Is there something there for explorers? Finding out of the way forgotten dungeon perhaps. Stuff there that doesn't involve quests leading you to them. I'd consider this game if it had more out of the way stuff then the average mmo. I suppose since all they have had are the early levels we wouldn't find out about that kind of stuff yet though.
There is collection system for now. You can go out explore and collect books, tokens, artifcats etc for your collection. But if you can see it you can reach it. Nothing is stopping from exploring anything. there are no quest roadblocks.
Another reason to explore is for materials if you are gatherer. Some places are very rich in ore and others in wood for crafting purposes. You have to find the spots.
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no? Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
Is there something there for explorers? Finding out of the way forgotten dungeon perhaps. Stuff there that doesn't involve quests leading you to them. I'd consider this game if it had more out of the way stuff then the average mmo. I suppose since all they have had are the early levels we wouldn't find out about that kind of stuff yet though.
I found a few quest givers in the wilds by chance rather then some NPC sending me to them.
Is there something there for explorers? Finding out of the way forgotten dungeon perhaps. Stuff there that doesn't involve quests leading you to them. I'd consider this game if it had more out of the way stuff then the average mmo. I suppose since all they have had are the early levels we wouldn't find out about that kind of stuff yet though.
I'm not sure arenasb.
I did go off in my own direction but any place I found seemed to have quests associated with it or the mobs started getting much higher than I would be able to handle.
The game is NOT Vanguard. At least from what I've seen from Beta.
There could be more, I don't really share the sentiments that others have that the game world is small given the area that I had explored there were many more large zones that I just couldn't see.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
The game has to release first to bite dust. Don't jump the gun buddy. if you personally dislike the game and it bit dust for you then i understand.
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no? Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
I really don't think you can judge the thrust of players' interest from forums.
If you would judge, say, World of Warcraft from this forum then you would be surprised to find anyone playing.
Someone is buying.
So if players were truly tired of these games they wouldn't be buying, subbing, etc.
I think there are two 'factions', so to speak, the people who just play games and the gamers. The people who just play games make up the vast majority of WoW subscribers, they don't follow genres or subscribe to forums, they see something shiny for their PC or XBox on the TV and decide to play it. They might like it, they might not.
Gamers, on the other hand, like to search around websites and sign on to forums to put their opinions out. Gamers are then subdivided into genres, such as this one, MMO's. So people who write on these forums have played a lot of MMO's and, judging by the current trend of posts, are tired of the dumbed down crap that developers are now creating to get the game players to come onboard. They know a good MMO and the current releases just aren't good.
The people buying are the people who play games, but judging by subscription numbers on pretty much anything but WoW, they're really not interested. LOTRO was, in my opinion, one of the best of the new flock of MMO's but even that suffered with subscriptions to the point where it's had to switch to a F2P model to try and claw back some of the cash it invested in the project.
So, to sum up, you're right on both accounts. People on these forums are uninterested in the current MMO's but someone is indeed buying, and that someone is the general public. They're just not interested enough to keep the games afloat, much like the MMO gamers who weren't interested from the very start.
Rifts looks like it's going to be heading down the same path. The general public might be interested to begin with but will likely tire quickly, while the MMO gamers will see it as just another single player quest grind. Which is a shame, as I thought it had a lot of potential.
Graphics: 7/10 - The graphics are good but not really my style. It kind of felt like I was playing an older game. Like a mix between guild wars and something else... cant put my finger on it.
Storyline: 4/10 - It was just there. Nothing to pull me in really. The only reason I gave it some points was because there was a war going on with fireballs.
Gameplay: 4/10 - Another aspect that left me wishing I had not taken the time out of my life to download it. I played a rogue, a bladedancer/bard to be specific. I really hate that this game also has combo points. I was playing a rogue from wow all over again. The skills had different names but were essentially the same. The combat was fluid but lacked cool animations to go with it.
Quest mechanics: 2/10 - Same as every other mmo out. Go kill this and bring me back some chicken feathers. Booring. I gave it 2 points because it did have some interactive stuff to do. Like click on a catapult and sink a tiny boat. lol.
User Interface: 8/10 - I actually thought the ui looked good. I like the design for the bars and skill buttons. The only thing I didn't like was when moving you cant open up mini map, well you can but it goes transparent too much to see anything. Maybe you can change this setting, dunno. Not big deal tho.
Overall nothing really caught my interest in the game. Nothing new, but didn't expect it to be either. I just signed up for the beta and got in. The rift fights reminded me a lot of warhammer online with the public events.
If players were getting tired, these MMOS won't be made anymore. Simple as that. Unless you know all these players on personal level?
Huh. We must be on different forums. Or maybe you haven't looked around at the other posts and got the general consensus..
I really don't think you can judge the thrust of players' interest from forums.
If you would judge, say, World of Warcraft from this forum then you would be surprised to find anyone playing.
My sense is that many players don't participate in forums or just lurk. I can't tell you how many pm's on this site that I recieved from players who stated they generally don't post at all, just lurk.
It's a dollars game. iF players aren't intereseted they won't spend the dollars.
Remember, most players say they don't buy virtual goods from secondary markets. And yet it's thriving and developers have to spend a lot of resources fighting it.
Someone is buying.
So if players were truly tired of these games they wouldn't be buying, subbing, etc.
Agreed.
People who post on forums are but a tiny fraction of those who play. If you go by forum posts about a game like WoW, for every 100 people who complain about it on a forum there are at least 1000 people playing and enjoying it.
As for Rift; I have been playing for a while now and while it's not something revolutionary and totally unique it does offer enough things to make it feel different. From the lore to the Rifts and invasions to the soul system, it's subtle differences that will more than make up for an overall lack of being different, at least in my opinion. It might not be a game that you will spend years playing, but you could definitely get a few good months out of it.
