Rift: Planes of Telara

[Draegan]

Here's a bit people left out.

The class system is made up of 4 callings.  Mage, Warrior, Cleric, Rogue.
Each Calling has, as of now, 8 souls that you eventually have access too.
Of those 8 souls you can mix and match three of them at a time.
You have 51 points to spend.
You can put all 51 points into one soul if you want.
The top tier talent ability requires 31 points.

Each soul has to parts.  The Tree and The Root.

As you put points into the Tree (i.e. normal talent tree), the points accumulate in The Root.  The Root is where each soul's abilities are.  If you put 4 abilities into the tree you unlock all the abilities that require 4 points or more, most souls have abilities frontloaded in the Root then spread out up to 51 points.

The presumed strategy will be how many points do you put into a certain tree accumulated passive buffs and abilities before you put points into other souls.

However the official site does a much better job than me!
http://www.riftgame.com/en/classes/system.php

[Draegan]

www.riftpodcast.com

Their last podcast (up today) has Adam Gershowitz on to talk all about the beta stuff regarding Rifts, Invasions and the GCD.  It's a good podcast if you're interested on beta stuff.

[Ingmar]

Mechanics have never been WoW's strong point.  Please don't mistake most popular with best.

In contrast to the rest of the crap, maybe.

Most other MMOs view player key input as a suggestion IE: I'll use that skill in 5 seconds (LOTRO) or I'll look like I just used that skill, but nothing happened! (WAR) or I'll use that skill, and it'll activate after my needlessly long and gorey animation plays out (AoC).

Hi, you seem to be confusing mechanics with animation.  It seems a rather silly mistake but, yeah, stop that.

Actually no. In some games (LotRO, CoH/V, for example) animation time is tied directly into the actual abilities. It isn't 'confusing mechanics with animation' when the animations directly impact the mechanics.

[Murgos]

Actually no. In some games (LotRO, CoH/V, for example) animation time is tied directly into the actual abilities. It isn't 'confusing mechanics with animation' when the animations directly impact the mechanics.

OH NOS!  MY INSTANT GRATIFICATIONS!!!

MUST PUSH BUTAN!!! NOTHING HAPPEN!!! PUSH BUTAN MORE!!!

[Malakili]

Actually no. In some games (LotRO, CoH/V, for example) animation time is tied directly into the actual abilities. It isn't 'confusing mechanics with animation' when the animations directly impact the mechanics.

OH NOS!  MY INSTANT GRATIFICATIONS!!!

MUST PUSH BUTAN!!! NOTHING HAPPEN!!! PUSH BUTAN MORE!!!

Jeez, such vitriol. Its pretty clear that the very responsive nature of WoW combat and ability usage compared to some other MMOs is one of the appeals of how combat actually plays.  If you want to get into an argument about whether or not that is a "mechanical" issue, you're welcome to, but I think its relevant.  Its not really about the quality of the animation, its about the animations interaction with ability use, I think thats mechanical.   Take it out of the context for moment:  If you press reload in an FPS, and the gun reload animation plays, but it is really out of sync with the actual reloading going on, or if the reloading doesn't happen in a timeframe that is reasonably based on when you pressed the button, thats a mechanical issue.

[Ingmar]

Actually no. In some games (LotRO, CoH/V, for example) animation time is tied directly into the actual abilities. It isn't 'confusing mechanics with animation' when the animations directly impact the mechanics.

OH NOS!  MY INSTANT GRATIFICATIONS!!!

MUST PUSH BUTAN!!! NOTHING HAPPEN!!! PUSH BUTAN MORE!!!

If you prefer a game where things don't happen when you actually give them the command to, that's fine, but you are very clearly in a minority on that.

[palmer_eldritch]

Here's a bit people left out.

The class system is made up of 4 callings.  Mage, Warrior, Cleric, Rogue.
Each Calling has, as of now, 8 souls that you eventually have access too.
Of those 8 souls you can mix and match three of them at a time.
You have 51 points to spend.
You can put all 51 points into one soul if you want.
The top tier talent ability requires 31 points.

Each soul has to parts.  The Tree and The Root.

As you put points into the Tree (i.e. normal talent tree), the points accumulate in The Root.  The Root is where each soul's abilities are.  If you put 4 abilities into the tree you unlock all the abilities that require 4 points or more, most souls have abilities frontloaded in the Root then spread out up to 51 points.

The presumed strategy will be how many points do you put into a certain tree accumulated passive buffs and abilities before you put points into other souls.

However the official site does a much better job than me!
http://www.riftgame.com/en/classes/system.php

Looks complicated, but it might seem a lot easier with a bit of playing around in-game and designing your own class sounds like fun. I just hope they let you respec, or whatever the equivalent is. Ie, to let you try different builds without too much penalty.

