Rift's first expansion Storm Legion includes full original game
Trion "would like to" do an expansion every year.
Rift's first paid expansion Storm Legion includes the entire Rift game, Trion told Eurogamer at E3.
And those of you who already own Rift will be able to buy the expansion at a discounted price.
World of Warcraft - the MMO yardstick - required you buy and own the main game before being able to play its first expansion, The Burning Crusade. There were bundle offers to make this more affordable, but the point is that it's an aggressive and impressive step by Trion.
And while Storm Legion may be Rift's first expansion, Trion already wants to make more. One a year?
"I would like to," answered Russ Brown, VP of development at Trion. "I dunno that we're going to be able to. It's really how big the expansions get."
Storm Legion launches Q4 this year, and a beta is due to open shortly. We found all of this out while watching a demonstration of Storm Legion behind closed doors at E3.
What we saw has now been released on video, and you can watch it below. We saw a boss fight with Volan, a giant creature with some sci-fi armour on.
Storm Legion also brings player housing (Dimensions), two huge new continents called Dusken and Brevane, which are at least as big - if not bigger - than the existing Mathiosa continent. You'll find them in the bottom-right - the south east - of the game's world map.
The new areas have a science fiction look. There are clockwork mechanisms and lots of gadgets. We flew through the Golem Foundry dungeon for level 54 players. We briefly saw an assembly line of golems.
And then we were off - off to Ashora to see the Volan world boss zone event, which showcases the new, more active combat Trion wants in Rift. There were jump pads and power-ups to give you huge buffed attacks and encourage you to run around and mix things up.
If you manage to deplete Volan's health far enough, he reaches a phase that sees him smash through a huge wall and open a whole new area of Rift for you to explore. This will be inaccessible until you fight him and reach this point.
See for yourself - he's a very big fellow.
Storm Legion will also raise the level cap to 60, bring four new souls, add a Grandmaster crafting and more.