There are 3 types of people in the world. 1.) Those who make things happen 2.) Those who watch things happen 3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
Game itself is brim packed with quests - but its also lets you do wandering on your own. Pretty much like EQ2
I think EQ2 and this game are 100% different. EQ2 has the AA which is a path you can take on its own, do you want to level fast, or get more AA? Hop around and do what I want while slowly getting my AA up to feel like a God early on at least.
Biggest problems with rift come from: No alternate starting area, lack of races to choose from, and overall boring and bland game play. I can honestly say in this state that 2011 is starting to look disappointing to say the least from an MMO perspective if this is the best they can come up.
There really IMO isn't much to review. The game and world is boring and bland at least to me. The souls are not much different and all require just mashing a couple of buttons to get the job done. You would feel like trying different soul combinations would yield nice results, but they just are more of the same. To much of the same among all the classes to be honest and all the starting skills are very similiar.
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
Originally posted by Sovrath
I really don't think you can judge the thrust of players' interest from forums.
If you would judge, say, World of Warcraft from this forum then you would be surprised to find anyone playing.
My sense is that many players don't participate in forums or just lurk. I can't tell you how many pm's on this site that I recieved from players who stated they generally don't post at all, just lurk.
It's a dollars game. iF players aren't intereseted they won't spend the dollars.
Remember, most players say they don't buy virtual goods from secondary markets. And yet it's thriving and developers have to spend a lot of resources fighting it.
Someone is buying.
So if players were truly tired of these games they wouldn't be buying, subbing, etc.
I saw someone with your name in beta 2, was it you? I was jumping over you but you was not interested :P
I really don't think you can judge the thrust of players' interest from forums.
If you would judge, say, World of Warcraft from this forum then you would be surprised to find anyone playing.
Someone is buying.
So if players were truly tired of these games they wouldn't be buying, subbing, etc.
I think there are two 'factions', so to speak, the people who just play games and the gamers. The people who just play games make up the vast majority of WoW subscribers, they don't follow genres or subscribe to forums, they see something shiny for their PC or XBox on the TV and decide to play it. They might like it, they might not.
Gamers, on the other hand, like to search around websites and sign on to forums to put their opinions out. Gamers are then subdivided into genres, such as this one, MMO's. So people who write on these forums have played a lot of MMO's and, judging by the current trend of posts, are tired of the dumbed down crap that developers are now creating to get the game players to come onboard. They know a good MMO and the current releases just aren't good.
The people buying are the people who play games, but judging by subscription numbers on pretty much anything but WoW, they're really not interested. LOTRO was, in my opinion, one of the best of the new flock of MMO's but even that suffered with subscriptions to the point where it's had to switch to a F2P model to try and claw back some of the cash it invested in the project.
So, to sum up, you're right on both accounts. People on these forums are uninterested in the current MMO's but someone is indeed buying, and that someone is the general public. They're just not interested enough to keep the games afloat, much like the MMO gamers who weren't interested from the very start.
Rifts looks like it's going to be heading down the same path. The general public might be interested to begin with but will likely tire quickly, while the MMO gamers will see it as just another single player quest grind. Which is a shame, as I thought it had a lot of potential.
That's possibly true. I would say that you are incorrect about lotro needing to go f2p to claw back subscribers. They made it free to play because they saw how much money that ddo brought in and how many more subscribers it it gathered and thought that it was a better way to gather "more" players. Need? I think it was dong well enough. Not a powerhouse by any standard.
But besides wow or some eastern games being played in the east (such as lineage 2 in the east does better than here) what game can you really point to that has large numbers.
It seems that (and I'm pulling this out of my hat but you can judge if it's close) "successful" games can run from 90k to 250k maybe 300k.
I don't know of any western game that has more than that and if it is more, not by a huge amount.
That seems to me to be the saturation point.
So yes, it is the general public buying in many cases. However, I don't think the general public is the type to really stick with a game like a "gamer" would. They will play,have some fun and move on.
And gamers come in all shapes and sizes so they are hard to pin down. They do have opinions though and are reasonably knowledgable and will most likely let one know if they have been there done that.
If one comes at Rift with a somewhat cynical view then 'yes" it's been there done that and in spades with the exception of the Rifts themselves. At least from what I've seen from beta.
It has its positive points in that light but as soon as I destroyed "x" amount of "evil generators" only to have them light up again a minute later so that another person could "destroy them" I knew I was in well trod ground.
If one comes at this game from the other end they will see a quasi technological/magical world, new lore (though not "completely" new) and a new place to hang out and play and possibly find some fun.
But sure I was surprised as to how much this game plays like many others. Will I play it? Probably because there does seem to be a fun factor to it. But I will be getting off of that quest train as soon as possible, only doing quests when I want. Like LOTRO.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I think EQ2 and this game are 100% different. EQ2 has the AA which is a path you can take on its own, do you want to level fast, or get more AA? Hop around and do what I want while slowly getting my AA up to feel like a God early on at least.
But then you have to be fair. AA wasn't added until after the game had been out for a bit.
I don't know of one game (themepark) that launched with the leveling system AND an alternate advancement system. Some of the early games perhaps? But no current games. And if there are games that launched with both do tell!
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
I read about rifts,grafs,quests and all mambo jumbo cap. Combat is the g point. Evrything u do from pve mobs or raids ,to pvp INVOLVES COMBAT. If combat is breathtaking,tactical and working well n smooth players will buy it and play it. if not it will fail like all other past mmorpgs that failed also.
So...
It uses a combat system similar to wow right?
Is combat breathtaking in rift? Combat system is better than wow 's combat or not?
I read about rifts,grafs,quests and all mambo jumbo cap. Combat is the g point. Evrything u do from pve mobs or raids ,to pvp INVOLVES COMBAT. If combat is breathtaking,tactical and working well n smooth players will buy it and play it. if not it will fail like all other past mmorpgs that failed also.
So...
It uses a combat system similar to wow right?
Is combat breathtaking in rift? Combat system is better than wow 's combat or not?
Explain why.
If you mean combat as smooth as WOW yes it is. It works perfectly and there are no delays or clunkiness.
