2701

I resubbed for a month a while back. It was pretty nicely polished and I had some fun leveling new characters (the new systems for souls and stuff pretty much made it mandatory to level newbies to get the hang of how to play my higher level toons from earlier), but it, again, failed to really grab me. It’s a solid game, but perhaps I’m no longer really “into” that experience any more.

2702

I played Rift for oh, 8 months or so from the date of release. And I really enjoyed my time. It was incredibly polished from day 1. Yeah it had those release blips but for the most part it went amazingly smoothly and at least for me it was very playable right out of the box.

I really thought they did a great job on the artwork, graphics and the fact that my cleric was ranged dps, melee dps and a healer with a click of a button game me lots of game play. Trion was great about updating, adding content and listening to the player base. It seemed like they put out some type of new content very regularly even if it was just some type of minor celebration with a new set of dailies with some cool new loot.

The world events were what really captivated me. Huge groups running all over town preventing an invasion was just a ton of fun.

While I don’ t think I will go back…but you never know. What I am hoping is that Guild Wars 2 with it’s massive world events will satisfy.

2703

All accounts are active for former subscribers from July 25 to the 29th for anyone interested in giving this a shot before the expansion.

2704

Yeah, I think I’m gonna check it out and see if the boredom factor has improved.

2705

I’ll probably check it again when i’m back home.

IIRC, Rift didn’t like this laptop, at all :(

2706

I’m still getting pretty bad performance with this game. It’s around 15 fps in the cities, 25-30 in the landscape. Playable, but just barely. Course I have a pretty old graphics card, but everything else seems to run pretty well.

Long shot, but any Drop Bears left in this game?

2707

Many things right with the game - but just as many really, really wrong with it.

I’m sticking with TSW/TOR for my MMO fix - for now.

2708

I’m a bit surprised there has been no discussion about the new RIFT Storm Legion expansion…

The official forums are on fire with positive feedback.

Anyone here pick it up yet?

-Arboris

2709

I haven’t been able to sink much time into it yet, but I plan on playing a lot this weekend and over Thanksgiving break. So far it fixes one of my main problems with Rift; the world no longer feels as sparse. Questing is still kinda eh, but they’ve moved to a model where quests like “Kill 10 of x” are picked up by killing one of said mob and automatically turned in after you’ve fulfilled the objective – so kinda GW2ish in that regard, but it also still has the “talk to X person who tells you to go to this other area” quests as well.

2710

Douglas, are they reworking the whole game so you don’t have to turn in kill quests, or is that just on the new continent? Also, have you tried any of the new hunting rifts yet? I’d be curious to hear what those are like.

-Tom

2711

Tom, the old world was not reworked. However, it’s worth noting that a few patches back they added something called “Instant Adventures”, which you can sign up for at level 10 and can be used to level all the way up to 50. IAs group you with other people and generate quests for you to take on throughout the zone without any of the hassle of picking them up or actually turning them in. IAs also exist on the new continents.

I don’t have a good take on Hunt Rifts yet. I’ve done a few, but they seem like regular rifts but harder. Some spawn throughout the world, but you can also purchase lures to force spawn them.

The housing stuff has been a big hit with my guild – which I would sum up as “casual guild that raids” – so far. Our guild leader hasn’t done much EXPing yet because she’s been spending so long decorating our guild dimension. :)

Edit: Something else to note: factions no longer matter if you’re on a PvE server (thank goodness). This was something done in one of the last content patches before the update, but sort of a nice-to-know thing for people who haven’t played in a while. :) You can’t enter the opposing faction’s old capital city still, but there is a new capital called Tempest Bay in the new areas for both factions and it is a looker.

2712

lol rift forums are so funny. god forbid a person complain about anything. those fanboys are rabid over there and go hostile. but still fun to read. love to see some good nerdrage!!!

