Rift: Planes of Telara

[Lakov_Sanite]

The contribution system is simply retarded.  Last night, on my Paladin, I soloed a rift during an invasion, and I couldn't max out the contribution meter.  It got about 3/4ths of the way up, and stopped, turning grey.  Stayed that way pretty much the rest of that phase of the rift, until I hit my shield throw ability on the last mob, at which point it jumps to full.  Still didn't get shit for finishing the rift, just 9 planerite, and a useless consumable.

Might be a bug, or something, but that seems to be the way it goes in pretty much every rift I've done on the Paladin.  Outside of the bosses from two invasions last night, I get a handful of planarite, and the usual random healing/damage consumable from the rifts.  On the bosses, I got like 20 odd planarite, and a blue stone, and 2 consumables.  I keep hearing stories about the loot in these things, but I've yet to see anything drop.  Maybe if I stop trying, and just train the gathering professions, and spam those, I'll do better, apparently.   

Sounds like you need to work the larger invasions rather than solo-rifting.  I had the same occurence as you did until I focused on rift-invasions that require 40-mans to defeat.  THAT'S when the shards really pile up.
And when you think about it minor rifts really arent an issue quest-wise, so it behooves you to handle the larger invasions so you can get back to business as usual. 

If minor rifts are essentially a waste of time, they shouldn't be there. I'm all for going in with one/two people and taking a break from questing to seal a rift but at least make it semi-worthwhile to do so. Otherwise they are just scenery

[Threash]

They are not a waste of time if you are by yourself.  You can't go and solo a major rift.

[Special J]

I did the beta on a Core Duo 2 GHz with an ATI x1400 mobility chip (early '06) and it ran alright. Nothing stellar but playable. It seemed to lag a bit when there was a ton of mobs, npc's and pc's all in the same place but I attributed that to a.) open beta and b.) everybody and his brother checking it out to see if it was the new WoW killer.

I'm somewhat close to that.  My processor is a little slower (1.83GHz Core 2 Duo) but my GPU is decent (Mobile Radeon HD 2600).

Great.  Now I have to actually consider playing.

[Rendakor]

They are not a waste of time if you are by yourself.  You can't go and solo a major rift.

They actually kind of are; the XP from them isn't great and Planarite is useless if you don't have the Blue/Purple shards to actually buy gear with it. I'm at an awkward level on my server (37) as there aren't enough people in my leveling zones for major rifts to actually appear frequently; the few times we had a big event happen in Scarwood we failed because there weren't enough people to defend the wardstones. I realize this is partially my fault for outleveling the zerg, but it's still shitty. On the other hand, at least this shows that the newbie zones won't be roflstomped by tons of major rifts in the coming months/years as they start to depopulate.

[Outlawedprod]

Remember the loot lock, where your toon would be stuck in the looting animation, sometimes until you logged out/in?  Good times, those were.

How about the Menethil boat to Kalimdor that would despawn and kill it's passengers in the ocean.  Remember Captain Placeholder!

[Lakov_Sanite]

They are not a waste of time if you are by yourself.  You can't go and solo a major rift.

As said above, they ARE a waste of time because the rewards are not greater than you would get if questing. Rifts should be something special, something you 'want' to do and if you re solo you don't want to do them.

[Koyasha]

They are not a waste of time if you are by yourself.  You can't go and solo a major rift.

They actually kind of are; the XP from them isn't great and Planarite is useless if you don't have the Blue/Purple shards to actually buy gear with it. I'm at an awkward level on my server (37) as there aren't enough people in my leveling zones for major rifts to actually appear frequently; the few times we had a big event happen in Scarwood we failed because there weren't enough people to defend the wardstones. I realize this is partially my fault for outleveling the zerg, but it's still shitty. On the other hand, at least this shows that the newbie zones won't be roflstomped by tons of major rifts in the coming months/years as they start to depopulate.

