I think you forgot one of the key elements of RIFT - Exploration. Its fantastic to get a bit more freedom than in other MMOs. You can actually climb montains - and often its best to not stay on the roads since they are jammed with mobs. Thats ofc how it should be since roads attract ppl and if not guarded properly - the npc bad buys stalk the travelers on them.
Love RIft exploration atm. Artifacts in many harder to get places so you are rewarded.
If rift had similar graphics to lotro and it continues to keep loot for 25man raiders quite unique. Then I would seriously think of switching to Rift. However, I do agree with this list.
There's a few things i really love about this game, and some minor things I hate (Which happens in any game really). The Soul System I love. Being able to go from a soloing juggernaught (Justicar rules!) to a raid-healing saint with just a click of a button is just something all MMOs, except sandboxes, should have from now on.
Zone Invasions/Open Grouping is one of the other things I love. One minute you'll be questing solo, minding your own business, then all of a sudden a great war breaks out over the entire zone and you're in a 40+ man raid (usually more, I've seen well over 100 before) battling enemies of the entire Guardian/Defiant Nation.
That concludes the things I love about the game, there's other things I like about the game, and somethings I hate. There's never going to be a game that you like every single aspect of the game, but they can come close.
Rift just didn't do it for me, I was bored out of my gourd before I grinded my way to level 20. I'm putting this one on the shelf and hope it makes a better impression in a few months time.
Can't quite put my finger on it, I played every game Rift 'borrowed' from up to max level and through end-game content but this game just bores the hell out of me. Mounts seem like they float in slow motion, controls feel clunky and out of sync with character animations but it's probably the combat system I dislike the most right now.
Oh well, so much for this being a 'filler' game until SWTOR...
Rift is excellent,dynamic event,server event,great potential of evolution.....I stopped my wow abo(after 5 years) and few day later many member of my wow guild follow me on Rift!It's very fun. AllonRift, it's whereyou have to be!
I play Rift full time, no other game ATM and I dissagree with most of the article. First its written from a wishfull thinking , short sighted perspective. Most of what is listed they ether still need to tweak [and they are working on it] or are things that they will come to regret. This is just IMO as a Rift player.
1 Open grouping. This is a very very good thing for the Rift events but still in its current state is unbalanced and some people get too much reward and some get too little. You let people go too long with not enough reward for their effort and they soon move on to another game. Every choice should be all about the game's health in the long run. On the positive side they are working on tweaking the system for even more positive experences.
They have stated that no longer will it be you vs the group for rewards, it will now be you vs the rift, and how much effort you put into it. Basically, being there for the full Rift cycle and contributing during each cycle is all you need now, vs the old system of seeing who can spam the most random abilities the quickest. That should definitely help people feeling the way you do.
3. The invasions are wonderful and a great evoluton on the public group type thing we saw in WAR. They a LOT of fun, however currently they override a lot of content when they occur and they occur too often. Its at the point now where you usually have two planes invading heavy questing hubs and not having an invasion going on is much more rare than having them. Its getting to be like a broken record and they are beginning to feel less special because of it. People are getting good at dodging invasions and just going about their questing business rather than getting involved.
Again, the Rifts are "additional." They are added flare for all the people who complained that the only thing to do in WoW was quest and raid, (for PVE content). Now you have the ability to go out and do sporadic random rift events, and the major invasions are still fun especially when you are racing against the clock. I can not believe that anyone would complain because Trion has given us more content. If you do not want to seal rifts, you do not have to, but its a great way to break boredom of questing or grinding, and it also provides nice faction bonuses.
4. Leveling though PVP. Most people are just not doing it , even though the rewards system for it heavily borrows from WoW. This more than anything else smells of part of the game as WoW clone and I wish they would realize that a lot of people left WoW to play a different game not WoW PVP in another skin. I expect to see those that appriciate this moving on at the end of the 6 month bargain sub deal and jumping into the next new game if not sooner. PvP instances are repetitive and while I appriciate the effort to cater to varied play styles even its most staunch supporters are going to be bored after a while because they didnt actually need to try varied content.
