I had a friend ask me this, so I thought I'd write it down.

1.  Soul System

You aren't pigeon holed into a role, you get such a wide variation of choice that really, even when the "flavor of the month" builds hit the forums, most people will not bother.  The system is built for you to play your way.  Which I love.  I got so sick in WoW of being limited by the system.  Rift isn't.   You wanna do a single tree max and spread the remaining 16 points?  Go for it.  Want an even tri build?  All for you.

Out PVE/Farming and get in the mood for PVP?  A quick role swap and you're back in your PVP setup.  Decide to run some Dungeon action?  You're set for more then just "your class".  A Pyro DPS can hop in and swap to a Chloro build for a tough spot in an instance.  Your DPS warrior can go tank for an alt tank event.  It's all there. 

2. Trion

This really should have been #1, but it's a close shave.  I've played the gamut of MMO's out there.  EQ I and II, DAoC, Ao, WAR, WoW, CoH... a few others I dabbled in.  Trion reminds me most of early years Mythic, back when they were GOOD.  They are funny, responsive, have put out one hell'va beta and haven't once made a major mistep.  Little changes or decisions I haven't always agreed with, but that's life.  For some reason Trion has "got it right" in terms of fun, challenge, new product... it's all there and they are taking good care of their baby.

3.  Rifts

Dynamic Content, that the dev's can quickly put together, test and get out there.  Random events that spawn across the land to provide one a break from the daily grind... it's amazing stuff and I really think the Rift System has potential.  So far, I am impressed.

4.  It's not Cataclysm.

I was very VERY disappointed with Blizzard, coupled with Mr. Arrogant's blog posts (Ghostcrawler) I decided before I got into Rift proper that I was done with WoW.  His blog posts just pushed me that much faster to take a "hike".   

5.  The game is SOLID.

I've seen some BAD launches.  While I didn't personally own AoC, my good bud did, I was over at his place launch day... bad times.  AO?  Anyone play that at launch, it was atrocious!  So buggy.  

Right now Rift is in better shape pre-launch then most games are POST Launch.  

For the tl;dr crowd... yes Rift Rocks.  

As long as its fun for you , keep on truckin'!

See you in game!(maybe lol)

Why play? Because I think it is a lot of fun.

That's it, really. There are few new features unique to Rift beyond the OP's points above, but the collective package is one that has drawn me in to stay into launch. That hasn't happened for me on any game in a long time.

For those that say Rift is game x + game y + game z, I say - yes please! Why woudln't you want a game that combines so many features and has its entire development life ahead of it to expand even further? Looking forward to the head start tomorrow.

could argue all day about the soul system not being that unique, such as only really 4 types or armor, mage, cleric, rogue, warrior.

compared to 10 classes in wow each with 3 trees. WoW just doesnt let you paly all of them at the same time becuase it cuts down on replaybilty and alts, and alts drive in game economies.

rifts dont cut down on the pve grind they become the pve grind, the end game rifts look the exact same as the begining, just tougher dudes.

cataclysm 1-60 is hands down the way all quests should be done its awesome.

 At first i thought the rifts and invasions would bother me. I even tried avoiding them. Then i ended up in rather large public group durning a massive invasion running for one rift to another closeing them and putting down invasion forces. After all that was done the boss spawned and there was about 3 full raid groups there in the city in Gloomwood killing her. Was a lot of fun and after it was all done i opened my reward bag and it was completely full of currency for The planar vendors to buy blues (sadly i wasnt one of the lucky ones to recive a epic stone for armor), collection pieces, buff items, a few pieces for crafting, some other level things that when opened gave u armor or what not for that level, and socket items. Completely changed how i feel about them. Now i find myself jumping into public groups all the time when i see one. Not to mention they give a ton of xp. To me it really adds the somthin that has been missing in the open world in games and gives me another reason to play. Cant wait to try the raid rifts. From what i have seen they are completely different from how the regular rifts and invasions works.

I'll be playing because it's a familiar yet new MMO, and the new things about it seem pretty fun, like the soul system and rifts.  I also enjoyed the two games it reminds me of, WoW and LOTRO, so all signs point to me having a decent time in this one as well.  Plus, like the OP mentioned, Trion seems really involved with the game and is communicating well.

Plus, even though it tends to be disasterous in some ways, it's always fun to get in on the ground floor of a new MMO.  It's much more fun that playing an older one where everyone is only doing endgame content and there isn't much of a shared sense of discovery.

I never would have even considered this game (It looked like another generic fantasy MMO) if I had not read more about it.  Now I plan to give it a try.

Originally posted by little_faz

I never would have even considered this game (It looked like another generic fantasy MMO) if I had not read more about it.  Now I plan to give it a try.

We'd lost our PC's back in Jan 10, and only in Nov 10 did we get new ones.  Hadn't heard of Rift, hadn't paid attention, then I got a beta invite through Nvidia, and was hooked.

There are plenty of threads on why to play Rift, or I'm on the fence convince me to play Rift, etc.  I wouldn't bother trying anymore to convince anyone.  Tell them to not play.  Its getting old justifying the game.  There is plenty to read for those who are considering the game.

Just say No.

Play only if you want to, not what anyone else says.

If you are looking for a replacement for another MMO you're sick of then you should try rift. If you are looking for something new, different, and innovative then forget it.  You won't last a week on this game.

If you want the most polished high quality imba costumer service and developer feedback and overal best mmorpg in the last decade play rift.

Originally posted by mgilbrtsn

There are plenty of threads on why to play Rift, or I'm on the fence convince me to play Rift, etc.  I wouldn't bother trying anymore to convince anyone.  Tell them to not play.  Its getting old justifying the game.  There is plenty to read for those who are considering the game.

 

Just say No.

Bit of a contradiction, first you tell the OP to stop bothering and trying to convince others. Then you do exactly the same you told the OP not to do. Or was that just to shut another positive voice down?

To use your own phrase, I wouldn't bother trying to convince ppl to say no or not to play. Most people manage to make up their own minds, whether a game's to their liking or not.

Originally posted by marzatplay

Play only if you want to, not what anyone else says.

Holy crap... comon sense.....   mind = blown

I'm playing Rifts because I find it fun right now. What's fun to me might not be fun to someone else so it's best for them to play it on their own. When I get bored with it or if I find another game that I like better then I'll stop.