It also shows that if they depopulate, then rifts will become a useless annoyance to low level characters (and a useless annoyance to max level characters once everyone has bought everything they can buy with planarite/shards).  That's the main thing that concerned me about the game - whether rifts and invasions will scale properly when there's only like six guys in the entire zone.  Answer: They won't.

[Rendakor]

They scale fine from a difficulty perspective, it's just that the rewards need some work. As it stands they're good fun, and a decent way to pad out the XP when you're close to a level or something.

[Sobelius]

It also shows that if they depopulate, then rifts will become a useless annoyance to low level characters (and a useless annoyance to max level characters once everyone has bought everything they can buy with planarite/shards).  That's the main thing that concerned me about the game - whether rifts and invasions will scale properly when there's only like six guys in the entire zone.  Answer: They won't.

I don't agree. I played in the wee hours one night this week and found myself soloing a minor rift. One other player showed up. We managed to close it and I enjoyed the experience. No, it's not a major rift or a major invasion, but I felt grateful Rifts scaled to as few as two people.

[Koyasha]

And that minor rift is completely useless to you if you can never defeat a major rift.  Not only defeat a major rift, but defeat it fast enough to get the bonus stages, because as far as I can tell, the blue shards only drop if you defeat at least one bonus stage.  So if low level/leveling zones don't have enough population to do major rifts and massive invasions, then a person might do a few rifts and have fun, then look at what they're getting from them and go, 'uh...so why am I doing these, when I can never get the equipment?'

I posit that if a zone's population is low enough at the time, then minor rifts should give blue shards and major rifts should give purples, just to allow people to at least have a chance to obtain them if the zone is mostly deserted.  That way, if the zone is busy you can do major rifts and invasions for your shards, and if the zone is deserted, you can do minor rifts and major rifts for your shards.

[Lantyssa]

Oh no!  The game has content that doesn't give you a blowjob for doing it!  This game is obviously shit.

[trias_e]

On the plus side, planarite is needed for every purchase, so stockpiling til level 50 isnt a bad idea anyways.

[Abelian75]

I've gotten blue shards from two-manning rifts and invasions.  In fact it seems like the rewards tend to be substantially better when you've got a tiny party (though that makes sense, as you don't get to do nearly as many of them).  I dunno, from what I've seen things scale extremely well.  The concerns are still valid, though, don't get me wrong.  It may be that in order for the idea to work, it has to scale not just extremely well, but holy-fuckingly well.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Oh no!  The game has content that doesn't give you a blowjob for doing it!  This game is obviously shit.

Shit, just a handjob would be nice. Minor rfts aren't a positive in any sense as they are they are less productive than questing(at least in pre-30 levels) the planarite is nice but you'll get what, 7-10 and maybe a bad consumable? I'm not saying they need to drop purples but sht, just up the rewards a little bit.

If doing a minor rift solo takes as much time as a solo quest the reward should at least be equal to a quest or a little greater considering rifts are supposed to be the point of the game.

Yes doing rifts is fun, the first couple dozen or so times but after you've done a few solo and seen them give you a pittance you just start ignoring them.  You know what a solo rift is? its ten mobs all standing around waiting for you to kill them. That's not dynamic or exciting, in fact you can even find those same mob models all over the goddamned world just waiting to be killed and looted. If all rifts are going to be(especially solo/minor ones) is kill wave of five-repeat. Then the rewards better be worthwhile because that type of content gets old fast.

[Hawkbit]

This game would be pretty good if it wasn't for all the fucking rifts.

[Lakov_Sanite]

The rifts need tweaking, its still a great concept but essentially "spawn X mobs in random location" is not terribly exciting.

[Nebu]

The rifts need tweaking, its still a great concept but essentially "spawn X mobs in random location" is not terribly exciting.

This is going to be the death of this game if they don't find a way to make the invasions more engaging. 

