Rift beta 6 starts this weekend, and I’m actually looking forward to it even more than beta 5 (in part because I’ve learned they don’t wipe character, so Aria and I will actually get to see the 15+ish game, including hopefully a dungeon). Rift has been an interesting title for me so far in terms of hype and expectations. It was not until beta 2 or 3 that I even started looking into it, and playing beta 4 I was not totally sold. I think I’m sold now, and my guess is beta 6 will seal the deal.
It all still goes back to my original hope for Rift, a 2011 version of 2004 WoW. I prefer sandbox MMOs over themeparks, but I’m not totally against their style either, if it’s done well. 2004 WoW did it well. I’m seeing that Rift is like that as well.
I also fully believe that those who accuse Rift of not reinventing the wheel, and that it will hurt the game are not only a tiny minority, but also missing the point. Delivering a themepark that ‘feels’ like 2004 WoW is indeed doing something different. Different for 2011+. WotLK and Cata changed WoW, moving it more than a step away from the game that launched in 2004. LotRO and EQ2 have gone F2P, with all the ‘joy’ that comes with that decision. SW:TOR is down 500k subs before it has even launched.
Point being, there really is no game today that does what WoW originally did so well, and I don’t believe that in 7 years or so, player preference has changed so much that delivering a polished, worldly themepark (by 2011 themepark standards) that looks good, plays well, and brings one or two ‘look at me’ items (class system and rifts) is something that is going to drive people away. It won’t fill up a press release with “we are doing this and no one has ever in the history of the universe considered such a thing” statements (or Trion will try to deliver them and look bad, but if PR is the weakest part of your game, I’m ok with that), but it will get people to play it, those players will get sucked into its gameplay much like WoW sucked people in, and six months later, people will still be subscribed (assuming Rift’s end-game does not completely bomb).
There are also some interesting intangibles, such as Trion’s current update pace and response speed, what exactly is the PvP going to be like (I’ve not read or experienced anything related to it, but in it’s own way, WoW world PvP was enjoyable in bursts), and how is the end-game going to play out with how the class system works (tough to have healer/tank shortages and all that).
Best thing since sliced bread? Nope. A good time for the months ahead? Most likely, and considered what happened with themepark MMOs in 2010, THAT is a giant leap forward.
Hardcore Casual 
Couldn’t agree more. It really brings back the memories of WoW Classic and TBC, as well as the feel. My only reservations about it are:
1) The community on the forums is crap. Like, pre-October time I was lurking and the forums were intelligent and, more importantly, not full of arsey, whiny, anti-addon anti-PvE people (for the love of all things holy, the shit people spew about addons makes me wish I could throw heavy, pointy things down the internet.) Also, it’s got one particular arse who’s being a white knight, but they’re mostly just self-righteous pricks rather than clueless inbreds.
And I can’t find a guild either. Which could be a distinct problem.
2)They’re already removing zest, flair and that old WoW feeling with some recent changes (total racial fuck-over, removing the level limit on the former level 20 mounts so that we can twink our characters from level 6 once out of Terminus.)
It seems to me that Trion are superb, brilliant devs, but they don’t have a strong design vision that they sometimes seem to need in the face of “suggestions,” and their PR department is, as you say, a fucking disgrace and full of baffling amounts of shit.
Still, I’ve had my CE pre-ordered from the first day they were available. See you in Rift.
I’ve heard others worry that Trion listens too much to the forums, which indeed could be an issue. I visit enough cesspools right now (DF and LoL forums), so have yet to see what Rift has going.
As for a guild, depending on how many friends sign up for Rift, I might be running or at least part of one. If so, I’ll announce it here and readers are welcome to join (just don’t talk to me until you are epic’ed-out.)
Yeah, people were commending them early on for being so attentive but…blech. I’m worried. The people who they listen to don’t know what they want, and that’s not just my smug viewpoint. Every thread is challenged, every notion argued about and the thing that annoys me most is people come into the game expecting things that were never promised.
