So far my idle theorycrafting has me considering either Paladin 32/Warlord 16/Reaver 18, or Paladin 30/Warlord 18/Reaver 18
Definitely want Binding of Atrophy from Reaver, but it's up to what would be more useful between Paladin's 31 point aoe attack+32 point root multiple target shield throw+1 more talent point elsewhere; or both of Warlord's physical and magic party buffs, and their element resistance party buff.
I guess it depends strongly on how effective that 50 to Fire/Earth/Water/Air Resistances is.
Having more aoe threat generators is always nice for a tank, otherwise.
One of the main problems I was having with my Paladin was a lack of snap AoE agro. I had a 15 second CD frontal cone attack, a 1 min CD area attack, and an 8 second CD AoE...but the 8 second one required the enemy to hit someone before it took effect (which made it useless as an opener), the 1 min CD had a really tiny radius (and wasn't always up), and the frontal cone is a really tiny frontal cone. Because of that, I think I'd lean towards picking up the 32 point ability with Paladin's Reprisal as an added bonus as opposed to +50 resists unless the extra resist ends up being vital.
Someone on the Rift forums posted a response from a CS Rep stating that the next beta would be the 21st and not the 25th. Normally I'd ignore that, but the only places quoting the 25th were non Trion and haven't been commented on by anyone official. The same source that pegged it as the 25th also stated that Beta 7 (the week before the Feb 24th Head Start) would also be an entire week of open beta, but, again, nobody official has commented on them and anecdotal evidence pegs them as incorrect.
Doubt my source if you like, but here is the rest of the beta schedule:
“Battle of the Ascends” event five: 1/25-1/27
“Planar War” event six: 2/4-2/7
“Telara the Merciless” event seven: 2/15-2/22
Someone on the Rift forums posted a response from a CS Rep stating that the next beta would be the 21st and not the 25th. Normally I'd ignore that, but the only places quoting the 25th were non Trion and haven't been commented on by anyone official. The same source that pegged it as the 25th also stated that Beta 7 (the week before the Feb 24th Head Start) would also be an entire week of open beta, but, again, nobody official has commented on them and anecdotal evidence pegs them as incorrect.
Doubt my source if you like, but here is the rest of the beta schedule:
“Battle of the Ascends” event five: 1/25-1/27
“Planar War” event six: 2/4-2/7
“Telara the Merciless” event seven: 2/15-2/22
Headstart is Feb 24 - 28.
Well d2d posted this dates last week too and after http://twitter.com/riftgame did confirm the 25-27 date you can count on them.....
Yeah, I was referring to the D2D dates when I said "unconfirmed", and they did get the 25th start date right (just not the end date; it ends on the 28th not the 27th, although that may just be a miscommunication/last minute change). As for 'proper' beta testing, they've had an alpha server up the entire time and are testing changes/content/etc before putting them onto the beta server and we're not sure if they're going to change from closed to open beta for one of the events past 5.
Yeah, I was referring to the D2D dates when I said "unconfirmed", and they did get the 25th start date right (just not the end date; it ends on the 28th not the 27th, although that may just be a miscommunication/last minute change). As for 'proper' beta testing, they've had an alpha server up the entire time and are testing changes/content/etc before putting them onto the beta server and we're not sure if they're going to change from closed to open beta for one of the events past 5.
Well would not be the first time that the extend the beta time.
However the could add a lot more people to the other events, stress testing servers and so on.
I'm just a bit confused on how all of this will work. I mean... I'd make a brand new character right? What level are these events supposed to be for?
Not to mention whatever time it takes to get the client.. unless there's a place to get it prior to the events?
Yeah. However, I'm 99% sure your beta character carries over from event to event. So, when they say the level cap has been raised to 30, that means that your level 27 character from last event just needs 3 levels to hit the 'new' level cap. As for the client, when you're accepted into the beta you check your Trion account, accept some stuff, and then download the beta client usually a day or so before testing starts (although since beta invites are sent out in waves, it could end up being a day earlier or a few hours before the servers go online). I'm 99% sure (again) that once you download the client you just need to patch up your client for each new beta test instead of redownloading it.
