they have made a metric shit-ton of improvements based on the previous beta. i'm actually quite interested in getting some play time in. provided my wife lets me.
My husband and I rolled on the PvP-RP server because it had the lightest load last beta (and this morning). We're just futzing around on our own for now, haven't settled on what characters we'll keep yet.
well, my shaman from last beta is on wolfsbane, but i'll probably just roll on whatever server doesn't have a queue. i doubt i'll get much time anyways.
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reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
Well I spent about 6hours(!) playing yesterday. I ran a Cleric(Sentinel), Warrior(Champion), Rogue(Blade Dancer), Mage (Elementalist and Pyromancer) thru the starter zone. I also tried out Shaman for a bit, but didn't much care for it.
To me, it feels just like WoW, except much MUCH prettier and less cartoony. Which since those were my big problems with WoW, means I like it. It does have a good level of polish except with the 2h sword animations on the Champion. The axe animation are spot on, but the sword animations look like it's being used 1 handed. The animations on the Mages are awesome. I love the way they spin out the basic spell attack. The animations on the Blade Dancer are borderline being too fast and it's hard to weave in auto attacks between the specials.
Overall, I really am enjoying it and I think that anyone who likes WoW will probably like this game.
So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
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reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
edited December 2010
The animations in this game are awesome. My big turn off in games is usually poor animations, but no chance of that here. I just wish they had more than two attack animations per weapon type, but the animations they do have are outstanding. edit: Though I guess it might be largely race related. I played a human this time whereas in the last event I played an elf and don't seem to remember being terribly impressed by the animations. Then again, last event I was constantly annoyed by all sort of tiny little buggerances and spend most of the time with the feedback tool open so I wasn't really paying attention to the animations.
And the music, oh, the music. When you walk into a Life Rift event and the sort-of-tribal-I-guess music starts, that's just badass.
The combat is a tad boring, though, but still mostly enjoyable.
I can't figure out how to download the beta, I got the key from gamespot at the beginning of december but missed the first beta event. I don't see any option to download anything or any clarification that I'm actually in the beta.
I can't figure out how to download the beta, I got the key from gamespot at the beginning of december but missed the first beta event. I don't see any option to download anything or any clarification that I'm actually in the beta.
You can accept the eula/nda and download via the account management page where you enter your beta key
Different strokes and all that, but if you want to play a generic MMO that a retarded 6 year old can excel at is up to you. It's impossible to die or even get hurt. It runs well, is polished, looks nice but oh-so-boring.
I'm giving it a pass, two beta events have convinced me of that.
Despite being equally unimpressed from what I've seen, I'd have to remark that all those things you've mentioned have worked out just fine for WoW these last few years.
I think it depends on the frame of reference - if someone who generally liked WoW is bashing Rift, I'd argue that they have have some serious cognitive dissonance or fanboyism going on. If someone didn't like WoW, then I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't like Rift either. I liked WoW, got tired of it, and now like Rift because it reminds me of the WoW experience with similar quality, some new features, and a new world to run around in.
Different strokes and all that, but if you want to play a generic MMO that a retarded 6 year old can excel at is up to you. It's impossible to die or even get hurt. It runs well, is polished, looks nice but oh-so-boring.
needs more context to be even remotely useful. I mean, do you usually die or get hurt really badly in the first 20 levels of current generation MMOs on non pvp servers? If the answer is yes, I'm not sure why you're dissing mentally disabled six year olds. Second, just from limited beta experience in Rift, it is pretty clear that the soul system is complicated enough that, at least in some cases, coming up with and then playing efficient builds is not always easy. If the best you can come up with is something a mentally disabled six year old can come up with, I recommend asking basically anyone on PA for help. Quickly.
I think it depends on the frame of reference - if someone who generally liked WoW is bashing Rift, I'd argue that they have have some serious cognitive dissonance or fanboyism going on. If someone didn't like WoW, then I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't like Rift either. I liked WoW, got tired of it, and now like Rift because it reminds me of the WoW experience with similar quality, some new features, and a new world to run around in.
Different strokes and all that, but if you want to play a generic MMO that a retarded 6 year old can excel at is up to you. It's impossible to die or even get hurt. It runs well, is polished, looks nice but oh-so-boring.
needs more context to be even remotely useful. I mean, do you usually die or get hurt really badly in the first 20 levels of current generation MMOs on non pvp servers? If the answer is yes, I'm not sure why you're dissing mentally disabled six year olds. Second, just from limited beta experience in Rift, it is pretty clear that the soul system is complicated enough that, at least in some cases, coming up with and then playing efficient builds is not always easy. If the best you can come up with is something a mentally disabled six year old can come up with, I recommend asking basically anyone on PA for help. Quickly.
