Free Play: DC Universe Online

I've always been a fan of comics and I grew up reading the adventures of my favourite Marvel and DC heroes and I would be lying if I said I didn't make up my own superhero that could chum it up with Batman and Superman. I lost track of the stories at the time when I could not justify the spending on comic books, but I've never really lost love for the characters as I knew them. So when the superhero MMOs arrived, I, of all people, would have thought it would be easy to jump right in and start the adventures of my very own superhero. That didn't quite happen, but I realized it was the same reason I stopped buying comics - cost.

By the time I really heard of the superhero games, I was well into my adventures in World of Warcraft and quite satisfied. I could not justify the costs involved to try out another game, nor could I justify the time. But now a good number of games have gone free to play so half of that equation is no longer valid. While time is still tight, I would be able to try things out and thus the Free Play column is born.

For the record, I played DCUO primarily on the PS3 but I did get the PC version just to check out some of the differences. The game itself is not totally different across both platforms, but it is obvious that the game was made for the PS3 and ported over.

What's Free?

The base game is free to download and play and there are no level caps for free accounts. So you can theoretically play much of the game without paying a penny. Take note that this is a ~16GB game so watch your bandwidth if you have one of those limited cap internet plans.

With the free account, you also get only 2 character slots, which would not be a huge problem unless you are dedicated alt-aholic. DLCs are also paid for, typically around $10 each. I also did not find a way to respec for free, so if you are dead set in paying nothing for the game, you better be really sure about how you spend your skill points. You are also capped with how much money you can have, I'm not certain how much though.

The store purchases do not have any major impact to game play or balance, but things like respecs, name changes, etc., are things that you need to pay for. Again, nothing that will really make the scrooges feel they need to pay anything for.

Is it Fun?

In short, yes. My play sessions take around 30min to a couple of hours and I certainly did not feel I've been wasting time. With only 2 character slots, I did have to think really carefully about what I would like to have as a main character and use the other slot for experimenting.

Flying was also a lot of fun especially after hitting level 9 and getting a power that allows me to charge opponents from the air. I have yet to try the other movement modes (acrobatics/wallwalking and speed running).

While the game does appear to have some sandbox elements, there is not much variation from beating up a random thug. Then again, there is usually something every couple blocks - Metropolis appears to have an invasion at every corner - so you can just go around and do punchups when you feel like it.

You also don't die, well, not in the normal MMO sense. Once defeated, you can run away - meaning you spawn at certain spots. Friendlies can also revive you and it works well in groups. Yes, it is just a change of semantics, but it blends well with the genre. I mean, you don't see superheroes die all the time, and those that do stay dead...or wait a few years to be resurrected.

Anything Not So Good?

It does take a bit of getting used to for first time players. You can't click on anything and interactions are done through the generic "use" key. Context of they key will depend on what you are looking at so it ranges from picking up objects to talking to quest givers or random NPCs. No, you cannot pick up a random NPC and throw him.

The game is made for a console and it shows. Graphics appear outdated, but still blends nicely with the whole comic book feel. As mentioned earlier, the controls are clunky and ported over from the PS3 gamepad. You can remap keys on the PC, but being comfortable with the game specific keys will take time.

There is also the matter of the game making your background for you - particularly about how your character got powers. You can certainly fill in the backstory before then, but it takes away from the RP aspect of the game. Its not a major thing, but the part of my brain that likes roleplaying just died a little bit. There is that disconnect that the Exobytes giving Batman-like powers when Batman actually has no powers. Even for comic books, that little part just makes me scratch my head in confusion.

Overall....

Enjoyment of the game will be highly dependent on how much you like the genre. As a quick dash and play game, it certainly has a lot of fun elements. As far as free to play games are concerned, a mark of a good game is one where you feel it's actually worth spending money on it and DCUO fits very well there. I am actually considering getting the Green Lantern DLC, and that says a lot seeing that I planned to not spend any money at all when I first started playing.

