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So I was bored out of my soul, and decided to try RIFT
So I was surfing around the web looking for something to appease the angry 'God' in my stomach for something to do. So desperate was I, on a Friday morning having the day off from work, that I decided to look at RIFT after remembering they had a 1-20 "Unlimited Free" thing going on now.
I hopped on over to their webpage, registered, and downloaded the game.
Logged in, proceeded to make my character/class/name/etc, and loaded into the game for the first time. Two things first struck me after playing for about 30minutes. The first is that It was in fact another generic "Go here, get quest, go there, do quest objectives, return for reward" linear quest systems. I said "Ok, fine...it's the tutorial. Let's at least give it a chance eh?". An hour & half later I wind up in some random "noob" zone after apparently traveling "back in time" to when the device I walked into was first built?
My first issue with this tutorial is that they don't explain what exactly I am. Essentially, they keep calling me an "Ascended", but don't elude to what the hell that actually is? They kept saying how they "brought me back to the world of the living", but didn't say how or why? The first couple minutes of logging into RIFT for the first time you pop out of this large cylindrical machine next to the sound of cheering "Woo, We did it!".
How can I get attached to my character if I'm left in limbo to what I actually am? Did i die in the past, and they brought me RANDOMLY back from a random list of dead people? Am I some sort of demi-god from the past that "Ascended" to another plane? I'm left wondering "The hell" here? The only thing I can figure is that I missed a single sentence somewhere in the tutorial that explained ALL of these questions that somehow I missed?
OK, so I have no idea what the hell is going at this point. Somehow i was previously dead, am supposed to be Telara's "savior", and I've been thrown back to the past of unknown timeframe.....cool.
So I end up wandering around randomly following quest chains, randomly coming across what seem to be "Noob" pre-determined RIFT events that always seem to reset in a stagnant location over and over and over I assume to ease noobs into that experience. The problem here, for me at least, is that this totally kills the ENTIRE idea of the game for me. Why should I care about RIFTs whatsoever if the first impression I'm given is "stagnant, dead, repeating, boring" mess?
/Shakes-Head-Widly, OK! Moving on, so I continue with these horribly boring linear quest chains until about level 16. At this point I'm facerolling absolutely EVERYTHING with my Necromancer. I literally hit 'Tab' -> '1' -> '2' -> '3' and anything I fight dies. ANYTHING, even crap 5 levels above me just....dies. What's the point of changing the color fo their level vs my own to indicate some overly serious tone that "hey, that monster is tough!" when I just press 3-4 kills and the blasted thing falls over like it was a plushy-toy?!!?
Then, the most hilarious realization kicks in. I had completely forgotten about the "Souls" menu and had built up about 14 levels of points built up since I hadn't messed with it since level 2. As i'm clicking through the different abilities in the 'Soul's menu (what I, from an EQ background, consider an Alternate Advancement...or specialization Window) I realize there's essentially nothing that pops out in my head as "Ah, why didn't I have this sooner?! Situation 'X' would have been so much easier!".
I literally had forgotten about the Soul menu because I had no need for it whatsoever. Not to mention not a single ability in that window interested me enough to care about it. For instance, one of them increased the "Base" damage of the spell it was associated with by 20% per point (of 5). I went "hmmm, 20% eh? That's quite a bit", but to my dismay I realized it was a pathetic damage spell that did 9damage per tick (a DOT, obviously). Putting all five points into that Soul skill thing only bumped that spell's damage to 10 per tick. Really?
At the end of the day I ended up at around level 17 and logged out. I spent a total of 7hours player RIFT from 1 to 17, and was bored out of my everliving mind past level 9. I couldn't get attached to my character because the world didn't really matter to me. I couldn't affect anything, and my character's history was completely ripped out from under me during the tutorial so I lost that urge to understand what was going on as soon as I left the tutorial. Not to mention the whole idea of being brought back from the dead/afterlife/another plane of existence/ god-hood(?) to THEN be sent BACK in time to stop some overly Melodramatic evil-doer dimensional Demi-God from consuming the rest of what was left of the world at that given point in time.
