Originally posted by eric_w66

And if you want to get the cool stuff in your class, you can't afford to put points into the other souls (the abilities you get are worthless compared to your own classes, etc). So you end up with the "single class" again...

 

Not true.  32 and 44 point builds are common on the Rift Forums.  While the soul system is very dynamic it is not that dynamic.  It is more of a pick your style than an all out custom built character.  This style that you can pick can be swapped quickly and easily based off your situation.

It is hard to describe, you sound like you have played though.  A HoT healer can sprinkle in some added elements (pet, range dps, melee dps, tanking) to flavor thier character however they see fit.  But no, its not a do it all build.

Warriors have 3 Tank Styles, and then several DPS styles.

Clerics have 3 Healing Styles, 1 Tank style, and several DPS styles.

Mages have several DPS styles but only 1 healing style.

Rogues get several DPS styles but only 1 tank style.

Originally posted by oakthornn

Really, I have no idea how Rifts can be compared to Warhammer other than the Rifts are kinda similar to PQ's, but not really.. PQ's were staged events and Rifts can come out of anywhere,, its' not staged.. Other than that, there is absolutely no comparison to WAR whatsoever!  The graphics, setting, atmosphere, terrain, classes, monsters, etc are NOTHING like WAR, AT ALL, lol. WAR looks like WOW 2.0.. Rifts is NOT WAR 2.0 and those who think it is really need their head examined...

Rifts looks and feels more similar to the legendary EQ and Vanguard more than any other game, period..  One of it's creator's, Scott Hartsman, worked on the original EQ.

So all this talk about it being Warhammer 2.0 is like saying EQ is Ultima Online 2.0 or something ridiculous lol..

Funny, I think people who can not see the simularities need to get thier head examined.  And, when you bring this up in game chat you get the same argument.  A bunch of people say they felt the exact same thing and then a bunch of people call them crazy.

Rift seems by design to borrow a lot of elements from other games and attempt to make them better.  Art being subjective is difficult to convince another player of your point of view so I won't try.  The Art in Rift to me most closely resembles the art in WAR when compared to all the other games I have played.

The Rift system has static elements.  You can go right outside the starter zone and go to the same Rift and have it repeat over and over with the same sequence.  It is true that they also have random Rifts happen.

This is the part that I think people who disagree with me are missing.  I said this is LIKE WAR 2.0.  I did not say it is a WAR clone.  I did not say it IS WAR 2.0.  There are a lot of similar elements that have been upgraded or kept the same.  This may also be as another poster pointed out due to the fact that RIFT tries to bring a lot of the good MMO parts and combine them.  WAR tried to do the same thing.

~ Madd

Crafting:
Crafting is WoW crafting.  You can pick 3 skills.  I did butcher, miner (both gather types) and Armorer.  It seemed I could gather everything at low levels that I needed for Armor crafting.  The mining nodes are way too sparse in my opinion but there was plenty to butcher.  Once you get the raws you go to a loam of forge and make the basic materials (there is a craft all button even).  Then you hit craft all again to make a final product.  It does not seem to be enough to keep hard core crafters happy like in EQ2 but it is enough for casual use.

I keep looking for the scenario button…

I’ve played Rift for the better part of today and have made my way to level 11 of 27 for this round of beta.  This is an initial impression post as I’ve played the game for several hours and need to take a break.

Graphics:
They are good.  The art style is very similar to what Warhammer had with a couple of twists.  The textures are higher resolution.  The polygons have been increased.  There is several lighting and shader techniques being used.  All in all it looks good.  It is more realistic than the art you find in WoW but less realistic than what you would find in FFXIV or other ‘pretty Asian mmos’.

I run Windows 7 64bit, Intel i7 920, 12 gig of ram, Radeon 4870.  At 1080p I can run every setting on max and get 15-25 fps.  At that low FPS it is somehow smoother than what I normally see.  If I turn off shadows it jumps to 30-50 FPS and this is how I play.

Sound:
I don’t have much to say here as my cat decided to eat through the wire on my G35 headset this morning.  I’ll have an HS1 tomorrow to get a feel for the surround sound and quality.  I had no complaints from my desktop 2.0 setup, but I also have little expectation from those speakers.  The sound options in game are very limited though.