Highlights

• Breakable objects! Yes, not everything is breakable, but fights actually having some effect on the environment just makes it feel more....super.
• No need to actually target something. Anything in the path of the attack gets hit. This means being able to hit more than one thing at a time if they are grouped up. Again, more comic book style gaming!
• Being knocked off the air. A weird thing to be a highlight, but some attacks can take you off your movement mode, and therefore, if flying, fall down several stories. Hitting the ground doesn't kill you and it does have a great effect.
• Actually beating Bane! My first "boss" encounter was with Grodd and he ran away after stunning myself and The Flash. I thought Bane would do the same thing, but I was glad to be able to capture him.

Guild Wars 2: Signed Up But Sighing

I admit it, this article's title is probably one of the dumbest I've ever come up with, but I'm leaving it there. Besides, it is fairly accurate about my attitute towards Guild Wars 2. It's a sigh of indifference.

I've seen nothing but praise for the game after the media's beta event, which really is more like a demo - something I will touch upon at a later date. And from the publicly available videos, the game does look absolutely fantastic. Everything does appear very fluid and the level of polish makes it appear that the game is ready for launch. So after all this great hype, why am I indifferent about the game?

I have to remember another great game I really liked but was indifferent before I tried it - RIFT. I knew nothing about the game or the developers and the screenshots, as high-res as they were, looked like they were from an asian or free to play game. Turns out I was wrong and enjoyed my beta experience enough to sub for a few months.

That is the exact same feeling with Guild Wars 2. I never played Guild Wars so I don't know anything about the game or the developers. I listen to or watch videos of podcasts and I cannot deny the enthusiasm of those that have played the first Guild Wars but I could not understand it. This will probably all change once I get my hands on the game, whether it be the beta of getting a copy at launch.

SWTOR: What Would Make Ilum Better?

I'm pretty sure that everyone is so tired of talking about Ilum. But for all the complaints and problems encountered, the zone has a lot of potential. As the game gets more level 50s willing to slug it out, improvements to Ilum will be needed sooner than later.

Tangible Rewards

Better known as "Why are we fighting for this place again?".

No, not talking about pets or gear, but anything that will make a visible impact to the players or gameplay. It doesn't even have to be overpowered either. The valor buff from taking control points is actually a good start and can benefit even small groups against a larger, less organized, horde. Having it also give bonuses to warzones was also a good idea.

There had been talk before of being able to access the rarest of rare materials from the zone based on who controls Ilum and that will be a huge bonus as well. As it stands though, full control cannot be maintained long enough for such a reward to be even useful.

Fleet Announcements/Monitors

One of my biggest frustrations with Ilum is that, when I get there, either nothing is happening or something interesting happened and it is already over. Timing is everything and with good timing/luck, you can get into exciting battles. Conversely, going to Ilum when nothing is happening can be mind-snappingly dull as you play arament carousel with 30 other people.

Being able to see if any action is happening on Ilum will definitely help bring in people. A quick check of a map or pvp monitor can indicate how many of each faction are in Ilum and if there is a fight going on. A fleet-wide chat can also allow players to send out a "call to arms" and notify people that a major battle is happening. But of course, that leads to the next improvement suggestion....

Instant or Faster Travel to Ilum

As it stands, getting to Ilum from the fleet requires the following steps:

1. Enter elevator to hangar
2. Enter ship
3. Fly to Ilum
4. Enter orbital station
5. Enter elevator in orbital station
6. Take shuttle down to Ilum
7. Take speeder to PvP zone

I cannot count the number of times when I heard about a good fight going on Ilum and seeing it finish just I arrive in the PvP area. Depending on how fast things load for you, it can take a good 5-10 minutes to get there from the fleet, for some people, perhaps more. If the fights are just starting, then there's still some good PvP to be had. But if you find out about the action near the tail end of the battle, then it would be too late and you may end up just doing some armament carousel.

A direct shuttle to the Ilum PvP area would do wonders to open up the zone and make PvP there more accessible. Having a system like this will allow fights to escalate quickly and last longer as more people start pouring in.

Granted, there can't always be battles in the zone as there definitely are other things to do, but having these improvements can make those that do happen truly epic...or at least, something positive to talk about.

