It’s The Little Things That Thrill

Open beta comes to an end for Rift, and I just found out from Levelcapped that the beta client will not be usable for the head-start later this week. So just now, I made a copy of my beta screenshot folder so I won’t accidentally erase it when I do my uninstalling. Given how many screenshots I take, it would be a shame to lose them all.

While I was going through them, I am reminded once again how much I appreciate the little things in our MMOs, the kinda stuff that will barely affect my gameplay, but will still put a smile on my face nonetheless.

This is a screenie I took recently, remembering a post on Pix’led Life I saw the other day about the little details in Rift. I have a tendency to want to explore and stick my nose in little corners as well, whenever I see something in the game environment that catches my eye. My attention was drawn to this open chest I glimpsed, placed on the top of the scaffolding in the picture above. As you can see though, there’s no stairway up there. What there is, however, is a rope tied to one of the posts connecting it to the ground.

So I brush up on my tightrope walking skills and do some pokin’ around!

If you’ve read my earlier post about artifact finding, you’ll know that some of the rarest artifacts I’ve discovered were always in the most out of the way places — like high up in the side of a cliff or in a hole in a tree somewhere. I honestly thought I was going to find a rare artifact in that chest up there, thinking, “If I was a game dev, what better place to hide something like that?”

Here’s what I actually found:

What the hell, Trion? Suffice to say, I wasn’t that disappointed in that there was no rare artifact waiting for me. I was more baffled and amused, not to mention shocked, by the complete randomness of finding a dead dwarf in a chest, up here in the middle of nowhere in a place one would have to tightrope to reach. It was obviously placed here purposely, and while I don’t exactly get the joke, oh well, I still laughed at the little detail.

Here’s another one of those little things in Rift that make me smile, and if you play I’m sure you must have noticed it too — the fact when you target someone in the game, your character will actually turn his or head to look at the person. Rowan mentioned how it made for a more immersive experience when he was in town having dinner and Mr. MMOGC and I last week, and I agreed with him. Well, maybe not so much when you find yourself awkwardly craning your neck in one direction towards a vendor while running about in town. But on the other hand, say when you’re fighting a 50-foot titan and throwing your head back to stare him in the eye, it does make for a more realistic and heroic picture than simply ogling at his toes.

Or even check out the following screenshot of my husband’s and my characters quietly regarding each other, and the big difference a little eye contact makes. Can’t you just feel the love? Here, I am glaring at him for being 8 levels below me and already having way cooler-looking armor, while I’m still stuck running around in a grungy potato sack looking like a rice-farming peasant.

Ugh, the downside of being a clothie.