Originally posted by Thillian Rift was easily one of the worst MMORPG of the decade with no new ideas whatsoever. The world was generic, the leveling was incredibly linear, the world was small, the combat was average, customization was based on talent trees, everything was just so... average and ordinary.
On the one hand, I liked Rift. But what annoyed me was that you had nearly no choice on where you were going. You had one starting zone per faction (so a whooping total of two) and could then just follow the road. I like playing multiple chars, but if I have to over and over go through the same content, that bores me very quickly, and then I drop the game. When WoW started, it had... eight starting zones or something, nearly a decade ago, compared to the two that Rift has? Come on... I don't know if Rift ads more low level content some time. If they add tons of more low level content, to give you a choice where to level up, I'll try it agian. Otherwise I'll just pass.
Originally posted by Thillian Rift was easily one of the worst MMORPG of the decade with no new ideas whatsoever. The world was generic, the leveling was incredibly linear, the world was small, the combat was average, customization was based on talent trees, everything was just so... average and ordinary.
Agreed.
Right and wrong. I like the gameplay but the world annoys me I wanted an open world MMO the problem with rift is exactly what you said linear and no options of where you wanna go. The game needs 1-40 content SOOOOO bad and I hope future contnet patches address this because given a few expansions this could be a great game. With that said wow didnt start out big no game does.
Originally posted by CaerusX I feel like Trion needs to embrace f2p with Rift.
Don't ever see Rift going F2P ever. It could try to B2P like GW2 and I'm sure it would do well with that, Rift has so many updates that they could for sure put out XP pack every year. And you can't even compare Rift with GW2 because Rift has been out a little long, little out dated graphic compared to GW2, but the primary difference between the two is Rift is awesome and GW2 sucks. (pop in a quick troll there just for the fun of it) LOL
Originally posted by CaerusX I feel like Trion needs to embrace f2p with Rift.
Don't ever see Rift going F2P ever. It could try to B2P like GW2 and I'm sure it would do well with that, Rift has so many updates that they could for sure put out XP pack every year. And you can't even compare Rift with GW2 because Rift has been out a little long, little out dated graphic compared to GW2, but the primary difference between the two is Rift is awesome and GW2 sucks. (pop in a quick troll there just for the fun of it) LOL
Peace,
Lascer
RIFT actually has a community, GW2, well it's something like this:
01:00 map:Hey anyone there?
01:00 guild MOTD: Welcome
*7 hours later, with no other messages*
08:00 map: Hello?
08:00 guild: *something in Korean characters*
ANet bans and the lack of trinity stifle chat and grouping.
Originally posted by CaerusX I feel like Trion needs to embrace f2p with Rift.
Don't ever see Rift going F2P ever. It could try to B2P like GW2 and I'm sure it would do well with that, Rift has so many updates that they could for sure put out XP pack every year. And you can't even compare Rift with GW2 because Rift has been out a little long, little out dated graphic compared to GW2, but the primary difference between the two is Rift is awesome and GW2 sucks. (pop in a quick troll there just for the fun of it) LOL
Peace,
Lascer
RIFT actually has a community, GW2, well it's something like this:
01:00 map:Hey anyone there?
01:00 guild MOTD: Welcome
*7 hours later, with no other messages*
08:00 map: Hello?
08:00 guild: *something in Korean characters*
ANet bans and the lack of trinity stifle chat and grouping.
Sorry, I'm not buying that. Do you honestly believe that because people aren't set in predefined roles, they suddenly lose the ability to communicate? I do, however, agree that GW 2 didn't really feel like a community. Perhaps it's because it's so early into its lifespan.
I played Mabinogi on and off for 3 years and that game has a freeform leveling system. What skills you rank is up to you, though some are tied to race. If you want to have ranged skills, wield a two handed sword and wear a bathing suit, you can do that. Also, the level cap is "infinite." Anyways, despite all of that that, people were extremely talkative whether they were in combat, gathering materials in a far away desert, or hanging out in town. The community (while at times, extremely childish and rude) was very active. The game felt alive. The reason for this is because the game focuses on "Fantasy Life," and not just combat, combat, combat. If anything, we communicated more during combat because not everything was so cut and dry.
I think it has more to due with the sort of virtual world the developers craft, design philosophy, the difficulty of the content, the need for interdependence and so on. Here's one example. Going back to Mabinogi, I was never going to bring Enchant all the way to Rank 1 (highest rank). It took a lot of time, resources and ability points. Because of that, if I needed an enchanter to enchant a piece of a equipment from a high rank scroll I found/bought, I needed to seek them out.