RIFT: Not Quite the Return to Telara

Out of curiousity, I logged on to my RIFT account to check if it had been compramised. Luckily, all is good and I was also prompted to change the password to be more secure. Interestingly, I found that I had 3 days of play time left on my account even if there hadn't been any subscription info on there nor was there any email notice of that fact.  

Of course, I had to make sure it was legitimate so a quick search brought up info that Trion gave 3 days for former subscribers. Certainly a good way to get people back in the game and I applaud Trion for the initiative, though I did wish I had some info about it sooner. Just as well since I had been wondering about the changes since I last played. I was not there for the 1.5 and 1.6 patches. Come to think of it, I think I missed the 1.4 patch as well. I was always impressed by the game's graphics and soul system. I was less impressed with how obvious the grind was presented. Some gripes aside, it is a great game and at times, I forgot why I even quit.

Over the weekend, I remembered. It still is the great game from a few months back, but that's also the biggest problem. There simply was nothing for me to do. I tried out the Chronicles and got my behind handed to me on a platter in Greenscale's Blight. Hammerknell, on the other hand, was a very easy and quick Chronicle. I queued for a T2 dungeon and I got Abyssal Precipice and that has not changed either. I tried an Instant Adventure and got...well...something. The AA system was interesting, but also looked overwhelming considering I had only 3 days to play around with the game.

There simply was no incentive for me to advance any further. Perhaps if I had only lower levels or a new 50, I may have wanted to see more of the game. Granted, I haven't tried Ember Isle yet, but that's my point - I had no reason to do so.

MMORPGs rely completely on the carrot on the stick method of keeping their gamers' attention. But perception plays a key role here too and that carrot may not look quite as appealing to some than it does others.

In my case with RIFT, I do not raid. I don't have any intention to raid, and neither do I have any intention to PvP a lot. This leaves me with no reason to gear up or improve my character in any way. For most of the couple of hours I was online, I checked my bags and mail, as well as checked the auction house - which had fewer things in it than months ago.

RIFT is still a great looking game, but without friends, or a guild, or a good idea of what I want to do in the world of Telara, there is simply no reason to stay logged on. Perhaps one day I may return, but this free gameday weekend was just not it.

Highlights of the weekend:

• T2 dungeon queue popped for me as a DPS role - at 8am on a Saturday morning. Surprising but the run itself was pretty by-the-numbers.
• Instant Adventures brought me to Shimmersand with a chain of quests, but did not send me back when I left it. Leaving an instant adventure apparently just means leave raid and abandon quest.
• Accessibility of raid gear has improved. Still slow unless you run dungeons a lot. And like I said, there was no incentive to do so anyway.
• I realized I haven't tried the game since my graphics card upgrade. Everything looked GREAT!
• Mashing up to 3 macro buttons was not fun then, it certainly isn't fun now. But hey, it worked and the results were good.

Return of the Blogger

So the holiday season was terrible for blogging although the biggest culprit was Bioware's evil, EVIL, game Star Wars: The Old Republic. Although there is something to say about how good and engaging the game is when I finally got up to get a snack and realized 3 hours have passed.

I won't be doing a full on review though I will be putting down a lot of thoughts about the game. I have also collected a few videos although I am running into the same problem with disk space. Streaming is also back to being in the works.

Still, it is hard to resist making a few comments about the game here.

• PvP - damn I love pvp in SWTOR. I normally play a tank with tank spec and gear, so I don't top the damage charts or anything. But I have been hard to kill so objective games are just great.
• Level 50 - Still much to do. I have yet to run higher level flashpoints and more hard mode ones. Hard Mode Black Talon was fun and has some challange...and bugs.
• Ilum - I heard some things about the place and it is more or less correct. It was actually fun getting jumped on by 3-4 others. At least something happens more than the quests there.
• Story - I LOVE the story. Just finished the Sith Inquisitor story and I am amazed by it. Certainly suprising to some degree.

SWTOR: A Never-End Game Story?

Ok, that was a terrible title, but I like it somehow so I'll stick with it.

