Usually, when I'm committed to something, I stay true. Especially when it comes to my beloved pixelated sanctuaries, or what others may refer to as "video games." I mean with World of Warcraft, it's been a pretty lengthy relationship. I'm talking about 6 years of love, strife, hate, crying, yearning, begging, craving, blah etc. A lot of time put into it. Why? Well, because I'm just very introverted. I don't take well to social situations. They make me feel very awkward and uncomfortable to say the least. Especially when there are new people involved. Of course alcohol can sometimes remedy this, which Sandeep was more than happy to experiment with, but over all, I'm just naturally introverted, and I find comfort in my room, surrounded by my tv with no cable connected to another computer to watch netflix on, the food in my kitchen, my computer, my bed, and a toilet that I share with someone I've exchanged fluids with and am totally ok with in spite of knowing this.
But something new has come along. And it's not just anything new. It's a new MMO that's in testing. And it's not just
any new mmo that's in testing, it's one I don't hate as soon as I log in after harshly judging the character creator. I've had my fair share of MMOs in mah lifetime, and I can say confidently that over-all, World of Warcraft mastered it. As much as I loved Star Wars Galaxies before Sony butchered it, WoW still takes the cake. Because they made it so welcoming and easy to play. It's SO easy, that retards could play it. And I'm not even exaggerating. Their player base consists of like... everything. Just make a hunter class for a chimp and he'll get through it no problem.
However this new MMO in beta has not only shown me that it's possible for me to not hate another contending MMO after WoW, but that there is hope for me to get away from WoW, because frankly I'm tired of WoW. I really am. All it is now is little kids logging on after school trolling stupid shit and just learning how to play the game, and PvP. PvP destroyed the class balances. There's always some wacko change to stats every damn patch because one class is too over powered, or one class got nerfed too much and now can't put out as much damage as before, or some other class's stuns and crowd control spells are too easily done within a short amount of time and blah blah bitch bitch whatever. FUCK pvp. I said it. Fuck pvp. You wanna pvp, go play a shooter. I'm just sick of it. I need something new.
So here comes along a title by the name of Rift. And I'm sitting here thinking, oh great. another shitty buggy mmo that won't come close to WoWs physics engine while at the same time try to outdo my graphics card's performance. awesome. i can't wait to test it out and get pissed for wasting my time. The ones that I've tried sucked. Example: Final Fantasy. Piece of crap. Got horrible ratings. And Age of Conan. physics engine SUCKED. felt stiff and delayed. i get that it's beta, but these are basic mmo properties. when you loot something, it shouldn't take 2 seconds to process. and when you move your character to the left, or strafe to the right, it shouldn't feel like you're moving the environment around your character, but more like your actual character is moving. if the movement feels stiff and laggy, i'm uninstalling that shit asap.
Rift is.... for lack of a better term,
fabulous.
Character creation isn't the most amazing one I've ever seen, but it's still pretty impressive with fully customizable features. Something I always resented Blizzard over.
Movement is VERY similar to WoWs physics engine. it's so smooth running and not jumpy or half assed. It's very very smooth and the spells and actions process instantly, similar to how they go off in WoW. So at this point, I'm not uninstalling it yet. The only thing lacking in the movement is jumping while strafing simultaneously. that's something I find myself doing in raids when I have to run around, but with a few beta notes, I'm sure they could implement that easy. That's the only difference.
The mouse also is very smooth. This has been a deal breaker for me in the past. if the mouse is shit and can't click on things in real time, gfto of my hard drive, noob. i don't give a shit if it's beta, this is a basic fucking mechanic.
