So, I’ve taken a shine to a new MMORPG, RIFT, aka, waster of much time.
While it doesn’t have a trial membership, per se, there are occasional event-based free-trial weekends. I got in on one and liked it well enough to go in for the full deal a few weeks later, with a discounted download ($15) from amazon. Current deal is only $10 down.
The game will be compared to WoW for a couple reasons:
- WoW is the biggest MMORPG out there, and the one with the broadest fan/familiarity base, so if you make that comparison, more people will get it;
- RIFT works like WoW. Even comparing it to the universe of MMORPGs including GuildWars, Everquest, and FFXI, the MMORPG I played the second most of, the game works far more like WoW:
- Fantasy setting;
- two opposing factions, with multiple races each;
- purchasable mounts to speed up non-combat movement;
- a character development system that looks and feels very like WoW’s talent trees;
- very similar crafting and gathering systems (one patch fixed a tooltip to correctly refer to “Apothecary”, rather than “Alchemy” skill, which is what it’s called in WoW);
- instances;
- guild levels;
- a nearly identical auction house and banking system;
- similar underlying mechanics for character abilities;
- dragons each affiliated with a particular other-worldly/elemental plane (all the dragons are bad guys in RIFT though); and more
- The similarities abound.
However, there are noteworthy differences, some improvements, some deficiencies, and some just neutral.
In terms of improvements, to my mind, I like the ability to futz with things and customize them, so my improvements may not be yours, but the biggest improvement to my mind is the soul system, which roughly compares to the talent trees of WoW.
In Rift, each character selects one of 4 Callings, corresponding to classic D&D archetypes: Warrior, Cleric, Rogue, and Mage. These choices are entirely independent of the character’s race (which is even more a cosmetic/story choice in RIFT than in any other MMORPG I’ve ever played). The callings determine the type of armor and weapons a character can use, and how base stats relate to detailed stats. Each calling has 8 ‘souls’ associated with it, which can be roughly compared to the three talent trees for each class in WoW. RIFT characters collect souls via quests, 3 in the starting zone and the other 5 souls at level 15 in the faction capital. At any given time, a character will have 3 of these souls active (or less in the very early game), see an example soul build for a level 22 Cleric. The upper, “branch”, part of the soul trees work very much like WoW talent trees. But there are a few differences:
- There are no major bonuses for starting in a particular tree.
- Characters can spend their points in whichever tree they want out of the three active souls, in fact…
- Characters gain a point every level, starting at level 1. And every third level they get an extra point, but there’s a catch. At most a player can put points equal to a character’s level in any one of the character’s soul trees. Thus, at level 3, with 4 points, you can spend 3 points in one tree, but if you want to spend that 4th point, it’d have to be in a different tree.
However, the “root” portion is very different. Each soul comes with 1 to 4 basic abilities in the root section. As points are added to the branches of the soul tree, new abilities are exposed in the root of the tree. So, if a character never adds points to the third soul, they get no new abilities related to that soul. Some abilities give you bonuses based on the number of points a character has in the tree. Bonuses to HoTs, DoTs, health, armor, what have you. Generally, the bonus comes later in the soul’s advancement and is appropriate to the sorts of abilities that go with the tree.
And characters can have 4 different tree layouts. You start off with one. Early in the game you can afford a second. They get progressively more expensive though.
Everyone but mages can tank. Warriors, usually tanks in MMORPGs, have 4 souls with tanking abilities. Clerics and Rogues each have a soul with tanking abilities, with very different play styles, each rather unique to RIFT. Most attack abilities for the Cleric tank soul, the Justicar, build up charges which can be used for instant cast heals, or for a 7 second block buff. But do you choose the shaman’s melee enhancement for an offsoul? Or do you go with the purifier’s shields and passive heal bonuses? The Rogue tank soul, the Riftstalker, on the other hand, Plane Shifts around the field of battle, teleporting behind oppnonents and stabbing them, blinking back to saved locations, and other wacky hijinks. They have special moves to increase their armor and cut down on incoming damage, and have to make sure they get their mitigation moves up quickly. They can have a dodging offsoul (blade dancer), or a health boosting & buffing offsoul (bard) both of which are valid play styles, and more are possible.
Similarly, you have mage healers (chloromancers), who heal by damaging opponents with life magic, and buffers (archons) who draw their strength from weakening opponents, then, in turn, can lower their own stats to improve other partymembers’. Or the bard which runs around keeping up the different types of buffs on the party while providing a constant low-grade stream of healing. Somewhat similar in play style to a Final Fantasy XI bard.
While the sophistication and importance of crafting in RIFT don’t hold a candle to Final Fantasy XI, they do represent an incremental improvement overy WoW, because characters can make equipment that is a step better than what one can pick up from random questing, rather than a step below. Another win in RIFT, albeit far less significant, is the ability to teleport instantly to other cities, rather than select a gryphon ride and wait 5 minutes (or more!) for your character to cross a continent.
Now the fails:
- There is no trans-server, trans-allegiance, trans-character friend/chat functionality
- Rift has no instance matching, or party-finding tool. (to be addressed in the next patch)
- Unlike the changes made to abilities in Cataclysm, RIFT retains the idea of different ranks of the same ability, which you have to buy from your trainer, rather than abilities that smoothly scale with the character’s level. Though it doesn’t seem to affect as many abilities per soul.
- Rift allows for 3d movement under water, but has no flying. Not sure why they didn’t go for that, maybe they will in the future.
To finish with the neutral, or in some cases, a matter of taste: RIFT makes extensive use of world events (rifts opening around you all the time. Invading otherworldly critters, encroaching agents of the other faction, etc., who will go in to town and kill that guy you needed for that quest. So you really should stop them. And you get cash and prizes for doing so. When you go to try, you can join up with random strangers in the world’s easiest party system. You always have something to do. RIFT has a more gritty, less cartoony story and visual style. Those are both wins in my book, but may not be for everyone.
Ultimately, sticking with the game would probably require at least a few other people I know IRL to take an interest. Not holding my breath on that one. Maybe it’ll be a pastime for next winter.