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Rift's Gimmick - once it is replicated, then what?
Let me start of by saying I was very excited for the release of Rift. I even enjoyed it during the headstart and into actual release. Then I started noticing that I was getting bored. Now, this thread isn't meant to be about how boring/repetitive the game/rifts are, but it is a question I feel I need to ask.
This game is based on the fact that there are these things called Rifts, a "dynamic event" or so they say, that impacts the world around you slightly so when you're exploring or questing there is a chance something could drop in on you and change your gameplay on a whim. Yeah, that is pretty cool in theory. However, it doesn't seem like a difficult idea to replicate in other MMOs. When I say "gimmick" in the thread title, there is no negative connotation implied... every game has a gimmick of its own. So, when games (hell, even WoW could introduce something like this - it probably isn't difficult to do) start adding dynamic events like rifts, what will Rift have to stand on?
Again, please don't take this as a negative thread regarding Rift, I'm just curious as to what there will be to offer to attract players to Rift instead of something else?
Edit - just to add, this is what inspired the question http://www.wowwiki.com/Tripping_the_Rifts
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Comments
Well, there will always be the fact that the dynamic events themselves are Rifts. I doubt the entirety of the Rift itself will be copied. There's also the class combinations, and it does have it's story. IF you like all that that is. Different strokes for different folks. But they're there none the less.
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Games don't need a gimmick, but for some strange reason MMO's do. No one asks what the gimmick is for FO Las Vegas or the latest CoD. No one asks what the gimmick is for the latest BF title. And thats the same as most other forms of enntertainment, no one asks what the gimmick is for films or books do they?
All you want is what you got before as good as or better. So why do MMO's need a gimmick? They don't but players have been told they do and rather like sheep they bleet about it. Its like fashion, you are told you need something new this year so you go out and buy it.
Also as a gamer I ask you to think about gimmicks. Do you think that the long term viability of a game depends on a gimmick or two? Will you stay in a MMO because you have a pair of wings you can sometimes use? Content and gameplay are what count and only that will keep you in the game.
To be fair dynamic events have a lot more impact than a pair of occasional wings, but they are still not going to make you come back month after month. Forget gimmicks and even new gameplay features like the rifts, its the core of content and gameplay that counts.
The rifts in Rift are not even that original, it is copied from Warhammer PQs and unfortunately it is implemented as badly as in the Mythic game.
An orgy of people spamming their best offensive ability hoping to end at the top of the damage list to get the best prize.
Sloppy and lazy design
There is nothing original in Rift, Trion tried to do the same thing WoW did, which is copy the best features of other MMOs.
Unfortunately for Rift, the game has the same feel as Warhammer rather than WoW
It gets boring and repetitive pretty fast.
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Simple facts:
1. WoW tried it and failed - go search the youtube vids of what happens when you get a ton of people on the screen at one time. Winterlag...Dal-Lag
2. WAR was another lag fest because the engine was broken
3. Aion - Same idea except they used a really updated 2009GFX engine on a America network that is maybe dated to 2002. So lag central.
4. GW2 promises this and MIGHT be able to pull it off. Now they have to have dynamic events with those graphics + that many people on the screen
There is a severely good reason Trion chose this modified WAR gfx engine that can play on most system and does not lag you to death.
The WoW events had way more players than any Rift event I've ever seen so this is pretty questionable. Each new generation of new game gets a little more stable because of improved hardware and software, Rift is really getting way too much credit for this. GW2 and SWTOR are really stable in their betas as well and I'd expect any new game to be more stable than even a top quality game from 4-6 years ago without even trying hard.
Rifts are just mobile PQs with less thought put into each individual one, this isn't a new concept. Tabula Rasa had invasions as well. GW2 has dynamic events. Rift will have to stand on its own merits to last long, the Rifts aren't going to carry it by themselves.
I can't tell if Rift's gimmick is the Rifts, Souls system, or public grouping? its all soo good
What I am trying to say it is not just something you add. Like you literally need a GW2 where
the game is built around it.
I mean maybe WoW can have more random npc spawns that tie into the storyline. They call it
a gimick the same way I can call Star Wars a Space based fantasy game. It is not exactly
something easy you just copy.
If Rift doesn't evolve, like every MMO we've seen before do; then yes there will be nothing new if someone else decides to implement the 'Rift Gimmick'
Of course there's the whole class system which I find pretty neat and the lore, but who care about such things in a MMORPG.
" So, when games (hell, even WoW could introduce something like this - it probably isn't difficult to do) start adding dynamic events like rifts, what will Rift have to stand on?"
Well, you can start with a BOATLOAD of classes compared to cookie-cutter wow and ALOT of flexibility with the soul system...I could go on and on and on. But I think I made a solid point.
Has anyone brought up Runes of Magic yet? Runes of Magic largely duplicates WoW's entire game with slightly different (sometimes better) graphics. WoW is fine. So is RoM for that matter.
Someone will duplicate a rift like functionality, and they'll either do it better, or they'll do it worse. It won't be enough to affect Rift though because it will no longer be new. Eventually it'll be a standard feature like Auction Houses or mounts.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
This is all Rifts really are though, they don't tie into the game very much they lay over the top of it. I'd agree that Dynamic Quests would be much harder to add to a game in a meaningful way because they took a lot more time and thought to create.
Facts? Rofl.
1. It was a success in that it provoked large player turnouts, and just like some of the world pvp hot spots back in vanilla, it was lag city. This is not unexpected, it has nothing to do with the gfx engine as you put it. Rift also has seen this kind of lag.
2. War, a lag fest? Engine broken? War used Gamebryo, so does Rif. War's problems were in its design, nothing more.
3. Aion used the Cryengine, which is not purely graphical but an entire package for development. Even Cryengine is more capable than Gamebryo in its current state...which is probably why Gamebyro went under (was on its death bed) and eventually got bought out by some Korean company. It's networking side and high end graphics resulted in many of the lag related issues.
4. GW2 is made by a tried and true, development team. Dynamic events are not new, they have been around for a long time. Their networking set up will be based around the idea of segmenting and releaving as much stress as possible for clusters of players in any one area. It would be a surprise to all if they failed in that regard.
FINALLY,
The reason TRION chose to go with GAMEBRYO is because 1) it was cheap, 2) they teamed up with the maker of Gamebryo for a long term deal...which is funny since not long after Gamebryo went under, leaving all those with contracts for using Gamebryo in a sticky situation. Gamebryo is by no means next neg, and neither is Rift in its graphical processing. Rift can and will lag to death, I have seen it, however the only thing TRION has going for them is the cloud networking they setup. Modified Gamebryo doesnt really mean much either. It is still and always will be aged and flawed, it will never hold a candle to the next gen game engines such as CryEngine and Unreal 3.
Lets not over hype Rift and pretend its in some new category where all others have failed. That simply is not true. Rift, from my opinion is a design dissaster, a highly marketed gimmick over gameplay product, siplified and solid but aged and generic. The odds are against them for any long term success, especially when trying to compete with WoW.
So wouldn't it be a fail then since they couldn't fix the lag issue after how many years? Vanilla? Still lag with better computer systems now? I would say there's a bottleneck some where in their game or servers. Doesn't matter if they provoked players or not almost everyone complained about lag in wintergrasp and now it's lag free because nobody plays it. Now they welcome their new lagfest "open world" pvp.