You probably didn't get high enough yet Bill, but I think Guild Banks is one of the things a lot of people are hoping for soon. The only reason I can think they weren't included is that they may make sharing artifacts too easy. Although then why not just make artifacts Bind on pickup. Still, this is a pretty minor gripe in the scheme of things.
I know a lot of people want to hate Rift, but I've seen people come to our server to troll in the beta, and end up pre-ordering so it looks like Trion is onto something.
It is weird how people keep referring to Rift Invasions as just like WAR's PQ's. Having played both extensively I can say that the Rift mechanic has soooo many potential uses, and is so much more dynamic and open to tweaking based on players on the map.
You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks ~ WC
'...solo combat seems somewhat lackluster...' I think that's a bit generous. I played in Beta for about as long (5-6 hours) and tried to get over the lacklustre (read 'ugly') character models and lack of customisation options only to be completely bored with the combat. You are quite right about the pleasant number of people milling about and the many things to do, just that actually DOING those many things is a chore.
I agree with the commenter who mentioned Guild Wars 2. GW1 has a much better character creator and combat than Rift. It stands to reason GW2 will blow away anything else in the Fantasy department. I'm not saying Rift is 'bad,' just that I wouldn't pay to play it, especially since there are f2p options (with better character creators and combat) such as DDO, LoTRO, and soon GW2.
I generally agree with the review. Bill pointed out that if you are generally tired of the basic MMO formula then you won't be that impressed with Rift. If you are not, then it is a really well done iteration of the MMO formula. I played the last beta for a good while and at the end, I could not put down the $50 to pre- order simply because I knew that by the end of the first month I would not be playing any longer. That being said, I completely agree that Trion's innovation is definitely on the back end of things. No matter how many people were in any given area during Rift events, there was no lag whatsoever.
I think some of you are a bit jaded and some seem not to like the MMO genre at all. Just my opinion
No offense but I'm tired of this accusation. I've played MMO's since Meridian 59 and played RPG's since the days of Wizardry 1 and actually earlier if you count Rogue or Adventure. Basically I've been playing games like this since they invented fire.
I think there is a segment of us who are just tired of the same old tired formula of MMO. Why play the same game again is the feeling I have. Rift would be a GREAT game if it came out several years ago. I mean hell Space Invaders was a great game at one time (yes I remember when it came out). But is Space Invaders a great game now or does it bore you to tears?
I think the MMO's are in a rut right now and Rift is one of the best examples of this. They should have called it Drift instead, as during the beta I drifted right to sleep on my keyboard while playing...
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind" 1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN 2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Sad to say, I don t see the game as some of you do. I don t see much lasting power with this game. I could be wrong, but I m sure we ll see "anyone else bored yet" posts soon.
Soon? Ha, I was reading that during closed beta, and I posted that myself after open beta. But to be fair to the reviewer here he several times stated if you are starting to bore of the EQ/WoW formula then there is probably nothing for you in Rift. I wholeheartedly agree with that. If you have never played an MMO before then Rift might be your cup of tea...
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind" 1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN 2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Perhaps it's worth mentioning that Rift is probably the most linear MMO you'll find, excluding Aion. It's a popular trend in MMOs to no longer provide massive quest hubs, but provide a plethora of small quest locations instead, the next location not opening up prior to having completed the current.
Personally I find this a very disturbing trend and for that reason and that reason only I prefer not to play Rift. While it has copied most of the good things from the best MMOs out there, it's also copied the one thing I cannot possibly accept.
It's a good impression, and I like the "buy it" recommendation icon at the bottom. I just don't want to spend money and then pay a sub for it. I wish they "innovate" payment options. I'll definitely buy it once it's on sale (free trial maybe?).
"I am the harbinger of hope. I am the sword of the righteous. And to all who hear my words, I say this: What you give to this Empire, I shall give back unto you." -Empress Jamyl Sarum I
No you won't. You hate the game with a passion (whatever your reasons) and you wish it goes f2p, as if that means that f2p are by default of inferior quality or less fun.
