Rift: Planes of Telara

[March]

Server names will change, apparently.  They will be announced in the next couple of days.

I played mostly defiant in beta, but I think I'm going guardian for release (probably pvp-rp).  I am probably going to level 2 characters at first, a ranger/bard/something and a purifier/warden/sentinel.

Ah, the best way to fuck up a headstart for preorders: confuse everyone on day 1 by not making server names available a week beforehand so people can coordinate <3

Heh, a good way, but not the *best* way... have you already forgotten WaR's plan to only allow headstart subscribers to play on headstart servers?

[kildorn]

Server names will change, apparently.  They will be announced in the next couple of days.

I played mostly defiant in beta, but I think I'm going guardian for release (probably pvp-rp).  I am probably going to level 2 characters at first, a ranger/bard/something and a purifier/warden/sentinel.

Ah, the best way to fuck up a headstart for preorders: confuse everyone on day 1 by not making server names available a week beforehand so people can coordinate <3

Heh, a good way, but not the *best* way... have you already forgotten WaR's plan to only allow headstart subscribers to play on headstart servers?

I try and pretend WAR didn't happen. The same way I cringe when I see pants with an experience bar on them.

[Morfiend]

Server names will change, apparently.  They will be announced in the next couple of days.

I played mostly defiant in beta, but I think I'm going guardian for release (probably pvp-rp).  I am probably going to level 2 characters at first, a ranger/bard/something and a purifier/warden/sentinel.

Its looking like we will probably go Guardian. So lets try to coordinate servers, since Sunrest will be no more.

[Ashamanchill]

Most of RL friends are sitting this one out (at least at the start), so I'm free to roll with BC.

[Nebu]

I try and pretend WAR didn't happen. The same way I cringe when I see pants with an experience bar on them.

Did you really have such a terrible time in WAR?  I found the first trip to the end game a lot of fun. 

Still debating if I'm going to play this at release or not.  It's a well-crafted game and all, but it just feels like it's missing something.  I'm normally more enthusiastic about an MMO than this.  Even Vanguard beta got me more excited to play than Rifts does. 

[Ghambit]

Server names will change, apparently.  They will be announced in the next couple of days.

I played mostly defiant in beta, but I think I'm going guardian for release (probably pvp-rp).  I am probably going to level 2 characters at first, a ranger/bard/something and a purifier/warden/sentinel.

Its looking like we will probably go Guardian. So lets try to coordinate servers, since Sunrest will be no more.

Uhh, how much "pvp" and how much "rp" is there going to be with thy guild?

[Bzalthek]

I try and pretend WAR didn't happen. The same way I cringe when I see pants with an experience bar on them.

Did you really have such a terrible time in WAR?  I found the first trip to the end game a lot of fun. 

Still debating if I'm going to play this at release or not.  It's a well-crafted game and all, but it just feels like it's missing something.  I'm normally more enthusiastic about an MMO than this.  Even Vanguard beta got me more excited to play than Rifts does. 

Not that I'm defending Rifts, but that's... broken.  I played Beta and open beta and I don't see how anyone could be excited by what we got.

[Jherad]

I usually try a pet class of some kind, but I'm having real difficulties finding something I like. Everything seems so... impersonal. The animals/summons all seem to have 'made in Taiwan' labels.

[kildorn]

I try and pretend WAR didn't happen. The same way I cringe when I see pants with an experience bar on them.

Did you really have such a terrible time in WAR?  I found the first trip to the end game a lot of fun. 

Still debating if I'm going to play this at release or not.  It's a well-crafted game and all, but it just feels like it's missing something.  I'm normally more enthusiastic about an MMO than this.  Even Vanguard beta got me more excited to play than Rifts does. 

First two pvp areas? Woo!

Every single thing after that? YE GODS MAN

[Threash]

Yeah warhammer, and i guess conan were pretty much perfect until level 20.  So far this one has been good until 42, i didn't get to see the end game but its earned at least a few months from me.

[Malakili]

I'm normally more enthusiastic about an MMO than this.  Even Vanguard beta got me more excited to play than Rifts does. 