I'm just a bit confused on how all of this will work. I mean... I'd make a brand new character right? What level are these events supposed to be for?
Not to mention whatever time it takes to get the client.. unless there's a place to get it prior to the events?
Yeah. However, I'm 99% sure your beta character carries over from event to event. So, when they say the level cap has been raised to 30, that means that your level 27 character from last event just needs 3 levels to hit the 'new' level cap. As for the client, when you're accepted into the beta you check your Trion account, accept some stuff, and then download the beta client usually a day or so before testing starts (although since beta invites are sent out in waves, it could end up being a day earlier or a few hours before the servers go online). I'm 99% sure (again) that once you download the client you just need to patch up your client for each new beta test instead of redownloading it.
Then what if I got a Beta code from a place like TenTonHammer?
Then what if I got a Beta code from a place like TenTonHammer?
I can't find the actual information on TenTonHammer, but if it's a VIP code it means you get into every closed beta. I'm not sure if there are single beta keys or not. Either way, the process is the same to the best of my knowledge. They'll send you an invite, you'll dl, etc.
I have a level 13 rogue that I'm trying to turn into a sniping speedster that will launch death from afar while running away.
But wow it's hard to figure out a nice point distribution between Marksman, Ranger and even deciding upon a third soul.
I know i keep banging on about it. However. Riftstalker gives a 0 point teleport and it only get's more fun from there. If you want a sniping speedster it seems like the perfect third soul for you.
I have honestly never seen so many people on a server in one place at one time in any game.
This includes dalran on a server with queues of 2k+
I love thier server tech, you might get a second of slowdown and then suddenly its massively improved. It feels like they have spare server capacity and when an area reaches unacceptable performance, some of the spare gets allocated.
In all honesty, if the servers were stable during the massive events with over 1k of people participating in the one zone, I think the servers are going to *stay* stable.
I am wary of how launch is going to be since it seems like they haven't tested the servers with any kind of serious population.
I think they're going to hold an open beta closer to launch, and, as pointed out, if they can survive an Invasion without crashing I think their server is fine.
SimpsonsParadox on
0
FiggyFighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered Userregular
Sooo... basically they don't do a proper beta testing? Nothing long-term? Or is this all considered 'open beta' territory by now?
What would you consider a "proper" beta test? Because the industry standard of having 24/7 severs for months at a time is kind of pointless, if you ask me. A fraction of the people playing are actually giving feedback or filing bug reports. The rest are just treating it like a free MMO for the time allotted.
The way they're doing it, they encourage the people accepted to beta to play as much as possible during the event because.. well.. that's their only chance to try it out. As for server stability, there will be a week-long beta event right before head-start, so I'm sure they'll have a chance to work on that, if they haven't been all along (and I'll bet you they have.)
If this is an MMO that launches with actual server stability, it'll be the first
When was the last time you played an MMO at launch? Off the top of my head, AOC and WAR had completely stable launches. There might have been a hiccup or two on specific servers, but overall the launches went well.
Sooo... basically they don't do a proper beta testing? Nothing long-term? Or is this all considered 'open beta' territory by now?
They have been running a 24/7 beta for a few months now and they still refer to it as their alpha. A lot of friends & family and community members in there.
I can't help but think that isn't enough, population-wise. But maybe it is, maybe the way they're doing it is actually getting bugs found. Will admit I mostly just wanted to see what the game was like, though I always report bugs I find in Betas >.>.
I can't help but think that isn't enough, population-wise. But maybe it is, maybe the way they're doing it is actually getting bugs found. Will admit I mostly just wanted to see what the game was like, though I always report bugs I find in Betas >.>.
