Rift is expanding in a big way with Storm Legion, an addition that will bring new souls, new zones, and much more into the game. We will be discussing some of our thoughts about Storm Legion over the next couple of weeks before giving it our final and official review. See what we have to say this week and then leave us your thoughts in the comments.

When I first played Rift during open beta 2 in 2011 I was blown away. I had not expected much from the game to start with. I had never heard of Trion and at the time was looking forward to the release of Tera. Once I learned Tera was not slated to be released until 2012 I decided to give Rift a try to fill the time void.  I can remember the moment Rift sunk its claws in me and would not let go.  I was playing as a Dwarf Warrior.  Guardians were the only faction available that test weekend. I had recently ascended and was headed north up the road in Silverwood to the Argent Glade.  Along the way a fire rift opened up.  I was only level 6 and this rift was level 8, and it was Elite.  I didn't stand a chance of survival.  On the edge of the rift next to a tree I saw a little sparkle. While I now know that what I was looking at was an artifact at the time I was completely clueless, all I knew was that I had to go and pick it up.  I was killed no less than 4 times as I worked out the path of the mobs inside the level 8 elite rift. I finally picked up the sparkle and collected it, and while I collected the sparkle, Trion collected me as a fan.

Read more of Rob Lashley's Rift: Storm Legion Review in Progress Part 1.

As a former rift player i still think they need new starting areas, while the soul system is nice to change roles on the fly , to  make an alt and redo all the same things all over again unless you like to instant adventure your way to cap is boring to me. Not a game breaker though depending on how you look at it.

Great game though and housing is a great improvement as well. I headed back to eq2 wich i played 5 years before i left and tried out rift .The amount of content along with 87,000 items in the game and thousands of quests and housing keeps me more than occupied for years to come.Im sure one day ill move on but for now im satisfied.

The reason i did leave eq2 was due to the hack that demolished my guild but i have since remade a new guild and am happy where im at for now..Good luck you all of you in rift and happy gaming to you all . Enjoy your stay there its a great place.

I find it kinda sad that this part 1 of the review in progress is more a review of the dungeon already available for over a week and a description of what RIFT is and what the expansion adds (just numbers though). Little content has actually been reviewed here... Other than that it's an okay read.

Trion improved 1-50 zones A LOT, since the game was released. Its not wow where they dont touch old content.

Impressive ammount of new elements, quests, mechanics, rifts and even new mosters or bosses where added to the 1-50 zones over time. Only thing that didint change is the 1-5 experiance but personaly i think its Tutorial, so it should not matter.

Devoting content for the sake of doing pointless inferrior zones with new themes is a waste of resources, like in wow. So much forgotten content over the years it almost makes you cry.

I think they did really good job with focusing on endgame in the expansion while still adding some new mechanics that ppl can access from lv 1 like new souls, housing ( bit later on) and all the content revamped from 1-50 sine the initial release.

Its not like they released new calling majority of old players already got max lv characters. On top of tha large number of ppl that never experianced end game content got they characters at lv 20 while playing the unlimited trial. Leveling is significaly faster now that it was back then, becasue of all the new quests and Instant adventures.

People that never really tried the game properly or didint play it since the first month should try the unlimited trian and see the diference.

I had discussion in other topic about the starer zones so i will repost my reply here.

Originally posted by Khebeln

Trion improved 1-50 zones A LOT, since the game was released. Its not wow where they dont touch old content.

Impressive ammount of new elements, quests, mechanics, rifts and even new mosters or bosses where added to the 1-50 zones over time. Only thing that didint change is the 1-5 experiance but personaly i think its Tutorial, so it should not matter.

Devoting content for the sake of doing pointless inferrior zones with new themes is a waste of resources, like in wow. So much forgotten content over the years it almost makes you cry.

I think they did really good job with focusing on endgame in the expansion while still adding some new mechanics that ppl can access from lv 1 like new souls, housing ( bit later on) and all the content revamped from 1-50 sine the initial release.

Its not like they released new calling majority of old players already got max lv characters. On top of tha large number of ppl that never experianced end game content got they characters at lv 20 while playing the unlimited trial. Leveling is significaly faster now that it was back then, becasue of all the new quests and Instant adventures.

People that never really tried the game properly or didint play it since the first month should try the unlimited trian and see the diference.

I had discussion in other topic about the starer zones so i will repost my reply here.

