by Stacy Jones on Mar 29, 2011
RIFT is solidly into its first month of launch and Executive Producer Scott Hartsman recently took some time to speak with Gamasutra about RIFT's launch and Trion's ambitions for the future with online gaming. The five-page interview details the design of RIFT and Trion's targeting of experienced gamers.
So, yeah, if you look at a game like World of Warcraft, how many tens of millions have touched that game in its life? If you look at EverQuest, how many gamers have touched that over its life? You can build a really ridiculously healthy business by just making that group of people happy. If nothing else, we definitely know the audience that we're going after.
Hartsman also discusses the influence that leads people to choose their faction and how fortunate Trion has been in regards to the balance between the two races on each server. Hartsman even explains why a fully-voiced MMORPG isn't the way to go, reflecting on his work with EverQuest II and maybe even taking a subtle poke at the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic from BioWare.
The full interview is available via Gamasutra.
Be sure to check out our interview with RIFT's Hal Hanlin about the upcoming 1.1 update.