Neat idea, poor execution, and even worse gameplay 
. The whole point of the first day in an MMO is meant to draw you in, and give you a "taste" of how the game really is, and unfortunately that "taste" is exactly what I imagined it would be like pre-launch for RIFT 2yrs ago (I believe it's been 2 now, right?).
If this were a Review, I'd probably give RIFT a 5 given it's far more an MMO than SWTOR could ever be, and I gave that a 4 
.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
Comments
last time i played it the game started with a full introduction to what i am. they actually told me everywhere that i am the first of a new test, the ascendend, and was able to use/gather souls and blabla.
it usualy helps to listen to NPCs if you wanna know whats going on ^^
"believe me, mike.. i calculated the odds of this working against the odds that i was doing something incredibly stupid and i did it anyway!"
Right, but wtf is an "Ascended"?! Is that an artificially created soul? Is that someone who was killed ages ago, brought back, and given special abilities?
Seriously, they elude to you having died once before and asking if you want to die again (that boss looking evil doer-guy from the tutorial).
Does that simplistic oneliner of "Oh hey, you're a new test, what we call an 'Ascended'" really give you all the information you need? Honeslty?
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
I bought RIFT on a whim when a friend of mine started playing earlier this year. I absolutely loved it at first, but by mid-level range it started to show the cracks. The PvP is unbalanced and the PvE isn't very fun in general. I managed to get to 50 but had no desire to start gear grinding. I'm sick to death of that style of game.
Over all it's not a terrible theme park, standard "level to cap and then the grind really begins" kind of game, if you're still into that after the market has been saturated from Warcraft for the past 8 years. I've been over it for at least 5, but hey, I still feel RIFT is better quality than Warcraft anyway.
To each their own.
Rift is an amazing game with totally badass lore if you take the time to read the books and talk to the npcs.
The only problem with Rift is how bad it runs. It's engine is almost as bad as EQ2s engine and lags even worse. Unfortunately that is a deal breaker.
My problem is that my first 2D MMO was UO, and my first 3D MMO was EQ. So my standards are hella high for what a game in 2012 should be. Quite simply, seeing a repeat of WoW with better graphics and slightly different PvE does not a good MMO make.
For me at least
.
My only trouble is that Planetside2 is looking worse & worse as I watch videos where the FXAA is cranked to the max so you can't even see any texture detail
!
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
I recently have been playing through the trial after unsubbing around release time. After playing TSW (and I still do), I guess I've retrained my gaming to slow down a bit.
The game is far more enjoyable, at least more so than it was at release. Before, I remember feeling like I was on nothing but a quest grind. It almost has a sandbox quality now as each gameplay session plays out a bit different. Sometimes, I work on crafting and the associated dailies. Sometimes I just wander around, jumping into invasions and rifts as I come across them. Now that I have my mount, I've even jumped into some Instant Adventures. Oh, and then I've also queued up for some dungeon instances as well.
I think Trion was smart to focus on a number of different content pieces for updates. It seems to have really opened up the game quite a bit. I like how the soul system allows me to build my concept character (which is a mage/rogue by combining bard, nightblade and marksman).
Heh, you sat and played a game for 7hours without understanding what you where doing?
The "New player Experience" is far better now than it was at launch. If you read a bit of backstory and what the npc's are telling you then you begin to learn whats going on. Even more so if you roll a guardian char also (you get to see the flipside). However as you journey through the zones you learn more about the world, the backstory and about why you where created - they don't just lay it on you thick just as you start playing.
I think your general analysis is biased and unfair, however it is entirely your opinion. I'm not going into point my point detail however is is how I would have ranked the games.
SWTOR 4/'10, poor combat mechanics, poor gameplay and poor 'wow factor'.
TSW 7/10, poor combat mechanics, interesting skill choice and very interesting quests.