I agree they've changed all the zones, but especially some earlier zones, quite a bit.  I don't think that is where the complaint lies though.  The complaint seems to be that when you level alts the experience is nearly the same.  You can change the activity that levels you (IAs, pvp, etc) but you still travel through the exact same zones with the exact same quest lines.  I think people get bored with that.  It makes the amount of content feel smaller than it really is.

RIFT is a level 50 game though, so I think your point stands.

I really wish they would have implemented auto-mentoring at lower levels and bumped up rewards for that.  Manual mentoring, especially where levels change in zones quickly, feels clunky.

For most, I think, the start zone stuff isn't an issue.

The housing looks awesome.  That is the most interesting aspect of the xpac for me.  I really hope they integrate the system into adventuring, crafting, and trade in a way that is engaging.

My main gripe about the xpac is how much of the game is now gated behind the purchase.  I hate the buzzword "pay to win" but gating so much behind a paywall and nerfing the experience for those who don't pony up is disappointing to say the least.  If the tax is mandatory to enjoy the game then factor it into the the subscription price and don't offer such deep discounts for longer term subs.

Originally posted by Khebeln
I think its good introduction to the expansion review. Gives you perspective. And i disagree about new starting zones. Its not wow with 101 classes. You have souls here and callings. Most ppl play 1-2 characters anyway.

This. 

---

Originally posted by Khebeln
Devoting content for the sake of doing pointless inferrior zones with new themes is a waste of resources, like in wow. So much forgotten content over the years it almost makes you cry.

---

You dont do it for the people that are already playing the game and making alts, you do it for the people that are new to the game.

You do it to bring in new players and keep them, which WoW has not had a problem with and Rift has.

Originally posted by Ozmodan
You can talk all you want about content in this game because it does have it.  What it does not have is good systems.

I disagree, the soul system is of the more flexible and complex character builders of all the MMOs i've played recently. You can literally play with one character any way you like , and can switch instantly on top of that.  

I assume you feel GW2s rather rigid system where you are basically locked into a playstyle from lvl 40 is a better system? GW2 give you 8 classes, forcing you to roll 8 characters, guess what, Rift gives you all 8 classes (9 with the expac) in 1 character, especially now with the expansion (spellcasting warriors and sword wielding mages etc) .  So that means 9 souls per "role" , of which there are 4 . So we're sitting at 4 x 9 classes, since a single soul is probably not far from a GW2 class in terms of the amount of abilities it gets.

Originally posted by templarx

Originally posted by Ozmodan
You can talk all you want about content in this game because it does have it.  What it does not have is good systems.

I disagree, the soul system is of the more flexible and complex character builders of all the MMOs i've played recently. You can literally play with one character any way you like , and can switch instantly on top of that.  

I assume you feel GW2s rather rigid system where you are basically locked into a playstyle from lvl 40 is a better system? GW2 give you 8 classes, forcing you to roll 8 characters, guess what, Rift gives you all 8 classes (9 with the expac) in 1 character, especially now with the expansion (spellcasting warriors and sword wielding mages etc) .  So that means 9 souls per "role" , of which there are 4 . So we're sitting at 4 x 9 classes, since a single soul is probably not far from a GW2 class in terms of the amount of abilities it gets.

I think what is being referred to here is game systems, not character building.  The soul system is very cool.  I like how my rogue or mage can do more than one thing.  I don't really like the new class changes though.  Not a single one of my old builds works and many of the souls don't even play the same.

Originally posted by Xiaoki

 

---

Originally posted by Khebeln
Devoting content for the sake of doing pointless inferrior zones with new themes is a waste of resources, like in wow. So much forgotten content over the years it almost makes you cry.

---

Refining, redoing or adding to the old content, especially starter zones, is far from pointless.

[Reply by Khebeln] Yes and thats exactly what Rift did since release to all the 1-50 content, instead of adding unrefinied and lacking in content new zones, they doubled or tripled the content in all zones, added new mechanics, instant adventures, monsters, boss fights, colectables, pvp objectives and much more. All in already existing zones.

You dont do it for the people that are already playing the game and making alts, you do it for the people that are new to the game.

[Reply by Khebeln] I agree. But Rift is not alt making game to begin with. You have only 4 classes. There is so much content in the endgame its hard to get it all on even 1 character.

What you propose is counter productive in a long term. Instead of making half empty new zones for new players they decided to spent all this time since release to keep updating exisiting ones, and evolve the world.

