The bar is now set so low that almost anything can pass muster.  can you play it on most machines? you can-well it must be a great game. Do they have a ton of quests?-they do then it must be a great game. Is there any type of crafting?-there is wow must be a great game. can you chat easily?-yea must be a great game. Do the mobs give me any type of resistance?-they do while it must be a great game.     How about some type of creativity! Are the quests well thought out, do they have any type of story line that continues for many levels. Is combat fun or do I just keep swinging my sword or throwing my fire ball til I start to cry with boredom. Do I just run around collecting stuff then throw it on a table and voi-la there is my nice shiny bobble-or do I have to work just a little combine a few ingrediants a bit of magic and then voi-la. Can you fly , go underground make a clone of yourself-just something different. Are the mobs just standing there or do they move with any purpose maybe even hiding behind that rock.  

     Rift just seems like they took everyones mediocrity and said " here masses is what I have for you now bow down to the god of sameness and ehhhh"  No I will not bow down to your so called god , save me from this abyss of nothing

Originally posted by Teala

Personally I feel Rift is a good game if someone has never experienced an MMORPG before, with that said, Rift has quite a few short comings that I think many veteran players will agree either gives the game to much of a "been there - done that" feel or completely misses the boat.    In my opinion, based on my experience with the game, I see it only rating a 6.5 at best.  

Agreed.

I agree with the review and score.  Rift is a solid MMO, it has plenty of content and fun PvP and the class system is beyond any other MMO out there atm.  The additional bonus of a good Dev team that acknowledges issues quickly and is addressing the areas that need it most is rare in almost all MMO's especially the speed in which they do it.  I also believe Rift set the bar for a solid launch as well, this was the best Ive ever seen in 12 years of MMO gaming.  Sure Rift has some issues, its not perfect but its a decent game and I intend to play quite a while. 

Originally posted by eddieg50

The bar is now set so low that almost anything can pass muster.  can you play it on most machines? you can-well it must be a great game. Do they have a ton of quests?-they do then it must be a great game. Is there any type of crafting?-there is wow must be a great game. can you chat easily?-yea must be a great game. Do the mobs give me any type of resistance?-they do while it must be a great game.     How about some type of creativity! Are the quests well thought out, do they have any type of story line that continues for many levels. Is combat fun or do I just keep swinging my sword or throwing my fire ball til I start to cry with boredom. Do I just run around collecting stuff then throw it on a table and voi-la there is my nice shiny bobble-or do I have to work just a little combine a few ingrediants a bit of magic and then voi-la. Can you fly , go underground make a clone of yourself-just something different. Are the mobs just standing there or do they move with any purpose maybe even hiding behind that rock.  

     Rift just seems like they took everyones mediocrity and said " here masses is what I have for you now bow down to the god of sameness and ehhhh"  No I will not bow down to your so called god , save me from this abyss of nothing

And here is your reward for best drama queen. You totally moved me!

But I have to agree with the score, Trion earned it, and if they keep up the good work, i'de expect them to get an upgrade to their score.

Originally posted by eddieg50

 Rift just seems like they took everyones mediocrity and said " here masses is what I have for you now bow down to the god of sameness and ehhhh"  No I will not bow down to your so called god , save me from this abyss of nothing

 

I like to think of the MMO genre in terms of evolution (whether or not you believe in it is irrelevant). In evolution there are many major points that can be mapped; the developement of a vertebral column, the developement of a hard shelled egg helping reproduction on land, etc. All these major events didn't just happen overnight. No one organism gave birth to a baby who suddenly had a backbone. All these major events were a culmination of multiple little changes.

So what I'm trying to say is that the MMO genre, more so than other genres, changes in baby steps and major revolutionary points in the genre are going to be recognized in after the fact. For example, no one could have predicted during WoW's developement the impact it was going to have. All WoW did was take all the little changes in the genre that occured before it and utilize them well. So in everyone's mind WoW marks a major evolutionary change in MMOs, but it could not have done that without the others that came before it.

Bringing this all back to Rift, while I agree that it is pretty cookie cutter in many aspects (and I don't see myself playing it 4 months from now) it does make its little contribution to the genre. From here on out, it will be difficult for an MMO to be released unfinished and unstable. Rift has left its little mark on the genre whether it fails or succeeds, and can say it contributed to the overall evolution of MMO's.

By many accounts, including this review, the summary of the articles all seem to be similar. That is, well polished, bug free, nice graphics, good support, however, nothing new to see, bland quest system, and forgettable gameplay.

Just curious, but is this what it takes to get a 8.7 rating these days. Is this how low the gaming community's standards and expectations have gone? For any developer to release a stable, trouble free release is so shocking, so amazing in recent years that this is a shining star in the MMORPG world. Forget the quality of the game design, as long as it runs, it's awesome!

Look, I'm sure it's a fine game. Much succes to them, and I hope people have fun playing it. But really, giving it a "GREAT" rating simply because people have a relatively bug free gaming experience just shows how low expectations are. Pretty sad really.

Decent review... but 8.7 seems abit overated.

