UI, Global cooldown, Quests, Abilities, Soul System - WoW specs, Warhammer publ quests - Rifts, same professions as WoW, similar death penalty as WoW, ghost run to corpse, no pulling classes, similar dungeons, similar icons for abilities even.
Lying is not going to help Rift, bad site and bad writer who tries to deceive players. Maybe Trion employee? I wonder.
When you click on the name of the author in that article (or go here) you'll see the list of articles that she has written, which is quite an extensive one regarding a diversity of topics.
While I don't agree with everything she writes, accusing someone of being a shill or Trion employee just because people disagree with her viewpoint goes too far. Come on people, let's be reasonable in our discussions, shall we? We can (or should be able to) just recognize and talk about viewpoints we don't agree with without resorting to belittling others just because we don't like their viewpoint, now, can we?
There'll always be similarities and differences between MMORPG's, some people just tend to see/focus on the resemblances while others tend to see/focus on the differences.
You are overreacting. Speculating isn't accusing. And I agree with bastionix, it sure could look like there was a hidden agenda there.
...there is, world domination and mind control. DON'T answer the door.
UI, Global cooldown, Quests, Abilities, Soul System - WoW specs, Warhammer publ quests - Rifts, same professions as WoW, similar death penalty as WoW, ghost run to corpse, no pulling classes, similar dungeons, similar icons for abilities even.
Lying is not going to help Rift, bad site and bad writer who tries to deceive players. Maybe Trion employee? I wonder.
What the heck are you talking about?
You are saying that no game that has things in common with WoW is worth playing, just because of that commonality. Hate to break it to you, but all MMORPGs have more in common with WoW than they don't. Why are you even here, on an MMO dite, if you hate MMOs for being MMOs?
Good luck finding an MMO that can't be just as easily dismissed with your "logic".
I don't know why people get upset. It plays like WOW and the concept of rifts is from the public quests from Warhammer. Many warhammer developers are working for Rift.
If you can't see how much alike it is to WoW then great too, I don't think it's important for the fans. But if you want something different than WoW, maybe Rift isn't the game for you you know.
The problem is that by your standards, no MMORPG could be different enough from WoW to not be considered a WoW clone.
It makes your reasoning and the entire label completely irrelavent. It tells us nothing useful.
You could devise a 100 point checklist of specific elements of WoW game design. Most of those elements would be so fundamental, that any MMORPG would have to score a hit. The final variation in the score, let's say between 80 and 100, would tell you nothing about how good a game was. You could have a perfect 100 that went on to be the next 5 Million plus subscriber title and another 100 that flopped. Just as you could have a game that scored an 80 on the checklist, somehow managed to redesign the wheel on a number of the things you are calling Rift out on, still turn out to be a complete dud.
Yes, Rift is an MMORPG. If you don't like them, you probably won't like Rift.
If you do like them? You might like Rift. You might not. Only each individual player can decide that.
Article seems more like one fan's viewpoint and doesn't contain much of the information that I've seen other folks post here on the forums. I suppose the actual truth lies somewhere in the middle.
It is not written by a fan, it is written by a writer who still wants to have a job once WOW will no longer be the single game with those multi millions subs.
It is in the main interest for this industry to spread as much people over as many games as possible. Because the last 5 years the MMO's have been in a very odd position. If 60 % of all income comes from one game, that's a problem for the industry as a whole.
The problem I see is that this journalism should not flock to the weekly newest launch and promote it like there is no tomorrow. In fact every Wow clone launched kills of another older clone and is a disguised promotion of the "original" product (most known). Eternal circle but it is not eternal.
Until Wow itself will die and ... everyone just leaves the field and all things fall apart.
Of course the guy can still write about consoles after this would happen, but I don't think a lot of MMO fans want that to happen.
UI, Global cooldown, Quests, Abilities, Soul System - WoW specs, Warhammer publ quests - Rifts, same professions as WoW, similar death penalty as WoW, ghost run to corpse, no pulling classes, similar dungeons, similar icons for abilities even.
Lying is not going to help Rift, bad site and bad writer who tries to deceive players. Maybe Trion employee? I wonder.
What the heck are you talking about?
You are saying that no game that has things in common with WoW is worth playing, just because of that commonality. Hate to break it to you, but all MMORPGs have more in common with WoW than they don't. Why are you even here, on an MMO dite, if you hate MMOs for being MMOs?
Good luck finding an MMO that can't be just as easily dismissed with your "logic".
I don't know why people get upset. It plays like WOW and the concept of rifts is from the public quests from Warhammer. Many warhammer developers are working for Rift.
If you can't see how much alike it is to WoW then great too, I don't think it's important for the fans. But if you want something different than WoW, maybe Rift isn't the game for you you know.
The problem is that by your standards, no MMORPG could be different enough from WoW to not be considered a WoW clone.
