On Wednesday March 7th, Trion Worlds launched their first Rift Prime progression server. Excitement was extreme as everyone braced for servers to unlock, the sheer amount of players pouring into starter zones like it was 2011 all over again adding even more buzz. I’ve been there daily since and this is the first Prime progression report from Telara.
DAY ONE
Even in my excitement for Rift Prime I was skeptical. Not at the concept itself but whether I personally would enjoy it having not engaged in combative content regularly since leveling my Primalist. Why? World content has always been why I mainly love any MMORPG. From rifts, to mayhem, on top of puzzles, world pvp and bosses in-between raids and warfronts. I was also a huge fan of hybrid souls. As these aspects of Rift changed so did my desire to conquer Telara outside of Dimensions.
So there I was, day one - after a whirlwind few weeks preparing for Prime amazed at how much fun I was having even when servers shut down to fix an important bug. How fast fixes are being implemented have been phenomenal including server capacity limits being raised to cater to queues I thought I would never see again in Rift.
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INTO THE WEEKEND
On the game front there have been disconnects, along with lag spikes but I’ve been so caught up in making decisions that it’s almost non-issue. MMO’s all together have been in this sad state lately that leaves my MMORPG heart a little sore. Rift Prime has been like a massage, CPR or anything else that a heart could possibly need to relax again and just enjoy.
Starting on a rogue, the first warfront reminded me I need to heal to secure more winning games so cleric returned as my main.Thinking ahead for this server that could potentially be one year I decided on fishing only as a craft, with added goals of 90% speed mount (13.3k favor) and Defiler (2000 Planarite) so getting to level 20 for me has been mainly quests, warfronts, rifts and footholds. I have no desire to do dungeons until I have these added goals complete.
PLAN-A-RIGHT
Now I have this plan as a long time player, but helping as many people as we are currently in our guild - it is easy to see that more information would support Rift Prime exponentially.
Something else noticeable on Prime is that almost everyone I know has the main general chat turned off that is getting to such non-constructive states it prompts Trion Worlds to use server wide messages to control it, which should never happen. On Friday during the closing minutes of the Trion Worlds stream it was made very clear extra moderation was being applied to Rift Prime chats but so far it seems this isn’t working. Out in the game though, even in warfronts 99.9% of the interaction I’ve had, has been friendly or nothing - as we all grind our way to 50.
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WHAT FLAVOR IS RIFT PRIME REALLY?
Speaking of 50. I am not noticing the discrepancy from experience gain even before the experience boost this weekend, that others are. Low level PvP has us all with so few skills to distribute, leaving room for error so anyone can play. Farming planarite is an absolute given. Not having done a dungeon yet at Level 20 I know my level would be higher if I had, including if I was also a crafter who has dailies but I am more than comfortable with my progression as well as the servers.
What is also very handy is that you are able to gather any level nodes, logs or flowers to gain gathering experience supporting respawn rates on one server. Perhaps even more handier is having no fall damage, especially if you like to do puzzles? A brilliant way to earn more achievements and rewards.
Prime is often referred to as a “vanilla” server with comparisons made even more often to the original game. Vigil is more than that, it has the original game as well as changes implemented half way through and recently. I’ve been calling Rift chocolate but maybe the most appropriate flavor is Neapolitan?
The prime flavor profile - strawberry, chocolate AND vanilla! Something for everyone.
EVENTS INCOMING!
What will help those who are displeased is next week the seasonal Carnival of the Ascended 2018 will arrive (store usually Wednesday patch day, event itself on Thursday) if everything else behaves between Live and Prime.
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Trion Worlds have also released the first month of Prime Vigil - Monthly Challenges cheering on the completionists and collectors in a very big way which is always exciting, especially when there are no leaderboards on Prime.
A KIWI BIRDS EYE VIEW
Fond is such a well used word in the last few days especially watching shard firsts or personal accomplishments get auto-shared in guild chat, cheering everyone on. Ear to ear grin as my screen is constantly prodded with accomplishments. I have missed that!
Wardrobes are starting to get fancy already, so grateful the deep dyes are free because I really don’t want to buy them again (press C > 4th from the bottom is Wardrobe > Click on the two bottle icons next to each item to dye.) Awesomely we are starting to see artifacts take a shine to more folks each day, getting a quick reminder today that if you fish or gather artifacts in Gloamwood or Stonefield there is a chance you will pick up a poisonous artifact that gives a 12 minute damage buff to see any other poison artifacts. Be prepared to heal yourself and go, go, go search the zone for more poison artifacts!
My summary? The thought of shiny artifacts distract me even when writing which is what Rift is infamous for and I truly believe this version of a Neapolitan server will lead the way for many other games to consider doing the same, which would be extraordinary for many gaming hearts out there a little sore from no longer having a crush on their favorite MMOs.
