Rift Review
- Thread starter John Funk
- Start date
Hmmm, Looks interesting.
It is on Steam, so I might pick it up down the line after they fixed some bugs and glitches, maybe after the first expansion/major content update or if it goes on sale.
Good Review.
It is on Steam, so I might pick it up down the line after they fixed some bugs and glitches, maybe after the first expansion/major content update or if it goes on sale.
Good Review.
Wow... this isn't supposed to be a WoW clone? I mean, it has some cool ideas, but the HUD, the combat system, even the blue particle effects on the bodies of unlooted mobs, screams WoW as hard as it can.
FULLY dynamic? Come on, fellas, while the rifts are a nifty idea, there is very little that is dynamic about them, other than that they pop up at random intervalls, and grow in intensity if not closed.The Rift guys said:
I'd call the game barely dynamic, but give it the satisfaction of adding that it is still far more dynamic than most mainstream MMOs.
I'm playing it right now, but I agree with everything in this article. I'll also add that the game's art style isn't as charming as WoW and actually has less appeal, IMO. The selection of races is comparatively bland and the various pieces of armor feel uninspired in their design. Another issue is that I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot with any soul build that doesn't have a pet. Tried being a Pyro mage and then switched over to a Necromancer build and upped my survivability considerably. I also tried a dual-wield warrior dps build, but changed to a Paladin tanking build with a pet and greatly improved damage mitigation without really losing any dps. This is a downside to having all these different souls. Since there's no way of knowing who will use what, Each one has to be basically self-sufficient, meaning a lot of redundant abilities and meaning that there's no way to gimp a player with a pet to balance out with someone who doesn't have one.
Fortunately, the game captures my attention with the fact that it's not the same old world I've become jaded with in WoW, and by having a set of abilities that are comparatively fun to use when you find the right combination. It has some of the old appeal of Vanilla WoW because you still have to form groups and make connections.
To be honest, I'm only using this as an MMO to keep me occupied until TOR, at which point it's getting dropped like a hot rock, but it's fun enough for what it is.
Fortunately, the game captures my attention with the fact that it's not the same old world I've become jaded with in WoW, and by having a set of abilities that are comparatively fun to use when you find the right combination. It has some of the old appeal of Vanilla WoW because you still have to form groups and make connections.
To be honest, I'm only using this as an MMO to keep me occupied until TOR, at which point it's getting dropped like a hot rock, but it's fun enough for what it is.
Yes it's trying so hard to be WoW it's not funny. I played the beta a fair amount, and it does a decent job of doing many things better than WoW. I'm not currently looking for a game that's very like WoW at the moment. I'm still playing WoW fairly regularly.Dr_Horrible said:
Even Trion's marketing is so crap that the ONLY thing they can think of saying is "We're not in Azeroth any more". Really? So much they could say about the game, and the best idea is, that they're not WoW
I liked their use of Dynamic Content, but it just fell very short of feeling like an actual game changer.
Rifts appear at fixed spots at random intervals, and all rifts are essentially the same with different flavours.
I'm more excited about GW2 since they are completely replacing quests with dynamic content that isn't just copy-paste'd all over the map. GW2's dynamic events are all different from one another and branch into different dynamic events depending on their outcome.
Rifts appear at fixed spots at random intervals, and all rifts are essentially the same with different flavours.
I'm more excited about GW2 since they are completely replacing quests with dynamic content that isn't just copy-paste'd all over the map. GW2's dynamic events are all different from one another and branch into different dynamic events depending on their outcome.
Why is it that people think dynamic means it has to be completely different every time something occurs. All it means is that there is a random chance of a rift opening in a random location at a random time with a randomly chosen encounter. Being dynamic does not mean something has to be distinct every time it occurs. Anything that is dynamic still has certain parameters that it must abide by.
As far as the Rifts being static spawns, that's true only to the extent that there is only so many locations within a zone that it would even be possible for a rift to occur due to design and game mechanics. I know from personal experience that every zone has a massive amount of spawn locations and they also have mechanics in place to prevent a rift from spawning in the exact same spot over and over. Again this is one of the parameters of it being dynamic as apposed to being randomly distinct.