Good example to see the difference between movie critics and these so called game reviewers. While, the movie critics are not afraid to give most of the new rubbish with multimillion budget, which everybody seems to love, ratings like 30%, these game reviewers are always rating everything between 7 to 9, no matter how bad the game is, just because it's praised by the sheeps. And Rift? That wouldn't score more than 30% if the game-reviewers would be so harsh as movie critics.

Originally posted by Teala

Why even bother have a scale from 1-10 if the games you rate are always 7 or better.  Personally I feel Rift is a good game if someone has never experienced an MMORPG before, with that said, Rift has quite a few short comings that I think many veteran players will agree either gives the game to much of a "been there - done that" feel or completely misses the boat.    In my opinion, based on my experience with the game, I see it only rating a 6.5 at best.  

Yes, being a veteran gamer, having played games on the commadore 64, I would very much agree every game is a "been there-done that." The only difference is, is how well the game is made and if i'm having fun in that game. And having played many a game in my life, i have to say i am enjoying myself in Rift quite a bit. Therefor i would have to disagree with that low balled score that you quoted, as i wouldnt even give it to AoC for its decent graphics and attempt to change melee combat.

I think the score is just fine. WoW-lovers will find plenty to hate, but the game is slick, fun to play and crammed full of content. It's devs are responsive to player-needs and in more than ten years of MMO's I have not seen a better launch. It won't be to everyone's taste but, for those coming to it without an axe to grind, it has plenty to offer.

Originally posted by Roadshow

I think the score is just fine. WoW-lovers will find plenty to hate, but the game is slick, fun to play and crammed full of content. It's devs are responsive to player-needs and in more than ten years of MMO's I have not seen a better launch. It won't be to everyone's taste but, for those coming to it without an axe to grind, it has plenty to offer.

 Logic dictates: I don't like WoW, so I won't like Rift either.

It's even true in this case. There's more similarities between them than differences.

Very fair review.  For those knocking it or the score, I can only assume you have had your eyes closed to the releases lately the huge problems andunreliability issues.  Rift is not going to set the world alight with all it's features but it certainly begins it's life so well polished that you cannot really moan about it initial playability from launch.  Furthermore is has some beautiful touches and a world event one month after launch, if this is the level of their commitment and if it continues like this in the coming months and years then I would see this title as being well placed to give even the monster that is WoW a run for it's money.  Like another poster I have been playing since C64 days, tried many games bisited many MMO's from launch even got to the stage where I promised not to join any game at launche ever again.  Rift has made me believe again that it is possible to launch a stable game, for that alone I suspect that they are to be applauded and rewarded.

Originally posted by Hekate27

Very fair review.  For those knocking it or the score, I can only assume you have had your eyes closed to the releases lately the huge problems andunreliability issues.  Rift is not going to set the world alight with all it's features but it certainly begins it's life so well polished that you cannot really moan about it initial playability from launch.  Furthermore is has some beautiful touches and a world event one month after launch, if this is the level of their commitment and if it continues like this in the coming months and years then I would see this title as being well placed to give even the monster that is WoW a run for it's money.  Like another poster I have been playing since C64 days, tried many games bisited many MMO's from launch even got to the stage where I promised not to join any game at launche ever again.  Rift has made me believe again that it is possible to launch a stable game, for that alone I suspect that they are to be applauded and rewarded.

A Kia runs well off the showroom floor, it still doesn't make it a Lexus.

(Wow isn't a Lexus either).

7.5 at best.  

Demand a Re-review ASAP

in all seriousness though, this is MMORPG's review and not "said persons" review...  why all the hate.. this score is based on what MMORPG thinks not what people who didnt enjoy the game thinks about the game etc.. you can take the score to heart or play the game and give it your own personal score etc..

Originally posted by BizkitNL

Originally posted by Roadshow

I think the score is just fine. WoW-lovers will find plenty to hate, but the game is slick, fun to play and crammed full of content. It's devs are responsive to player-needs and in more than ten years of MMO's I have not seen a better launch. It won't be to everyone's taste but, for those coming to it without an axe to grind, it has plenty to offer.

 Logic dictates: I don't like WoW, so I won't like Rift either.

It's even true in this case. There's more similarities between them than differences.

Depends on why one doesn't like WoW.  I hate the cartoon theme of it, but other than that, consider it possibly the best themepark MMOs out there - So I like Rift a lot better.  Still, wish it felt less like a themepark, and wish it had a less instanced less gear-grind oriented endgame.  Also wish making alts were more fun, especially since its even easier to hit the cap level in than WoW.  So I'd give it an 8 or so, deducting a point each for those things, and chalking its lack of sandbox elements up to a difference in taste.  

I'd only give it closer to 9, if I were grading on a curve, considering how awful just about all the competition is.  I am hoping GW2 or SWTOR will be better, but experience dictates: not likely - and not soon enough.  For most gamers looking for a new MMO to play, this one should be good for passing a few months, at least.

Hell, maybe they'll even have a better endgame before anything better comes along.  Not that I'm holding my breath for it, though.

Good stuff -- I like the dual review format.  That way, people can't just blame Bill (who seems to be everywhere, playing everything, and writing about them all!).

Originally posted by BelegStrongbow

7.5 at best.  

 

Demand a Re-review ASAP

I wish you good luck in life with that attitude.

*shakes head*