Lag:
I live in West Texas, and I forget where I read it but I understand the US servers to be in Texas.  I had very minor rubber banding at one point in the game, but the vast majority of the time it was lag free.  Even in some of the rift events where there seemed to be ~ 50 players on the screen I did not feel the effect of latency.  The game download was 7.47 gig and capped my download speed the entire time.  Overall the servers seem to be very stable.

Rift System:
This would be the greatly upgraded public quests from Warhammer.  This combined with the art style are the primary reasons I say this is Warhammer 2.0.  There seem to be static rifts that have stages, leader boards for contribution, an influence system, and loot reward at the end.  They play just like the PQs in Warhammer. Once you played it once there is little variation.

Invasion System:
This is a neat twist on the Rift/PQ system.  There are roaming or static bosses/sub bosses you have to kill.  They are trying to kill yours or take a town of yours.  You group up and attack.  This seems to cause the entire zone of players to rush over and get to work.  There were several things going on at once in different parts of the map.  It was very fun / easy to get into and out of.  The end boss for one of them took FOREVER to take down and didn’t seem to do a lot of damage.

Character creation:
The models look good.  I’m not a big fan of the art style they went with the female characters though.  Some will like it better; I like the fantasy girls to be more fantasy like with the curves.  The developers went with a more realistic model.  Character creation does provide plenty of options.  Not as developed as Aion, but I like the art style more than I did in Aion.  You have more options than you do in WoW or Warhammer.

Leveling:
This game has the potential to shine huge in this area.  I played a Cleric.  You can pick 3 ‘souls’ or trees to work down.  You can place points in the ‘branches’ of the trees.  This is much like traits, AAs, specs in other games (where you have 2 options 0/5 and 0/5.  You must place 5 points in either of these to unlock the next layer).  The difference is each tree is a separate class.  As you put points in the branches you level that class and unlock abilities based off your level.  You can pick 3 of about 7 or 8 classes it seems to mix and match what you like.  I played a Druid/Shaman.  I did not place points in my 3^rd line, I forget even what it was called.  From looking only at the Cleric trees I could see 2-3 combinations that seemed to sync well with each other.  By level 10 I had enough money to buy a second spec that I can hot swap between.  I had not unlocked enough souls to make it useful though.

I REALLY like the soul system.  By level 11 I could have played the game several different styles with the Cleric Class.  They have Rouge, Warrior and Mage types as well.

Quests:
The quests are your normal variety.  They also have a very Warhammer feel to them.  There is nothing really innovative or wrong in this field.

Customer Service:
They found out the Amazon and another retailer had not released the codes to let us play today.  They had us submit a request and 7 minutes later I had my account flagged.  An hour later I was downloading the Beta.

Overall:
I get the overall feeling that this is a greatly upgraded version of Warhammer.  It’s just missing the scenario button and some RvR.  I’m not sure when I get to face off against player fanatics but I’m looking forward to it.  All in all it was an enjoyable experience.  I am going to get some Ice Cream and get back in game.  I’m not sure if this game will have staying power with me.  It is very polished for a beta though and that counts for something.

Originally posted by PhelimReagh

"Cataclysm has moved Warcraft into the next decade. The game's graphics remain the same, the designs are all still there from the early days, but the new changes give a welcome feeling for players."

Really? This is your vision for MMO gaming for 2011-2020? The same thing as 5-10 years ago, but being able to do it underwater and re-working old zones you're already played? Streamlining questing into a single chain, with basically zero deviations, to mimic a single-player RPG for the first one-third of the game (and probably until Blizzard finishes up the last two-thirds of the game with their next expansion)?

This is what the next decade is going to be about? That is the extent of your vision for what MMOs are capable of, even with the stuff that is set to come out in the next 6-12 months, that you guys have seen first-hand and tested?

If I wasn't so embarassed for you, I'd probably would be disgusted.

 

Quoted for Truth.

I have mine pre-ordered from Amazon.  Looking forward to reading it on some upcoming travel.

Well Xhieron, very well wrote and easy to follow.  I agree with some of your points and disagree with others.

For those who just want to skim... 

• Not forcing people to group in order to group should really remove the requirment for instancing everything. 
• Guilds should not get a mechanic advantage over other guilds or players. 
• Guild perks should not move all social interaction into the guild halls. 
• Guilds should get some kickin skins though just like players should.
• Guilds should have a guild story that changes their guild hall just like players do.
• On guild creation the 'founders' should be able to pick from several structures (Guild Leader, Council, ECT)
• Guilds should be able to have a 'living will' to address how to handle a loss of leadership.
• Guild banks should scale on number of members and not level of guild.

