Recent Comments:
Scott Hartsman: A fully dynamic RIFT 'lacked clarity' {Massively}
Mar 7th 2012 12:50PM
For me, attachment to a game world has always boiled down to character risk, slow leveling, and desirable resources (with low drop rate/ low respawn times).
When I feel a sense of real danger / challenge for my character (and by this I mean a death penalty that affects you on a personal level, and is not there just because you weren't in a heard of cattle...i mean a group), I begin to interact more with the environment and other players in an attempt to learn about and avoid the negative things that might cause me to die.
For me, a level process that is very slow (not grindy ) and takes a VERY long time is ideal. (Yes, so long that new players WILL have a hard time catching up. Low level caps are obnoxious. I put in the time, I want to be rewarded for being there longer. I hate when developers make everything ez mode for the new people just to get more sales. Irks the heck out of me.) Gear does not make me feel like I am working on "me". Leveling makes me feel like I am working on "Me". I am happiest when my character is "in progress" and I feel like I'm really working on something that can't be done in a short time. Leveling should not feel like a vestigial tail mechanic from ye-olden-days of true RPGs. For me, the leveling process (ie "The Journey") IS the game. Give me longer to interact with my environment in creative ways and I will start to appreciate it and get sentimental over it. These days leveling is just a formality with a brick wall waiting at the end so the little kiddies can catch up. Not cool.
Lastly, when the crafting resources in a game are in high demand and low supply, I actually feel more inclined to get out and hunt for these resources, and interact more with the environment. Rift's resources are strewn everywhere mostly going ungathered / unharvested / untapped. That's because there are TOO MANY raw resources available in the game, the auction houses are overloaded, and the prices reflect this because often resources go exactly (or pathetically) below vendor cost. Scarcity is a good thing.
The Daily Grind: Are you an MMO hoarder? {Massively}
Mar 5th 2012 2:41PM @Greyhame
Yep, crafting materials. If the game allows for it, I'll usually have mules to hold a little bit of everything. All too often, the Auction house prices (RIFT...ahem) are terrible, and I can't bring myself to vendor the goods. So I save them instead for any future characters and crafting.
RIFT celebrates its first year by looking back... and looking beyond {Massively}
Mar 5th 2012 2:36PM LOVE Rift, having a blast. My only semi-complaint with the game is the economy. Players get SO many resources in so many ways, that the game is flooded with resources. Scarcity can be a good thing. It makes crafting more worthwhile, and gathering professions more worthwhile. You know there is a problem when players put items on the auction house at pennies above vendor cost (or sometimes even below vendor cost...*You kiddin' me face*).. even crafted items that should be expensive often only go for a paltry profit on high population servers like Faeblight. :/
Trion launches RIFT's Carnival of the Ascended anniversary events {Massively}
Mar 2nd 2012 1:27PM Bored and flapping in place on your leet ride in Orgrimmar?
How to win at not being bored:
1. Install Rift to check out the freebie 1-20 content.
2. Head to Sanctum or Meridian.
3. Check out the Carnival.
4. Load up Van Halen - Jump, or Kris Kross "jump" song in background.
5. Bounce party win.
Trion launches RIFT's Carnival of the Ascended anniversary events {Massively}
Mar 1st 2012 7:32PM @jimr9999us
I've got my cowboy outfit all ready to go for that mount. Wild Wild west anyone? :D
Trion launches RIFT's Carnival of the Ascended anniversary events {Massively}
Mar 1st 2012 7:28PM @Pasha
I'm going to agree with you just because I want to play a Bogling SO-dang-bad. Rift has so many awesome looking monster races, but none of them playable. :/ Theres even a satyr thing that looks like its from the movie "Pans Labyrinth"...but not playable. Oh, but have more elves. elf elf elf...
Enter at Your Own Rift: Looking back at RIFT's first year {Massively}
Mar 1st 2012 1:17PM @Pasha
I think the PvP is fun, but focus targeting and raid marking can turn it into a lesson of frustration. Good players stand out in the crowd, and are penalized hard for playing well. I really don't know how that could be addressed though in PvP? Perhaps reduced damage when more than 4-5 players are on one person in places like Port Scion (so long as no objective is being carried)? My boyfriend heals like nobody I have ever seen, and the second he is out on the playing field again, they are on him like angry bees.
The Daily Grind: Has a free trial ever blown you away? {Massively}
Feb 26th 2012 1:55PM @Wisdomandlore
I know your pain on gear grinding. It was why I quit as well. I recently came back to Rift on a whim (was bored, and did the trial to play Defiant side 1-20, used to be guardian.) There is a lot of new content and I am really enjoying it. My plan is to work on getting PVE gear outside of dungeons. I hear Its doable now. It won't be the best-of-the-best, but it'll get the job done for whatever you feel you needed gear for in the first place. PvP still has its own gear, so I'm avoiding that (for as long as I can) this time around. Rift PvP burnt me out so hard last time I played (made it to Constable..yay..*cry*). If people call you a "PvP rockstar"...you probably know that pain.
I still think the devs need to figure out something to counter focus-target killing in PvP.Talk about punishing good players... The only way PvP in Rift is tolerable is if you act like a half-wit and ignore most of the objectives and do a pisspoor job so people don't raid mark you (which I refuse to do.)
Leaderboard: Leveling vs. endgame {Massively}
Feb 20th 2012 2:10PM @Amlin
Same here. After doing "end game" in my 5-6'th MMO... I was completely and utterly fed up with raiding and dungeon grinds.
Although unlike you, I don't re-roll new characters (unless the other factions have their own fresh content.) I'm usually already lining up the next MMO, the next new frontier. When the Min/Maxer Raiders arrive on a mmo's game scene, I am gone. I like games to stay fresh, new, and unpredictable. I am actually happiest in games when everyone is on the journey together, an we're all under geared and nobody is trying to use raid gear to compensate for lack of skill. When the landscape becomes something I could navigate without thinking, and The "How to Ez mode at everything without thinking. Here, let us do the work for you." guides pop up I'm moving on to the next MMO. End game is not my play-style, I am a journey'er, an explorer, and a pioneer.I like to think and like it when others are forced to use their brains as well. I like to be challenged. I don't want the easy and repetitive raid nonsense.
Leaderboard: Leveling vs. endgame {Massively}
Feb 20th 2012 1:46PM I think of it like climbing a mountain. Its the journey. Once you get to the top you can take in the view and marvel at your accomplishments, but its all downhill from there.