Lol. Yeah well, maybe that wasn't entirely fair of me, but its very frustrating for me to try out something that I was anticipating quite a bit and only to find out its very similar to WoW but less fun, and not as hard. Yeah, WoW was harder. And come on, anyone can play this game. It is stupidly easy. I bet none of you who played this beta were not in any danger whatsoever. I could only stomach playing up to level 12, (ten at the first event), it was mind numbingly boring. Sure, the soul ideas are tantalizing and the talent tree looked good, but I will never get an opportunity to see how that plays out. Nor will I get an opportunity to see if coming up with builds is hard. If your game gets good at 20, 30, 40, 50 or level 99, count me out. Fun from the start is what we all should be wanting. Hell, its what we all deserve. If your game doesnt get good until later, then let me start at that later and leave all the boring tutorial crap for those who want it.
Also, how can you say builds are hard? They may look hard, the trees my look interesting, the combinations appear intriguing but none of that is known at this point. The game thus far ends at 20. The last several games coming out have all been significant bombs, all of us should now not be making statements saying things will get better or builds will be challenging. We don't know yet. For the record, I was on a pvp server for the first beta, I picked a random one for the second since pvp isnt in yet. Maybe pvp will be this games saving grace but I will wait til its out and what others have to say about the finished product. Right now I'm not impressed. Oh, and I won't go back to WoW, I was done with that a few years ago. Many of us don't want another, easier version of WoW.
Hehe, glad you appreciated the humor. I must admit that the first couple levels of basically any level-based MMO are going to be boring to people who've played a bunch of MMOs, and Rift isn't any different, but the story and novelty got me through it. I'm also pretty much OK with a quest and/or dungeon grind (rifts would fall into the latter category), as long as I have decent story stuff to read and new places to see as I power through it. I can definitely see how you'd be bored if you didn't enjoy that stuff or get the same things out of it as I did in this case.
Also, how can you say builds are hard? They may look hard, the trees my look interesting, the combinations appear intriguing but none of that is known at this point.
I could say that it is due to my amazing powers of theorycrafting and mental simulation, but that would be a lie. It's probably mostly optimism with a hint of math - there are just so many possible builds (and skills too if you add them up) that there doesn't seem to be any obvious way to set them up and use them, at least initially. But I agree that we can't assume anything about the higher levels/endgame yet because that isn't what we're seeing in the beta.
I think it's very difficult to say any MMO is challenging in the early levels. The days of EverQuest, where you were constantly in danger at level one are never coming back. It's all about how difficult the game is towards the end now.
While I would love a game that brings back the same sense of danger and excitement of the old EQ days, as long as it looks pretty, and it set in a very interesting world, that's all I need to be compelled to play it at this point. I'm also hoping that RIFT will have a much more mature community than other MMOs out on the market right now.
I also wouldn't mind this game to be highly saturated in magic. Nothing is more irritating in WoW, for example, where quest givers have a magic trinket for everything.
My experiences during the beta were mostly positive. The actual world is is interesting with a bit of a different theme from generic fantasy. Even though the storyline follows the 'super powered semi-immortals go after the big evil guy' cliche, there was obviously effort put into fleshing out the setting and trying to create at least some level of 'role-playing' immersion. The two factions definitely have disparate ideologies which creates some tension, though the separation of communication comes off a bit forced.
From a gameplay perspective, Rift is definitely cut out of the WoW/WAR mold but done with a high level of polish, more so than I've seen from any day one MMO (And I tend to at least try most of them). The animations are fluid, responsive, and interesting to watch. The user interface is well created, with an emphasis on functionality as opposed to cluttering your screen with stylish accents (This is important because the developers are being very cautious about the level of modding they plan on allowing.).
If you're looking for something with groundbreaking gameplay and a new take on the genre you will not be interested in this game.
Class customization is the main selling point of Rift, and that part is extremely promising. Each class has a standard skill tree, with 31 points allowing you to reach the highest talent (But not max out the class). Additionally there is a root tree on the bottom of your skill tree: as you spend points in a class tree you automatically unlock additional active abilities based on the number of points you've spent. This is where the tension in customization comes: with only 51 points at max level and each class having a 51 point ability, you will have to make difficult decisions which constructing a build. Many players in the beta complained about the limited number of points, but I feel personally that it creates an incredible number of options depending on what you're trying to accomplish.
