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Rift: A decend "classic" but not for everyone
Ok, since the NDA seems to be lifted, I wanted to share my beta impressions as well. It seems overall a very mixed bag, and still quite some work to do. However, I can not share the bashing it gets atm from some people.
I was in the beta 2, playing the guardian side. I played as much as possible, tried out 6 different characters, played them at least to level 10, and my max char was lv 18, an Elementalist.
CHARACTERS & CLASSES:
The visual design of the characters seem a bit lacking. Not really ugly, but the proportions seem a bit out of whack. The robes and armou are ok, but then I didn't expect to see some uber loot in those first levels. A gripe I had was the small and very conventional choice of races: Human, Elf & Dwarf is just a bit too little and too conventional for my taste. But then, Rift is a classic Tolkien-esque fantasy setting of traditional sort of fantasy, not the elaborate high fantasy of D&D and WOW. At the start you select only from four standard classes, Mage, Rogue, Warrior and Cleric, but soon with the "souls" you gather you get a really huge selection of classes and combinations. I had only two, I hear at 18 you can make a quest for a third class/soul, but even with 2 the choice was already vast. The only issue atm is, it is very difficult to make the right choice, as the info given about the classes is too minimal. So I guess a lot of people made bad combinations. I tried out several different classes, and the fun I had was VERY different in the various classes. I found tank & healer classes very difficult to play and quite dull. But playing Assasin and Elementalist with my two mains was quite a lot more fun. I guess many who dislike the game just selected the wrong classes for their playstyle, since they play quite different in fluency and speed. Prolly tanks & heals need some more love. Overall the vast number of possible combinations make the biggest strength of the game as compared to limited classes in most other MMOs.
GRAPHICS & WORLD
The world is one of the things where Rift truly shines. It looks vibrant and interesting, and even in mass battles when those huge invasions happened I still had a decend framerate, even with my quite old computer. Many of the effects of magic were quite cool, while some few still need a bit work. Same goes to some animations. We only got one lv 1-20 zone in the world to see, which looked interesting enough. It was some EQ-ish feeling "if you can see it, you can get there". Visually the world reminded me a bit of Vanguard, which for me was a good thing.
QUESTS
I guess the most controversial point. Quests are essentially standard fare. Kill 20 of X, destroy 5 catapults, gather 10 of Y. I agree, they could be more on top of things. It is a rather old fashioned design. Not bad in itself. I think we had no really good classic style fantasy MMO, and Rift felt in some ways like living a lot in the Everquest legacy. It is surely an old fashioned gameplay experience, especially quest-wise. I agree, it could be better, but then: we haven't seen many MMOs who really succeeded to break away from the "fetch 10 of X" forumula and I yet have to see a MMO which really gets beyond that. So bitching about it is half understandable, but half a bit overreaction compared to what we are used to. They key is IMO, the lore. Every NPC has a lot extra to say, there are books and many other sources for lore, which makes what you do more vivid and interesting. But I guess when you skip to read all that and just scroll down to the "what to do" part, you can't blame the game that the quests are dull. I admit the quests could be more interactive and eventful, like some of the cool scripted LOTRO quests. I think Trion needs to work on that mostly.
Another thing: in early gameplay you are not yet involved with the Rifts. Many people just stick to the quests and don't explore or get involved in Rifts for real and that is the more fun part. Rift has lots of things to discover, hidden caves, shinies, stuff like that. The Rifts give a quite dynamic feeling, and when you see some Fire Rift spawns a boss and minions and there is real danger your quest giver town is about to be overrun, it gives some motivation to fight for your realm. How fast that will get old is something I can however hardly predict.
COMBAT & MOBS
My personal biggest gripe was the difficulty or hectic. Any non-dmg centered class takes so long to kill a mob, that with the current super fast respawn rate, the mob practically pops back right behind you. The world is FULL to the brim with mobs, it is almost impossible to navigate without fighting every meter you walk, mobs have high aggro ranges, they roam all around and add the surprise of Rifts spawning mobs wanding all over the map, it makes an experience which is very strenous to experience, I must admit. I am a gamer who loves to look around, to hold a moment an chat a sentence or two or just stand there and look at the landscape. In Rift, thats essentially impossible now, with the high respawn and mob density, and that sort of constant pressure is something I profoundly disliked already about LOTRO. You can solo, but it is more strenous than in most other MMOs, with the current difficulty setting.
OVERALL
Rift needs some serious polishing. Technically it is very smooth already, runs well and has very few bugs or crashes for this beta phase, yet several months before release. But there IS a certain lack of motivation, and the world is "war everywhere". There are always everywhere mobs running, people fighting, war going on, and that is a TAD too hectic to evoke some more serene and calm moments, which every fantasy game just needs. It is a bit like with Warhammer or Tabula Rasa, whose endless hectic of "war everywhere" used to wear me out after some time. Rift can, with some polishing and work, be a good fantasy MMO for those Everquest lovers and the like. It surely isn't a flashy modern sort of game and more has traditional gamers as audience. Levelling slows down considerably after level 10, so it is more for the patient and dedicated gamer, a bit more old school than you might expect in 2011. Can be good, but still needs to work out the rough edges.
EDIT: I didn't find Rift like any other current MMO AT ALL. Surely not like WAR, WOW or Aion. Anyone who experienced one of the really large Rift being invasions will know this.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Comments
I played both betas extensively (50+ hours total). I utterly disagree with virtually every single point above - both the good and the bad.