Guild Wars 2 will be no different for those of you who like to state "Guild Wars 2 will be better because it will be truly dynamic!". It will still be event A, B, or C occurs, with creature D, E, or F attacking outpost G, H, or I, leaving the players with a possible X, Y, or Z outcome. If you make a human warrior and 2 weeks later your buddy makes a human warrior as well you are both going to go through the exact same content to level up and that wont change. The only difference is that he may have to take part in an event in a certain village before he can do the other quests there where as you may have started working on those other quests prior to the event occurring.
As far as the Rifts being static spawns, that's true only to the extent that there is only so many locations within a zone that it would even be possible for a rift to occur due to design and game mechanics. I know from personal experience that every zone has a massive amount of spawn locations and they also have mechanics in place to prevent a rift from spawning in the exact same spot over and over. Again this is one of the parameters of it being dynamic as apposed to being randomly distinct.
Guild Wars 2 will be no different for those of you who like to state "Guild Wars 2 will be better because it will be truly dynamic!". It will still be event A, B, or C occurs, with creature D, E, or F attacking outpost G, H, or I, leaving the players with a possible X, Y, or Z outcome. If you make a human warrior and 2 weeks later your buddy makes a human warrior as well you are both going to go through the exact same content to level up and that wont change. The only difference is that he may have to take part in an event in a certain village before he can do the other quests there where as you may have started working on those other quests prior to the event occurring.
Right so I didn't read the review, rather I simply watched the video, I also didn't read any comments so maybe someone already stated this.
BUT
How could you possibly not notice that extra hud bars can be added, by simply selecting more through the options menue.
BUT
How could you possibly not notice that extra hud bars can be added, by simply selecting more through the options menue.
Still waiting for the impossible MMORPG where the dev team went through pretty much every feature of WoW and asked themselves "Can we make that completely different without making it way more inconvenient?"
From the "simple" things like making up a completely new fantasy world without magic-resurrection-for-great-plot-convenience-and [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameplayAndStorySegregation]-horrible-headaches-during-supposedly-dramatic-cutscenes, dragons, dwarves or elves or " by a different name" (the creativity is there, find the right people!) to more complex things like the combat mechanics (tho a start would be to try find a mix between fighting and something different (that doesn't involve grinding, which I realize is tough to do because nothing stretches MMO playtime as well as grinding) like the puzzles HL2 throws at you or the AC climbing sections). Or just for once don't give items stats and just let the players wear what they think look pretty (of course you get the golden armor later in the game than the tattered underwear).
Bring back the "fantasy" in "fantasy".
If an MMO sticks out these days and doesn't try to ride on WoW wave and deliver a cheaper service or something, it usually only puts one or two twists maximum on the existing mechanics and more often than not those twists aren't used to their full potential and have been forgotten by the next week. They're literally just "farts of creativity" that were produced to have something to answer when asked what makes it different from WoW.
Does anybody actually believe anymore they can be better than WoW by cloning most of it?
But like Extra Credits has already made depressingly clear, no big developers would spit out money for a daring and crazy project, and even the Indie scene isn't a guarantee good and fresh ideas make it out there.
I'm sorry, mates, you all know that crap, I just always get so frustrated when I see unused possibilities, like how all kinds of games try to be "realistic" (and always fail, because at the end of the day you'll still heal by having a good meal/potion or waiting behind the corner) when there's so much room for artistic stylization and fun without capping the target group at the age of 6 or making the game shallow or stupid.
Just needed to vent.
From the "simple" things like making up a completely new fantasy world without magic-resurrection-for-great-plot-convenience-and [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameplayAndStorySegregation]-horrible-headaches-during-supposedly-dramatic-cutscenes, dragons, dwarves or elves or " by a different name" (the creativity is there, find the right people!) to more complex things like the combat mechanics (tho a start would be to try find a mix between fighting and something different (that doesn't involve grinding, which I realize is tough to do because nothing stretches MMO playtime as well as grinding) like the puzzles HL2 throws at you or the AC climbing sections). Or just for once don't give items stats and just let the players wear what they think look pretty (of course you get the golden armor later in the game than the tattered underwear).