The individual classes range from interesting/inspired to a few I find very derivative or even boring. I found the Chloromancer (Mage archetype healer), Riftstalker (Rogue archetype tank), Riftblade (Warrior archetype elemental melee), and Justicar (Cleric archetype tank) to be awesome. The Shaman (Cleric archetype melee) was very dull mechanically, while I feel the Assassin, Warlock, Pyromancer, and Paladin were just far too like their wow counterparts for my taste.
Rifts themselves became far more interesting and dynamic as the beta progressed: this shows a willingness to listen to feedback and some dedication to making the game more fun. They're very similar to WAR public quests with more randomness and less of a self-contained story.
My main concerns with the game are mostly about class balance (A real challenge in a game like this that also is planning on having PVP) and the nature of endgame content. I find the available character customization and viable choices to be far superior to similar games (Outside of Champions Online and CoH, which are much different from a gameplay perspective) which is why I plan on playing the game on release.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I didn't get an opportunity to test the group content.
If you have any specific questions, I can try and answer them.
I participated for about an hour, as a low-ish level (15-16) Cleric who stayed near the College. I thought it was awesome, with people forming raid groups on the fly and hollering over chat and HOLY CRAP THAT TREE IS ENORMOUS. Mostly I tossed out heals when I could (and wasn't being feared/turned into a deer) and tried to keep tanks topped up.
But yeah, I had a ton of fun and really enjoyed it. And most importantly, my computer didn't melt from all the people around!
My husband got an exit survey and submitted an appropriately glowing review.
Here's my take on RIFT (at least as of beta 2): Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............................................
It's just another not-as-polished WoW clone. The only differences are the Rift events (think WHO PQ's, but more accessible and less interesting), and the soul system, which essentially boils down to: there are four classes and six talent trees per class; now pick three talent trees. So essentially think of it as 20 different talent tree combos for each of the four classes, but it's still just four classes.
(WoW corollary would be if mage, warlock, and priest were all one class called "Wizard" which could choose three trees from any of the classes, so you could be Fire/Demonology/Discipline, for example. But regardless of your choice, you'd still wear cloth armor and wield daggers, staves, and wands.)
The graphics are alright, but it suffers the same issues that other "realistic" MMO's do: stiff model animations and bland appearances. Combat was fine, but the abilities were kind of dull, at least for the character I was playing (dwarf cleric:shaman/justicar).
Combat was alright; most of the abilities I was using were kind of boring: two instant-cast melee attacks (which did exactly the same thing, only one was lightning and the other was holy), one instant-cast melee dot, and one instant-cast ranged attack. Admittedly, my character was a melee cleric, but still... at level 11 things should be a little more engaging. There was also about a quarter second command delay, though I'm not sure if it was because of server lag or mediocre coding; regardless, it was pretty annoyiing
delroland on
EVE: Online - the most fun you will ever have not playing a game.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
It's just another not-as-polished WoW clone. The only differences are the Rift events (think WHO PQ's, but more accessible and less interesting), and the soul system, which essentially boils down to: there are four classes and six talent trees per class; now pick three talent trees. So essentially think of it as 20 different talent tree combos for each of the four classes, but it's still just four classes.
(WoW corollary would be if mage, warlock, and priest were all one class called "Wizard" which could choose three trees from any of the classes, so you could be Fire/Demonology/Discipline, for example. But regardless of your choice, you'd still wear cloth armor and wield daggers, staves, and wands.)
This is disingenuous. Each class has 18-22 active abilities of their own which you only get access to by spending points within the tree. There are only four archetypes (Which determines your resource mechanics and equippable items) but these archetypes give you no abilities at all. There are also seven classes for each archetype, not six.
It's understandable that you're not interested in the game, but you shouldn't exaggerate things to try and make other people dislike it. There'll be plenty of people who never play it simply because of how similar the mechanics are to WoW.
It's just another not-as-polished WoW clone. The only differences are the Rift events (think WHO PQ's, but more accessible and less interesting), and the soul system, which essentially boils down to: there are four classes and six talent trees per class; now pick three talent trees. So essentially think of it as 20 different talent tree combos for each of the four classes, but it's still just four classes.
(WoW corollary would be if mage, warlock, and priest were all one class called "Wizard" which could choose three trees from any of the classes, so you could be Fire/Demonology/Discipline, for example. But regardless of your choice, you'd still wear cloth armor and wield daggers, staves, and wands.)
This is disingenuous. Each class has 18-22 active abilities of their own which you only get access to by spending points within the tree. There are only four archetypes (Which determines your resource mechanics and equippable items) but these archetypes give you no abilities at all. There are also seven classes for each archetype, not six.