[Threash]

No, it's pretty damn complicated.  It's meant to be complicated.  Expect lots of people running around with complete shit builds.  You are allowed four different specs i believe and respecs are in, this was shown in one of the videos earlier on the thread so i assume it does not count as nda breaking.

[Draegan]

You can have four roles that you can switch between them when you are out of combat.  Just like WoW's dual spec.

[Ghambit]

Just get comfy with the fact that aside from manually applying attribute points and seeing what happens (ala DDO, D&D3.5, et. al), Rift's class/talent system is as robust and complex as it gets.
You can make any goddamned fantasy creation you can think of.   One will pet their PC's, hold them, caress them, and call them "George" and what not.

And this is all before we get into the myriad layers of weapon specializations., slotting, 'playing the elements,' and crafting in the game.   

Note:  I am opining here based on publicly available information   

[Sky]

Everyone in Bat Country who still needs a VIP beta key, pm me the email associated with your Trion account. They're doing a give-away for ten guilds, so don't get your hopes up. Unless Hartsman joins BC. But Signe would probably kick him anyway.

Deadline is Thurday morning, so I'm sending it in tomorrow night. So get crackin', crackers!

Again, no promises, as a bajillion guilds will probably inundate this offer. But you can't win if you don't play!

You can also sign up for our guild forum group here: http://forums.riftgame.com/group.php?groupid=147 though we aren't really using the page and any discussion seems to be public, so even if we're all in beta, 

[Segoris]

For those interested there's a Haiku contest on their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/RIFTgame?v=wall#!/notes/rift/rift-beta-haiku-contest/170882326285569

[Sky]

Limericks > Haiku, dammit!

[Segoris]

Limericks > Haiku >>>>>>>> spamming f5

[Lantyssa]

You can also sign up for our guild forum group here: http://forums.riftgame.com/group.php?groupid=147 though we aren't really using the page and any discussion seems to be public, so even if we're all in beta, 

Pick some avatars you slackers.

[Ard]

Wouldn't that imply that I plan to not only post on the official forums, but actually expect the post tol be read?

[Murgos]

It looks like the next round of invites are going out.

[Sky]

Pick some avatars you slackers.

Nag.









Done.

[Rasix]

Got two invitations so I had to accept the NDA twice. 

[Ard]

*shakes fist*

No love so far this time around.  Harts-Man, you will rue the day!  Now I need a cape and a mask...

[Chimpy]

If you had a non-vip invite the last time, you won't get one for this round. They pretty much flat-out said that the "community" keys were "you get into one, and that's it" from the start.

[Ghambit]

I still wouldnt bank on the amount of playerbase this go around.  Then again, they might not need those kinds of numbers this time.
Also, remember you can apply as many keys as you want.  Each one gives you a chance (filefront, mmorpg, etc.).

[Tarami]

Nvm.

[Ard]

If you had a non-vip invite the last time, you won't get one for this round. They pretty much flat-out said that the "community" keys were "you get into one, and that's it" from the start.

This part is pretty clearly not true, since I just got an invite and was in last time, unless threatening Hartsman actually worked.  If I have that power, I'm clearly wasting it though.

[Malakili]

I just signed up for the guild group on the official forums, my forum name there is zhenya, so if you see that join request come through, thats me.

[Sky]

Last call for the remote chance to win VIP for BC. PM me the email for your Trion account in the next fifteen minutes or so. Deadline is technically in the morning, but I know I'll forget, rest of the week is going to be busy.

[Threash]

If you had a non-vip invite the last time, you won't get one for this round. They pretty much flat-out said that the "community" keys were "you get into one, and that's it" from the start.

Hmm no, i just got in again and im not a vip.

[FatuousTwat]

Meh, kind of disinterested since the whole email-me-after-the-beta-weekend-is-half-over-to-tell-me-to-start-downloading-the-6gb-client bullshit happened.

[Lucas]

If you had a non-vip invite the last time, you won't get one for this round. They pretty much flat-out said that the "community" keys were "you get into one, and that's it" from the start.

Hmm no, i just got in again and im not a vip.

Same here 

[Segoris]

With non-vip invites, you go back into the same pool and aren't eliminated from it. That is why people can be picked multiple times without vip invites.

Good to know it's working out for some people in such a manner.

[Ingmar]

Maybe I'll eventually get invited on a weekend when I *don't* have plans.

[Ghambit]

Fileplanet offering VIP keys now.  Not sure how many they've got or the hoops one must go through to get one though.

http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/rift/

[veredus]

Requires paid membership it seems.

[Ghambit]

One of the few betas where one could say "yah, this is worth $3.00."

[Segoris]

If they're still available, $3.00 is MUCH better than the f5 game or trying to compete with thousands for a key.