Same setting as wow and the other 50 billion fantasy MMOs
Same cookie cutter classes
Same generic kill/collect quests that give you no sense of personal stake
EXACT same combat. No really, litteraly nothing different about it. Atleast WAR had interesting mechanics
Rifts are randomly spawning public quests
Sorry, how is this not WoWHammer?
MMOs played: WoW, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars, Planetside, Global Agenda, Star Trek Online, RIFT, Everquest 2, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, EvE online, APB Best MMO Companies: Trion Worlds, ArenaNet, CCP Worst MMO Companies: Electronic Arts
Dungeons and Public Quests, as well as PvP scenarios, was also another means of leveling in games such as WAR, WoW etc. So I am not seeing how different Rift is in that regard.
Rifts are different yes but from what I understand they are just gimmicks. They cannot actually alter the world, they spawn and then depending on the people around it, grow in size but eventually, either by players or other AI mobs, they close.
The world, and I use that term losely, in itself is not threatened by these Rifts as the hype would have you believe. At the very most what could happen is that they temporarily shut down some quest hubs.
So this game IS a WoW/WAR clone with some slight differences and additions. I would say this game is WAR version 2.
The game is good, and what did you expect, would you like to log in to find the world has been destroyed and you can't play ? WTF would the point of that be. And they are certainly not just gimmicks, they scale acoriding the players in the area, and a full rift invasion is something to behold, not to mention the game can cope with it well, people have said that the game would be unplayable with a lot of players going after a rift and that turned out to be bullshit, in Beta 6 there was a massive life invasion with 100's of players trying to stop it, was epic tbh, and as you level up more the rifts become more and more complex and dangerous, there are even rifts you can enter.
Give it a chance before shooting it down so matter-of-factly.
I would say the truth lies with the person behind the keyboard that has played the game (albeit in beta atm). If you are entertained then play on, if not switch the channel.
This. If you like the game then play on, if not then move on. No one want to hear your bashing of the game. just say its not for you and go back to playing whatever you were playing before
Dungeons and Public Quests, as well as PvP scenarios, was also another means of leveling in games such as WAR, WoW etc. So I am not seeing how different Rift is in that regard.
Rifts are different yes but from what I understand they are just gimmicks. They cannot actually alter the world, they spawn and then depending on the people around it, grow in size but eventually, either by players or other AI mobs, they close.
The world, and I use that term losely, in itself is not threatened by these Rifts as the hype would have you believe. At the very most what could happen is that they temporarily shut down some quest hubs.
So this game IS a WoW/WAR clone with some slight differences and additions. I would say this game is WAR version 2.
The game is good, and what did you expect, would you like to log in to find the world has been destroyed and you can't play ? WTF would the point of that be. And they are certainly not just gimmicks, they scale acoriding the players in the area, and a full rift invasion is something to behold, not to mention the game can cope with it well, people have said that the game would be unplayable with a lot of players going after a rift and that turned out to be bullshit, in Beta 6 there was a massive life invasion with 100's of players trying to stop it, was epic tbh, and as you level up more the rifts become more and more complex and dangerous, there are even rifts you can enter.
Give it a chance before shooting it down so matter-of-factly.
I gave it a chance
10 hours of chances infact. And i've been in one of those 100+ invasions
It raped my computer and crashed the server
If Trion think it can create an "epic feel" to invasions by just throwing hundreds of mobs at people then they are very foolish
MMOs played: WoW, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars, Planetside, Global Agenda, Star Trek Online, RIFT, Everquest 2, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, EvE online, APB Best MMO Companies: Trion Worlds, ArenaNet, CCP Worst MMO Companies: Electronic Arts
Actually, WoWHammer is a pretty good nickname for Rift although I believe both of those games are superior to Rift. I really don't see anything in Rift that separates it from those two design wise so I don't see a problem with that name.
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
I would say the truth lies with the person behind the keyboard that has played the game (albeit in beta atm). If you are entertained then play on, if not switch the channel.
This. If you like the game then play on, if not then move on. No one want to hear your bashing of the game. just say its not for you and go back to playing whatever you were playing before
It is not that simple.
The question was; is this journalism or is this a promotion pamflet? I think the journalist should always win from the PR guy even when she thinks she should promote the MMORPG industry and their newest products.
Promoting the same game for 10 times in a row with a new fresh weekly colored border is questionable in the long run.
I think the community has a lot of burnout and has also become very jaded.
I think many people either weren't around for the first half of the last decade, or they have forgotten how bad things could be. There were years where most MMORPGs that launched did so in a sad state. It was obvious they lacked polish, were full of bugs, had obviously missing features or place holder quality items passing as features. Most clearly lacked the quantity of content to last a player more than a month. Horrible performance, horrible animations, etc... Most MMO releases weren't even worth being released.
Things have gotten a little better in recent years. The games that can't meet the minimums now expected of a launch day product should be called out for such a sad state. For the rest? The thing is that once a game meets "the minimums", the rest becomes very subjective. It also is not always apparent which game will really gel with you and which won't, until you play them.
