Don't play Rift, but I give it a thumbs up.

[Twotonsteak]

I'd say Rift deserves a bigger playerbase when it comes out with something original.

Note: ALL fantasy-based MMO's have their origins in D&D. Even WoW can trace a LOT of its game-play and mechanics to D&D. As such there are NO totally "original" MMO's out there right now.

[Lathais]

An old quote I love, fits well.

There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.

[Volitar]

I only just started but I am instantly overwhelmed with how many spec/combos there are on just one class alone.

[Acquiesce of Telara]

It kind of makes a mockery of that whole "729 unique specs" thing people keep applying to MoP.

You'll hear arguments from min/maxers that there are far fewer unique specs for hardcore raiding, but that goes for almost any game in existence. If you're interested in other aspects of gameplay, say hunting artifacts, grinding, conquest pvp, etc you can create a ridiculous build that suites your purposes.

When I was hardcore artifact hunting in Ember Isle, I went with a crazy Cleric combo that allowed for self-healing, aoe mob grinding, underwater breathing, and good defense. Would I lead the charts on progressive raid content? Of course not, but with 6 specs to switch between, why not treat myself to something unconventional?

[Deleted]

For endgame PvE Rift is comfortably the best MMO out there at the moment. It offers staggering class depth, a development team that actually cares about competitive raiding and a raid system uncorrupted by the hideous "heroic mode" / multiple difficulty concept that has utterly destroyed WoW's raid game, and given Blizzard an excuse to make less content because "well each raid has 3 modes, so that's like X * 3 bosses!!1111"

Also, people talk about how it has a small playerbase - over 1.25 million people watched that new mage soul reveal stream on Friday night. So I think actually there's alot more interest in it than people think.

Overall I love it because it feels like TBC at endgame, except with lots of the features / QoL improvements Blizzard made more recently, such as cross realm LFD, a good achievement system etc. Raids feel impressive - just riding up to Hammerknell fortress gave me a similar feeling to riding up to the gates of Black Temple in TBC - it felt epic. None of WoW's latest raids have given me that feeling.

RIft = top class PvE MMO.

[Deleted]

Agree. I don't play Rift because of some financial problems currently, but did play it for a little time at start and during beta, and I found it truly amazing. Now with all the patches and new stuff... I'm amazed. Really, congratulations to Trion for making such a good game

The only thing I disliked about it was the start, all the races stood for 20 levels in two zones, one for each faction, which was a bit annoying for people with more alts. I do hope they will manage to fix this as well, but despite this, Rift is a great game nevertheless.

[DeltrusDisc]

I only just started but I am instantly overwhelmed with how many spec/combos there are on just one class alone.

And that's what so many of us love about it. You truly can make a spec that is totally unique to you based on 3 different souls! ^_^

[jvbastel]

While I probably won't sub to rift again, I think it's the best option for people looking for a challenging raid MMO. I myself don't have enough spare time to focus on raiding, nor do I have the intention to ever be a dedicated raider. However I have a lot of respect for trion, and wish them the best for this game.

[Deleted]

I loved it, it was just too similar to WoW, and I can't face another mmorpg gear grind for essentially the same result. The world is burned out on gear/raid grinding

[Tarien]

I loved it, it was just too similar to WoW, and I can't face another mmorpg gear grind for essentially the same result. The world is burned out on gear/raid grinding

Speak for yourself. I am loving gearing my alts with a friend at the moment. We spend hours most nights doing invasions, quest lines, dungeons, daily raid rifts, weekly raids, all to gear up. If we didn't have that goal, we'd be bored.

[Lathais]

I loved it, it was just too similar to WoW, and I can't face another mmorpg gear grind for essentially the same result. The world is burned out on gear/raid grinding

You being burned out does not equal the world being burned out. I agree though, it is easy to get burned out on, in the years I have been playing MMOs it has happened to me several times. I take a break, sometime for up to 6 months, then come back. However, to say the world is burned out on it, when that is what WoW is/does, and has made it more accessible with LFG and has over 10 mil subs proves you wrong. The fact that Rift is growing and we are recruiting new players interested in joining us in that grind every day proves you wrong. The 2-3 other guilds on my server recruiting for the gear grind proves you wrong. You =/= the world.

[Deleted]

I don't play rift myself, have tried it and I think it's a great game. Not for me, but a great game indeed!

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I just couldn't get into another MMO in the sense of learning the ropes again, stats doing what for what class etc etc, but what I did see of it, its actually REALLY good. shame I don't have the time or desire to get into it proper...

[zito]

I loved it, it was just too similar to WoW, and I can't face another mmorpg gear grind for essentially the same result. The world is burned out on gear/raid grinding

I think the main difference between rifts and wows gear grind is the amount of things you can do.

