Rift PRIME launching March the 7th

[Puupi]

So wait...lowering xp gains was one of the changes they made, while leaving meaningful changes like reverting souls/trees to match the original game on the floor. It's almost like they want this to take a lot of your time mindlessly grinding while you pay them sub money.

Yeah, right......

The leveling process isn't that long it would affect the sub money payments basically at all. This isn't WoW with +60% XP requirements and "level 4 new alts for heritage armor, because there is absolutely nothing to do in this game for the time being".

Changing the whole soul trees and slamming a global XP gain modifier are technically as far from each other as an inclined plane and a tesla car are from each other.

[CerealLord]

Changing the whole soul trees and slamming a global XP gain modifier are technically as far from each other as an inclined plane and a tesla car are from each other.

I mean if a Tesla were going up a hill, they would be pretty close.

[Nasuuna]

Okay so here are some of my thoughts now that I actually played it the whole evening:

1. The server is totally packed, lots of people. A bit too much people in fact in the starting zones. 500 people killing the invasion boss - quite laggy. So to those people who are watching Steam charts etc.... the server is full. And considering Prime is just one server, it's kind of perfect. I estimate there are a couple of thousand people playing there.

2. XP gain is low. I mean, like really low. A bit too low in fact - should be like 15-20% more. I've ran out of quests at every level since lvl 12, I've had to do lots of warfronts, rifts, grinding etc. just to get that next level to do a couple more quests. So the XP gain is a lot lower than in vanilla (and obviously live). I've played a lot (like 10+ hours I think) and I'm lvl 17 now. The biggest guy in the whole server was 26 the last time I checked. I think Trion needs to buff the XP gain - I don't mind slow leveling, but not being able to get more quests because my level isn't high enough is an issue. And before you ask, yes I did ALL quests, including carnages, side quests, pvp quests and profession quests everywhere. Back in the day you could skip some zones and you could outlevel your quests if you did a couple of dungeons or invasions. Now it's definitely not the case.

3. Mob HP is rather well balanced, takes about 15-20 seconds to kill one monster. Mob damage is quite high, AoE grinding is a total no-go at least as a lowbie. Basically you need to single target the mobs down.

4. New souls cost 2k, 20k and 50k planarite. I think it's well designed. You can get 2k planarite at lvl 30ish I guess. 20k will take quite some time and 50k is a lot. So you aren't getting all those new souls instantly, but shouldn't be an eternity either.

5. Ping is 130-170ms for me from Finland. It's playable. Not perfect, but absolutely playable.

6. Loving the atmosphere and freshness, it's awesome to zerg around with other noobies.

7. Dungeons have been fun, Some bosses hit very hard. Quite well balanced for leveling dungeons currently.

I would rate my experience so far 9/10. -0,5 points for latency and -0,5 for too low xp. Otherwise everything has been great!

have you found a way to kill twil without kiting him until death?

my groups get one shot if I don't marksman tank :3

[StrawberryZebra]

Every class will still be able to fulfill all roles, but a simple shift in thinking makes this acceptable, to me at least. Don't look at your Class as a Class. Look st your soul choices as Class. f.ex, When I played my Mage, I did not consider myself a Mage, I considered myself a Chloromancer. Chloromancers can't Tank or DPS, they are just healers. You do still have to care about what you bring, because not every mage will necessarily want to tank or heal. You have to bring a Chloromancer if you want heals, not just any old Mage. A mage who plays Arbiter will not be able to heal you.

That kind of thinking eats itself in Rift though. It wouldn't be all too unreasonable to assume that a Mage who is in your group as a Chloromancer also has a DPS spec for one of their other builds. Just because they're healing right now doesn't mean they're a healer full time.

While I think it would be wrong to expect other players to be able to fill any role, the possiability is certainly there for those who want it. Hell, I knew people who used to change specs every other pull to maximise their effectiveness. Just because the level cap is lower in Prime, I don't expect people are going to be taking it any less seriously.

The main issue I, and I'm assuming the poster you quoted, have with Rifts current souls is that by allowing any Calling to fulfill any role they, indirectly, erode unique aspects of any one calling. It's strange, on Live Souls are both uniquely specialised in their own niche, while simulataneously being homogenised with other souls that perform the same role. It creates the situation where you can bring in quite literally any Calling to perform a highly specialised role. It's amusingly paradoxical.

[Lathais]

That kind of thinking eats itself in Rift though. It wouldn't be all too unreasonable to assume that a Mage who is in your group as a Chloromancer also has a DPS spec for one of their other builds. Just because they're healing right now doesn't mean they're a healer full time.

While I think it would be wrong to expect other players to be able to fill any role, the possiability is certainly there for those who want it. Hell, I knew people who used to change specs every other pull to maximise their effectiveness. Just because the level cap is lower in Prime, I don't expect people are going to be taking it any less seriously.

