Goodbye World of Warcraft, hello Rift?

[wammnebu]

the only WoW killer i could see in the future would be TOR, but even that is iffy.

maybe if they lower the price by maybe a few dollars.

 

[kampori]

Rift will suffer the same fate as any other WoW clone, no matter how much better the interface or the gameplay is.

There's one aspect that MMO developers have overlooked that will make WoW's dominance of the MMORPG market unshakeable. If all of your MMO-playing friends are playing WoW, then you're going to play WoW.

If you have no friends who play WoW but want to play an MMO, go ahead and knock yourself out with Rift, but it's going to be a tough sell for anyone else because in order to get the full experience, they would have to persuade all their friends to switch over.

Yes, but with almost 1 million subscriptions within BETA alone, A massive amount of WoW players are flocking to RIFT like refugees fleeing the sinking ship of WoW.

 

[Bobbity]

I'm really sick of reading about potential WoW killers.[footnote]Yahoo, I'm looking at you.[/footnote] The only way WoW is going to go is peacefully, as players slowly move away or support for it stops. People have devoted large amounts of time to it, know and like others that they've met, and aren't going to give it up to start again in a slightly shinier world.

Secondly, WoW's art style is unique and intriguing, while Rift's is realistic and so on. That might be effective in the short run, but it's going to start looking dated a lot faster than WoW did/is.

Thirdly, WoW's had a ten year development cycle, and is much bigger/complex than rift is. Things are balanced, finely polished, and they work. Even if Rift is a huge success, it probably won't ever overcome WoW in terms of the sheer amount of things to do.

I'm not saying that Rift isn't a good game, nor that it won't succeed on the market, but it's not going to kill WoW.

Yes, but with almost 1 million subscriptions within BETA alone, A massive amount of WoW players are flocking to RIFT like refugees fleeing the sinking ship of WoW.

Keep in mind that the BETA is free, and most people use it to try the game.

 

[geldonyetich]

Wows gone to crap after bc honestly rift i tried it its quite a bit better than wow and better balance for pve and pvp kinda of. Rouges are op though. As for the problems with rift well so many people pre ordered it, it kinda got hecktic the first day i hear and i read someone it was like over 500k preorders or something which is pretty good

According to Rift twitter, over 1 million players registered [http://twitter.com/RiftJunkies/status/40805783801311233] for Rift pre-order head start.

Also interesting to note is that Rift had to put up 31 new servers [http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?98752-Launch-Day-Rift-Server-List!-31-NEW-SERVERS-03-01-11] (and counting) to accommodate the load of players. They've got about 60 servers overall right now.

So, basically, they have completely blown Warhammer Online and most other MMORPGs out of the water. Will they reach World of Warcraft numbers eventually? That's one thing that's yet to be determined.

 

[Souplex]

Almost every MMO claims to be a WoW killer. None have succeeded.

 

[Lizmichi]

Rift will suffer the same fate as any other WoW clone, no matter how much better the interface or the gameplay is.

There's one aspect that MMO developers have overlooked that will make WoW's dominance of the MMORPG market unshakeable. If all of your MMO-playing friends are playing WoW, then you're going to play WoW.

If you have no friends who play WoW but want to play an MMO, go ahead and knock yourself out with Rift, but it's going to be a tough sell for anyone else because in order to get the full experience, they would have to persuade all their friends to switch over.

Yes, but with almost 1 million subscriptions within BETA alone, A massive amount of WoW players are flocking to RIFT like refugees fleeing the sinking ship of WoW.

That always happens then they go back to WoW, I saw it was Aion and it's going to happen with Rift. WoW is massive, gamers aren't going to leave there epic geared rogue to start anew for very long.

 

[s0m3th1ng]

I enjoyed the large amount of class possibilities and the rift instance mechanics. That and it's really....REALLY pretty. Still not gonna fork over money for it though.

 

[Googooguru]

Been Playing for Two days now and i must say its pretty awesome, got cataclysm on release played my DK to 81 and my feral druid to 83 took about 3 days and i was done with it.

I had played Wow for 4 years and i felt the cataclysm didnt offer anything remotely interesting just addedWorgen race to make the alliance feel better about looking so lame

Yeah you can rerun old dungeons(hussied up for level 85) problem is Ive run those old dungeons and raid about 300 times so i will pass.

while Rift does have its issues it seems a lot more dynamic than Wow, the world evolves and you get the feeling that you are interacting with the environments rather than just grinding through.

Time will tell.. will it remain fresh and invigorating ?.. will it keep players past the one month free mark?..im going to give it one months worth of play and make up my mind from there but i must say they have done a very good job so far

 

[Bre2nan]

Rift will suffer the same fate as any other WoW clone, no matter how much better the interface or the gameplay is.

There's one aspect that MMO developers have overlooked that will make WoW's dominance of the MMORPG market unshakeable. If all of your MMO-playing friends are playing WoW, then you're going to play WoW.

If you have no friends who play WoW but want to play an MMO, go ahead and knock yourself out with Rift, but it's going to be a tough sell for anyone else because in order to get the full experience, they would have to persuade all their friends to switch over.

