I played the open beta and I uninstalled it before it was over. The game was polished and the Rifts were interesting until they started popping up everywhere. You are almost forced to be involved in the Rift events in some cases as you cannot get to quest locations when there are a dozen of them on the map. I am not sure if the numbers of these things were increased for testing or not. I never left the first zone and reached level 21.  One boss mob out of the Rift had almost 400k hit points. It took several dozen players about 15 min to bring it down. Rift is your game if you want to be able to simply jump into mindless combat at very short notice. In the end, I got the feeling that I had seen this all before but on steroids. As I said, the game is polished but IMO rather shallow.

Originally posted by testament1

The whole point of playing games is to have fun. 

Rift is fun as hell. 

No other reason is needed. 

I have posted a number of long winded essays on why I want to play Rifts - even though I come from a much more advanced title (Dark Age of Camelot)  and thusly have much higher expectations than most.  But darnit if Testament1 didn't say it the way it needed to be said:

RIFT is fun as hell.  No other reason is needed. 

Originally posted by testament1

The whole point of playing games is to have fun. 

Rift is fun as hell. 

No other reason is needed. 

Fun is subjective. To me the game seems like the same boring garbage and the same outdated mechanics that game companies have been trying to pass off as MMOs for the past 8 years. Why would I have fun doing what wasn't fun 8 years ago?

It s not really fun at all. To me anyways, and many others. Alot find it fun I guess.

Originally posted by Garvon3

Originally posted by testament1

The whole point of playing games is to have fun. 

Rift is fun as hell. 

No other reason is needed. 

Fun is subjective. To me the game seems like the same boring garbage and the same outdated mechanics that game companies have been trying to pass off as MMOs for the past 8 years. Why would I have fun doing what wasn't fun 8 years ago?

You would not have fun if it is not your thing.  That has nothing to do with the thread topic.

What is the appeal?  It is fun.

If there is no fun, there is no appeal - if it has no appeal, what does it matter?

Are you here looking for somebody to convince you that the game is fun for you - when you have stated that it is not?  Are you looking for somebody to prove you wrong?  Why?  It is either fun for you or it is not... it either appeals to your or it does not appeal to you.

Originally posted by VirusDancer

Originally posted by testament1

The whole point of playing games is to have fun. 

Rift is fun as hell. 

No other reason is needed. 

BINGO!

That is the simple appeal for many people.  They find the game fun.  Why they find it fun does not matter, does it?  What is fun for one person is not necessarily fun for another.

Just because Person A does not find the game to be fun, does not mean that Person B will not.  Much in the same way that just because Person B does find it fun, does not mean that Person A will.

For many people, they simply find RIFT to be fun.

I cannot put my finger on it - I dislike the character customization options, I hate the glaring disconnect between the game lore and the game play, and there are a bunch of little things here and there that I find wrong with it... but damn, in the end - I just find it to be fun.

Sure the game can be fun to people, but what puzzles me is, what makes this game more fun than any previous themepark game?

The gameplay is exactly the same as WoW, LotR, RoM, WAR, DAoC, etc

So I guess if you still think those games are fun, then this game will be fun to you.

But if you OP, are bored of the typical MMO, then RIFT will doubtfully cure what ailes ya.

If you're looking for something on the cutting edge breaking the boundries, look elsewhere.  Rift is a cookie cutter MMO with a few interesting bits thrown in.

However, having played Open Beta 7 for the last few days, it's a surprisingly fun MMO, even with the cookie cutter aspect.  Although it's much more fun when you're guilded.  I started playing solo, then went to check the TOG website (The Older Gamers; http://www.theoldergamers.com) and found that they had a presence in Rift.  Once I joined in with TOG, the game took on a much more fun aspect. 

TOG had at any one time 15-20 members online during the beta, and the feeling is there will be more players joining after release.  So for anyone over the age of 25 looking for a mature and fun loving guild, check us out. (end plug).

You'll find levelling a breeze in Rift, so most of the content will happen at endgame.  You can join a PVP server, or if you prefer to selectively choose when you want to PVP, join a PVE server, which allows you to flag yourself for PVP at any time.

I played a PVE server and found there was enough action with "rifts" opening (as mentioned above, rifts are in game events often controlled by the GM's to some degree) and invasion forces to defend against to keep me busy almost for half of my gaming time.  If you enjoy questing, there are so many quests you'll find yourself leaving some behind as you level.

