What I dislike about Rift

I, like many other bloggers, have been talking about Rift a lot lately. I’ve been universally positive on both Epic Slant and the Multiverse. I’m certain that has some of you saying, “Wait… is this the same Ferrel we know and love?” You guys are used to me complaining about things and demanding change! You’re also smart enough to know that everything needs some improvement. I’m pretty far into this new MMORPG love affair so I figured it is about time I complain a little. It is time to point out what I don’t like!

Clerics Wear Plate (CWP) – Evidently Trion didn’t get my memo. I thought I had made it pretty clear to everyone that clerics wear plate. As an example please look to the right. That is Ferrel (A). Ferrel is wearing plate (B). Ferrel is a cleric (C). There for A + B = C(WP). That is pretty simple (and fictional) math folks. I’m tired of the anti-cleric-plate lobby filling developers heads with foolish notions that clerics wear anything other than plate. Trion gave me chain mail. Chain mail?! CHAIN MAIL?! Clerics do not wear chain mail unless it is under plate. Scale mail at the least and that is testing my good graces! If your healer isn’t in plate you just can’t call it a cleric. You have to call it a priest, druid, shaman or any one of those other sissies that hide in the back to heal. Clerics wear plate and stand next to warriors. We don’t have the hit-points they do. We don’t have the ability to draw aggro that they do but you better believe we can take a hit!

The tool tips don’t update – I gave Scott a little grief about this at PAX East but I thought I needed to restate it. The ability tool tips aren’t updated when you purchase something in the soul trees. This means that the tool tips are wrong and/or misleading. You’re also left guessing at what an ability really does. For instance, if I have an ability that goes off 40% of the time and my soul tree gives an additional 60% are we talking 100% or 40% * 1.60? I’d like to know!

Guild Bank – Guild leaders need a guild bank! We need a central, visible, always available storage area for our members. We can’t go back to having to log in the guild’s bank character every time someone needs something. That is insanity! I know this isn’t a priority yet but it is something I’d like to see.

Referral System – To my knowledge Rift does not yet have a referral/loyalty program. I understand it is a new game and is doing fine on its own but I’d really like to refer the thing! I’m extremely happy with the game and I would like to share that with some folks while making a little something for myself on the side. After all, plate is expensive!

PvP balance bleeding into PvE – I make it no secret that I don’t care about PvP. I don’t that X class is OP and that Y class is weak sauce. It just doesn’t matter. If you want a fair and balanced PvP experience you’re in the wrong genre. MMORPGs are more like paper, rock, scissors than chess. You can read my reasoning behind that all over Epic Slant. We’re at the 1.1 patch and we’re already seeing PvP bleeding into PvE. My tolerance level for this is below zero. I hope this doesn’t become a habit and, should it, that the classes nerfed are in some way compensated in PvE.

Beyond that I don’t have too many gripes yet. I actually have a lot more things that I love than dislike. When more of my guild hits max level I’ll want to start talking about the raid game but until then I’ll leave it at those things mentioned above!