My entire guild quit shortly after release - after clearing all the end game stuff using two supermacros.

Also the soul system is boring and bland.

Originally posted by kjempff

All I have seen and heard about Rift makes me think "in what way is this not WoW" .. and maybe mmo-shoppers are looking for something different from the WoW model.

I didn't quit (just started playing) but I must confess thus far Rift is VERY much like WoW, far more than any other game I've played. The quests, the effort required to level up, the user interface, general good vendors, monster drops, profession trainers, mailboxes, hearthstones, remappable skill trees, even the skills themselves.

Gameplay wise, there's actually not a lot to distinguish it from WoW except some WAR-like open world instances (rifts). Which actually is a little disppointing.

Originally posted by teakbois

Originally posted by GrayGreene

 As far as no communication outside of guilds?  Bull.  Utter, and complete bull.  The global chats are thriving with the exception of times when players are sleeping/working which fluctuates depending on server.  I have made several friends by being social and taking initiative.  Yes, some players dont respond.  But most do.  The ones that don't are playing their own game and have the right not to be social, no matter how rude they are.  I ignore those players.  Also, free server transfers mean you can find a home for your character if you are not fitting in with your current community. 

 

Chat channels are active, but lately you would wish they havent been.  Welcome to global barrens chat.

 

Where the poster is absolutely right though, is when you join a rift group autmoatically, you can try to spark conversation all you want but the other layer(s) dont care.  They dont wanna respond, they just wanna fnish their rift and drop group and move on.

Now i do agree with that.  Doing rifts with strangers seems to be completely anti-social.

 Rift remains one of my favorite themeparks.  But a truly social experience will require a level of maturity most young players just dont have.  I will look for a niche game in the future, but most likely will move on  from mmorpgs.  The genre promises so much, but may never deliver.

Originally posted by GrayGreene

Now i do agree with that.  Doing rifts with strangers seems to be completely anti-social.

 Rift remains one of my favorite themeparks.  But a truly social experience will require a level of maturity most young players just dont have.  I will look for a niche game in the future, but most likely will move on  from mmorpgs.  The genre promises so much, but may never deliver.

Im actually thinking of going back to EQ1.  Best community out there.

I am always quite suprised that many complaints are about starting areas, lack of ect...

Oddly enough this is probably where less than half a % of all online game time is spent - the levelling up phase! (I am sure somebody will find a actualy stat there somewhere)

So why would developers go all out on starting areas. But to be honest its a shame, as this is where it will drag new players in.

MMORPG's are all about endgame - if you don't like the lack of levelling up paths and choice, I do think you are in the wrong genre. - And this is my own personal.

Originally posted by Professor78

I am always quite suprised that many complaints are about starting areas, lack of ect...

Oddly enough this is probably where less than half a % of all online game time is spent - the levelling up phase! (I am sure somebody will find a actualy stat there somewhere)

So why would developers go all out on starting areas. But to be honest its a shame, as this is where it will drag new players in.

MMORPG's are all about endgame - if you don't like the lack of levelling up paths and choice, I do think you are in the wrong genre. - And this is my own personal.

MMORPGs could be designed to be very good quality in all aspects if devs put their focus on all aspects instead of one.

Not one dev other than Blizzard has focused on [all] aspects on their game.

That's the only way to actually advance in a genre.

Upcomming MMOs are attempting this, whether it fails or not is still subjective, but least these devs are trying to work on [all] aspects.

I have noticed many of these same voices here say the same thing about every MMO out there and, are never happy with anything.

not trolling or flaming, just saying.  

Originally posted by RizelStar

Originally posted by Professor78

I am always quite suprised that many complaints are about starting areas, lack of ect...

Oddly enough this is probably where less than half a % of all online game time is spent - the levelling up phase! (I am sure somebody will find a actualy stat there somewhere)

So why would developers go all out on starting areas. But to be honest its a shame, as this is where it will drag new players in.

MMORPG's are all about endgame - if you don't like the lack of levelling up paths and choice, I do think you are in the wrong genre. - And this is my own personal.

MMORPGs could be designed to be very good quality in all aspects if devs put their focus on all aspects instead of one.

 

Not one dev other than Blizzard has focused on [all] aspects on their game.

 

That's the only way to actually advance in a genre.

 

Upcomming MMOs are attempting this, whether it fails or not is still subjective, but least these devs are trying to work on [all] aspects.

