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. 

Lighting Versus Stability

I'm generally not much of one to complain about graphics quality.  I'd like my games to run, and will make some compromises in visuals to have that happen.  Where I start to get unhappy is when it becomes hard to see.

The following screenshots show the difference between Rift's high and low quality rendering scheme. 

High Quality Low Quality

The big difference is the lighting.  In the high quality image, the torch lights up the gazebo, while the low quality version just treats the torch as a shiny object.  The issue is far more pronounced indoors.

High Quality

Low Quality

Indoors, the very same scene becomes drastically darker - with lower ambient light, they're counting more on the torches actually working.  In any normal situation - wandering around town, soloing, or even fighting a rift in a full raid group, my computer runs fine with the normal setting.  The place where I run into trouble is when I get near the main target of a large invasion event - in this case, with hundreds of mobs and players in the same area, the client sometimes crashes.  As of this evening, Trion seems to have fixed things so that at least you don't have to wait in the queue again if this happens, but it's still a bit irritating.  The client itself isn't sure how to advise me on this dilemma.  When I open the program in low quality mode, I get a warning upon login that I'm going to have reduced quality as a result.  However, if an invasion crashes the client on normal quality mode, I can expect a tooltip the next time I log in suggesting that I switch down to the low quality version.   Unfortunately, you can't switch without closing and restarting the client, and you don't always know when to expect an event that will be large enough to matter, so it's a tough call.  Do you want a slightly worse experience all the time to mitigate the relatively rare instance where things get out of hand?  Or does dropping out at some crucial moment outweigh missing out on the game's otherwise impressive graphics and muddling around in the dark? On the plus side, at least these issues don't crash the server. Still, it's an unfortunate kind of choice to have to make, and perhaps a big part of why developers have shied away from this kind of large scale event of late.

Quick Rift Pre-launch Weekend Notes

I've gotten into the Rift Headstart, with a level 14 High Elf Cleric (14 Justicar, 2 Druid, 2 Sentinel) named Telhamat on the Byriel server.  Here's a few random thoughts from the weekend so far.

• Queue Queue Moar:
  The queues are probably the story of the game so far - many new servers have been added, and Trion is plaintively asking players to actually use them.  Either the problem will fix itself with players quitting by the one-month mark, or there are going to be chronically overcrowded servers (especially Faeblight) for a long time going forward, because no one wants to move once they're set up camp on a popular server.  Personally, I put the time in queue to productive use prank calling the Rift Watchers hotline.  (The gang plots my demise at minute 26 of the linked episode.) 
  
  
• Rifts/Invasions Are Everywhere
  People often compare Rifts to Warhammer Public Quests, but I think they've missed the broader point.  You might log in and find a quiet solo game that plays a fair amount like, well, Azeroth.  Come back in peak hours and you might be killed four times between the newbie camp and your faction's main city by level 18 invasions that are destroying the entire zone.  (This was my experience trekking across Silverwood on opening night to sign the charter for the Telara branch of Ferrel's guild, Iniquity.
  
  With Invasions, Trion has tried to create the "War is everywhere" feel that Mythic hoped RVR would bring to Warhammer.  It's not safe to AFK anywhere because invasions could get you (and it's not safe to log off, because the queue will get you - yes, going back to the character select screen sends you to the back of the line).  Because NPC's actually do what the developers want, in a way that players usually don't, it looks like they might suceed. 
  
  
• Wait, I just got all the souls?
  Having experimented in beta, I was sure I wanted to start with Justicar, Druid, and Sentinel.  My fourth pick would be easy, because I'd debated between Purifier and Sentinel for the healing slot, and it's good to have both for your healing role anyway.  I wasn't sure what I'd want next... but it turns out to be a moot point because you get all five of the souls you didn't start with almost immediately upon hitting level 13.  The "quest" to obtain these souls requires you to participate in beating any rift, and then fighting a mob version of your desired soul (which your public rift group will generally do for you, if you click the item immediately after the rift closes). 
  
  The good news is that it's now basically impossible to find yourself with a build
  you don't enjoy playing.  Also, I didn't really care about several of the souls, and might not have bothered to chase them down if they were hard to obtain.  Even so, it seems a bit anticlimactic to have all of the souls at such a low level.