Rift 7/10, fluid gameplayer, poor quest system, interesting lore.
Rift is a game thats specifically targetted at players who want "Same of the old" gameplay that dates to WoW launch, but with some new lore/backstory and a new twist on a few extra features. I also note you made zero mention of invasions/rifts which is the whole centre peice of this game. Sadly given Rifts current state I wouldn't be suprised if you didn't experience any of these which really is what makes Rift, well, Rift.
I don't think many people play Rift for the story although the lore is getting somewhat interesting at least to me. Also it's not like they made up the word ascended the word itself means to be reborn or rise to a new rank. It is basically as if you are becoming a immortal or a super saiyan or superhero. It sounds like you played the defiant side which I am not very familiar with, but the guardian side does a pretty good introduction where you are in the middle of a battle with Regulos.
Also I played it when it came out so it might have been more impressive back then, lol.
I can't stand RIFT, but even I can admit that the beginning experience does give you context to what's going on and isn't difficult to follow. I honestly can't understand that critisim.
This looks like a job for....The Riviera Kid!
OP should stick to writing the word "so" over and over again. Its the only thing that makes sence.....
BTW, 20% increase to dmg to a lvl 50 spell is substantial. Way to fail by complaining about a lvl 1 spell. Try buying your skill ups too. OH SHEET! Did you forget that too?
"So"...
"GW2 is the Methadone to WoWs Heroin."
Incognito
www.incognito-gaming.us
"You're either with us or against us"
Yeah don't try to pay much attention to the lore.
It's...uh, bad.
Sounds a lot like my experience with Aion.
Some extremely crappy fantasy story where I and I alone are the hero, (then who are all the other players??) doing lame ass quests.
I'm wondering, can you explore in Rift? I tried in Aion, (read, walked 100 meters from my quest hub) I was greeted by extremely touch monsters and a player saying "lol, you shouldn't be here" I immediatly uninstalled the game.
*Rift Lure is a bit rusty like my English*
There's 2 type of Ascended: Guardians and Defiant
Guardians Ascended were created/rezzed by the Vigil, a Collective of Gods - each represents the Good of Each Plane, the Dragons the evil of Each plane). The Guardians Died when they faced the evil Mathosian king and were rezzed by the Vigil to Finish the job and Send Reggie(evil Death dragon that I can't recall the full name) back to his home plane.
Once You and Some other Ascended Banish Reggie(in the Guardian Starting zone) , The Vigil Keeps you in some place until you are needed again...After a few years they raise you again to save Telara and kick Defiant butts. The problem here is that if you don't read and don't watch the video after Kicking Reggie and evil king you won't know that it’s been some years since your Heroic victory and getting to Silverwood.
I played mostly as Guardian so my defiant lure is rusty.
Defiants Ascended - They are Artificially made Ascended, The Defiant Founder found a way to get souls from the River of Souls and Bring then to life as Ascended.
The Defiant Start zone is just a possible future, the defiant weren't able to finish the artificial Ascended until it was to late, Reggie on their step and the guardians corrupted. You are the first successful Defiant Ascend (after Asha Catari) and they send you in time to deliver the Artificial Ascended research to the present defiant. Once you arrive in the Presend the future where you came from is no more.
In Rift, Time travel and Alternate Realities are part of the lure.
Sorry for the messy text.
"you are like the world revenge on sarcasm, you know that?"
One of those great lines from The Secret World
Wait that doesn't make sense? Defiant are sent to the PAST of "unknown" time difference, and Guardians are "kept" in a dimension until "Several years later"? In the Defiant's starter area Guardians are essentially causing a ruckus essentially helping Regulos's cause (unknowingly, albeit), but it was in the future that the Defiant was sent to the past because Regulos won?
I don't think RIFT thought their lore out properly
?
