You'll find many zones you will adventure through in your pursuit to level 50, some of these have rifts. A rift is a 1 way portal that takes you from your home territory, to the enemy's. Each rift appears randomly at set locations throughout the game world. They have maximum capacities, meaning once a certain number of people go through them they will close, as well as default timers that once the time limit is reached they will disappear.

Using rifts, also known as "Rifting" or "Rift hopping", is becoming more and more popular as people are getting to higher levels. For people who love to PvP, it really is a thrill being in enemy territory. Just knowing that the enemy could be around the next corner, or coming up from behind you at any time is enough to make the experience worth it.

Rifts appear through Atreia in designated zones. Eltnen (Elysea) and Morheim (Asmodae) provide Rifts for levels 20 to 40 to take a 1 way trip to the enemy territory. Each Rift has different spec's so be sure you know what you are getting into before you take the plunge. Some Rifts are for higher level players and take you into areas much higher than you might be, while others do just the opposite. Each Rift also has a cap on how many people may use it, some allow only as many as 12 people while others will  70+ players to hop through. The Rifts found in Heiron (Elysea) and Beluslan (Asmodae) have a much higher capacity than those found in the lower level areas as these are for level ranges 30 up to 50.

The lifespan of Rifts are relatively short so finding one takes communication on part of all interested parties. They generally last for around 2 hours of time within the game, or 26 minutes on your local clock. Keep in mind that once the capacity of the Rift has been met, it will close. So if you hear about a Rift being up and by the time you get there it has disappeared, its likely that the capacity had been met before you arrived. This tends to only be a problem in the lower level areas, higher level area Rifts can support over 70 people per Rift.

Forming up parties to go over is never a bad idea, as you'll find the quests very rewarding on the other side. Quests that usually give you a standard reward from Elims (Treelike creatures) will be significantly higher in enemy territory. Many areas have higher level guardians blocking passage, so going in groups is ideal if you plan on doing some exploring, or ganking.

While this is about Rifts, its only fair to mention that for those among us who do not wish to engage in Rifted play -- at least early on, there are "safe" zones exclusive to the faction you choose. For Elyos you can find refuge in Theobomos, an island zone. Asmodians can find this same refuge in Brusthronin. These are both zones enemies can not access, so people looking for a decent break for a few levels go to these zones.

Rifting can be a very fun and rewarding experience, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Every MMOG developed these days has to have that appeal to it to attract such a very large part of the community. Having an open PvP experience does make it seem more realistic to people who are looking at it from a practical stand point. Having artificial barriers in the way only detracts from the experience many companies only try to create. Many of us like to be competitive, having a progressive PvP experience is an awesome thing and Aion provides that avenue.