Mouse controls are the same as WoW
Talent trees are fucking spectacular. Similar to WoW, but with an additional awesomeage to it. You elect to employ 3 different class types depending on your main role. I chose a caster, more specifically a mage. That doesn't mean anything though. As a caster, you can choose to be 3 of I think 8 different caster elective sub classes. All of which are beneficial when paired nicely (which is demonstrated before you in the menus what goes best w/ what.) By the time you're level 5, you would already have your 3rd tree chosen. So I chose a mage right. From there I can be a whole bunch of other shit. I specifically went for Pyromancer for straight up nuking (specifically with fire), and then I chose a healing sub class, and finally a warlock sub class. My main role is fire throwing nuker, my secondary is a healer, and i use my third role for the bonuses that i would receive by just having points in the warlock tree. Kind of like having shatter in the frost tree, but you're fire spec and use frostfire bolt. it's just there for the bonus. you don't actually use those spells
- Talent points work a little bit differently, but not by much. You can only use however many points you have that equate to your current level in each tree. So if you're level six, you can only use 6 points in one of your trees. this works for each tree. not to be misunderstood with having 6 points for EACH tree adding to a total of 12 points for two active classes, and 18 points for 3 active classes, of which you get 6 for each tree, no. you have six spendable points all together. you can use 3 in your main tree, and 3 in your secondary tree. sometimes, you will have extra points you can use. you can put these extra points wherever you don't already have 6, up to 6- or whatever your current level is.
- Extra points? every time you gain a level, you get two points. After a while, you will just get to the point where you will put all the points you can in your main tree equal to your level number, and have some left over. these should then be used in your secondary tree. no matter what, you will always have extra points to spend.
^ Sounds confusing but really isn't.
- Talent point bonuses* are completely new to me, but still familiar all the same. so you have your 3 trees with your sub classes that open new spells, and additional stat bonuses to your class. below those are mirrored tables with abilities dimmed out beneath it's corresponding tree. on each ability square will be a number. this number indicates how many points you need to spend in your sub classes' tree for this corresponding ability to be unlocked. let me tell you how nice it is. it's nice
Graphics are pretty. they're not too overly realistic yet fail like everquest 2. it's sorta cartoony, but not. it isn't overly anything. it's just right. WoW is too cartoony, where as Conan was too realistic-y wannabe looking, and Rift is right in between there. it's reaaaallly pretty.
Groups and Raids: You can select to group with someone privately, or leave it open for others to join you at their leisure. this is especially great for raids. which are introduced earlier on to defeat these tentacle rift things that open up in the sky out of nowhere and own anyone that goes near the mobs that spawn there. so you don't need to ask people to message you so you can invite them. they select to join.
Professions: you start off as a butcher, a forger, or a miner. butcher is misleading because it actually goes into crafting clothes. kinda like leatherworker. forger is obvious, as is miner. i chose butcher, and i've been skinning everything in sight. even wasps. they dissapear shortly are you skin them, just like in WoW.
Looting: exactly how it should be. and it's fucking fantastic and doesn't piss me off. there's also a "rolling" system implemented when you're in a group and a green drops. the standard need, greed, and pass. works like a charm.
Questing is familiar. the layout of the quests and vendors can be a deal breaker for me sometimes, because it mirrors what the game will be like, in my experience. if it's too flashy and feels "too much" you know it's gonna take work to try to even understand where the hell you're supposed to even get started. but the layout is simple and not littered with a ton of crap you don't need to know or have a billion menus attached to it or whatever. it's just very simple. like WoW. clean and direct.
User Interface is cozy. and awesomely fully customizable. and i say that and mean it. you can move everything around. eeeeevvverrryyythiiing. you can add more action bars and move em around. similar to the dominos add on for WoW that I use. and the raid and party UI is similar to WoW's also. it's all very very simple and cozy and nice and not a cluster fuck of trying too hard to outdo a monster mmo. like *cough* FF. the best part is once you have a UI customized to how you want it, you can save it, and import it to another character. unfortunately this doesn't work across servers. but it's still a generous convenience.
that's all i got so far today. I really like Rift so far. I can definitely say that I would leave WoW to play this game for sure. Not to mention that the monthly payments are a little cheaper. this was the last thing i thought of, but i'll take it. I honestly think that Rift has the potential to be a real contender against WoW. this is only beta. and i'm loving it. and the best thing about it is.. it's not world of warcraft. it has the basic and familiar mechanics that a lot of people expect these days out of an mmo, but the game play is completely different. the world is different, and it just rules. so if anyone is looking to take a break from WoW or is just curious to try it out, you can sign up to be a beta tester and they'll send you an invite via email to download the client here:
www.riftgame.com/en/beta/index.php
"
Sup ya'll. I'm gonna kick World of Warcraft's ass."