I've had titles that looked perfect on paper, where I haven't made it beyond the second week. I've also had games I picked up thinking "well, I'll play this for a month or two, until the next big release" end up being games I stick with for months. Some of my favorite games have been popular, others have not.
Rift clearly meets the minimums for a launch worthy game and exceeds many of those minimums. Beyond that, it's subjective. Even if you and me compared out ratings of ten MMORPGs and found we rated them exactly the same, I could end up loving Rift three months down the road, while you hate it; or vice versa.
Dungeons and Public Quests, as well as PvP scenarios, was also another means of leveling in games such as WAR, WoW etc. So I am not seeing how different Rift is in that regard.
Rifts are different yes but from what I understand they are just gimmicks. They cannot actually alter the world, they spawn and then depending on the people around it, grow in size but eventually, either by players or other AI mobs, they close.
The world, and I use that term losely, in itself is not threatened by these Rifts as the hype would have you believe. At the very most what could happen is that they temporarily shut down some quest hubs.
So this game IS a WoW/WAR clone with some slight differences and additions. I would say this game is WAR version 2.
The game is good, and what did you expect, would you like to log in to find the world has been destroyed and you can't play ? WTF would the point of that be. And they are certainly not just gimmicks, they scale acoriding the players in the area, and a full rift invasion is something to behold, not to mention the game can cope with it well, people have said that the game would be unplayable with a lot of players going after a rift and that turned out to be bullshit, in Beta 6 there was a massive life invasion with 100's of players trying to stop it, was epic tbh, and as you level up more the rifts become more and more complex and dangerous, there are even rifts you can enter.
Give it a chance before shooting it down so matter-of-factly.
I gave it a chance
10 hours of chances infact. And i've been in one of those 100+ invasions
It raped my computer and crashed the server
If Trion think it can create an "epic feel" to invasions by just throwing hundreds of mobs at people then they are very foolish
Ran fine for me with my wife and two kids running across the same internet connection in the last beta. BTW, you knew you were playing beta right?
During beta one, this statement would probably be true, but over time, Trion has made questing a completely independent path to leveling. You can level up, gear up, attain additional souls, and progress through the world without having to bounce from quest hub to quest hub doing menial tasks. In RIFT, there is more than one road to take. Yes, you can quest, but you can also level by running rifts or grouping up for dungeons. And as my guildmate Raislek has discovered, it even pays to explore. As he was crossing Scarlet Gorge, he came across a puzzle in a hard-to-find location, and when he completed it, he got a very nice piece of gear. As it turns out, there are secret puzzles and treasure stashes hidden throughout the world of Telara, stashes that can award players some great level-appropriate upgrades.'
I didn't know about this. All I can say is THANK FREAKING GOD. I'm so SICK of quest grinding. I'd rather just do a regular camping mob grind, cause at least that was a social activity and didn't dilute the quests that were in the game already.
I'm still not really interested in Rift but really, we need more games that aren't a mindless quest grind. Now all Rift needs to do is get rid of the auto tracking quests and linear nature of them and we'll be back to what made original MMO quests actually good.
Couldn't even be bothered to read the full article, it was as boring as playing the game. It makes the same arguements that were wrong the 5000 other times fanboys made them. It is WoWHammer. Rifts are virtually public quests, yes they have random spawns and yes they have the potential to inconvience you if you are trying to do quests, is that better or worse than Warhammer's PQs? up to you I suppose. And Being able to do instanced content or PQ's instead of regular quests is hardly considered alternative leveling paths.
As to the people saying you are not allowed an opinion unless you got past lvl 10... Well, if 30 seconds after watching the intro cinematic makes you want to quit, it really doesn't matter what they do past lvl 10. Not that it matters at all in rifts case, because lvl 10 and above is the same exact game you've played already in WoW and Warhammer.
Save yourself the hassles and problems that come with a new launch and the uncertaintity of a new company. If you like Rift, go play an MMO with years more content and a stable population. Normally, I'd say if you have fun in a game, thats great. However in the case of Rift, if you enjoy it, there are games with much more content that are identical, go play one of those instead.
I would say the truth lies with the person behind the keyboard that has played the game (albeit in beta atm). If you are entertained then play on, if not switch the channel.
This. If you like the game then play on, if not then move on. No one want to hear your bashing of the game. just say its not for you and go back to playing whatever you were playing before
It is not that simple.
The question was; is this journalism or is this a promotion pamflet? I think the journalist should always win from the PR guy even when she thinks she should promote the MMORPG industry and their newest products.
Promoting the same game for 10 times in a row with a new fresh weekly colored border is questionable in the long run.
My opinion of course.
