RIFT's biggest blunders...

[Window]

The first river of souls event friend missed it by sleeping in slightly lucky they gave people credit at the later point
the riftwarrior buff to 2 shot everyone really screwed pvp 40 queues were just non existent trion are a awesome company but pvp balance is complelty out the window

[Pua]

I suppose that in the book MMO Launching 101, there should be the following entry...

"When rewarding those who pre-ordered with a headstart/prelaunch, ignore the people bitching about queues."

I often wonder how many servers is "enough". It can't be easy to tell. Perhaps err on the side of caution by launching with too many, but with a six-month plan to get dead/dying servers merged up for free, and as seamlessly as possible for the players. The kicker here is to state that intention from the off to avoid the somewhat embarrassing situation BioWare ended up with after their post-launch video saying how wonderfully SW:TOR was doing.

Reams of dead servers are no good, and even WoW should be looking at wrapping a few up. Alas, that would be akin to admitting that the game is in decline so "precious resources" are spent on stupid ideas like cross-realm zones instead.

A stable player-base and new expansion means Rift is doing just fine. I'm looking forward to it.

[Acquiesce of Telara]

While I do believe there were too many shards upon release, it's easy to forget how many times since the server capacities have been buffed and optimizations made, negating the need for a number of shards. If they were in place when Rift released, some of the realm bloat could have been avoided. That Trion didn't have them already suggests they either didn't have the know-how yet, or were THAT worried about pop overflow on release.

They probably could have consolidated/free-transferred sooner, but of the posts I read here on MMO-Champ, I don't remember reading of anyone having quit because their shard died.

[russykh]

Honestly can't say that they have made any blunders tbh. A lot of stuff tried that wasn't as successful or popular as they hoped, which they've learnt from, but nothing I would consider a blunder.

That security error that happened right at the start of the game which resulted in a tonne of people being hacked without the hacker having to keylog them, or even know their login name, that was discovered by a player was a pretty big blunder.

[Tarien]

That security error that happened right at the start of the game which resulted in a tonne of people being hacked without the hacker having to keylog them, or even know their login name, that was discovered by a player was a pretty big blunder.

Yeah that was probably one, though I feel there is a difference between an inadvertent mistake like this, and a conscious design decision that was in hindsight a mistake, which is what many feel the RoS event was.

[rnbwtrout]

Rift's biggest blunder...?

going with a $15 sub price and competing with the big guy head to head.

now if they'd gone with a $10 sub price, they'd have a bigger edge. i know one of the reasons i unsubbed was: "$15 to do the same stuff in Rift...nah, ill just keep doing it in that other game." when it coulda been: "hmmmm i can do the same stuff in Rift but for only $10...sign me up!"

[willowe]

The River of Tears Event.

"Ohhai I know yous all are 50s, but we're laggin' too much in Stillmoor with you all huddled ontop of a tower in the middle of some weird Telaran Orgy, but we need you to spread out to the lowbie zones. I know you won't get your phat 50 epics, you'll get your weak 35 epics (i went to Scarwood Reach), but we'll give you a loot bag. Don't worry, the bag itself is the most useful part of the loot bag. Thanks."

[DeltrusDisc]

Rift's biggest blunder...?

going with a $15 sub price and competing with the big guy head to head.

now if they'd gone with a $10 sub price, they'd have a bigger edge. i know one of the reasons i unsubbed was: "$15 to do the same stuff in Rift...nah, ill just keep doing it in that other game." when it coulda been: "hmmmm i can do the same stuff in Rift but for only $10...sign me up!"

Many of us are paying $10 a month or even less, thanks to Rift's superior multi-month savings.

Consider that.

[Azuri]

He can't come in here and talk shit without giving some perspective here. A good moderator would recognize this thread for what it is. This is pure troll baiting. He knows he say whatever the hell he wants about Rift and I cannot say shit about any other game.

SO MY POINT stands. I can name more mistakes TOR made in the first week then Rift did in the first 5 months.

If you have an issue with moderators feel free to send a PM to any of the admin's. Discussing moderation is against the rules and so is calling people out as trolls, report and move on. In this case the OP was not trolling as his post below yours indicates.

