With RIFT: Storm Legion launching imminently, we were fortunate to grab a seat at Trion’s latest community roundtable. Fiendish Design Director Simon Finch and passionate Lore Lead Nick McDowell took time out in the final days before launch, meeting with members of the RIFT community to talk about the new zones that we’ll explore in the expansion.

The topic itself is as large as the new continents of Dusken and Brevane, covering the new puzzles, the inspirations and development process for the new locations, and how we’ll navigate the new continents. We also talked about some of the unused or greyed out areas in Classic RIFT, the team’s plans for future updates post-launch, and what they’re excited about with player Dimensions. 

If all this leaves you hungry for more Storm Legion details, don’t forget to check out our report on the previous roundtable featuring those key Class changes, along with our own preview of the expansion. You’ll also find a trove of Storm Legion information in our freshly updated RIFT Wiki!

When I first heard about Warface, I was surprised. Crytek , the developer behind such legendary shooters as Crysis and Far Cry, was entering the free-to-play arena. To my uneducated eyes the process was simple: produce some incredible games, sell a staggering number of copies, rinse and repeat. But as producer Peter Holzapfel described at the recent Eurogamer Expo, the gaming landscape is changing.

On the surface, Warface is a superbly executed first-person shooter, as you’d expect from a developer with a pedigree like Crytek’s. For the 100-strong team at the developer’s Kiev studio, the game represents something more; an opportunity to find out how free-to-play actually works in the myriad of markets throughout the globe. In creating a lightweight, accessible, team based shooter, the team has built a laboratory of carnage with which to experiment.

It’s an experiment that already seems to be paying off, with Warface launched in some territories. When I asked Holzapfel about how it had performed in Russia, he grinned at me before replying. “What would be the correct adjective… mind-blowingly successful so far?” By partnering with Trion in Western markets, Crytek hopes to repeat that success when beta starts later this year.

Not many MMOs have been as successful as EVE Online, with the number of registered capsuleers growing every year since launch. Nine years and seventeen free content updates later, CCP’s spacefaring universe is as popular as ever. With Retribution -- the game’s 18th update -- and free to play shooter Dust 514 due out later this year, the Icelandic developer shows no signs of slowing down.

For Jon Lander, executive producer for EVE Online, part of that success is because his team view themselves as caretakers, and that the game CCP has built over the years actually belongs to the players that inhabit it. It’s a unique viewpoint that emerged as we spoke at the Eurogamer Expo last month, a focus on being respectful of the legacy inside the sandbox MMO, while being bold in improving and expanding it.

In a wide-ranging interview, Lander shared his opinions on kick starting player created content, and why rebuilding core game mechanics doesn’t make EVE a safer place. He also revealed how CCP is extending their sandbox out of the game through the introduction of CREST, the new read/write API available to third-party developers. But, with the development studio based in the unlikeliest of places, Lander shared some insight into the culture that gave birth to this incredible world, and what lessons other MMOs can learn from it. 

Next month sees the return of GDC Online, the Games Developers Conference focused on online, social and cloud gaming. One of the most popular parts of this annual gathering is the Game Narrative Summit — a series of lectures and workshops about how to share storytelling in all its forms, from flagship MMOs to small smartphone games.

Helping shape this year’s Summit are Tom Abernathy, Narrative Designer and Writer at Microsoft Studios, and Richard Dansky, Central Clancy Writer for Red Storm Entertainment. Abernathy has previously worked on Halo: Reach, Destroy All Humans and Crimson Alliance, while Dansky’s credits include Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon and Far Cry. Both were listed in Gamasutra’s Top 20 Game Writers, and together they form half of the Game Narrative Summit Advisory Committee. 

With the conference itself just a few weeks away, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to talk about game narrative with these legends of storytelling.  In an enlightening dialogue, we discussed the diverse nature of this year’s Summit, before moving on to the evolving nature of narrative in a changing industry. I also discovered the techniques used in building narrative for online games, and how new technology is being used to perform storytelling.

The team behind RIFT certainly knows a thing or two about producing plenty of new content for players to tuck into. In the eighteen months since Trion Worlds launched its flagship MMO, the game has received ten updates that have expanded the world and enhanced our experience. Yet, alongside these regular bundles of fun, the team has secretly been toiling away on RIFT’s first expansion. 

I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of RIFT: Storm Legion from Will Cook, one of the Senior Game Designers on the dedicated team at Trion. Although we barely scratched the surface during the demonstration, it’s clear that there are some grand ambitions that make this expansion more than simply raising the level cap and adding a few new skills. Adding vast swathes of new land provides the team with space to unleash further content updates down the line, and their unique twist on player housing opens the door to a vast amount of player creativity.

With the launch date of November 13th moving ever closer and closed beta opening soon, Trion has already thrown the door open for preorders, offering a range of in-game items to those willing to put their cash down in advance. There’s even an option to pick up the expansion for free when signing up to a year’s subscription. But if you’re still on the fence or just eager to find out more, here’s a glimmer of what to expect in RIFT: Storm Legion.