Yup your opinion just like the article in question is the author's opinion and not a work of Journalism.Massively is not a Jornalist site and not really a news site...it is a Blogger site and as such is just th eopinions of said bloggers.I don't agree with every article on massively because my opinion obviously differs from some of the bloggers,however I don't accuse them of being on the take or hired by certain game companies,I just stop reading said article and move on.
I think the community has a lot of burnout and has also become very jaded.
I think many people either weren't around for the first half of the last decade, or they have forgotten how bad things could be. There were years after WoW where most MMORPGs that launched did so in a sad state. It was obvious they lacked polish, were full of bugs, had obviously missing features or place holder quality items passing as features. Most clearly lacked the quantity of content to last a player more than a month. Horrible performance, horrible animations, etc... Most MMO releases weren't even worth being released.
Things have gotten a little better in recent years. The games that can't meet the minimums now expected of a launch day product should be called out for such a sad state. For the rest? The thing is that once a game meets "the minimums", the rest becomes very subjective. It also is not always apparent which game will really gel with you and which won't, until you play them.
I've had titles that looked perfect on paper, where I haven't made it beyond the second week. I've also had games I picked up thinking "well, I'll play this for a month or two, until the next big release" end up being games I stick with for months. Some of my favorite games have been popular, others have not.
Rift clearly meets the minimums for a launch worthy game and exceeds many of those minimums. Beyond that, it's subjective. Even if you and me compared out ratings of ten MMORPGs and found we rated them exactly the same, I could end up loving Rift three months down the road, while you hate it; or vice versa.
Exactly, what is being argued is one's taste in entertainment...never a fruitful discussion. Furthermore if you are naive enough to think that major companies do not try to find creative ways to market their products to get money from you, well you should be flaming elsewhere. If you are entertained then play on, if not change the channel! Rather than posting to a topic for a game that does not entertain you or you might have 'Sherlocked' a conspiracy to only find out you get no cookie for your discovery.
I'm looking forward to this game's launch, maybe after a few months I get tired of it and am no longer entertained. I cancel my subscription and switch the channel. I can guarantee you that I will not post to the forums saying what a horrible experinece I had, their marketing conspiarcies are all lies, I was duped into giving money to a clone of a clone of a clone. Nope, just cancel my sub and begin searching for my next entertainment fix.
Couldn't even be bothered to read the full article, it was as boring as playing the game. It makes the same arguements that were wrong the 5000 other times fanboys made them. It is WoWHammer. Rifts are virtually public quests, yes they have random spawns and yes they have the potential to inconvience you if you are trying to do quests, is that better or worse than Warhammer's PQs? up to you I suppose. And Being able to do instanced content or PQ's instead of regular quests is hardly considered alternative leveling paths.
As to the people saying you are not allowed an opinion unless you got past lvl 10... Well, if 30 seconds after watching the intro cinematic makes you want to quit, it really doesn't matter what they do past lvl 10. Not that it matters at all in rifts case, because lvl 10 and above is the same exact game you've played already in WoW and Warhammer.
Save yourself the hassles and problems that come with a new launch and the uncertaintity of a new company. If you like Rift, go play an MMO with years more content and a stable population. Normally, I'd say if you have fun in a game, thats great. However in the case of Rift, if you enjoy it, there are games with much more content that are identical, go play one of those instead.
How do you know how much content it has ? Are you in the super secret group of players that have capped, done all the tier dungeons and raids and are mindless walking around looking for someting to do. That is some feat concidering its beta and we have not been able to c endgame yet.
If you have any super secret beta keys left please PM me one, so I can try the 20 man Raids.
The reason so many Rift fans are going to such great lengths to discredit the fact that this game is just more of the same is because there are so many people who do believe that it is as such.
If there was no credibility to all of our complaints about Rift being a subpar WoW/WAR clone then there probably wouldn't be so many of us whining.
UI, Global cooldown, Quests, Abilities, Soul System - WoW specs, Warhammer publ quests - Rifts, same professions as WoW, similar death penalty as WoW, ghost run to corpse, no pulling classes, similar dungeons, similar icons for abilities even.
Lying is not going to help Rift, bad site and bad writer who tries to deceive players. Maybe Trion employee? I wonder.
So... what fantasy based MMO do you play (know of) that is so very different that WoW, War, EQ2, VG, ect,ect,ect,ect? from what i've seen, they all tend to borrow heavily from their predecessors. i don't think all games should neccessarily look alike, but that is the reality of video game evolution and stagnation. Pitfall-Mario-Sonic-ect. Street Fighter- Mortal Combat - Killer instinct. not to mention, EVERY driving game to release looks about exactly the same. arguments like yours just show how blinded you are by the surety of todays video game hipsters. you fail to examine 'games' as what they are.... games. every game that exist (physical,virtual, boardgames, all of them) borrow from what came before it. that is the nature of progression, even if it does not always create 'immediate progression'.
