f13.net

RIFT US Servers:

•Belmont PvE
•Briarcliff PvP
•Byriel PvE
•Deepstrike PvP
•Faeblight RP
•Gnarlwood PvE
•Greybriar PvE
•Keenblade PvE
•Lotham PvP
•Reclaimer PvP
•Seastone PvP
•Shadefallen RP
•Shatterbone PvE
•Snarebrush PvP
•Spitescar PvP
•Sunrest PVP-RP
•Wolfsbane PvE


RIFT European Servers:

•Akala DE RP
•Brutwacht DE PvE
•Trübkopf DE PvP
•Argent EN RP
•Blightweald EN PvE
•Cloudborne EN PvP
•Firesand EN PVP-RP
•Icewatch EN PvE
•Steampike EN PvE
•Whitefall EN PvP
•Brisesol FR PvE
•Rubicon FR PvP

EDIT: euro list is there too.

What preliminary stands for? Meaning they will add more? I doubt they are gonna change these, right?

If I remember correctly, these servers are only preliminary in the sense that they will be available for head-start people.  When the game goes live on March 1st they will open new servers as needed. 

Thats a lot of servers.

Not as many as WAR, let's hope it doesn't follow the same trajectory.

They had close to that amount for open beta iirc, so really that's a good amount imo

Can you reliably determine how many servers you need from beta populations?  I would suspect a lot of people come along for the free ride and then never sign up.

Warhammer changed my perception of "too many servers." I think it's just right.

Probably not, but since the head start is only for those who pre-ordered the game, and they DO have those numbers, I'm sure they can get a good estimate how many initial servers they need.  Personally I'd have about double that ready to go in case they're needed, but not initially available.  Course I don't know any of the details, but I'm sure there's a statistician who could be more precise.

^This. You won't have a set amount, but you can have a good estimate. Also, while true some people came along for a free ride, others didn't show at all since they want the game to be "fresh."

Or don't like playing when all of their stuff is getting wiped at the end anyways.

Regarding the number of servers when a new MMO opens, it's not a easy job for sure: on one hand, you want to make a good first impression on the players, and that includes a smooth entrance in the game when it comes to server login. On the other hand, it's just sad, 8 months later, to see the beginning of the "consolidation process to provide players with a better playing environment" which entails server merging.

Ideally, I would open a number of servers *just above* what the game data have been suggesting you during beta, let the players slug through waiting times (of course, *reasonable* waiting times) which will eventually ease down. In this case, it's also a balancing job toward the community, who will immediately start crying for "MOAR" servers on the fly, and feeling let down by the development team if that doesn't happen.

Because, you know, a few months/1 year later, maybe you have already quit, but you are pondering for a quick fix, then you visit your average MMO news outlet, read about server merging, and the first though of almost everyone is "oh well, that's it, game will close/too few players around to bother".

Having said this, best of luck to Rift, of course, they've done a very nice, polished job as far as DIKUs go, I've pre-ordered and will start playing this evening (EU).

This is another reason having one server with phases/instances/whatever spawned as needed by load would be good.  It also helps keep communities intact since they can always find their friends.

Name the virtual shards and let people set a default.  Maybe require switching between them only in certain locals or if joining a group.  Then you only have to worry about having enough processing power at the back end.  The players never have to be subjected to the ups and downs.

If they wanted to get really fancy, then have special virtual shards that a character is locked to until a certain date or event, so you can imitate the new server playground some people like.  After that condition is reached then it joins the rest of the shard pool.

Hopped on at noon, for the head start, and within 5 minutes all the servers were full but one, which was at high.  1 hour+ queues.  So much for getting in ahead of the crowd.

This, I'm amazed why anyone hasn't done something like this yet. Well aside from EVE i spose.

Heh, infact they're already starting to add more servers like crazy. But I guess that's inevitable (for the record, I fired up the game a couple minutes before the opening, arrived at the server screen right when the EU servers started to come alive, and created a new character on Firesand just fine).

Saw this on the official forums.

Queue lenghts.

Thought this might be interesting to some.

http://www.riftgame.com/en/status/index.php

Their server status page now shows the number in the queue.