Wow PvP is very much liked by millions. Its a system that works. Why would Trion go about it in any other way than a proven system? It's very clear that during design their main interest was PvE, and the best way to satisfy PvP'ers is to give them what they know works. As for being repetitve, well WoW has had the same BG's for years now, and people still que up very regularly, so I don't see people leaving because of that. And for those thinking that players want a real pvp game, well Darkfall, Mortal Online, and Earthrise all launched recently and yet those players are still here and not there. So apparently they really do not want a hardcore pvp game.
5. Mounts at lvl 1. This was just plain stupid sorry. It was a late decision in beta and only benefited gold farmer/sellers as people who didnt have the gifted mount for the CE or didnt like it [its ugly] found them selves with a reason to have more cash than a newbie could muster to buy a mount at level 6 [ when your out of the tutorial and have access to a mail box]. Also people who didnt have a mount are often left behind during rift events while the mounted open group system members ride off to the next target leaving them behind.
The most basic Rift events had mobs at min. level 10. By level 10, I had almost 3 plat. I already had the CE mount, but could have bought one if I needed to. Even if you didnt have the funds, you had more than enough by zone 2. So as far as left behind, that would last for like 8 hrs, then you were in the full swing of things. And mounts did benefit me, and I am not a gold seller, but because I have limited play time, the sooner I can get somewhere the better. I will tell you was just plain stupid, having to run for hours on foot in WoW because I couldn't get a mount until level 20.
To game developers: you can not believe a lot of things that people ask for in beta. There is a reason why you are the professional and they are not. Believing in the original vision and using common sense and seeing the big picture for the health of the game is the best way to go. People often ask for things more as part of a brag fest than honest considerations and many of these same people will not be in your game after a few months if they even bother to sub after launch at all.
Well it would seem that Wow has proven if you give subscribers what they want, you will succeed. Wow has catered to its masses more than any other game, except maybe EVE, and is now a dominate MMO. I would say listen to what the players want, and when enough ask for the same thing, do it, regardless of what you may have thought at one time was right.
My biggest conserne is the same as many have pointed out here. Its Warhammer all over again in so many ways. Questing at high lvl is just horrible - boring and devs have put zero effort into it.
Warhammer was not a sub based quality game. Rift at this point in time is neither and I can not see it making that benchmark any time soon considering that Devs have done very little to fix some of the most glaring issues ingame atm.
They launched amazingly with very few bugs. Nobody has cone that since WoW.
Shayde - SWG (dead) Proud member of the Cabal.
It sounds great, so great in fact, I pitty those who canceled - Some deluded SWG fanboi who pities me. I don't like it when you say things. - A Vanguard fan who does too. 09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
I wish I had read further but I stopped at this point. I think people have been complaining about the same thing for a while and for [b]many[/b] who's first MMO wasn't WOW they have noticed that they cannot stay with a game for a long period of time because they notice to many commonalities with prior games they played. Your comment about them simplifying however is more of an assault on the way gaming is going. If you have been stuck under a rock the last few years you will notice that Social Gaming has been quickly gaining a huge market and the one who has been losing the most is PC games. So I would say part of the simplification is to attract new people the way WOW did (which simplified but kept the core MMO aspects the same). I remember WAR and DAOC with somewhat open groups, I loved having open groups in DAOC and it was one thing that was a problem for me after I played lots of other MMO's is that LFG was so much more cumbersome. But when people have played so many games we are all going to feel this way, somehow.
I am lothia, looking for new games, and friends. To kill a man is to take a life that will never come back.
Mounts = Fluff? Oh, man! You have seriously missed the whole point of playing an RPG. It's not a "mine is bigger than yours" competition, it has to do with immersion. Who cares if everyone has the same ability to get a mount, the point is I am on a mount, and it feels good! If you feel that a mount is useless because everyone can get one, you probably have some serious issues with alot of things in real life too - Get a grip and just play the game... or not...
An interesting read, I can agree with much of what was said in both articles. As for the comments, I really think some are going a bit overboard. Trion did some things right, are they absolutely flawless in execution and cannot use a little tweaking? Absolutely not, but it's not fair to the author to bust them down on their review; when they clearly states that this is an article on opinion either.
The Ascended Soul system is a great way to get around the whole. "You're a Warrior, you will always be a Warrior unless you completely reroll" syndrome that has plagued many games since table top days before MMO's. Yes you're limited down to your basic archtype, but they did a great job of putting a bit of everything into each one. Yes, it's going to be a nightmare to balance in pvp; yes there's going to be FotM running rampant. You're going to have it in any class based system though. You learn to live with it or you go play Quake or Halo style games, where the only difference between characters is the color of their armor and the gun in their hand. As that is the only way you will achieve true balance.