maybe DF and MO are different? idk about MO, but DF just reminded me of an online Morrowind (TES3). so granted, these 2 games are a lot different, but how many P2P fantasy MMO's are out that do not use the same basic functions as WoW, EQ2, VG, WAR, Aion, ECT, ect,ect,ect?
i've at least tried most MMO's to come out since WoW, and of course, they are very similar, but the funny thing is, even some 1player rpgs (NWN2) gives an option to use a layout that is just like the UI of these MMO's. games will reuse the things that work well, and what people are used to.
i just have to add. most of the hate towards this game seems to come from people who prefer sandboxes, and at some point convinced themselves that 'Rift' should be a sandbox. not because it is advertised that way (because it's not), but because they feel that any themepark MMO is a direct insult to this genre.
i can make a sandbox out of any MMO i enjoy. just ignore the rides and do what pleases you. unfortunatly, this requires imagination, something that many of the 'sandbox militia' ironically seems to lack. it's sad that the only way some of you can use your imagination, is if you get a game that lacks one. i love the idea of sanbox games, but show me a modern one that is worth playing (fantasy based, because that is the only reason i play RPG's) and then you might have a point.
so am i saying Rift is different than other MMO's? hell no. but it looks alot more enjoyable, and more to my style than a lot of the others i've tried. is is similar to WoW? sure. but no more similar than the slew of other MMO's that have come out since, and i feel it has mechanics that will appeal to many players. comparing it to only 2 current MMO's is one of the worst ways to point out how Rift is just 'more of the same'. maybe it is, but that is all video games are anyway. the last truly innovating game i played was 'Shadow of the Colossus'. not an mmo, no lvls, and no real abilities. just plain fun as i tackled monsters bigger than buildings.
i just want to hunt rifts. i am a major RP'er, and hunting after rifts with a rogue who has several teleport abilities, plus ranged magic dmg (riftstalker/nightblade), well honestly, this is the toon i have serched for for many years. no other game (that i've found) offers me this mix. i've alays wanted something like an arcane trickster, and Rift is allowing it. that alone is enough for me to sub, and see how long the enjoyment lasts. for me, rift hunting is an RP'ing dream.
During beta one, this statement would probably be true, but over time, Trion has made questing a completely independent path to leveling. You can level up, gear up, attain additional souls, and progress through the world without having to bounce from quest hub to quest hub doing menial tasks. In RIFT, there is more than one road to take. Yes, you can quest, but you can also level by running rifts or grouping up for dungeons. And as my guildmate Raislek has discovered, it even pays to explore. As he was crossing Scarlet Gorge, he came across a puzzle in a hard-to-find location, and when he completed it, he got a very nice piece of gear. As it turns out, there are secret puzzles and treasure stashes hidden throughout the world of Telara, stashes that can award players some great level-appropriate upgrades.'
I didn't know about this. All I can say is THANK FREAKING GOD. I'm so SICK of quest grinding. I'd rather just do a regular camping mob grind, cause at least that was a social activity and didn't dilute the quests that were in the game already.
I'm still not really interested in Rift but really, we need more games that aren't a mindless quest grind. Now all Rift needs to do is get rid of the auto tracking quests and linear nature of them and we'll be back to what made original MMO quests actually good.
You can turn off auto tracking. It shouldn't matter if it gives players who don't turn it off "an advantage". It's about options and playing the game the way you want to play it.
Like any MMO today, the first 10 levels are the intro to the game and they all tend to be linear, unless they go the route of providing little or no introduction, which most people seem to hate more than being on "a rail".
Post level 10, I found things branched off a lot. There are only a few quests that require quest lines to follow, most are available as long as you are the minimum level to take them. The quests send you off to different areas of the map. Sometimes you'll be led to a mini quest hub as a result, other times you may stumble upon a quest giver that you weren't led to by another quest.
Rifts offer an alternative means of advancement and their own additional rewards. There is instant access to Warfronts starting at level 10 (think Battleground queues), You earn XP there and currency for PvP vendor items as well. There are also a lot of mobs I have never found a related quest for, so grinding is possible as well (world drop items can sometimes be nice).
And don't forget Dungeons as well. 5 Man dungeons are available in I believe all the main zones, sometimes more than one per zone.
There are MMOs where questing is completely linear; either because most quests are nested in long quest lines, or because there aren't enough quests, or other leveling options, to allow you to pick and chose which quests to take. That's not the case in Rift. You have a lot of freedom to advance the way you want to advance and mix things up as needed.
I DO wish there was more redundancy in game zones, so you could advance alts in different regions than your first time through. So, it's not perfect and I think sacrifices some replayability, but at least there is variation allowed in how you level with in the existing content.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Finally a review that gets it. Rift really is a different game, but there are just multitudes of people who enjoy bashing it. I'm glad to see anything positive related to this game.
The reason so many Rift fans are going to such great lengths to discredit the fact that this game is just more of the same is because there are so many people who do believe that it is as such.
