I'm Interested in Rift ... Advice?

[garyscmh]

Hi everyone, could use some advice on Rift. I was a longish-term WoW player who enjoyed my time in that game but who grew weary of all of the b.s. that's come to be associated with the WoW experience. I'd discovered a "better mousetrap" during one of the GW2 beta weekends and I immediately "moved on" and adopted GW2 as my primary game. Still liking GW2 quite a lot (liking more than loving, but it's all still good in that game), but I do find I miss the old-school fun I used to have in WoW back in the day. . .

I recently became more aware of the Rift expansion, and I became intrigued enough to begin looking into it online. I think I'm liking what I am seeing so far, in that Rift seems to combine the familiar elements of old-school WoW with many of the newer elements & fun found in GW2. Rift essentially seems like the best of both worlds, possibly. I'm also loving the energy and commitment I'm reading about on the Developer side and Rift players certainly seem to have a passion for the game, which is always a good sign. I HAVE run across a couple areas of possible concern, however, so I thought I'd just come here and ask outright:


1. SERVER POPULATION/BALANCE. I've read forum and blog comments of servers being only lightly-populated and/or imbalanced between factions, especially prior to the expansion release. A couple of player bloggers mentioned this specifically as the reason they chose to unsub. What is the reality here? Obviously, I would seek to join a higher-pop server because I like a lot of "MMO" in my "MMO" but what has been your experience?


2. PVP OPPORTUNITIES. I'm fine with PVE elements, but I find that I REALLY like really good PVP challenges once I've gotten a handle on my class & abilities. I have read varied comments on the quality of Rift PVP, everything from "it sucks" to "it's okay." It sounds like the expansion does offer some increased PVP opportunities, but what has your experience been with this aspect of the game? Are the battleground-type of competitions fun? How gear-dependent is PVP in Rift? Does skill play a decently-large part in PVP results? Are the different classes relatively balanced?


3. GRIND. I'll be honest: I hate the "collect ten bear asses" grind and I refuse to do dailies, I just hate having to repeat content to earn something. How much of an honest factor is this in the Rift leveling/gearing process? Can you become competitive without having to grind over the same content over and over in order to gear up?


Please do note that I am more than willing to do my own research on all of this! I've spent most of the last two days reading up on Rift, watching YouTube vids, etc. (instead of playing GW2 lol). But there is not TOO much objective info out there yet on the expansion and I thought maybe it would be helpful to go straight to the real source (players) for some straight info. You needn't answer each of my questions above in turn, but any thoughts for feedback you care to offer -- or any resource sites you've found to be especially helpful -- would be most appreciated and probably of help to more potential players than just me.

Thanks!

[WarpedAcorn]

I'm only a 3-week player myself, but I'll do my best to answer your questions:

1) Allegedly Defiants outnumber Guardians. However, this doesn't matter since everyone can group together at this point. In PvP Warfronts (Battlegrounds), there is a Mercenary system to balance teams if one side is underrepresented. The new PvP system in Storm Legion is Conquest (not yet activated), and will involve players choosing different ideological stances concerning their role as Ascended. Basically the way I take it, lore-wise, the Ascended have moved beyond caring about political differences.

2) Everyone says the PvP is crap. Admittedly, its not that great from what I've played. Its enjoyably to get in there and rough up some people, but at max level it is definitely a gear grind and from what I have experienced, not easy for a new player to break into. So yes, its very Gear dependant. Skill is a factor surely, and having the right loadout to match your playstyle. As for balance, since every class is open to everyone its balanced. If you are asking whether every spec in every situation is balanced, then no that is something impossible in any team based MMO.

3) Dailies absolutely exist. I do crafting dailies...daily. Most quests are also your standard fair of "Kill X" or "Collect Y" and maybe "Excort Z". On the plus side, I've noticed that typically enemy drops are 100% for quest items, so you won't need to kill 100 bears in order to collect 10 of their asses.