Its very good to hear that this MMO has a good launch and even better to hear that it has lagfree play when there are many players near. Those rift events sound very interesting too. Too bad that Im one of those players who isnt interested in the fantasy genre atm.
Oh, and I dont like that buy it picture. Its the text that goes with, which is way over the top and I also wonder who its for.
Anyone who takes the time to read the article doesnt need that, and anyone who doesnt take the time to read it might get misinformed by it because the writer himself writes : " I maintain my stance that Rift is a game for people who love the traditional take on MMORPGs and want something new with a mix of innovation and standards to play. It is not a title for those disenfranchised with the old guard, and therefore if you find yourself waiting on a true revolution in how these games are played, I’d suggest you steer clear. "
Okay, Bill, we get it. You like Rift, that much can be gleaned from your past few columns. To me, you come off a bit starry-eyed over the whole thing, lacking critical objectivity. The take-away I'm getting from these sometimes gushing "impressions" is that Rift is "okay", but I'm not getting the sense that it's something people are looking forward to playing for any extended period of time. Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but I always thought that one purpose of a subscription-based MMORPG was a persistent world that people wanted to come back to month after month. I don't get that feeling with Rift.
I know that "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" is a popular admonition from people who become "fans" of something, but people rely on writers for sites like this to step out of themselves a bit and offer a more criitcal analysis for a product that is requiring such an investment in time, money, and emotion.
This is a thoughtful response to a review that seems too generous (particularly with the two thumbs up icon which seems to send a stronger message than the site means to send).
I played in Beta and headstart and will probably play for some time longer until "other" games I'm waiting for come out. But please don't compare Rift to Everquest. The underlying world that the "rift events" are overlaid onto is just too small, flat, and dead to compare to the epic scope that EQ seemed to offer. The starter quests are linear and one seems compelled to exhaust quests before moving on to the next area - there aren't that many quests on offer. And no matter your class or race, you'll be doing the same quests - so having an alt of the same faction would be painful. There isn't much to differentiate your character from another of the same faction aside from your skills. You all have the same story/history.
That said - the class system is streamlined. It isn't all that new (I think of it as GW1's multiclass approach married to WOW's tree system GUI), but it is nicely implemented.
The Rifts are "dynamic" but not persistent - they may "take over" an area for awhile, but then they despawn on their own - so they don't really seem "of the world."
In short see Rift as a diversion for the next few months, an enjoyable change of scenery. But I don't see it as garnering the same long-lived fan base as other MMOs. I think Trion has the MMO part down, but is falling short on the RPG elements that entice players to want to live a chunk of our lives in their world and feel like they are living a unique and epic story.
The Rifts are "dynamic" but not persistent - they may "take over" an area for awhile, but then they despawn on their own - so they don't really seem "of the world."
...
For now noone lets them despawn, they get killed as fast as they appear. Maybe when the population starts getting older.
Btw, yesterday I participated in an invasion in a contested area, where both Guardians and Defiants were competing with each other on who's going to finish the event first (Server was giving progress updates for both sides). I don't know who managed to complete first, I had to leave before that.
A very balanced review, I concur with it. But one thing:
“I can only imagine how this feature will grow and change in the coming months and years, and I sincerely hope other companies try to build upon similar ideas.”
They rarely do, some of the best ideas in MMO’s hardley ever get repeated. Sidekick and partial FPS combat style are but two which have not become mainstream.
Trion haven't innovated. They've stolen or diluted. Nothing in this game is a true innovation of anything that's come before. Even the class system is basically 4 classes with extended AAs.
There is simply nothing innovative about Rift, unless you mean their innovative ability to dilute the MMO as a genre.
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As for the article. If you have only played Rift for 7 hours, you won't know how repetitive "rifts" are. They spawn in the same location each time, they are the same even each time with higher level mobs, after a while you'll figure out that the spawns inside the rifts are all...copies of each other. Dynamic ... just the opposite.