I enjoyed the hell out of this game for the first week.  After that, it really smacks of generic_MMO_0735 + random mob spawns.  While the release was done very well, the shine is wearing off quickly.  If I'm forced to group and raid for everything once I hit cap, I'm sure I won't last beyond the free month.  Still, it's well worth the box cost in entertainment value. 

[Soulflame]

You can get to the bonus stage of a major rift with something like 6 people.

I fail to see the problem.

[Lakov_Sanite]

You can get to the bonus stage of a major rift with something like 6 people.

I fail to see the problem.

Because we're not talking about major rifts?

[Modern Angel]

I don't want to be That Guy (no, okay, I do) but at some point when you're just recoiling like a scalded dog from grouping with other people? It's time to stop kvetching about MMOs making you group and realize that you don't like MMOs. Not... I do not like dikus or whatever. I mean, you do not like socialization beyond chatting in a video game.

I am sorry that you do not like MMOs.

[Lakov_Sanite]

People need to stop missing the fucking point. I'm not saying all solo content should be as good as grouping content. I'm not even saying you should remove major rifts but IF you are gonna have solo content in the minor rifts which this game already has built in, it should at LEAST be equal in reward/time spent/fun to the OTHER solo content built into the game. Else why even have minor rifts?

[Gunzwei]

People need to stop missing the fucking point. I'm not saying all solo content should be as good as grouping content. I'm not even saying you should remove major rifts but IF you are gonna have solo content in the minor rifts which this game already has built in, it should at LEAST be equal in reward/time spent/fun to the OTHER solo content built into the game. Else why even have minor rifts?

They're really only worth going out of your way at 50 to do them since they net 200+ planarite at that level in addition to some other goodies. While leveling they're just annoying since the xp from them is much lower than it was in beta.

[Modern Angel]

I just closed a minor rift in Scarlet Gorge. I got a good chunk of Planarite, a rare major stone for my Focus (I had better but it should net a solid chunk of change on the AH), two of the do damage to rift critter doohickies and a collection item. That's *completely fine* compared to other solo(ish) activities.

[Rendakor]

Did you solo it closed MA? I've gotten rewards like that when we had 3-4 people and could do all the bonus stages, but by myself it's usually a pittance of Planarite and one of the 4 things you got.

[Modern Angel]

Had one other dude with me, which is part of the reason I put "solo(ish)"

[Sky]

I am sorry that you do not like MMOs.

[Nebu]

I am sorry that you do not like MMOs.

MMORPG = Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.  Where in that acronym does it say that I have to depend on 5 mouth-breathers to play the game?  Required grouping is a cockblock mechanism originally implemented to build social networks and aid in retention for the purpose of retaining subscriptions.  It has fuckall to do with PvE gameplay in an age where you can replace the average gamer with an equally incompetent NPC. 

[Bzalthek]

I'm either soloing or popping in public groups for invasions and rifts.  I haven't had a problem yet.  Sometimes the rewards for rifts sucks, sometimes it's good.  The public group mechanics needs a little ironing out, yet I don't see any of the fun wearing out.  I don't do them all the time, but frequently. *shrug*

[Draegan]

They are not a waste of time if you are by yourself.  You can't go and solo a major rift.

They actually kind of are; the XP from them isn't great and Planarite is useless if you don't have the Blue/Purple shards to actually buy gear with it. I'm at an awkward level on my server (37) as there aren't enough people in my leveling zones for major rifts to actually appear frequently; the few times we had a big event happen in Scarwood we failed because there weren't enough people to defend the wardstones. I realize this is partially my fault for outleveling the zerg, but it's still shitty. On the other hand, at least this shows that the newbie zones won't be roflstomped by tons of major rifts in the coming months/years as they start to depopulate.

You're going to need 7500 planarite at 50 for the high level Focus.  4 Lesser slots 2 Greater.

[Draegan]

The rifts need tweaking, its still a great concept but essentially "spawn X mobs in random location" is not terribly exciting.