Definitely try Rift Lite before buying. You get an excellent opportunity there to see if the game feels right for you. I think the description that Rift has a feeling similar to WoW's TBC is correct. The game is not a cakewalk and definitely is not for everyone. There is a lot of grinding here, but there is also a lot of things to do and options to keep you entertained.

[Lathais]

1. SERVER POPULATION/BALANCE. I've read forum and blog comments of servers being only lightly-populated and/or imbalanced between factions, especially prior to the expansion release. A couple of player bloggers mentioned this specifically as the reason they chose to unsub. What is the reality here? Obviously, I would seek to join a higher-pop server because I like a lot of "MMO" in my "MMO" but what has been your experience?

A couple times in the past 6 months they have increased server capacity. This cause servers which used to appear as high to begin appearing as medium, though the same number of players were on the server. This was a very difficult concept for people to understand. They saw medium and assumed lower pops, though the pop was the same.

In addition to that, with the increases in server capacity, Rift has merged servers. Again, people over react and see lees servers and assume less players. However, it is still the same number of players, just more per server. This is a good thing.

It very much has that MMO feel you say you want. The world is full, wherever you go, including the open world. I am very rarely ever alone out doing things. You always see other people.

2. PVP OPPORTUNITIES. I'm fine with PVE elements, but I find that I REALLY like really good PVP challenges once I've gotten a handle on my class & abilities. I have read varied comments on the quality of Rift PVP, everything from "it sucks" to "it's okay." It sounds like the expansion does offer some increased PVP opportunities, but what has your experience been with this aspect of the game? Are the battleground-type of competitions fun? How gear-dependent is PVP in Rift? Does skill play a decently-large part in PVP results? Are the different classes relatively balanced?

To be honest, I am not a big PvPer, and Rift is not a big PvP game. It is certainly clear that PvE is the focus of the game, especially when you consider the faction unity change for PvE Servers recently. World PvP is practically non-existant, even on a PvP server, unless you count ganking world PvP, I don't. Since the change, partially due to increased server capacities and partially due to people transfering to PvE realsm after Faction Unity, there is only one PvP server left.

Now, that said, Rift still has some decent PvP, however, it is much more team oriented. There is no Arena style though, it is Warfronts or, when they reopen it, Conquest. Warfronts are fun IMO, I have not tried the new one, nor done any PvP in the expansion yet as I am focused on getting ready to raid. Conquest is awesome, 3 Faction(you pick one when you join, different from Guard/Def), 200v200v200 battles. There are PvE elements, and it may be in the process of being re-designed right now anyway.

3. GRIND. I'll be honest: I hate the "collect ten bear asses" grind and I refuse to do dailies, I just hate having to repeat content to earn something. How much of an honest factor is this in the Rift leveling/gearing process? Can you become competitive without having to grind over the same content over and over in order to gear up?

Well, Trion redefined "collect ten bear asses" quests into what they call Carnage. It is still a kill X quest, however, instead of having to pick up and turn it in, it just happens as you kill certain types of enemies and automatically completes when you are done. It's a pretty neat system and the rewards are pretty worth it. They are one time though. I'm not gonna lie though, leveling can be a bit of a grind, especially the last couple levels. They can be brutal.

As for dailies and whatnot at max level. There are really only 2 that have dailies associated with them, and they are not bad. The cool part about Rift though, is that dailies aren't usually all you do when you are out doing dailies. A lot of times, you'll pass by an Onslaught on the way and you can break to complete that, you'll maybe see a Hunt Rift going on and stop to do that. Perhaps a Zone Event begins and you complete that, and you get your dailies done too. Some consider it a grind, some don't. You really just kinda gotta see for yourself how bad it to you. To me there are aspects that feel a little grindy, but it does not feel excessive and really seems like just the right amount.

