So, I’ve taken a shine to a new MMORPG, RIFT, aka, waster of much time.<\/p>\n
While it doesn’t have a trial membership, per se, there are occasional event-based free-trial weekends. \u00a0I 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. \u00a0Current deal is only $10 down.<\/p>\n
The game will be compared to WoW for a couple reasons:<\/p>\n
However, there are noteworthy differences, some improvements, some deficiencies, and some just neutral.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Rift, each character selects one of 4 Callings, corresponding to classic D&D archetypes: Warrior, Cleric, Rogue, and Mage. \u00a0These 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). \u00a0The callings determine the type of armor and weapons a character can use, and how base stats relate to detailed stats. \u00a0Each calling has 8 ‘souls’ associated with it, which can be roughly compared to the three talent trees for each class in WoW. \u00a0RIFT characters collect souls via quests, 3 in the starting zone and the other 5 souls at level 15 in the faction capital. \u00a0At any given time, a character will have 3 of these souls active (or less in the very early game), see an example soul build<\/a> for a level 22 Cleric. The upper, “branch”, part of the soul trees work very much like WoW talent trees<\/a>. \u00a0But there are a few differences:<\/p>\n However, the “root” portion is very different. \u00a0Each soul comes with 1 to 4 basic abilities in the root section. \u00a0As points are added to the branches of the soul tree, new abilities are exposed in the root of the tree. \u00a0So, if a character never adds points to the third soul, they get no new abilities related to that soul. \u00a0Some abilities give you bonuses based on the number of points a character has in the tree. \u00a0Bonuses to HoTs, DoTs, health, armor, what have you. \u00a0Generally, the bonus comes later in the soul’s advancement and is appropriate to the sorts of abilities that go with the tree.<\/p>\n And characters can have 4 different tree layouts. \u00a0You start off with one. \u00a0Early in the game you can afford a second. \u00a0They get progressively more expensive though.<\/p>\n Everyone but mages can tank. \u00a0Warriors, usually tanks in MMORPGs, have 4 souls with tanking abilities. \u00a0Clerics and Rogues each have a soul with tanking abilities, with very different play styles, each rather unique to RIFT. \u00a0Most 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. \u00a0But do you choose the shaman’s melee enhancement for an offsoul? \u00a0Or do you go with the purifier’s shields and passive heal bonuses? \u00a0The 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. \u00a0They 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. \u00a0They 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.<\/p>\n 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’. \u00a0Or the bard which runs around \u00a0keeping up the different types of buffs on the party while providing a constant low-grade stream of healing. \u00a0Somewhat similar in play style to a Final Fantasy XI bard.<\/p>\n 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. \u00a0Another 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.<\/p>\n Now the fails:<\/p>\n 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. \u00a0Invading otherworldly critters, encroaching agents of the other faction, etc., who will go in to town and kill that guy you needed for that quest. \u00a0So you really should stop them. \u00a0And you get cash and prizes for doing so. \u00a0When you go to try, you can join up with random strangers in the world’s easiest party system. \u00a0You always have something to do. \u00a0RIFT has a more gritty, less cartoony story and visual style. \u00a0Those are both wins in my book, but may not be for everyone.<\/p>\n Ultimately, sticking with the game would probably require at least a few other people I know IRL to take an interest. \u00a0Not holding my breath on that one. \u00a0Maybe it’ll be a pastime for next winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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. \u00a0I got in on one and liked it well enough to go in for the full deal a few weeks later, with a discounted download … Continue reading “RIFT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2404"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2414,"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2404\/revisions\/2414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheerfulchaotic.crazycrew.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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