It's understandable that you're not interested in the game, but you shouldn't exaggerate things to try and make other people dislike it. There'll be plenty of people who never play it simply because of how similar the mechanics are to WoW.
More like nine classes per archetype, actually. It might vary a bit by archetype though. While there certainly are WoW comparisons, the one quoted above is entirely inaccurate.
It's more like mixing the WoW Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight, Rogue, Shaman, and three other classes (if you're a warrior), or WoW Rogue, Hunter, Warrior, EQ Bard, and four other classes (if you're a rogue), or WoW Priest, Shaman, Druid, Mage, Warlock, and three other classes (if you're a priest or a mage), in any combination you want. And each class, taken by itself, is a complete class, not just a WoW talent tree.
I participated for about an hour, as a low-ish level (15-16) Cleric who stayed near the College. I thought it was awesome, with people forming raid groups on the fly and hollering over chat and HOLY CRAP THAT TREE IS ENORMOUS. Mostly I tossed out heals when I could (and wasn't being feared/turned into a deer) and tried to keep tanks topped up.
But yeah, I had a ton of fun and really enjoyed it. And most importantly, my computer didn't melt from all the people around!
My husband got an exit survey and submitted an appropriately glowing review.
Thanks! Really glad you enjoyed it. Expect more in B3.
It's just another not-as-polished WoW clone. The only differences are the Rift events (think WHO PQ's, but more accessible and less interesting), and the soul system, which essentially boils down to: there are four classes and six talent trees per class; now pick three talent trees. So essentially think of it as 20 different talent tree combos for each of the four classes, but it's still just four classes.
(WoW corollary would be if mage, warlock, and priest were all one class called "Wizard" which could choose three trees from any of the classes, so you could be Fire/Demonology/Discipline, for example. But regardless of your choice, you'd still wear cloth armor and wield daggers, staves, and wands.)
This is disingenuous. Each class has 18-22 active abilities of their own which you only get access to by spending points within the tree. There are only four archetypes (Which determines your resource mechanics and equippable items) but these archetypes give you no abilities at all. There are also seven classes for each archetype, not six.
It's understandable that you're not interested in the game, but you shouldn't exaggerate things to try and make other people dislike it. There'll be plenty of people who never play it simply because of how similar the mechanics are to WoW.
The four archetypes determine your armor and weapon proficiencies, as well as which list of souls you have to choose from. Also, you're not going to get all 22 abilities from each soul you have equipped, because you don't have enough points to do so. In fact, most of the abilities for any one given class are ONLY accessible if you've spent points in the soul. In the end, you end up with about half the amount of abilities as a comparable WoW character, the only payoff being a bit more added customizability.
I am not "trying to make other people dislike it". I am giving my opinion and feedback to a community of which I am a part so that prospective players can make informed decisions by seeing all viewpoints before they drop $50 on a product they may or may not like.
The abilities are bland and uninspired, the class system advertises ultimate customizability then hamstrings players into spending a majority of their points in one tree, the rifts ("Public Quests") have no plot resonance, model animations are stiff (both PC and NPC)... Nothing about that is disingenuous, but rather honest opinion and feedback-- feedback which I shared when I took the time to fill out the survey after the beta.
I'm sorry if you don't agree with what I have to say, but that doesn't mean you get to just dismiss it out of hand.
delroland on
EVE: Online - the most fun you will ever have not playing a game.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
The four archetypes determine your armor and weapon proficiencies, as well as which list of souls you have to choose from. Also, you're not going to get all 22 abilities from each soul you have equipped, because you don't have enough points to do so. In fact, most of the abilities for any one given class are ONLY accessible if you've spent points in the soul. In the end, you end up with about half the amount of abilities as a comparable WoW character, the only payoff being a bit more added customizability.
.....
I'm sorry if you don't agree with what I have to say, but that doesn't mean you get to just dismiss it out of hand.
I disagree with most of what you're saying, obviously, but most of it is a personal preference sort of thing. I like the visuals, animations, and rift function, especially after what we saw in beta 2, but not everyone will.
The class system complains, I'm more dismissive of, but for what I think are good reasons.
-The archetype chooses which souls you get, true. That still means you get four roles at any one time that you can switch between at any time, and instead of "Rogue" or "Hunter", for example, you get eight or nine different classes that fulfill completely different roles. I wouldn't call this "a bit more customizability".
-The abilities are front-loaded in each class, so if you spread points around you're going to have tons of abilities. I haven't played WoW in years, but it felt similar to what I remember - you have a bunch on your main bar that you use the most and it looked like you'd have another hotbar or two filled up easily with more situational abilities.