Nope, this is not the case.  There are a variety of different types of Rifts.  Council Events, escorts, kills, multiple bosses, waves of mobs coming at you you need to defend etc. etc.

People need to stop missing the fucking point. I'm not saying all solo content should be as good as grouping content. I'm not even saying you should remove major rifts but IF you are gonna have solo content in the minor rifts which this game already has built in, it should at LEAST be equal in reward/time spent/fun to the OTHER solo content built into the game. Else why even have minor rifts?

There are plenty of reasons to farm Minor Rifts at 50.  Essences (greater and lesser), planarite so you can buy Focus' for different specs (tank, healing, dps, resistance etc.), crafting materials, gear, rare drop tokens.  Reputation.

[Modern Angel]

MMORPG = Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.  Where in that acronym does it say that I have to depend on 5 mouth-breathers to play the game?  Required grouping is a cockblock mechanism originally implemented to build social networks and aid in retention for the purpose of retaining subscriptions.  It has fuckall to do with PvE gameplay in an age where you can replace the average gamer with an equally incompetent NPC. 

I can't tell you how boring that is. You can slap all the solo gameplay fireworks into the sky you want but the games you WANT are not the games that ARE. Except maybe Guild Wars. So yeah, keep playing MMOs and complaining that they're working in the same framework they've been working in for years. At this point, it's like being pissed off that your FPS doesn't have RTS elements.

We've all heard it before, we'll all hear it again. And again. And again. And the only people not bored by it are the ones who are shocked over and over when it happens again.

[Ghambit]

Ur kinda forgetting that minor rifts dont just sit there as a mob spawn.  They DO grow and eventually take over the map.  It's not just a glorified camp.
I personally love the shit out of em.  As for the minor rift rewards... it's a bit of a crapshoot yes, but you'll always get planarite which is a damned important currency, MORESO even than rare shards imo, because one can always get a few rare shards fairly easily just by participating in a basic invasion.  More often then not you're short planarite, not shards.

My only beef?  It's too hard to get the rare artifact drops from the bosses.  I've done quite a few of em and I've yet to get the blue Life artifact to complete the set.   :(

[Bzalthek]

artifacts are odd.  silverwood and gloamwood sets are still not complete but one event in scarlet gorge and I got the full harbinger set

[Comstar]

I saw my first very huge region wide planetary assault last night. 50 rifts to close, invasions everywhere, nodes everywhere. Started with PC's getting killed all over the place- I was able to defend lackside from the first invasion, but the 2nd one overrun the 2 of us defending it, they got a foothold up. Eventually the entire player population counter-zerged  and it was awesome. I got my first high level planerite shard that got me my first purple gear.

I don't think the game will keep me for the years Eve Online or WW2OL did - there's been little sign of player drama and hilarity you get from true PvP, but I'm having more fun than I did in WoW at this point, though WoW was fun till I hit Stranglethorn Vine and then I quit. I hope none of the regions I go to are like that.

[Rendakor]

Ur kinda forgetting that minor rifts dont just sit there as a mob spawn.  They DO grow and eventually take over the map.  It's not just a glorified camp.
I personally love the shit out of em.  As for the minor rift rewards... it's a bit of a crapshoot yes, but you'll always get planarite which is a damned important currency, MORESO even than rare shards imo, because one can always get a few rare shards fairly easily just by participating in a basic invasion.  More often then not you're short planarite, not shards.

My only beef?  It's too hard to get the rare artifact drops from the bosses.  I've done quite a few of em and I've yet to get the blue Life artifact to complete the set.   :(

See, what you say is true if you're still in the pack; I'm ahead, and those easy rare shards are from basic invasions that don't happen in my tier of content. So, I have tons of planarite (although good to hear it's useful for something at 50) and fuckall to do with it. I have never been even remotely low on it, ever, and I've barely been able to get more than one or two planar rewards (from vendors) because the rare shards don't drop often from minors.