 

But isnt that basically like buying  a £50k car and just getting it ou thte garage once every 3 years? To me is seems a bit wastefull and money spend better elsewhere. Is this what people want though - the option there just incase?

I quit because I was bored out of my mind! I did like the class customization, it should be the standard. 

Originally posted by evilastro

Also the soul system is boring and bland.

Sorry just had to comment on this bit, what exactly are you comparing it to? I know of nothng out there that rivals the versatility and options this gives, and "most " skills in the trees are unique... There is over 250 different soul combinations at the least, and thats not even thinking about how you spec each tree!

(thats probably over 1500 diferent soul-only abilities/spells to mix and match!)

The normal complaint is there is too much choice!, which they have gladly fixed quite well in the latest update :)

Originally posted by page

After all it's a well made game, graphics are nice, the sole system is a good change, and the price is right.  So why do people quit ?

Well, It's because a caret-on a stick game.  It's one long chain quest that's almost a personal story line that for the most part has to be done solo. Quest hub after quest hub makes it close to impossible to play with friends.

Stop and think about it before you jump all over me !....Sure, you can in-world group play.  But you have strict rules in doing so. If your playing with a friend you have to match quest for quest.  You have to log on at the same time, and log off together if you would like playing with others.  Having a voice chat program helps in planning out this process, but for the most part it's hard to work together on anything unless your Max level.

- Sure you can do Rifts all day with other's.
- Sure you can play short instanced dungeons.
- Sure you can do PvP Warfronts.

But the above are mini games. Mini games are just that, mini games.  THEY LEAVE YOU WITHOUT A COMMUNITY.

Because of chain quest Guilds are worthless because no one can play togeather until end game.  Guilds become simple chat rooms for questions or the traditional " please come help me for five minutes" type situations.

Example's I had found :

1) MY RL friend started together.  Soon into the game we found we could not solo our characters at all or one of us would have to play catch up to play together again. Often times my friend would say take this quest, I wold say " I can't it will not give me it ". This was common in Rift.
 
2)A few times players tried to group with us.  Well sadly they were on different chain quest and would have to play catch up.

3) I could not have a friends list on my solo character. If I did find someone doing the same chain as me, added him to my friends list, tomorrow we would be out of sync again.

4) A younger player added me to his friends list after I helped him do a quest.  We were close in level, so the poor kid insisted that I play with him.  Well, OK....I did several of his quest that I had already done to be in sync, we played another hour and logged off.  The next day He insisted again that we play.  BUT we both played on our own before hand, and the cycle started all over again, we could not play together.

In every mmo, I'm a master of having a lot of friends.  I love to play an mmo that way. This is why the largest problem is so magnified to me where many would not be able to figure out why Rift is boring.

It's boring because you have to play alone !!!!

I hate to use WoW as an example, but the world was open to do anything when ever, who ever, however....No rules !....Rift could never ever be a WoW killer unless they change the game ALL AROUND.  But we all know that once released the game is really done.

Maybe you should keep your eyes out for GW2 instead? There you can join in with anyone all the time.

Rifts quest based system have advantages and disadvantages, this is one of the bad things with it.

GW2s dynamic events have other bad things with it of course, you loses a lot of the personal accomplishment factor and more or less always will work together with others, if they fail you fail.

No system is perfect, choose what fits you best (yeah, GW2 is still a few months away from launch).

Originally posted by GrayGreene

Now i do agree with that.  Doing rifts with strangers seems to be completely anti-social.

 Rift remains one of my favorite themeparks.  But a truly social experience will require a level of maturity most young players just dont have.  I will look for a niche game in the future, but most likely will move on  from mmorpgs.  The genre promises so much, but may never deliver.

The only way to play stuff like rifts is really with a bunch of friends or your guild.

And I don´t think the age is really that important even though there are more social older players than younger. Whatever game you play it is always best to find a good guild and hang out with them.

My guild is great and I love my toons. This game is great and I have not begun to get tired of it and I have played since closed beta. To each their own. I couldnt imagine trying to enjoy it without my guild friends playing with me. We all came over from Vanguard together. Of course I would not play an mmo to play single player. Thats what Skyrim is for.....and KoA next week =)

Originally posted by blueturtle13

My guild is great and I love my toons. This game is great and I have not begun to get tired of it and I have played since closed beta. To each their own. I couldnt imagine trying to enjoy it without my guild friends playing with me. We all came over from Vanguard together. Of course I would not play an mmo to play single player. Thats what Skyrim is for.....and KoA next week =)

Yeah,that is by far the best way to enjoy a MMO and the only way to anjoy a CORPG for that matter.

