RIFT's 1.3 "Waves of Madness" deployed earlier today, but a new issue has turned up following the update's release prompting Trion Worlds to bring down the shards while it's resolved.
Sorry everyone, we're investigating an issue that requires the shards to be relocked temporarily. We'll be back with updates as soon as we have them. ^Zann
Currently there is no ETA on shards returning, but RIFT Community Coordinator Amanda Amary Fry has posted that the fix is almost ready internal testing.
Source: RIFT Facebook Page
Update: Servers are back up.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our RIFT Game Page.