[Onorvele]

1. SERVER POPULATION/BALANCE. I've read forum and blog comments of servers being only lightly-populated and/or imbalanced between factions, especially prior to the expansion release. A couple of player bloggers mentioned this specifically as the reason they chose to unsub. What is the reality here? Obviously, I would seek to join a higher-pop server because I like a lot of "MMO" in my "MMO" but what has been your experience?

I'm on Deepwood, and it's heavily populated. I was previously on a shard that became a trial shard and kicked me off. Prior to expansion, it was pretty easy to PUG tier 2 raids at almost any time of the day, any day of the week. With the expansion having just hit, this is obviously not the case.

The expansion has also made factions more into lore than gameplay. Open world PvP is very limited, but there's always Conquest (well, not always... next point). And, since the expansion means that guilds, instances, instant adventures, chat, public groups, and so on are all cross-faction (both Guardian and Defiant can participate in the same thing at the same time), faction balance is of significantly decreased concern.

2. PVP OPPORTUNITIES. I'm fine with PVE elements, but I find that I REALLY like really good PVP challenges once I've gotten a handle on my class & abilities. I have read varied comments on the quality of Rift PVP, everything from "it sucks" to "it's okay." It sounds like the expansion does offer some increased PVP opportunities, but what has your experience been with this aspect of the game? Are the battleground-type of competitions fun? How gear-dependent is PVP in Rift? Does skill play a decently-large part in PVP results? Are the different classes relatively balanced?

Prior to the expansion, a PvP system called Conquest was put into play. You pick one of 3 factions for each conquest, and then have 200v200v200-ish fights in an instanced version of one of the zones. You don't build reputation against the conquest factions - they're just there to determine starting position. Both Defiant and Guardian can associate with each conquest faction, and you can associate with a different conquest faction each Conquest.

Conquest is currently disabled, and will likely be re-enabled once the lvl 60 population has stabilized.

There's now a certain level of lvl 60 gear "normalization" for PvP, in warfronts and conquest to make entry easier:

* Level 60 Warfronts and Conquest: Bolstering at max level now has less to do with rank, and is instead focused on the PVP Gear you have equipped
* Instead of boosting individual stats if they are below the desired ranks goals, or capping individual stats when you are above those goals we now examine each piece of gear to determine if it needs to be replaced or ignored.
- Each slot is compared against the lowest set of PVP gear available.
- If your gear is less powerful its stats will be replaced with the Mercenary set.
- If the gear you have equipped lacks Valor and is more powerful its stats will be replaced with gear from the Mercenary set.
- Procs and Runes have no effect if they are replaced.
- Synergy Crystal Bonuses use your equipped items to determine which bonuses are applied.
- Synergy Crystals, Greater Essences, Trinkets and Seals are excluded from Bolstering.

http://forums.riftgame.com/official-...1-13-12-a.html

Overall, Rift PvP is focused on the MMO aspect and less on the individual - so your gear and personal skill matter a bit, but the overall gear and skill of your team will be the real determining factor.

3. GRIND. I'll be honest: I hate the "collect ten bear asses" grind and I refuse to do dailies, I just hate having to repeat content to earn something. How much of an honest factor is this in the Rift leveling/gearing process? Can you become competitive without having to grind over the same content over and over in order to gear up?

In chocolate, you could only achieve PvE BiS by clearing current tier of endgame PvE content. However, there were a few different ways of getting previous-tier equivalent gear:

- Planar path - doing rifts, zone events, and so on to gather planar currency to buy planar gear.
- Crafting/cash path - there were reasonable sets of craftable, BoE gear that brought you a fair way forward.
- Dungeon/raid currency path - Doing daily dungeons and weekly raids allowed the accumulation of currency to buy the current raid tier gear - but not the upgraded versions.

Your best bet for getting BiS without repeating content is to clear raid bosses and win rolls. However, Rift is all about providing fun, compelling options that result in advancement. Also the accumulation of the appropriate currency almost always generates the appropriate noteriety ("reputation") needed to buy said gear, if it does happen to be rep-gated.

