Meh, I want an MMORPG, not an "esport." That's gonna shatter immersion big time.

Oh yeah, Neverwinter Nights :) Looking quite forward to that one. I've alwayes enjoyed the single player NWN.

Originally posted by Puremallace

Source: http://forums.riftgame.com/public-test-shard/291157-upcoming-1-7-endgame-improvements.html#post3517157

 

Upcoming 1.7 Endgame Improvements

Evening Everyone,

As we mentioned in our December Q&A we have a number of changes incoming with our 1.7 patch focused at improving the overall experience for our high level players! Listed below are the highlights for what’s incoming to PTS, as each new change hits the test server we will be posting a more detailed thread on the topic for people to give feedback on!

As always this is just a portion of what we are currently working on for 1.7, so expect to see updates to features, patch notes, and forum posts as we get closer to releasing the patch!

Thanks!
- The Rift Team

Greater variety for expert dungeons!

In order to give our expert dungeon players a much larger variety of dungeon content, we will be combining both tiers of expert dungeons into a single “Expert Dungeon” Category. All expert dungeons will be similar difficulty to our existing Expert Tier 2 dungeons, and those dungeons that have gotten harder will have new upgraded loot added to them.

In addition we will be revisiting our existing “Entry Level 50” content such as Chronicles, Dungeons, and Rift content to ensure that the rewards earned will smoothly transition players into expert dungeon content, not only will these changes make early level 50 content more rewarding, but it will also help to smooth the progression for new level 50 players into harder PvP and PvE content!

Streamlining item progression!

Another big improvement incoming with 1.7 is addressing some of the frustration for a new level 50 who is trying to gear up to be competitive in PvE / PvP. Currently on live the jump in item power between content tiers is inconsistent. Early in their endgame experience players get smaller upgrades and as they progress the jump in item power gets significantly larger.

As a result we’ve decided to go back and even out the power curve for post level 50 players, giving them a cleaner progression through gear with more even increases in stat between one tier and the next.
Players currently in the top tier items from Hammerknell and Rank 8 PVP will see not change to their equipment, but players below this level will see an increase in item power as we even out the large gaps between our highest tiers of content.

PVP planar attunement & Prestige system revamp and more!

Last but definitely not least we have a number PVP improvements coming with this patch focused on improving a player’s PVP leveling experience while still keeping the matches as competitive as possible. New level 50 players who are placed in both ranked and non ranked matches will have their base stats automatically bolstered to a minimum level, allowing them to be more than just a speed bump for a higher level player.

^ THANKS STAR WARS!!!

For existing PVP players, Items purchased from the Prestige store will get the same improvements as the rest of the game, making sure that the jump in power between each set of items is more consistent. In addition we are removing the prestige rank requirements from many of the items, which will give players more freedom when choosing to purchase / upgrade PVP equipment.

Speaking of ranks we will be adjusting the Prestige Rank system to have significantly more ranks, players will have their old rank automatically mapped to the new rank. With these new Ranks come new rewards, including costume versions of PVP armor sets, Planar Attunement Points, and more.

Finally we will be doing away with our existing PVP Souls. Moving forward we want PVP players to be able to play the soul combination they want to play and not have to worry about sacrificing soul points to obtain PVP bonuses. Instead we have taken many of the popular bonuses & abilities from these soul trees and placed them in a NEW planar attunement tree specifically focused on PVP.

 

Producer
RIFT : Planes of Telara

This. Underlined and in red. Thank God something is finally going to be done about  PvP balance. The PvP PA is also a sich idea, since (as a PvP'er) none of the other PA trees really appealed to my playstyle at all. Moving in the right direction, Trion.

Originally posted by spinner_vis

solution:

don't make progression about character.

make progression about soul.

create account.

create soul. pick some abilities.

create character. choose from available abilities.

play character. soul gains new abilties.

character dies. permanently. soul remains.

make new character...

Not gonna lie, I like this idea, a lot. Sounds well thought out and has a lot of fun concepts behind it.

This is a bit off topic, but somewhat on topic (if that makes any sense lol). I'd kind of like to see an alternate advancement system early on as well, or some other means of experience aside from just one bar going up. I think one of the top things on the list that keeps players around the most is the feeling achievement even after level cap or on the side from experience. The more ways there are to "upgrade" your character, the better! And no, I'm not just talking about who can get the best gear the fastest lol, more so, who spends their time going from one end of the game to the other just to improve more.