2713

Well I started this due to playing Defiance and so far it’s a tidy game. Playing a Guardian and level 10 so far but i’m enjoying this along with Defiance depending on my mood. Looks nice, plays well, love the dimension housing stuff. heck I even did fishing which is more than can be said about WoW.

The changes mentioned above are nice and picked up a few nice things already. Levelling seems quick and simple but not done any IA’s yet.

2714

Free to Play time!

In a (as it reads right now anyway) surprisingly un-punitive-to-the-free player way.

2715

Huh. I thought it was F2P already.

2716

When I tried Rift a few months ago, you could play for free until level 20, but then you had to subscribe.

2717

I initially dismissed this, but Trion is actually doing something really interesting with Rift’s conversion. They give you the entire game for free.

The only restriction for F2P is that you only get 2 character slots and 3 bag slots, which will obviously be sold in the cash shop. Beyond that, you get the full game, exactly as if you were paying their subscription fee today-- and if you purchased Rift at any point in the past, like I have, you get the full 6 character slots and 5 bag slots, exactly as if you were paying the subscription today.

This is kinda revolutionary.

If you “subscribe”, which they’re now selling in 3, 14, and 30 day increments, you get a bunch of bonuses. You loot extra money, mounts are faster, and there are some other nice perks too, but all of them are in addition to what you would get if you subscribed today.

They’re also selling “REX”, obviously inspired by EVE’s PLEX. But instead of converting to a subscription, it’s a tradeable item, purchasable for cash, that when used provides “credits”, the cash shop currency. Again, tradeable. So this allows “free” players to actually subsidize subscribers and kills gold farmers, because it allows players to set the exchange rate for in-game gold.

It’s a bold move. The exact opposite of the pussies at SOE. Trion is embracing F2P substantially more than the previous leader, Turbine, and they’re doing so in a customer-friendly way. I hope they succeed, they deserve to succeed, and that this becomes the standard for MMOs in the future.

2718

This is what they should have done when the expansion released (make 1-60 free, expansion pay). Though it was one of the most boring MMOs I’ve ever experienced in terms of story/theme, it’s still one of the most polished and just all-around solid MMOs you will find.

2719

That looks pretty decent. My son likes the occassional MMO, but no way we’re paying for multiple monthly subs (daddy gets the WoW sub!). Rift is one of the better non-WoW games out there that I know of (excluding GW2 which has a buy-in cost).

2720

I don’t know. EVE has an advantage over other MMO systems economically with built in gold sinks and ties to crafting. Any system prone to mudflation on one end and exchange to real currencies on the other would need to have pegging or other behind the scenes adjusting done. Though I can see the desired effect on gold farmers. Though right now the boards (Rift’s) are saying gear will be in the cash shop. Not top end, but the ability to buy your way through the lower tiers into the current one. Again, I can see that helping anyone who decides to raid mid/late expansion cycle, which is where they are now. I don’t see the first as workable in a game not designed with proper sinks, and I really don’t see the second as player friendly except for people with lots of money intent on getting into the raid logging pattern asap. And adding enough gold sinks may become player unfriendly.

Don’t get me wrong, I think EVE and its economy are great, I just don’t see that as easily translatable to a PvE endgame MMO that isn’t designed for it. I liked Rift too as a game and recently took a trip back through and left again. The content is still pretty good, the community had gone seriously downhill. I don’t see that improving any w/F2P. No community, no loyalty. I did find many decent people but most in small sub-guilds of larger multi-game guilds. Alliances to raid some, but mostly happy to be small and ignore/avoid the rather poor general community. LOTRO had better community. But with less raid endgame, the small guilds could still get what they wanted done. But LOTRO has community building things, like the music system and lore. EVE even has community building, but as appropriate for PvP through the need of people at your back and paranoia.

I think the MMO that figures out how to make the games worth playing with people online again, not who has the most creative monetization plan, deserves to be the standard for the future. Getting more money from those that show up is well and good, but getting people to show up after three months is going to be the real trick. Right now you get them by giving it away, but I think that will have diminishing returns for all those games eventually.