Just from the video it looks pretty, but it going to need a hell of a lot more then that. Combat to me looks clunky and boring. To learn more I'll have to read Sprawl's review, but I won't be running out to buy it that is for sure.

 

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A good summary, EM and that's why I may be skipping it. It's a good game, well done and one of the best I've seen since 2004.

But there's nothing different about it. It's WoW minus all the silly and goofy stuff that make WoW what it is. That's not a bad thing, it takes itself slighly more seriously. Still, it's a clone right down the UI, screen layout, game options and talents.

I think people are looking for something different at this point.

 

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Just to give one idea about the versatility of the classes:

During beta 4 I played a Cleric. For my souls I chose Shaman, Sentinel, Justicar. This mix turned my cleric into a heavy 2h melee with single target/aoe heals based off my melee attacks, elemental weapon attacks, damage shields and buffs for my group.

Switching points between Shaman and Sentinel dictated whether I was dpsing or tanking while still keeping my heals from the Justicar tree.

I even toyed with a few quirky specs, like I switched Sentinel with Inquisitor. This removed my tanking option and furthered my ability to pump out DPS by adding DoT's to my arsenal.

There's so much room for creativity with the system that is in place, I can't wait to see how it evolves over time.

 

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Still haven't heard anything about end-game (and that's frankly all I'm interested in).

Is it raiding, grouping, soloing, pve, pvp, etc etc...?

 

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I've been following the game for about a year now, and have been in every beta event and I cant freaking wait until Feb 24th to get here (head start). They didn't re invent the wheel nor did they ever claim they were going to. What they do they do it very well, the Rift's are great fun, the soul system is brilliant and the graphics are insanely nice. Along with the fact that it plays like it's been out for years. I do wish people would stop saying it stole this and this from x mmo.. all mmos for the most part have stolen ideas from other mmos. Trion takes ideas were all familiar with and expands them in their own way, and it works very well in my opinion. The soul system is what I'm loving the most, the extent of flexibility is unreal. Anyways, I think it's a great game and have already pre ordered it but, that's just me, different strokes for different folks.

It's gonna be all those same things from WoW, if we are being honest for endgame. They have Warfronts (battlegrounds) where you earn favor (honor) and renoune (reputation) to purchase epic gear. Likewise, I believe I remember hearing their are 6 dungeons, not sure the size, but probably 5-20 people since that is the max raid size (I think).

RIFT is not for people looking for a completely new game. It is for people that love the (dare I say) WoW genre, but want something different that brings a new storyline, new things to fight over, and a pretty cool way to build your character. Who knows how balance will turnout, except for the alpha players still under nda?

Seriously though, for everyone that claims it is the journey, not the destination, RIFT or any new MMO that is fun for even a couple of months is worth the price and subscription, in my opinion.

 

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FTFY.

 

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I am not sure whether I will play it in retail or not. I like the soul system and the variability, and I've heard that there are ways to create an almost exact replica of a DAoC sorcerer, which makes me just a little bit moist in my pants. I have longed to play my sorc again in a new environment. This is definitely the biggest draw.

It's just so much of the same for everything else, though.

What I am hoping is that they are trying to get enough money initially to cover their costs and draw a large base of subscribers, and then start developing new ideas and helping their game diverge further away from the WoW model.

 

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I've only taken part in 2 beta events for Rift (would have been 3 but I was out of town that weekend). Thus far it is a very polished game, with a LOT of potential. However there is also a huge potential for min/maxing. Some might see this as a plus, others a hinderance. For example, if you take a Ranger role (ranged dps) you will suffer considerably if you don't follow a predesignated path to maximize DPS. I can only imagine the same holds true for other DPS roles.

On the other hand, the entire soul system allows for HUGE amounts of customization and ingenuity. Tanking and healing roles tend to meld a bit, almost like they borrowed from FFXI in the Paladin class, but even more than that. FFXI meets WoW. It's actually really interesting and really fun.

Will this be a WoW killer? No. Nothing will be a WoW killer until Blizzard totally screws up the game, as in a complete NGE (from Star Wars Galaxies) overall that pushes away a huge number of the player base.

In regards to other MMOs aside from WoW, will this compete? Abso-freaking-lutely. I used to switch from one MMO to the other, the main one being WoW and the other being either CoH and SWG. I can see this replacing both CoH and SWG, at least until GW2 comes out, maybe even until SW:TOR hits the shelves.

 

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While the rifts are borrowed heavily from the PQ system in War, there is a major difference.

In war, if you ignored a PQ it just kept through it's cycle.

In rift, you ignore one, it gets bigger, turns into a foothold, and eventually spawns an invasion which takes over the entire zone (including towns and quest hubs).

Also, with the soul system, there are 336 different rogues, 336 different warriors, mages and clerics, and I don't really forsee a "cookie cutter" problem as so many souls handle different situations.

Tanking Rogues
Healing Mages
DPS Clerics

being able to collect all 8 souls for your "Calling", and being able to swap them out as you see fit, it's kind of nifty, so if you want to be a stabbity stab assassin, but want to try a ranged hunter, swap out your souls, no need to roll up a new rogue, unless you want to.

They also have a 9th soul per calling just for pvp, you unlock new tiers by gaining ranks (Kind of like the RR system of DAoC with a WoW talent skin on it).

I've beta'd just about ever new MMO since WoW launched, and rift is the only one i've logged into a second time.

 

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