Another interesting aspect is in-game puzzles, where you have to touch a bunch of points in sequence to get a reward, which could be a green, blue, or purple item.  Items are colour coded the same as WoW, with grey being vendor trash, white being an item with no stats, green an item with stats, blue a buffed item, and purple being a rare item.

It's a decent game overall.  However, the main aspect of Rift that puts it apart from other (un-named) MMO's is the class system.  There are 4 classes, each with the ability to have 8 specialisations ("souls") with up to 3 of those souls able to be active at any one time.  You can switch between sets of 3 souls, which means you can be a warrior set up as a tank with one combo, dps with another, and pvp with yet another.

Some players in TOG through experimentation found that a Rogue could make a very good tank with the right set of souls, as an example of how the class based system is set apart from the crowd.  Mages are your healing class, as well as having available offencive souls.  And every class, Mage, Rogue, Warrior, and Cleric, has at least one soul which allows players to cast a pet.  I used "Beastmaster" as my main soul with my Warrior, and having the pet meant I was able to solo three mobs that were a level higher than me without too much trouble.  So, good for solo play.  Most classes are balanced such that you can take care of mobs 2-3 levels higher than yourself without using pots.

Making gold is almost too easy in Rift, so there's little chance that gold farmers will take over, and indeed I never saw one single spam for gold in game.  I did hear of one person who saw advertised "1 gold for $10", and considering you can make 1g from a level 10 vendor trash item, I dare say not many people will part with $10 for 1g.

Mounts are available at any level, so long as you have the ~2 platinum 55 gold available for one.  1 platinum is 100 gold, and you could easily make 255 gold by level 15 if you only sell vendor trash.  Add to that the crafting system, which allows you to make items that are actually worth having, and you could easily make enough for a mount using the AH by level 10.

Level 10 takes about 3-5 hours of in-game play, depending on how much time you spend on other activities.

Like I said, it's a surprisingly fun game to play, with some interesting aspects that will take you some deep thought and experimentation to familiarise yourself with, and has some interesting game-play mechanics that, while cookie cutter based, are good enough to keep your interest for more than just a few minutes.

I'd suggest trying the game after release if you're looking for something laid back and releatively easy to play, something that's fun and interesting, and has a reasonably decent community.

As always there are some nubs in game, but they're easily ignored once you get into a good guild.

Hope this helps!

/Oscarian

Originally posted by jusomdude

Originally posted by VirusDancer

Originally posted by testament1

The whole point of playing games is to have fun. 

Rift is fun as hell. 

No other reason is needed. 

BINGO!

That is the simple appeal for many people.  They find the game fun.  Why they find it fun does not matter, does it?  What is fun for one person is not necessarily fun for another.

Just because Person A does not find the game to be fun, does not mean that Person B will not.  Much in the same way that just because Person B does find it fun, does not mean that Person A will.

For many people, they simply find RIFT to be fun.

I cannot put my finger on it - I dislike the character customization options, I hate the glaring disconnect between the game lore and the game play, and there are a bunch of little things here and there that I find wrong with it... but damn, in the end - I just find it to be fun.

Sure the game can be fun to people, but what puzzles me is, what makes this game more fun than any previous themepark game?

The gameplay is exactly the same as WoW, LotR, RoM, WAR, DAoC, etc

So I guess if you still think those games are fun, then this game will be fun to you.

But if you OP, are bored of the typical MMO, then RIFT will doubtfully cure what ailes ya.

I disagree with your statement in RED.

Then again, I would disagree that WoW, LotRO, WAR, DAoC, and several other games have the same gameplay.

Of those four, I never played DAoC - it never had any appeal and there were games out at the time that I felt were better (was playing UO, AC, and even AO at the time).  I found WAR to be clunky, but the PQs were interesting to an extent.  I found LotRO to be tedious, but the graphics were definitely nifty with the DX10 client (kind of like DDO's DX10 client, etc).  I hate WoW's Fisher-Price graphics, but prior to Cata - I enjoyed pugging BGs (had not raided since Vanilla).  WoW's pre-Cata 4.0 started WoW's death for me, and wasting the money on Cata sealed the deal.

Currently, I am subscribed to CoX.  I do that once or twice a year for a few days, having forgotten how much I hate the game.  I like the idea of a superhero game (CO was a gross insult to gamers and DCUO is a port of a console brawler).

I have lost track of how many games I have played over the years since UO.

