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Good Beginnings and Bad Starting
Talon_Actual
Member Posts: 28
I know we are all frothing at the bit for the next thing - the next MMO. And I certainly was ready today to begin RIFT headstart. But as I went through the Guardian starting zone (again - after having done it in Beta), I had to reflect on something. I had noticed this in beta and thought maybe they streamlined the opening to speed people through. I hoped at launch it would be better.
But... did anyone else notice how poor a start to the game the newbie instance provides?
It is rushed, crowded, loud, frantic, and provides identical experiences regardless of your character choices.
There are no separate race starting areas.
There are no separate class quests.
So everyone is doing the same thing, in the same place (albiet instanced with a certain number of other folks- perhaps too many).
Instead of an epic opening that makes you feel like you have a whole world to explore - most MMOs want you start out in a corner, somewhat isolated, and then get the thrill of discovery as you move into the world - this experience is like a hurdle you must get through to get the game.
Disappointing. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the game is better than the starter area makes it seem. Once one gets out there it calms down a little and there is a story of sorts to be told. But it is a bit puzzling why they chose this way. Oh, you can say it thrusts you into the 'war,' but that is ill-advised when we don't really have a connection to the world or character or feel any particular need to defend it. This opening feels low-budget, frankly. LOTRO showed the possibilities of instancing and distinct race & class story arcs. WoW had nicely separated starting areas and class quests. EQ1 made it somewhat awe-inspiring to trek to the other hubs.
As I said, the rest of the game, once one gets beyond the starting instance is better. But there is still a frustrating lack of differentiation. No matter your class or race, if we are the same faction we are going to do most of the same quests and have the same experiences. That doesn't make me feel like an explorer/adventurer/hero.
Maybe it is just me. I want developers to slow down and tell a story and allow my toon to explore in unique ways and develop along a slightly different path. I want to be slowly introduced to the world and the great events i'll have a part in. Like characters in Orlando Furioso or the Arcadia, or whatever - I want to be immersed in a world and swept up in events. Not plunged into chaos and driven down a chute.
Just my two cents while waiting (again) for the server logjam ahead of me to clear.
Comments
I did notice this almost immediatly and it was the major decision for me to not buy the game. The game takes too long to get fun (at least for me) I have other games to play so this one will have to wait till either I'm really bored or something radical changes it.
This is of course my opinion. Some may find the opening to be just fine but for me, it's lacking and trudging through a 15-30 min opener to another area that still is not terribly interesting is well just boring to me. I don't think my opinion will change anyone from playing or buying the game (actually I hope it doesn't) Rift does have its merits but for me they don't equal a purchase.
Yea that 45 minutes it takes to get out of the starting zone is pure Hell.....and to think I might have to do that three more times in the next week just makes me want to quit
Lol at some of the comments here. So, the game might be good enough to play for months or longer, but because the first 45 minutes seems tedious, I'll just quit. Hmmm... 45 minutes outways hundreds of hours of potential fun in the weeks and months ahead?
FWIW, it's also very subjective. I did that 1-6 zone many times in beta, but with the excitement of finally playing live, it flew right by.
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 just the starting zone. Once you die and are reborn or you go back in time, you are still on a linear path with everybody else. It is one of the reasons we are seeing queue problems... it is a bottleneck, a chokepoint, etc.
What took almost no time in beta is taking forever with the head start - not because of changes to XP or the like, but because of the sheer number of people trying to do all the quests. There are multiple groups of 10-15 people trying to tap the same mob in the hopes of looting a quest item.
Besides, the time it takes to do things does not take into account random crashes and having to requeue 2-5 hours or more to get back in...
I miss the MMORPG genre. Will a developer ever make one again?
Explorer: 87%, Killer: 67%, Achiever: 27%, Socializer: 20%
I call bull on that it took me 45 minutes to get to level 7 .....I know I've done it many times before but but today was the fastest time yet ...there wasn't any crashes ....and my queue starting at 212 was less then 40 minutes . So starting from scatch and hitting level 7 took less then 1 1/2 hrs