The developers of Star Wars: The Old Republic have repeatedly touted that it's MMOs "story driven" gameplay will set it apart from all others. Story has indeed been a huge part in many games. World of Warcraft decided to focus on the story of the game with Wrath of the Lich King and had implemented technologies (e.g. phasing) to make the game more immersive. RIFT's dynamic environment does something similar and they have been releasing stories relating to the game's lore - something I wish they had done before the game was released. There is no doubt that the more attached the player is their character(s), the more they would want to spend time playing.

But then, in RIFT and WoW, the story is little more than a diversion from the daily routine. Once the story has 'ended', i.e. finished all the plot quests, it's back to the grind. I barely do any daily quests anymore and queue up for random dungeons only with great hesitation. Then again, it did take me a few years to get to this point in WoW so that's saying something about how the game keeps me engaged. Sadly, I got to this rut in RIFT after only 4 months.

SWTOR, on the other hand, supposedly brings the story at the forefront and is supposed to take a good chunk of time to do. Now this intrigues me in good and bad ways.

First off, I have played Bioware RPGs and the story elements are mostly top-notch. I have rarely played a Bioware RPG where I did not end up immersed as a result of the story. My favourite was Dragon Age: Origins. The story of the game did feel epic and it made up for a number of shortcomings. In the end, it gave my character great depth and I felt proud for his great achievements in the game world (also, he died). I played through a few more times, but none of the other characters felt as epic.  If SWTOR has a story element as good as this, I would be extremely happy.

But that brings me to the other side of the coin: stories have an ending. In my Dragon Age: Origins example, the game ended leaving me in awe and amazement at how good a game it was. Even all other playthroughs ended at some point. MMOs in general are not designed to end. When a player reaches max level, the game does make a change, and not always for the better. How will the character's story cope with the grindiness of the end game? If the story is about my Sith Warrior's rise in power and becomes a Darth at level 50, what now? Will the story be to go from system to system to kill x number of Jedi Knights on a daily basis? If there is more to it, how much more can there be until more can be added through patches or an expansion?

As excited as I am with getting my hands on SWTOR (subtle hint to get a beta invite), I have to wonder how the story element can hold up in the long run. MMOs are games to be played over a lengthly amount of time and there has to be something to do when logging on. Will the story provide sufficient longevity so players will keep playing this game over others?  Or will the story elements while leveling (which is said to be quite substantial) be enough for players to have such an attachment to their character(s) that they would invest more time in the game even if there is no longer a story to do?

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to answer that question. With the current NDA, there is no more info than what Bioware/EA has released or allowed to be seen. We need to have faith in the force (i.e. Bioware) that they can pull it all off.

SWTOR: How Long is too Long?

Star Wars: The Old Republic (or SWTOR) is arguably the most anticipted MMO right now, with Guild Wars 2 being the other game out there making the MMO fans wait excitedly. But news for SWTOR has been relatively light considering the potential release date window closing in. I say "potential" because EA/Bioware has so far refused to give out their target release date. The best they have offered is "holiday 2011".

Considering that, as of September 2011, the game is still in closed beta, that likely means a December release, but that is only speculation at best. Now there is news that the game might be pushed to 2012.  Naturally, online comments about this haven't been too kind.

But it hasn't really been so long since the game was announced, only a mere 3 years. World of Warcraft took that long from announcement to live and it grew to be the biggest game of it's time. Wouldn't it follow that SWTOR would go down this same path? Is it wrong to say that this waiting has gone for too long?

The biggest problem I have with SWTOR and the wait is that the hype machine is not exactly doing it for me. Somehow, I feel it is simply lacking. Anticipation for the game was high when it was announced but there has not been any increase in activity since then.  Videos and announcements seem to have been released in small doses. If one is not lucky enough to have attended PAX, E3, or similar expos, there is no chance to even get a feel for the game other than short glimpses.

Beta weekends were the biggest thing to happen to get anticipation high about the game and probably the biggest news since it's annoucement. Not only did it get the fans all excited about getting an invite, but it provided a sense that the game is just around the corner. Finally, we had thought, the waiting is coming to an end.  Then, after what EA/Bioware indicated was a successful beta weekend, they announced the next weekend would be cancelled. While I know they probably have a good reason for it, it certainly does not bode well for the fans and slows anticipation to a crawl, if not stop it in it's tracks altogether.