But OPs point that the questchains hinder playing together with other players is valid. Rather hard to fix as well, but they should probably have more chains that you don´t have to have complete another chain first to get.

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by blueturtle13

My guild is great and I love my toons. This game is great and I have not begun to get tired of it and I have played since closed beta. To each their own. I couldnt imagine trying to enjoy it without my guild friends playing with me. We all came over from Vanguard together. Of course I would not play an mmo to play single player. Thats what Skyrim is for.....and KoA next week =)

Yeah,that is by far the best way to enjoy a MMO and the only way to anjoy a CORPG for that matter.

But OPs point that the questchains hinder playing together with other players is valid. Rather hard to fix as well, but they should probably have more chains that you don´t have to have complete another chain first to get.

Agreed. Though that is an issue with most mmo's. I had that issue in Vanguard and EQ as well. My guild is large enough that the variety in level ranges makes for a fairly easy task in getting a group or at least a few players to complete quests with. Hence some games having henchmen I guess like GW and now EQ2

Originally posted by blueturtle13

Agreed. Though that is an issue with most mmo's. I had that issue in Vanguard and EQ as well. My guild is large enough that the variety in level ranges makes for a fairly easy task in getting a group or at least a few players to complete quests with. Hence some games having henchmen I guess like GW and now EQ2

Arenanet is trying to fix it in GW2, lets hope it works. Because I tend to get into smaller guilds were it is easy to know everyone and questchains really makes life hard for me like that.

If I wanted to play with henchies I would play a single player game instead, they are not a good solution for anything more than if you miss a player for a group.

I think questing needs a revamp some way or another to allow players play together more. Or they need to add more loose quests that anyone can take.

Yeah the quest system in the majority of games is stale and creaking at the seams

Agreed that GW2 seems to recognize that and is doing something to address it. We shall see if they are able to fix it. If they do? Every other game will copy it lol

Thats one of the killers of SWTOR.. So many planets that have different areas for each classes quests.. It's easy to get seperated and not see much of anyone in a game of hubs, where there are so many..

And that is one gripe I have had about the current gen "themeparks" is that it is too easy to tel where the line begins and where it ends.. "Hey, so okay you start here at these level 1 mobs and then you end here at this hub with level 50 mobs..", you can basically walk one straight line and know exactly where you are supposed to go..

And there is rarely if ever any going back, so chances are if you are left behind or left someone behind, unless you allow them to catch up you will never see them again until the end or very much near it..

Originally posted by blueturtle13

Yeah the quest system in the majority of games is stale and creaking at the seams

Agreed that GW2 seems to recognize that and is doing something to address it. We shall see if they are able to fix it. If they do? Every other game will copy it lol

Not neccesarily. GW2s massive DEs is a lot more work to do than questchains, a lot more.

But hopefully they will at least realize the problem and try their own solutions for it.

ANET made a list of stuff they thought needed fixing and I agree with the list, but it is a very real possibility that not all their fixes are optimal. The stuff do needs fixing one way or another and I hope others will actually try to figure out their own fixes instead of just stealing from others as usual.

In Rifts case they need something easier then to replace all quests with DEs. It should be for from impossible to patch something like that in. Maybe a mentoring system that lets you mentor questschains as well as levels? Or something else.

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by blueturtle13

Yeah the quest system in the majority of games is stale and creaking at the seams

Agreed that GW2 seems to recognize that and is doing something to address it. We shall see if they are able to fix it. If they do? Every other game will copy it lol

Not neccesarily. GW2s massive DEs is a lot more work to do than questchains, a lot more.

But hopefully they will at least realize the problem and try their own solutions for it.

ANET made a list of stuff they thought needed fixing and I agree with the list, but it is a very real possibility that not all their fixes are optimal. The stuff do needs fixing one way or another and I hope others will actually try to figure out their own fixes instead of just stealing from others as usual.

In Rifts case they need something easier then to replace all quests with DEs. It should be for from impossible to patch something like that in. Maybe a mentoring system that lets you mentor questschains as well as levels? Or something else.

The artist is a thief as Gray wrote.....