This week's Global Chat is RIFT, RIFT, RIFT. The game isn't set to launch for a few more days, but the head-start doors opened Thursday. Even if you're not following RIFT, the flurry of interest surrounding the event was the source of some great discussion about other MMOs and the game industry in general.
Follow along after the jump for a look!
Are other game studios taking countermeasures against RIFT? That was the question posed by Justin after patches and mysterious changes started popping up in other games at the same time. AlienFanatic had this to say in the ensuing discussion:
"I don't think the MMO market is expanding. To expand, you have to bring in new types of players, not simply re-shuffle the existing playerbase. Right now, I don't believe the genre appeals much outside of itself, in that grandma or the sports jocks, or the FPS guys have little interest in MMOs.
"RIFT and virtually every MMO in recent memory is just a riff on the same type of fantasy-based RPG. I'm thinking that the vast, vast majority of RIFT players will come from the ranks of ex-WoW, ex-EQ, ex-WAR, etc., communities. The only game that seems to be capable of bringing in 'new' players is probably TOR. It's a rare sci-fi game, which is a largely unexplored genre for MMOs. (You could say that STO and Star Wars Galaxies blazed the way, but SWG came out long before WoW blew the MMO market wide open, and STO suffered a lackluster launch). We'll see, but I think that the MMO market is very, very stagnant atm."
When head-start began, "queue" was the word of the day. Scott Hartsman, Trion's CCO, saw it coming as the clocked counted down, and RIFT responded throughout the day by bringing new servers online right and left. Meanwhile, our readers had lots to say on the issue. They shared their own queue stories, speculated on why things were set up the way they were, and offered ideas on how developers could avoid these problems in the future. Massively reader Scuffles had some thoughts on the matter:
"Thats why I don't understand why new MMOs don't at least start off with a channel server setup. Even if they don't intend to support it in the long run. Then they can have say four to five servers each with a handful of channels and you scale channels accordingly. You kill three birds with one stone. You avoid queues because initially there is enough room for everyone. You avoid massive zone overcrowding (there will still be some). You avoid the false stigma of failure during your impending server mergers after tourist season."
RIFT's similarity to other MMOs is still a topic of discussion here and there, and it came up in Karen's guide to your first day in RIFT. ExLupo doesn't necessarily think that's a bad thing:
"This game does suck if you're tired of the WoW format. As do WAR, LotRO, D&D, EQ, etc. It's stock-standard modern generic fantasy MMO. those calling it WoWHammer are dead on, but is that really something to avoid?
"Re: the car analogy, it's very true. RIFT, as highlighted by its ultra-generic name, brings very little that is new. However, that's not a bad thing. What it rehashes, it does cleanly. The UI is solid as is the configuration tool. The quest/PQ [public quest] functions are fluid and well-implemented. Turning WAR's PQs into a more-generic yet more-involving game component by way of the RIFT system does make the world more engaging. It's not truly dynamic, but as we've seen in WoW and EQ, world-changing invasion events are fun.
"In my opinion, RIFT is a solid entry in the generic fantasy MMO genre. If you're tired of your current GFM but not the genre in general, RIFT will give you something that is comfortably familiar while still changing the pace enough to keep your interest. If you want something truly different, there's always Rez. From MMOs to shooters, 1pv/3pv games all play to the same psychological identity trigger. It's just the action/plot sliders and flavor text/graphics that are different."
That's it for this week's Global Chat, so now we're ready for you to chime in. Comment below and let us know what you think!
Global Chat is the weekly feature that's all about you, our readers. Every Sunday we collect the best, funniest, and most thought-provoking comments from the Massively readers and round them up into Global Chat for discussion. Read over them for yourself, hit the comment button, and add your own thoughts!