Back when I was playing regularly, all of the high ranked blacksmiths, enchanters, chiefs, etc. were well known. Why? Specialization. (I realize that somewhat contradicts what I said in regards to the holy trinity, but I honestly don't believe that it applies to combat). They offer something to the community not everyone is able/willing to do. Same applied to players who were extremely powerful (remember, the level cap is more or less infinite), rich, etc. They become known within the community. In Guild Wars 2, any schmuck with a decent amount of gold can level every crafting profession within a few days.
Originally posted by Thillian Rift was easily one of the worst MMORPG of the decade with no new ideas whatsoever. The world was generic, the leveling was incredibly linear, the world was small, the combat was average, customization was based on talent trees, everything was just so... average and ordinary.
Agreed.
Right and wrong. I like the gameplay but the world annoys me I wanted an open world MMO the problem with rift is exactly what you said linear and no options of where you wanna go. The game needs 1-40 content SOOOOO bad and I hope future contnet patches address this because given a few expansions this could be a great game. With that said wow didnt start out big no game does. I was going to agree with you, right up to the last sentence.. WoW started off with 6 cities and over 2 dozen leveling zones.. WoW might of been limited at first in raid content, but I found nothing wrong with the original release.. I actually miss the 40 man raids.. But then I started off with EQ.. As for "no game does".. I suggest you go look up original EQ release and how many zones they launched.. Just saying !!!
What they are doing is working, it isn't WoW number wise, but it is working and making a profit.
Another person with access to Trion's books
You have no inside access either so your dramatic claims for F2P doom are just as unfounded. F2P ruins great quality games. It worked for LOTRO because that was such a mediocre game, and it fit well with the games balance and lackluster mechanics. Rift is truly a very well made game. Of course there are flaws and many things could have been done differently, but when the Trion team puts their heart into creating something they create something of quality. F2P would destroy the balance and the community of this game and I would rather pay to sub and let them keep creating more polish and content.
As far as servers and populations go, anyone with half a glass of metaphorical understanding of the MMO genre knew from the first week of launch that there was going to be a server merge in under a year. During their remarkably smooth launch the biggest problem was the gigantic queue times because of how big of a success the game was, much more than they had assumed. They added dozens of new servers just to accomodate the launch, of course these would eventually need to be merged. Server merging doesn't sound doom for a game like it used to in the old mmo times. Not to mention that it has already been shown that the capacity for each server population has grown drastically, so even guessing at the population numbers is a complete waste of time. They have a new huge expansion pack launched adding entire new worlds of content along with the numerous patches they still continue to create adding content and polish to the game. They are clearly doing something that is working for them.
Also, as someone has already mentioned in these posts as well, there is one huge significant difference from Rift and WoW. (Aside from WoW already having a giant IP fanbase). WoW came out in a time where the MMO was miniscule compared to it's state now. It had virtually no competition and especially in regards to the casual player. It had the opportunity to build it's fan base and increase their loyalty while there was not much else out there fighting for their attention in this genre. Nowadays you can't swing a purse without knocking out 14 crappy MMO titles all along with AAA game titles as well all trying to vie for your gaming attention. I believe that in consideration of this Rift and Trion are doing extremely well as a new title with no previous IP from a brand new gaming company. I gave WoW it's fair run numerous times I tried and tried to see why everyone liked it, and never ever found myself enjoying it more than a moderate amount, and that wasn't often. I loved EQ from the moment I entered the world and thought DAoC was one of the most addictive games I've ever played. That being said anything that has come out since those two titles have not been able to command my attention and affection besides Rift.
To each his own but you can get on MMORPG.com and argue till your face is blue but on appearances Rift and Trion seem to be doing very well with a loyal fan base. Even those people who don't play Rift any more still admire and respect Trion on the forums, which is a big feat for an MMO company. Good job Trion! Keep up the good work! There is always room for improvment but I'd rather spend my time in Rift than any other piece of garbage I've seen coming out lately.
Edited for grammar and spelling.
"God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.."
What they are doing is working, it isn't WoW number wise, but it is working and making a profit.