Yes, the game should force "you" (generally speaking) to endure all of the potentialities that you qualify as unenjoyable experiences, for my benefit--with the exception, of course, of forcing you, individually, to actually interact with me, since I can assure you that you being in my guild or having any interaction with me is not an enjoyable prospect for me at all.  I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

This is a case where I think the developers are on the right track.  I find it annoying to adventure in the same instance as random people because I have had enough negative experiences with those people to offset the benifit I've enjoyed with open world interaction.

From my memory, instancing was a mechanic introduced to both counter the reason for those negative experiences (kill stealing, griefing, going for the boss, creating a world (temp) that I can affect, trains, too many people not enough monsters, ect) and to assist with hardware limits on the server side.  Taking a leap of faith on the hardware limits and population concerns it seems that GW2 is using the lack of mechanics to counter much of this thus removing the need for instancing.

So yes, by addressing my concerns they may have created an environment that I find it enjoyable to be forced to play with you; thus making your game more enjoyable (being the introduction of instancing has reduced your enjoyment).  Now the new problem is the added time sink they have placed into my gaming by allowing us to play together in peace.  I have the nasty habit of checking everyone's health as I run by to see if they need a heal and now it is going to take me longer to reach my hunting ground.

My point here is that 'forcing' anything on a player is lazy and cheap.  It is prefered to find a way that people of different walks can share the same path.

You would want those perks to come to you, whether you were in a 200 member guild, a 40 member guild, a 5 member guild, or no guild at all.

I agree on mechanics. I disagree on skins.  You did not make the distinction so maybe we are in agreement.

Everyone should have access to the same mechanics.  I don't think a guild should get lower priced vendors or special gates in the guild hall.  I don't think guilds should have crafting stations or bank vendors in the guild hall either.  These situations unnecessarily remove interaction between guilds and between players not in a guild.  Gathering at the guild hall gate to the dungeon does not give the guild any benifit as compared to gathering at the public gate to that dungeon.  But that guild gathering at the public gate does give the small guilds and players not in a guild who are also hanging out at that gate a benifit. (same thing for vendors or crafting stations)

Banks are a tricky subject and I'm not sure a good way to do them.  I like them.  It helps with the social interaction of a guild.  A single player does not need a guild bank.  I am inclined to say that the number of slots should scale with the number of players, although this is open to abuse (I don't think you can create an abuse proof system that reasonably accomplishes its original goal).  Either way, all guilds should have equal access to the same effective bank size (a level 1 guild should have the same number of slots as a level 50).

Skins and Guild Halls.  GW2 has a personal instance for you to show off your personal story.  Your place to gather and share.  I think the same should be for guilds.  It would be even better if guilds had similar story mechanics as players and this story affected their hall.  I think as a guild levels or accomplishes tasks they should be given more options for the hall or as someone suggested above, emblems / fabrics for the capes.  It would be great for a guild to be able to display the head of big boss monsters they have killed (by extension players to display the claw in our homes).

These skins and halls add to the enjoyment of guilds and provide tools for guild interaction without excluding anyone the same way a solo player can get a better skin for their weapon.

Thus I propose that the perks be done away with, because as in the real world, the social order among guilds should be structured in a way to provide the greatest benefit (that can be provided without harming another) for the least well-off.

This may just be a play on words, but I felt my insides turn at the last couple of words.  I think social order should be structured in a way to provide the greatest benefit to all without providing a disadvantage to the least well off that they don't already endure simply by their status.  I don't subscribe to the idea that you should limit the top simply because there is a bottom.  Instead you should focus on lifting the bottom.

Back in game... A person without a guild does not get the perks of being in a guild.  A guild should not lose those perks because someone else chooses not to be in a guild.  However, as discussed above, those perks should be designed in a way as not to place this guildless person at a disadvantage.  The dungeon gate would be my choice example to show how I feel on this subject.

On your second point we seem to be in agreement--that guild's should be structurable as the guild pleases.  I would reiterate, however, that this has in fact never been implemented in any MMO, ever, to the best of my knowledge.