---------- Post added 2012-11-20 at 12:50 PM ----------

As for dailies and whatnot at max level. There are really only 2 that have dailies associated with them, and they are not bad. The cool part about Rift though, is that dailies aren't usually all you do when you are out doing dailies. A lot of times, you'll pass by an Onslaught on the way and you can break to complete that, you'll maybe see a Hunt Rift going on and stop to do that. Perhaps a Zone Event begins and you complete that, and you get your dailies done too. Some consider it a grind, some don't. You really just kinda gotta see for yourself how bad it to you. To me there are aspects that feel a little grindy, but it does not feel excessive and really seems like just the right amount.

Just remembering - there was a certain level of Notoriety-gating in chocolate with regards to access to certain runes and recipes. The recipes were not relevant after tier 1, but the runes (bonus stats on specific armor pieces) remained relevant throughout. For example, a runecrafter couldn't make the BiS leg enchant - you had to buy the rune directly from the Order of Mathos vendor, and you had to be exalted to do that, and it was BoP. However, you got Order of Mathos rep running the River of Souls raid (and Chronicle), and by questing in Stillmoor, and by killing mobs in Stillmoor.

[BarnabyAngel]

I'd like to point out as someone did for me, as a new player to Rift myself, that raptr.com (can't link yet) is probably the coolest thing ever...while the rewards aren't that great for a lot of games, it's definitely worth the 10 minutes set-up for the benefits it provides for Rift. A free mount reward just ended, and there are multiple cosmetic gear rewards available.
Best of all, if you play the trial version and "log" 3 hours of play time (3 hours in Rift won't get you to level 30 or 40 like in WoW...think more like level 10-15...) you raise your rank from newbie to amateur and become eligible to receive A FREE download/key to the FULL game. So basically you get however long it takes for you to get to level 20 on the free trial, claim your reward, and get the full free game for levels 1-50 (and they also give you 30 days free play time..) Can't ask for a better deal imo, especially when it comes to pay-as-you-play MMOs.

[Mouri Kogorou]

if you do not like grind do not bother with rift, the grind in it is mindless.

[theWocky]

if you do not like grind do not bother with rift, the grind in it is mindless.

That is quite a display of ignorance. When did you play last?

All mmo's have grind.

Like any mmo, there is a level of grind, but these are in the form of fun activities like Instant Adventure, Daily Quests with huge variation, Weekly Raid quests, Epic quest chains, Raid Rifts, Hunt Rifts, Zone Invasions, Conquest (Huge world battles), Rift PvP, Chronicles, Scenario type quests (Defend an attack), not to mention a bonus for the "grinders" in the form of Carnage quests.

People that participate are not only rewarded XP, but items to sell / use to cover raid/pve expenses.

In addition to all these things, every bit of grind is not wasted as you continue to make your character stronger after level cap in the form of planar atunements.

The variety of things to do is what keeps the game entertaining as it encourages people to participate and leave the cities instead of mindlessly sitting in one city and queuing for things.

I would sincerely argue that all the fun grind activities contribute to a better, more populated world to play in - which is one of the attributes you would expect from an mmo, is it not?

[Mouri Kogorou]

That is quite a display of ignorance. When did you play last?

since SL release i spent 3 days /played to reach lvl 50, and it was totally fine with me. but spending almost 4 hours and not being able to reach 50% of lvl 50 is mindless grind (keep in mind i am a new rift player and bought the game one day before SL release).

All mmo's have grind.

Like any mmo, there is a level of grind, but these are in the form of fun activities like Instant Adventure, Daily Quests with huge variation, Weekly Raid quests, Epic quest chains, Raid Rifts, Hunt Rifts, Zone Invasions, Conquest (Huge world battles), Rift PvP, Chronicles, Scenario type quests (Defend an attack), not to mention a bonus for the "grinders" in the form of Carnage quests.

Instant Adventure : it is a nice idea, but not when you are forced to do it because it has a very very good exp/minute rate. also it is repetitive in a way that you always have to do silverwood or freemarch.