Another person with access to Trion's books
<---snipped--->
WoW came out in a time where the MMO was miniscule compared to it's state now. It had virtually no competition and especially in regards to the casual player. It had the opportunity to build it's fan base and increase their loyalty while there was not much else out there fighting for their attention in this genre.
The notion that WoW had no competition is just ludicrous. Everquest 2 (e.g. direct competition) released less than a month earlier. The market was also fairly crowded (actually given as one of the reason Matrix Online closed down, btw) esp. in 2007ish when BC was released and WoW really started taking off..
WoW came out a few months after the tremendously popular CoH which practically everyone I knew was playing at the time instead of WoW (I don't know the sub numbers offhand, I'm sure it was still less, but its popularity was enduring as well, it's only ending this year, 8 years later). Also, EQ was a juggernaut and "everyone knew" these upstart games might get a fanbase but couldn't compete w/EQ (already on its X expansion) or EQ2. There was also SWG and a few others. WoW had many competitors during its early lifespan. People forget too, that SOE used to have a lot of MMOs. SWG, Matrix Online, Planetside and other games were reasonably popular. Pirates of the Burning Sea, less so.
DAoC was also a minor force, if more hardcore PVP-style, (it seemed more popular in the EU than NA), even if EQ was the main game. There were also several other reasonably popular, since discontinued games like The Sims Online, which had a more casual segment (a demo which nothing outside Second Life has even gone after since).
WoW came into its own around BC in 2007. It was a very good game then. At release WoW actually wasn't a bad looking game graphics wise, btw. Now obviously, it looks awful.
What they are doing is working, it isn't WoW number wise, but it is working and making a profit.
Another person with access to Trion's books
<---snipped--->
WoW came out in a time where the MMO was miniscule compared to it's state now. It had virtually no competition and especially in regards to the casual player. It had the opportunity to build it's fan base and increase their loyalty while there was not much else out there fighting for their attention in this genre.
The notion that WoW had no competition is just ludicrous. Everquest 2 (e.g. direct competition) released less than a month earlier. The market was also fairly crowded (actually given as one of the reason Matrix Online closed down, btw) esp. in 2007ish when BC was released and WoW really started taking off..
WoW came out a few months after the tremendously popular CoH which practically everyone I knew was playing at the time instead of WoW (I don't know the sub numbers offhand, I'm sure it was still less, but its popularity was enduring as well, it's only ending this year, 8 years later). Also, EQ was a juggernaut and "everyone knew" these upstart games might get a fanbase but couldn't compete w/EQ (already on its X expansion) or EQ2. There was also SWG and a few others. WoW had many competitors during its early lifespan. People forget too, that SOE used to have a lot of MMOs. SWG, Matrix Online, Planetside and other games were reasonably popular. Pirates of the Burning Sea, less so.
DAoC was also a minor force, if more hardcore PVP-style, (it seemed more popular in the EU than NA), even if EQ was the main game. There were also several other reasonably popular, since discontinued games like The Sims Online, which had a more casual segment (a demo which nothing outside Second Life has even gone after since).
WoW came into its own around BC in 2007. It was a very good game then. At release WoW actually wasn't a bad looking game graphics wise, btw. Now obviously, it looks awful.
I didn't say it had no competition. But there is no arguement against saying that the competition it had then is nothing compared to what Rift had now. 3 or 4 big name MMOs is not nearly the same as 6+ (determining how you define big name) plus the hundreds of other free or otherwise MMOs out there. Not even close to the same thing.
"God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.."
I didn't say it had no competition. But there is no arguement against saying that the competition it had then is nothing compared to what Rift had now. 3 or 4 big name MMOs is not nearly the same as 6+ (determining how you define big name) plus the hundreds of other free or otherwise MMOs out there. Not even close to the same thing.
The amount of ex-WoW players alone is greater than the entire market for MMORPGs when WoW launched.
Originally posted by CaerusX I feel like Trion needs to embrace f2p with Rift.
i disagree. they are surviving and putting out an xpac with the pay model they have now. im guessing Rift is the 4th most played mmo right now. in no particular order wow, gw2, eve, rift.
you have any source to support your "4rth most played" guess?
if i was to use the source that "ye shall not name" -- RIFT wouldnt even make the top 8
Originally posted by CaerusX I feel like Trion needs to embrace f2p with Rift.
i disagree. they are surviving and putting out an xpac with the pay model they have now. im guessing Rift is the 4th most played mmo right now. in no particular order wow, gw2, eve, rift.
you have any source to support your "4rth most played" guess?
if i was to use the source that "ye shall not name" -- RIFT wouldnt even make the top 8
Being the most played MMORPG in the west outside of WoW, GW2, and Eve is like being the tallest midget. Its likely not above SWToR though.