-Again, drawing on my WoW days, I don't really get the complaints about boring skills. I mean, it honestly felt pretty similar playing my Rift rogue and my WoW rogue (in a good way, except if I get bored in Rift I can just change to a hunter or bard or tank). And if they let me get beyond level 20 there are some ridiculous skills available in each soul tree.
-I keep saying this for the benefit of people who might try future betas - you really do not want to spend all of your points in one class. Even at low levels it is totally worth it to spread them around. The system encourages this.
Maybe melee clerics just need some more work. I haven't played one, so you could be 100% right about them. But your class comments certainly are not at all applicable to warriors, rogues, and mages, which is a point that I feel is important to make.
The four archetypes determine your armor and weapon proficiencies, as well as which list of souls you have to choose from. Also, you're not going to get all 22 abilities from each soul you have equipped, because you don't have enough points to do so. In fact, most of the abilities for any one given class are ONLY accessible if you've spent points in the soul. In the end, you end up with about half the amount of abilities as a comparable WoW character, the only payoff being a bit more added customizability.
I am not "trying to make other people dislike it". I am giving my opinion and feedback to a community of which I am a part so that prospective players can make informed decisions by seeing all viewpoints before they drop $50 on a product they may or may not like.
The abilities are bland and uninspired, the class system advertises ultimate customizability then hamstrings players into spending a majority of their points in one tree, the rifts ("Public Quests") have no plot resonance, model animations are stiff (both PC and NPC)... Nothing about that is disingenuous, but rather honest opinion and feedback-- feedback which I shared when I took the time to fill out the survey after the beta.
I'm sorry if you don't agree with what I have to say, but that doesn't mean you get to just dismiss it out of hand.
Regardless of how you decide to spend your points, you will end up with 20-28 active abilities. Do you need more than this many abilities? That's almost three hotbars filled with abilities. I'm not sure why this is a complaint for you...what game really gives you hundreds of active abilities to manage? Do you actually regularly use every ability in WoW? Within a wow class, you end up using about half of your 40+ abilities on a regular basis depending on specialization, possibily a few more in pvp situations.
You began your opinion by saying: ZZzzzzzzz. That type of response is immature, uneducated, and insulting. Why would I take anything you have to say as a serious observation when that's how you open your report? Humor may have been your goal, but now you're claiming that was meant to be serious.
If you read my report at all, you'd realize that I addressed which classes had interesting mechanics/abilities and which ones seemed dull and derivative. Surprisingly enough, the class you played as your primary class was BY FAR the worst class that I played. This is another reason I find your statements to be disingenuous: you honestly only tried one class, and looked at two skill trees the entire beta? To me that shows you had little interest in the class customization, but you're making huge statements about it that are simply untrue.
You're absolutely wrong that you're forced to go primarily into one tree in order to build an effective character. It's possible you're just a poor theorycrafter; or you just didn't do much investigating and made an assumption. I saw that assumption a lot while playing, so you're with the masses in that regard (Mostly because people assume the late abilities are more powerful, when they're almost all emergency skills.)
Agreed 100% about the lack of story to rifts (I made this point myself) but you didn't mention it until people called you out on your first statement.
I've never seen the dwarf animations, so they may actually be as you said. I have seen all the other races animations and they were fluid, responsive, and in time with the completion of my abilities.
Your opinion wasn't dismissed out of hand, I dismissed it because what you were saying shows little curiosity/interest and is filled with misinformation and obvious negative bias. You also show little interest in reading other peoples' reports and finding out how they had different experiences than you. You claim it's about giving the community all viewpoints, but do you really feel your viewpoint comes from an open mind?
So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
Same, though mostly because it's so hard to tell if it's 'something new' or 'just another WoW clone' without personal experience, and descriptions of it ranging from 'something awsome and new' to 'another boring WoW clone'.
It's like asking for review scores and one person gives you a 1 and another a 10.
Only way to know jack at this point is to play it yourself I guess. Which is to say I hope they have a good open beta so I can get in plenty of personal testing, because I'm well beyond the day I buy MMOs sight unseen unless they've had lots of success (read: been out a while and not dead) and I get recommendations from friends.
I like WoW. I just want a better lore setting. Maybe something a little more serious.
I think you'll enjoy Rift then. The biggest complaint most people seem to have about it is that it's an MMO and somehow they were expecting something else.
I like WoW. I just want a better lore setting. Maybe something a little more serious.
I think you'll enjoy Rift then. The biggest complaint most people seem to have about it is that it's an MMO and somehow they were expecting something else.
