One last big change is how the personal story is being handled. Rather than having specific level requirements for each segment of a chapter, when a story chapter is unlocked via a level milestone, each segment of that chapter will be unlocked. So, players can now play a chapter from start to finish if they wish with no interruptions in the story experience.
The changes to the new player experience are one of the many updates coming in the September 2014 Feature Pack. Said feature pack will launch tomorrow, September 9th.
More Specifics on RIFT: Nightmare Tide
RIFT’s second expansion, Nightmare Tide, was announced a couple of months ago. Since then, more information has slowly been released, including the expansion’s release date: October 4th. In addition to the new features I detailed in July’s MMOCO, Nightmare Tide will also add Minions (account-wide collectibles which players can send on missions to gather resources, currency, items, etc.), Expansion Recipes for crafting, and four new Souls (one of each Calling).
The new Souls are Oracle (Cleric), Physician (Rogue), Arbiter (Mage), and Liberator (Warrior). Oracles sound like they’ll be a support Soul, specializing in buffs, debuffs, shields, and some supplemented heals. Physicians are alchemical archers who can heal and shield their allies from a good distance (I assume with their arrows?). Arbiters look to be a battlemage, frontline combatants who specialize in storm magic and self damage mitigation. Liberators will intriguingly provide a raid-healing options for Warriors, specializing in high sustained HPS and and group/AOE heals.
Pricing packages for the Collector’s Editions have been announced for Nightmare Tide as well. While most of the content will be generally provided for free or as unlockable with a time investment, the Typhoon, Infusion, and Ultimate Nightmare Collector’s Editions will provide players will extra boosts, early unlocks, cosmetic items, and fancy utility items to fans who want to show their support to Trion.
That about wraps up this month. What MMO are you playing right now? Anything new in it that you're enjoying right now, or looking forward to on the horizon? Let us know in the comments!