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[Column] Rift: Telaras Unsung Hero Mentoring
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
There are a lot of great features in Rift, many of them well-known such as the new three-faction PvP. But some great ones are often overlooked. In today's Tripping the Rift, we take a look at the mentoring system. Check it out!
Rift is one of the few MMOs in recent memory that truly delivers content on a pace that’s deserving of its subscription fee. I’ve been subbed to Rift since its launch, even if I rarely get the chance to play, just because I personally believe in the game and the devs’ ability to churn out quality frequent updates. But the unsung hero of their most recent Conquest patch is undoubtedly the “Mentoring” system. It’s not a new feature to MMORPGs, but it’s one that’s sorely overlooked by recent launches. Let my cohorts and I explain why we think Rift did it right.
Read more of the MMORPG.com staff thoughts in Tripping the Rift: Telara’s Unsung Hero – Mentoring.
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Comments
I wasn't aware it was handled where you still reaped the rewards. I can see why the game has succeeded as a subscription based mmo. I think it would do better as a f2p hybrid title, but the fact that it maintains a subscription model and has a nice flow of content is most impressive. I look forward to their partnership with SyFy. I must admit that I have more faith in their part than the part of SyFy.
It takes one to know one.
This have been a good conversation
I agree. That's really the only reason I unsubscribed and stopped playing, was that I'd gone as far was I could without having to find a raiding guild and raiding, which is not something that I enjoy anymore. These developers have to realize, that there are a lot of players who would rather not get involved with "raid" content at the end game. My hope is that by the time I cycle my way through my current games, to a similar point, RIFT will have enough new non-raid content and features to engage me for another 18 months of gameplay.
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Not so much a comment towards Rift, but I couldn't agree more. I do enjoy running raids. But I prefer content that caters to smaller groups of players and doesn't require me to sit around and wait. Anything that requires significant organization and planning shouldn't be the primary offering.
In FF14, the leveling process is very much that. Kind of bland, but there are options. The end game is all raids/instances.
WoW is the wrong game to call out here, because they made it so anyone can experience the raids. Having the easy mode raids for people that dont have the time or dont want to deal with raid schedules is actually a pretty cool move, its the people that make the raid finder system crappy.
I do have some major issues with Suzie's take though:
"Trion has been very assertive about adding new content since Rift’s launch so the mentoring system is a terrific way to revisit low level zones and see what’s new.
I have to give props to Trion for spectacular innovation on the mentoring system and for giving other developers something better to shoot for."
Revisit low zones and see whats new? Outside of IA, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Sure you might go try the IA in the low level zones once, but after you spend a few inutes doing it it loses its appeal. Trion has done next to nothing for low/mid level content. Astraeis is right.
Now mentoring is great for playing with lower level friends and newbies. But "spectacular innovation?" Come on, EQ2 did the same thing where you could mentor down and earn exp and AAs as well. Good addition to the game? Absolutely. Innovative? Not remotely.
i wish the game was more greyed out! like straight up grey! armor style is the only way to go!
There is no question Rift has had a major decline in subs, and a lot of people are in denial about it. Its not in any danger remotely of 'dying' either, but unless Storm Legion reverses the 16 month downward trend they are definitely going to have to augment their revenue somehow if they want to keep the patch pace up.
Of course, pretty much every game has gone downhill in that same time frame. I don't know of a single game, besides maybe EvE, that hasnt lost a good chunk of its player base in the last 18 months. Hell for all the talk about WoW losing subs, its probably lost the lowest % of any game (again maybe besides EvE).
One thing about Rift...its the only game I can think of that has so many short term subscribers. MMORPGs tend to have long term retention power. People play the game for years without getting bored. Rift has so many people that say they love the game, but arent actively subbed this short into the games life span. And this was happening long before GW2 or even SWTOR, so its not like its a competition thing. Its a game issue.
its a genre issue*
all new mmo's seem to have very low retentions.
Clicky for Rift trial
Thats because all new MMOs lack the virtual world feel of games like EQ or even WoW. Its a game issue thats become widespread across the genre, but its still a game issue.
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