Either way, my gripe isn't about the lore, but is primarily about how boring & horribly linear the gamelpay is. Additionally, saying that because I hated "Rift" means I'm not into MMOs anymore is the most laughable thing I've heard in the past 10years
. It has more to do with RIFT being a bad game, from my experience (and expectations from 2yrs ago proven last weekend) than me not being into "MMOs" anymore.
I wonder if Rift can turn it around in the next couple of years or be swamped by other newer MMOs finally breaking away from the themepark-WoW mold? :O
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
RIFT is the last of the Old Gen fantasy mmos., or first of the next which ever you choose. Pre-quest voice over. The turotial Imo is the most story your going to get unless you read and look for it.
That being said imo RIFT is the best of the prevoice over generation WoW excluded yet more challenging with more options for build. Very good battle gounds and the best Wpvp. The trion team imo is the best in the business when it comes to implementing systems and content.
If you can get past the questing, and you love Wpvp and good battle grounds RIFT is a pretty good game with tons of content for a new player.
I can tell just from the tone of your writing that you set out expecting it be a failure. And i'm sorry, but im calling bullshit about you killing mobs 5 levels ahead of you without having assigned any soul points. Please free to upload a video of you doing so. Cus i've leveled 3 characters to 50 including a mage, which i played as necro/warlock and 2 or 3 levels, yea you could generally hose those, but 5, no. So unless they changed the newbie experience drastically in the last 6 months, im calling BS.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
WTS are you smoking? I have a laptop with a 9800m which is essentially an 8800 desktop card. Thats what, 8 generations old? I play it on my laptop at 1920x1200 with all settings at high and average between 20-35 fps. on a 4 year old laptop.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Yeah, it boggles my mind too. Rift is superior in just about every way to WOW. I mean people can try to claim that WOW has more content, which by definition it does. But nobody plays all that old vanilla and BC stuff EVER. You'll never see people in scholomance or in UBRS etc. So, for all intents and purposes its not valid content.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
On a box with a 5970 4GB (2x 5850's), 8GB of ram (1600) and a quad at 4.7ghz I too hit around 30-35 fps with all maxed.
Barely half of what it should be on this system.
It's a pretty game (ignoring the lack of real AA) but let's not kid ourselves, the engine itself isn't helping anything.
I had played Rift the first 4 months or so and then quit, having reached endgame. Tried it today again a few hours, new char, since the first levels are free or so. But, it just didn't catch me. Games like GW2 and SWTOR just spoilt me. No voice over, all bland text, no real story, just go there fetch X of Y.... It's just so outdated gameplay, sorry. And after GW2 beta, being forced to STAND STILL while casting was so no way for me, lol.
Not bad, but not really interesting either.
Also: spooky, the entire 3 or 4 hours I played the channels were ALL silent. I had asked a question once and got an answer, so I know they work, lol. But nobody ever talked. And the huge invasions... horrible. Just me and 2 other doods, we were helplessly overwhelmed with invasions designed for 30 or 40 players. Which was my main fear back then when Rift launch, and alas the fact that invasions don't adapt to player numbers destroys the entire idea. *looks cautiously at GW2*
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Ways WoW is superior to Rift:
Combat. WoWs combat looks and feels better. There is also a LOT more variety in how the classes play, even though Rift has the soul system. Part of Rift's issue here is half the classes use the combo point system and it causes a huge GCD spamfest feel. Not that WoW doesnt suffer this at times as well, but its not as bad as Rift
PVP. This is mainly tied to the combat, but this is also where WoW's class/spec system works better than the soul system (which is much better suited to PvE). Neither game has fantastic PvP though.
Lore/Game World. Yes, WoW had years of lore to draw on. Yes, Rift's lore at times is good if you dig deep. But Telara is overall bland, and the races and people that inhabit it are bland. Describe the non-physical traits of the Bahmi race. How about the Eth?
Leveling content/alt friendly. Theres just more to do, and more places to see. And you say there is no on in UBRS and SCholo? Try leveling an alt and seeing how fast the dungeon finder queue pops up in those level ranges.