Durability of Rift in the future?

[Edge-]

Silly me, and here was I thinking that when RIFT was sub-based people could actually try it without spending a dime on RIFT Lite...

That's like saying the WoW trial will tell you everything you need to know about whether or not you will like WoW...despite the fact that the game from 1-20 is dramatically different than at 90. Like, dramatically different.

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Not to mention they have actually been reduced from when it was sub based, or at least from when it was released.

They dropped the number of mobs needed for carnage quests by 25% and I think that's it : /

[Lathais]

They dropped the number of mobs needed for carnage quests by 25% and I think that's it : /

Rep gains were also increased, which is included, at least for me in the Grindy factor, and number of IS gained. Plus, Dendrome is out, giving enough quests to get to 60 instead of running out if you did not do other content.

[theWocky]

If you are fine with sometimes googling solutions to badly designed quests, like events, festivals, locations of randomly located quest objects with poor map indication (like current summerfest quests with 8 spawn locations over a ENORMOUSLY huge zone), and if you are fine with grinding with eventual questing and eventual raid here and there, and if classic "kill 5-25 of this, bring 5-50 of that, discover this, kill the boss" quest lines are fine for you - then rift is a very nice game.

My biggest gripe about Rift is it's too grindy, but hey... you're talking to someone who has limited time to play - ALL mmo's are too grindy - other than that, your other points are just plain silly, grasping at straws, and part of most mmo's. No mmo is perfect. You unfortunately need time to play an mmo - it's just one of things about the genre.

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That's like saying the WoW trial will tell you everything you need to know about whether or not you will like WoW...despite the fact that the game from 1-20 is dramatically different than at 90. Like, dramatically different.

At the risk of "going there", I am quite depressed with the starting zones in WoW recently - I liked the Panda zone, but the others already look dated and I imagine would actually turn off most new players. Not everyone is going to roll a Pandaren. My reaction when I tried Tauren, troll, undead and was like: "they're trying to persuade me to play this further? Really?"

[Kelimbror]

At the risk of "going there"*SNIP*"they're trying to persuade me to play this further? Really?"

To be fair, the two games have different goals in terms of attracting new players. One game, which doesn't have a whole lot going on in the starting zones, rely on current players (your friends/people on the internet) to sell you on the game. And largely this has worked for years. Sure they have the free trial, but that's not to hook you into the actual game so much as getting involved with people you know who already play the game.

The starting zones are used to introduce you to the mechanics of the game and also were formed with the ideology of RPG games from 8 years ago. It's not going to be overly complex as a) Leveling is no longer the point and B) It would be overwhelming for a large percentage of people playing the game fresh.

Rift on the other hand, needs to have a compelling initial experience in order to lure people on the merits of the game instead of on their drastically smaller playerbase. They realize that most people aren't going to be attracted to their style of end game, so they needed to make it more compelling from the start. Additionally it was with the years learned from seeing other games and their quest styles in order to maximize the experience.

Basically not really an apples to apples comparison. Both serve their purposes in their own games.

[theWocky]

I completely agree, Kitty, regarding the "use friends to draw you in", but it's obviously getting harder to do - I think if someone tried to drag me in after playing things like Far Cry 3, Crysis, to mention a few really pretty games albeit different genres, it would be a tough sell - even for a friend.

True they use different techniques, but I think the former is beginning to be less compelling for new players.

That said... Dragon's Prophet is more to the point - No less than FIVE settings to tweak your female avatar's breasts! He he.

[Kelimbror]

True they use different techniques, but I think the former is beginning to be less compelling for new players.

Oh for sure. Kinda one of the advantages of a subscription game though. They aren't relying on new customers as much as returning ones. Rift, as a F2P game, heavily relies on new customers. Luckily their intro game is a more compelling experience which is certainly in their favor.

WoW will only want to attract new customers if they make the same transition to F2P and by then they won't have to do anything other than advertise it and everyone who never tried it will. If not just for the mystique, but because it has saturated culture to an extent no other MMO will ever do.

What's great about Rift and other F2P games is that they don't need to be large to keep doing what they do well. Trion scared me with Defiance, which in my eyes not only ruined the momentum Rift has built, but probably came close to ruining it completely. Luckily they saved the day with their F2P model and hopefully they can see some growth and continue making quality content.

