I played RIFT till 15 in beta and Vanguard till 15 recently.
Comparing the gameplay & experience, Vanguard is WAY BETTER than RIFT. Rift railroaded me through 2 zones, while in VG I could go where I want. Also, the 3 spheres in VG is one of the better things I've seen in a (themepark) MMORPG.
Basically, if you love VG, you most likely will be disappointed (at least) in RIFT...
It does open up more once you get passed the starting area and 1-20 zone, but not to the extent that Vangaurd did.
Vangaurd was designed to be more of an open world pseudo sandbox (basically controlled gameplay and progression with some freeform sandbox style abilities - ie: deep rich crafting, player property and minimal walls)
Rift is more of a controlled Themepark (WoW, LOTRO, etc).
It's still a great game if you don't mind the more limited freedoms of a themepark game. Hell I loved UO, Vangaurd, EQ and Anarchy Online due to all the freedom those games gave players, but I am also enjoying Rift.
There are 3 types of people in the world. 1.) Those who make things happen 2.) Those who watch things happen 3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
Rift is about as linear as WoW. And im talking about old WoW. Vanguard is a sandbox compared to those two. I love Vanguard but had to quit cause there was no one to talk to anymore. WoW I quit because it was the same shit. The thing that keeps Rift freash is the full scale events where u have to work as a unit to fight off thousands of mobs from towns and kill a final boss at the end. The terrain isnt that small... just has a lot of sub towns, quests, mobs, and mesh scattered through out where other games lay low on that type of thing.
Rift is by far not as linear as Aion was, but Vanguard is still bigger than all of em together.
eh, ok so not vanguard open...how about compared to lotro openess? played it a couple months back and remember that beyond the first starting area it was decently open
eh, ok so not vanguard open...how about compared to lotro openess? played it a couple months back and remember that beyond the first starting area it was decently open
I think most people would compare it to WAR when it comes to linearity.
You can level/get equipment from rifts, instances, quests, pvp points, etc.
Crafted items are better than quest rewards, and not much worse than higher end drops (like from bosses and such)
If you choose to rely only on quests, then of course it will be linear. But that would be of your own choosing. I like to do a mix of rifts, quests, regular mob grinding, exploring, and instances.
Also you can skip quest hubs, level up via other means, and do quests in other areas, you are not strictly forced to do them in a set sequence.
My god has horns.... nah, I don't think he is real either.
You can level/get equipment from rifts, instances, quests, pvp points, etc.
Crafted items are better than quest rewards, and not much worse than higher end drops (like from bosses and such)
If you choose to rely only on quests, then of course it will be linear. But that would be of your own choosing. I like to do a mix of rifts, quests, regular mob grinding, exploring, and instances.
Also you can skip quest hubs, level up via other means, and do quests in other areas, you are not strictly forced to do them in a set sequence.
This.
I was starting to feel like pve questing was the only way to level effectively, but then I started messing around with rifts and was getting decent exp from those, and some nice crafting item upgrades. I then took place in a zone wide rift invasion, and before I realized we were all seperated at different spots in the zone, then pushed back to the main hub of the zone, then pushed back 90% of the rifts, I had gained 3 levels. Rifts are definitely another great way to get exp, and items to enchance crafting.
Comments
I played RIFT till 15 in beta and Vanguard till 15 recently.
Comparing the gameplay & experience, Vanguard is WAY BETTER than RIFT. Rift railroaded me through 2 zones, while in VG I could go where I want. Also, the 3 spheres in VG is one of the better things I've seen in a (themepark) MMORPG.
Basically, if you love VG, you most likely will be disappointed (at least) in RIFT...
Quick short answer No
It stays linear the whole game (played in beta7 up to level 40).
Vanguard is a sandbox compared to Rift.
The questing is liner, however you can do other things to break up the monotony of questing.
It does open up more once you get passed the starting area and 1-20 zone, but not to the extent that Vangaurd did.
Vangaurd was designed to be more of an open world pseudo sandbox (basically controlled gameplay and progression with some freeform sandbox style abilities - ie: deep rich crafting, player property and minimal walls)
Rift is more of a controlled Themepark (WoW, LOTRO, etc).
It's still a great game if you don't mind the more limited freedoms of a themepark game. Hell I loved UO, Vangaurd, EQ and Anarchy Online due to all the freedom those games gave players, but I am also enjoying Rift.
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
Rift is about as linear as WoW. And im talking about old WoW. Vanguard is a sandbox compared to those two. I love Vanguard but had to quit cause there was no one to talk to anymore. WoW I quit because it was the same shit. The thing that keeps Rift freash is the full scale events where u have to work as a unit to fight off thousands of mobs from towns and kill a final boss at the end. The terrain isnt that small... just has a lot of sub towns, quests, mobs, and mesh scattered through out where other games lay low on that type of thing.
Rift is by far not as linear as Aion was, but Vanguard is still bigger than all of em together.
eh, ok so not vanguard open...how about compared to lotro openess? played it a couple months back and remember that beyond the first starting area it was decently open
I think most people would compare it to WAR when it comes to linearity.
dont remember war much i quit after 3 days
well i will just look at some gameplay vids or streams i guess to decide for myself thx
Its linear if you choose it to be.
You can level/get equipment from rifts, instances, quests, pvp points, etc.
Crafted items are better than quest rewards, and not much worse than higher end drops (like from bosses and such)
If you choose to rely only on quests, then of course it will be linear. But that would be of your own choosing. I like to do a mix of rifts, quests, regular mob grinding, exploring, and instances.
Also you can skip quest hubs, level up via other means, and do quests in other areas, you are not strictly forced to do them in a set sequence.
My god has horns.... nah, I don't think he is real either.
This.
I was starting to feel like pve questing was the only way to level effectively, but then I started messing around with rifts and was getting decent exp from those, and some nice crafting item upgrades. I then took place in a zone wide rift invasion, and before I realized we were all seperated at different spots in the zone, then pushed back to the main hub of the zone, then pushed back 90% of the rifts, I had gained 3 levels. Rifts are definitely another great way to get exp, and items to enchance crafting.