I too am putting all my chips into GW2. The playerbase will be huge, as it's F2P, and all the devout Rift and WoW players will also give it a go because of that. Worst case scenario, GW2 will for sure set a new standard.

Originally posted by eric_w66

The one comment here that I have to wonder about is "Combat was bland and unoriginal".

Easy to say, hard to follow up with a combat system that is "flavorful and original". It's all been done before, so how can something be original when our input systems are keyboard/mouse and sometimes joystick/gamepad? Seriously? How many ways can you make a combat system with those tools? FPS vs turn based, tab targetted vs "aimed" (ala skyrim/fallen earth). What would the reviewer DO to make combat "original"?

Griping about something no one can change is a bit silly. Unless, of course, he has the next big idea that NO ONE thought of in 31 years of PC gaming.

There are plenty of other ways to deliver a new and flavorful combat system. What are you referring to is called lack-luster development. I'm not a big overhead clicker (Diablo-style) type gamer, but look at that Lineage Eternal game that's being worked on. Mouse-drawing your swings? That's new. GW2 apparently throwing some twitch into their combat? Something we rarely ever see. Auto-attack and ability mashing while dealing will global cool downs and such? Almost every single game that hits the shelves. I'm getting a bit tired of it too. There are more ingredients to a solid/smooth combat system than just "how it's done," there's a certain feel factor that has to be considered that makes gameplay feel "right." +1 Danny.

The physics are straight up sick in this game. With the dynamics of it, I have no clue why they didn't go twitch/abilities with this one instead of the overhead click-fest. Despite that, though, looks really good. Whether there is deep character customization and wide itemization will make or break this game.

Merry CHRISTmas! Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ for being born and living a life to die for our sins!

Engineer and Norn. I don't like classes that make things go "boom" in the Fantasy genre, nor do I like two races that look just like Humans.

Originally posted by popinjay

 

---

Originally posted by stayontarget
They had content backed logged prior to launch and released that content in stages.    Interesting strategy on their part but I think they should have launched with all that extra content at the get go, even if it meant pushing the launch date back a few months.
~Dynamic events (rifts) was a mess~

---

Exactly.

 

 

The game was made like.. someone's parents about to go on vacation imo.

 

Mom: "Okay Billy, your dad and I will be away to Cancun for the week. I pre-made all your meals and snacks in case you get hungry. Don't eat it all in one day because it's just enough for each day, ok? Love you, buh-bye!"

Billy opens the fridge; sees:

 

Monday: Turkey Pot Pie/ apple snacks

Tuesday: Turkey strips/ ice cream

Wednesday: Turkey sandwiches/ Ho-hos

Thursday: Turkey fajitas/ cake

Friday: Turkey salad/ pie

Saturday/Sunday: Fried/baked turkey/ applesauce

 

 

This game, although "good"... is just one big turkey with some snacks.

This. Best post in the whole thread. True, cut and dry, and straight to the point.

I would encourage those of you who want a solid population (who like PvP, of course), to transfer to Seastone, as it has the best server population out of all the PvP servers. Transferring your character is free and easy, so might as well try to get more people over in one place so there is more community interaction. I noticed this when every warfront or dungeon group I wound up in had Seastone players, so coming fron Sunrest (ironically the lowest population server), it was pleasing to actually see more than 2 people other than myself in Sanctum.

My source was http://www.riftstatus.net/ and for those who enjoy PvE, Wolfsbane is your server. Hope to see more people migrating to one place to help rebuild the community. That is all :)

Originally posted by Icewhite

Originally posted by Talemire

Smh... Happens every time. How about a game that can't be "beaten" in less than a week? One of the many problems/issues (whatever you want to call it) in the development of MMORPGs: They're too easy.

http://www.play.net/gs4/

There ya go.  In the 90's the average time-to-cap was measured in decades.  Probably not nearly that long now though, even the muds have been removing time sink to be more MMO-like.

*cringe* Text-based MMO.

Originally posted by Eliandal

Originally posted by Talemire

Smh... Happens every time. How about a game that can't be "beaten" in less than a week? One of the many problems/issues (whatever you want to call it) in the development of MMORPGs: They're too easy.

 

  That's not a way to keep the 'casual' market - which is where the money is.  Blizzard saw that - and look how heavily they've nerfed levelling.  People want to see rewards quickly, and want to be able to log in and progress even if they only have an hour.  If a game like old EQ or DAOC EVER came out now - it would be limited to 'hardcore' players within a week, since no one wants to take literally months to finish levelling.