[Orkwuzhere]

FFXIV looks pretty as hell and it plays well now (Let's all not forget FFXIV 1.0...because that's probably the worst MMO released in the past decade...)

Anarchy Online was literally unplayable on release, and almost killed pcs (I couldn't even turn my pc off when I wanted to get out of Anarchy Online). It was so bad Funcom tried to tell people not to post reviews. I never played FF14 1.0, but I don't think anything can top AO's release.

2nd is the PC/PS2 release of PSU. Talk about making a bare-boned game that works against you.

[Stormcall]

At the risk of "going there", I am quite depressed with the starting zones in WoW recently - I liked the Panda zone, but the others already look dated and I imagine would actually turn off most new players. Not everyone is going to roll a Pandaren. My reaction when I tried Tauren, troll, undead and was like: "they're trying to persuade me to play this further? Really?"

Frankly, I much prefer the undead starting zone to the panda zone. To each their own.

[Recondition]

At the risk of "going there", I am quite depressed with the starting zones in WoW recently - I liked the Panda zone, but the others already look dated and I imagine would actually turn off most new players. Not everyone is going to roll a Pandaren. My reaction when I tried Tauren, troll, undead and was like: "they're trying to persuade me to play this further? Really?"

Well, Wocky, it's WAY better than what those zones used to be, :P.

[Jtbrig7390]

Just to add something positive to the topic at hand.

Just started playing a Mage healer and at first I didn't like it but now I am loving it. Its the most fun I have had in a mmo in quite some time.

[theWocky]

Well, Wocky, it's WAY better than what those zones used to be, :P.

Yeah, that's truly the depressing part.

[Celista]

To be fair, the two games have different goals in terms of attracting new players. One game, which doesn't have a whole lot going on in the starting zones, rely on current players (your friends/people on the internet) to sell you on the game. And largely this has worked for years. Sure they have the free trial, but that's not to hook you into the actual game so much as getting involved with people you know who already play the game.

The starting zones are used to introduce you to the mechanics of the game and also were formed with the ideology of RPG games from 8 years ago. It's not going to be overly complex as a) Leveling is no longer the point and B) It would be overwhelming for a large percentage of people playing the game fresh.

Rift on the other hand, needs to have a compelling initial experience in order to lure people on the merits of the game instead of on their drastically smaller playerbase. They realize that most people aren't going to be attracted to their style of end game, so they needed to make it more compelling from the start. Additionally it was with the years learned from seeing other games and their quest styles in order to maximize the experience.

Basically not really an apples to apples comparison. Both serve their purposes in their own games.

Just to comment on this post and other points in the thread about not being drawn into the game initially...decided to try out a mage class today, zoned into the guardian starting area and was like ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I really do NOT like this starting zone! >.< I don't know why, just doesn't feel compelling to me...boring quests, not a very attractive starting area etc, especially in regards to other games that had compelling storylines/group quests that really got you hooked right away on the game. The 1-10 zones...no, just not enjoyable to me in Rift. But I love the game! And all of the other zones I find beautiful and engaging, I don't know why I am not a fan of the guardian starting area.

Luckily I tried out Defiant with my rogue, and pushed through the Guardian zones to get to the good stuff on my first toon (a cleric), otherwise I would have just given up the game after the first few levels.

I truly think you can "not like" a game for whatever reason initially and then later on find out that you do in fact enjoy the game, or most of the game, or that there is an aspect of the game that you really love. Just my two cents.

[Kelimbror]

I truly think you can "not like" a game for whatever reason initially and then later on find out that you do in fact enjoy the game, or most of the game, or that there is an aspect of the game that you really love. Just my two cents.

Oh most certainly, I agree. The problem is that the average player will not put forth this effort. Much like average customers won't with any product. If they don't like it immediately, they typically dismiss it and never look back. I can understand that attitude, but it's awfully shallow and seems like a product of lifestyles hinged on instant gratification.

Basically what humanity has been programmed for since advertising existed. Fortunately for those like us that can try and find the magic in everything, you tend to have a much more enjoyable life. Though to be fair, it's given me far too many video games to play that I could spend my lifetime and not finish them all. And that's not counting the plethora I will still buy and the fact that MMOs constantly add content.

[khawaja07]

the game looks very promising still...

[UFO]

game WILL live Long and merit Sequels