Invasions was another exellent add in. Not only just the rifts, but the invasion patrols, footholds, and events all are a nice touch. They add a bit of dynamic to what would be a very static world. Yes, the 20th time you've done the same level 7 invasion in a row get's old. They could have added a little variety in the content of each level of invasion. Two or three different ones per group would have been nice. So it's not perfect, that's just opportunity to grow and expand. Also you're not obligated to go kill a rift just because it's there. If you're tired of the one rift move on to another or quest for a while.
Leveling via PvP, is always a good idea. Namely it stops twinks from working at all. If you need an example of what happens with twinks, just look at the pvp history of WoW. That's a nightmare in itself. As for the farming your own or friends characters on different accounts. WoW countered that nicely enough by putting a debuff on you making you worthless for a period of time after you'd been killed. Simple matter for Trion to follow the example if it ever was a problem.
Mounts at level one. That is nice if you can afford it so early on or get a collectors account. For those of us that didn't by the CE and have to walk the first 20 levels in order to afford to puchase one well we appreciate the getting it. The arguement that getting one at level one makes it worthless is simply invalid. ((I'll go back to WoW for an example here as it's what many know best.)) This strawman arguement would be like saying 280 flying in WoW is worthless because everyone gets it at 70. So they should either just give it at level 1 or not at all. It's an extreme generalization, that doesn't say anything about the actual issue. Frankly, the people who have it at level 1 either forked out the extra money for the collectors edition, or have a main character that has the cash to spare to buy one. One way or another the mount has been earned by that player. They should get all rights and privledges the game allows them to get with it.
Comments
I think you forgot one of the key elements of RIFT - Exploration. Its fantastic to get a bit more freedom than in other MMOs. You can actually climb montains - and often its best to not stay on the roads since they are jammed with mobs. Thats ofc how it should be since roads attract ppl and if not guarded properly - the npc bad buys stalk the travelers on them.
Love RIft exploration atm. Artifacts in many harder to get places so you are rewarded.
If rift had similar graphics to lotro and it continues to keep loot for 25man raiders quite unique. Then I would seriously think of switching to Rift. However, I do agree with this list.
There's a few things i really love about this game, and some minor things I hate (Which happens in any game really). The Soul System I love. Being able to go from a soloing juggernaught (Justicar rules!) to a raid-healing saint with just a click of a button is just something all MMOs, except sandboxes, should have from now on.
Zone Invasions/Open Grouping is one of the other things I love. One minute you'll be questing solo, minding your own business, then all of a sudden a great war breaks out over the entire zone and you're in a 40+ man raid (usually more, I've seen well over 100 before) battling enemies of the entire Guardian/Defiant Nation.
That concludes the things I love about the game, there's other things I like about the game, and somethings I hate. There's never going to be a game that you like every single aspect of the game, but they can come close.
Rift just didn't do it for me, I was bored out of my gourd before I grinded my way to level 20. I'm putting this one on the shelf and hope it makes a better impression in a few months time.
Can't quite put my finger on it, I played every game Rift 'borrowed' from up to max level and through end-game content but this game just bores the hell out of me. Mounts seem like they float in slow motion, controls feel clunky and out of sync with character animations but it's probably the combat system I dislike the most right now.
Oh well, so much for this being a 'filler' game until SWTOR...
filler game lol
"The world's still the same - there's just less in it."
HELLO WARHAMMER ONLINE REMAKE.
I was intrigued that you would be able to mix and match classes which turns out that it was hinted that is what you can do but you can not.
The game is so similiar to warhammer that I actually said "hmm this reminds me of another game I played.???" TADA!!!
I am so disappointed that things that were hinted turned out to be false. I quit this game and I wish I had not bought it. I am so disappointed.
Rift is excellent,dynamic event,server event,great potential of evolution.....I stopped my wow abo(after 5 years) and few day later many member of my wow guild follow me on Rift!It's very fun. All on Rift, it's where you have to be!
My biggest conserne is the same as many have pointed out here. Its Warhammer all over again in so many ways. Questing at high lvl is just horrible - boring and devs have put zero effort into it.
