Let me just get my fangirling out of the way now: I love this game! I mean, it’s not revolutionary. It’s a solid game that expands on a lot of WoW’s ideas. At the end of the day, Rift has a good community, developers who seem to care, and fun casual gameplay, and I’m not sure what more I could ask for in a game other than that.
I have become distinctly semi casual (raider) lately, also Rift has a variety of activities that I can do in an hour or two of time with a small group or pug. I can log on and join in on crafting rifts, or the daily raid and epic rifts, and can keep an eye out for PVP rifts. I can run around the world fighting off invasions and protecting caravans. Daily quests themselves are not exactly an exciting dynamic, but there are so many to choose from that I never get bored, whether it’s for the world event, various reputations, or the crafting and pvp dailies.
I have only finished one zone puzzle, I have not gotten my epic questline past the level 40s. And, oh right, there’s the usual instanced content too, like T1 and T2 dungeons and warfronts and expert dungeons and now one master dungeon. Also new 1-2 person dungeons so you can see the same story line the hardcore 25 man raiders do and get some starter lvl 50 gear to boot.
Quite a bit of content has been added to the world of Telara in the first six months. Raid zones like the River of Souls and Hammerknell Fortress both opened up after major world events. Special slivers provide 10-man raid content for those just cutting their teeth on raiding, and the instance Gilded Prophecy was also added for smaller raid parties. In addition, unique rifts were added to match other playstyles. Crafting rifts were added in update 1.2, and PvP rifts were added soon after in update 1.3, both of which helped to get different player types involved in the rift invasion system. PvP players also have seen the addition of a new warfronts, Whitefall Steppes and, Library of the Runemasters as "Now its not just a weekend warfront ". Initially, for those who want to test their mettle in a group, the master dungeon Darkening Deeps was added with Update 1.5.
"World Events" The first event, which involved Alsbeth, the Endless Court, and the River of Souls, was a bit of a bumpy ride, as Rift fans might recall. The initial events went smoothly and piqued players' curiosity about the final event, but when it actually arrived, it resulted in long queues for some and a surprisingly short duration, meaning that many fans never had a chance to see it. Later events have worked out much better, though. Soon after, Trion made up for the first event by sending out a series of gifts, and the Spoils of War that followed soon after helped soothe the old wounds. More recent events have included the Hammerknell world event and the hunt for Dragon Motes; both offered in-game upgrades and some nice appearance items. The world event Ashes of History is included in Update 1.5, but as Trion CCO and Rift Executive Producer Scott Hartsman recently said in an interview, the team will look closely at the pace of world events going forward to make sure that they find the right balance with players.
In addition to some of the larger content releases and features, Rift has had several quality-of-life additions in-game. Players had been asking early on for a guild bank, a wardrobe, and a looking-for-dungeon tool. All three were added to the game, along with free weekly transfers for individuals and even guilds. Trion also added ways for players to interact with the game via social network sites like Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, and Facebook. Rift Connect allows players to post updates, screenshots, and video of their in-game progress. And for those who love to build apps and handy tools for players, Trion made all the in-game discoveries available through FTP. Most recently, fans were rewarded for their loyalty with the launch of the veteran reward program, which arrived with the latest update. The longer your subscription, the better the rewards, and it's not only retroactive -- it counts future game time purchased from the moment you buy it.
Players have also seen several new ways to make their characters stronger and more suited to the roles they play. Planar attunement allows level-capped players to continue to advance by spending earned experience on special stat increases and enhancements. Synergy crystals were also added, giving players a new way add set bonuses that bump up stats and abilities. And players early on were given the option to purchase a fifth role from Calling Trainers.
My take is that players who want to be the best at one thing — a world-first raider, say, or a PvP God — will not enjoy Rift. It seems to me to be more of a game for folks who want to dabble in a little of everything. Rift, of course, is not perfect. The graphics are beautiful but they do terrible things to my not-that-old computer and at least once a night I disconnect while trying to zone into the main city. Like WoW, Rift also operates under the general assumption that “gear = progression”. Tho I think Rift has a few more ways to get gear than wow. Also I think lvling one of each class to lvl 50 will probably get a lil boring. There still are some boss bugs and quest bugs and such that need to be ironed out. But for a game that is only 6 or so months out it is doing good.
Rift I think it combines WoW mechanics with the mellow feel of Lotro, and adds new content at an amazing pace. The graphics are more realistic than WoW's . Aka WoW's are fantasy Rift went realism. Up to you whos graphics you like better. All and all id give Rift a 8 out of 10. The new Ember Isle will be coming out in 1.6 . So expect more updates and photos from me about it in the near future
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