Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Rift: First Impressions
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Today is the official launch day of Trion Worlds' Rift. MMORPG.com Lead Writer Bill Murphy has spent quality time in Rift during the head start which began late last week. He's got some first impressions about Rift to share with our readers. Check out Bill's thoughts about Rift and then add some of your own in the comments below.
I’ve spent a solid six or seven hours playing Rift since its head start began on February 24th. I know that might not seem like a ton to all of you, but for me that’s rather amazing. I never have that kind of free time on a weekend. But still, play the game I did and as I had done in beta and alpha versions previously. This time however, I decided to roll up a Cleric to test how versatile the game’s ascended soul system could be… I was not disappointed. For those of you who have been living under a very large rock for some time, Rift is newly minted developer Trion Worlds’ first foray into the MMO market. There’s a lot riding on this flagship title to be successful and help drive the company’s future growth.
Read more of Bill Murphy's Rift: First Impressions.
)
Comments
Very fair review 10/10
Thank you for the fair and honest review of a game that has been going nuts over the past several weeks.
Trion is playing serious hardball and has upped the ante even further with SyFy channel taking a full day to help promote rift by aring 15 30 and the full 60 second spots the company developed. This game imo was in launch condition in Beta 5 and has been unbelievable ever since. Trion is an incredible company so far and i have high hopes for what else they're planning to do.
Rift's story is more rich than most people might think at the outset and it is another facet of this game that keeps me coming back. You want to do something in this game go do it. I preordered the collectors edition after the fifth beta i was that impressed with it. Its sitting on my desk right now the flash drive plugged into my PC and I'm enjoying everything that came with a hardcopy. A lot of people are seeing what's different and this will be i think a new direction for gaming.
+1
Life IS Feudal
I support this mans view of the game
Okay, Bill, we get it. You like Rift, that much can be gleaned from your past few columns. To me, you come off a bit starry-eyed over the whole thing, lacking critical objectivity. The take-away I'm getting from these sometimes gushing "impressions" is that Rift is "okay", but I'm not getting the sense that it's something people are looking forward to playing for any extended period of time. Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but I always thought that one purpose of a subscription-based MMORPG was a persistent world that people wanted to come back to month after month. I don't get that feeling with Rift.
I know that "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" is a popular admonition from people who become "fans" of something, but people rely on writers for sites like this to step out of themselves a bit and offer a more criitcal analysis for a product that is requiring such an investment in time, money, and emotion.
"Soloists and those who prefer small groups should never have to feel like they''re the ones getting the proverbial table scraps, as it were." - Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer, Everquest II
"People love groups. Its a fallacy that people want to play solo all the time." - Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer, Rift
I wouldn't read into it too much, the site has three buttons that I have seen so far, it's just a way of giving a slight rating without saying x/10.
good review, pretty much mirrors my feelings on the game exactly.
HEAVEN OR HELL
Duel 1
Lets ROCK!
It's a review summary - two thumbs up. It's not like they invented that. If he didn't think the game was great he would have given it something else - like one thumb up or two thumbs down.
Heaven forbid the reviewers at MMORPG actually, you know, review the games and give us their recommendations.
Very good review, actually! I am enjoying this game more than I have enjoyed anything that has come out in the last 5 or more years. It's very polished, very complete feeling, full of content, big, pretty, and FUN. I love the dynamic content coupled with the quests, and one thing about this game is it has actual monsters and you're not just killing wolves and rats so to speak. Right as you enter the second zone you're up against massive troll things and giants.
Same here.
<link>http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8245379178_45a58cec29.jpg</link>;
I want to hate Rift SO bad, I really do... read my post history regarding it. However, I must grudgingly admit that it I am enjoying myself so far.
Now, let's just see how long it's legs are...
Wrong. The Xsyon review had it too, it's just something recently added to reviews here.