Coupled with the news article linked above, one has to wonder what is really going on. If release is slated in 3 months, getting more people into beta would make perfect sense. There should be an increase in anticipation for the game, not more of the same small stream of videos and art previews. Whatever happened to things like the timeline videos or webcomics? Anticipation built up just from the IP is strong, but it will not just be the IP that will keep it strong for the game.

Maybe I'm just impatient. Maybe I'm just reading too little in between the lines. But right now, Guild Wars 2 is becoming more and more interesting with all the info they are putting out and, if EA/Bioware don't do anything soon, may eclipse SWTOR even before either game is released.

Rift Beta Review

So the last RIFT beta event is over and I have been able to play a whole lot more this time around than the previous ones. So much more that I can actually do a proper review! Lets get something out of the way first.

Like I've said before, RIFT is pretty much like World of Warcraft; and any other MMORPG for that matter. Yes, you can tout all the differences between them, but, at the core, its the same kind of game. It's like comparing a Toyota and Honda sedan. You can keep holding to the minute detail that convinces you that one is better, but it's pretty much the same thing and does the same function. Games don't have to be extremely different from one another to be successful and a game just has to stand on it's own.

In fact, RIFT's being like WoW is part of what can make it a success. With little difference, switchers will have no difficulty at all getting used to the game. I certainly got used to the interface very quickly and everything just felt nice and familiar. Kudos to Trion in understanding this.

I decided to level from scratch again, mostly to see if anything has changed there, and also to try to level crafting simultaneously. The most I've gotten is level 32, and my armorsmithing and mining skills were about on par. Granted, I've neglected my weaponsmithing skills, but that probably was a mistake to try to level 2 crafting skills with such a short time alloted for play.

Creating the Character

For each faction, you basically end up choosing one of three races; an elf, a human, and a giant(defiant) or dwarf(guardian). Racial abilities can help determine your choice if you have planned your character ahead of time, but the choices are mostly cosmetic.

 What the game does lack in race choices, it tries to make up with a lot of customization options. Again, personalizing your character is great, but most of the time, such minute details are not clearly visible unless you look really close. Or go around without armour. Even then, your choice of makeup colour will probably largely go unnoticed. Still, the time invested in making your character is probably well spent seeing they cannot be changed and you will probably be playing this character for quite a while because of the class system.


Unlike some games, this one does not have a bust size slider

The class/talent system of RIFT is pretty interesting if a little overwhelming at the beginning and, unless you are a true alt-aholic, you may not want to create another character. The cleric, for example, can have tank, healing, and damage roles and they can be very effective in all of them. Even a rogue is capable of healing and tanking if they so want to do so. Naturally, there are strengths and weaknesses for each class filling certain roles, but the option is there.

New players will have a bit of reading to do though. Because each 'soul' of a class (equivalent to a talent tree in other MMORPGs) can be a primary, they come with a lot of redundant abilities. By level 6, a warrior will end up with 3 main strikes that appear to do pretty much the same thing. Before the action bars can fill up with redundant abilities, one has to choose which one is appropriate for use and ignore the others. Things become simpler once more points are put in. But, because you can't put in more points than your level in your main soul, some more redundant abilities might open as you put points in a secondary soul.

A sample soul. Yes, I like warriors.

You only start with 3 souls for use and the others can be learned later through quests. Resetting souls becomes increasingly costly so investing in role slots tends to be a good idea. Roles allow switching from one set of souls to another on the fly. If you want to tank and heal, having two slots for each role is very convenient. Each role slot becomes increasingly more expensive however (30g for the second role, over 1 platinum for the third, and so on). Still, it's better than going to a trainer and resetting souls.

The World of Telara

Telara is big. Really big. Kudos indeed to those that devoloped such detailed and massive landscapes. It is clear that a lot of time and effort was put into making as immersive a world as possible. Exploring is definitely something recommended to do between leveling and rift events.

