Ryan Scott, Executive Editor: I recently attended a small press event for Trion Worlds' upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game Rift. It's definitely getting a lot of buzz, and it seems like an altogether well-made fantasy MMO. I know you've been playing the beta for quite a while; since you're a big World of Warcraft junkie and MMO maestro, what are your big-picture thoughts on the game?
Leif Johnson, Contributing Editor: I have to admit, I was a little worried when I started up the game a while back. The first thing any World of Warcraft player will notice is that the keybinds and user interface are both a little too similar for mere convenience; fans of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will likely feel the same way about the visuals and basic gameplay. In other words, it's tempting to dismiss this as a notable mishmash of the best elements from several other MMOs. But thankfully, Rift is rather refreshing. The "rifts" in question open throughout the game without warning, and they alter the landscape along the lines of what I think we were all hoping for in Cataclysm. Out pours a host of enemies, along with a boss or two -- and they'll even take over quest hubs if you don't kill them fast enough. It's a good way to keep players coming back to a zone long after they've completed it, and it looks like it fosters more player interaction that what I've been seeing lately in WoW.
Elsewhere, the class and talent systems allow for a dizzying array of variations. I know a lot of people have always regretted that you couldn't make something like a true "battle mage" class in WoW, but that's sort of possible here. I've already seen signs of people settling on optimal talent specs, but for now, it's fun to experiment with class and role combinations. I find myself wondering how long these novelties will keep players interested in the long run, but for now, it looks like Rift's off to a great start. I have to admit that it took a while for it to pull me in, but it picks up momentum after the first couple of levels. I really like the challenge I see in the game, and at times, the scenery is fantastic.
Ryan Scott: I played through the first seven or so experience levels, and I definitely have to agree -- based on that -- that Rift is strikingly similar to what's come before. I'm told that the rift gameplay (which seems like a massive iteration on Warhammer Online' public quests) really does change things up, though I didn't get to see too much of that. Does this game strike you as being different enough to really lure people in long-term?
Leif Johnson: See, that's the thing. I like that we're not so forced into certain roles as we are in some other MMOs, but I can't see where the gameplay itself is all that innovative. The spells and abilities you get are so similar to what you find in other MMOs, that you'll often see people in chat explaining that they're "like" such-and-such from Warhammer or WoW. Casting them often even feels the same.
Rift's main innovation is that you can use "souls" to take on any of the eight roles available for your "calling." A calling is an archetype of sorts -- mage, warrior, cleric, or rogue -- and a soul is closer to what other MMOs call classes. Each soul has its own talent tree. So take me: I usually keep my mage equipped with Necromancer, Warlock, and Chloromancer souls for leveling. If I wanted, though, I could eventually switch out these with other souls to change my role, provided I've done the requisite quests and such. Since Rift lets you customize four roles, it's not hard to imagine raid leaders asking rogues to switch out to a tanking role for one fight. And that's pretty awesome.
But a thick layer of deja vu smothers everything else, and the questing frankly sucks. It's kill 10 of this, kill 10 of that, and run to that guy over there. You'd think this was still 2004. One time, I found myself facing a boss of sorts for a quest, and I had no idea how I got there since I couldn't bring myself to read the quest text. The developers may have mimicked everything else beautifully, but I regret that they neglected this. This alone might turn off a good number of players before they even reach the endgame.
Even so, I think Rift will certainly be one of the first MMOs to tear a decent chunk out of Blizzard's market... for a while, at least. Unfortunately, I can't help but wonder if this springs from mere excitement that someone finally produced a polished rival product. Trion simply took everything that worked and put it in one convenient package that works. It's not a bad approach -- Blizzard, of course, borrowed heavily from EverQuest -- but I could see it winding down in a couple of months.