So, this past weekend I was lucky enough to have played Beta 2 for Rift. Here are my following impressions:
Like many said before, Rift resembles X, Y, or Z MMO somewhat closely. If you've played any "major release" MMO in the past 6-8 years, you will probably be quite familiar with Rift's setup right off the bat. I don't think anyone in Trion has claimed that this was to be held in stark contrast from any other MMO past or present. What they've repeatedly stated, is that they took many of the elements from previous games that they enjoyed, and tried to ENHANCE it. That being said, this game will feel very familiar to you on more than one level.
Yes there are quest chains. Yes they are fairly linear and help to take you from one area to the next. Keep in mind however, that for both Beta 1 and Beta 2, both areas are starter areas, so they are meant for "newbies" to become acquainted with the game. Granted for vets of the MMO industry, this will feel very rinse and repeat. I don't blame you, as I certainly noticed the same thing myself. I can only assume that things will branch out more once people leave the immediate 1-20 zone and there will be more "freedom." To the people saying the world feels "small," again I remind you: we were in the starting zone. Also to somewhat address this, I would like to comment that personally while I found the initial zone to be somewhat limited in scale, it was *very* vibrant. I felt like something was always happening (and granted, it was usually because a rift was spawning near by). Honestly, there were so many trees, rocks, critters, mobs, etc. littered around that the world had more immersion (again imho) than those completely barren zones of old.
So now that I feel I've covered two of the more debated topics, I'm going to talk a bit more about some of the aspects of the game I really enjoyed. For starters, I personally LOVE the soul system they're currently working with. Being the type of person who has always enjoyed trying different things, I certainly am looking forward to all the crazy combos that i can come up with. I played a Blade Dancer/Riftstalker during my time in Beta 2 and really enjoyed it. Which actually brings me to another "red flag" I've seen come up in some previous posts: "grinding/leveling/gear" confusion.
Again, I did play a Blade Dancer/Riftstalker (12/8 point dist) so perhaps this affected my gameplay differently from others i've seen complaining. However, in playing Rift, I definitely found myself immersed enough into that game, that i COMPLETELY forgot to train *any* of my skills from lvl 5-6 until about lvl 16. By the time I realized my error and had gone back to the trainer, I had been running around with rank 2 of both my primary skills, and lvl 6-8 gear I had gotten from earlier questing. Honestly, around level 14 I was noticing a lack in my dps versus like-level mobs, but never once did i really have any issues with leveling and/or gear. Granted, once I managed to train my skills to the appropriate level, and purchased some gear from the AH (plus a mix and match of 2-4 quest items and drops) I found killing things much, much easier.
The Rift invasions were definitely a good bit of fun. The first time it happened, I'm sure a lot of us were completely caught off guard. I for one was running around the forrest, examining an area where a giant statue had been carved out of a tree. All of a sudden, the skys changed to a much darker color and as I looked up, at I could see at least 5 rifts opening in my immediate area. Opening my map quickly I noticed it was a full scale invasion which had spawn upwards of 20 rifts all about the starter area. I tried to run back to the main hub area to rally with the others, only to be swiftly overrun by hordes and hordes of life-rift spawn. Like many others, I perished in the woods in a heartbeat, only to find myself being resed by someone who had managed to avoid the onslaught. Together we ran back to town where the entire North and North East quarters had been completely decimated. Poor lowbies who had been caught in the melee spawned desperately at a near by shrine -which incidently had been encircled by the invading army. One by one they spawned and fell back into the gaping maw of the horde. For many, they cried out, for me, I laughed at their stupidity in trying to respawn next to a thrall of ravenous beasts -it's like swimming out in the deep ocean with your leg freshly amputated.
TL;DR:
Overall I enjoyed my time in Rift and hope to have the chance to do so once more very soon. For those looking for a quick synopsis of my Beta 2 experience, here you go: If you enjoyed playing WAR or any of those other MMOs, you will most likely enjoy Rift. It is very polished, so you won't have the same issues that AoC and others had at launch. It also has more content and seems to be more solid with the systems it incorporates compared to WAR. Given both of these sets of circumstances, I feel like Rift is a current iteration of your standard MMO DONE RIGHT. Yes, if you're feeling burnt out on the likes of WoW, WAR, AoC, etc. than perhaps you may feel the same way about Rift. However, if you enjoyed those other titles (maybe minus WoW) but couldn't bring yourself to play them because of technical issues, or lack of content, or down right botched mechanics among other things (WAR i'm lookin at you here) then Rift is certainly worth a shot.
I know I for one will be giving this game the benefit of the doubt. As it stands, I look forward to more Rift, and fully intend to sub to the game once it's released. Hell, after not playing any major MMOs in almost 2.5 years, I'm happy to have something like Rift come along to keep me entertained (still looking forward to Gw2 as well).
I really don't think you can judge the thrust of players' interest from forums.
If you would judge, say, World of Warcraft from this forum then you would be surprised to find anyone playing.
Someone is buying.
So if players were truly tired of these games they wouldn't be buying, subbing, etc.
I think there are two 'factions', so to speak, the people who just play games and the gamers. The people who just play games make up the vast majority of WoW subscribers, they don't follow genres or subscribe to forums, they see something shiny for their PC or XBox on the TV and decide to play it. They might like it, they might not.
Gamers, on the other hand, like to search around websites and sign on to forums to put their opinions out. Gamers are then subdivided into genres, such as this one, MMO's. So people who write on these forums have played a lot of MMO's and, judging by the current trend of posts, are tired of the dumbed down crap that developers are now creating to get the game players to come onboard. They know a good MMO and the current releases just aren't good.
The people buying are the people who play games, but judging by subscription numbers on pretty much anything but WoW, they're really not interested. LOTRO was, in my opinion, one of the best of the new flock of MMO's but even that suffered with subscriptions to the point where it's had to switch to a F2P model to try and claw back some of the cash it invested in the project.
