The Systems Team on RIFT is responsible for creating and balancing souls and abilities, but their work extends much farther than that. This week, Community Manager Eric “Ocho” Cleaver sat down with Senior Systems Designer Jesse “Orren” Decker to talk about game systems, player economies and understanding the pace of change in game.

Ocho: What’s your position on the RIFT Team, and what sort of things do you work on?
I'm a Senior Systems Designer. We’re known affectionately around the office as “Vladd’s Monkeys.” At Trion, systems designers touch everything from class abilities, to items, to dimension lockboxes. The in-game economy is a big focus for all of us right now.

Ocho: Did you go to school for game design?
Orren: Nope. I got degrees in Biochemistry and English, but I was always going to be a scientist. Luckily (for both me and science), I got an undergraduate fellowship during, my senior year and realized that pure research was one or two points too far down the introvert scale for me to do forever.

Ocho: How did you transition to working in the games industry?
Orren: I am a lifetime gamer, with a long-seated love of Dungeons & Dragons, Magic, and pretty much all computer games. I graduated not really knowing what I was going to do. Right about then, Wizards of the Coast became a big deal and also happened to get a new office pretty much adjacent to my back yard. I couldn’t believe that they had bought my other favorite game company, TSR, and because of how such deals work out, they also had many entry level positions to fill. Applying was a no-brainer and I was lucky enough to work there for the next 13 years.

Ocho: What attracted you to apply at Trion to work on RIFT?
Orren: Trion has a really great culture. I frequently describe it (and I mean this as high praise) as a bullshit-free environment. Case in point; the executive producer and game director who together run RIFT, both frequently build actual cool things that the players interact with and use in game. This means they are a part of making this game. Now, of course they have many other duties and can’t (shouldn’t) do a full load of design work, but the fact that they do some of that kind of work every day is extremely rare in the game industry and extremely awesome.

Ocho: Could you explain a bit about the scope of the Systems Team, and what projects you are currently working on?
Orren: We’re always working on multiple things. Long term we’re giving some thought to how we can keep PvP fresh. For example, we’ve talked about focusing on a tighter group of Warfronts for a month or two and rotating through the full list of Warfronts as a way to create mini-seasons. The content team is building a new raid zone and there are several things the system team does to support that, including of course building all the awesome loot that comes with. If I had to pin it down to one broad topic, I’d say that player economies are getting the most attention from us right now.

Ocho: Can you give some examples of the player economies you affect?
Orren: For example, every time a new tier of raid content comes out, the amount of time it takes to catch up to the cutting edge gets longer. We do things to mitigate this, of course, but we also want to make sure there’s a steady influx of people moving into raiding and progressing up the tiers. So we do a lot of thinking and a fair bit of math to look at how long it takes a fresh 65 to get ready for the current tier of raiding. That’s just one example; there are many other kinds of player economies that we look at and they are all under the microscope right now. They also have to be adjusted very slowly because they are all linked to one another; small changes can have big impacts on player resources and fun.

Ocho: How do these changes relate to PvP?
Orren: Well, PvP gear is important to players and important to us. It’s a tricky gear path since it’s completely open to the solo player willing to put in the hours. That means it has to have different costs around it and take a different amount of time to acquire.

Ocho: What’s the timeline look like for implementing changes to existing systems?
Orren: It’s very tough to explain timelines sometimes. For a bug like “this ability isn’t doing any damage,” that we can repro and fix right away, there’s a good chance we’ll get the fix in the next scheduled patch. In those cases we hear about the bug, fix it instantly, and the players get the fix a week later. So, because of testing, verifying stability of the build, and the need to stick to a predictable publishing schedule, something that is an “instant” fix for a designer still takes a week to get to the audience.

Now imagine if there’s some nuance to the issue, or if the repro case isn’t clear. That can easily make the time-to-player for an important change take a month or more. I’d say for a big change that has ramifications for other systems, you’re looking at two months to really push something out. And that’s with a lot of things going right and a lot of effort being applied. From the player’s perspective, two months is forever. This is a really tough part of the game industry and it’s tough on both designers and fans.

Ocho: Thanks, that’s very informative. Do you have anything you’d like to ask/share with the players before we go?
Orren: I love getting feedback from fans. I think that’s true for every game designer. Because of the time-to-fix issue that I described, it’s really important that we choose the right things to fix - a large volume of player input helps a lot. So my question is, what cool things would you like to see added to RIFT? What efforts from the system team can make your gaming hours more fun?