Everquest? What I remember from that game was that it was hard, particulary to solo, the world was vast and the game was very group focused.
Neither WoW or this game is like that so I have no idea where the Everquest formula comes from. The only thing that Rift and Everquest has in common is that both are in Fantasy setting and are Themeparks.
The differences however are plenty and significant. EQ was for hardcore people and leveling to cap took months, even more if you solo. In Rift I heard there are people at cap already, a week after release.
Moreover EQ had a very unforgiving death penalty, corpse running and downtime. Rift has neither of these things. So I ask again, beside themepark and fantasy, what is so common with this game and EQ?
Everquest? What I remember from that game was that it was hard, particulary to solo, the world was vast and the game was very group focused.
Neither WoW or this game is like that so I have no idea where the Everquest formula comes from. The only thing that Rift and Everquest has in common is that both are in Fantasy setting and are Themeparks.
The differences however are plenty and significant. EQ was for hardcore people and leveling to cap took months, even more if you solo. In Rift I heard there are people at cap already, a week after release.
Moreover EQ had a very unforgiving death penalty, corpse running and downtime. Rift has neither of these things. So I ask again, beside themepark and fantasy, what is so common with this game and EQ?
WoW on the other hand...
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You don't understand. It's the stile of playing. You know how people say, this game is WoW clone, that one is WoW clone, when in fact WoW itself is a Everquest clone to some degree. It's just that these MMO's evolved, but in their core, they are all the same
It is still the same rigid class/level system introduced by EQ and there is absolutely nothing new that has not been done before in the genre. Just get tired of silly developers trying to out better Wow with the same exact design. When will they learn.
Nowhere, it seems, can one go without running into the "I want to have sex with a Blizzard dev, regardless of gender, because they're just that awesome" crowd. I've been playing WoW waiting for something decent to come along, but the fact of the matter is WoW has turned from a decent, never was it great, but at least it was decent, game into a stinking pile of dog feces. It really doesn't matter much to me if Rift isn't the perfect MMO....that one's already been done and is never going to be topped anyway. I'll happily walk away from WoW now though and give Trion my money instead. Blizzard's gone from being one of the better game design companies to a bunch of egotistical, money-grubbing asshats who care little for their playerbase or how good a game they make, they just want worship of their amazing design skills, regardless of how stupid or lazy their decisions may be.
As far as people claiming it's a bad game because it's not the most original....guess what? All MMOs steal from each other. That's been the case since WoW came out and started steraling ideas from everyone else. It's the way the industry works. Deal with it.
Personally, I hope Rift becomes the "next big thing" and rapes Blizzard for about 75% of their playerbase. Maybe then Blizzard will remember it's about the players and not stroking their own overblown egos.
Comments
The writer of this article really needs to play some more. Its not as great as he's pretending it is. 6 hours is still the blush of newness.
You probably didn't get high enough yet Bill, but I think Guild Banks is one of the things a lot of people are hoping for soon. The only reason I can think they weren't included is that they may make sharing artifacts too easy. Although then why not just make artifacts Bind on pickup. Still, this is a pretty minor gripe in the scheme of things.
I know a lot of people want to hate Rift, but I've seen people come to our server to troll in the beta, and end up pre-ordering so it looks like Trion is onto something.
It is weird how people keep referring to Rift Invasions as just like WAR's PQ's. Having played both extensively I can say that the Rift mechanic has soooo many potential uses, and is so much more dynamic and open to tweaking based on players on the map.
You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks
~ WC
Bill also played in the Beta testing, and tbh by Beta 6 the number of major changes was quite small. So he has more then 6 hours up his sleeve.
You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks
~ WC
I beta tested Rift. I honestly don't understand the hype, it is way too much like everything else I have played
Rift is more of the same. Prepare to be bored.
- Theguruofreason
All I have to say about Rift is the most fun Ive ever had playing an MMO.