One of RIFT's big selling points is a dynamic world, and it shows. Terrain can change depending on what is happening; one town may be successfully invaded by undead and the ground will turn from lush green to charred black. NPCs will also be killed and unavailable until the invasion is repelled. Yes, this includes quest givers. So best to make sure your quest hub has the right NPC in charge.

Hmm....people in this hub seemed to have lost a lot of weight. All skin and bones now.

There is a price to pay though with so much detail in the world.

RIFT is a graphics intensive game. At Ultra settings, I was barely eaking out 10fps. My gaming machine is hardly top of the line, but it is no slouch either. I needed to set it to Low in order to get a playable framerate. Draw distance is one of the biggest culprits here, as well as texture detail. Now I could go out and get a better graphics card, but that would be quite an expense to play just this game since all my other games play just fine with what I have.

Such large and detailed world around me. Now if only I could move.

The game can also come to a halt when massive number of players appear at the same place and starts casting spells. Twice I've had to deal with disconnects during invasion events when a boss monster is involved, and over 50 players are hell-bent to kill it. And this was at low graphics.

Fortunately, the game is still visually appealing at low settings. You just don't get to appreciate the world around you until you are much, much closer.

Telara being a massive world is a great thing, but there are few ways to effectively get around the world. Going from one quest hub to another is linear enough and, thankfully, there are places to sell junk to in most quest hubs so you can free up the inventory for important items - or more junk - as you quest. There is just no quick way to go from one quest hub to another until you reach a city/town that has a portal that links to the main city.

I am sooooo far from where I parked my car.  

There was one point where I was in the middle of nowhere questing when I wanted to go back to the main city (Meridian in this case) to learn new skills. It took several minutes from the portal hub, and a few fights, to get where I already was and I'd have to do it all over again. So the choice becomes if I wanted to continue on until I get to the next portal hub or just eat the wasted time and go to Meridian. A fast travel system to places I've already been to would have been extremely handy. I get that travelling slowly helps with immersion, but doing so multiple times makes it feel like an unwanted commute to work.

Luckily, dungeons help a bit in that everyone can be zoned into the dungeon when one person enters. But someone still has to make the trek to the dungeon in the first place for that to happen.

Rifts and Invasions

So I've mentioned rift events and invasions a few times. The title of the game is also what drives the game world. At random times an places, rifts will appear and spawn a certain event. It could be waves of monsters or it could be a puzzle event of some sort. Most rifts also spawn invasion forces that make for a particular town that can be defended. There will always be rifts and invasions around and players can also force a rift open if they see a tear in the fabric of the world. Conveniently, all these can be tracked in the map and you can even see where a certain invasion force is going. Some rifts and invasions are easy to deal with and some have elites that will take a group of five or more to kill.

A few times a day, a massive invasion event will occur and a zone-wide quest becomes active. Everyone in the zone can do this quest and help bring this invasion to a close, which usually means beating a boss monster at the end if the first set of conditions are met successfully. Participation in these events provide rewards of various loot and currency for powerful items as well as experience. It was very easy to level by doing just rift events, but that may change in the live game.


Charging headlong without much backup isn't normally a good idea. But there's loot to be had.

The rift events are also the primary grind in the game. Almost everything is tied in to these rifts; repeatable quests, learning new souls, story quests, etc. To get the most powerful items for your level requires a lot of rifts and invasions to fight as well as waiting for major events to happen - and hoping there are enough people around to beat the event. At the time of beta, the higher level up, the fewer events that can be beaten because there just aren't enough people in the affected zone.

The rift grind will happen early on as well. Pretty much as soon as you leave the starter area, there will be a rift or two nearby to defeat.

Because the RIFT beta was divided into events rather than one long testing phase, there is no telling how long it will be before the spectacle of rift events becomes mediocre or tiresome. How much can one stand when the maximum level is reached? Are there going to be more varied rifts to keep things interesting? Considering the game has an end boss already defined, can they stretch out as much as they can until the inevitable confrontation? Can RIFT keep me interested two, three, twelve months down the road? Sadly, there is no answer to that because....