Warhammer was not a sub based quality game. Rift at this point in time is neither and I can not see it making that benchmark any time soon considering that Devs have done very little to fix some of the most glaring issues ingame atm.
They launched amazingly with very few bugs. Nobody has cone that since WoW.
Shayde - SWG (dead)
Proud member of the Cabal.
It sounds great, so great in fact, I pitty those who canceled
I don't like it when you say things. - A Vanguard fan who does too.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
I wish I had read further but I stopped at this point. I think people have been complaining about the same thing for a while and for [b]many[/b] who's first MMO wasn't WOW they have noticed that they cannot stay with a game for a long period of time because they notice to many commonalities with prior games they played. Your comment about them simplifying however is more of an assault on the way gaming is going. If you have been stuck under a rock the last few years you will notice that Social Gaming has been quickly gaining a huge market and the one who has been losing the most is PC games. So I would say part of the simplification is to attract new people the way WOW did (which simplified but kept the core MMO aspects the same). I remember WAR and DAOC with somewhat open groups, I loved having open groups in DAOC and it was one thing that was a problem for me after I played lots of other MMO's is that LFG was so much more cumbersome. But when people have played so many games we are all going to feel this way, somehow.
I am lothia, looking for new games, and friends.
To kill a man is to take a life that will never come back.
invasion and leveling through pvp is not new.
invasion will get old fast.
the battleground is boring.
enough say.
Which FF Character Are You?
Mounts = Fluff? Oh, man! You have seriously missed the whole point of playing an RPG. It's not a "mine is bigger than yours" competition, it has to do with immersion. Who cares if everyone has the same ability to get a mount, the point is I am on a mount, and it feels good! If you feel that a mount is useless because everyone can get one, you probably have some serious issues with alot of things in real life too - Get a grip and just play the game... or not...
An interesting read, I can agree with much of what was said in both articles. As for the comments, I really think some are going a bit overboard. Trion did some things right, are they absolutely flawless in execution and cannot use a little tweaking? Absolutely not, but it's not fair to the author to bust them down on their review; when they clearly states that this is an article on opinion either.
The Ascended Soul system is a great way to get around the whole. "You're a Warrior, you will always be a Warrior unless you completely reroll" syndrome that has plagued many games since table top days before MMO's. Yes you're limited down to your basic archtype, but they did a great job of putting a bit of everything into each one. Yes, it's going to be a nightmare to balance in pvp; yes there's going to be FotM running rampant. You're going to have it in any class based system though. You learn to live with it or you go play Quake or Halo style games, where the only difference between characters is the color of their armor and the gun in their hand. As that is the only way you will achieve true balance.
Invasions was another exellent add in. Not only just the rifts, but the invasion patrols, footholds, and events all are a nice touch. They add a bit of dynamic to what would be a very static world. Yes, the 20th time you've done the same level 7 invasion in a row get's old. They could have added a little variety in the content of each level of invasion. Two or three different ones per group would have been nice. So it's not perfect, that's just opportunity to grow and expand. Also you're not obligated to go kill a rift just because it's there. If you're tired of the one rift move on to another or quest for a while.
Leveling via PvP, is always a good idea. Namely it stops twinks from working at all. If you need an example of what happens with twinks, just look at the pvp history of WoW. That's a nightmare in itself. As for the farming your own or friends characters on different accounts. WoW countered that nicely enough by putting a debuff on you making you worthless for a period of time after you'd been killed. Simple matter for Trion to follow the example if it ever was a problem.
Mounts at level one. That is nice if you can afford it so early on or get a collectors account. For those of us that didn't by the CE and have to walk the first 20 levels in order to afford to puchase one well we appreciate the getting it. The arguement that getting one at level one makes it worthless is simply invalid. ((I'll go back to WoW for an example here as it's what many know best.)) This strawman arguement would be like saying 280 flying in WoW is worthless because everyone gets it at 70. So they should either just give it at level 1 or not at all. It's an extreme generalization, that doesn't say anything about the actual issue. Frankly, the people who have it at level 1 either forked out the extra money for the collectors edition, or have a main character that has the cash to spare to buy one. One way or another the mount has been earned by that player. They should get all rights and privledges the game allows them to get with it.