Also: I’d be interested, but I’m guessing you’d be on US servers where it wouldn’t be, well, feasible for me to actually play with anyone :(
Yea US servers.
I wouldn’t be too worried. So far, they’ve mostly just focused on enhancing the gameplay experience by adding some features to make things easier (Public Parties for exemple). Although in this patch, it seems that Trion are testing a few things, Beta 7 will likely also be very different as Trion continues to test and prepare for Launch.
No explanation to why it feels this way?
Have you and Tobold switched places?
Come on, this post didn’t include any pvp-hate or jubilation on how fun it was to sell a blue item in an action house for a profit.
There is no explanation for why someone enjoys a themepark. Although it is an utterly shallow experience in the MMO landscape it just feels “right” sometimes to return to a themepark after years of playing a harsh sandbox game. And Syncaine has been playing the harshest of the harsh MMO’s for a while now.
He’ll grow out of it once he gets his money’s worth from Rift.
In a way, yea. A themepark is more relaxing and structured, it’s more ‘guaranteed’ content in a way. Long term, yea, it’s shallow and ultimately not what I’m looking for, but short to mid term it’s fun in the right environment.
Then can’t you say that about any themepark?
You missed my point, anyone can enjoy themeparks. But what he is talking about is specifically a feeling that comes from a good themepark, which he does not go into at all.
No, rather then go into any depth, he discusses the ‘feelings’ behind it. Or into the history of what WoW was (which does not explain why Rift is giving him this same feeling).
Is themepark easier anyway? I dread actually playing Rift (and other themeparks) because it is a chore more then anything. I get into them, start play, and then say, ‘wtf am i doing this for?’.
Well, since you’re getting all uppity about depth: care to explain why you think themeparks are a chore?
Umm, not that this is your blog post, but you’re avoiding my original question by asking me a question. Themeparks (the MMORPG, real themeparks are much better) are a chore because they are basic fetch things in a developer controlled world. Kill X monster is fine, but when the combat is the same for every mob.
So I guess, how are themeparks not a chore? They make you do repeative boring non-interactive tasks.
And I am asking mr hardcore casual, what makes rift any different from aion? I could see little to differ them. His blog post is about an old feeling he gets with games, I am asking him WHY he gets it since he never states it (which I guess is the purpose of the thing)…
Asking me what is a chore about themepark (which is a stupid question) by avoiding the point is silly. Why are you ‘defending’ him (even though no doubt he may explain himself)? I don’t know.
Again, why are people ignoring my point? Do you have something to hide? Is there an underlying favouritism for riot over something like aion when they are effectively very similar? Not saying there is, but by not going into ANY depth it seems to me that there is.
Unless the game has magically changed from being a boring chore in a dead virtual world since I played it in beta 3…
Because there’s no point in arguing with you.
If I say “oh, well, no themeparks aren’t a chore, here’s why” it’s hardly going to change your opinion, is it, since you’re full of preconceptions? The whole reason I asked was because you were having a wee rant about him not explaining his statement and then you made your own blanket one without any explanation.
But since you want me to bite: how on Earth is a themepark any more pointless than a sandbox? Mining veldspar with some lasers or mining copper ore with a pickaxe still yields the same “what the hell’s the point?” from me, which then leads to nihilistic ideas that life is inherently pointless, but that’s another topic. Sure, sandboxes have the fabled dynamic, player-driven content, but it all adds up to being nothing at all but a set of 1s and 0s.
Your point is just your opinion, that themeparks aren’t all that interesting. Great for you, go join the legions of people who think so. But they’re no more a chore than any game is.
This is actually a good question. Not why Rift is or is not a good themepark, but why I’m currently enjoying it vs WoW or such. Post for Monday.
So that means you are actually playing WoW?