Like I said, story and lore are beginning to become more important to me than actual gameplay mechanics, since all MMOs are so similar now, so I have a feeling I'd fall in love with this game.
Posts
right here.
Also, it's a lot of fun.
Cloud.. thingy. Only got up to 6 or so.
To me, it feels just like WoW, except much MUCH prettier and less cartoony. Which since those were my big problems with WoW, means I like it. It does have a good level of polish except with the 2h sword animations on the Champion. The axe animation are spot on, but the sword animations look like it's being used 1 handed. The animations on the Mages are awesome. I love the way they spin out the basic spell attack. The animations on the Blade Dancer are borderline being too fast and it's hard to weave in auto attacks between the specials.
Overall, I really am enjoying it and I think that anyone who likes WoW will probably like this game.
And the music, oh, the music. When you walk into a Life Rift event and the sort-of-tribal-I-guess music starts, that's just badass.
The combat is a tad boring, though, but still mostly enjoyable.
You can accept the eula/nda and download via the account management page where you enter your beta key
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
Everything else on top of that is just gravy. Very nice gravy though.
I'm giving it a pass, two beta events have convinced me of that.
I guess what I'm really saying is that this:
needs more context to be even remotely useful. I mean, do you usually die or get hurt really badly in the first 20 levels of current generation MMOs on non pvp servers? If the answer is yes, I'm not sure why you're dissing mentally disabled six year olds. Second, just from limited beta experience in Rift, it is pretty clear that the soul system is complicated enough that, at least in some cases, coming up with and then playing efficient builds is not always easy. If the best you can come up with is something a mentally disabled six year old can come up with, I recommend asking basically anyone on PA for help. Quickly.
Lol. Yeah well, maybe that wasn't entirely fair of me, but its very frustrating for me to try out something that I was anticipating quite a bit and only to find out its very similar to WoW but less fun, and not as hard. Yeah, WoW was harder. And come on, anyone can play this game. It is stupidly easy. I bet none of you who played this beta were not in any danger whatsoever. I could only stomach playing up to level 12, (ten at the first event), it was mind numbingly boring. Sure, the soul ideas are tantalizing and the talent tree looked good, but I will never get an opportunity to see how that plays out. Nor will I get an opportunity to see if coming up with builds is hard. If your game gets good at 20, 30, 40, 50 or level 99, count me out. Fun from the start is what we all should be wanting. Hell, its what we all deserve. If your game doesnt get good until later, then let me start at that later and leave all the boring tutorial crap for those who want it.
Also, how can you say builds are hard? They may look hard, the trees my look interesting, the combinations appear intriguing but none of that is known at this point. The game thus far ends at 20. The last several games coming out have all been significant bombs, all of us should now not be making statements saying things will get better or builds will be challenging. We don't know yet. For the record, I was on a pvp server for the first beta, I picked a random one for the second since pvp isnt in yet. Maybe pvp will be this games saving grace but I will wait til its out and what others have to say about the finished product. Right now I'm not impressed. Oh, and I won't go back to WoW, I was done with that a few years ago. Many of us don't want another, easier version of WoW.
I could say that it is due to my amazing powers of theorycrafting and mental simulation, but that would be a lie. It's probably mostly optimism with a hint of math - there are just so many possible builds (and skills too if you add them up) that there doesn't seem to be any obvious way to set them up and use them, at least initially. But I agree that we can't assume anything about the higher levels/endgame yet because that isn't what we're seeing in the beta.
The guardian one wasn't that spectacular to be honest but the defiant one was off the charts.
I'm a timetravelling techno-mage sent back in time to stop the destruction of the world.
While I would love a game that brings back the same sense of danger and excitement of the old EQ days, as long as it looks pretty, and it set in a very interesting world, that's all I need to be compelled to play it at this point. I'm also hoping that RIFT will have a much more mature community than other MMOs out on the market right now.
I also wouldn't mind this game to be highly saturated in magic. Nothing is more irritating in WoW, for example, where quest givers have a magic trinket for everything.
From a gameplay perspective, Rift is definitely cut out of the WoW/WAR mold but done with a high level of polish, more so than I've seen from any day one MMO (And I tend to at least try most of them). The animations are fluid, responsive, and interesting to watch. The user interface is well created, with an emphasis on functionality as opposed to cluttering your screen with stylish accents (This is important because the developers are being very cautious about the level of modding they plan on allowing.).
If you're looking for something with groundbreaking gameplay and a new take on the genre you will not be interested in this game.