End Game...or Lack Thereof

There is no information whatsoever about life at level 50. The last beta event only had leveling go to 42 and nothing about the end game has been addressed a week before the official release date. From what I've understood, the end game is currently in the alpha test phase with a lot of changes still to be made. This does not really bode well as it implies that there will be beta testing before any end game content can even be released.

This is probably the most unsettling thing about RIFT and the most glaring flaw. Unless they change leveling, it will take me only two, maybe three weeks to reach 50.  PvP is certainly an option, but I'm not a big fan of PvP other than a way to pass the time. The game world needs to have something to keep people involved and it needs to evolve itself in order to provide lasting entertainment. The MMORPG grind is perfectly fine as long as there is a goal. What is that next challenge in the horizon? What am I getting all this gear for?

As it is, the uncertainty has kept me from pre-ordering the game. I just cannot justify $50+subscription costs if I cannot be sure I will enjoy the game at max level. The game is fun while leveling because it is new, just like any new game. Things start changing when the leveling is over and there is the need for new goals.


Big ugly mob looks like it's as tired of seeing me as I am of seeing it.


At the End of the Day

RIFT has what it takes to be successful, but it is not a revolutionary, nor is it even an evolutionary game in the genre. It offers some neat mechanics that makes it stand out and the world of Telara is very immersive and is helped by it's dynamic nature. I certainly will be paying attention to how the game pans out in the next few months.

It is really only the lack of an end game that would keep me from recommending it highly to people - or even to pay to play it myself. The fact of the matter is, the beta events appear to be a mere marketting ploy to get as many pre-orders in as possible. And it certainly has worked. Without an extensive beta test, only the early parts of the game can be seen, and the game excels in providing a great leveling experience. To say RIFT is better than the competetion is a bit of a stretch when all I've gotten so far is the feeling of excitement that comes with a new game.

Just a gratituous screenshot while mounted

Still, RIFT has a lot of potential and it is all up to Trion to build up on that potential. With all the elements so far, I don't see any reason why RIFT can't be a huge competitor in the MMORPG market.

Rift: Beta 5 Experience

I've seen ads about RIFT for a while now, but have always chalked it up as an AION clone or one of those cheap free-to-play (f2p) MMORPGs. But a few weeks ago, my curiousity was piqued enough to sign up for the beta. I was quite surprised, when I got a beta invite, that the beta event I was invited to was only 3 days long...and on weekdays. I had to look the email over a few times to be sure I read it right.

I suppose they were running server load tests for different times and days to monitor peak use or something like that, but it certainly did limit how much time I had for the game. Still, I was able to get a few hours of game time to have a really good look at some of what the game had to offer. UPDATE: They extended the beta for one more day, giving extra time for more testing.

Getting some stuff out of the way

First off, just to put everything in context, I am an avid World of Warcraft player. I raid at least 3 nights a week and spend a good amount of time in the game. WoW is still fun for me and there is a lot to keep me entertained while online. I am not looking for a replacement for WoW nor am I trying to "go against the flow" by choosing a new, lesser known game, nor am I trying to find that "wow-killer" game. I went into RIFT out of plain curiousity and with an open mind. Is RIFT really a good game or will I just be wasting my time?

RIFT is like WoW - and that's not meant to be a bad thing. There is no need to be completely revolutionary to be successful. To say that RIFT is like WoW is like saying a Honda sedan is like a Toyota. Sure, there are differences, but also many similarities. In the end, the game has to stand on it's own merits and drawing on already established aspects of popular MMORPGs only helps that. Debates of RIFT vs. WoW are ultimately pointless so I will avoid comparisons unless necessary.

Starting the Game and Game Performance

The first thing I noticed was that the loading times was really long. The RIFT logo screen was up for about half a minute after the intro cinematics. Speaking of which, I don't really like the main cinematic of the game which consists of stills, a voice over, and a LOT of on-screen text. The last part is what made me cringe. It's a pity that it totally distracts from the images, which are quite well done.