So, to sum up, you're right on both accounts. People on these forums are uninterested in the current MMO's but someone is indeed buying, and that someone is the general public. They're just not interested enough to keep the games afloat, much like the MMO gamers who weren't interested from the very start.
Rifts looks like it's going to be heading down the same path. The general public might be interested to begin with but will likely tire quickly, while the MMO gamers will see it as just another single player quest grind. Which is a shame, as I thought it had a lot of potential.
I like some of your points but let's not throw the game out just yet. There will obviously be alot for the collecter types to do. ALot for the Quest lovers to do. Alot for the PvPers to do, Alot for the dungeon running types to do. Alot for the crafting community to do. It has all the puzzle pieces in place for a very healthy and diverse set of gamers from many different walks of life to enjoy. I forsee this game starting with people like me ......who like all the stuff WoW has but tired of the cartoon graphics and the lore behind it and want something with new graphics and lore.
After a large bunch of gamers like me come on bored there will be a big chunk of casuals and some ultra casuals that hear about it from us and come on board. From there it will be a trickle of people comming from WoW since thier friend or guild have switched to Rift. After that the hardcore raiders and the hardcore PvPers that like accomplishing server firsts will join the game and subscriptions will be off the scale.
Once all this has happened the time will have passed...maybe a year.....and suddenly the Rifts are able to be entered to fight on other planes.....omg...just got all subs from WoW do to some new content. WoW will struggle with this mighty blow....wobbling for a bit....then come crashing to the ground under it's own bloated weight. In 2 years rift will be the only game everyone plays since it is the best and easiest to get into with a bit of everything for everyone.
First thought: Reminded me of WAR visually right off the top . . . WoW and WAR had a baby someone said before. This is about right.
The only thing that stuck out was the souls for character customization. . Rifts themselves are just like PQs in WAR. . great game. . just felt like I had done it before.
In beta I said it was a mix, style-wise, of Vanguard/WAR. At first I did not like the style but now I do. As for soul shards (and a lot of trolls argued) it's really a talent tree except you can do 3 at once, same setup but others disagreed. And I am 100% with you on the Rifts, they are just like PQS but they are randomized. Will I purchase at launch? Maybe, I would like to try the next beta to figure that out.
I can say that RIFT brings nothing new to the table other than RIFTS that really seem pointless at the moment. If i wanted WAR or WOW i can go play them because they do a better job at it.
I agree 100% Rift doesn't bring a whole lot that is new to the MMO dinner table. I feel that the rifts and invasions are a diversion at best. They have no true storyline or changing objectives, to put it simply they are invaders that must be destroyed. PQ's in WAR and Skirmishes in LOTRO are much better than the rifts, in my opinion.
No way in hell should this MMO have a SUB,it should be FTP. As much as I'd like to see it FTP, I have to disagree with this. Even though it doesn't bring a lot new to the table I feel it is a better game than WoW, and that alone makes it subscription worthy, IMO.
GW2/SWTOR will eat this poor excuse for a MMO with shiny graphic for breakfast. Innovation wise (GW2), and story wise (SWTOR), this just might be true.
Yes the game is nearly bug free and stable but that don't mean jack if the game is boring as hell within 10 levels. Also you have these skills but they really do the same thing,you will find yourself only clicking on 3-4 skills even though you have over ten to choose from. I wasn't bored within 10 levels, I was always wanting to advance, to see what skills I could learn, what souls I could gain, I wanted to see where the story took me next.
In regards to the skills comment, with my Warlock/Dominator I used 6-8 skills on the mobs I was fighting. Granted you use them repeatedly but it is still 2x's as many as you are indicating. Also with my Reaver/Void Knight I also used 6-8 skills on the mobs... Maybe your class had limited options, but I definitely utilized my skills in game.
First thought: Reminded me of WAR visually right off the top . . . WoW and WAR had a baby someone said before. This is about right.
The only thing that stuck out was the souls for character customization. . Rifts themselves are just like PQs in WAR. . great game. . just felt like I had done it before.
In beta I said it was a mix, style-wise, of Vanguard/WAR. At first I did not like the style but now I do. As for soul shards (and a lot of trolls argued) it's really a talent tree except you can do 3 at once, same setup but others disagreed. And I am 100% with you on the Rifts, they are just like PQS but they are randomized. Will I purchase at launch? Maybe, I would like to try the next beta to figure that out.
I can say that RIFT brings nothing new to the table other than RIFTS that really seem pointless at the moment. If i wanted WAR or WOW i can go play them because they do a better job at it.
I agree 100% Rift doesn't bring a whole lot that is new to the MMO dinner table. I feel that the rifts and invasions are a diversion at best. They have no true storyline or changing objectives, to put it simply they are invaders that must be destroyed. PQ's in WAR and Skirmishes in LOTRO are much better than the rifts, in my opinion.
No way in hell should this MMO have a SUB,it should be FTP. As much as I'd like to see it FTP, I have to disagree with this. Even though it doesn't bring a lot new to the table I feel it is a better game than WoW, and that alone makes it subscription worthy, IMO.
GW2/SWTOR will eat this poor excuse for a MMO with shiny graphic for breakfast. Innovation wise (GW2), and story wise (SWTOR), this just might be true.
Yes the game is nearly bug free and stable but that don't mean jack if the game is boring as hell within 10 levels. Also you have these skills but they really do the same thing,you will find yourself only clicking on 3-4 skills even though you have over ten to choose from. I wasn't bored within 10 levels, I was always wanting to advance, to see what skills I could learn, what souls I could gain, I wanted to see where the story took me next.
In regards to the skills comment, with my Warlock/Dominator I used 6-8 skills on the mobs I was fighting. Granted you use them repeatedly but it is still 2x's as many as you are indicating. Also with my Reaver/Void Knight I also used 6-8 skills on the mobs... Maybe your class had limited options, but I definitely utilized my skills in game.
Cool story bro...
You used 6 to 8 button to kill as mob!!! SO was it TAB 12345678 = mob dead. Amazing game play I must say.
The sooner we get away from this crap tab target press xyz = mob dead the better.