But oh well, that is neither here nor there...and I really do disagree with the statement in RED.

The thing I'm wondering is what "new and exciting" gameplay are people looking for really? There are plenty of MMO's out there that break the mold, and do stuff differently. EVE for example is about as different as one can get from WoW...maybe the people who don't like Rift should go play it?

Or what about Age of Conan, with it's graphic use of blood and nudity, combined with the rich lore of Conan, and a much more interactive combat experience? Maybe that's your cup of tea instead. 

Or how about Vindictus? Again, combat is completely different than "wow clones", maybe that would tickle your fancy instead. 

All I know is that I became hooked to Rift once I got into the Freemarch...and started seeing shit happen all the time....ALL THE TIME around me. There were Rifts, invasions, encampments, quests, a dungeon....so much crap for me to do. 

That's what's different with Rift...the feel of actually having fun...in the game world...and not in an instance. There's nothing like that in WoW...nothing. And I've leveled several characters to around level 20 or so, just trying out different souls and combat styles...all with the same starting zone...and none of it is getting old. 

I will admit, that the first time I played Rift, I didn't get into it. Granted, I only played about 10 minutes, but once I started gaining levels, figuring out the Soul system...and of course experiencing Rifts for the first time, I then found out what all the hype was about. 

Rift is bringing the Multiplayer back to MMO. Not contstant dungeon queues, or zoning into Raid dungeons. Sure, Rift will have some of that, but given the emphasis on Rifts and the rewards they net, the game world will be full of life..something WoW cannot say. 

But if you played in beta, did Rifts, dungeons, and learned the Soul system...and you STILL aren't having fun, then there's nothing I, or anyone else will be able to say to convince you otherwise. 

I, on the other hand, have already preordered...and am currently suffering from a bad case of Riftdrawls :)

Rift is a very polished game.  Intresting class mechanics.  Intresting rift mechanics.  It is true that rifts would get boring.  As would questing, as would crafting. Everything will get boring. 

One thing I like in games is gear. I enjoy questing for gear.  I enjoy pvping for gear. Rifts offer a whole new currency to spend at planar vendors.  The invasions offer the same currency.  Each zone has unique rift types and rift currency.  So what you have here, is something for grinders to farm.  The same farm that pvpers will do for their gear.  

On the currency not, you also have currency for pvp, currency for collections, currency for tradeskills, faction based vendors and dungean currency..  To some this is asinine. To me, it offers different reasons to do things. \

 I no longer quest just to quest.  I quest so I can buy stuff at the faction vendors.  I do collections so I can buy that 110% runspeed mount. I do dungeans for loots and for dungean tokens to buy even more loots,  I do pvp for pvp loots.  I run rifts and invasions for planar goods.

I really enjoy that about the game. I find that whenever I get bored of something, I can just switch gameplay modes and still work for a rewarding goal.

I also really enjoy the fact that I can switch play styles at the push of a button aswell. I can have a role for hanging with my friends.  I can have another role for soloing. I can have a role for experimentation. I can also have a role for pvp.

No one claims this game to be a whole new primary color, invented by some mad scientist to blow your fucking mind. Rift is just a painting consisting of red and blue and all shades in between.  It is somethign you have seen before, but its one hell of a beautiful painting.

When we judge a game for being so similar to other games, I cant help but think about what game is in fact so differnt. I look at eq2, wow, ddo, lotro, vangaurd, aoc, aion, ffxiv, and I wonder just how ground breaking they really are.  

If nothing else, RIFT is beautiful, plays hella smooth even when all shit hits the fan,  has almost zero bugs and a very solid themepark ride.  If you buy it, you will get your free months worth for sure.  Saddly, thats about all we can ask for these days with mmos.  I myself already bought a 6 month sub at the discounted prices.  Ever preorderd the collectors edition.

Originally posted by jusomdude

Sure the game can be fun to people, but what puzzles me is, what makes this game more fun than any previous themepark game?

The gameplay is exactly the same as WoW, LotR, RoM, WAR, DAoC, etc

So I guess if you still think those games are fun, then this game will be fun to you.

But if you OP, are bored of the typical MMO, then RIFT will doubtfully cure what ailes ya.

I can only respond to this by saying, why do people who read books enjoy reading fantasy novels over, say, mystery books.  Or vice versa.  Et cetera et cetera.

