Gaming: Rift - Invasions

If you haven't heard about, seen, played, or signed up for rift, you should definitely give it a chance. I have been playing for a bit over two months, and it is definitely a noteworthy game. Today, though, I'm going to specifically talk about one aspect of rift: the invasions. Invasions are a zone-wide and sometimes world-wide event where the other planes of existence are colliding with Telara, and you get tons of rifts to destroy, bosses to kill, and smaller groups of sometimes-elite creatures trying to invade and take over strategic points, or points of interest. This accomplishes a couple things, first:

Players actually feel like they are saving the world. There are people all over Telara who need your help, and will send you on quests for said help, but the non-player characters are fighting back the invasions as well. This means that your questing is at a standstill until you can beat back the evil that lurks withing the zone. It changes the landscape, as well. The sky gets darker, the ground changes to burning molten rock, or huge plant growths, or whatever the rift may consist of. These are changes that are very noticeable, and there's a sense of satisfaction when you finally stomped out that water rift, and the foot of water you were standing in evaporates.

The second thing these accomplish, is the "MM" part of "MMO." The largest invasions can take over a hundred players to take it on, and you get the feeling that you're just a part of something big. Taking out the invasion with so many people that you can't count them, I tell you it is an experience I enjoy. For many players, joining an MMO can be daunting; It is similar to going to a new school. You don't know anyone, and you don't know how to make friends. If only there were alien invasions during school to help us meet other people, right?

Now there is a downside to this. If you're on a break at work, or between classes in college, and you want to get a few minutes of game in, well, usually you're good, but sometimes there's that invasion, and you just can't complete that quest you were itching to finish. To me, however, that's something that I can live with, because it provides players with a base to get together and do something for the good of the world they find themselves in.