Obviously everything is just opinion and the OP's is as valid as anyone's, but just wanted to point out that the above is not representative of all or majority of beta players. I'll come back at some point and do a point-by-point, don't have time atm.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Everquest lover here. Didn't see much in Rift that reminded me of Everquest actually. It's a blend between WoW/WAR/Aion. Yes, most MMO are loosely based on Everquest in some way. Rift is a standard modern MMO that does most of what it is trying to do right. Good graphics, good gameplay, standard questing. However, Everquest was more about exploring, community, create your own/sense of adventure and *grind mobs at a spot*. Rift is more an on-rail theme park experience. Sometimes finishing a quest you don't even return to the quest giver to complete it but go directly complete it to the next quest hub. It has this : Don't worry honey, I can drive this road my eyes closed feeling you get when driving.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game. It has the good things to please a certain crowd. For once the devs are putting out a ready to release, mostly bugless game. It is something MMO lovers been asking for a while. I wish all the success to this game.
I ended up getting to level 20 on Beta 1 and level 18 on Beta 2. I think it is important to remember that we are only talking 20 levels here, just getting a mount, just tinkering in crafting etc. Anyone could get out of the newbie zone within an hour and up to level 15 majority of quests are "Fed Ex" style. Took me 4 hrs on average to level 15.
The crafting looks above average but didn't have time to get into it much and some of the lower level dungeons were neat.
I am wondering what is to come and my feeling so far is that the game kept my attention span.
This game will definately get WAR 2.0 comments for a reason.
Cleric FTW
This mmo would have been great 5-7 years ago but thats part the problem, this is almost 2011. We should be iinovating and making better things instead of redoing old methods. I actually think Trion's End of Nations(mmorts) will be alot better than this.
I see some validity in this. The game seems good enough to me, given the limited experience of course. But people compare it to what they think SWTOR, GW2 and other MMos will be, and some really over the top expectations. Like a MMO must be no less than the holy grail, or it is trash. In the end, all MMOs will be the same formula, more or less.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I feel the same way. I just can't bring myself to play these types of games anymore. I end up yawning to the point of discomfort and simply log out and uninstall.
Man, this genre is in desperate need of a breath of fresh air.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
If you are looking for a sandbox experience or Vanguard 2.0 or some kind of Everquest 1 reimagined...you will not like it. This isn't because it isn't well done, it's because it isn't that kind of game.
If you've played WoW, Warhammer, Age of Conan, Champions Online, or Star Trek it will feel familiar enough that you'll be able to just start playing. Now that they've gotten the rifts tuned for the amount of people they'll have, there's enough dynamic content that you'll likely enjoy the experience without feeling like you're on just another quest on rails MMO.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
The OP seems to be unhappy with the healers and tanks. Apparently very bad for soloing.
Well, I was testing a 100% sentinel cleric with not a single dps talent point, exclusively healing bonuses, and I was happily soloing about 4 mobs my level at a time. Just my 2 cents.
I thought soloing as a tank was fine. But then again, I'm used to a guardian in lotro so there it is.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
They upped the mob spawn rates because there were so many people trying to do quests (the zone was overloaded)
And every time a developer tries to do something different they are blasted for it.
People claim to want innovation and change but they aren't prepared to embrace it. Players are always seeking the path of least resistance and if a developer tries to deviate from 'what works in other games' it sparks the crusade to brand the game as 'too grindy/unintuitive/time-sink/bland/too-brown/unfriendly/steep-learning-curve/[insert random rant here]' sometimes merely because the game doesn't suit their play-style or they just don't 'get it', but it is easier to paint a game in a negative light rather than adapt to new/different game mechanics.
The masses don't want change, they want instant gratification from something that is familiar to them but they want it to look shiny and new.
You're right in a way Shoju.
Just as long as RIFT devs drop the whole "NEXT GENERATION OF MMO" bullshit they were spewing prior to beta. I'd like to see the game become it's moderate success it's bound to be.
It'll keep the people who are happy with a new coat of paint happy.
I'll wait for innovation.
I agree, it is definitely not 'next-gen', but I had fun with the beta and it will most probably be the smoothest, most polished launch that we have seen in the past few years. So that has to count for something.
If you're using mechanics that's 7 years old, how could it not be polished?
Are we really that deprived in this genre now?
"Oh wow man.. I just collected 5 combo points and executed a finishing click smooth as silk."
But that's a bigger issue that people who want to make money in the genre has to deal with. As an artist and a consumer, I'll just influence it with my wallet by passing on these types of games.
I don't hate RIFT. Just as it stands after playing in beta twice, I'd not play this game for free. Maybe the pvp and some better crafted questing at higher levels can fix this? But it probably won't.
Hmmm. AoC, WAR, APB, Vanguard, FFXIV... do you really have to ask that question?
I think we can all agree that being polished before or at launch is an unicum for an MMORPG, it doesn't happen that often enough to not praise it when it occurs.
Even more, everyone with a little more than superficial knowledge with the MMORPG genre knows that MMO games being released in an unpolished, sometimes even unfinished state is more the rule than the exception from the first MMORPG's onwards.
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."
I didnt see anything classic about Rift.
AoC's system was polished. It just sucked. The other games did what they wanted. If your definition of polish is 'plays exactly like a 7 year old game' then it doesn't need praised. That would encourage more developers to do the same crap.
Look they'll get their 20k subscribers and be happy with it.
I'm not sure why people refer to Rift as classic. I dont think anyone in their right mind would call WoW classic, unless they were a kid and its their first experience with a mmorpg, even then it wouldnt be classic.
Im also sure people wouldnt consider Britney Spears or Symphony and Metallica classical music, unless they havent even heard of Mozart.
Rift by all conventions is a generic theme park game with a couple hooks to get people interested, it is in no way "classic" in its design as it cant really be lumped in with UO or even EQ much less Vanguard.