Rift

[Carlctrl]

Yep, I've never had to wait a single minute in a queue on Estrael

[Vosskah]

So, Rift, wow killer or not?

Let's discuss.

I haven't played it but for someone who like me hates alting, the thought of so few classes and so many combinations within a class has appeal.

There's a bunch of you playing it, so how is it?

[Noodlestein]

Not a "Wow killer". but something "new" and not so new.

[Shaen]

The class/soul system is really nice, the rift invasions are awesome, the regular quests are dull as hell. The UI is ripped almost completely from WoW, but way more customizable without messing with addons. It won't be a WoW killer, but it's pretty solid.

[Carlctrl]

It took most the good things about Wow and added some nice improvements. It the closest thing I've seen to a Wow killer, but I've not tried many MMO's.

-The questing is dull, but before Cata I would have said the same for Wow (and the other MMO's I've briefly tried).

-I've tried a few instances and they are fun, difficult.

-Rift feels less on rails than WoW does now. More to explore, you have to use your head a bit more which is something Wow used to have.

-The rift system can be fun, but only when you have a decent size group to do it with. The neat thing about it is you can level your character completely with rifts, skipping almost all the quests in the game. Gives you a different way to play. I am impressed with the way that rifts are tuned on the fly based on how many are fighting them. You can solo one to begin with and if 10 ppl join you'll have enough mobs with enough health to occupy all 10 ppl.

-I must also bow to the game designers for a very smooth game, few glitches even the first few days after launch. Thought the rogue equivalent for mage blink is horrible broken, and will ofter warp you "under" the the world. Seems nobody can get "blink" right.

-Having 4 specs with 8 different "souls" to choose from makes it easy to redefine your character as you level. You can explore tanking, healing, ranged and melee dps easily (though warriors can't heal and mages can tank, all other combo's are possible). And there several ways to build for each of those roles. You do not need new gear each time you switch. Wisdom will always be the best stat for a cleric no matter what role they play. A nice idea, you druids know what I'm talking about.

-The game is more complex to get into i think. If you have never played an MMO before, I think it would be overwhelming. They throw a lot at you pretty quickly. But for Wow players it feels very familiar.

-Graphically, it's beautiful. The lighting especially stands out. The first dungeon is a tomb and the ambiance really contributes to making you feel like your in a tomb

-The world feels more alive with constant invasions, but this leads to the biggest frustration. Sometimes you want to just quest, or run down the road and you have to deal with NPC spawns destroying the quest hub, or killing your quest mobs. There are also many places where you cannot simply run freely to your desired location because there aggressive mobs in the way. There are no safe roads to travel like in Wow, and often you must fight through just go down the road, even against mobs 10 levels lower than you. Anything can pull you off your mount and often will. There are less "flight paths" in the form of portals. So getting around is more time consuming. Though the world is not as big as Azeroth and you don't have to fight very far to get where your going. There are some safe roads, they just don't go all the way through a zone.

-I agree with Noodle's shout. Combat doesn't feel as good as in Wow, especially melee, it just doesn't have the, i dunno, visceral impact that you can get with a Wow character.

-Two glaring omissions are guild banks and a LFG tool. I'll bet those are 2 of the first things they add.

-My favorite thing Rift has I wish Wow would add are guild weekly quests. Some examples I've seen are to kill 50 total bosses in instances, or to getting 50 killing blows in PVP as a guild.

-But of course, it still lacks something only Wow has: Business Time! The guild I have in Rift is large, good for finding groups and getting quest help, but nothing like us.

-If anybody else if considering it as a diversion, I recommend the game. Come join me and Shaen on Estrael, maybe we can get enough to form a guild! Shambling Whores reunite!

[Noodlestein]

I'll probably make a healer type over on that server.

My brother, Natori, and his co-worker(and co-workers guild who's been playing together since everquest) are on Lotham, thus why I went there first on the beta etc.

[Shaen]

The melee feels week to me too, and I think it's almost entirely because of the sound. I've tinkered with the sound sliders to get a good mix, but it's like everything is always louder than combat. It's just not done well. It was exactly the same in Warhammer Online, which I believe uses the same engine.

[Noodlestein]

That might be it.

Though I still feel like there is no force behind my hits, like I'm swinging around a giant axe like wet noodle.

[Noodlestein]

Made a "mage" on your serve, shame it's pve-rp. Though I can always play my other if I want some pvp action.

[Millya]

So many people talking about this that I had to try it. I've made a couple characters on Estrael, haven't tried them all out fully (a mage, naturally)...

[Noodlestein]

I noticed you can have it throw auto-updates on twitter, you can also add your own prefix/suffix. so clearly I added Vosskah's to the suffix so it will spam him with every achievement screenshot it takes for my Cleric >:D

ALSO
Casting feels SO much better than melee. I also played a "hunter" on the beta and it felt fine as well.

[Vosskah]

Noodle, the next time I see one of those spams, I'm blocking you on Twitter. And no, I'm not kidding.

I read about the races last night and might try the game out. One thing for sure, it will be Defiant side if I do and either a warrior or a rogue.

Tbh, I've always loved the archer archetype but simply can't stand the hunter in Wow. Damn pet!

[Noodlestein]

Vosskah wrote:

Noodle, the next time I see one of those spams, I'm blocking you on Twitter. And no, I'm not kidding. I read about the races last night and might try the game out. One thing for sure, it will be Defiant side if I do and either a warrior or a rogue. Tbh, I've always loved the archer archetype but simply can't stand the hunter in Wow. Damn pet!

You would NEVER!

And I actually sent that myself :3
It didn't auto add @Vosskah so I copy/pasted it with that and deleted the original

also, at least "hunter"s in rift don't have to use the beastmaster(get summon pet thing) soul. :D
Go Marksman/Saboteur or whatever.

[Vosskah]

Noodlestein wrote:

You would NEVER! And I actually sent that myself :3 It didn't auto add @Vosskah so I copy/pasted it with that and deleted the original also, at least "hunter"s in rift don't have to use the beastmaster(get summon pet thing) soul. :D Go Marksman/Saboteur or whatever.

Oh just try me. I'm ruthless when it comes to my twitter list. I have 105 followers and I only follow 52. I have been deleting anyone who has become annoying. Auto achievement tweets would definitely qualify.

Oh, and you're evil.

Yeah, I was thinking Marksman. I do love tanking though...
Anyway, the more I read about guardian, the more I dislike them. I haven't played the game and I already have as much love for them as I have for the Horde...

[Shaen]

There's actually a defensive tree in the Rogue class, so you could feasibly be a bow-wielding tank.

Also, the people with the game should get together and make a fancy guild! Also play.

Also also, my characters on Estrael are:

Shaen - warrior - paladin/reaver/riftblade
Luuni - rogue - bladedancer/undecided
Bruu - mage - elementalist/chloromancer/undecided