Monday, February 28, 2011

Rift At 20

I wrapped up the head start/launch weekend in Rift by hitting level 20.  I'm most of the way through the quests of Silverwood, and have done most of the local rift events at least once. 

Overall, I'm impressed with the game.  I have not encountered any obvious bugs or server issues.  I am waffling on whether to use the low quality rendering option, but a commenter correctly discerned that this is actually my fault - the CPU speed on my laptop is below the stated minimum specs of the game (1.73 GHz, with a requirement of 2.0).  I didn't even think to check those numbers because they're usually set laughably low - WoW at its launch minimum specs would have been a painful experience - and Trion gets points in my book for putting the bar at a point where the game actually runs in a state that you'd be willing to play it. 

One thing that is a bit disappointing is the realization that the zone I've already cleared is my only option for future Guardian alts.  Yes, the experience will play differently on future characters because of different numbers of invasions, rifts, etc.  Yes, it's vitally important that players not get scattered between so many zones that there aren't enough people around to do open world content (a major problem Warhammer faced).  Even so, I've already seen some of the zone-wide events multiple times, and I'm already shrugging when the giant Satyr with the AOE squirrel-morph ability attacks Argent Glade yet again.  I'd ordinarily keep my alts on the same server/faction, but going to the other side is tempting simply for variety.

(One actual functional complaint about zone invasions - it's not always easy to tell which of the invasions and rifts in the zone are part of the bigger event, and which are ongoing random incidents.  This kind of matters because I'm assuming that you only get contribution towards the purple Rift currency if the stuff you're fighting is actually part of the zone event.)

That said, replay value only matters because I'm looking forward to at least one re-roll to see how the other callings live.  This speaks to the high quality game that Trion has put together.  I also feel that I'd like to see whether/how the higher level dynamic content is different from the entry level stuff.  So far, most of the invasions and rifts that I've seen is relatively tank-and-spank (especially with large enough numbers of players present), and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out at higher levels. 

Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to at least one trip through Telara.  That may seem like a low bar, but it's actually a major accomplishment compared to what other games have managed for launch. 

1 comment:

  1. Gratz on getting to lvl 20 it does get more fun beyond that. I'm currently at lvl 28 on my Tank on Defiant side and almost in Scarlet Gorge but just clearing up just a few quests thats left in Stonefield.

    As for zone Invasion Rifts or Rifts in general best I can tell is that when there is a Invasion the win parameters of the invasion is clearly visible on the UI as its added to everyone's quest. They do list what kind of Invasion it is whether its a Death, Water or whatever kind and the Rifts on the map that spawn will usually be apart of that. As on a major invasion they all spawn all over the place. Where Footholds are on map is also clearly visible as well as random invasion spawns which usually comes from the Rifts themselves.

    You can always mouse over the Rift to get some info on the Rifts as well. Just like when a Rift boss spawn for the events one can also mouse over the map of the cross swords and sometimes cross sword and helm/skull to see where the boss is for the invasion in the zone.

    Does take some looking to get used to figuring out the maps and where stuff are. Best I can say is mouse over the map and see where stuff is or identify the mobs that spawn under the Rift to see if they matches what need to be killed.

    I would imagine if Trion added allot more info to the zone map for every Rift that spawned on a major invasion that the map would get cluttered easily with allot of info on the map and would clutter the map trying to look at other stuff on the map. I kinda prefer the map being neat and uncluttered. Just look at the map and see where stuff are for Rifts.

    I've not found it that hard to ever figure out where stuff is on the map for Rifts/Invasion/Footholds/Planar Tear.

    ReplyDelete

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