Enter at Your Own Rift: Community guide to RIFT

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Swiftly, readers rally together to fight the imminent threat to the internet as dark words stream down from the tear in cyberspace. Unholy pronouns and sentence fragments begin to march toward civilized forums, remolding the fabric of reality in their image. Fortunately, valiant defenders of all that is true and grammatically correct push back against the invasion, suffering heavy losses until...

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If you couldn't tell, this is the maiden voyage of Massively's weekly column devoted to Trion World's upcoming MMO, RIFT. We've been excited about this game for a while now, and with the NDA drop, the announcement of the launch date, news of the collector's edition, and upcoming beta events, it's as good a time as any to start talking about this addictive fantasy experience. Karen Bryan and I will be trading off weeks to cover RIFT from our different vantage points, and we're pretty geeked at the prospect.

To kick off the very first Enter at Your Own Rift, we'll be following the Massively tradition of posting a community guide to all the hottest and most helpful links about this game after the jump.

RIFT official website -- It doesn't get any more official than this, unless you defragment the entire website just to pack in a few more officials! RIFT's website is slickly produced and easy to navigate, offering visitors the option to check out the game's classes, screenshots and featured videos. Also, if you haven't already, you can sign up for RIFT's beta by creating a Trion Worlds account.

RIFT forums -- As with any pre-launch MMO, RIFT boasts a forum full of heightened passions, nail-biting arguments and fierce opinions. Plus, if you're trying to feel out whether this is the game for you, then be sure to check out the many beta impressions that inevitably pop up after each event.

RIFT newsletter -- If you want to make sure you're on top of all the latest RIFT news and special promotions, then don't hesitate to sign up for the official newsletter. Plus, you'll be the envy of every Jerry and Jane on the block!

The Rift Podcast -- Although RIFT only boasts a single fan podcast so far, fortunately it's a top-notch production. The Rift Podcast releases weekly episodes devoted to discussing the game, usually with a few members of RIFT's dev team. The female hosts are bubbly and enthusiastic for the MMO, which makes it an easy listen.

Rift Watchers -- No, it's not an odd MMO diet plan, but a fairly new RIFT blog devoted to covering the news and offering up opinions. While there's not a lot on the blog so far, the pedigree behind the project -- which includes several experienced MMO bloggers -- suggests that this is one to watch as we get closer to launch.

Telara Central -- Billing itself "The Original Fansite," Telara Central's been covering RIFT since April of last year. The site offers a news feed, IRC chat and forums for those hungry for more, more, MORE!

Rift Nexus -- This up-and-coming fansite's name suggests that it's at the center of all that is RIFT. While the blog section is skimpy thus far, there's a decent forum community on Rift Nexus that's well worth a look.

Rift-News -- If you want to stay on top of what's happening in Telara, Rift-News is the place to go. Not only does the site cover the latest news, but it also throws in neat features like spotlighting a guild of the week. There's also a useful dev tracker tool that compiles dev forum responses in one tidy place.

Rift Junkies -- Rift Junkies is the mind-child of a pair of experienced fansite operators -- and it shows. There's a bit of everything on this site, from webcomics to a dev tracker to forums to editorials. Definitely one to bookmark!

Rift Zone -- "Get in the zone... the Rift Zone!" my inner commercial voice booms at me. As with most fansites, there's a buffet of resources, but for our money you'll want to bask in the many images that decorate Rift Zone's galleries.

Rift: Roleplayers -- Roleplay is always an important ingredient for MMOs, and Rift: Roleplayers is aiming to corner the market by offering a forum space for players to indulge in their every RP whim.

Ace of Grapes Wine Co. -- First of all, capital name! This PvP-centric RIFT blog is chock-full of screenshots, builds and tales from an experienced MMO PvP player. Also, there may be wine.

Horriftic Intentions -- Man, spell-checker just does not like that name -- but it's OK, because we totally love bad puns here at Massively! Horriftic Intentions has been blogging about RIFT for a while now, and it's always a great read.

Telarapedia -- Every MMO these days needs a wiki, and Telarapedia has RIFT covered head to toe. At last count, Telarapedia had 456 articles, although with the post-NDA drop and uptick of player interest, we expect this number to skyrocket over the next couple months. As with most wikis, everyone is invited to pitch in and expand Telarapedia.

RIFT Calculator -- If you've got a hankering to work on your soul builds while away from the game, RIFT Calculator has you covered. Thus far, the site looks professionally designed and should have a promising future.

RIFT's Facebook page -- If Facebook is the very first website you go each morning, then it only makes sense to plug into Trion Worlds' RIFT page as soon as possible. Give it a big ol' "Like" and talk with other RIFT fans on Facebook -- who knows, you might discover that you and Grandma Rose have something in common after all!

RIFT on Twitter -- Advance information, breaking news and special promotions are commonplace with RIFT's official Twitter feed, @Riftgame. If you don't have a Twitter account, it's ridiculously easy to set one up, and Massively's on there too!

RIFT YouTube channel -- While it's not updated as often as fans would like, RIFT's YouTube channel is nonetheless an excellent source of trailers and behind-the-scenes videos (such as the Gamer's Day event from last month).

RiftPals.com -- Hook up with other RIFT fans using this independent social networking site. The truly daring can post their location on Gmaps and see how close they are to everyone else. Stalking Friendship made easy!

Whether they're keeping the vigil or defying the gods, Karen Bryan and Justin Olivetti save Telara on a weekly basis. Covering all aspects of life in RIFT, from solo play to guild raids, their column is dedicated to backhanding multidimensional tears so hard that they go crying to their mommas. Email Karen and Justin for questions, comments, and adulation.