The game is also very graphics intensive. I run an i5 with 6GB RAM and a GT 220 video card. Not top of the line by any means, but no slouch either. I can barely get 9 fps on ultra graphics mode. Even on medium setting, I still can't get past 20 fps. I settled for the low settings, plus a few customizations to play at a smooth 45 fps. The game still looks very good on low graphics settings so I was more than happy to continue with that setup.

Factions/Races

With two factions and 3 races each, there aren't too many choices in this regard. They both have some kind of human and elf on their sides. The Guardians have dwarves while the Defilers have giants called Bahmi. Naturally, each class have their own racial abilities so those can also influence your decision on what to play.

The factions, to me, seem rather arbitrary really, with the conflict between them fueled only by fanatacism (Guardians are religious fanatics while Defilers swear by their machines). So far in my gaming, I haven't seen any reason why they simply cannot work together especially given how bad and powerful the common enemy is - no one is willing to see the middle ground. But hey, factions are required for PvP to happen so fantatic hatred it is.

The Class/Soul System

One of the biggest selling points in the RIFT ads was how much you can customize your character based on how you want to play. You get a choice of 4 base classes and each one allows you to pick 3 out of 7 'souls'. These souls provide abilities based on how many points are spent in them. The base mechanics of the class tends to be the same, but the souls give plenty of depth to augment the class itself.

All points spent on souls can be refunded for free by the class trainer and redestributed. Points cannot be all spent on one soul however, and you will be forced to put points in a secondary soul. Naturally, secondary souls have lower limits on points that can be spent on it compared to the primary.

Unfortunately, I had only enough time to play 2 characters. The first one was to get the feel of the game in general and the second was to actually try to level. I had a thing for tanks so my first character was a warrior with paladin(primary)/warlord/void knight souls. I followed that up with at justicar/shaman/druid cleric which I enjoyed playing. 

As good as the customization is, I can see there being some limits to it. Not all souls have synergy with each other and there are only so many points to actually spend. Chances are, there will be optimum soul/talent combinations for various situations near the end game, which will put some limits on customization.

New roles can also be learned and it gives another set of 3 souls to set up. Having multiple roles are rather nice as it is like being able to switch to another class without creating a new character. My cleric tank has a secondary role of a DPS with good damage over time and area of effect spells.

Learning those other souls required quests where you close a rift and defeat the summoned spirit from the quest item you loot. Unfortunately, at the time of the beta, souls can only be learned one at a time. This makes trying to learn all souls for your selected class quite tedious. Then again, time sinks are what makes MMORPGs function so it is likely intended.

And since I mentioned rifts....

Rift Events

Another selling point of the game are the rift events. Various rifts open up periodically around the world. These rifts spawn monsters that need to be killed to get to the next stage in closing that rift. The rift closes when the boss of that rift is defeated. There are also invasion events where towns and cities get attacked.

Defeating invasion groups and rifts give various rewards that are used as currency for purchasable items. Because of this, rifts and invasions become part of the grind for better gear and, after some time, it really feels like a grind. It's one thing to go and fight an invasion or rift nearby; and another thing completely when trying to hunt for them.

While I still had some fun fighting these rifts, there is just little variety in them. The only thing that changes are the kinds of monsters that spawn out of the rift.  It already started getting old and tedious after 8 hours of playtime, so I can't imagine how it will be later in the game. I suppose Trion will balance the rifts. Too few, and there will be quests that cannot be completed in a decent amount of time, while too many will make the rifts old news very quickly.

So What Do I Think?

While it feels like a quality product, there is still much that is still missing. I only managed to hit level 21, mostly due to spending my time exploring, but the level cap of the last beta was 30 out of the 50 in live. End game class balance and content are still things that haven't yet been addressed and the release date is almost a month away.

The fact that I lost track of time while playing says a lot - it is that engaging. But being great entertainment for a few days does not mean it will be entertaining months down the road; and that is what any MMORPG needs to focus on. In this respect, I cannot even begin to guess how good RIFT will be in the long run - there just isn't enough information.

I have to say it again, my first impression is that RIFT is a good game. It just isn't a "must have" game for me. I will be in the "wait and see" mode and, while I may not play RIFT at all, I do hope that it becomes successful.