Most games I have played required a certain number of people to create a guild.  Lets put this number at 3.  I think it would be great if they created several basic government types and allowed you to pick one at creation.  The main question is who makes the decisions.  At the most basic you could create a Guild Leader who then makes all the choices or a guild council who must vote on these choices.  Either then sets up the titles, who can recruit, promote to certain ranks, ect.  You could even throw in an option to pick how a decapitation is resolved (guild leader or all council members get anthrax).

It would be like EVE a bit but allow you to spread the shares around before creation.  As said before, guild structure is something I'm content with them adding after launch.

As a post write idea, it would also be great to be able to create your own parties inside a voting based guild.  Any member could create a party and then that party could vote on its own representative (like a primary).  The guild founders could set a frequency for an election of guild leadership.

Here again the system should be structured so that the benefit falls to the least well-off--the potential member 1874.  If you are that member, how should the guild authority be organized?

I don't join a 2000 member guild so that I can have an impact on guild authority.  I join this 2000 member guild so that when I log on randomly there are people online chatting in a semi regulated chat with basic rules that make my social time enjoyable.  If I wanted to take on the role of a leader or officer I would join a much smaller guild or start one of my own.  Again with the stomach turn.... ; )

Accordingly, the ability of each social group to interact the way it wishes may be restrained in order to confer a benefit to the least well-off.

If we were talking about life I would take this argument further.  Because we are talking about a game I'll take the cheap way out and say that we are talking about a game.  The devlopers should create a system to make the game as enjoyable to as many people in their target audience as possible.  The least well off person can simply choose another game.

     I think both ComfyChair and Xhieron have it all wrong.  The great thing about this is the I think part, and that's the part that they are missing.  A good guild system enables people to create different social groups that interact in the way that social group prefers.  It does not force you into the vision of one or two people. 

     That is the point of my below post if you wish to move on now.

• I'll make the assumption that you find this a problem because when you travel the world it feels empty.  If people shared the same space then it will feel like a living breathing world and be more enjoyable for you.

• Instead, the developer should address both of our concerns.  First, yours...  Why do I have to be part of your world for you to enjoy it?  The dynamic events seems to be a nod in your direction on making a living world with or without human interaction.  While the computer may not be as good as a person, it is better than nothing.

Do you get just as good crafting gear or do you grind to get gold / green gear in GW1?  If you are fine with the crafting gear then you'll be fine with the default gear in GW2.

They have stated this is skin gear only.  They have a system in place (still tweaking) to allow you to transfer skins from item to item.

You will have zero gameplay advantage with these GW2 items.

It is only worth it if you like / want the skins.

As a side note, if you're not sure you want them (you are close to having them all anyway) the just don't get them.  They have said the HoM is a forever thing.  So after picking up GW2 if you see the items in game and decide it is worth getting them then you can load up GW1 and get them.

If getting them is turning out not to be fun for you don't.  As a suggestion, group up and help others get theirs while getting yours.  It will return some of the fun to the grind.

Originally posted by noturpal

too bad your just concerned about pve.  No, your fine.  noone will shit on you as long as you do something beyond frapsing.11

pvp, yes, if you have never been a gvg freak in gw1(even if you and your guild sucked, but you tried), the people who played gw1 are superior.  We ran AoC( on tyranny)and Aion( on fail) with ppl who didnt gw and it takes me months everygame 2 l2p them.  with hc gw it does not.

If you don't get it 2 bad

 Wow noturpal, you sure are true to your name...

I started playing GW1 recently because of the HoM to give it a shot.  Its a very fun game and I've started to play it for the enjoyment and not just for a reward in another game.  Give it a shot and see if you like it.

EQ2 has a good hybrid market place system.  You have your own personal shops (in your house) that people can visit.  You then have an auction house.  The auction house places a 10-40% (depending on a number of factors, mostly 20%) charge for using the auction house per purchase.

This system allows people to browse local stores while allowing a search function (look up your item and who is selling and then go to thier house), or people who just want to buy off the market can pay a fee and do so.

They could enhance the EQ2 system by making a bazar area that you could post your shop if you like.  They could add in the auction functionality (EQ2 only has a buy now, not a bid system).  They could make it possible to add items to a seperate inventory window on your person so that you could market your items as you go them.  They could also add a WTB function where you set a price on items you want to buy and people can then sell to you even when you're not online.

Eve has many of these features, bringing some of that functionality simplified would be great inovation.