Sure, if you haven't played WoW, LotRo, WAR, DAoC, etc, you might find them enjoyable.  But if you have, then when something new comes along most people who enjoy fantasy based games (although there's a bit of steampunk stuff in Rift as well) might find Rift enjoyable merely because it's what they enjoy most.

I was critical of the game for probably the first 12 hours of playing, only to find myself looking out the window to see the sun coming up.  So that's when I decided there must be "something" about Rift that I actually enjoyed.  It's got that "x factor", somehow.

/Oscarian

Originally posted by jusomdude

Originally posted by VirusDancer

Originally posted by testament1

The whole point of playing games is to have fun. 

Rift is fun as hell. 

No other reason is needed. 

BINGO!

That is the simple appeal for many people.  They find the game fun.  Why they find it fun does not matter, does it?  What is fun for one person is not necessarily fun for another.

Just because Person A does not find the game to be fun, does not mean that Person B will not.  Much in the same way that just because Person B does find it fun, does not mean that Person A will.

For many people, they simply find RIFT to be fun.

I cannot put my finger on it - I dislike the character customization options, I hate the glaring disconnect between the game lore and the game play, and there are a bunch of little things here and there that I find wrong with it... but damn, in the end - I just find it to be fun.

Sure the game can be fun to people, but what puzzles me is, what makes this game more fun than any previous themepark game?

The gameplay is exactly the same as WoW, LotR, RoM, WAR, DAoC, etc

So I guess if you still think those games are fun, then this game will be fun to you.

But if you OP, are bored of the typical MMO, then RIFT will doubtfully cure what ailes ya.

For me it's the class system. Is beyond any of those games. It's beyond anything I have seen.

I'm sure this game is fun. It has new pretty graphics to look at, dynamic classes. it's the staying power that I am concerned about. I am sick of paying $50 + $10-$15/mo. for a game that has little staying power. I never regret any of my WoW purchases because I know it will ALWAYS be there, ALWAYS be playable and POSSIBLY enjoyable at times. I never have to worry about logging in to an abandoned game. 

But I really don't want to play WoW anymore. It's time for something new that I won't be wasting my money on.

I could sum the game up by saying this:

Rift is a glass half full.

/Oscarian

No man should ever tell you how to spend your money. I think the VAST majority of players realize one thing very earrly on. This game is here to stay.  It is not going anywhere.  This is no aion. This is no war.  This is no ffxiv.  This game will not defeat wow, but we all know this game is gonna stick around even when gw2, tera, and that new star wars releases.  

Originally posted by oscarian

I could sum the game up by saying this:

Rift is a glass half full.

/Oscarian

While I am sure this means something to you, could you perhaps elaborate for the rest of us?

Originally posted by duelkore

No man should ever tell you how to spend your money. I think the VAST majority of players realize one thing very earrly on. This game is here to stay.  It is not going anywhere.  This is no aion. This is no war.  This is no ffxiv.  This game will not defeat wow, but we all know this game is gonna stick around even when gw2, tera, and that new star wars releases.  

They have some decent people behind the game, behind the company, etc.  They did a nifty job of getting the VC's involved for financing something that did not exist until relatively recently.  There are definitely going to be folks looking for a decent ROI.

Originally posted by VirusDancer

Originally posted by oscarian

I could sum the game up by saying this:

Rift is a glass half full.

/Oscarian

While I am sure this means something to you, could you perhaps elaborate for the rest of us?

See my above posts for a more thorough overview on my thoughts about the game.

/Oscarian

Its class/souls system is pretty unique. if you like pvp or instance raid, it is the game for you. if you like solo it is the game for you too.

you can level your char by doing quest, or pvp, or instance.  if you want to get best gear you need do all of them together since each part gives different currency to buy different part for your gears. if you like crafting, it is game for you too. crafting will give craft currency.

in general it is a good polished mmo game made in california.

Originally posted by oscarian

Originally posted by VirusDancer

Originally posted by oscarian

I could sum the game up by saying this:

Rift is a glass half full.

/Oscarian

While I am sure this means something to you, could you perhaps elaborate for the rest of us?

See my above posts for a more thorough overview on my thoughts about the game.

/Oscarian

A glass half full could mean many things (ignoring the obvious contrast offered by half empty).  A glass half full is not a full glass.  Then again, does the glass need to be full?  What is in the glass?  Etc, etc, etc.

Even going through and reading your other posts does not elaborate on the vague statement that RIFT is a glass half full.

edit:  Does not matter though - I do not have time for games like this on forums.