Ocho: Thanks Orren!

Join in the Discussion on the RIFT Forums.

The Systems Team on RIFT is responsible for creating and balancing souls and abilities, but their work extends much farther than that. This week, Community Manager Eric “Ocho” Cleaver sat down with Senior Systems Designer Jesse “Orren” Decker to talk about game systems, player economies and understanding the pace of change in game.

Ocho: What’s your position on the RIFT Team, and what sort of things do you work on?
I'm a Senior Systems Designer. We’re known affectionately around the office as “Vladd’s Monkeys.” At Trion, systems designers touch everything from class abilities, to items, to dimension lockboxes. The in-game economy is a big focus for all of us right now.

Ocho: Did you go to school for game design?
Orren: Nope. I got degrees in Biochemistry and English, but I was always going to be a scientist. Luckily (for both me and science), I got an undergraduate fellowship during, my senior year and realized that pure research was one or two points too far down the introvert scale for me to do forever.

Ocho: How did you transition to working in the games industry?
Orren: I am a lifetime gamer, with a long-seated love of Dungeons & Dragons, Magic, and pretty much all computer games. I graduated not really knowing what I was going to do. Right about then, Wizards of the Coast became a big deal and also happened to get a new office pretty much adjacent to my back yard. I couldn’t believe that they had bought my other favorite game company, TSR, and because of how such deals work out, they also had many entry level positions to fill. Applying was a no-brainer and I was lucky enough to work there for the next 13 years.

Ocho: What attracted you to apply at Trion to work on RIFT?
Orren: Trion has a really great culture. I frequently describe it (and I mean this as high praise) as a bullshit-free environment. Case in point; the executive producer and game director who together run RIFT, both frequently build actual cool things that the players interact with and use in game. This means they are a part of making this game. Now, of course they have many other duties and can’t (shouldn’t) do a full load of design work, but the fact that they do some of that kind of work every day is extremely rare in the game industry and extremely awesome.

Ocho: Could you explain a bit about the scope of the Systems Team, and what projects you are currently working on?
Orren: We’re always working on multiple things. Long term we’re giving some thought to how we can keep PvP fresh. For example, we’ve talked about focusing on a tighter group of Warfronts for a month or two and rotating through the full list of Warfronts as a way to create mini-seasons. The content team is building a new raid zone and there are several things the system team does to support that, including of course building all the awesome loot that comes with. If I had to pin it down to one broad topic, I’d say that player economies are getting the most attention from us right now.

Ocho: Can you give some examples of the player economies you affect?
Orren: For example, every time a new tier of raid content comes out, the amount of time it takes to catch up to the cutting edge gets longer. We do things to mitigate this, of course, but we also want to make sure there’s a steady influx of people moving into raiding and progressing up the tiers. So we do a lot of thinking and a fair bit of math to look at how long it takes a fresh 65 to get ready for the current tier of raiding. That’s just one example; there are many other kinds of player economies that we look at and they are all under the microscope right now. They also have to be adjusted very slowly because they are all linked to one another; small changes can have big impacts on player resources and fun.

Ocho: How do these changes relate to PvP?
Orren: Well, PvP gear is important to players and important to us. It’s a tricky gear path since it’s completely open to the solo player willing to put in the hours. That means it has to have different costs around it and take a different amount of time to acquire.

Ocho: What’s the timeline look like for implementing changes to existing systems?
Orren: It’s very tough to explain timelines sometimes. For a bug like “this ability isn’t doing any damage,” that we can repro and fix right away, there’s a good chance we’ll get the fix in the next scheduled patch. In those cases we hear about the bug, fix it instantly, and the players get the fix a week later. So, because of testing, verifying stability of the build, and the need to stick to a predictable publishing schedule, something that is an “instant” fix for a designer still takes a week to get to the audience.

Now imagine if there’s some nuance to the issue, or if the repro case isn’t clear. That can easily make the time-to-player for an important change take a month or more. I’d say for a big change that has ramifications for other systems, you’re looking at two months to really push something out. And that’s with a lot of things going right and a lot of effort being applied. From the player’s perspective, two months is forever. This is a really tough part of the game industry and it’s tough on both designers and fans.

