Rift MMO

[billybob476]

I actually gave STO another go this weekend. I may send in a comment updating folks in the next 2 or 3 weeks (out of town this weekend).

[Rico]

That would be great to hear about Joe.

- Also Katrin, I'd love to get a few minutes of audio from you about "Rift" for the podcast sometime.

[billybob476]

Well since I realized I haven't been logging into WoW lately I picked up Rift last night. I'm on Shadefallen on the Defiant side with those from my WoW guild who are also giving it a go.

I'm a level 3 cleric trying out melee DPS as a Shaman/Druid/Justicar.

Interesting so for. Simillar to WoW but different enough to be interesting. Loving the graphics as well. From screenshots I thought it looked a little too 'clean', but after getting in game I can appreciate the aesthetic.

Also, I really like the whole premise of the story, you're brought back as a reborn soldier and sent back in time. Kind of cool fantasy/sci-fi mix.

If I make it on the call this weekend I can speak to both STO and Rfit.

[Jobydrone]

Why are you taking a WoW break Joe?  I've been going full force, and having a blast.  My priest is at gear lvl 346 right now, well tuned for raiding as Holy or DPS and set for the new/old five man dungeons when they hit during the next content patch.  I'm having a good time running heroics and improving my gear to have a separate set for both the Holy and DPS specs.  And I've been doing dailies at Tol Barad every day for commendations and honor points as well, something I never thought I'd be doing.  I don't think I've ever had as much fun in WoW as I've been having recently.

[billybob476]

Yeah I am taking a bit of a break. I'm not sure why, when I log in I do enjoy myself but I just don't have the desire to log in. This is my third break from the game, it usually last a few months then I get the bug to come back.

[Rico]

Love to hear more about your thoughts on "Rift" Joe.  Sounds like it might be different enough from WOW to give it more of a try than just the Beta.

[billybob476]

Since Rico asked so nicely, here are some initial thoughts on Rift:

I got into this game without really reading much about it aside from stuff in this thread and some vague things I've heard in podcasts. I had downloaded the beta but was never able to find the time to log in. I came in knowing it was similar to WoW, you could have up to four specs, and that a lot of my guildies that were very hardcore into WoW were enjoying it. So I took the plunge and bought the game off Steam.

So down to it.

Graphics: From screenshots people had posted from the beta I wasn't incredibly impressed with the graphics. My observations were wrong. This game looks awesome. Unlike STO, I get good framerates, the animation is nice and fluid and the world also looks great! The character models are very nicely detailed. All of the races on the Defiant side are fairly human-looking which is a little bit disappointing but everything looks good.

Gameplay: As people in the beta know, there are four classes, Mage, Cleric, Warrior and Rogue. Each class can pretty much tank, heal or DPS. I'm not sure why but I decided to go for a Cleric and I decided to level him as a Shaman/Druid. Not sure why but melee DPS appealed to e that day :)

Control and UI wise this game basically mimics WoW. With that in mind I'll actually reiterate and say it mimics WoW with some of the basic addons you'd want. You can move and size pretty much anything on the screen. For the moment I'm going with the default UI with a few extra action bars turned on, but I know the UI redesign bug will hit me soon. There is no support for addons at the moment but we are told that's coming.

The game takes you to a type of tutorial right at the beginning that explains the whole soul system to you. You choose your first threee souls over a few levels.

Leveling: I'm at level 14 at the moment. Leveling via questing is quite fun, quests are pretty standard MMO types, collect X, Kill X, Talk to NPC X. This may sound dull but the context in which the quests are given to you make performing fairly mundane tasks entertaining. As you level you gain skills and abilities at a reasonable rate. So far (at level 14) it seems like the moment you start to get bored with a certain set of abilities or a rotation you get handed a new spell. It's not so much as to be overwhelming but quick enough so you stay interested.

You get talent points to put in your three soul trees starting at level 2. The fun thing here is that your spells and abilities are directly linked to how many points you add in a specific tree. So as you invest in a specific tree, not only do you get the benefit of whatever you put your talent points into, but your regular spells and abilities are also unlocked this way. This differs from WoW in that, in Rift, you do not buy new spells from your class trainer, only upgraded ranks of those spells you get via adding points into your talents.

One last note about talents, the game actually forces you to invest points in at least two trees as you level up. If you try and put too many points into a single tree, the game pops a warning saying you cannot add more points to this tree until you level up. This kind of forces you to play around a bit and not just invest in a single talent tree until you max it out.

Story: So far the story and world are very engaging. I really like the way they've been able to meld traditional fantasy with some elements of high tech. The machines they have still seem like they run on magic but technology is very present in the world.

So I guess that's it for now.

[Rico]

Great report and rundown Joe - thanks!  I'm even more tempted now to give it a go sometime.  Although my time lately has diminished even more.  But I hope to try it at some point.

[billybob476]

I also forgot to mention how much fun it is dealing with the randomly spawning Rifts. Even on a PvE server, it kind of gives you that 'oh crap' feeling you get on PvP without the jerky ganking and corpse camping.

[Rhen]

I actually gave STO another go this weekend. I may send in a comment updating folks in the next 2 or 3 weeks (out of town this weekend).

I started playing STO again about a week ago because I saw a story about them adding TOS skins.

I found a great group of adults to play with. http://stotosveteransfleet.guildlaunch.com/

They have added a ton of content and I am really enjoying it now. We will see if my enjoyment lasts.

[Rico]

So, I took a look this morning and Rift is on sale on Amazon.  Hard to pass up on $35.00 for the game.

http://www.amazon.com/Rift-Pc/dp/B002I0HIC8/ref=pd_bxgy_vg_text_c

Oh, if you want game play time cheaper, you can buy a 60 day game card too for only $25.  Saves you like $5.

http://www.amazon.com/Rift-day-game-time-card-Pc/dp/B004K66O2S/ref=pd_sim_vg_1

Here's one of my characters playing last weekend fighting off a Rift.

[billybob476]

Very cool, I have a cleric and a mage both around level 16, having lots of fun with the game!

[matagin]

I have been playing Rift too!  This game is AWESOME!!!  I've played WoW since 2004 and many other MMOs before that dating back to NeverWinter Nights on AOL back in the mid 90s.  Rift has everything you wish that WoW had.  The graphics are awesome, gameplay is so smooth and understandable, storyline is great.  Everything is great about it so far.  I love the public groups that you can join at rifts.  This game is very well done.  I usually pass on the lesser known MMOs because I think they will be low quality but not so on this one.  Everything is polished.  There are SO many class choices and you can mix and match them.  Like D&D multi-classing.  You get a little bit of everything is you want.  I quit playing WoW after Cataclysm and have had a very boring winter.  Rift has definitely gotten me excited about an MMO again!  I highly recommend it.

[Rico]

A friend of mine is playing quite a bit.  Are you finding the the Rifts get a bit annoying after awhile?  He said he finds it a bit of a bother to have to deal with Rifts all the time when questing and so forth.

[matagin]

I think the Rifts are awesome.  Haven't been a problem so far.