Having seen the number of players involved in the zone-wide events, I don't see how it couldn't be enough, population-wise. And the alpha must be doing a good job with the bugs since the beta is more polished and bug free than most MMO launches I've participated in. The beta really seems to be a mix of stress testing and PR rather than a normal closed beta focused on bug hunting. Seems to be working just fine.
Ellthiteren on
0
FiggyFighter of the night manChampion of the sunRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
And again, 99% of closed beta players aren't there to hunt and report bugs. A small percent of those might still report the odd bug they find, but they certainly aren't trying to seek them out. That's not an effecient way to beta test your game.
The bugs you'll find just chugging along and enjoying the game they know about. They don't need to pay for servers for hundreds of thousands of players to play the game for free and show them bugs they know about. They need a small group of people who know how to beta test a game--break it, not play it.
Thats just it, the zone-wide events cause thousands of players to be in a zone at once, doing multiple tasks.
Some weird bugs are popping up, and they are getting looked at when you report them.
I had a tell asking for more information on one of the bugs I submitted. They spawned a minor rift, and I showed them how you could kill it in 1 hit, which was obviously broken/unintentional.
And again, 99% of closed beta players aren't there to hunt and report bugs. A small percent of those might still report the odd bug they find, but they certainly aren't trying to seek them out. That's not an effecient way to beta test your game.
The bugs you'll find just chugging along and enjoying the game they know about. They don't need to pay for servers for hundreds of thousands of players to play the game for free and show them bugs they know about. They need a small group of people who know how to beta test a game--break it, not play it.
And again, this is apparently what their alpha is for. Same as any other game's closed beta, they just aren't calling it that.
I liked Chloro/Elem/Dom a lot. Won't top any damage meters but good healing and a ton of utility.
Had zero talent points in Elem but the pet was very useful anyway, good taunter and something to heal with stuff that you can't cast on yourself.
Dom gave mez/mana tap/silence/spell reflect stuff which is all quite nice. Some very annoying stuff in the talent tree. I would AE silence groups of casters in back during PvP and they would look confused as they stood there as it can last quite a bit. Didn't get to the friendly AE buff that spell reflects but it sounds powerful as well.
And chloro can actually be really powerful, upgraded radiant spores alone is pretty crazy in pvp or on bosses (debuff on enemy, 30% for attacker to be healed for 100% of damage they do, and it's an AE spell). Combined with some instant cast heals and AE healing via life damage, it was fun. Survived two rogue ganks and killed him because he wasn't expecting a mage to be able to heal up very fast after their stealth ambush. And had a bit of extra hps from talent that gives endurance based on int.
I was thinking with higher level cap some elem talens would be handy, 10% damage reduction for you and pet, absorb shield, spell crit, and spell crit damage boost. If spell crit stuff works on heals it would be neat but I didn't get around to testing it.
If you played with a group regularly you could replace Elem with whatever but for 0 points the pet is very handy solo/pve.
If I wanted to make a caster what would be some good ideas
I was looking at that character builder and I couldnt really decide what I wanted.
A few combinations that I liked, played a defiant mage to 27.
Elementalist/Stormcaller/Dominator
Very Strong Pets, extra needed dmg from storm with single/aoe, free dom. mez.
Pyromancer/Archon/PvP Soul
You got excellent aoe dmg, more then one way to get out of trouble and save tons of mana.
Chloromancer/Warlock/Dominator
You will never ever run out of mana and can heal through anything in the lvl range.
A few tips:
Mage have no mana probs soloing in pve, however if you do group instances or chain solo elite
or helping out in small rift raids you will go fast OOM.
To prevent this you have a few options.
a.) 6 points Warlock for lifetap err Sacrifice Life: mana.
b.) 6 points Necromancer for Reclaim Power, drains pet hps into mana for your.
c.) 6 points Elementalist for Revitalize. Works only outside of combat, turn charge into mana.
.
.
k.) 10 points in Pyromancer for improved Smoldering Powder, turns charge into a 95% mana reserve for fire dmg.
Other souls like Dominator or Archon offer other ways to regain mana.
So far the necro and warlock method are superior.