Ocho: Thanks, that’s very informative. Do you have anything you’d like to ask/share with the players before we go?
Orren: I love getting feedback from fans. I think that’s true for every game designer. Because of the time-to-fix issue that I described, it’s really important that we choose the right things to fix - a large volume of player input helps a lot. So my question is, what cool things would you like to see added to RIFT? What efforts from the system team can make your gaming hours more fun?

Ocho: Thanks Orren!

Join in the Discussion on the RIFT Forums.

Our new mount will have you jumping for joy!

Available as a rare drop in Limited Edition: Hazel Cappie Troves, this adorable creature is here for a limited time. Bouncing about Telara, the Cappie may be the cutest mount we’ve ever seen! This mischeivious and rare mouse will bob and weave its way into your heart.



Hop to it, this mount will leap out of the RIFT store on March 2!

Our new mount will have you jumping for joy!

Available as a rare drop in Limited Edition: Hazel Cappie Troves, this adorable creature is here for a limited time. Bouncing about Telara, the Cappie may be the cutest mount we’ve ever seen! This mischeivious and rare mouse will bob and weave its way into your heart.



Hop to it, this mount will leap out of the RIFT store on March 2!

Giddy-up: Unicornalia returns from now until February 24!

The Planar Research Institute has brought back the Onyx and Opal unicorn mounts during this event, which you can earn by collecting Sparkle Essences!

The glorious Celestial Unicorn is back as well - this regal mount can only be acquired through the Limited Edition: Celestial Unicorn Troves on the RIFT Store.

Find PRI representatives in Meridian or Sanctum to get started on the path to earn your very own unicorn. There are 3 quests (two daily quests and one that can be completed once) that grant Sparkle Essences used to purchase your unicorn. We know that many of you are on your journey already and hope that you can complete your goal and gain your new mount this time around!

Don’t forget to jump in to the Hooves and Horns zone event in Moonshade Highlands – complete it for a chance to receive a Limited Edition: Sparkle Trove!

The beautiful Unicorn refugees need your help Ascended; log in today to get started!

Giddy-up: Unicornalia returns from now until February 24!

The Planar Research Institute has brought back the Onyx and Opal unicorn mounts during this event, which you can earn by collecting Sparkle Essences!

The glorious Celestial Unicorn is back as well - this regal mount can only be acquired through the Limited Edition: Celestial Unicorn Troves on the RIFT Store.

Find PRI representatives in Meridian or Sanctum to get started on the path to earn your very own unicorn. There are 3 quests (two daily quests and one that can be completed once) that grant Sparkle Essences used to purchase your unicorn. We know that many of you are on your journey already and hope that you can complete your goal and gain your new mount this time around!

Don’t forget to jump in to the Hooves and Horns zone event in Moonshade Highlands – complete it for a chance to receive a Limited Edition: Sparkle Trove!

The beautiful Unicorn refugees need your help Ascended; log in today to get started!

Save 50% off these Nightmare Tide packs before they disappear!

We’re getting ready to replace the Nightmare Tide Collector’s Editions with new packs, so we’re giving you one last chance (at a fantastic price) to pick them up before they disappear.

To make this deal even better, we’ve cut the price by 50%; there’s never been a better time to pick one up!

Did you know that many of these items can be claimed by EVERY character on your account? Even if you create a new character tomorrow, you’ll find these items waiting for them in game mail! We’ve marked these items with an asterisk* for you!

TYPHOON EDITION

• 2 New Equipment Slots*
• Exclusive Nightmare Tide Bag Slot*
• Manugo League Membership
• Planewalker: Water
• Title: the Typhoon

INFUSION EDITION

• Typhoon Edition
• “Instant Level 60″
• Additional Bank Vault Slot*
• Aquatic Dimension Pack
• Exclusive Bloop the Jellyfish Companion Pet
• Additional Minion Slot*
• Nightmare Portrait
• Shimmering Nightmare Orb
• 2 Void Source Accelerators
• 2 Abyssal Crusader’s Accelerators
• Delving Diver’s Helm/li>

ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE EDITION

• Infusion Edition
• Cobalt Thresher Mount – useable on land and in water!
• Abyssal Satchel 36 slot bag
• Dimension Shadow Scion
• Planewalker’s Call
• Prefix Title: Planewalker
• Nightmare Cosmetic Weapons
• Unlimited Nightmare Black Dye
• Combat Pet Skin: Abyssal Crab

Nightmare? With this discount these packs are an absolute dream!