I hadn't put my finger on it but this is more or less how I felt about this game after a few rounds of beta.  As well polished as it is, and all the good things that are well documented, it just didn't make me feel excited.  Its like...too clinical or something, everything felt just as I expected it.  I can't even argue that it was bad because of this, I just never felt that tug to play it very much, after the first 2 play sessions or so I was playing out of obligation.  And this is the most feature complete polished MMO we've seen in years.

I was excited for WAR too, I was excited for Champions Online (even after beta!), I was even excited for Hellgate for goodness sakes, but this game just makes me say "Yea, this is a really good solid game, I have no interest in playing it"

[ghost]

Its like...too clinical or something, everything felt just as I expected it.

Maybe it's because you've played it before.  All these MMOs are the same at the core. 

[Morfiend]

Server names will change, apparently.  They will be announced in the next couple of days.

I played mostly defiant in beta, but I think I'm going guardian for release (probably pvp-rp).  I am probably going to level 2 characters at first, a ranger/bard/something and a purifier/warden/sentinel.

Its looking like we will probably go Guardian. So lets try to coordinate servers, since Sunrest will be no more.

Uhh, how much "pvp" and how much "rp" is there going to be with thy guild?

Probably more of the first than the second. One of the officers is pretty amped to try a little RP. He was in a dungeon group the other day and they where all RPing and he said it was really fun. I would say the guild is probably going to be RP lite. Still pretty small, I think we have 13 people right now, with about halfish being from f13. The RP will be totally optional, but I am hoping if the game takes off for the guild we could maybe run a few RP events or something.

Other than that I love PVP.

[Bzalthek]

Some of the best RPing I've done was while drinking heavily and playing my dwarf in WoW.  I had a 'talk like a pirate" mod and pretended everything pissed me off.  Especially trees and other stationary objects.

Course, did I mention I was drinking heavily?

[Vinadil]

PvP and RP go well together... nothing pisses people off than knowing that you killed them simply for some RP reason... and that you will continue to do so any time you see them.  That plus the ability to stay cool and "in character" while they go off in chat is pretty humorous too.  I run with an all-dwarf guild that will be on one of the PvP servers here; and yes drinking seems to be a part of their role-play nights too :).

[Lantyssa]

I was excited for WAR too, I was excited for Champions Online (even after beta!), I was even excited for Hellgate for goodness sakes, but this game just makes me say "Yea, this is a really good solid game, I have no interest in playing it"

Maybe you just have a thing for terribly broken games.

Seriously though, maybe you knew they had problems, so your hopes about what they could be if fixed gave you something to look forward to.  Rationality wasn't so important as their imagined potential.  RIFT though, it's technically competent, so you can't pin your hopes on that magic fix as easily.

[Merusk]

I'm normally more enthusiastic about an MMO than this.  Even Vanguard beta got me more excited to play than Rifts does. 

I hadn't put my finger on it but this is more or less how I felt about this game after a few rounds of beta.  As well polished as it is, and all the good things that are well documented, it just didn't make me feel excited.  Its like...too clinical or something, everything felt just as I expected it.  I can't even argue that it was bad because of this, I just never felt that tug to play it very much, after the first 2 play sessions or so I was playing out of obligation.  And this is the most feature complete polished MMO we've seen in years.

I was excited for WAR too, I was excited for Champions Online (even after beta!), I was even excited for Hellgate for goodness sakes, but this game just makes me say "Yea, this is a really good solid game, I have no interest in playing it"

Do you also find yourself attracted to broken, lonely women, knowing that you can save them from the hell that is their life?

If so, I think I see the problem.

[Wasted]

Any of the other Aussies here got a guild going over? My (three) normal MMO friends aren't playing this and I don't want to be completely lonely.

[Abelian75]

Do you also find yourself attracted to broken, lonely women, knowing that you can save them from the hell that is their life?

If so, I think I see the problem.

Ha, I was totally going to make the same comment. :)  The last line was totally begging for it.  Probably it was meant to be more like "but I have no interest..." rather than the "therefore I have no interest" that it came across as.

[Draegan]

I was excited for WAR too, I was excited for Champions Online (even after beta!), I was even excited for Hellgate for goodness sakes, but this game just makes me say "Yea, this is a really good solid game, I have no interest in playing it"

Maybe you just have a thing for terribly broken games.

Seriously though, maybe you knew they had problems, so your hopes about what they could be if fixed gave you something to look forward to.  Rationality wasn't so important as their imagined potential.  RIFT though, it's technically competent, so you can't pin your hopes on that magic fix as easily.