Daily quests : they are good, i like the close rifts / kill rift creatures. because i like closing rifts.

Epic quest chains : non existent.

People that participate are not only rewarded XP, but items to sell / use to cover raid/pve expenses.

The variety of things to do is what keeps the game entertaining as it encourages people to participate and leave the cities instead of mindlessly sitting in one city and queuing for things.

I would sincerely argue that all the fun grind activities contribute to a better, more populated world to play in - which is one of the attributes you would expect from an mmo, is it not?

the variety is not the issue with the game, the issue is that it takes very very very long to lvl from 50 to 60 for new players. and exp reward from doing activities is not encouraging at all.

[Deleted]

So you only just started and expected to reach lvl 60 in a couple of days, sorry but anyone who has even bothered to type rift into google will be able to find that it isn't a case of log on press 1 button bang top lvl. Rift is not an instant gratification game never has been and I sure hope it doesn't go that route either

[theWocky]

Mandus, you leveled to 60 just with instant adventure?

Holy crap... no wonder you think it is a grind.

There are, I think 3 or 4 epic quest chains along the way to 50 - you obviously never finished a single story quest. Every zone has one and these branch off into epic story quests, into dungeons (with huge xp rewards). Hint: "this stuff is good content"

Of course it is going to be a grind if you deliberately force yourself through doing Instant Adventure missing all the content to get to max level. Sheeeeez...

Seriously, why on earth would you do this if you're new to the game? What's the point? Missing out on the entire friggin' game's story?

Regrettably, I stand by my original statement: "quite a display of ignorance" regarding the game and hence, your comment of "massive grind" is true, but for you only - as you are the one that is responsible for making it that instead of a fun experience.

There isn't a friggin' rush. A lot of people on my server are still 51~54. Heck, I haven't got time to play till the weekend and I'm 54.

[WarpedAcorn]

A note on the grind, since I am a new player I haven't even touched the Storm Legion content (and don't plan to until I "complete" all the previous zones), this doesn't seem a bad way to level. I have not done an IA since I hit 50 and have just done the zone quests. One zone (mentored) took me a little past 51 by itself. I forget the exact name of the zone, but the one north of Silverwood...Moonshade Highlands I think.

[Mouri Kogorou]

Mandus, you leveled to 60 just with instant adventure?

since SL release i spent 3 days /played to reach lvl 50, and it was totally fine with me. but spending almost 4 hours and not being able to reach 50% of lvl 50 is mindless grind (keep in mind i am a new rift player and bought the game one day before SL release).

i am still level 50, i did 70% of my leveling through questing. no "epic" quest was available, all there is go collect x, dig Y , kill z, and a couple of escort quests.

There are, I think 3 or 4 epic quest chains along the way to 50 - you obviously never finished a single story quest. Every zone has one and these branch off into epic story quests, into dungeons (with huge xp rewards). Hint: "this stuff is good content"

nothing epic is in the story , or the story quests. the only cool thing i ever saw was in stillmoor where you see what happened with one of the generals. and how he choose the wrong path.

Of course it is going to be a grind if you deliberately force yourself through doing Instant Adventure missing all the content to get to max level. Sheeeeez...

the game forced me to do IA, the idea that IA give faster XP and the quests being the most boring quests i saw in an mmo, you are forced to IA. (comparing to the secret world, star wars, guild wars 2 and wow).

Seriously, why on earth would you do this if you're new to the game? What's the point? Missing out on the entire friggin' game's story?

i have not raided for a long time and i think rift is the only raiding option available.

There isn't a friggin' rush. A lot of people on my server are still 51~54. Heck, I haven't got time to play till the weekend and I'm 54.

there is no rush yes, but maybe i really miss the end level of dungeons/raids since i have not played wow for a year and a half.

[theWocky]

Every Zone has a full story or "point" behind it. If you finish certain chains, the epic quest chain opens up - like the one in Ember Isle, and the one for the Water Mount, so yeah, you missed out.

