Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Rift after a few hours
Well I decided to join the Rift beta. I did not go in with any expectations. I have not followed this games development or paid attention to any hype or really anyone's opinion. I just jumped in and give it a try without doing any research. My experience and comments are based on about 5 hours of play.
First downloading the client was by far the best and fastest client download I have ever experienced. 7.5 gigs in about an hour. Game launched with no issues and I was in. My first reaction to the visual feast was impressive. I bit of graphic tweeking was needed, I hate glow effect so they were turned off which I feel made the game look better. I run a intel 7 quad, ati 5800 series, 16 gigs ram, my box is pretty good but not the top. I got a smooth fps of between 40 and 50 with most of the graphics maxed at 1920 x 1080. I did turn AA down to x2 and the game looks great. I should get a bit higher fps on my rig so I think a bit of optimizing is needed to the client. Performance issues were a topic in the chat channels. It took only a few minutes for the game to grab me.
Character creation was a bit of a let down. However, the characters look pretty good but more options are needed. Game play is fun and familiar but not next generation that is claimed. Rift is a love child of a drunk evening encounter between EQ2, WoW, and WAR. The world is fun to explore but is pretty linear. The feeling of being in a big war is pretty cool. The world is alive with lots of action. The landscape and the building structures look fantastic.
The combat system is ok but needs work. Fighting feels a bit slow but looks good. I have been enjoying DC Universe so that might be why the combat feels a bit slow. The skills and soul system are pretty neat and pretty ease to understand. I only grouped once and it was ok but felt a bit flat. The public quests were fun and reminded me of WAR. In short fighting felt a bit like a button masher but again I am only level 10 and a few hours into the experience.
I think this game will be a success but not a WoW killer or even a WoW denter. It took me a couple days to warm up to WoW but Rift grabbed me faster. I love the art direction in Rift but the expereince playing needs to match that. It is close but needs work. With some attention Rift will be around for years to come. If it was released a couple years ago it would be huge. I will probably play it when it goes live but with The Old Republic coming out soon that may effect Rift. I give Trion Worlds a big high five they jumped into the deep end of the WoW pool and they did not and will not sink. This is a game to try but if you are looking for a different experience the WoW or the EQ francises this might not be it. They barrowed from many good games and put together a well made polished fun experience at least for my first few hours. Good job Trion but listen to your players and take it to the next level.
Comments
This is the best unbiased review I have heard of the game so far. Kudos
Great review. . about exactly what I think. I couldn't even add anything but I also only played for a few hours. I know you said that you didn't read reviews etc. and people's opinions but I would think you found the mainline there. The best thing you did was not call it "just like WoW" you at least threw in the EQ / WAR reference which is very true. . . people get all upset when you say it is like WoW at all.
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
Thanks, I just wanted to express my feelings on my first trip into Rift. Trion did a great job and I hope they do well. Next generation no but fun and immersive yup. The art is opinion but they have some creative artist in their employment.
All around good review based on only a few hours played. The real opinion will be by game's end when you have tried ever asperct of RIFT. It's growing on me, but end game will be huge. What happens 2 years in when most of the population is max level and only a handful of newbies enter to find they have to battle rifts all by them lonesome selves. Ouch!
Agree. Even now i have to solo some rifts which is impossible
Yesterday I was lucky enough to log in about a minute before the servers were turned on at 4:30pm. I have my characters on a pve server and seriously almost noone was on yet. There were about two rifts open, a stronghold and a couple invasions. All were soloable. I would imagine that's what the zones will be like once all the older players are max level. It was pretty fun also with the public grouping feature I cleared a rift with this ranger really fast. I found the experience pretty nice.Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Agree. Even now i have to solo some rifts which is impossible
You shouldn't have to. Call for help. If rifts are spawning big crazy elites that's due to zone population. No soloing is needed.Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
I can no longer simply base a mmo on end game promises. Been there, done that, left at the alter. You can't get to end game without the rest of the game and people are going to want to like playing that to. I'm starting to wonder why not just make a MMO called End Game and it comes with you already there, you can change out skills etc at any time so you can learn and test etc. Lucky Charms without the tastless wheat/flour pieces!
I come in like the OP, same situation other then I'm not playing DCUO, playing Divinity 2 DKS. The combat so far level 9 for me is really dull, the x of x quests are wearing really thin on me in the genre in full. Performance was rough, however in beta debug modes could be on costing us some performance at this time. So far and I reserve to change my opinion, it's been a let down but hey maybe the good stuff for real this time is just over the horizon for me. The promise of every mmo ever.
I can't speak for this beta, but in the last beta the rifts scaled, if you open one and you are the only one there it's easily solable.
Personally, I thought the 1-10 experience was kind of lackluster. The game is alot better when you get away from the unwashed masses in the starter areas.
my brother and I played for about 3 hours last night in the open beta. First time I've seen any performance issues, but I suppose that's what a stress test is for.
It doesn't have to be linear I guess. You could just explore and find rifts. that might get dull after awhlie but a mix might be nice. Even with that it was a little too linear for me. I just can't play that game anymore.
As an aside. . there is a whole thread of keys with 25 uses each. . grab one of those and get in the game!
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
I think its always a safe bet to say that however I've heard Rift has already surpassed 1 million pre-orders . Most of my lotro guild are going to buy it and many of my WoW guild ( who feel Cata has been a let down ) are planning on giving it a go . I'm pretty certain this will have an impact on many other games including WoW if the endgames any good . It may not kill WoW but if its a decent enough game it will be the first nail in its coffin . I'm burnt out with WoW and disapointed in the direction Blizzard has taken it . I've a feeling RIFT will be my new home for a while as I see it as proberbly the best mmo released since WoW . I find myself playing for hours and no noticing it (yeah its that good) . Hope it does well because this is one game that really deserves to.