[Anakonda]

Having myself raided wow since beta, and by raided i mean hardcore raided, nearly all achievements & mounts, realm firsts etc, at some point i got tired of it and decided to give RIFT a try. I really enjoyed leveling to max level, however when i dinged, i discovered that behind all the "new" features etc hides pretty much exactly the same game i quit before. Please note that im not calling RIFT a bad game or anything, but what im saying is, im tired of the "same" mmo's that are all around us - and for me, wow = tor = rift = gw = aion etc. Sure, stuff can be different, but in the end, they are all the same.

One of the reasons i really enjoy TSW (the secret war) is because of all the lore and investigation missions etc. The fact that you can be ANYONE on a single character is amazing too, and its just a great game. Im quite curious to see what GW2 will be like, but i suspect ill quit it a few months later.


Tl;DR version: Rift is better than wow in terms of gameplay, worse in terms of lore (sorry, but i hated RIFT lore. And this comes from a person who reads EVERY single quest text / book / wiki / etc for every game he plays). But at the end of the day, still the same game.

[Athorha]

Game was too much like BC era Wow (raiding wise). Not saying that's bad, it's actually ideal. Just I don't want to get into a game like that behind so much.

[alturic]

Game was too much like BC era Wow (raiding wise). Not saying that's bad, it's actually ideal. Just I don't want to get into a game like that behind so much.

I agree 100% with this. It's an amazing game, and is definitely "the" game for me and anyone else who enjoys what WoW was and is for the most part. Sadly I just despised how you were forced to things OTHER than dungeons/raids in order to get the resists needed for raids. People tell me "WoW required resists too!!" but WoW just "felt" better with how the grind of getting the resists were handled, imo.

---------- Post added 2012-08-13 at 11:46 AM ----------

Having myself raided wow since beta, and by raided i mean hardcore raided, nearly all achievements & mounts, realm firsts etc, at some point i got tired of it and decided to give RIFT a try. I really enjoyed leveling to max level, however when i dinged, i discovered that behind all the "new" features etc hides pretty much exactly the same game i quit before. Please note that im not calling RIFT a bad game or anything, but what im saying is, im tired of the "same" mmo's that are all around us - and for me, wow = tor = rift = gw = aion etc. Sure, stuff can be different, but in the end, they are all the same.

Tl;DR version: Rift is better than wow in terms of gameplay, worse in terms of lore (sorry, but i hated RIFT lore. And this comes from a person who reads EVERY single quest text / book / wiki / etc for every game he plays). But at the end of the day, still the same game.

I hope you realize (and it sounds like you MIGHT?) that ANY gear-based, level-based game is going to require some dungeons/raiding. There's really no other way to handle or reward gear unless you like quest gear. Which means pretty much every "MMORPG" since EQ1 is the "same exact thing", at a basic level, they are.

---------- Post added 2012-08-13 at 11:49 AM ----------

I loved it, it was just too similar to WoW, and I can't face another mmorpg gear grind for essentially the same result. The world is burned out on gear/raid grinding

I highly doubt the world is burnt out on gear/raiding. That's what makes MMORPGs. Every single one had/has dungeons->raids. You are right though, any gear-based/level-based game is going to have the "same result" at max level. I mean outside of dungeons/raids/PvP what do you suggest they "add"?

[zito]

Question on mentoring as I was just reading it over. Apparently solo you can not lower your level less than 5 of your own. So at 50 the max you can go is 45, unless you are with a friend. You right click their name and you go to their level.

My question is what is the point of setting up such a restriction? Does that mean I can't go to a low level zone by myself and do the content I missed without having a party member?

[Deatheryn]

An old quote I love, fits well.

That's a great quote and far too true!

OT: I too will have to say that Rift is in fact a great game. I played in beta and enjoyed it but not enough to pull me from the usual. Then I have tried it again since to "F2P to lvl 20 unlimited" and the improvements to the game since beta are staggering to say the least! I really enjoy the depth of the talent system and the fact you can create your own diverse spec based on your individual play style.

The game is far and above the best MMO on the market for ppl who enjoy the PVE side of MMOs. They have many things to do in game but have taken the smart approach to their game and focused on one aspect rather than trying to be "The jack of all trades,.." and failing at all of them.

I highly recommend Rift to anyone looking for an in-depth PVE experience. It is a great game and only getting better!

[alturic]

Question on mentoring as I was just reading it over. Apparently solo you can not lower your level less than 5 of your own. So at 50 the max you can go is 45, unless you are with a friend. You right click their name and you go to their level.

My question is what is the point of setting up such a restriction? Does that mean I can't go to a low level zone by myself and do the content I missed without having a party member?

Hence the name "mentoring". It's not called "scale down your level and go do content you missed".

[Slipmat]

Apparently solo you can not lower your level less than 5 of your own

Nope, not true at all, what it means is that the highest level you can Mentor down will always be 5 levels below your own

You can adjust the slider for any level between level 10 and 45 inclusive, or you can just type in the level directly...all it means is that the "highest" you can Mentor down to will always be 5 levels lower than your own level

Examples, if you're level 20 the highest you can downlevel will be level 15, if you're level 30, highest is level 25...there is no restriction on it applying a set level, you can choose any level from 10 to within 5 of your proper level