Overall, I'd say the launch is going well.  That said, I think I can probably get to level 50 before that first monthly bill comes due.  It's going to be very interesting to watch mid-level populations (especially on the new servers) as the population moves to the cap.  

Predictable Blizzard Marketing Is Predictable

"As long as we're digging in my 2008 archives, I suppose we can expect some patch 4.1 news around the February 24th Rift Headstart, since that's how Blizzard treated Warhammer."
- Me, Feb 1

"Patch 4.1 on PTR - Zul'aman and Zul'gurub are back!"
- MMO-Champion, morning of February 24th.

Rift Server Choices

I got asked today which server I'm going to be playing on when Rift arrives.  I did decide to go with my gut and roll Guardian on the more familiar PVE ruleset.  I liked the Guardian lore and feel better than the Defiant side, and I've never been that fond of open PVP.

Guardian Side
My current plan is to join Ferrel and Massively's Karen Bryan on Byriel, a US PVE server.  (Their group had previously been looking at Belmont, but I'm glad they switched - being on the first server in the alphabetical sort can end poorly.) Pahonix and The Grubs guild are also rolling on Byriel. 

The US-RP server Faeblight seems to be a choice destination for Guardians and Defiants alike.  To my knowledge, the Guardian contingent includes Syp and Pete from Dragonchasers.  I'm neither for nor against the RP ruleset per se, but I don't want to be told that my server needs to be merged due to underpopulation but can't be merged due to the ruleset.

(This concern results from a bad experience with underpopulation on EQ2's LDL server, which lived on for months after it had become uninhabitable because there was no RP server with room to take us.  SOE finally gave up and merged it with a regular PVE server this month.  The "good" news for Faeblight is that so many people are heading there that it looks more likely to become overcrowded than underpopulated.  I've also heard a rumor that it's one of the unofficial Penny Arcade servers.)

Finally, if you're in the market for Guardian RP-PVP, Keen and Graav are taking their folks to the Guardian side of Sunrest (the US RP-PVP server).  I know they've had good success with their WoW guild, so this alone could be

Defiant Side
I know lots of people who have said that they plan to roll Defiant, but relatively few who have picked specific servers.  Here's what I know so far:

• Counter-balancing the Guardians of Faeblight, a group of people including Ardent Defender, MMO Gamer Chick, and Magson are rolling Defiant on that server, as part of a guild run by Multiplaying.net.
• Pete says he's putting some Defiant alts on Shadefallen (the other US-RP server).  
• The guys at Rift Watchers are setting up a Defiant guild on Sunrest, the US RP-PVP server.

I'll probably roll up a Defiant alt eventually, if just to see some of the content, so I'll definitely be interested to see where my readers are playing.

Anyway, that's where I stand for now.  I will keep this updated and/or tweet tomorrow if/when I get settled in.  Also, feel free to leave a comment with your server, faction, and blog/guild if you'd like to be added to the above list.

P.S. If you're looking for unofficial oceanic servers, Buboe says you're looking for Wolfsbane (PVE), Briarcliff (PVP), or the ever popular Faeblight (RP).  

Class Selection By Role Subtraction

Like Spinks, I'm pondering what I'm going to do about a main character when Rift's headstart kicks off this week.   Historically, I've done pretty poorly in guesstimating which classes I will prefer in a new MMO.  That said, I'm writing down my Rift open beta class thoughts anyway so I can see how they compare to what I actually end up playing.

The Two Honorable Mentions
A quirk to today's flexible class systems is that in some ways you're choosing based on what you don't want to play (or at least are willing to forego) as by what you like.  For example:

• Rift's warriors do some interesting things.  In a few examples, there is the anti-magic specialist Void Knight, the DPS Beastmaster with its off-tanking pet cat, or the highly mobile ranged elemental attacking Riftblade.  That said, warriors can't heal others and offer only limited support/utility.  If you're not looking to tank, you're just another DPS.  That's a bit of a liability in a game where you're probably going to run into open rift groups that have someone tanking but are struggling for heals. 
  
• Ranged DPS pet classes always have an easy time leveling since they have a tanking pet they can hide behind.  Rift makes this even easier for the appropriate combinations (Rogues who take Ranger and Bard, Mages who take Chloromancer and either Necromancer or Elementalist) because these archetypes offer passive DPS smart healing.  You won't have to watch your pet's health, because you'll be topping it off automatically as you nuke, and you won't need to worry about aggro too much since your DPS will usually be slightly lower to account for the healing output.  No thanks.