The 0 point Transmogrify (mez/sheep) from Dominator is very useful early on.
You need 2500 favor for your pvp soul, if you do ever pvp get it asap!
The pets will get much stronger later on, maybe not so important if you chose chloromancer, however
the greater earth elemental is a tanking beast, special as you can heal him in combat without tricks.
If you like aoe caster, don't overlook the cleric class with the cabalist soul.........
Simple question. In the character builder there are the set of skills at the bottom with numbers on them. I assume you unlock those abilities when you get to that number, but do those numbers correspond to your character level, or the number of points you have spent in that tree?
Simple question. In the character builder there are the set of skills at the bottom with numbers on them. I assume you unlock those abilities when you get to that number, but do those numbers correspond to your character level, or the number of points you have spent in that tree?
This game looks and sounds awesome. Quick question that I haven't found the answer to (probably because I haven't looked very hard yet): purely pve servers, yes? I hope there's no forced pvp bullshit like in Aion, which forced me to stop playing a game that I actually loved.
This absolutely decides if I buy the game or not—if I can't level in peace and get all the goodies (outside of pvp things, of course), then I won't play. Optional battleground pvp and stuff is fine; I'll pvp sometimes when I feel like doing so, not when some random 13-year-old's Rogue named "Evildarkstab" feels like it.
This game looks and sounds awesome. Quick question that I haven't found the answer to (probably because I haven't looked very hard yet): purely pve servers, yes? I hope there's no forced pvp bullshit like in Aion, which forced me to stop playing a game that I actually loved.
This absolutely decides if I buy the game or not—if I can't level in peace and get all the goodies (outside of pvp things, of course), then I won't play. Optional battleground pvp and stuff is fine; I'll pvp sometimes when I feel like doing so, not when some random 13-year-old's Rogue named "Evildarkstab" feels like it.
The server types have been identical to WoW/WAR and other such games with pvp and pve side by side. So unless you choose to play on a pvp server, there's no reason you should have it forced upon you.
I recall reading something about items that would let you open up Rifts within the enemy factions zones, the idea of this is hilarious if multiples can be used at once.
The server types have been identical to WoW/WAR and other such games with pvp and pve side by side. So unless you choose to play on a pvp server, there's no reason you should have it forced upon you.
All my real life friends play on a pvp server in WoW, so it's an enormous strain for me to play with them.
Anyway, yeah, I figured as much, just wanted to make sure. Still such a huge disappointment to me that Aion didn't try to come up with a solution for PVE fanatics with a deep hatred for gankers such as myself and my girlfriend. We loved that game so much. [/cry]
Will see if I can join in on the beta for this somehow; the game seems very, very promising.
And again, 99% of closed beta players aren't there to hunt and report bugs. A small percent of those might still report the odd bug they find, but they certainly aren't trying to seek them out. That's not an effecient way to beta test your game.
The bugs you'll find just chugging along and enjoying the game they know about. They don't need to pay for servers for hundreds of thousands of players to play the game for free and show them bugs they know about. They need a small group of people who know how to beta test a game--break it, not play it.
And again, this is apparently what their alpha is for. Same as any other game's closed beta, they just aren't calling it that.
Rereading my post, I didn't make it very clear, but I was agreeing. My post was in reference to the standard MMO closed beta, not Rift's "unusual" structure of testing.
Rereading my post, I didn't make it very clear, but I was agreeing. My post was in reference to the standard MMO closed beta, not Rift's "unusual" structure of testing.
Posts
One of the main problems I was having with my Paladin was a lack of snap AoE agro. I had a 15 second CD frontal cone attack, a 1 min CD area attack, and an 8 second CD AoE...but the 8 second one required the enemy to hit someone before it took effect (which made it useless as an opener), the 1 min CD had a really tiny radius (and wasn't always up), and the frontal cone is a really tiny frontal cone. Because of that, I think I'd lean towards picking up the 32 point ability with Paladin's Reprisal as an added bonus as opposed to +50 resists unless the extra resist ends up being vital.