Rift will be just fine so long as people don't except them to put up wow numbers. Start expecting wow numbers of any game and your opinion of that game will shrink as they will never live up to it.
What they are doing is working, it isn't WoW number wise, but it is working and making a profit.
Another person with access to Trion's books
You have no inside access either so your dramatic claims for F2P doom are just as unfounded. F2P ruins great quality games. It worked for LOTRO because that was such a mediocre game
They are mediocre for the same reason that Rift is mediocre, they're just shallow WoW clones.
And Rift is not doing that well, or it wouldn't have merged servers so many times.
Comments
Agreed.
On the one hand, I liked Rift. But what annoyed me was that you had nearly no choice on where you were going. You had one starting zone per faction (so a whooping total of two) and could then just follow the road. I like playing multiple chars, but if I have to over and over go through the same content, that bores me very quickly, and then I drop the game. When WoW started, it had... eight starting zones or something, nearly a decade ago, compared to the two that Rift has? Come on... I don't know if Rift ads more low level content some time. If they add tons of more low level content, to give you a choice where to level up, I'll try it agian. Otherwise I'll just pass.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
Right and wrong. I like the gameplay but the world annoys me I wanted an open world MMO the problem with rift is exactly what you said linear and no options of where you wanna go. The game needs 1-40 content SOOOOO bad and I hope future contnet patches address this because given a few expansions this could be a great game. With that said wow didnt start out big no game does.
Don't ever see Rift going F2P ever. It could try to B2P like GW2 and I'm sure it would do well with that, Rift has so many updates that they could for sure put out XP pack every year. And you can't even compare Rift with GW2 because Rift has been out a little long, little out dated graphic compared to GW2, but the primary difference between the two is Rift is awesome and GW2 sucks. (pop in a quick troll there just for the fun of it) LOL
Peace,
Lascer
RIFT actually has a community, GW2, well it's something like this:
01:00 map:Hey anyone there?
01:00 guild MOTD: Welcome
*7 hours later, with no other messages*
08:00 map: Hello?
08:00 guild: *something in Korean characters*
ANet bans and the lack of trinity stifle chat and grouping.
Sorry, I'm not buying that. Do you honestly believe that because people aren't set in predefined roles, they suddenly lose the ability to communicate? I do, however, agree that GW 2 didn't really feel like a community. Perhaps it's because it's so early into its lifespan.
I played Mabinogi on and off for 3 years and that game has a freeform leveling system. What skills you rank is up to you, though some are tied to race. If you want to have ranged skills, wield a two handed sword and wear a bathing suit, you can do that. Also, the level cap is "infinite." Anyways, despite all of that that, people were extremely talkative whether they were in combat, gathering materials in a far away desert, or hanging out in town. The community (while at times, extremely childish and rude) was very active. The game felt alive. The reason for this is because the game focuses on "Fantasy Life," and not just combat, combat, combat. If anything, we communicated more during combat because not everything was so cut and dry.
I think it has more to due with the sort of virtual world the developers craft, design philosophy, the difficulty of the content, the need for interdependence and so on. Here's one example. Going back to Mabinogi, I was never going to bring Enchant all the way to Rank 1 (highest rank). It took a lot of time, resources and ability points. Because of that, if I needed an enchanter to enchant a piece of a equipment from a high rank scroll I found/bought, I needed to seek them out.
Back when I was playing regularly, all of the high ranked blacksmiths, enchanters, chiefs, etc. were well known. Why? Specialization. (I realize that somewhat contradicts what I said in regards to the holy trinity, but I honestly don't believe that it applies to combat). They offer something to the community not everyone is able/willing to do. Same applied to players who were extremely powerful (remember, the level cap is more or less infinite), rich, etc. They become known within the community. In Guild Wars 2, any schmuck with a decent amount of gold can level every crafting profession within a few days.
You have no inside access either so your dramatic claims for F2P doom are just as unfounded. F2P ruins great quality games. It worked for LOTRO because that was such a mediocre game, and it fit well with the games balance and lackluster mechanics. Rift is truly a very well made game. Of course there are flaws and many things could have been done differently, but when the Trion team puts their heart into creating something they create something of quality. F2P would destroy the balance and the community of this game and I would rather pay to sub and let them keep creating more polish and content.