If there was no credibility to all of our complaints about Rift being a subpar WoW/WAR clone then there probably wouldn't be so many of us whining.
There are also millions of people who believe 9/11 was a inside job, that doesn't make it true.
Virtualy all MMO's are clones, so is most fatasy content of any kind and it is certainly NOT subpar to WAR, that is a ridiculous statement. WoW has had multiple expansion and 6 years to mature vs a game in Beta, and im on the fence about wich one is better. So I play both
I'm looking forward to trying this game out (wearing my aluminium hat of course) and hopefully find a population that is there to have fun and has a sense of humor.
My questions has always been why dont people call WoW an EQ clone which it absolutely is. It did nothign terribly different than EQ and everyoneknows it. So the WoWclone statement sounds ridiculous everytime I hear it. Therefore, its damn near impossible for me to take anyones opinion seriously when they try to say something is a "wowclone." honestly it just makes them sound like a cretin.
Comments
...there is, world domination and mind control. DON'T answer the door.
The problem is that by your standards, no MMORPG could be different enough from WoW to not be considered a WoW clone.
It makes your reasoning and the entire label completely irrelavent. It tells us nothing useful.
You could devise a 100 point checklist of specific elements of WoW game design. Most of those elements would be so fundamental, that any MMORPG would have to score a hit. The final variation in the score, let's say between 80 and 100, would tell you nothing about how good a game was. You could have a perfect 100 that went on to be the next 5 Million plus subscriber title and another 100 that flopped. Just as you could have a game that scored an 80 on the checklist, somehow managed to redesign the wheel on a number of the things you are calling Rift out on, still turn out to be a complete dud.
Yes, Rift is an MMORPG. If you don't like them, you probably won't like Rift.
If you do like them? You might like Rift. You might not. Only each individual player can decide that.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
It is not written by a fan, it is written by a writer who still wants to have a job once WOW will no longer be the single game with those multi millions subs.
It is in the main interest for this industry to spread as much people over as many games as possible. Because the last 5 years the MMO's have been in a very odd position. If 60 % of all income comes from one game, that's a problem for the industry as a whole.
The problem I see is that this journalism should not flock to the weekly newest launch and promote it like there is no tomorrow. In fact every Wow clone launched kills of another older clone and is a disguised promotion of the "original" product (most known). Eternal circle but it is not eternal.
Until Wow itself will die and ... everyone just leaves the field and all things fall apart.
Of course the guy can still write about consoles after this would happen, but I don't think a lot of MMO fans want that to happen.
Same setting as wow and the other 50 billion fantasy MMOs
Same cookie cutter classes
Same generic kill/collect quests that give you no sense of personal stake
EXACT same combat. No really, litteraly nothing different about it. Atleast WAR had interesting mechanics
Rifts are randomly spawning public quests
Sorry, how is this not WoWHammer?
MMOs played: WoW, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars, Planetside, Global Agenda, Star Trek Online, RIFT, Everquest 2, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, EvE online, APB
Best MMO Companies: Trion Worlds, ArenaNet, CCP
Worst MMO Companies: Electronic Arts
The game is good, and what did you expect, would you like to log in to find the world has been destroyed and you can't play ? WTF would the point of that be. And they are certainly not just gimmicks, they scale acoriding the players in the area, and a full rift invasion is something to behold, not to mention the game can cope with it well, people have said that the game would be unplayable with a lot of players going after a rift and that turned out to be bullshit, in Beta 6 there was a massive life invasion with 100's of players trying to stop it, was epic tbh, and as you level up more the rifts become more and more complex and dangerous, there are even rifts you can enter.
Give it a chance before shooting it down so matter-of-factly.
This. If you like the game then play on, if not then move on. No one want to hear your bashing of the game. just say its not for you and go back to playing whatever you were playing before
I gave it a chance
10 hours of chances infact. And i've been in one of those 100+ invasions
It raped my computer and crashed the server
If Trion think it can create an "epic feel" to invasions by just throwing hundreds of mobs at people then they are very foolish
MMOs played: WoW, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild Wars, Planetside, Global Agenda, Star Trek Online, RIFT, Everquest 2, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, EvE online, APB
Best MMO Companies: Trion Worlds, ArenaNet, CCP
Worst MMO Companies: Electronic Arts
Actually, WoWHammer is a pretty good nickname for Rift although I believe both of those games are superior to Rift. I really don't see anything in Rift that separates it from those two design wise so I don't see a problem with that name.
"Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever." - Noam Chomsky
It is not that simple.
The question was; is this journalism or is this a promotion pamflet? I think the journalist should always win from the PR guy even when she thinks she should promote the MMORPG industry and their newest products.
Promoting the same game for 10 times in a row with a new fresh weekly colored border is questionable in the long run.
My opinion of course.
I think the community has a lot of burnout and has also become very jaded.