The big question is the endgane everything depends on that . If thats weak then I see RIFT as a 300k game if its strong well the skys the limit really and WoW has its first real competiion in years . Given the graphics are far nicer than WoWs cartoony ones then it could catch the imagination of the school age kids . If WoW suddenly becomes uncool you will proberbly see millions leaving it like sheep . WoW is a fad at the moment but fads come and go . Look at Pogs and Pokemon .
I think this a very good review and does echo my impressions too. I also plan to take a break from WoW and play RIFT for a while. One very important thing I want to add is that this game, compared to the other new games, takes aim at the WoW just before Cata - they took some of the really good additions that Blizzard made in the last few years to WoW: the quest tracker, different size raids, max raid size 25, able to switch between specs and so on.
I'll play this game because from what I see till now it is about as good as WoW, but it is different enough to overcome my WoW boredom. I do hope that there is gonna be a nice good Sci Fi game out soon though.
I totally agree .When I played the first few hours of RIFT I though at last there is as good a game as WoW and from what I've seen I'd say it is as good as WoW Vanilla . Which really is saying something because after years of disapointing games I think ones finally been released I can really see myself playing for more than a couple of months ( again if the endgames any good ) . I would'nt rule out playing WoW again at some point but the nice thing now is theres two really decent fantasy mmos. I think a lot of people may switch between the two . Theres another option now and you know what competition will be good for WoW if people start leaving to play RIFT Blizzard might buck there ideas up .
I was in the same boat as OP last night and I couldn't have worded a review better. Hit the nail on the head.
Rogue has fast combat.
They added more graphics options, including anti-aliasing now. I can't tell you how awesome the game looks now.
I tried it yesterday and I really liked it. However, I am experiencing performance issues. I hope this is because there are too many people around and all the rifts going on around etc.
They have my favourite thing from Everquest! Collections!!!!!! And they have shiny achievements
Aka they have the stuff that really matters 
My problem is with the quests. They are just as boring as in every other MMO -_-
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Pretty solid review.
Good review. I am far more critical of the game, but that's because the things that are wrong with it bother me more than other people. It's well made for what it is, but it's just not my kind of game.
Good review, thanks.
I wish developers stopped copying and stealing ideas from each other and came up with their own original ideas for the game mechanics instead.
"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.
Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
Hans Margolius
Good review.
I played the game for the firrst time yesterday and can honestly say that from level 1 thru 9 there has not been that many themepark MMO's out there that could compare to this experiance. The new things you learn come fast and furious and by level 8 I was really just starting to figure out how to use some of my abilities. This game is definately a 1-up from all my other MMO experiances.
The first 6 levels served as a good tutorial and I really liked the cinematic that kicks you to the full world. Once there I found all the things that people have posted about on the boards.
Once again there was a learning curve as there were real rifts opening up in many locations and messages of places under attack and major rift invasions taking place. I did several quests and found myself suddenly in the middle of a Rift encounter. I joined an ongoing raid and killed large groups of invaders that came at us in all shapes sizes and powers. It was a ton of fun and I learned more about Rift mechanics and how easy it was to auto-join groups and raids during these situations. I loved the aoe loot system.
I haven't even gotten to the main city but have already fallen for this game. There is so much fun and things to do that I can't see getting bored with it at all. If Rift keeps a good pace going forward I will for sure be hooked for a long time. Hail to the new King of MMO's for however long it holds the throne. It's funny but I watched an episode of X-play that showed Cataclism and it looked like a Flinstones cartoon compared to the plush quality graphics in Rift.
2 Thumbs up 5/5 for me so far on Rift. And all this goodness when it's in Beta?? We have a real competitor and one to watch here.
I guess I shouldn't have expected a poor review from someone named Riftsoldier...
I, however, cannot work myself up to logging in. I just re-started playing WoW with my friend and I can't get myself to log into that either. They both feel hollow to me. The carbon clone interface and hotkeys don't help much and I can't force myself to play a game because looting is easier.
The reason why people focus so much on the endgame is they want their MMO to live up to their reptuation and last a long time. Sure its certainly important to have a fun and engaging game from 1-cap but so do single player games. The thing that makes an MMO stand out is the endgame, its what keeps people playing and so for a number of people its the thing they like to hear about before they dive in and purchase the game.
Endgame does not always mean raids and PvP, there are loads of ideas floating around out there that keep people engaged after the level grind.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
So far I have found the game very very enjoyable.
Much like the OP I can see some aspects of the game that could do with work. But strangely (at least for my rogue) despire playing DCUO I think I prefere the combat with rift. Thats not to say DCUO doesn't do its job well but there is something a little more strategical to Rift. And I think it grows on you as you pick which souls you want and build on your prefere character which is the strength of the system in that you can pull from so many options that its possible to create a build that plays how you want it to and give some real flavour to your character.
For my money it is almost the perfect next step for WoW. For those fans that are looking for something new maybe a bit more serious. In the graphics are a little more matt painting over cartoon and you are less likely to see a goblin driving a hot rod or naked elves dancing (might see this I don't know). But at the same time while it has progressed its still kept whats good about the traditional forumal, it hasn't gone crazy like FFXIV and tried to change the system. Though I do think the quest system could use some work its far too much like reading a wall of text.
But for anyone on the fence I would say try the game and say its not fun when your a rift walker teleporting into an enemy and slicing them up. For anyone that does want to play I have a spare beta ticket so if someone didn't get lucky in winning one they can have mine.
Z69N-NRGY-6T9L-ZEYP-ZKNR