This way it is actualy focusing on "NEW" players instead of returing people that never went past lv 20. Players like that commonly know as "locust", need more new starting zones to satisfy their sense of clearing same thing with a new skin.

You do it to bring in new players and keep them, which WoW has not had a problem with and Rift has.

[Reply by Khebeln] This and that is completly unrelated. Rift problem was week advertisement, low hype (No one had any expectations) and completly unknown ip. Not to mention considerable PC requirements, even today (Rift is CPU capped).

As a matter of fact Rift have really good engame player retention due to very fast and big updates. Unlike WoW that only offers any real content for expansions.

Reason why WoW is doing so well is the most popular IP right now. Very low PC req. Huge amount of content added over many years in several expansion. On top of that wow was always targeted for young gamers, offering very little chalange till raiding, and very convinient and casual systems. Even more so today than several years ago.

WoW is almost as casual as Free Realms or any similiar game.

Is it successful ? You bet. Is it becasue its the best game on the market ? Depends what you like. It sure offers a lot content for someone that never played it.

But at the same time the game is very unorginal, afraid to make or change or add anything new. Catters only to casual crowd. Focuses on bringing new players instead of expanding the endgame content. Is very simple and easy to master.

Most important thing for wow is to MAKE MONEY. Every decision they make is based around it. They dont care about making a good game. Good advertisement, sales, and futher promotion of IP is what matters.

Id rather take Rift any time, where the bad habits i mentioned above are not exisiting. Consider the fact that compared to WoW Rift had substantialy smaller player base and yet they added easily 3x "MORE" high quality content in the same period of time. And released expansion twice as big as anything wow released.

Aparently they are doing well enough, and not milking the game dry. Instead they invest, invest and invest. And they actualy play their own game. (I know from experiance, as i talked with devs a lot in game over the years)

You just made your own argument invalid.

Read my counter arguments in green, in the quote above.

Originally posted by Torvaldr

Originally posted by templarx

Originally posted by Ozmodan
You can talk all you want about content in this game because it does have it.  What it does not have is good systems.

I disagree, the soul system is of the more flexible and complex character builders of all the MMOs i've played recently. You can literally play with one character any way you like , and can switch instantly on top of that.  

I assume you feel GW2s rather rigid system where you are basically locked into a playstyle from lvl 40 is a better system? GW2 give you 8 classes, forcing you to roll 8 characters, guess what, Rift gives you all 8 classes (9 with the expac) in 1 character, especially now with the expansion (spellcasting warriors and sword wielding mages etc) .  So that means 9 souls per "role" , of which there are 4 . So we're sitting at 4 x 9 classes, since a single soul is probably not far from a GW2 class in terms of the amount of abilities it gets.

I think what is being referred to here is game systems, not character building.  The soul system is very cool.  I like how my rogue or mage can do more than one thing.  I don't really like the new class changes though.  Not a single one of my old builds works and many of the souls don't even play the same.

Ok, so in the absence of any clarity, which systems are we talking about? Most of the systems in the game is straight from WoW with a few enhancements tacked on. Hell there's even fishing now, with lures and fishing trophies .

 Their dynamic event "system" aka "Rift system" is imho the best one i am aware of.  GuildWars 2s "dynamic group events"  (more like static group quests if you've played Rift) are nowhere near the stuff going on in Rift. I'm now talking invasions, NPCs running amock all over the map, random rifts and the player's ability to interact with these rifts (including the new Rift abilities like spawning your own little NPC army to take down footholds and upgrading wardstones). This is all in the open world, not in some "instance" .  

Or is this a "sandbox vs themepark" discussion?  

As for the changes to souls, i was away for a year , and i'm glad they did what they did with the soul "system" . The premade  builds and the ease of picking one and fine tuning from there is brilliant. I would never have gotten back if i had to redo all my souls from scratch , knowing how much they changed. Now i can literally load up my rogue and go "hmm, i need to work on a tank build, oh what do we have here, a rogue-tank premade all ready to go" . They even load your action bar up for you , and off you go.

Originally posted by Ozmodan
You can talk all you want about content in this game because it does have it.  What it does not have is good systems.

Its a matter of personal opinion. It varies from person to person. But you cant deny that Rift is a very good game.

I admit i would like to see Terra like combat in Rift, and mabe artstyle closer to D&D standards as the one it offers is quite offen to bizzare or just plain weird. But then again half of it is conected to tastes.

We all now that one persons Heaven can be abothers Hell. Its the same thing :)