There are some interesting options elsewhere in the mage tree - for instance, both the Dominator (a CC specialist) and the Archon (buff/debuff specialist) have some interesting tricks, and even the Elementalist does a decent job of providing the player with offensive spells so that you're not left feeling like you're some NPC pet's sidekick.  Even so, mages can't melee (or tank) at all, and I hear underwhelming reviews of their damage potential, so I think I'll save that one for a future alt.

The Top Contenders
So, I'm left with the Rogue and the Cleric.

Rogues do a bit of everything.  Beyond the smart-healing bard (which might be very useful in public rift groups, where you can't be sure who will have aggro or who else will be trying to heal them), I find the Riftstalker tanking soul intriguing.  Riftstalkers can turn their combo points into damage shields for extra durability and healing.  The other soul that stood out for me was the trap-based Saboteur.  If you're going to be tanking the mobs yourself anyway (which everyone does while solo), dropping traps at your feet seems like a good way to increase your AOE damage.  Also, throwing half a dozen explosive charges at a mob and then detonating them all at once is one of the more amusing combo mechanics in the game. 

Priests also do a bit of everything, but with a major in healing and a minor in off-tanking (rather than the other way around).  The Justicar off-tanking soul does some passive self healing powered by life elemental attacks, including life spells you get from other souls (such as the healing/nuking Sentinel or Purifier).  Melee priests seem to like the elemental attacks of the Shaman, but I found that I was getting by alright with the Druid occupying the third slot with a mix of melee, ranged, healing, and a support-based pet. 

In the end, I think I'm going to go with the Cleric to start with.  My favorite race, the high elves, comes with a minor bonus to the priest primary stat.  I'd like enough tank-ability to solo, but I'm more interested in healing than tanking in a group setting, and the Clerics definitely offer more options in that department (even if fewer involve smart healing).  The thing that's surprising about this decision process is that it's almost entirely driven by what I'm less interested in doing than by what I'm actively looking for. 

Now watch me end up switching to a warrior in the first week, just because I said I wasn't that interested.  :)

What Difference A Respec?

I've spent the Rift open beta weekend finally doing some testing to see what I'd like to roll up when the retail servers arrive.  The exercise has left me simultaneously impressed and concerned about the variety of the soul system.

Right Souls, Wrong Time
I was curious to try then caster clerics, and a post by Ravious at Kill Ten Rats suggested that I pick up Inquisitor, Cabalist, and a misc healing soul. 

So there I was, at level 4, with 3 points in Inq and 2 points in Cab.  My spell list consisted of a nuke, an AOE nuke, two dots, and a channeled spell that is nigh useless solo because you lose volleys whenever you get hit.  I could manage one mob, but aggroing a second mob pretty much meant my immediate demise. 

Then I hit level 5 (gaining a point), picked up the Sentinel soul, and went to the trainer to respec.  When the dust settled, I had four points in Sentinel and 2 points in Inq.  The character lost the channeled spell, but picked up another nuke with a 30% snare, an instant heal, an instant damage attack, and an endurance buff. Suddenly, a single mob was easy, and even a second mob started to become manageable by applying dots and healing.  It was like getting an entirely new character in a single level up. 

Know your roles?
The soul system does look like it's going to be a lot of fun to play with; no matter how badly you bungle your character initially, there's probably going to be some combination that's actually usable.  Every single level potentially opens a previously impossible combination of abilities, especially as players get a larger pool of souls to choose from. 

That said, first impressions in this system can be challenging, and the learning curve is a potential issue.  Based on my first attempt ("I'd like to be a caster priest, so I should take both caster priest souls"), I would have concluded that caster priests just aren't very good.  If I'd started with the other build, I might have reached the conclusion that the game is "too easy".  Throw in some of the inevitable balance issues (I think my Riftblade warrior did better ranged DPS than a mage I tried) and it could be a long time before things settle down in Telara.

P.S. One of the more intriguing concepts is the Void Knight - a warrior tanking soul that specializes in destroying anything with a mana bar at the expense of not being able to use most of its abilities if there are no casters around to smite.  This just wouldn't be a viable class in a normal game, but Rift opens up its dual spec option early enough to have highly specialized souls. Again, time will tell whether having this degree of specialization causes problems for PVE (and/or PVP) balance.