Throw shield, use fire damage on next attack, use pally aoe, bam fire damge ticking on all.
Doubt my source if you like, but here is the rest of the beta schedule:
“Battle of the Ascends” event five: 1/25-1/27
“Planar War” event six: 2/4-2/7
“Telara the Merciless” event seven: 2/15-2/22
Headstart is Feb 24 - 28.
Well d2d posted this dates last week too and after http://twitter.com/riftgame did confirm the 25-27 date you can count on them.....
Midweek event. O_o
Well would not be the first time that the extend the beta time.
However the could add a lot more people to the other events, stress testing servers and so on.
Not to mention whatever time it takes to get the client.. unless there's a place to get it prior to the events?
Yeah. However, I'm 99% sure your beta character carries over from event to event. So, when they say the level cap has been raised to 30, that means that your level 27 character from last event just needs 3 levels to hit the 'new' level cap. As for the client, when you're accepted into the beta you check your Trion account, accept some stuff, and then download the beta client usually a day or so before testing starts (although since beta invites are sent out in waves, it could end up being a day earlier or a few hours before the servers go online). I'm 99% sure (again) that once you download the client you just need to patch up your client for each new beta test instead of redownloading it.
Then what if I got a Beta code from a place like TenTonHammer?
I can't find the actual information on TenTonHammer, but if it's a VIP code it means you get into every closed beta. I'm not sure if there are single beta keys or not. Either way, the process is the same to the best of my knowledge. They'll send you an invite, you'll dl, etc.
Or your email, yes.
I know i keep banging on about it. However. Riftstalker gives a 0 point teleport and it only get's more fun from there. If you want a sniping speedster it seems like the perfect third soul for you.
This includes dalran on a server with queues of 2k+
I love thier server tech, you might get a second of slowdown and then suddenly its massively improved. It feels like they have spare server capacity and when an area reaches unacceptable performance, some of the spare gets allocated.
In all honesty, if the servers were stable during the massive events with over 1k of people participating in the one zone, I think the servers are going to *stay* stable.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I think they're going to hold an open beta closer to launch, and, as pointed out, if they can survive an Invasion without crashing I think their server is fine.
What would you consider a "proper" beta test? Because the industry standard of having 24/7 severs for months at a time is kind of pointless, if you ask me. A fraction of the people playing are actually giving feedback or filing bug reports. The rest are just treating it like a free MMO for the time allotted.
The way they're doing it, they encourage the people accepted to beta to play as much as possible during the event because.. well.. that's their only chance to try it out. As for server stability, there will be a week-long beta event right before head-start, so I'm sure they'll have a chance to work on that, if they haven't been all along (and I'll bet you they have.)
When was the last time you played an MMO at launch? Off the top of my head, AOC and WAR had completely stable launches. There might have been a hiccup or two on specific servers, but overall the launches went well.
After launch, that's another story.
They have been running a 24/7 beta for a few months now and they still refer to it as their alpha. A lot of friends & family and community members in there.
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
Having seen the number of players involved in the zone-wide events, I don't see how it couldn't be enough, population-wise. And the alpha must be doing a good job with the bugs since the beta is more polished and bug free than most MMO launches I've participated in. The beta really seems to be a mix of stress testing and PR rather than a normal closed beta focused on bug hunting. Seems to be working just fine.
The bugs you'll find just chugging along and enjoying the game they know about. They don't need to pay for servers for hundreds of thousands of players to play the game for free and show them bugs they know about. They need a small group of people who know how to beta test a game--break it, not play it.
Some weird bugs are popping up, and they are getting looked at when you report them.
I had a tell asking for more information on one of the bugs I submitted. They spawned a minor rift, and I showed them how you could kill it in 1 hit, which was obviously broken/unintentional.
And again, this is apparently what their alpha is for. Same as any other game's closed beta, they just aren't calling it that.
I was looking at that character builder and I couldnt really decide what I wanted.
