The Life Factory area of Terminus used to be much more interactive. I suppose it still is, if you are interested in Lore and story. Its soul purpose now is light tutorial and, if you are willing to wait and watch, a small bit of lore.
As I have previously said, the tutorial system in Rift is a great find for people inexperienced with other MMORPG game play. There are numerous pop-ups to direct you on the different movement features, how to access your bags, etc, making Rift very easy to pick up and play - a hallmark of Trion's later additions and modifications.
The area of the life factory has become little more than a brief tutorial on how to move and accept quests. Players no longer have to choose their first, and only, soul from Sylver, leading many to rush through the area far too quickly. While moving through the tutorial stages at this accelerated pace many people miss the hidden lore pieces that I have illuminated in previous posts. In addition to the information about souls and ascension, pieces of lore come from other knowledge collectives (to be discussed in future posts) and the soul informers. There are only two soul informers that I could find, remnants of a time when players had to choose their first, and only soul. The soul informers give information on the soul's play style, as well as a small, blink and you'll miss it visual of how they perform.
Their placement in the factory, the current system of beginning the game with all souls, and the award of soul point one the moment you arrive, leave these soul informers of little use to players who could make use of their information. Unless you know they are there and purposefully wait to enter your point, you will have locked your soul choice before you encounter the information.
Unfortunately for lore hounds such as myself, you cannot access every soul in the game. The souls described are class specific, as well as limited to only the most common. Perhaps the souls change based on the purpose you have chosen, but, in my experience, this is not the case. For this reason, the soul informers in the Life Factory are systems that are overlooked in terms of their usefulness.
I enjoyed the atmosphere the life factory brought to my first experiences as Defiant. The area and design gave a grounding to the information I was being given about my character. I only wish more players took the time to enjoy it too.
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