Save 50% off these Nightmare Tide packs before they disappear!

We’re getting ready to replace the Nightmare Tide Collector’s Editions with new packs, so we’re giving you one last chance (at a fantastic price) to pick them up before they disappear.

To make this deal even better, we’ve cut the price by 50%; there’s never been a better time to pick one up!

Did you know that many of these items can be claimed by EVERY character on your account? Even if you create a new character tomorrow, you’ll find these items waiting for them in game mail! We’ve marked these items with an asterisk* for you!

TYPHOON EDITION

• 2 New Equipment Slots*
• Exclusive Nightmare Tide Bag Slot*
• Manugo League Membership
• Planewalker: Water
• Title: the Typhoon

INFUSION EDITION

• Typhoon Edition
• “Instant Level 60″
• Additional Bank Vault Slot*
• Aquatic Dimension Pack
• Exclusive Bloop the Jellyfish Companion Pet
• Additional Minion Slot*
• Nightmare Portrait
• Shimmering Nightmare Orb
• 2 Void Source Accelerators
• 2 Abyssal Crusader’s Accelerators
• Delving Diver’s Helm/li>

ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE EDITION

• Infusion Edition
• Cobalt Thresher Mount – useable on land and in water!
• Abyssal Satchel 36 slot bag
• Dimension Shadow Scion
• Planewalker’s Call
• Prefix Title: Planewalker
• Nightmare Cosmetic Weapons
• Unlimited Nightmare Black Dye
• Combat Pet Skin: Abyssal Crab

Nightmare? With this discount these packs are an absolute dream!

We’re giving away 3 FREE days of Patron to everyone who logs in this weekend, to celebrate the launch of our brand new Call to Arms event!

Log in between 12:01 AM on Friday, February 12 and 11:59 PM on Sunday, February 14 to gain 3 free days of Patron time to enjoy the brand new event, Call to Arms: The Heartland!

What is Call to Arms you say? I’m glad you asked! Evolved from our Mayhem events, a Call to Arms is issued when danger from Planar invaders is at its apex. Rifts of all varieties will appear at a much greater frequency, together with all of the other strange occurrences known to occur in Telara.

The Planar Invaders will focus their attacks in Silverwood and Freemarch, so set up camp nearby and prepare!

The Call to Arms events are incredibly rewarding, with a variety of special drops available. The most powerful Ascended may even find Abyssal Crusader Tokens!

There are two Patron exclusive quests available for this event that start in Meridian and Sanctum. These will reward you for mighty deeds in defeating Planar foes – it’s a good thing we’ve awarded everyone Patron status for the weekend!

Ascended of the highest rank who complete these quests will be rewarded with Abyssal Crusader Tokens, Fragments of Madness, and Mayhem Adventure Caches.

Heed the call! Log in this weekend, enjoy your 3 free days of Patron, and defend your homeland from Planar Invaders. Telara needs you!

We’re giving away 3 FREE days of Patron to everyone who logs in this weekend, to celebrate the launch of our brand new Call to Arms event!

Log in between 12:01 AM on Friday, February 12 and 11:59 PM on Sunday, February 14 to gain 3 free days of Patron time to enjoy the brand new event, Call to Arms: The Heartland!

What is Call to Arms you say? I’m glad you asked! Evolved from our Mayhem events, a Call to Arms is issued when danger from Planar invaders is at its apex. Rifts of all varieties will appear at a much greater frequency, together with all of the other strange occurrences known to occur in Telara.

The Planar Invaders will focus their attacks in Silverwood and Freemarch, so set up camp nearby and prepare!

The Call to Arms events are incredibly rewarding, with a variety of special drops available. The most powerful Ascended may even find Abyssal Crusader Tokens!

There are two Patron exclusive quests available for this event that start in Meridian and Sanctum. These will reward you for mighty deeds in defeating Planar foes – it’s a good thing we’ve awarded everyone Patron status for the weekend!

Ascended of the highest rank who complete these quests will be rewarded with Abyssal Crusader Tokens, Fragments of Madness, and Mayhem Adventure Caches.

Heed the call! Log in this weekend, enjoy your 3 free days of Patron, and defend your homeland from Planar Invaders. Telara needs you!