The game is very good quality overall, but that is not the good part.
Dynamic events/spawn/world at last introduced into mmo, and rpg game, it was about time, we waited for this since the ultima series and the shop keeper going to bed at night and closing their shop lol.
Anyway in Rift they put in a dynamic system of war between mobs factions and i guess later in the beta we'll see players factions going into that action too.
So at last a game that feel dynamic, its nothing like heaven right, its just faction mob spawns with Rifts and a bit of environement mutation around it, mobs pathing creating invasions going from them and battle over hot spot into player towns and the setting of mob idoles on the map. So its nothing like they reinvented the weel, but they are the first who made something dynamic about all those stuff and created movement into their game with those simple stuff any coder had access to since like years and years, but the fact is nobody had done it before, sure a lot have talked about it, but you know words are words.
People can talk all they want about this, but one thing is sure, it was about time someone tryed to do this and did it.
It's a decent game overall, it has some very nice elements and it also has some problems however.
The most impressive elements are the invasions, which they really ramped up in the latest test. Having bunches of elite mobs patrol down the road to attack a town only to be repelled by large groups of players is definitely spectacular (although it absolutely kills performance).
That said, the way aggro and so is handled for these invasions could be better and more realistic.
There are also some problems with tanks and healers in these encounters. Because no one knows who is who, tanks usually die when tanking these mobs because they receive no heals at all (my own experience).
Rifts are basically public events from WAR and they could use a lot more variation. But they are fun overall and already significantly improved from test 1.
The bad element is the questing system. It's very generic and with little variation and not much is attempted to bring in story or group moments in the open world.
Placement of these quests is also problematic, you'll often miss out on small clusters of quests because they're located in some small hub that you didn't find because it is located directly below a lower level zone from which you've already moved on.
The thing with this is: new quests often require you to have done all the previous ones, so missing out on them is really not an option. Which can lead to you being stuck without sometimes.
Placement and pacing also seem rather random in general.
Combat is pretty standard, though my recent paladin experience was fun. They really need to balance things out, at least that's what I experienced at low levels. Some classes are nearly useless or have very boring rotations while others kick major ass.
The instances so far were very well done for being low level.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
All this comparing to WoW and WAR was surprising to me. The only game that Rift "reminded me of" was Chronicles of Spellborn, but I guess most people never played that. Graphically, the game is NOT cartoony like WoW, but it's also not AS slick as AION. I guess the Rifts are similar to PQs in WAR, but then again....not exactly.
I found the graphics refreshing, the game play pretty standard fare, although I do like that it's a bit more challenging. The crafting....I did alchemy....was fun-ish. Some of the materials you can only get from other crafters so there is a cross dependency which is nice for making in game currency. You can choose 3 crafting or gathering skills so you can, if you choose wisely, cover more of your needs for your primary profession, but you'll still need things you alone are not equipped to produce. I rather like that, myself, but opinions on that will, I'm sure, vary.
Over all my impression was good. It seems they actually care about the game and patched as needed and seemed to take care of what they could....fairly quickly.
As far as playing the game later.....my opinions on that are a bit of a mixed bag. To be fair to RIFT.......I'm pretty burnt out on the genre as a whole, so I consider my OWN opinions to be somewhat negative or tainted by that, really. I'm not certain as to whether I would be playing this as my choice next year. There are a few other games up and coming that I would also need to consider and I'm just not sure that RIFT will fare well enough in a comparison test to make the cut for me.
It was not a bad experience. Some of it was really fun. Some of it was almost TOO hard....like spawning after death in an area that was really about 5 levels too high for me and being unable to find my way out of that area without dying repeatedly. That could have been just a bug to respawn where it kept sending me, but.....it's also where I stopped playing because I could not escape the area.
Didn't see or DO any grouping. Everyone seemed pretty focused on soloing under level 20 (at least in MY experience). I guess that's how it is pretty much these days though.
I would not be comfortable telling anyone NOT to play RIFT. Would I recommend it based just on the beta? I can't really do that either, but beta.....is beta. I WILL say I did not find the game laden with bugs. It was pretty slick for a beta event weekend (BOTH weekends).
The thing I liked the MOST was the skill trees and souls and how those really did seem to allow you to customize your strengths.
.In regards to the skills comment, with my Warlock/Dominator I used 6-8 skills on the mobs I was fighting. Granted you use them repeatedly but it is still 2x's as many as you are indicating. Also with my Reaver/Void Knight I also used 6-8 skills on the mobs... Maybe your class had limited options, but I definitely utilized my skills in game.
You used 6 to 8 button to kill as mob!!! SO was it TAB 12345678 = mob dead. Amazing game play I must say.
The sooner we get away from this crap tab target press xyz = mob dead the better.
I think you are over-dramatizing this a bit. Facts vs fiction. There are no games out there in MMORPG pc market that have first person block, aim, do all yourself.....without a clunky interface.
There is no getting around this. It is impossible to do.
The tab or mouse targeting with the hotbar 1 thru 0 is an improvement on the old way of things. If you can somehow design a well rounded system with as much functionality to it or at least name a game in the MMORPG format that has this and is not flawed then you should not bash the current system.
Is there something there for explorers? Finding out of the way forgotten dungeon perhaps. Stuff there that doesn't involve quests leading you to them. I'd consider this game if it had more out of the way stuff then the average mmo. I suppose since all they have had are the early levels we wouldn't find out about that kind of stuff yet though.
Exploration and Rift should not be in the same sentence.
Comments
There is collection system for now. You can go out explore and collect books, tokens, artifcats etc for your collection. But if you can see it you can reach it. Nothing is stopping from exploring anything. there are no quest roadblocks.
Another reason to explore is for materials if you are gatherer. Some places are very rich in ore and others in wood for crafting purposes. You have to find the spots.
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no?
Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
I found a few quest givers in the wilds by chance rather then some NPC sending me to them.
I'm not sure arenasb.
I did go off in my own direction but any place I found seemed to have quests associated with it or the mobs started getting much higher than I would be able to handle.