Bring back the "fantasy" in "fantasy".
If an MMO sticks out these days and doesn't try to ride on WoW wave and deliver a cheaper service or something, it usually only puts one or two twists maximum on the existing mechanics and more often than not those twists aren't used to their full potential and have been forgotten by the next week. They're literally just "farts of creativity" that were produced to have something to answer when asked what makes it different from WoW.
Does anybody actually believe anymore they can be better than WoW by cloning most of it?
But like Extra Credits has already made depressingly clear, no big developers would spit out money for a daring and crazy project, and even the Indie scene isn't a guarantee good and fresh ideas make it out there.
I'm sorry, mates, you all know that crap, I just always get so frustrated when I see unused possibilities, like how all kinds of games try to be "realistic" (and always fail, because at the end of the day you'll still heal by having a good meal/potion or waiting behind the corner) when there's so much room for artistic stylization and fun without capping the target group at the age of 6 or making the game shallow or stupid.
Just needed to vent.
Who ever said it wasn't a WoW clone?Dr_Horrible said:
Even though I don't play it, I can tell you from my beta + trial time, it's more fun and dynamic than WoW. It's not a huge upgrade... but between the two I'd choose Rift.
I doubt an MMO of this size/importance will go on sale any time soon, especially considering Rift's doing quite well for itself at the moment. I would say though, if bugs/glitches worry you more than saving a few bucks, feel free to pick it up right away. One of the big things Rift has going for it - is that it's the first MMO in a long time to come out of development pretty damn polished.LegoDudeGuy said:
i wrote a review about this game elsewhere so rather than rehash all of that i will simply say the following:
the game plays feels A LOT like WoW - there is simply no denying that. But given how well that model worked for Blizzard, why on earth would any developer stray far from that model? However since it's so similar, anyone who has played WoW (and really, how many of you have not?) will instantly experience an "I've done this before" feeling and ultimately i think that is going kick Rift right in the ass.
that being said the Rifts themselves are interesting and unique to the game, but they happen FAR too often in my opinion. as nice as a distraction as they were from the questing, they very often interfered with the very questing i was trying to accomplish. i should not be forced into joining a raid to stop an invasion i have no interest in, nor should i be forced to sit helplessly by while NPCs i need to complete quests are obliterated by an invasion since not enough players are around to stop it.
i played through level 20 something before i stopped and let my subscription lapse and i won't be going back.
oh and one thing the review missed is this: visually the game is a stunning step up from WoWs more animated style, BUT the armor in Rift looks god awful. it is incredibly bland and is in desperate need of some color, variety and excitement.
the game plays feels A LOT like WoW - there is simply no denying that. But given how well that model worked for Blizzard, why on earth would any developer stray far from that model? However since it's so similar, anyone who has played WoW (and really, how many of you have not?) will instantly experience an "I've done this before" feeling and ultimately i think that is going kick Rift right in the ass.
that being said the Rifts themselves are interesting and unique to the game, but they happen FAR too often in my opinion. as nice as a distraction as they were from the questing, they very often interfered with the very questing i was trying to accomplish. i should not be forced into joining a raid to stop an invasion i have no interest in, nor should i be forced to sit helplessly by while NPCs i need to complete quests are obliterated by an invasion since not enough players are around to stop it.
i played through level 20 something before i stopped and let my subscription lapse and i won't be going back.
oh and one thing the review missed is this: visually the game is a stunning step up from WoWs more animated style, BUT the armor in Rift looks god awful. it is incredibly bland and is in desperate need of some color, variety and excitement.
lol, if that were true i wouldn't have canceled my subscriptionJumwa said:
OT: Rifts class system is really incredible, shame the rest of the game couldn't live up to it. It feels like they spent a great deal of time building the engine, and class system, only to run up against the budget and deadline boss. Hopefully the next 'wow-killer' can use rifts talent system as a jumping off point, it's a good step for the genre.
To a Lord of the Rings Online player this looks like a subset of LotRO, graphicswise and gameplaywise. I am so not impressed by this.