I think many people either weren't around for the first half of the last decade, or they have forgotten how bad things could be. There were years where most MMORPGs that launched did so in a sad state. It was obvious they lacked polish, were full of bugs, had obviously missing features or place holder quality items passing as features. Most clearly lacked the quantity of content to last a player more than a month. Horrible performance, horrible animations, etc... Most MMO releases weren't even worth being released.
Things have gotten a little better in recent years. The games that can't meet the minimums now expected of a launch day product should be called out for such a sad state. For the rest? The thing is that once a game meets "the minimums", the rest becomes very subjective. It also is not always apparent which game will really gel with you and which won't, until you play them.
I've had titles that looked perfect on paper, where I haven't made it beyond the second week. I've also had games I picked up thinking "well, I'll play this for a month or two, until the next big release" end up being games I stick with for months. Some of my favorite games have been popular, others have not.
Rift clearly meets the minimums for a launch worthy game and exceeds many of those minimums. Beyond that, it's subjective. Even if you and me compared out ratings of ten MMORPGs and found we rated them exactly the same, I could end up loving Rift three months down the road, while you hate it; or vice versa.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
Ran fine for me with my wife and two kids running across the same internet connection in the last beta. BTW, you knew you were playing beta right?
I didn't know about this. All I can say is THANK FREAKING GOD. I'm so SICK of quest grinding. I'd rather just do a regular camping mob grind, cause at least that was a social activity and didn't dilute the quests that were in the game already.
I'm still not really interested in Rift but really, we need more games that aren't a mindless quest grind. Now all Rift needs to do is get rid of the auto tracking quests and linear nature of them and we'll be back to what made original MMO quests actually good.
Couldn't even be bothered to read the full article, it was as boring as playing the game. It makes the same arguements that were wrong the 5000 other times fanboys made them. It is WoWHammer. Rifts are virtually public quests, yes they have random spawns and yes they have the potential to inconvience you if you are trying to do quests, is that better or worse than Warhammer's PQs? up to you I suppose. And Being able to do instanced content or PQ's instead of regular quests is hardly considered alternative leveling paths.
As to the people saying you are not allowed an opinion unless you got past lvl 10... Well, if 30 seconds after watching the intro cinematic makes you want to quit, it really doesn't matter what they do past lvl 10. Not that it matters at all in rifts case, because lvl 10 and above is the same exact game you've played already in WoW and Warhammer.
Save yourself the hassles and problems that come with a new launch and the uncertaintity of a new company. If you like Rift, go play an MMO with years more content and a stable population. Normally, I'd say if you have fun in a game, thats great. However in the case of Rift, if you enjoy it, there are games with much more content that are identical, go play one of those instead.
Yup your opinion just like the article in question is the author's opinion and not a work of Journalism.Massively is not a Jornalist site and not really a news site...it is a Blogger site and as such is just th eopinions of said bloggers.I don't agree with every article on massively because my opinion obviously differs from some of the bloggers,however I don't accuse them of being on the take or hired by certain game companies,I just stop reading said article and move on.
Exactly, what is being argued is one's taste in entertainment...never a fruitful discussion. Furthermore if you are naive enough to think that major companies do not try to find creative ways to market their products to get money from you, well you should be flaming elsewhere. If you are entertained then play on, if not change the channel! Rather than posting to a topic for a game that does not entertain you or you might have 'Sherlocked' a conspiracy to only find out you get no cookie for your discovery.
I'm looking forward to this game's launch, maybe after a few months I get tired of it and am no longer entertained. I cancel my subscription and switch the channel. I can guarantee you that I will not post to the forums saying what a horrible experinece I had, their marketing conspiarcies are all lies, I was duped into giving money to a clone of a clone of a clone. Nope, just cancel my sub and begin searching for my next entertainment fix.
How do you know how much content it has ? Are you in the super secret group of players that have capped, done all the tier dungeons and raids and are mindless walking around looking for someting to do. That is some feat concidering its beta and we have not been able to c endgame yet.
If you have any super secret beta keys left please PM me one, so I can try the 20 man Raids.
The reason so many Rift fans are going to such great lengths to discredit the fact that this game is just more of the same is because there are so many people who do believe that it is as such.
If there was no credibility to all of our complaints about Rift being a subpar WoW/WAR clone then there probably wouldn't be so many of us whining.