The game is NOT Vanguard. At least from what I've seen from Beta.
There could be more, I don't really share the sentiments that others have that the game world is small given the area that I had explored there were many more large zones that I just couldn't see.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
The game has to release first to bite dust. Don't jump the gun buddy. if you personally dislike the game and it bit dust for you then i understand.
Who could have thought that WOW could bring super power like USA to its knees?
Originally posted by Arcken
To put it in a nutshell, our society is about to hit the fan, grades are dropping, obesity is going up,childhood the USA is going to lose its super power status before too long, but hey, as long as we have a cheap method to babysit our kids, all will be well no?
Im picking on WoW btw because its the beast that made all of this possible
Tsk Tsk
I think there are two 'factions', so to speak, the people who just play games and the gamers. The people who just play games make up the vast majority of WoW subscribers, they don't follow genres or subscribe to forums, they see something shiny for their PC or XBox on the TV and decide to play it. They might like it, they might not.
Gamers, on the other hand, like to search around websites and sign on to forums to put their opinions out. Gamers are then subdivided into genres, such as this one, MMO's. So people who write on these forums have played a lot of MMO's and, judging by the current trend of posts, are tired of the dumbed down crap that developers are now creating to get the game players to come onboard. They know a good MMO and the current releases just aren't good.
The people buying are the people who play games, but judging by subscription numbers on pretty much anything but WoW, they're really not interested. LOTRO was, in my opinion, one of the best of the new flock of MMO's but even that suffered with subscriptions to the point where it's had to switch to a F2P model to try and claw back some of the cash it invested in the project.
So, to sum up, you're right on both accounts. People on these forums are uninterested in the current MMO's but someone is indeed buying, and that someone is the general public. They're just not interested enough to keep the games afloat, much like the MMO gamers who weren't interested from the very start.
Rifts looks like it's going to be heading down the same path. The general public might be interested to begin with but will likely tire quickly, while the MMO gamers will see it as just another single player quest grind. Which is a shame, as I thought it had a lot of potential.
Graphics: 7/10 - The graphics are good but not really my style. It kind of felt like I was playing an older game. Like a mix between guild wars and something else... cant put my finger on it.
Storyline: 4/10 - It was just there. Nothing to pull me in really. The only reason I gave it some points was because there was a war going on with fireballs.
Gameplay: 4/10 - Another aspect that left me wishing I had not taken the time out of my life to download it. I played a rogue, a bladedancer/bard to be specific. I really hate that this game also has combo points. I was playing a rogue from wow all over again. The skills had different names but were essentially the same. The combat was fluid but lacked cool animations to go with it.
Quest mechanics: 2/10 - Same as every other mmo out. Go kill this and bring me back some chicken feathers. Booring. I gave it 2 points because it did have some interactive stuff to do. Like click on a catapult and sink a tiny boat. lol.
User Interface: 8/10 - I actually thought the ui looked good. I like the design for the bars and skill buttons. The only thing I didn't like was when moving you cant open up mini map, well you can but it goes transparent too much to see anything. Maybe you can change this setting, dunno. Not big deal tho.
Overall nothing really caught my interest in the game. Nothing new, but didn't expect it to be either. I just signed up for the beta and got in. The rift fights reminded me a lot of warhammer online with the public events.
Agreed.
People who post on forums are but a tiny fraction of those who play. If you go by forum posts about a game like WoW, for every 100 people who complain about it on a forum there are at least 1000 people playing and enjoying it.
As for Rift; I have been playing for a while now and while it's not something revolutionary and totally unique it does offer enough things to make it feel different. From the lore to the Rifts and invasions to the soul system, it's subtle differences that will more than make up for an overall lack of being different, at least in my opinion. It might not be a game that you will spend years playing, but you could definitely get a few good months out of it.
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
I think EQ2 and this game are 100% different. EQ2 has the AA which is a path you can take on its own, do you want to level fast, or get more AA? Hop around and do what I want while slowly getting my AA up to feel like a God early on at least.
Biggest problems with rift come from: No alternate starting area, lack of races to choose from, and overall boring and bland game play. I can honestly say in this state that 2011 is starting to look disappointing to say the least from an MMO perspective if this is the best they can come up.
There really IMO isn't much to review. The game and world is boring and bland at least to me. The souls are not much different and all require just mashing a couple of buttons to get the job done. You would feel like trying different soul combinations would yield nice results, but they just are more of the same. To much of the same among all the classes to be honest and all the starting skills are very similiar.
I saw someone with your name in beta 2, was it you? I was jumping over you but you was not interested :P
Pretty good points.
That's possibly true. I would say that you are incorrect about lotro needing to go f2p to claw back subscribers. They made it free to play because they saw how much money that ddo brought in and how many more subscribers it it gathered and thought that it was a better way to gather "more" players. Need? I think it was dong well enough. Not a powerhouse by any standard.
But besides wow or some eastern games being played in the east (such as lineage 2 in the east does better than here) what game can you really point to that has large numbers.
It seems that (and I'm pulling this out of my hat but you can judge if it's close) "successful" games can run from 90k to 250k maybe 300k.
I don't know of any western game that has more than that and if it is more, not by a huge amount.
That seems to me to be the saturation point.
So yes, it is the general public buying in many cases. However, I don't think the general public is the type to really stick with a game like a "gamer" would. They will play,have some fun and move on.
And gamers come in all shapes and sizes so they are hard to pin down. They do have opinions though and are reasonably knowledgable and will most likely let one know if they have been there done that.
If one comes at Rift with a somewhat cynical view then 'yes" it's been there done that and in spades with the exception of the Rifts themselves. At least from what I've seen from beta.
It has its positive points in that light but as soon as I destroyed "x" amount of "evil generators" only to have them light up again a minute later so that another person could "destroy them" I knew I was in well trod ground.
If one comes at this game from the other end they will see a quasi technological/magical world, new lore (though not "completely" new) and a new place to hang out and play and possibly find some fun.