[Lathais]

Not enough marketing and poor marketing in some cases. Their newest campaign based on showing they listen to their customers is cool and I like it, but I've not seen it anywhere other than here, in a forum mostly inhabited by people who already play the game or at least have some interest. The original campaign, "not in Azeroth anymore" actually turned me off the game more than anything else. At the time, I played WoW, and liked it, well, at least the people I played with. Going and "bashing" the thing I loked was a big turn-off for me. Though now that I am really into Rift I understand it. You see them talk about things like service and you see GMs communicating with players in open chat channels in game, but only if you already play or are already following the game. Until I actually started playing Rift, I knew nothing about it. I talk to other gamers, who play WoW/Eve/SWTOR or at least have in the past and tell them I play Rift now and they go, "What's that?" Lack of marketing is their biggest blunder IMO.

[DeltrusDisc]

Not enough marketing and poor marketing in some cases. Their newest campaign based on showing they listen to their customers is cool and I like it, but I've not seen it anywhere other than here, in a forum mostly inhabited by people who already play the game or at least have some interest. The original campaign, "not in Azeroth anymore" actually turned me off the game more than anything else. At the time, I played WoW, and liked it, well, at least the people I played with. Going and "bashing" the thing I loked was a big turn-off for me. Though now that I am really into Rift I understand it. You see them talk about things like service and you see GMs communicating with players in open chat channels in game, but only if you already play or are already following the game. Until I actually started playing Rift, I knew nothing about it. I talk to other gamers, who play WoW/Eve/SWTOR or at least have in the past and tell them I play Rift now and they go, "What's that?" Lack of marketing is their biggest blunder IMO.

Totally agree.

And other gamers might say other than "what's that" they'll say "oh ew that game sucks, why not just play WoW?"

-.- sigh.

[Azuri]

Not enough marketing and poor marketing in some cases. Their newest campaign based on showing they listen to their customers is cool and I like it, but I've not seen it anywhere other than here, in a forum mostly inhabited by people who already play the game or at least have some interest.

This disscussion has come up before. Actually I see their banners on every possible gaming site including and not limited to: Gamebreakertv, MMORPG, IGN, YouTube (thanks to cookie tracking) Massively, Ten Ton Hammer etc etc. I'm by no means a bean counter at Trion but one thing is certain they don't have the budget to plaster TV commercials everywhere like Blizz. Where exactly to they do effective marketing? Word of mouth is starting to get the ball rolling for sure but some insight would be good. I'll leave you with this though:

[Achaman]

only played during beta and the trial and not sure if its changed but the dense packs of enemies were a pain for me where i couldnt pull one enemy without pulling 4 more

[Fencers]

Rift's biggest blunder...?

going with a $15 sub price and competing with the big guy head to head.

now if they'd gone with a $10 sub price, they'd have a bigger edge. i know one of the reasons i unsubbed was: "$15 to do the same stuff in Rift...nah, ill just keep doing it in that other game." when it coulda been: "hmmmm i can do the same stuff in Rift but for only $10...sign me up!"

If $5 is the tipping point considering the quality of service and rapidity of development then one might as well say- "don't have a sub at all".

Attachment to another MMO w/ a sub fee is often due more to establishment than price.

By having a comparable sub fee the idea is one would choose, "Oh this product is better value for my $."

Not, "I just can't do with the price of a single extra sandwich a month!"

Doesn't make sense as a "blunder" or argument. That extra $15/mo should be trivial. If it is not than the price of the product itself is not in question but enjoyment &/or quality of service. Only one of which is subjective, by the way.

[Acquiesce of Telara]

This disscussion has come up before. Actually I see their banners on every possible gaming site including and not limited to: Gamebreakertv, MMORPG, IGN, YouTube (thanks to cookie tracking) Massively, Ten Ton Hammer etc etc. I'm by no means a bean counter at Trion but one thing is certain they don't have the budget to plaster TV commercials everywhere like Blizz. Where exactly to they do effective marketing? Word of mouth is starting to get the ball rolling for sure but some insight would be good. I'll leave you with this though:

And don't forget the awesome weather reports! I managed to see one during a television commercial a long ways back.

[RoninaThorstone]

Many of us are paying $10 a month or even less, thanks to Rift's superior multi-month savings.

Consider that.

I'm not paying anything due to the rift RAF program.

Free game time and meeting new people? Trion knows how to make me play.

---------- Post added 2012-10-16 at 01:56 AM ----------

only played during beta and the trial and not sure if its changed but the dense packs of enemies were a pain for me where i couldnt pull one enemy without pulling 4 more

There's a free trial you could try out. PM me if you want a RAF code.

