Rift: No, it’s not the “Jesus” game

Hello again, friends!  For those of you fine people who are still kicking the tires around these parts, I thought I would take a little bit of free time today and talk about a couple of blog posts I recently stumbled onto.  They both pertain to Rift and the MMO community in general, so I will link to them straight away and then dive right in to where I agree and disagree.

This is a conversation that needs to be had I think, and it seems to be one that people keep twisting into contorted shapes based on their own experiences and preferences…all the while circling near the point but never quite landing on it.  So without further ado I give you these fine posts…

(I will put some little identifiers next to the links for those who lack reading comprehension…)

(I kid, Elementalistly, I kid) 

Rift:  This is where the MMO community let me down   (This post contains the list of 5 Reasons Rift is the new WoW)

It isn’t the game…it’s you   (This is the post that refers to Rift as the “Jesus” game)

Quote of the Day  (Highlighting the original post that lead me to the others)

(So with those clarifications out of the way, we now return you to our originally scheduled blog post…)

Before I make my comments, I would like to warn a few of the more sensitive among you that I am going to fiercely take opposition to some of the opinions on display here.  But this should not be taken as a slight to the bloggers themselves.  We just happen to disagree, nothing more or less.  So while I do find myself empathizing with a few of the points they make, I passionately stand against the underlying sentiment contained in both posts.

Apparently, if I have loved WoW at any point in WoW’s history but haven’t fallen head-over-heels in love with Rift in the same fashion, then I should leave the MMO genre entirely because I am nothing more than a burnt out, jaded gamer who has simply played far too many MMOs in his day.  Come to think of it, I am a burnt out and jaded gamer during these, my MMO twilight years….*snickers*…but that’s beside the point! 

So let me begin with the obvious reaction.  Just because you like something does not mean that everyone else has to feel the same way about it too.  To follow that point, if you genuinely enjoy an MMO then there should be nothing that stops you from relishing every moment you spend with it and its community.  What the larger MMO playerbase thinks should be irrelevant to you, because if you and your friends are having fun where you are then what does it matter if others don’t feel the same way?

Of course, MMOs need healthy populations to survive in this suddenly crowded market…so to that extent we should care somewhat about what other people think of our preferred games.  But Rift is going to be just fine in that regard.  No, it will never be the WoW-killing, genre dominating game that some thought it would be, but Rift is well made enough to carve out its own little niche in the MMO market and go on to live a fruitful and expansion-filled life for many years.

This is all that should matter at the end of the day, but apparently, the fact that some of us haven’t taken to Rift with a healthy amount of zeal is a disappointment to a few good people out there.  So let’s tackle some of those claims next, shall we?  In the first post, the blogger points out another article detailing 5 reasons why Rift is the new WoW.  So allow me to make a few observations.

1.  Rift is a finished product

Why yes, Rift is indeed a polished and well-made MMO.  I have pointed this out several times and have seen many others do the same.  Trion Worlds has managed to finally give us an MMO that doesn’t suck.  But we are missing the point here.  We are congratulating Trion for making an MMO that isn’t littered with problems.  Which is because companies like Mythic and Funcom gave us two duds that were wrecked with issues from beta and on to this very day.  But should we really be so eager to heap endless compliments onto a company for finally doing what most MMO developers should do in the first place…release stable, unbuggy games?

How have we let our expectations become so diluted?  Well, it’s because we are so used to receiving the same crap shoveled out again, that we are more than prepared to kiss the feet of anyone who can release an MMO that doesn’t possess the stench of decay at the very moment it’s birthed into the world.  So is the problem here really the MMO community?  Is that who is truly at fault for making us all so screwed up in how we assess new MMOs?  Or is the fault to be laid at the feet of developers who continue to release unfinished, problem-strewn games?

2.  There’s an endgame

Why yes, Rift does have an endgame and things to work for, which completely differentiates it from…oh wait.  Yes, I am happy as anyone to see that Trion has released an MMO that has some endgame content from the get-go.  But that makes it special how?  I have played a metric ton of MMOs in my time, with Lotro, EQ 2, and WoW being among the most predominant.  And all of those MMOs currently have endgames and many different goals to work towards.  It doesn’t matter if they had a proper endgame at launch, because that is the somewhat unfair reality that new MMOs face.  Freshly launched MMOs have to compare to current games after they have already received a bevy of fixes and updates over the years.

So just because Rift offers me more loot to pursue does not make it special, as I can find that almost anywhere right now.  I can raid in plenty of places, folks, it’ not a revolutionary concept anymore.  But I do applaud Trion for releasing a finished game, as I said before.  But how long are we going to pat them on the back for doing what should be the norm anyway, and instead, point out how they are simply copying what has been done before them without really pushing the genre forward as some of their marketing material claims.  (I will touch on this more later)

3.  The game isn’t buggy

Good heavens, haven’t we already made this point?  Does Rift have nothing else to offer me other than it isn’t a terrible game?  Is there really where this debate has gone?  It’s like when Valve keeps putting blocks and see-saws in Half Life 2 to demonstrate the fact that they made a physics engine.  I’m thrilled that they’ve managed to make a good physics engine, but there are only so many times they can keep showing me how I can throw blocks before I start to desire something more out of it.  (they do provide that by the way, just making a basic point)

So Rift is not buggy.  Well done Trion!  But what else have you got to offer?  Let us see.