But sure I was surprised as to how much this game plays like many others. Will I play it? Probably because there does seem to be a fun factor to it. But I will be getting off of that quest train as soon as possible, only doing quests when I want. Like LOTRO.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
DUDE!
I was wondering why the heck you were doing that! I remember you.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
But then you have to be fair. AA wasn't added until after the game had been out for a bit.
I don't know of one game (themepark) that launched with the leveling system AND an alternate advancement system. Some of the early games perhaps? But no current games. And if there are games that launched with both do tell!
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I read about rifts,grafs,quests and all mambo jumbo cap. Combat is the g point. Evrything u do from pve mobs or raids ,to pvp INVOLVES COMBAT. If combat is breathtaking,tactical and working well n smooth players will buy it and play it. if not it will fail like all other past mmorpgs that failed also.
So...
It uses a combat system similar to wow right?
Is combat breathtaking in rift? Combat system is better than wow 's combat or not?
Explain why.
If you mean combat as smooth as WOW yes it is. It works perfectly and there are no delays or clunkiness.
Bite Me
So, this past weekend I was lucky enough to have played Beta 2 for Rift. Here are my following impressions:
Like many said before, Rift resembles X, Y, or Z MMO somewhat closely. If you've played any "major release" MMO in the past 6-8 years, you will probably be quite familiar with Rift's setup right off the bat. I don't think anyone in Trion has claimed that this was to be held in stark contrast from any other MMO past or present. What they've repeatedly stated, is that they took many of the elements from previous games that they enjoyed, and tried to ENHANCE it. That being said, this game will feel very familiar to you on more than one level.
Yes there are quest chains. Yes they are fairly linear and help to take you from one area to the next. Keep in mind however, that for both Beta 1 and Beta 2, both areas are starter areas, so they are meant for "newbies" to become acquainted with the game. Granted for vets of the MMO industry, this will feel very rinse and repeat. I don't blame you, as I certainly noticed the same thing myself. I can only assume that things will branch out more once people leave the immediate 1-20 zone and there will be more "freedom." To the people saying the world feels "small," again I remind you: we were in the starting zone. Also to somewhat address this, I would like to comment that personally while I found the initial zone to be somewhat limited in scale, it was *very* vibrant. I felt like something was always happening (and granted, it was usually because a rift was spawning near by). Honestly, there were so many trees, rocks, critters, mobs, etc. littered around that the world had more immersion (again imho) than those completely barren zones of old.
So now that I feel I've covered two of the more debated topics, I'm going to talk a bit more about some of the aspects of the game I really enjoyed. For starters, I personally LOVE the soul system they're currently working with. Being the type of person who has always enjoyed trying different things, I certainly am looking forward to all the crazy combos that i can come up with. I played a Blade Dancer/Riftstalker during my time in Beta 2 and really enjoyed it. Which actually brings me to another "red flag" I've seen come up in some previous posts: "grinding/leveling/gear" confusion.
Again, I did play a Blade Dancer/Riftstalker (12/8 point dist) so perhaps this affected my gameplay differently from others i've seen complaining. However, in playing Rift, I definitely found myself immersed enough into that game, that i COMPLETELY forgot to train *any* of my skills from lvl 5-6 until about lvl 16. By the time I realized my error and had gone back to the trainer, I had been running around with rank 2 of both my primary skills, and lvl 6-8 gear I had gotten from earlier questing. Honestly, around level 14 I was noticing a lack in my dps versus like-level mobs, but never once did i really have any issues with leveling and/or gear. Granted, once I managed to train my skills to the appropriate level, and purchased some gear from the AH (plus a mix and match of 2-4 quest items and drops) I found killing things much, much easier.
The Rift invasions were definitely a good bit of fun. The first time it happened, I'm sure a lot of us were completely caught off guard. I for one was running around the forrest, examining an area where a giant statue had been carved out of a tree. All of a sudden, the skys changed to a much darker color and as I looked up, at I could see at least 5 rifts opening in my immediate area. Opening my map quickly I noticed it was a full scale invasion which had spawn upwards of 20 rifts all about the starter area. I tried to run back to the main hub area to rally with the others, only to be swiftly overrun by hordes and hordes of life-rift spawn. Like many others, I perished in the woods in a heartbeat, only to find myself being resed by someone who had managed to avoid the onslaught. Together we ran back to town where the entire North and North East quarters had been completely decimated. Poor lowbies who had been caught in the melee spawned desperately at a near by shrine -which incidently had been encircled by the invading army. One by one they spawned and fell back into the gaping maw of the horde. For many, they cried out, for me, I laughed at their stupidity in trying to respawn next to a thrall of ravenous beasts -it's like swimming out in the deep ocean with your leg freshly amputated.
TL;DR:
Overall I enjoyed my time in Rift and hope to have the chance to do so once more very soon. For those looking for a quick synopsis of my Beta 2 experience, here you go: If you enjoyed playing WAR or any of those other MMOs, you will most likely enjoy Rift. It is very polished, so you won't have the same issues that AoC and others had at launch. It also has more content and seems to be more solid with the systems it incorporates compared to WAR. Given both of these sets of circumstances, I feel like Rift is a current iteration of your standard MMO DONE RIGHT. Yes, if you're feeling burnt out on the likes of WoW, WAR, AoC, etc. than perhaps you may feel the same way about Rift. However, if you enjoyed those other titles (maybe minus WoW) but couldn't bring yourself to play them because of technical issues, or lack of content, or down right botched mechanics among other things (WAR i'm lookin at you here) then Rift is certainly worth a shot.
I know I for one will be giving this game the benefit of the doubt. As it stands, I look forward to more Rift, and fully intend to sub to the game once it's released. Hell, after not playing any major MMOs in almost 2.5 years, I'm happy to have something like Rift come along to keep me entertained (still looking forward to Gw2 as well).