The main issue I, and I'm assuming the poster you quoted, have with Rifts current souls is that by allowing any Calling to fulfill any role they, indirectly, erode unique aspects of any one calling. It's strange, on Live Souls are both uniquely specialised in their own niche, while simulataneously being homogenised with other souls that perform the same role. It creates the situation where you can bring in quite literally any Calling to perform a highly specialised role. It's amusingly paradoxical.

Yeah, so you bring the player, not the class.

[theWocky]

I've logged on twice more since the initial launch. My thoughts are positive. The way you approach this idea is as a "limited time MMO"

I do have concerns for when Starfall Prophecy drops as part of this "server" expansion cycle over the next year.
In my opinion, Rift 4.0 is possibly the worst expansion, content I've ever seen in an MMO. Maybe they take all that RNG stuff out.

This RIFT:Prime is nice, though. Don't think of it as "RIFT", but rather as a separate product - with an expiry date. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Granted, there are a lot of things about Trion's past I don't like, but there certainly is a certain charm about the way this works.

The new economy. The masses of players in the early zones.

Yes, it still has the FPS and lag issues when there are like 40+ or so people on the screen, but raids, warfronts, etc will be fine/playable. It does run a bit better than Vanilla, however.

Also, there is the "guarantee" that you know what you're getting as all content is already developed and needs tweaking. Whatever that is on live will eventually be on this server.

So, if you feel like committing to a sub for 9 months to a year, there you go. Enjoy adventuring with like-minded people.
Don't expect to get anything out at the end except maybe a mount, a title, a cape or something - when they close it down.

Maybe Trion will get enough funds to fix the game on live. I think this is the first real "patron perk" they've got right.

I think "Live" must be a barren wasteland at this point, however. I just hope they stick to the "no boosts" and "no loot boxes" and implement "no RNG on gear slots" by removing those dumb RNG grind things from Prime that are on Live.

EDIT: TLDR - I would actually sub to this to play if I had more time. I had a warm, fuzzy, nostalgic feeling playing it. Still don't like "RIFT Live" but "RIFT Prime" is pretty nice a worth a sub while it lasts (imo)

[Slipmat]

have you found a way to kill twil without kiting him until death?

my groups get one shot if I don't marksman tank

The Tank brings Twyl between the portal and the altar and keeps the altar between the rest of group and boss, rest of us just stay spread out, move now and then to avoid the swirlies, no deaths.

[Puupi]

have you found a way to kill twil without kiting him until death?

my groups get one shot if I don't marksman tank :3

You need to dispel the tank.

[Zapharia]

Question for those playing. I raided in Rift many years ago when the -icar healing specs were a thing, like Cabicar. Did they bring this back with Rift Prime or are those still gone?

[Puupi]

Question for those playing. I raided in Rift many years ago when the -icar healing specs were a thing, like Cabicar. Did they bring this back with Rift Prime or are those still gone?

Cabalist/Justicar is a really strong leveling/dungeon build at least currently. AoE healing AoE dps... a great support!

[Zapharia]

Is it also still used in the raiding scene though?I remember senticar and inquisicar especially were strong. I've tried searching for any recent info on it (I know it's long gone in 'normal' Rift for years now), but cannot find anything specific on it for Rift Prime.

[StrawberryZebra]

Yeah, so you bring the player, not the class.

And it's exactly that @Iamcute was taking issue with.

While I don't share that concern, I do understand it to an extent. Particularly with Rift, where different Callings all have near-identical tools for their role. It means you miss out on what makes each Calling unique and distinct from others.

[Puupi]

Is it also still used in the raiding scene though?I remember senticar and inquisicar especially were strong. I've tried searching for any recent info on it (I know it's long gone in 'normal' Rift for years now), but cannot find anything specific on it for Rift Prime.

Well to be honest, nobody knows yet.

[Lathais]

And it's exactly that @Iamcute was taking issue with.

While I don't share that concern, I do understand it to an extent. Particularly with Rift, where different Callings all have near-identical tools for their role. It means you miss out on what makes each Calling unique and distinct from others.

Yeah, the callings are not unique, but the souls and the players are. You just have to shift your expectations slightly. Just because every Mage CAN tank, does not mean you should expect every Mage to be able to Tank. Just because a Rogue CAN heal, does not mean you should expect any Rogue in your group that queued up as a DPS to be able to switch to Healer.

I fail to see how that's different from something like WoW and a guy with a lot of alts compared to a guy with just a main. If I have Player 1 and Player 2 in my group and I know Player 1 has a tank alt and Player 2 does not and our MT leaves, I'm not gonna ask Player 2 to switch to his alt and MT for us, I'll ask Player 1 too. I brought the player that had the tools to fill multiple roles because he had alts.