It's more like the "recommended" icon that you see in computer magazine reviews or SFX magazine reviews.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Here's a quote from the article you two didn't read:
And while I firmly believe that Rift won’t magically please everyone in the gaming spectrum, I can confidently assert that it is without a doubt shaping up to be one of the most polished and stable launches in MMORPG history.
"I don't want to play the game - therefore it should have a bad review", argument is a pretty poor one.
Pretty much on the money. Lets see how long the new mmo feeling lasts before the behemoths take center stage.
I am still wondering what Bill think's is new or worth a player committing to the game long-term. Public quest systems are nothing new, and class systems are nothing new either. We are talking a variation on something that has been put into MMOs for years now. I think for the WoW crowd I would have to advise stick with what you have for now, and wait for future patch and paid DLC content (which is no doubt planned by the business suits who run Blizzard, since Titan is slated for 2013). We have been here with Aion, nothing really new to hold onto a large player base.
Sad to say, I don t see the game as some of you do. I don t see much lasting power with this game. I could be wrong, but I m sure we ll see "anyone else bored yet" posts soon.
Couldn't agree more.
It seems as if the current MMO players are looking for 2-6 months of entertainment. I do not get why though. The gameplay in MMOs these days is extremely dated compared to the current SRPGs. If you arn't looking for investment but just a quick bite then why not just play SRPGs. I don't play any MMO if i do not see me playing it a year later. Time investment is one of the most important things for me in MMO's.
Why do you have to commit to the game long term? I look at it like I pay $50 for a new computer game, and usually play it for 40 or 50 hours. I'll probably play Rift that long, and if I am tried of it, cancel my subscription and be done. The value you get is the same as with a single player game.
You clearly didn't read the posts, as your reply to them is not applicable.
This game better enjoy the glory while it last. There is a beast on the horizon known as Guild Wars 2 that is going to consume, devour and spit out every other fantasy mmorpg existance. Whatever is left over will play Swtor and WoW.
Too anyone calling "fanboi" on the writer. He does not hide the fact that this game is not
mind blowing original. Anyone who reads this can get a accurate description of what is
going on positive and negative.
Overall this is a solid review.
This review shares the same thought as my opinion when i looked into it during beta. It is not only engaging but very addictive too. You may hate PvE but the rifts and invasion will prove you otherwise.
You may hate PvP but with the mixture of invasions, you get PvPvE which can be really epic that kept you asking for more.
All in all, you wont know what is coming when you login to the game, and that feels really great. Good read and review well done!
Sounds to me more like a "I dislike the game, so any review or impressions article that's too positive for my taste about it should be distrusted" kind of thing.
As for longevity, hard to guess when you've only played for 10-20 hours, I think. But to counter with a question, why should you have a years long commitment to one MMORPG when there are so many interesting MMORPG's to play around with? Sure, you can sub to 2, 3 MMO's at the same time, but some don't want to or have limited time, so they're content if an MMORPG offers 3-6 month's of gaming fun, after which they can pick another MMO to play with friends, maybe to return again after a few months of playing another MMO.
What's wrong with that way of MMO gaming?
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
You do know that they have 80+ servers right? That means a lot of people are loving the game. So, your opinion is just that. An opinion. Rift is going to top 1 million subs at launch.
I played Rift during 4 of the beta events, and it's not really my cup of tea either, but I think this review did a good job of summing up the game and presenting it in a way that allows the reader to get a fairly good idea of whether or not they will enjoy it. He pretty much hit on every point that makes me not a fan of the game, but also mentions the positive aspects that anyone who's played the game cannot possibly deny.
I've always explained it to friends like this: if you're currently enjoying games like WoW, WAR, EQ2, or any other of the very "typical" fantasy MMORPGs out there, I see no reason why you wouldn't want to make the switch to Rift, other than fear of losing your investment (both emotional and financial) in the other games. Rift is simply better; it's newer, more refined, and it does brings a bit of a dvancement to the genre. However, If you're tired of the aforementioned games, you're simply not going to like Rift, it's just going to feel like too much of the same,