Pros
-Combining Classes is a good way to hide some weaknesses of certain classes. Using a Shaman ( melee DPS ) with a Warden or Sentinel allows you to keep yourself and others up. ( Shaman will be really overpowered IMO )
-Particle Effects are good.
-Rifts are a decent distraction at times and look pretty nifty. The best part isnt the rifts themselves but taking out invading parties.
Cons
-Probably the worst quest design I have seem.. Very similar to Warhammer. Do a few quests then are lead by the hand to to the next hub where you do a few more and then move on again.
-World design is very linear and the game world seems extremely small ( again like Warhammer ). Combine that with the previous linear questing and you have a problem. No reason to explore.. World is pretty lifeless. Atleast with LoTRO , EQ2 and WoW the world is large and there are things to see.
Just a single road throughout the whole land.. No do I go left? Right? Or keep going straight? Decisions. Or do I quest at X , Y or Z today? Its always X.
I bet the Commonlands in EQ2 is larger than both the level 1-20 areas in Rift combined.
-Rifts can also be annoying and probably will never be balanced properly. They arent dynamic and so will never react to how many people are participating. Which will end up causing a problem when a Rift pops up / invading party when someone is trying to play and they cant take it out leaving them screwed. Add in that there arent multiple areas to quest / play in ( unlike other games ) and you have another problem.
-Souls also have a downside because many of the same types are exactly the same. You are better off using different types together instead of similar styles. You also cannot pick what soul you want from the beginning. You have a choice of 3 shoved in your face at the start depending on which base class you chose ( Warrior , Cleric , Rogue , Mage ) and then at levels 6 you have some more shoved at you.. All in all you might just be playing the first 18 levels with classes you have no interest in playing. Just like EQ2 before they wised up and changed their class system.
P.S. Clerics are extremely overpowered.
-Performance for me ( and many others judging by the forums ) was downright terrible. No matter the settings I used I could barely crack 20 FPS. I gained MAYBE 2-5 FPS going from Ultra down to Minimum. A definite problem here. ( I pass the recommended requirements btw as do many others who brought it up in the beta forums ) Then you have others with much weaker PCs claiming they get 30-40FPS.
-The drawn out War feeling from level 1 is tiring after awhile just like it was in WAR. Its just a tiring setting.
-The Story is close to a single player adventure than to an MMO. Being told that I am the one to save the world is a bit stupid when the other thousand people before me were told the same thing.
I have read all of the quest text and I have to say that there isnt much story going on. Not enough to actualy mean anything anyway. " We chose you out of a body pile.. Go save the world. Oh but first be an errand boy. " LAME.
I will be staying far away from this game at this point.. If the World / Questing was better it could work but as of now its an exact copy of Warhammer. And worst of all they are using the exact same engine ( Gamebryo ).
Makes me wonder where that 100 million went..
slythetove posted:
The main questions are:
Is forced grouping required to do anything at any point along the way just to advance your character, especially at the top end?
Is the combat responsive like WoW or theoretically responsive like Aion / DAoC?
--Sly
1. No forced grouping.
2. I found the combat much worse than WoW.