4.  There’s a lot to do

This just isn’t getting any better, is it?  We simply keep banging the same drums over and over again.  So I am to understand and be thankful that Rift has lots to do.  Well, that’s a good thing.  But it’s an MMO and they are supposed to have lots to do.  I have so many thing I can accomplish in EQ 2, Lotro, or even WoW.  So how does Rift stand out in this respect?  What does Rift offer me that other MMOs do not?  The Rifts themselves?  They are randomly spawning Public Quests ala Warhammer Online, nothing more.  I can’t believe people are still treating them as some sort of holy grail in MMO design.

There are only two things in Rift that are somewhat unique.  The Invasions and the Soul system are the two features that should be touted by Rift fans everywhere.  But personally, I eventually found the invasion every 15 minute-thing to be really annoying.  I didn’t really find it to be exciting or intriguing in any way, as the invasions happened so darn often that it made the whole world feel like and endless battleground to me.  But I don’t want to play an MMO that is an endless battleground.  I want to play an MMO that is a world that has a few endless battlegrounds in it.

As for the Soul System, it was probably the key ingredient that I enjoyed the most while playing Rift.  It is a step in the right direction for MMOs, and I am more than happy to applaud Trion for its creation.  But at the end of the day, it has two things working against it.  First of all, that many souls will prove to be horribly difficult to balance over time, especially for PvP.  I’m not sure if Trion will ever be able to get the balance right.  Secondly, just like the talent system in WoW or EQ 2, certain flavor of the month builds will emerge and dominate as they always do, proving once and for all that we don’t really need a better class based system.  What we need is a skill based system that actually does its job properly.  But that’s a topic for another day.

5.  Rift is the cure for your WoW ennui

So if I put effort into not thinking about WoW, that will allow me to properly see Rift for the gem that is and allow me to enjoy it the way I should.  That’s like telling me that if I go to the movies I should forget about every other move I have ever seen in my entire life, so I can fairly assess the movie I am currently watching.  Seriously?  I don’t even know where to begin with this comment.  Even better is that we once again come back to that age-old argument on how WoW has killed the MMO genre.

Oh how I wish it were that simple.  If only I could keep a straight face and say that WoW has ruined MMOs for everyone.  But if I did say that, it would be every bit as preposterous as when other people spout the same thing.  WoW has not ruined the MMO genre…other developers are ruining the MMO genre by constantly imitating everything that WoW does.  People see a formula for success and so they try to replicate it.  They copy what has been done before and then try to put a few spins of their own on it to make it seem original.

But it’s not original.  Rift is not ground breaking or unique.  Providing me with the ability to upload videos to YouTube or post my in-game achievements in Twitter does not make Rift revolutionary.  Rift is a solid, well-made MMO worthy of your subscription and many years of continued development.  But it is not the “Jesus” game in any way shape or form.  As I said before, newer MMOs are launching into an increasingly difficult market.  They face MMO players who have seen and done it all over the years, and many are simply tired of the tried and true mechanics with a little dash of something new thrown on top.

Of course, no one really knows what they want to see, do they?  Everyone says they want something different, but typically spurn new ideas and cling to old concepts even though they claim to want something fresh.  This is where I do agree with the previous bloggers.  We, as an MMO community, have to be a little more open and loving to new ideas if they are every going to get traction.  But the flip side of that coin involves the developers too.  You can’t keep giving us the same old song and dance while expecting us to laud you for it.  You have to come up with better ideas, you have to give us a reason to say, “Wow, this is something I have never really seen before I want to know more about it.”

Rift does not do this, it simply has copied what has been done ad-nauseam and then sprinkled invasions and the Soul system on top.  That will not suffice in this day and age.  The bar has been raised and developers need to adjust their ambitions accordingly.  Yes, I am sure many of you are screaming how WoW did the same thing.  WoW just copied what had been done before it and then added a few new sprinkles of its own (questing to level, solo to max).  But there is a difference, folks, and here it is.

That was six years and the MMO genre did not have the choice it does now.  The MMO genre has grown considerably since that time, while the core mechanics of these games have not really changed at all.  WoW became a hit because Blizzard copied what had been done before and found the right formula for success.  Not it sits on top of the MMO world unchallenged as far as subscribers go, and Rift comes along many years later as a well crafted and polished competitor, with people are screaming how we should embrace Rift just as we did WoW before it.

But my friends, the MMO genre is not the same as it was back when WoW launched.  The genre was simpler back then, there is no way to compare it to how things have evolved or de-evolved in some cases.  If Rift had been released five years ago just as it is now, I would have been the first to hail it as the crowning jewel of the industry.  But it has released in the present, in 2011, and is built with the exact same core of every single MMO I have been playing for 10 years.  The basic gameplay is unchanged.

Rift offers little in the way of true advancement.  And just because it does its job well, does not mean we should all conform to hailing it as the greatest MMO on the planet.  I can sit here and say that Rift is a good game and worthy of your subscription if you are tired of the MMO you are currently playing, and just want something similar but with a new skin.  But like it or not, Rift must be judged in the time it has been released in.  And facing that sobering fact, Rift is simply a solid, by-the-numbers MMO in a genre that is already filled with them.