[Lathais]

This disscussion has come up before. Actually I see their banners on every possible gaming site including and not limited to: Gamebreakertv, MMORPG, IGN, YouTube (thanks to cookie tracking) Massively, Ten Ton Hammer etc etc. I'm by no means a bean counter at Trion but one thing is certain they don't have the budget to plaster TV commercials everywhere like Blizz. Where exactly to they do effective marketing? Word of mouth is starting to get the ball rolling for sure but some insight would be good. I'll leave you with this though:

Banners don't reach people with adblock. Even if I didn't use it, like when I am browsing at work, I hardly ever pay attention to banners, and if it says Rift and I have no idea what that is, I just look right over it. Also, it's not that there are not banners, it's just that those banners hardly say anything at all. That bus add says, "RIFT play for free at riftgame.com" and nothing more. They just need to say something more, "1.5 years, 10 patches, beat that!!" "Rift the MMORPG that gives you the best service and has devs that will talk to you" You know, something, anything, that lets you know it's an MMO, that let's you know it rocks, just something, anything other than "RIFT, Play for free"

I know they perhaps do not have the budget to spend on TV ads, and word of mouth is good to an extent, it got me here after all, it just seems it's lacking if I have gamer friends, who play other MMORPGs and they have NO IDEA what Rift even is. Ads that do not tell you what it is don't help.

---------- Post added 2012-10-15 at 09:25 PM ----------

And don't forget the awesome weather reports! I managed to see one during a television commercial a long ways back.
-snip-

and again, great if you play and know what it is, but if you don't, those tell you nothing at all. Is it a single player game? A Console Game? A shooter? What is it? If they can't be bothered to show me some gameplay, or a cool CGI that gives me some idea what the game is, why should I bother to go check it out?

[rnbwtrout]

If $5 is the tipping point considering the quality of service and rapidity of development then one might as well say- "don't have a sub at all".

Attachment to another MMO w/ a sub fee is often due more to establishment than price.

By having a comparable sub fee the idea is one would choose, "Oh this product is better value for my $."

Not, "I just can't do with the price of a single extra sandwich a month!"

Doesn't make sense as a "blunder" or argument. That extra $15/mo should be trivial. If it is not than the price of the product itself is not in question but enjoyment &/or quality of service. Only one of which is subjective, by the way.

i liked rift, i enjoyed it. my point is that as a new mmo, without any established lore, any established fanbase, you gotta do everything you can to attract players away from the competition. any marketing guy can tell you that pricing is a huge factor to your average consumer.

you talk about service and development, but those are things that they've only established and made their culture 1 year after release. sure those are selling points now, but they weren't selling points when the game first came out, they weren't credentials they could sell at launch.

what's the difference between pizza hut's pizza and dominoe's pizza? not a whole lot. if im in the mood for pizza and i have a coupon for a cheaper pizza from one of em, im gonna go with the cheaper one. what's the difference from WoW and Rift? not a whole lot. its still the same MMO forumula: running dungeons, running raids, doing pvp, world bosses, doing dailies, doing your professions. so why price your standard monthly fee exactly the same as WoW's if you're trying to attract potential consumers? (yea i know monthly deals work out good, but it does for WoW too).

if you're the new guy on the block trying to push a new pizza, selling it at the same price as the established neighborhood joint's pizza is terrible marketing, plain and simple. a new mmo offering a subscription based game and then pricing its standard subscription rate no different than the established mmo was terrible marketing.

[Azuri]

They just need to say something more, "1.5 years, 10 patches, beat that!!" "Rift the MMORPG that gives you the best service and has devs that will talk to you" You know, something, anything, that lets you know it's an MMO, that let's you know it rocks, just something, anything other than "RIFT, Play for free"

I know they perhaps do not have the budget to spend on TV ads, and word of mouth is good to an extent, it got me here after all, it just seems it's lacking if I have gamer friends, who play other MMORPGs and they have NO IDEA what Rift even is. Ads that do not tell you what it is don't help.

I understand what your saying and identifying the product differently may help but you still need to answer how do you effectively get that advertising to the interested customers? You use adblock as do many others, so what's next stand on street corners yelling through a bullhorn? Billboards? Where exactly do you promote your MMORPG?

[DeltrusDisc]

I'm not paying anything due to the rift RAF program.

Free game time and meeting new people? Trion knows how to make me play.

Hell yeah. I've gotten a few, I could have like 7 free months if they all would just give Trion the money they deserve! >_<