I think some of you are a bit jaded and some seem not to like the MMO genre at all. Just my opinion
Kat
'...solo combat seems somewhat lackluster...' I think that's a bit generous. I played in Beta for about as long (5-6 hours) and tried to get over the lacklustre (read 'ugly') character models and lack of customisation options only to be completely bored with the combat. You are quite right about the pleasant number of people milling about and the many things to do, just that actually DOING those many things is a chore.
I agree with the commenter who mentioned Guild Wars 2. GW1 has a much better character creator and combat than Rift. It stands to reason GW2 will blow away anything else in the Fantasy department. I'm not saying Rift is 'bad,' just that I wouldn't pay to play it, especially since there are f2p options (with better character creators and combat) such as DDO, LoTRO, and soon GW2.
I played alot of hours in the last 4 betas , plus some headstart time. Other then the horrendous queues on my server it has been great.
Very good review
I generally agree with the review. Bill pointed out that if you are generally tired of the basic MMO formula then you won't be that impressed with Rift. If you are not, then it is a really well done iteration of the MMO formula. I played the last beta for a good while and at the end, I could not put down the $50 to pre- order simply because I knew that by the end of the first month I would not be playing any longer. That being said, I completely agree that Trion's innovation is definitely on the back end of things. No matter how many people were in any given area during Rift events, there was no lag whatsoever.
i'll be playing in a year 1/2 when its f2p
No offense but I'm tired of this accusation. I've played MMO's since Meridian 59 and played RPG's since the days of Wizardry 1 and actually earlier if you count Rogue or Adventure. Basically I've been playing games like this since they invented fire.
I think there is a segment of us who are just tired of the same old tired formula of MMO. Why play the same game again is the feeling I have. Rift would be a GREAT game if it came out several years ago. I mean hell Space Invaders was a great game at one time (yes I remember when it came out). But is Space Invaders a great game now or does it bore you to tears?
I think the MMO's are in a rut right now and Rift is one of the best examples of this. They should have called it Drift instead, as during the beta I drifted right to sleep on my keyboard while playing...
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Soon? Ha, I was reading that during closed beta, and I posted that myself after open beta. But to be fair to the reviewer here he several times stated if you are starting to bore of the EQ/WoW formula then there is probably nothing for you in Rift. I wholeheartedly agree with that. If you have never played an MMO before then Rift might be your cup of tea...
GW2 "built from the ground up with microtransactions in mind"
1) Cash->Gems->Gold->Influence->WvWvWBoosts = PAY2WIN
2) Mystic Chests = Crass in-game cash shop advertisements
Not the game for me, but a good writeup.
That style combat just bores me. Most likely due to playing MMOs for about 10 years.
Perhaps it's worth mentioning that Rift is probably the most linear MMO you'll find, excluding Aion. It's a popular trend in MMOs to no longer provide massive quest hubs, but provide a plethora of small quest locations instead, the next location not opening up prior to having completed the current.
Personally I find this a very disturbing trend and for that reason and that reason only I prefer not to play Rift. While it has copied most of the good things from the best MMOs out there, it's also copied the one thing I cannot possibly accept.
It's a good impression, and I like the "buy it" recommendation icon at the bottom. I just don't want to spend money and then pay a sub for it. I wish they "innovate" payment options. I'll definitely buy it once it's on sale (free trial maybe?).
"I am the harbinger of hope. I am the sword of the righteous. And to all who hear my words, I say this: What you give to this Empire, I shall give back unto you."
-Empress Jamyl Sarum I
No you won't. You hate the game with a passion (whatever your reasons) and you wish it goes f2p, as if that means that f2p are by default of inferior quality or less fun.
Its very good to hear that this MMO has a good launch and even better to hear that it has lagfree play when there are many players near. Those rift events sound very interesting too. Too bad that Im one of those players who isnt interested in the fantasy genre atm.
Oh, and I dont like that buy it picture. Its the text that goes with, which is way over the top and I also wonder who its for.