I still maintain - the game is a grind - if you make it a grind.

[Lathais]

On the topic of grinds. Yes, Rift can feel a bit grindy at times, mostly during leveling, especially 57+(very brutal here). However, other than the very end leveling, it really isn't too bad and IMO opinion is just right for a game. There should be a bit of a mandatory grind, it should not be just handed to you.

[Deleted]

mandus, i stand by what thewocky said you do "quite a display of ignorance".

1.) http://rift.zam.com/wiki/The_Saga_of..._Quest_Series)
2.)http://rift.zam.com/wiki/The_Saga_of..._Quest_Series)

These are just 2 examples of some of the epic quests in RIFT, there are more, Google is your friend. RIFT has a grind, but so does every other MMO, RIFT's grind is easier to cope with because of all the different options you have. YOU ARE NOT FORCED TO DO DAILIES! like in another game that shall not be mentioned on these (sub) forums, there are more ways to gain rep (notoriety) then just spamming repeatable quests, but you can if you want too. Also, there are multiple leveling paths to take, you can mix it up or just stick to one.

[Mouri Kogorou]

as a new player, i did not experience anything that i can define as epic. maybe there are epic quests but trion failed to make them reachable by new players leveling for the first time.

[Deleted]

as a new player, i did not experience anything that i can define as epic. maybe there are epic quests but trion failed to make them reachable by new players leveling for the first time.

I have done them, they take a long time but they are pretty damn easy to access. Before you judge how epic anything is you obviously haven't tried anything in Storm legion because its all epic. My opinion yes but if you fail to find anything epic in SL you are obviously a moron, or not playing the game to a full extent IE: Just queing for IA's, Just the Zones themselves are epic in the Xpack. Are you even level 50 yet? its considered silly and void if you try to review an mmo before you actually get to endgame you know, its like saying, i got to level 10 there was nothing epic thrown in my face this game sucks.

There's no need to insult someone for having a different opinion, so please be respectful of others. -Edge

[WarpedAcorn]

Dealing with the Hag in Gloamwood seemed pretty epic TBH. It was ultimately easy and mundane, but from a lore and story perspective it was pretty epic.

Also, even low level NPC's have massive hardons for the player since they are Ascended. Its hard not to feel epic.

[Acquiesce of Telara]

Dealing with the Hag in Gloamwood seemed pretty epic TBH. It was ultimately easy and mundane, but from a lore and story perspective it was pretty epic.

Also, even low level NPC's have massive hardons for the player since they are Ascended. Its hard not to feel epic.

While the Hag was never really challenging, the curse placed on you used to make things REALLY annoying, but in an awesome way. Every few minutes you'd be transformed into a werewolf and if you were near guards you'd get attacked. Your only solution was to finish the quest for a cure and get it done A LOT sooner than later.

I absolutely adored questing in that part of Gloamwood though my first time through. I used to liken the castle in the northern part of the zone as a solo dungeon; you could easily get lost trying to navigate it, you had to LOS a lot of your pulls because the patting mobs would swarm you or snipe you from a distance, and it seemed like there were so many ledges you could fall off of and die if you weren't paying attention.

[Mouri Kogorou]

I have done them, they take a long time but they are pretty damn easy to access. Before you judge how epic anything is you obviously haven't tried anything in Storm legion because its all epic. My opinion yes but if you fail to find anything epic in SL you are obviously a moron, or not playing the game to a full extent IE: Just queing for IA's, Just the Zones themselves are epic in the Xpack. Are you even level 50 yet? its considered silly and void if you try to review an mmo before you actually get to endgame you know, its like saying, i got to level 10 there was nothing epic thrown in my face this game sucks.

it seems to me you do not read what i say, who is the ignorant now when i said twice that i have reached lvl 50. i can not judge on SL yet, but one thing i know is that i consider closing rifts and zone events are epic/cool. specially the one i just participated in in cape jule.