As far as servers and populations go, anyone with half a glass of metaphorical understanding of the MMO genre knew from the first week of launch that there was going to be a server merge in under a year. During their remarkably smooth launch the biggest problem was the gigantic queue times because of how big of a success the game was, much more than they had assumed. They added dozens of new servers just to accomodate the launch, of course these would eventually need to be merged. Server merging doesn't sound doom for a game like it used to in the old mmo times. Not to mention that it has already been shown that the capacity for each server population has grown drastically, so even guessing at the population numbers is a complete waste of time. They have a new huge expansion pack launched adding entire new worlds of content along with the numerous patches they still continue to create adding content and polish to the game. They are clearly doing something that is working for them.
Also, as someone has already mentioned in these posts as well, there is one huge significant difference from Rift and WoW. (Aside from WoW already having a giant IP fanbase). WoW came out in a time where the MMO was miniscule compared to it's state now. It had virtually no competition and especially in regards to the casual player. It had the opportunity to build it's fan base and increase their loyalty while there was not much else out there fighting for their attention in this genre. Nowadays you can't swing a purse without knocking out 14 crappy MMO titles all along with AAA game titles as well all trying to vie for your gaming attention. I believe that in consideration of this Rift and Trion are doing extremely well as a new title with no previous IP from a brand new gaming company. I gave WoW it's fair run numerous times I tried and tried to see why everyone liked it, and never ever found myself enjoying it more than a moderate amount, and that wasn't often. I loved EQ from the moment I entered the world and thought DAoC was one of the most addictive games I've ever played. That being said anything that has come out since those two titles have not been able to command my attention and affection besides Rift.
To each his own but you can get on MMORPG.com and argue till your face is blue but on appearances Rift and Trion seem to be doing very well with a loyal fan base. Even those people who don't play Rift any more still admire and respect Trion on the forums, which is a big feat for an MMO company. Good job Trion! Keep up the good work! There is always room for improvment but I'd rather spend my time in Rift than any other piece of garbage I've seen coming out lately.
Edited for grammar and spelling."God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.."
The notion that WoW had no competition is just ludicrous. Everquest 2 (e.g. direct competition) released less than a month earlier. The market was also fairly crowded (actually given as one of the reason Matrix Online closed down, btw) esp. in 2007ish when BC was released and WoW really started taking off..
WoW came out a few months after the tremendously popular CoH which practically everyone I knew was playing at the time instead of WoW (I don't know the sub numbers offhand, I'm sure it was still less, but its popularity was enduring as well, it's only ending this year, 8 years later). Also, EQ was a juggernaut and "everyone knew" these upstart games might get a fanbase but couldn't compete w/EQ (already on its X expansion) or EQ2. There was also SWG and a few others. WoW had many competitors during its early lifespan. People forget too, that SOE used to have a lot of MMOs. SWG, Matrix Online, Planetside and other games were reasonably popular. Pirates of the Burning Sea, less so.
DAoC was also a minor force, if more hardcore PVP-style, (it seemed more popular in the EU than NA), even if EQ was the main game. There were also several other reasonably popular, since discontinued games like The Sims Online, which had a more casual segment (a demo which nothing outside Second Life has even gone after since).
WoW came into its own around BC in 2007. It was a very good game then. At release WoW actually wasn't a bad looking game graphics wise, btw. Now obviously, it looks awful.
I didn't say it had no competition. But there is no arguement against saying that the competition it had then is nothing compared to what Rift had now. 3 or 4 big name MMOs is not nearly the same as 6+ (determining how you define big name) plus the hundreds of other free or otherwise MMOs out there. Not even close to the same thing.
"God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.."
The amount of ex-WoW players alone is greater than the entire market for MMORPGs when WoW launched.
you have any source to support your "4rth most played" guess?
if i was to use the source that "ye shall not name" -- RIFT wouldnt even make the top 8
EQ2 fan sites
Rift is getting my time and money these days. Never played it until two weeks ago.
Being the most played MMORPG in the west outside of WoW, GW2, and Eve is like being the tallest midget. Its likely not above SWToR though.
They are mediocre for the same reason that Rift is mediocre, they're just shallow WoW clones.
And Rift is not doing that well, or it wouldn't have merged servers so many times.
Its just you.