I like some of your points but let's not throw the game out just yet. There will obviously be alot for the collecter types to do. ALot for the Quest lovers to do. Alot for the PvPers to do, Alot for the dungeon running types to do. Alot for the crafting community to do. It has all the puzzle pieces in place for a very healthy and diverse set of gamers from many different walks of life to enjoy. I forsee this game starting with people like me ......who like all the stuff WoW has but tired of the cartoon graphics and the lore behind it and want something with new graphics and lore.
After a large bunch of gamers like me come on bored there will be a big chunk of casuals and some ultra casuals that hear about it from us and come on board. From there it will be a trickle of people comming from WoW since thier friend or guild have switched to Rift. After that the hardcore raiders and the hardcore PvPers that like accomplishing server firsts will join the game and subscriptions will be off the scale.
Once all this has happened the time will have passed...maybe a year.....and suddenly the Rifts are able to be entered to fight on other planes.....omg...just got all subs from WoW do to some new content. WoW will struggle with this mighty blow....wobbling for a bit....then come crashing to the ground under it's own bloated weight. In 2 years rift will be the only game everyone plays since it is the best and easiest to get into with a bit of everything for everyone.
Cool story bro...
You used 6 to 8 button to kill as mob!!! SO was it TAB 12345678 = mob dead. Amazing game play I must say.
The sooner we get away from this crap tab target press xyz = mob dead the better.
The game is very good quality overall, but that is not the good part.
Dynamic events/spawn/world at last introduced into mmo, and rpg game, it was about time, we waited for this since the ultima series and the shop keeper going to bed at night and closing their shop lol.
Anyway in Rift they put in a dynamic system of war between mobs factions and i guess later in the beta we'll see players factions going into that action too.
So at last a game that feel dynamic, its nothing like heaven right, its just faction mob spawns with Rifts and a bit of environement mutation around it, mobs pathing creating invasions going from them and battle over hot spot into player towns and the setting of mob idoles on the map. So its nothing like they reinvented the weel, but they are the first who made something dynamic about all those stuff and created movement into their game with those simple stuff any coder had access to since like years and years, but the fact is nobody had done it before, sure a lot have talked about it, but you know words are words.
People can talk all they want about this, but one thing is sure, it was about time someone tryed to do this and did it.
Champagne!
It's a decent game overall, it has some very nice elements and it also has some problems however.
The most impressive elements are the invasions, which they really ramped up in the latest test. Having bunches of elite mobs patrol down the road to attack a town only to be repelled by large groups of players is definitely spectacular (although it absolutely kills performance).
That said, the way aggro and so is handled for these invasions could be better and more realistic.
There are also some problems with tanks and healers in these encounters. Because no one knows who is who, tanks usually die when tanking these mobs because they receive no heals at all (my own experience).
Rifts are basically public events from WAR and they could use a lot more variation. But they are fun overall and already significantly improved from test 1.
The bad element is the questing system. It's very generic and with little variation and not much is attempted to bring in story or group moments in the open world.
Placement of these quests is also problematic, you'll often miss out on small clusters of quests because they're located in some small hub that you didn't find because it is located directly below a lower level zone from which you've already moved on.
The thing with this is: new quests often require you to have done all the previous ones, so missing out on them is really not an option. Which can lead to you being stuck without sometimes.
Placement and pacing also seem rather random in general.
Combat is pretty standard, though my recent paladin experience was fun. They really need to balance things out, at least that's what I experienced at low levels. Some classes are nearly useless or have very boring rotations while others kick major ass.
The instances so far were very well done for being low level.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
All this comparing to WoW and WAR was surprising to me. The only game that Rift "reminded me of" was Chronicles of Spellborn, but I guess most people never played that. Graphically, the game is NOT cartoony like WoW, but it's also not AS slick as AION. I guess the Rifts are similar to PQs in WAR, but then again....not exactly.
I found the graphics refreshing, the game play pretty standard fare, although I do like that it's a bit more challenging. The crafting....I did alchemy....was fun-ish. Some of the materials you can only get from other crafters so there is a cross dependency which is nice for making in game currency. You can choose 3 crafting or gathering skills so you can, if you choose wisely, cover more of your needs for your primary profession, but you'll still need things you alone are not equipped to produce. I rather like that, myself, but opinions on that will, I'm sure, vary.
Over all my impression was good. It seems they actually care about the game and patched as needed and seemed to take care of what they could....fairly quickly.
As far as playing the game later.....my opinions on that are a bit of a mixed bag. To be fair to RIFT.......I'm pretty burnt out on the genre as a whole, so I consider my OWN opinions to be somewhat negative or tainted by that, really. I'm not certain as to whether I would be playing this as my choice next year. There are a few other games up and coming that I would also need to consider and I'm just not sure that RIFT will fare well enough in a comparison test to make the cut for me.
It was not a bad experience. Some of it was really fun. Some of it was almost TOO hard....like spawning after death in an area that was really about 5 levels too high for me and being unable to find my way out of that area without dying repeatedly. That could have been just a bug to respawn where it kept sending me, but.....it's also where I stopped playing because I could not escape the area.
Didn't see or DO any grouping. Everyone seemed pretty focused on soloing under level 20 (at least in MY experience). I guess that's how it is pretty much these days though.
I would not be comfortable telling anyone NOT to play RIFT. Would I recommend it based just on the beta? I can't really do that either, but beta.....is beta. I WILL say I did not find the game laden with bugs. It was pretty slick for a beta event weekend (BOTH weekends).
The thing I liked the MOST was the skill trees and souls and how those really did seem to allow you to customize your strengths.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
I think you are over-dramatizing this a bit. Facts vs fiction. There are no games out there in MMORPG pc market that have first person block, aim, do all yourself.....without a clunky interface.
There is no getting around this. It is impossible to do.
The tab or mouse targeting with the hotbar 1 thru 0 is an improvement on the old way of things. If you can somehow design a well rounded system with as much functionality to it or at least name a game in the MMORPG format that has this and is not flawed then you should not bash the current system.
Exploration and Rift should not be in the same sentence.