Originally posted by Serenes

Actualy make a game were your toon is not one class.... that would be fun... FFXI did it and I thought it was one of the best features. soo sick of.. I'm a mage and I can never ever heal.. If I heal I will combust into flames and die in seconds...

 Depending on element your mage will be able to heal tank dps etc. 

Thank you for running this promotion ; ).

Originally posted by Rynne

 Eventually they will catter down to what food they like to it, what brand is their pc and how it was build, how amazing they were in college, where they go on holidays etc. etc. (of course even that would be a picture with gold frame for some). I just hope they don't strive away from the important stuff too much.

It is a blog...  I don't see the problem with any of that in there.  Did you read through the one about the costumes?  I'm sure we will see some more about their holiday party as well.

Now to be fair, I don't think the costume one was linked to this forum.  But it is their blog.

Thank you all for your suggestions.  I started Nightfalls first after reading several sites like the Wikia suggesting it due to the Heroes.  I think I'll grab the HoM and then head into the first chapter when I'm done with chapter 3.

As for coming to an end, I say that because the story seems to be coming to a close.  I guess I underestimated the story writers (figured the last couple of missions would come quick).

With kind regards,

Hello;

I have recently started playing Guild Wars.  My first chapter is Nightfalls.  I've completed 2 of the missions, seems like the story is coming to an end soon so I wonder if the other missions happen faster.

Anyhow, my Necromancer is level 15 and I've started recieving Eye of the North spam whenever I enter the main city (telling me that I can go to Eye of the North).

So my question is...  After Nightfall or even during it, what order should I do the chapters?  Should I head off to EotN as its the latest and greatest?  Or should I do the other two chapters first?

I started Guild Wars as a place to wait out GW2 and do some HoM stuff.  Turns out to be much more fun than I thought it would.

With kind regards,

Carolyn;  Once again, thank you for the review.  I like your writing style.  This review seemed, shorter than the others?  I liked how in the prior ones you gave a lot of specific examples such as in this game at this time I was wowed by this, or disapointed in that.  I look forward to more reviews of 'Lifestyle' headphones and maybe some sound cards?  Thank you again!

Gel214th;

I wear the Logitech G35 and they do completely enclose my ears and rest on my head, not the ear.  I can't stand headphones that rest on the ears.  I enjoy the logitech headphones but am looking for something to replace them.  I have two gripes about the G35.

EAX and other hardware acceleration in some games do not work with them.  Some games hardware acceleration does, kinda hit and miss.

Where the sound is coming from is off, and there is no way to fix it.  Its dead on for some people, and not for others.  In 7.1 mode sound should look like this (and for some people does)...

With the G35 some people including me hear this:

With kind regards,

Originally posted by Volkon

I will be a Sylvari.  After reading the first book (Ghosts of Ascalon) I have to say I identified most with this race.

 Take a step back and let the people role-play in peace. ;)

Not that I was trying, but you don't think a Sylvari would respond in such a way?

Originally posted by Diovidius

Originally posted by Lord.Bachus

I was born a human...

 

And i am ready to fight and take back that which once belonged to us....

Typical. You do know that Ascalon originally belogned to the Charr and that the only reason the humans were able to establish a kingdom there was with the help of their so-called gods. Then the Charr took those lands BACK from the humans with help of their so-called gods and now the humans think they can still claim them? And blame the Charr for all that has happened?

Ummm, your point has nothing to do with his.  The lands in question was owned by the humans.  The fact that it changed hands with the Charr before and after does not alter his statement that they once belonged to them.

Typical.

I will be a Sylvari.  After reading the first book (Ghosts of Ascalon) I have to say I identified most with this race.

I also think you are missing the boat on classes in GW2 in general.

Every class seems to be able to swap between 3-4 different modes.  Take the mage for example, they can swap to water to heal, earth to tank, wind for crowd control I think, and fire for dps.

They then can swap between staves for long range single target, wands for short range aoe, and daggers for melee pbaoe.

So should we be wtf daggers are for scouts and mages shouldn't tank?  Well, remember this is NOT a holy trinity game (DPS, Healing, Tanking).  Every class can fill every role in thier own way with this game.

A warrior who wants to be a ranged dps will have the mechanics to do so just as well (when balanced) with any other typically ranged class.  Your ranger will have a pet.  It is your mechanic.  Not using a pet is like not using adrenaline as a warrior.  But you will still have range, you will still have short range, you will still have melee.