So... what fantasy based MMO do you play (know of) that is so very different that WoW, War, EQ2, VG, ect,ect,ect,ect? from what i've seen, they all tend to borrow heavily from their predecessors. i don't think all games should neccessarily look alike, but that is the reality of video game evolution and stagnation. Pitfall-Mario-Sonic-ect. Street Fighter- Mortal Combat - Killer instinct. not to mention, EVERY driving game to release looks about exactly the same. arguments like yours just show how blinded you are by the surety of todays video game hipsters. you fail to examine 'games' as what they are.... games. every game that exist (physical,virtual, boardgames, all of them) borrow from what came before it. that is the nature of progression, even if it does not always create 'immediate progression'.
maybe DF and MO are different? idk about MO, but DF just reminded me of an online Morrowind (TES3). so granted, these 2 games are a lot different, but how many P2P fantasy MMO's are out that do not use the same basic functions as WoW, EQ2, VG, WAR, Aion, ECT, ect,ect,ect?
i've at least tried most MMO's to come out since WoW, and of course, they are very similar, but the funny thing is, even some 1player rpgs (NWN2) gives an option to use a layout that is just like the UI of these MMO's. games will reuse the things that work well, and what people are used to.
i just have to add. most of the hate towards this game seems to come from people who prefer sandboxes, and at some point convinced themselves that 'Rift' should be a sandbox. not because it is advertised that way (because it's not), but because they feel that any themepark MMO is a direct insult to this genre.
i can make a sandbox out of any MMO i enjoy. just ignore the rides and do what pleases you. unfortunatly, this requires imagination, something that many of the 'sandbox militia' ironically seems to lack. it's sad that the only way some of you can use your imagination, is if you get a game that lacks one. i love the idea of sanbox games, but show me a modern one that is worth playing (fantasy based, because that is the only reason i play RPG's) and then you might have a point.
so am i saying Rift is different than other MMO's? hell no. but it looks alot more enjoyable, and more to my style than a lot of the others i've tried. is is similar to WoW? sure. but no more similar than the slew of other MMO's that have come out since, and i feel it has mechanics that will appeal to many players. comparing it to only 2 current MMO's is one of the worst ways to point out how Rift is just 'more of the same'. maybe it is, but that is all video games are anyway. the last truly innovating game i played was 'Shadow of the Colossus'. not an mmo, no lvls, and no real abilities. just plain fun as i tackled monsters bigger than buildings.
i just want to hunt rifts. i am a major RP'er, and hunting after rifts with a rogue who has several teleport abilities, plus ranged magic dmg (riftstalker/nightblade), well honestly, this is the toon i have serched for for many years. no other game (that i've found) offers me this mix. i've alays wanted something like an arcane trickster, and Rift is allowing it. that alone is enough for me to sub, and see how long the enjoyment lasts. for me, rift hunting is an RP'ing dream.
You can turn off auto tracking. It shouldn't matter if it gives players who don't turn it off "an advantage". It's about options and playing the game the way you want to play it.
Like any MMO today, the first 10 levels are the intro to the game and they all tend to be linear, unless they go the route of providing little or no introduction, which most people seem to hate more than being on "a rail".
Post level 10, I found things branched off a lot. There are only a few quests that require quest lines to follow, most are available as long as you are the minimum level to take them. The quests send you off to different areas of the map. Sometimes you'll be led to a mini quest hub as a result, other times you may stumble upon a quest giver that you weren't led to by another quest.
Rifts offer an alternative means of advancement and their own additional rewards. There is instant access to Warfronts starting at level 10 (think Battleground queues), You earn XP there and currency for PvP vendor items as well. There are also a lot of mobs I have never found a related quest for, so grinding is possible as well (world drop items can sometimes be nice).
And don't forget Dungeons as well. 5 Man dungeons are available in I believe all the main zones, sometimes more than one per zone.
There are MMOs where questing is completely linear; either because most quests are nested in long quest lines, or because there aren't enough quests, or other leveling options, to allow you to pick and chose which quests to take. That's not the case in Rift. You have a lot of freedom to advance the way you want to advance and mix things up as needed.
I DO wish there was more redundancy in game zones, so you could advance alts in different regions than your first time through. So, it's not perfect and I think sacrifices some replayability, but at least there is variation allowed in how you level with in the existing content.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
... they're already inside...
You're forgetting the aliens. No good conspiracy theory without aliens.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Finally a review that gets it. Rift really is a different game, but there are just multitudes of people who enjoy bashing it. I'm glad to see anything positive related to this game.
sorry off topic but your post reminded me of this.
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/2585/picture16ol.png
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/oh-humanity-human-week-begins-t13085p7.html
There are also millions of people who believe 9/11 was a inside job, that doesn't make it true.
Virtualy all MMO's are clones, so is most fatasy content of any kind and it is certainly NOT subpar to WAR, that is a ridiculous statement. WoW has had multiple expansion and 6 years to mature vs a game in Beta, and im on the fence about wich one is better. So I play both
LOL, nice one.
I'm looking forward to trying this game out (wearing my aluminium hat of course) and hopefully find a population that is there to have fun and has a sense of humor.
My questions has always been why dont people call WoW an EQ clone which it absolutely is. It did nothign terribly different than EQ and everyoneknows it. So the WoWclone statement sounds ridiculous everytime I hear it. Therefore, its damn near impossible for me to take anyones opinion seriously when they try to say something is a "wowclone." honestly it just makes them sound like a cretin.