 

  But...Kudos to the players who've reached 50!  Hope there's enough to keep you occupied for a few months :D!

Makes me wonder why Mythic didn't start on a DAoC2 a long time ago. That was my first MMORPG, and it was a lot of fun pre-teleportation devices :) I like how there was no map, too.

Smh... Happens every time. How about a game that can't be "beaten" in less than a week? One of the many problems/issues (whatever you want to call it) in the development of MMORPGs: They're too easy.

Haha, I can't tell you, nor even remember, how many times us MMORPGamers have been promised a living/breathing world among other things, and have just not gotten it. Although I see both sides of the argument here, I have to give you the +1 here due to how I personally feel about the genre myself and the direction it's going. The developers say they're listening, but are they really? I often stuplify myself by asking if these developers even play games themselves (when I know they do).

All I'm saying is that after all these years of the many released products, you would think someone would "get it right" by now; someone would have, by now, picked up what keeps players around, what people like to see in a world, and what kind of various content attracts players. There are plenty of "sources" out there that have clean/clear-cut results, so unless you've really not been paying any attention to who you're giving your money to, or are new to the genre all together, you should darn-well know what works and what doesn't.

Now, I have not played this game, nor am I commenting on it directly, but from the frustration you display in your post, I feel you dude. I'm just straight up skeptical nowadays. I almost want to give these games the "big 6" now (wait to start playing 6 months after release) because of how much we (gamers) have learned to dance the same dance these developers are dancing. Heck, we have no choice but to learn their tango lol. A big part of me wants to say "Don't worry bro, GW2 is coming out soon, and they are saying they will deliver!" But I'm not going to, because I've been crushed one too many times by hype that just doesn't measure up (mind you, hype created and influenced by the company via teasers, diaries, trailers, etc.). Remember Vanguard? Yeah, SOE abanonded that amazing product, which is probably the most live world (when populated) I've ever seen in and MMORPG to date. Remember Age of Conan? Yup, the hype was as "through the roof" as the hype is for GW2 right now, and that was a flop.

In short, I hear you, and I'm not proud to say that I would be very surprised one day just to see a company actually deliver everything they say they would, and have actually payed attention to trends over all these MMORPG years. If we aren't surprised to get what we pay for in a grocery store, then why do we need to be at the point to where we are surprised to get what we pay for in the gaming world?

Finally, a noteable company putting out a strictly-online noteable title. Hopefully they deliver a solid gameplay and customization experience. Won't hurt to give this one a swing.

Cool, if it ever actually releases...

Whatever skill that may be, it's gonna be one seen in GW2, that's for certain. But as for most games, I love a good lifetap.

Originally posted by Riftsoldier

Originally posted by Talemire

I believe that right now (well, according to the calculators, lol) that you can get like 66 talent points by max level. How do you all feel about that, given you are able to choose three souls? Do you feel that 66 is enough to do what you want to do with your character, minus the "I want to do it all!" mentality? How many talent points would you like to see at max level? Discuss!

 

Me personally, I'd like to see a 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2 etc pattern throughout leveling, coming to about 75 or 76 talent points by max level (at least for the current level cap).

the current level is higher than it was in early beta. The 66 point cap makes for some very great combinations without letting players get to overpowered.

There is a fine line drawn between soul abilities. Very key areas within each soul tree unlocks great advantages. If you were able to reach that power in more than 2 souls then people would be to powerful. The whole purpose of the 4 roles and being able to reset your souls is so that you can play around with builds until you are happy with the one you have. No need to introduce overpowered characters into the mix.

Would it be fun to have your 76 points? Sure...but there should be limits upon characters. I could just imagine how overpowered my justicar shaman purifyer with be with justicar 40, shaman 20, purifyer 16.....I would be able to tank and heal myself and have no need for a healer in most instances....lol....way to overpowered.

Lol that was actually my exact 2nd choice of character. I wound up going with Pally/Riftblade/Vindicator, until I realized that although I have defense, offense, healing, and mad CC, BUT no power regen bonus at all, which is a BIG deal lol. Since I'm definitely set on being a pally as my 1st soul because of all it has to offer, I found that I really have to go up high on my 2nd tree in order to get that power regen, and pally/warlord is just too defensive for me to be at all effective in pvp, so I started going higher up the riftblade tree. It's rough trying to "get it all," but it's definitely doable.

But for now I just took Beastmaster for the pet dps alone until I actually get vindi.