Yes, but with almost 1 million subscriptions within BETA alone, A massive amount of WoW players are flocking to RIFT like refugees fleeing the sinking ship of WoW.

Honestly didn't know that, thanks for the info!

We might be on to something then.

 

[jumjalalabash]

Another new MMO isn't going to do anything to stop WoW. Players have put far too much time into friends achievements and characters to just dump it every time some new shiny game comes around. Besides Blizzard is one of the few developers who understand how to actually manage a huge number of players.

 

[2xDouble]

Ok, ok... time for another time-saving link to Extra Credits [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/1906-The-Future-of-MMOs].

World of Warcraft is aging, and showing its age. Players are getting ready to migrate en masse to a new game, and Rift is an early favorite.

Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2 are equally popular as labeled "WoW-killers", although that's really the wrong viewpoint.

Nothing is going to "kill WoW", it will die of old age. (Don't get me wrong, I never liked it and I'd love to see the beast die in a GW2-fueled fire).

 

[Bre2nan]

Rift will suffer the same fate as any other WoW clone, no matter how much better the interface or the gameplay is.

There's one aspect that MMO developers have overlooked that will make WoW's dominance of the MMORPG market unshakeable. If all of your MMO-playing friends are playing WoW, then you're going to play WoW.

If you have no friends who play WoW but want to play an MMO, go ahead and knock yourself out with Rift, but it's going to be a tough sell for anyone else because in order to get the full experience, they would have to persuade all their friends to switch over.

Yes, but with almost 1 million subscriptions within BETA alone, A massive amount of WoW players are flocking to RIFT like refugees fleeing the sinking ship of WoW.

That always happens then they go back to WoW, I saw it was Aion and it's going to happen with Rift. WoW is massive, gamers aren't going to leave there epic geared rogue to start anew for very long.

Good point! I honestly have only gotten through MMO Economics For Dummies, but there are companies that seem to keep going making MMO's that only last for six months to a year. Those beta subscribers for Rift are probably the people that make these companies money.

We won't know if Rift will be the WoW killer for another year at least, when we can clearly see if it has netted a good population of truly long-term players rather than the people just dropping in to take a WoW break.

 

[Kwaren]

I played the beta and thought it was just WoW done in a pallet of brown.

Hardly. It's just as colorful as WoW is, if not more so. Did you smear peanut butter on your monitor by chance?

I pumped it to max graphics and it was still a bland colorless place.

What the hell are you talking about? Are you sure you've got the right game?

Brown is like the least used color in the entire game.

The zone I started in and all of the surrounding zones I entered were brown. And yes I am sure it is the same game.

 

[kampori]

Rift will suffer the same fate as any other WoW clone, no matter how much better the interface or the gameplay is.

There's one aspect that MMO developers have overlooked that will make WoW's dominance of the MMORPG market unshakeable. If all of your MMO-playing friends are playing WoW, then you're going to play WoW.

If you have no friends who play WoW but want to play an MMO, go ahead and knock yourself out with Rift, but it's going to be a tough sell for anyone else because in order to get the full experience, they would have to persuade all their friends to switch over.

Yes, but with almost 1 million subscriptions within BETA alone, A massive amount of WoW players are flocking to RIFT like refugees fleeing the sinking ship of WoW.

That always happens then they go back to WoW, I saw it was Aion and it's going to happen with Rift. WoW is massive, gamers aren't going to leave there epic geared rogue to start anew for very long.

I did. 5 level 85s, all fully epic'd. All achievement whored, all raided. I ditched them in not but a moment. As did my 3 brothers, various cousins, my whole guild. Of course a lot of people will return to WoW, but more will leave it. Do you think WoW started off with millions of subscribers on the first day? of course not, it takes time for the community to grow. I am 100% positive RIFT's will bloom

 

[John Funk]

I'm playing Rift. No, it won't.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

Rift is WoW with slightly prettier graphics and about one-third the content. Considering most gamers, particularly MMO gamers, don't care about graphics too much... I'd say Rift is mediocre at best. I haven't played it, just going by videos I've watched and friends that were in the beta.

 

[chunkeymonke]

With the release of Rift, many players are amazed at the gameplay, graphics, and similar easy to use interface(virtually the same as WoWs). Many that I have spoken to say that it trumps WoW in every way, being avid WoW players themselves. Do you think this is the beginning of the end for the dated superhero of MMORPGs, World of Warcraft?

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my giant problem with rift is in the freaking trailer it say, You not in Azeroth anymore so right there they are quoeting and copying wow

 

[Vaccine]

Blizzard has about 6 years of raiding and PvP experimentation and testing over Rift.

Rift has a very large amount of specs, something I don't see them balancing any time soon, they're doing pretty much what WoW did at the beginning.
Classes had niche specs and Blizzard homogenized everything because it was easier for balance, odds are you'll see Rift do the same thing down the line, or Rift will see a drop in gameplay from poorly balanced gameplay.
It's also going to be the same with raiding, players will be pigeonholed into taking certain classes or specs to trivialize certain mechanics for easy loot.
If this is to happen, you'll see the problem Blizzard had with Wrath of the Lich King, where everything simply hit for absurd amounts of damage because it was the only way to make things challenging.