So Rift is Now Free to Play...Does Anyone Care?

[Safaia]

I was in the original beta. It was all right. I was still coming down from a very long Final Fantasy XI addiction so it never really clicked for me.

 

[Risingblade]

It's not great but it's not awful either, it's retty much a prettier WoW. That being said it does have a certain charm to it.

The one thing that Rift has (and WoW doesn't) that keeps me entertained because it triggers my ADD like nobodies business. Walkin through an area and gigantic alerts pop on your screen about impendin invasions. There's Rifts all over the map that you can see from ridiculous distances out. Then there's the adventures which just pop up on the middle of your screen as a default that go "HEY! JOIN THIS AWESOME ADVENTURE!"

As soon as any of those things happen (especially the adventure one, jesus christ I get sidetracked horribly from those) my brain just goes "YAY! THINGS TO DO!" and next thing I know I'm an entire zone away from where I meant to be and have absolutely no idea how to get back.

Outside of that though, definitely horrendously borin. Its really pretty, but its pretty in that painfully generic way.

Also, and this is a really really lame gripe but good god does it annoy me. Every time you select a character on the character select screen they yell really loud. I'm used to clickin between characters when decidin who I want to play and constantly havin to deal with my 2 characters goin "RAWR!" over and over makes me want to punch baby seals.

Oh god I love those invasions, defending against invasions is the funnest part of this game imo.

 

[Ferisar]

I might try it. I've had a thing for trying MMO's lately, anyway. Don't see how much it might hurt me seeing as it's free and all.

 

[Johnson McGee]

Now I can finally redeem that hat token that's been in my TF2 backpack for eternity.

 

[Zakarath]

I dunno, the one thing that kept it from being a wow-clone was it's dynamic events, and in that regard these days, it is but a pretender before Guild Wars 2's throne.

 

[Bat Vader]

I have been thinking about trying Rift now that it is free to play. Is Rift very solo friendly or does it usually require people to group up? How is the PVP? Is it forced world PVP or is the PVP limited to zones? How is the PvE in the game?

 

[Sectan]

I'm having a lot of fun with it. I had used raptr and got the free expansion and such. I agree that it doesn't have that great of an art style like WoW or anything, but I just have a lot of fun wandering around, seeing a rift, joining a group and now I've spent 3 hours rift hunting with complete strangers.

I have been thinking about trying Rift now that it is free to play. Is Rift very solo friendly or does it usually require people to group up? How is the PVP? Is it forced world PVP or is the PVP limited to zones? How is the PvE in the game?

Rift can be pretty solo friendly if you get an appropriate spec to toss your "extra" talents into. Get a self heal and you're set. Like any other MMO you have a choice of PvE or PvP servers. I haven't played on a PvP server in a while, but I think it was the default safe starter zones and the rest was a PvP free for all if you felt like it. On PvE servers you can group up with any faction, the public chats and guilds are cross faction, but the cities are still suicide to go into. I haven't gotten into raiding yet, but the invasions and random rifts that pop up provide a good amount of PvE content to mess around with. Also there are a good bit of quests that you can discover that can eat up a lot of your time if you want to go off the beaten path.

Also I play on Shatterbone as Sectan. Even though I'm level 52 I can mentor down to a lower level and help people quest without destroying everything!

 

[bobmd13]

I tried Rift for an hour and it didn't draw me.

MMO's are not about the first hour, never mind the first 20 hours.

Rift is polished, it was polished at launch but had a problem with end game content. Also there was a problem with grinding but then WoW had the same problem initially.

The instances are fun and crafting can be worthwhile, I don't like the new system, they have which enhancements for leather armour as a different crafting skill while cloth has the enhancements in the same craft.

Unlike AOC (Age of Crap) which had an excellent first 20 hours and then just died. The reviewers all raved about it but then they never played past the first area.

I'm not sure about Defiance though, vehicles are well implemented but it just does not seem right as an MMO.

 

[rofltehcat]

I liked it. The skill and talent system was quite different and the flair, instances and raids as well as some gameplay elements reminded me a lot of WoW's Burning Crusade time (quit after BC because the WotLK beta didn't grasp me).
Quit it because new (raid)content was far away and the current (raid)content couldn't really be cleared with the (not as hardcore) players available so people lost interest and so we never killed... Akylios I think that krakendragon was called.
That was long ago and I'm not really interested in starting it again. I heard from some friends that they'd want to start again and maybe casually do some small group raids.

 

[Dismal purple]

It doesn't do anything to distinguish itself from other mmos, and I can't help but admire them for that.

The Guardian intro is pretty dope.

 

[Longstreet]

I actually wanted to play it. I downloaded it, but i can't update it for some reason.

Whenever i press the update button, it works for a while, but then my internet connection craps out and i have to reset it. Not a clue how to fix that.

 

[Comocat]

I actually wanted to play it. I downloaded it, but i can't update it for some reason.

Whenever i press the update button, it works for a while, but then my internet connection craps out and i have to reset it. Not a clue how to fix that.

I have an issue with Rift and Kaspersky, so if I want to update or play I need to disable all of my anti-virus features. Just a thought.


I really like Rift, but my friends dont so I dont play it much. It's a game that if you have friends or a good guild is probably a lot of fun. As a "play together but alone," which is probably most MMO players, the game is tedious and fairly bland and boring.

Here's my run down:

Pros:
Housing system (reminiscent of EQ2)
Diverse progression scheme (Alternate advancement points)
Interesting class mechanics (Mix and match talent trees)
World events and other real-time events

Cons:
Bland lore
Tedious and transparent grind
Complicated class mechanics (I prefer 2 - 3 mains skills, rather than dozens)
Difficult to on-ramp into current content
Constant updating and balancing makes infrequent play confusing

 

[Strazdas]

nope, dont really care. well maybe a little because now they are going to push all those "start game today recieve gear X" "rewards" even more fiercly. Gosh i can swear at some point half of the promotinos on Raptr was variuos Rift crap.

 

[Bertylicious]

Is Rift that really beautiful looking MMO that seemed to scream

"Come for the boobies, stay for the...we'll figure that out later."

Or am I thinking of a different one?

No, that's TERA. Rift is far too generic aesthetically. Not that Rift's a bad game, it just doesn't have a particular feel about it.

The class customization is pretty neat, though.

This, basically. There were lots of synergies between the different class builds which adds a nice "deck building" dimension to play. Plus it allows most characters to fulfill any role, which I liked and sped up grouping.

Also the invasions/event things were immense.