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How is the PvE in Rift?
I tried the game during the ally weekend, but I couldn't really get into it. I think part of the reason was because I didn't have much time to play. Another reason I didn't get into it right away was that it felt too much like WoW (which I refuse to play ever again) and it has a lot of balance issues to work out. The biggest reason I didn't play it much is that I don't have any friends playing it.
I don't care much for competitive PvP because I want to avoid high-stress games. A little PvP every now and then is fun, but I can't be focused on it too much. So, how is the end-game PvE? Is it the same old raiding that kept people hypnotized in WoW, or did they make it different? Is the leveling experience just a quest-grind, with Rifts and PvP thrown in to keep things entertaining?
Comments
I think, like many other MMORPG fans, you really don't know what you want in an MMORPG; which I guess is part of the reason why so few develppers have stumbled upon a formula that leads to long term success for their games.
You want good PvE content, but you don't want quest grind. Presumably you don't want midless mob grinding. So, what is good PvE for you? Also, it's much easier to develop solid PvE that takes place along a leveling path, than design PvE content for people that are locked at a level cap and have seen all the world there is to see. Given that to be the case, why are you so eager to blast through the level progression to get to end game? What could a game offer as end game content that would satisfy you?
Leveling is a major motivational cookie to reward players as they progress through content. However, many players seem to suggest that they would rather hit the level cap in a week so they can focus on end game. So, what is the motivation for end game? Gear inflation? Then people complain because all end game is is running the same instances over and over again so they can get better gear, which will allow them to tackle another tier of content for even better gear.
It's a catch 22. People want PvE content, but they don't want Quest Grinds or Mob Grinds. They want to reach "End Game" quickly, but then they complain that it just becomes a gear grind. (If your level is capped, your skill set is frozen and you've explored the entire world, what is it that end game is supposed to be about, if not gear grinding)?
Not attacking the OP, but the general sentiment expressed by the OP. The fact that such a large portion of the audience for the genre doesn't know what they really want, nor can they provide any kind of blueprint for what kind of design might make them happy, long term customers, is it really a surprise that game devs can't seem to deliver?
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Well I love rift but I will say that the PvE to max level really sucks. It is the same "Grab quest here, turn it in here, get 3 more quests from that hub go do them come back turn them in again get more quests move to different hub". But endgame PvE is very challenging and rewarding. Every expert dungeon I have tried has had alot of fun boss fights. They are incredibly difficult and we wiped at least 10 times on the last boss of FC.
Derivative and boring? Global cooldown is such fun. If you've played any other MMO, you've played Rift. Also, at least at lower levels walking anywhere is a grind fest due to so many trash mobs in your way. You could use roads, but they wind waaaayy out of your way and constantly have invasions trolololing along them.
Don't expect anything different from Rift other than it's soul system.
I didn't say anything bad about quest-grinding or raiding. I was simply asking what kind of PvE Rift has. I worded my questions to reflect what I had heard Rift is like, so I was asking for confirmation or clarification.
The PvE that I did see was more entertaining than most games. The quests had a decent amount of interaction with the environment instead of being static or simply "kill X critters" quests.
The biggest problem I had with WoW was the disparity between casual and hardcore gaming paces. I am somewhat inbetween, but I couldn't progress at the pace I wanted to when I reached the level cap in WoW. By the time I got to the level cap (vanilla WoW and Burning Crusade expansion) all the hardcore players had moved to the next stage of dungeons and I couldn't find groups to do the dungeons I was ready for. There was no reason for the hardcore players to go back to the previous dungeons to help me. In the meantime, the casual players were still leveling up. If I do play Rift, I don't want to have that same thing happen, especially given my late start if I would start now.
PvE Endgame is great. Go pick the game back up and level up to 50... The questing is no worse than any other game and I actually found it more appealing than WoW's. People complain about the questing simply because they don't want to do it. Questing isn't the only way to level, there's Dungeons, Warfronts, and Rifts all of which will appeal to someone.
I actually find it funny that people will bash the game about it's questing when it's no worse than the game they're currently playing... the only difference is that they've already leveled on their previous game.
You get a lot of WoW guys coming here and complaining about the questing. They forget the fact that WoW's questing isn't any easier because they're already 85, only have to level a little bit for each expansion, and are more willing to bite their tongue and level a new character because they've already comitted to the game. They're able to switch back to their mains when they get tired of leveling so they can continue playing the game while gradually leveling an alt.