Anyone who takes the time to read the article doesnt need that, and anyone who doesnt take the time to read it might get misinformed by it because the writer himself writes : " I maintain my stance that Rift is a game for people who love the traditional take on MMORPGs and want something new with a mix of innovation and standards to play. It is not a title for those disenfranchised with the old guard, and therefore if you find yourself waiting on a true revolution in how these games are played, I’d suggest you steer clear. "
This is a thoughtful response to a review that seems too generous (particularly with the two thumbs up icon which seems to send a stronger message than the site means to send).
I played in Beta and headstart and will probably play for some time longer until "other" games I'm waiting for come out. But please don't compare Rift to Everquest. The underlying world that the "rift events" are overlaid onto is just too small, flat, and dead to compare to the epic scope that EQ seemed to offer. The starter quests are linear and one seems compelled to exhaust quests before moving on to the next area - there aren't that many quests on offer. And no matter your class or race, you'll be doing the same quests - so having an alt of the same faction would be painful. There isn't much to differentiate your character from another of the same faction aside from your skills. You all have the same story/history.
That said - the class system is streamlined. It isn't all that new (I think of it as GW1's multiclass approach married to WOW's tree system GUI), but it is nicely implemented.
The Rifts are "dynamic" but not persistent - they may "take over" an area for awhile, but then they despawn on their own - so they don't really seem "of the world."
In short see Rift as a diversion for the next few months, an enjoyable change of scenery. But I don't see it as garnering the same long-lived fan base as other MMOs. I think Trion has the MMO part down, but is falling short on the RPG elements that entice players to want to live a chunk of our lives in their world and feel like they are living a unique and epic story.
For now noone lets them despawn, they get killed as fast as they appear. Maybe when the population starts getting older.
Btw, yesterday I participated in an invasion in a contested area, where both Guardians and Defiants were competing with each other on who's going to finish the event first (Server was giving progress updates for both sides). I don't know who managed to complete first, I had to leave before that.
A very balanced review, I concur with it. But one thing:
“I can only imagine how this feature will grow and change in the coming months and years, and I sincerely hope other companies try to build upon similar ideas.”
They rarely do, some of the best ideas in MMO’s hardley ever get repeated. Sidekick and partial FPS combat style are but two which have not become mainstream.
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As for the article. If you have only played Rift for 7 hours, you won't know how repetitive "rifts" are. They spawn in the same location each time, they are the same even each time with higher level mobs, after a while you'll figure out that the spawns inside the rifts are all...copies of each other. Dynamic ... just the opposite.
Bad game and bad article.
"Truth be told, if you’re sick and tired of the Everquest formula, you’re probably not going to find yourself enjoying Rift."
This made me laugh, EQ is nothing like Rift. Not in the slightest. It's like comparing EVE with WoW. Rift is like WoW. Bad bad article.
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You don't understand. It's the stile of playing. You know how people say, this game is WoW clone, that one is WoW clone, when in fact WoW itself is a Everquest clone to some degree. It's just that these MMO's evolved, but in their core, they are all the same
Nowhere, it seems, can one go without running into the "I want to have sex with a Blizzard dev, regardless of gender, because they're just that awesome" crowd. I've been playing WoW waiting for something decent to come along, but the fact of the matter is WoW has turned from a decent, never was it great, but at least it was decent, game into a stinking pile of dog feces. It really doesn't matter much to me if Rift isn't the perfect MMO....that one's already been done and is never going to be topped anyway. I'll happily walk away from WoW now though and give Trion my money instead. Blizzard's gone from being one of the better game design companies to a bunch of egotistical, money-grubbing asshats who care little for their playerbase or how good a game they make, they just want worship of their amazing design skills, regardless of how stupid or lazy their decisions may be.
As far as people claiming it's a bad game because it's not the most original....guess what? All MMOs steal from each other. That's been the case since WoW came out and started steraling ideas from everyone else. It's the way the industry works. Deal with it.
Personally, I hope Rift becomes the "next big thing" and rapes Blizzard for about 75% of their playerbase. Maybe then Blizzard will remember it's about the players and not stroking their own overblown egos.
http://camelotmonkey.com/showchars.php?user=arghos