Class customization is the main selling point of Rift, and that part is extremely promising. Each class has a standard skill tree, with 31 points allowing you to reach the highest talent (But not max out the class). Additionally there is a root tree on the bottom of your skill tree: as you spend points in a class tree you automatically unlock additional active abilities based on the number of points you've spent. This is where the tension in customization comes: with only 51 points at max level and each class having a 51 point ability, you will have to make difficult decisions which constructing a build. Many players in the beta complained about the limited number of points, but I feel personally that it creates an incredible number of options depending on what you're trying to accomplish.
The individual classes range from interesting/inspired to a few I find very derivative or even boring. I found the Chloromancer (Mage archetype healer), Riftstalker (Rogue archetype tank), Riftblade (Warrior archetype elemental melee), and Justicar (Cleric archetype tank) to be awesome. The Shaman (Cleric archetype melee) was very dull mechanically, while I feel the Assassin, Warlock, Pyromancer, and Paladin were just far too like their wow counterparts for my taste.
Rifts themselves became far more interesting and dynamic as the beta progressed: this shows a willingness to listen to feedback and some dedication to making the game more fun. They're very similar to WAR public quests with more randomness and less of a self-contained story.
My main concerns with the game are mostly about class balance (A real challenge in a game like this that also is planning on having PVP) and the nature of endgame content. I find the available character customization and viable choices to be far superior to similar games (Outside of Champions Online and CoH, which are much different from a gameplay perspective) which is why I plan on playing the game on release.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I didn't get an opportunity to test the group content.
If you have any specific questions, I can try and answer them.
But yeah, I had a ton of fun and really enjoyed it. And most importantly, my computer didn't melt from all the people around!
My husband got an exit survey and submitted an appropriately glowing review.
It's just another not-as-polished WoW clone. The only differences are the Rift events (think WHO PQ's, but more accessible and less interesting), and the soul system, which essentially boils down to: there are four classes and six talent trees per class; now pick three talent trees. So essentially think of it as 20 different talent tree combos for each of the four classes, but it's still just four classes.
(WoW corollary would be if mage, warlock, and priest were all one class called "Wizard" which could choose three trees from any of the classes, so you could be Fire/Demonology/Discipline, for example. But regardless of your choice, you'd still wear cloth armor and wield daggers, staves, and wands.)
The graphics are alright, but it suffers the same issues that other "realistic" MMO's do: stiff model animations and bland appearances. Combat was fine, but the abilities were kind of dull, at least for the character I was playing (dwarf cleric:shaman/justicar).
Combat was alright; most of the abilities I was using were kind of boring: two instant-cast melee attacks (which did exactly the same thing, only one was lightning and the other was holy), one instant-cast melee dot, and one instant-cast ranged attack. Admittedly, my character was a melee cleric, but still... at level 11 things should be a little more engaging. There was also about a quarter second command delay, though I'm not sure if it was because of server lag or mediocre coding; regardless, it was pretty annoyiing
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
This is disingenuous. Each class has 18-22 active abilities of their own which you only get access to by spending points within the tree. There are only four archetypes (Which determines your resource mechanics and equippable items) but these archetypes give you no abilities at all. There are also seven classes for each archetype, not six.
It's understandable that you're not interested in the game, but you shouldn't exaggerate things to try and make other people dislike it. There'll be plenty of people who never play it simply because of how similar the mechanics are to WoW.
More like nine classes per archetype, actually. It might vary a bit by archetype though. While there certainly are WoW comparisons, the one quoted above is entirely inaccurate.
It's more like mixing the WoW Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight, Rogue, Shaman, and three other classes (if you're a warrior), or WoW Rogue, Hunter, Warrior, EQ Bard, and four other classes (if you're a rogue), or WoW Priest, Shaman, Druid, Mage, Warlock, and three other classes (if you're a priest or a mage), in any combination you want. And each class, taken by itself, is a complete class, not just a WoW talent tree.
Thanks! Really glad you enjoyed it.
The four archetypes determine your armor and weapon proficiencies, as well as which list of souls you have to choose from. Also, you're not going to get all 22 abilities from each soul you have equipped, because you don't have enough points to do so. In fact, most of the abilities for any one given class are ONLY accessible if you've spent points in the soul. In the end, you end up with about half the amount of abilities as a comparable WoW character, the only payoff being a bit more added customizability.
I am not "trying to make other people dislike it". I am giving my opinion and feedback to a community of which I am a part so that prospective players can make informed decisions by seeing all viewpoints before they drop $50 on a product they may or may not like.
