Over the weekend, the freshman entry from Trion Worlds entered its second year as a premium MMORPG. RIFT, a fantasy MMORPG rocking a classless system filled with dynamic content, launched in March 2011 to a solid reception. Since this time, Trion Worlds has met an aggressive content schedule, releasing a myriad of patches large and small and an entire expansion, Storm Legion. On March 1, the title turned two and received a new content patch, Carnival of the Ascended – Patch v2.2, to celebrate.

There’s a smorgasbord of activities for players of any type of dedication, from mini-games to games of skill to simple collections, spread across Storm Legion zones. There’s also the excitement of randomized PvP scenarios. The patch brings core (non-seasonal) content as well, including the addition of Tier 3 Planar Attunement, and hard modes of Endless Eclipse and Frozen Tempest.

Past and present players can rekindle their relationships during the anniversary’s free weekend, March 21-25, which coincides with the 20% increase to various statistics – XP, Favor, Prestige, etc – that runs from March 21 until April 4. Not to mention PAX East! Coincidence?

You can read the full breakdown of the Carnival of the Ascended here. Be sure to hit the jump for the Second Anniversary trailer. Interested in seeing what you missed in the preceding 24 months? Massively’s Karen Bryan has you covered. Continue Reading

Can you believe it’s been nearly three years since we were able to step into the first persistent Star Trek universe? Star Trek Online launched as a subscription MMORPG in February 2013. There’s been much change in the game since, including six major patches and a business model change. In November’s State of the Game, Executive Producer Daniel Stahl details what players can expect with Season 7 and the approach to the yearly milestone.

Dubbed New Rumulous, players get to see Earth as it would be in 2999. Just kidding. New Romulus offers a collection of new missions and additional personal progression opportunities. What’s most interesting is the Season 7 content patch will take the first look at end-game rewards, like STFs, since they were introduced in S1 and S2.

Revisiting old systems is a nice touch, but the new content is the most exciting. As you may have guessed, New Romulus brings players to bear a new storyarc for the opportunistic cousins of the Vulcans. Season 7 will show players the ramifications for the destruction of the Romulan homeworld, diving into the core of the STO storyline.

Season 7 is going to be a big one, from features and systems to dramatic changes in the story. Hit the jump for new media and the above link for all juicy details. Continue Reading

It’s hard to believe that Champions Online came out three years ago. Not only because it makes me feel old, but because of the tumultuous ride the title has gone through. A too-early launch thanks to publisher Atari led to a lack of polished content, yet a smooth release technologywise.

The move left a sour taste in many a player’s mouth, mine included, which Cryptic Studios routinely replaced with sweetness. The company kept at it, adding in more and more enticing content before the big shift to the F2P model under new owner Perfect World Entertainment. The largely positive momentum has only continued and today that means 1.7 million players have created  over 3.5 million Champions.

And the world will need every single one of those Champions because Dr. Destroyer and his army of Destroid robots have already begun rampaging Millenium City. Starting Saturday, September 22 the Mega-Destroid bots will break through to the city center, putting civilians and heroes at risk.

Be sure to jump online pronto to help defend the city and collect your anniversary gifts, including Legacy health armor and vanity pets. Hit the jump to entice your eyeballs with the pixelated pleasures of three years of CO. Continue Reading

Perfect World International, the game that kicked off Perfect World Entertainment, has turned four years old this week. To celebrate, the game is doing what pretty much every other MMOG does, throwing a kickass party for players.

The party kicked off yesterday, September 10 and will award different prizes depending on each player’s tenure in the fantasy MMORPG. As part of the new player initiative, 500 registrants will be randomly selected to receive 500 Zen, basically $5, to begin, renew or continue their new career. Head over to the official anniversary page to put your name in the hat.

Current players should jump on the same link to guarantee themselves their time-sensitive award for playing the game for so long. All players will receive “an adorable rodent companion named ‘Marmot Style,’” while four-year members of PWI will receive “a hulking new serpentine ground mount known as ‘Doom’s Stare.’”

There’s something available for all players in between newbs and veterans. Hit the jump for images of all prizes, including the first year mount, two year cosmetic outfits, third year fox and details on all of the events.

All anniversary festivities end October 8. Continue Reading