Rift developer Trion Worlds will hold an open beta for Storm Legion, the game's first expansion, from Nov. 2 through Nov. 5, the company announced today.
Trion previously ran two closed beta periods for stress-testing purposes; access was restricted to fans who had pre-ordered the expansion, but the company is now opening it for anyone to try. Interested parties can head to the official Storm Legion website, create an account and download the beta client.
Storm Legion adds two continents to Rift, tripling the size of the world of Telara. Trion is also revamping and expanding the class system, and bringing in a new element called Dimensions that will let players customize a place within Telara to call home.
The Storm Legion open beta begins at 1 p.m. ET on Nov. 2, and ends on 11 a.m. ET on Nov. 5. Rift: Storm Legion is set for release on PC on Nov. 13. You can gaze at eight new screenshots of the expansion above.
Update: Trion has updated its server ("shard") technology to help prepare for the launch of Storm Legion. The changes have "effectively doubled the capacity of the individual servers," according to community manager James Nichols, "while reducing the total number of shards [Trion needs] to support Rift's active population." Trion has converted eight shards to trial-only servers, and is allowing players on those servers to migrate their characters and guilds elsewhere for free.
Trion has been working on these updates for months, making efforts to allow everyone in a particular region to play in the same wargroup. That happened for Europe in July, and it is now true for North American players. The change has the effect of "further reducing queue times for dungeons and PvP while bringing the community even closer together," said Nichols.