MMORPG

Rift patch 1.7, also known as Carnival of the Ascended, has officially gone live. And in addition to the numerous game improvements and new features awaiting current Rift players, Trion Worlds has bundled an all-new way for new players to experience the game.

Called Rift Lite, this new mode allows anyone with a Trion account to play Rift until their character reaches level 20. There are no restrictions on play, no fees for registration, and no time limits for enjoying the trial. This means that new players could potentially get a few dozen hours of play completely free, which will help them decide whether Rift is a game they enjoy.

Rift isn’t the only game offering its early levels up for free – World of Warcraft recently adopted a similar scheme. It’s a smart bet when you look at it; most players are going to be more likely to pay for a game once they’ve invested some time in a character.

Scott Hartsman, executive producer for Rift, commented that the free version of the game was the best way for new players to get a quick taste of the Rift experience.

If you haven’t checked out Rift, now seems like a good time. 

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En Masse Entertainment and Frogster have announced that three versions of TERA are now available for preorder. TERA will be released in Standard, Digital Collector's, and Collector's editions with unique bonuses included for each including beta access!

Beta dates are as follows:

En Masse Entertainment will be hosting five Closed Beta Tests for TERA, allowing select gamers the opportunity to get into the game and preview its blend of action-heavy combat and traditional MMO depth. The Closed Beta Tests, the Open Beta Test that will be open to the general public closer to launch, and Head Start will take place on the following dates:

• Closed Beta Test 1: February 10 – 12
• Closed Beta Test 2: February 24 – 26
• Closed Beta Test 3: March 9 – 11
• Closed Beta Test 4: March 23 – 25
• Closed Beta Test 5: April 6 – 8
• Open Beta Test: April 19 – 22
• Head Start: April 28 – May 1

Prices (NA version):

• Standard – $49.99
• Digital Collector's – $59.99
• Collector's – $79.99

Check out this image for included bonuses:

Get started preordering on the TERA NA or the TERA EU site.

The Hellgate Global team has announced a whopping nine events for the month of February. Among other things, players will see Hell Rush and Daily Hunts return to the game.

Hell Rush – Hell Rush is back! Together with Level and Be Rewarded and Jumpstart, new, rerolling, and returning players will be able to enjoy their early levels with major boosts and giveaways from Hellgate Global!

Daily Hunt – Hellgate players are always looking for a new hunting challenge. In Daily Hunt, Hellgate Global tasks players to hunt a specific item a day and players with the sharpest hunter’s sense will be rewarded. This in-game event was started in January and will be extended until the first week of February.

Find out more on the Hellgate site.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Executive Producer Rich Vogel has written a new developer blog detailing the process the team works through when "busting bugs and fixing exploits".

Vogel talks about the deployment of 'emergency patches' to close exploits that threatens players' experiences in the game. Vogel goes on to say:

Before we declare something an emergency though, we have to validate the issue with our internal Quality Assurance, or QA team. They gather data working with our Customer Service, analytics, and development teams to determine the extent of the exploit and the steps needed to reproduce it. Once we have the steps, we work on a plan to fix the issue. Depending how long the issue will take to fix and how risky it is, we will decide if we need to temporarily disable the cause of the exploit in the game.

Read more on the Star Wars: The Old Republic.

A new film biography centered around Richard "Lord British" Garriott has been released. The film is called "Man on a Mission: Richard Garriott’s Road to the Stars" and centers around Garriott's dream to go to space which he ultimately did in 2008.

The film by Mike Woolf and First Run Features tracked Garriott’s trip into space on board a Russian Soyuz rocket. In chronicling his preparations, the filmmakers went behind the old Iron Curtain to reveal the way the Russians train their cosmonauts at a once secret training base in Star City, near Moscow, and send them into space from a base in Kazakhstan.

Read the full article and an interview with Richard Garriott at VentureBeat.com.