That is a pretty keen observation.

[AcidCat]

 Its like...too clinical or something

Everything seems so... impersonal.

The game simply has no style of its own. It does not have any kind of unique aesthetic, no real character, in any aspect of its presentation. It is the perfect example of a game that is functional, has all the necessary features, but just has zero personality. It's a hard thing to define, but you can tell when it's missing. For me it's an absolute dealbreaker.

[Sobelius]

The game simply has no style of its own. It does not have any kind of unique aesthetic, no real character, in any aspect of its presentation. It is the perfect example of a game that is functional, has all the necessary features, but just has zero personality. It's a hard thing to define, but you can tell when it's missing. For me it's an absolute dealbreaker.

Not a deal breaker for me, but I see what you mean.

My single largest complaint in the 'personality' department is that the game's namesakes, the RIFTs, could and should be more than just whack-a-mole for each stage of the Rift. I started a thread in Beta Forums that got some traction around the idea of making the tentacles in the Rifts DO something (such as grab random players and eat them, or even just lash you for pain/knockback if you don't get out of the way). Something other than just be cosmetic decoration. Or if the RIFTs themselves could be used, before or after defeating them, to let you teleport your raid group into some random spot in enemy territory. Anything other than just a mob spewer a-la "Gauntlet". Each rift type could have had some kind of gameplay differentiator and so far (through level 21 that I saw), they just don't. After a while, I started to think of them as just the "fire one" or the "plant one" or the "purple and black one", then I'd hover over them on the map to see if they were of a level I was interested in attacking or wanted to avoid.

I will say, though, that the world/terrain itself feels more handcrafted than cut-and-pasted, and I like the way the Rift/Invader effects change the existing land as they move over it.

[kildorn]

My main impersonal complaint is that it feels like the story has absolutely nothing to do with the questing until the last 3-4 quests of the zone chain.

I WILL say it's a nice touch that the loading screens when portaling into a zone remind you where you are in the plot (whatnots are rampaging, then soandso has a sinister plot afoot, then later now that you have defeated the whathaveyou), but you tend to outlevel the actual zone completion quest and never do them to figure out why the hell you were there in the first place.

[Dark_MadMax]

My main impersonal complaint is that it feels like the story has absolutely nothing to do with the questing until the last 3-4 quests of the zone chain.

Wow people are still reading the quests? I got to 42 and still have no  clue who guardians or defiants are.   And it doesn't matter in the slightest bit. Because no matter what lore says  its all completely BS,  yeah I am "the hero" (along with every other "legolazz" on server),  no one ever changes anything . So why bother at all - its allways  kills x foozles and its cosmetic variations

Red is dead all i need to know defiant and guardians wise .The rest of the world is static background ( I seen many times before)  and therefore irrelevant

[Hawkbit]

Sounds like you'd enjoy a wireframe version of TF2 instead of what we have. 

You might feel it's bland, and yes, it is not as engaging for me as other games have been in the past.  It is a good game and I'll play it for a few months at least, but it is missing "something".  But if you're not reading the quests or stopping to care about the story, that's your fault.  Outside of doing what SWTOR is trying to do with story, I'm not sure what else can be done for folks who complain about this.  Unless we want to start paying a premium, maybe $30/mo for AoC Tortage style questing through the game, or cutscenes, or whatever. 

The fact that you can't slow down and read, though, that's not the dev fault. 

[Nebu]

It is a good game and I'll play it for a few months at least, but it is missing "something". 

This is nagging at me.  I have read every post in this thread and feel like I missed something while playing.  Jaded f13 MMO gamers really seem to love this game (though I remember a similar thing in WAR beta).  Why don't I love this game?  It's rock solid.  It transitions well.  Still, it feels like it's missing a hook.  Every time I play I can get a toon to level 10 or 12 and lose interest.  Am I just burned out on MMOs?  I'm really trying to convince myself that I just have to give it more of a chance. 

Could any of you that have made it to level 40 or so encapsulate what it is about this game that has grabbed your attention?  I need some optimism here. 

[Malakili]

I was excited for WAR too, I was excited for Champions Online (even after beta!), I was even excited for Hellgate for goodness sakes, but this game just makes me say "Yea, this is a really good solid game, I have no interest in playing it"

Maybe you just have a thing for terribly broken games.