The abilities are bland and uninspired, the class system advertises ultimate customizability then hamstrings players into spending a majority of their points in one tree, the rifts ("Public Quests") have no plot resonance, model animations are stiff (both PC and NPC)... Nothing about that is disingenuous, but rather honest opinion and feedback-- feedback which I shared when I took the time to fill out the survey after the beta.
I'm sorry if you don't agree with what I have to say, but that doesn't mean you get to just dismiss it out of hand.
"Go up, thou bald head." -2 Kings 2:23
I disagree with most of what you're saying, obviously, but most of it is a personal preference sort of thing. I like the visuals, animations, and rift function, especially after what we saw in beta 2, but not everyone will.
The class system complains, I'm more dismissive of, but for what I think are good reasons.
-The archetype chooses which souls you get, true. That still means you get four roles at any one time that you can switch between at any time, and instead of "Rogue" or "Hunter", for example, you get eight or nine different classes that fulfill completely different roles. I wouldn't call this "a bit more customizability".
-The abilities are front-loaded in each class, so if you spread points around you're going to have tons of abilities. I haven't played WoW in years, but it felt similar to what I remember - you have a bunch on your main bar that you use the most and it looked like you'd have another hotbar or two filled up easily with more situational abilities.
-Again, drawing on my WoW days, I don't really get the complaints about boring skills. I mean, it honestly felt pretty similar playing my Rift rogue and my WoW rogue (in a good way, except if I get bored in Rift I can just change to a hunter or bard or tank). And if they let me get beyond level 20 there are some ridiculous skills available in each soul tree.
-I keep saying this for the benefit of people who might try future betas - you really do not want to spend all of your points in one class. Even at low levels it is totally worth it to spread them around. The system encourages this.
Maybe melee clerics just need some more work. I haven't played one, so you could be 100% right about them. But your class comments certainly are not at all applicable to warriors, rogues, and mages, which is a point that I feel is important to make.
Regardless of how you decide to spend your points, you will end up with 20-28 active abilities. Do you need more than this many abilities? That's almost three hotbars filled with abilities. I'm not sure why this is a complaint for you...what game really gives you hundreds of active abilities to manage? Do you actually regularly use every ability in WoW? Within a wow class, you end up using about half of your 40+ abilities on a regular basis depending on specialization, possibily a few more in pvp situations.
You began your opinion by saying: ZZzzzzzzz. That type of response is immature, uneducated, and insulting. Why would I take anything you have to say as a serious observation when that's how you open your report? Humor may have been your goal, but now you're claiming that was meant to be serious.
If you read my report at all, you'd realize that I addressed which classes had interesting mechanics/abilities and which ones seemed dull and derivative. Surprisingly enough, the class you played as your primary class was BY FAR the worst class that I played. This is another reason I find your statements to be disingenuous: you honestly only tried one class, and looked at two skill trees the entire beta? To me that shows you had little interest in the class customization, but you're making huge statements about it that are simply untrue.
You're absolutely wrong that you're forced to go primarily into one tree in order to build an effective character. It's possible you're just a poor theorycrafter; or you just didn't do much investigating and made an assumption. I saw that assumption a lot while playing, so you're with the masses in that regard (Mostly because people assume the late abilities are more powerful, when they're almost all emergency skills.)
Agreed 100% about the lack of story to rifts (I made this point myself) but you didn't mention it until people called you out on your first statement.
I've never seen the dwarf animations, so they may actually be as you said. I have seen all the other races animations and they were fluid, responsive, and in time with the completion of my abilities.
Your opinion wasn't dismissed out of hand, I dismissed it because what you were saying shows little curiosity/interest and is filled with misinformation and obvious negative bias. You also show little interest in reading other peoples' reports and finding out how they had different experiences than you. You claim it's about giving the community all viewpoints, but do you really feel your viewpoint comes from an open mind?
Anything more than ` to = is too many for me. Maybe F1-F4 for potions and such and then F5-F8 for OMGWTF abilities.
WTB game with fewer abilities please.
It's like asking for review scores and one person gives you a 1 and another a 10.
Only way to know jack at this point is to play it yourself I guess. Which is to say I hope they have a good open beta so I can get in plenty of personal testing, because I'm well beyond the day I buy MMOs sight unseen unless they've had lots of success (read: been out a while and not dead) and I get recommendations from friends.
I like WoW. I just want a better lore setting. Maybe something a little more serious.
I think you'll enjoy Rift then. The biggest complaint most people seem to have about it is that it's an MMO and somehow they were expecting something else.
I want to know more PA people on Twitter.
Like I said, story and lore are beginning to become more important to me than actual gameplay mechanics, since all MMOs are so similar now, so I have a feeling I'd fall in love with this game.