Rift is decent, the end game content could do with a little revamping though. I reached 50 in under a month, levelling the professions was insanely easy as well, I maxed out Runecrafting before lv40. The dynamic rift events were interesting but on my server players were constantly trolling the other faction by taunting the raid boss out of agro range and resetting the other group's entire raid in a childish attempt to either wipe them for the sake of being a dick, or making it so that they can get the world first achievements themselves.
The talent tree system is pretty cool, it allows for a lot of customisation. The only problem I have with it is that people have already figured out the builds that do optimal DPS (or at least they have for my Rogue), and the majority include spamming a few buttons. My Ranger build for example at lv50 was basically four different skills, all of which could be put into a single macro that used my cooldowns when they were available, my procs when they procced, whilst in the down time spamming a no CD skill. The PvP is unbalanced, I'd advise only getting Rift for the PvE. The Warfronts are just a feature, the game is PvE centered. I doubt the game can ever reach a perfect balance in PvE, let alone PvE and PvP.
Rift's graphics are great, some of the later zones are amazing and the dungeons are fucking incredible. The design of weaponry and armor kinda lets it down though. All gear has templates for a certain level, at lv10 you'll be wearing x, at lv20 you'll be wearing x, and so on. I wouldn't mind that but they re-use a lot of it, specifically a lv20 set of armor which they use at end game as epic gear. The others that are actually different don't look much better either, I appreciate they're going for a realistic look, but it's a matter of taste. I don't want boring real life armor and weapon designs in my fantasy game.
It has a trial now anyway, I'd recommend doing that. It's enjoyable, but it wasn't enjoyable enough for me, or at least not right now anyway.
As for other MMOs out right now, Final Fantasy 14 is as cheap as £5 right now and has no monthly fees. It's very different to most MMOs and a lot of people hate it for various reasons, I kinda like it though, just don't expect to play it all day long. I believe Aion has become a let less grindy and unforgiving now as well, so that might be an option, you'll need to ask someone currently playing the game to get a trial though. Eve Online might be worth looking into if you're a fan of sci-fi, browsing wiki pages and spreadsheets. Champion's Online, LOTRO, Everquest and others have gone free to play if you don't wanna pay monthly. As for the future, TERA, Vindictus and Guild Wars 2 are worth looking out for.