Seriously though, maybe you knew they had problems, so your hopes about what they could be if fixed gave you something to look forward to.  Rationality wasn't so important as their imagined potential.  RIFT though, it's technically competent, so you can't pin your hopes on that magic fix as easily.

Thats probably at least part of it, if not a majority of it. 

On a practical level,I guess RIFT just doesn't do enough different from WoW for me.  I mean, I have an active subscription to WoW, a guild to play with that I've been a member of for 6 years (that is full of awesome people who are alway swilling to have me back even when I've taken long breaks and am not raiding), a smattering of characters to allow for different kinds of gameplay (healing, DPS, tanking) depending on what I'm in the mood for.   RIFT basically just removes those things in favor of a bunch of new leveling content I haven't done before, and that really isn't enough for me.

With WAR I thought I was going to get an open world PvP game, in Champions the super hero hook was enough, and in Hellgate the Diablo-esque actiony style was enough.   I guess the allure of something different is part of it, and Rift doesn't seem to offer me up much new.   

Annother huge part of my enjoyment of any game comes not just from the playing of the game, but from the "being a player" of said game, if that makes any sense.  I like being a part of the community, and learning/discussion mechanics, and musing about strategies or ideas while walking down the street.  Rift didn't inspire me to want to do any of that, even if the actual game itself is solid.

[Nebu]

Rift didn't inspire me to want to do any of that, even if the actual game itself is solid.

I could see there being a great opportunity for theorycrafting when it comes to trees and builds.  That's probably the best thing this game has going for it.  Unfortunately, I fear that power imbalances will limit the opportunities to just a few select builds that maximize synergy.  Gah... that sounds like a marketing meeting!

[Segoris]

Am I just burned out on MMOs?  I'm really trying to convince myself that I just have to give it more of a chance.

This seems to be the case reading your comments and concerns imo.

Could any of you that have made it to level 40 or so encapsulate what it is about this game that has grabbed your attention?  I need some optimism here.  

Plain and simple - I enjoy diku still when playing with friends and like minded people. Also, I enjoy the soul system greatly and rifts to a point. Rifts do get a bit different it seems, but nothing I've seen yet are different enough to say that they are "amazingly awesome worth leveling just to see" type of different.

I agree it misses personality, which seems to be a silver lining of more ambitious yet buggy MMOs.

Edit - yes there will be a loss of synergy with some builds, but for the most part they still seem to be more synergistic than people have given them credit for after adjustments.

[Dark_MadMax]

Could any of you that have made it to level 40 or so encapsulate what it is about this game that has grabbed your attention?  I need some optimism here. 

Souls. That about it. I like templating and Rift provides some options there (not nearly as expansive as SB  though) . I can see it last a month  or two. Ohh and the fact that leveling is lighting fast.  3 days played  for lvl 42. Lots of it was dicking around in world pvp and raids too. Had it been any kind of grind I prolly would  have quit before hitting 20

[Draegan]

Zone Wide Invasions.  Best thing about the game hands down.

[Bzalthek]

I concur.  It's been a while since I've looked up and went 'Oh fuck!'  EQ had a lot of moments like that with mobs that were disparate in levels compared to the zone average.  (Sand Giants for example.)  But that could be rose-colored glasses since EQ popped my cherry.  WoW had it at times too like that giant mechanoid in Hellfire, or the Devilsaurs.  I thought Rift felt a little bland at first, but when I looked at the map and saw the entire thing covered in rifts and invasion points and joined the zerg to destroy all things Fae, I became a fanboy. 

For now at least.

[Nebu]

Thank you Segoris, Draegan, and Dark Mad Max.  I found myself getting pretty negative and wanted to open my mind up a bit.  I think I may give this a month.  I'm certain that the game is worth the box cost at the very least.

[Malakili]

Zone Wide Invasions.  Best thing about the game hands down.

These absolutely got me excited when I played my first 2 beta events.  My only complaint was that they felt like too rare an event.  I will say that while i'm not buying Rift at launch, its not inconceivable that I will buy it in the future after some more info comes out.  Especially if Bat Country has some kind of presence there in the medium to long term.   

[Threash]

Especially if Bat Country has some kind of presence there in the medium to long term.   

So never then.