It is a sense of pride, honor and duty that has led to this point. After Yoichi Wada, President and CEO of Square Enix, decided to remake Final Fantasy XIV (FFXIV), the team has been instructed to “stop at nothing” in creating a new version. Since that announcement, Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida has shepherded the current version through a number of updates and revisions, while planning for its eventual replacement in A Realm Reborn.

It’s this new game – not an expansion pack or content update – where Square Enix hopes to make good that unspoken contract between the studio and its fans. At Gamescom I had the chance to see it for myself, as I was taken through some of the early areas and shown the revamped interface. First impressions are fantastic: A Realm Reborn has that snappy animation and exaggerated combat that is the hallmark of any Final Fantasy game.

From Yoshida, I also got this strong sense of loyalty to the community. As I interviewed him about the transition from FFXIV to A Realm Reborn, I was surprised by just how much of the original game the team had decided to scrap in order to make the new experience better. The changes aren’t superficial, but run through every aspect from server systems to story presentation.

Calling PlanetSide 2 a PvP MMO feels almost a little misleading. This isn’t a small-scale arena for frantic fragging, but it’s also not a larger battlefield with rules, objectives and time limits. Instead, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) has focused on delivering a single goal: all out, large-scale, futuristic war. 

With beta fully underway, it was time to see how well the game lived up to being both a fun first-person-shooter and a great multiplayer experience.  With up to two thousand players spread across three factions on each massive map, there’s plenty of opportunity for strategic, thought out combat. Add into the mix a range of infantry classes, land vehicles and aircraft, and there’s enough flexibility for even the most hardened military commander.

While at Gamescom, I also got the chance meet with Senior Art Director Tramell Ray Isaac. He shared some background on the Forgelight engine powering PlanetSide 2, from origins to future deployment. Isaac also shared his views on why he thinks the unique mass-combat FPS will appeal to a wide range of players.

In the first part of our interview with Lead Class Designer David Williams, we focused on how Red 5 was increasing the depth of gameplay in FireFall by raising the skill cap, allowing highly skilled players to truly shine. We also talked about the incredibly powerful eSports toolkit that went live in the recent patch, and how Armies will form up and organize missions into the Melding. The first half wrapped up with a look at recent class revamps and the reasons behind them.

Concluding this mega-interview is a closer look at how class abilities and unlocks are balanced, and how the revamped crafting system fits into that. We also took a look at the lore that went into crafting the world, and what inspired the manga and overall art direction for FireFall. My discussion wrapped up with Williams explaining the team’s approach to beta and his thoughts on free-to-play.

With PAX Prime opening today, Red 5 has also launched a Founders Pricing promotion, with a 25% discount available on all packages throughout the weekend, even for those unable to attend. We’ve also got a hands-on closer look at the game itself, by our very own Paul Cleveland. And don’t forget to check out Part One of the interview if you haven’t already!

FireFall is a game that tries to struggle out of the conventional MMO straightjacket in every way possible. Californian developer Red 5 Studios threw out the traditional MMORPG model, instead opting for dynamic, action oriented FPS combat. Where you’d normally expect rigid character class restrictions, instead you’re invited to play whatever way you’re in the mood for. 

But how do you get that unique game feel and identity? For FireFall, its latest mega-patch seemed to be a strong push toward that identity. With an emphasis on improving the fluidity and flexibility of combat systems, the team added a range of customization options that are likely to keep players testing and tweaking for months if not years. It’s all been about raising the bar so that player skill, rather than character gear, is what counts.

I recently had the chance to meet with David Williams, Lead Class Designer on FireFall, for an early morning play-through at Gamescom. Our giant interview is so big we’ve had to break it up into two parts! In this section we cover how the team raised the skill cap, revamped the classes and built an eSports toolkit. Part two looks at how Williams tackled class balance, building world lore and the team’s approach to beta and free-to-play. 

When I met Jeff Hickman at Gamescom earlier this month, I got the impression that the look of focused determination he wore would be more suited to a battle cruiser captain. But for BioWare’s Executive Producer for Live Services, and the man at the helm of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), such attention is warranted. In navigating his team through the rapidly shifting MMO landscape, Hickman hopes to attract newcomers to the game while offering subscribers a premium experience.

Besides a long look at payment models, Hickman and the team have also reassessed their approach to new content. While content updates will be slimmer than the large patches we’ve experienced previously, BioWare now hopes to deliver fresh gaming fun every six weeks. He also suggests that players should look closely at these updates if they want a hint of where the SWTOR story is heading.

I started off by asking about where the idea for SWTOR’s free-to-play option came from, and what influenced the team in deciding to offer it alongside the existing subscription. Hickman explained that, while they’ve been aware of what other MMOs were doing, it was player feedback that encouraged them to choose this route.