Same thing in Rift. I'll either ask the guy that I know has tanked before and can tank or I'll just ask the group as a whole. I bring the guys that I know play a role really really well or are able to fill multiple roles.

I've been a guild leader and a raid leader in the past, so maybe that's why I have a slightly different perspective. However, even at that, on my Rogue, I never tanked. I was a bard 90% of the time even though when I went DPS I was the best DPS. We had mages who never DPSd. We had Warriors who never tanked. We had Clerics who never healed.

Class identity is in resource management, not in roles. It's really no different from WoW in the respect that one player could have a lot of alts in WoW and that same pleyer, instead of having to level and gear multiple toons, just has to be willing to play multiple roles. You don't have to be willing to play multiple roles though and anyone who thinks you should just because you can is the problem, not the fact that it is possible.

Just how I feel about it. I say play what you want to play. If you don't like Melee or Tanking Mages, don't play them. By the same token, don't expect others to play it just because they can.

[StrawberryZebra]

Class identity is in resource management, not in roles.

I think you may have missed the point here. It's not so much that everyone can fill the same roles - More that they all bring exactly the same things to the table.

Where as in WoW, for sake of comparison, you could bring a Paladin healer or a Shaman healer to a dungeon. They're both capable of doing the content, but the Paladin brings useful blessings, auras and other handy utility tools. The Shaman brings you powerful offensive buffs from their totems and Bloodlust. That kind of design is what Rift is missing.

While it does create an environment where you can bring the players rather than the classes, it also means your class doesn't have anything unique either. Some people like that design, others don't.

[Lathais]

I think you may have missed the point here. It's not so much that everyone can fill the same roles - More that they all bring exactly the same things to the table.

Where as in WoW, for sake of comparison, you could bring a Paladin healer or a Shaman healer to a dungeon. They're both capable of doing the content, but the Paladin brings useful blessings, auras and other handy utility tools. The Shaman brings you powerful offensive buffs from their totems and Bloodlust. That kind of design is what Rift is missing.

While it does create an environment where you can bring the players rather than the classes, it also means your class doesn't have anything unique either. Some people like that design, others don't.

Yeah, the unique thing is the resource management. They can all achieve the same goals, but they do it differently. Personally, I like this concept. It means I can play how I want, when I want. I don't have to level up an entire different toon and gear him up if I want to play differently all the sudden. I guess I am beginning to see how it could be off-putting to others, but not really. It doesn't make much sense to me when you can still play how you want. Why does the class need something unique if the souls have unique stuff and you can build it to yourself?

[shimcham]

Is it also still used in the raiding scene though?I remember senticar and inquisicar especially were strong. I've tried searching for any recent info on it (I know it's long gone in 'normal' Rift for years now), but cannot find anything specific on it for Rift Prime.

-icar specs are dead and have been for years you will not be getting any of those specs back if you try prime. prime does not contain any of the original specs from initial rift instead its all the latest expansion specs but basically cut off from all the points from the higher tiers.

[Jaja]

How do you pick what class to play? Holy shit its so complicated I have no idea whats what. Not a bad thing I love how the soul system works I'm just at wits end trying to choose something with each class having so much to them

[shimcham]

How do you pick what class to play? Holy shit its so complicated I have no idea whats what. Not a bad thing I love how the soul system works I'm just at wits end trying to choose something with each class having so much to them

all classes can pretty much almost do it all. tank heal or dps. only mages and wars will have the best support souls though(but having best support means you might get stuck playing that all the time which can get old real quick for some). rogues and wars have always seem to have the most pared down specs in terms of all you need to press. if u want no cast times go rogue/war mage/cleric if you dont mind it. for pvp rogue/war have for the most part always been in a better spot. not having to cast is pretty big deal.

if u want an easier time healing but more boring go cleric. if you want more interesting but more difficult healing go mage.

[StrawberryZebra]

Why does the class need something unique if the souls have unique stuff and you can build it to yourself?

Some people just like having a niche to call their own. Rifts current system has Souls with lots of purpose, but none that offer a unique niche only they can fill.

Asymmetry leads to interesting outcomes, especially when it comes to out of the box problem solving. Having an intended strength and weakness for each soul, even between ones that perform the same role, allows the opportunity for players to get creative when it comes to solutions. For most MMO's it's the go-to design philosophy, where in Rift any time you run into a situation your current soul is at a disadvantage, you just swap to one better suited. It's completely understandable why Trion decided against this kind of model.

The otherside of the coin is that in multiplayer games you have an impact on the experience of other players. Having personal mechanics to deal with doesn't affect others around you in the same way that something like WoW's Bloodlust does. They make things different for you, but don't generally have any effect on others and that can be particularly jarring when it comes to wanting to have a positive effect on others game time.