No, but I did play it past the point when it went from good themepark MMO to solo-hero-faceroll-fest-lobby-game, and nothing I’ve seen has suggested its moved away from that direction (Cata sounds like it was a giant leap ‘forward’ here)
No matter how determined you are on your insane quest against themeparks…
You will NOT convince everyone else in the world that they don’t enjoy themeparks, just because you don’t like them.
What you apparently failed to consider is not everyone feels and thinks the exact same way as you, or has the same opinions or enjoys the same things.
So please fucking stop.
@Torcano
The notion that one must win converts to their particular point of view with any given blog post, or, alternately, restrict them selves to commentary with which no one could possibly disagree, is a curious one, and telling. Nevermind the fact that it was a positive appraisal of the game in general.
I’m curious about what it is that you see Rift offering that WoW offered in 2004 but does not offer now?
Is it just the general feeling of freshness, a game without three expansions worth of obsoleted content calcified on? Or something specific in the gameplay that you think WoW offered in 2004 but does not offer now (and Rift does)?
From my experience in all betas so far and from ye olde WoW:
-it feels like a huge, open world again, with stuff to see and do that isn’t on the normal radar. That’s basically non-existant in WoW now.
-everything seems to take the lore seriously. There’s the odd reference here and there, but nothing intrusive, and nothing that feels too much like a parody of real life.
-the combat feels slower, more like old WoW, rather than the HYAAAAAH SPINNING MAELSTROM OF HOLY DEATH style we see today.
-gear seems to last longer; you’re not throwing away stuff from the rares vendor because a nice green came from a quest 2 levels later.
-no cross-server dungeon finder. A massive plus.
-everything still has that unknown feeling. It feels like there’s a lot to explore (collections, books, mounts, dyes, as an example of the non-combat stuff) rather than just “queue for cross-server X. Get Y currency. Spend on Z. Repeat until able to raid/survive in arena.”
-there’s no stupid in-game cutscenes.
– huge, open world – good
– lore – meh, doesn’t do anything for me
– slower combat – meh, I prefer faster combat with more killing opps.
– gear lasted longer – a none factor for me
– no cross-server dungeon finder – probably will get added at some point and I don’t see it as necessarily a bad thing
– unknown feeling – not for me but that is probably because lore and quest text don’t matter to me.
I do think it is polished, well-written, fairly stable, good art/animation/effects, and complete in terms of features an MMO should have at launch. I really like the variety of classes/souls. In fact I find that to be one of the best parts of the game and does set it out ahead of others in that genre.
All that said though I still find my overall experience in beta “meh”. Nothing seems exceptionally new except to a degree the class/soul system. I will add that I am a very jaded player after more then a decade and a half of playing MMOs.
Off topic, but what are your thoughts on this?
http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20110204/chinas-tencent-buys-riot-games-for-400-million/#
Looks like the LOL people got some serious interest in them.
Looks like Riot execs just cashed in.
Riot is trying to spin it as a good thing, that they now have more resources and can improve the game faster. That they still have total control bla bla bla. We have seen how these things play out, and usually the fans end up screwed, so it’s not great news IM. But we will have to see what it really means going forward.
Perhaps I’ll get to talk to them a bit about this at PAX.
Anything exciting happen in the beta? I couldn’t make it this weekend so any details much appreciated.
I only hit 15, and did not noticed much difference between beta 5 and 6. Just more of the (good) same for me.
Our band of degenerates are enjoying RIFT as well. RIFT seems to get a pass for a few reasons, and this allows us to ENJOY it for what it IS and not what is ISN’T.
Lets see …
1) Going into RIFT will probably be a moderate length shallow investment – nobody is fantasizing that this will be a 5+ year SWG “lifestyle” MMO sandbox – and that’s okay.
2) The Rifts themselves and the Soul system are different enough to feel fresh but somehow avoid feeling gimmicky.
3) RIFT is a well polished theme park MMO that is feature complete – unlike many MMO’s at launch.
3) Because of its launch window, RIFT can enjoy being that game we play while we wait for the next MMO – and ironically that’s how many people get married. We’ll see . . .