs are nice guys. The game isn't terrible, it's just kind of turned away from the Rifts (its namesake) and invasions that made the game seem unique.

 

If you like WoW style raiding or 5 mans then you will probably enjoy Rift.

That is basically it.. the reason why I cancelled.. It was repeating WoW gear grind all over again.. Rift invasions were only a side distraction.. Just way too linear for my liking.. 

Which realms are populated?

I'm on a "High" pop server and from 1-20 I've yet to see anyone.

Originally posted by Enigmatus

Considering that Trion managed to make a profit due to RIFT, and the fact that they are still Pay to Play with their first expansion in development, I don't think they are dead.

You mean, like Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning ... ? ;-)

Could it be that those in random instances/Bgs are not going to show up on the list?  Not to mention are you on a grossly inflated one side faction server?  The number sounds awefully low but the way the game is trudging along it's doing fine and will be a nitche crowd. 

Not dead but not a high success. a decent success but then this is all speculation as no company ever gives their numbers out.  CCP is one of the few that will.   For all we know Trion coffers are slowly draining and they are gambling with the expansion, not like this would be the first time a company did this.

Originally posted by Ambros123

For all we know Trion coffers are slowly draining and they are gambling with the expansion, not like this would be the first time a company did this.

I wouldnt see its a gamble, but its likely a last hope to keep both the fast development and the sub only revenue.

Expansion being a success and drawing people back to Rift (and actually keeping them this time) then nothing changes.  If the expansion is recieved the same as 1.8 or 1.9, then Rift is probably going to have to add in a full blown cash shop to support the dev costs, since I dont see them reducing development.  Certainly not the end of the world for those who love Rift by a long shot though,  I dont see Rift dropping below 100k or anything.

yep, completely dead. all games start working on expansions when they die.

Originally posted by Tokken
I usual see a hihg pop server has alot of high level characters but don't see many low lvl characters.  I think rift is mainly an endgame game now.

I agree.  Endgame centric themeparks with fast progression often end up top-heavy.