Steam
Had zero talent points in Elem but the pet was very useful anyway, good taunter and something to heal with stuff that you can't cast on yourself.
Dom gave mez/mana tap/silence/spell reflect stuff which is all quite nice. Some very annoying stuff in the talent tree. I would AE silence groups of casters in back during PvP and they would look confused as they stood there as it can last quite a bit. Didn't get to the friendly AE buff that spell reflects but it sounds powerful as well.
And chloro can actually be really powerful, upgraded radiant spores alone is pretty crazy in pvp or on bosses (debuff on enemy, 30% for attacker to be healed for 100% of damage they do, and it's an AE spell). Combined with some instant cast heals and AE healing via life damage, it was fun. Survived two rogue ganks and killed him because he wasn't expecting a mage to be able to heal up very fast after their stealth ambush. And had a bit of extra hps from talent that gives endurance based on int.
I was thinking with higher level cap some elem talens would be handy, 10% damage reduction for you and pet, absorb shield, spell crit, and spell crit damage boost. If spell crit stuff works on heals it would be neat but I didn't get around to testing it.
If you played with a group regularly you could replace Elem with whatever but for 0 points the pet is very handy solo/pve.
A few combinations that I liked, played a defiant mage to 27.
Elementalist/Stormcaller/Dominator
Very Strong Pets, extra needed dmg from storm with single/aoe, free dom. mez.
Pyromancer/Archon/PvP Soul
You got excellent aoe dmg, more then one way to get out of trouble and save tons of mana.
Chloromancer/Warlock/Dominator
You will never ever run out of mana and can heal through anything in the lvl range.
A few tips:
Mage have no mana probs soloing in pve, however if you do group instances or chain solo elite
or helping out in small rift raids you will go fast OOM.
To prevent this you have a few options.
a.) 6 points Warlock for lifetap err Sacrifice Life: mana.
b.) 6 points Necromancer for Reclaim Power, drains pet hps into mana for your.
c.) 6 points Elementalist for Revitalize. Works only outside of combat, turn charge into mana.
.
.
k.) 10 points in Pyromancer for improved Smoldering Powder, turns charge into a 95% mana reserve for fire dmg.
Other souls like Dominator or Archon offer other ways to regain mana.
So far the necro and warlock method are superior.
The 0 point Transmogrify (mez/sheep) from Dominator is very useful early on.
You need 2500 favor for your pvp soul, if you do ever pvp get it asap!
The pets will get much stronger later on, maybe not so important if you chose chloromancer, however
the greater earth elemental is a tanking beast, special as you can heal him in combat without tricks.
If you like aoe caster, don't overlook the cleric class with the cabalist soul.........
I'll see if I can get in on the next beta event as I got one of the ten ton hammer (I think that is what the site is called) beta keys
Steam
Number of points spent in the tree.
This absolutely decides if I buy the game or not—if I can't level in peace and get all the goodies (outside of pvp things, of course), then I won't play. Optional battleground pvp and stuff is fine; I'll pvp sometimes when I feel like doing so, not when some random 13-year-old's Rogue named "Evildarkstab" feels like it.
The server types have been identical to WoW/WAR and other such games with pvp and pve side by side. So unless you choose to play on a pvp server, there's no reason you should have it forced upon you.
All my real life friends play on a pvp server in WoW, so it's an enormous strain for me to play with them.
Anyway, yeah, I figured as much, just wanted to make sure. Still such a huge disappointment to me that Aion didn't try to come up with a solution for PVE fanatics with a deep hatred for gankers such as myself and my girlfriend. We loved that game so much. [/cry]
Will see if I can join in on the beta for this somehow; the game seems very, very promising.
Also the soul system seems crazy awesome, might need to sign up for a beta somewhere.
Rereading my post, I didn't make it very clear, but I was agreeing. My post was in reference to the standard MMO closed beta, not Rift's "unusual" structure of testing.
Oh, excellent, sorry about that.