RIFT is starting to make more noise as 2015 marches on, particularly with its recent Patch 3.3. This newest update added a major saga to the game and other neat features, and so to catch up on all of these changes, Massively OP sat down with Trion Worlds Game Director Chris Junior to get the full scoop.

Join us as we talk about the Nightmare Saga, instant adventures, a new approach to raiding, and planar crafting!

Massively OP: For those on the outside and those figuring out RIFT, what are “sagas” and how many of them are there?

Chris Junior: Sagas are epic quests with epic rewards offering challenging content for solo, group, and raiding players. You’ll travel throughout Telara to take part in some of the best story telling we ever offered in RIFT. Many of the quest lines are “off the rails” when it comes to direction from one objective to another, and, when released, the rewards are some of the best available, rivaling many found in raids.

There are currently six saga quest lines available in RIFT. The Saga of the Aelfwar and Saga of the Endless span early levels up to 50. Saga of the Abyssal and Saga of the Wanton Maw are available for players at level 50. The Air Saga was introduced during Storm Legion for level 60 players. And the most recent was released with Waking Madness, The Nightmare Saga for level 65 players.

Why the decision to break up the Nightmare Saga into three acts instead of releasing it all at once?

Since the quests are much more community driven and involved, we wanted to give everyone equal opportunity to experience them at their own pace. By breaking up the content over several weeks, we maintain a sense of discovery and meaningful revelation without making you feel forced to race to the finish line. These quests are part of a grand narrative that started with the release of Nightmare Tide, and we wanted to give them the spotlight they deserve.

What will players earn by completing the new saga next month?

You will be rewarded with some pretty amazing, nightmare-inducing weapons that rival those found in Nightmare Tide raids. We hope you like eyeballs. Super creepy eyeballs.

With the new Tarken Glacier instant adventure expanding that portion of the game, how many players on a daily basis (percentage-wise, perhaps) are engaging in IAs versus other PvE options?

Instant adventure continues to be one of the most engaging activities in RIFT. More so with the addition of Tarken Glacier. The response has been overwhelmingly postive, which we attribute to the heavy story involvement that came with the new adventures.

Why do an introductory difficulty level for raiding? Do you see this as helping to grow the raiding scene in RIFT?

You pretty much hit the nail on the head!

With the addition of intrepid adventures (instant adventure in raid zones), we opened up the concept of raiding to a much larger audience. There’s still the ease of jumping in and out when you want, but while adventuring you’re introduced to mechanics and encounters that a solo player rarely gets to take part in.

Offering introduction modes was the next logical step to open up raiding to an even wider audience. So far we like what we’ve seen, and hope to expand upon the idea to 20-man zones in the future.

How does planar crafting gear compare to expert dungeon gear and raid gear?

The rewards from planar crafting require a considerable effort to craft, and, as such, result in gear comparable to drops in Tier 1 Raids.

Thank you!