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Is rift endgame raid or die?

demarc01demarc01 Member UncommonPosts: 429

I played Rift when it first released and did the GSB>RoS raids, i stopped playing just before HK raid hit.

I've heard that rift has alternate progression routes these days, how viable is that? Is the endgame of rift still at its heart a raid to progress game? Or did they add more viable paths to progress without 20 and 10 man raids?

I looking for a game that does not require me to raid all the time, 10 mans i could prob handle on occasion but i really dont want to raid 2-3 nights a week in a 20 man setting to feel that i am reaching *end game progression*

 

 




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Comments

  • azzamasinazzamasin Member UncommonPosts: 3,105
    Yes it is a WoW clone through and through.  Albeit with better content, better class systems but way worse off character animations.  The aniamtions were my biggest hurdle and I could never get over it.

    Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!

    Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!

    Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!

    image

  • muffins89muffins89 Member UncommonPosts: 1,585
    you absolutely never have to raid.  just like in wow,  as the guy above me stated.  raiding is not required.  there is plenty of other stuff to do.
  • FoomerangFoomerang Member UncommonPosts: 5,628

    No.

  • jblahjblah Member UncommonPosts: 368

    I have been playing since launch with a 3-4 month break (1 week break when GW2 came out) and I have never done an instanced raid. They have a system in place called chronicles which are 1-2 person instances that play out the story from the instanced raids in game which is a good way to see the raid without the 10-20 people. 

    I play maybe 6-15 hours per week and always have plenty to do and usually stumble upon 1 open world raid per play session. While the best rewards in the game come from instanced raiding there are good reward systems in place for open world raids which are great for casual non organized raiders like myself. 

    On my server Faeblight I see pug raids for the instanced raids all the time (pre-Xpac) though I never care to join them myself as I enjoy the spontaneous raids that occur while I am out doing dailys or looking for crafting materials. The open world content provided I feel is what makes this game worth playing as I had my fill of instanced raiding playing WOW for 5 years.

    I just log in and never know what I might end up doing as sometimes I just do a few dailys and log off or I may find myself in a 20 person zone invasion for an hour. I have never played a game with as many different options of things to do outside of instanced raiding. This is the only game I can log in and play for 30 minutes and log off feeling like I accomplished something.

    Playing- Guild Wars 2, SWTOR
    SWTOR Referral Link Get a free Server Transfer and lots of other free stuff for your SWTOR account! Works for both new and previous players.

  • TheDarkrayneTheDarkrayne Member EpicPosts: 5,297
    Tons of stuff to do at endgame, more than any other themepark I have played. Anyone saying othewise is bullshitting you and either 1. Haven't played the game since launch or 2. Never got to endgame, or both. Plus, there are ways to get raid gear without ever raiding.. takes longer but you can do it.
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
  • strangiato2112strangiato2112 Member CommonPosts: 1,538

    I have never played a game that is raid or die endgame.  I have played EQ and WoW, and both those games had significant gear progression for non raiders.  Rift is no different.  You wont (and shouldnt) get the best gear without raiding, but you can still progress in power.

     

    And Rift does add fairly easy/casual 10 man slivers so the 10 man thing is there

  • ShakyMoShakyMo Member CommonPosts: 7,207
    Yes its a raid orientated game like wow / eq2
    It does offer outdoor stuff to, but the big rifts and what have you are more old school eq1 / daoc type raiding imo.

    If your more into pvp its not for you there are much better mmos for pvp e.g.eve,perpetuum, gw2.
  • FoomerangFoomerang Member UncommonPosts: 5,628


    Originally posted by ShakyMo
    Yes its a raid orientated game like wow / eq2It does offer outdoor stuff to, but the big rifts and what have you are more old school eq1 / daoc type raiding imo.If your more into pvp its not for you there are much better mmos for pvp e.g.eve,perpetuum, gw2.

    No. Raids are one of many viable things you can do at endgame. The question is if Rift is raid or die at endgame and it is definitely not. I dont raid. I dont pvp. I barely do dungeons. There is more to do in Rift than I have time for despite ignoring those three systems.

  • Crunchy222Crunchy222 Member CommonPosts: 386

    Why play this game if you dont enjoy raiding?

     

    I played this game at launch.  The leveling up part was standard issue and the lack of different starting points and ability to really choose areas made rerolling  far to painfull for me.  Saving grace of this game was the raids and HM dungeons, which were ridiculously hard...i loved it.  Unfortunately for me my server had 2.75 raiding guilds, both on the other faction, so while i enjoyed the raids we always had to pug a few people and it made things overly difficult.

    Most players just spammed pvp queues and ignored pve, which was hard and fun...very rare these days.

    Anyway i left right around when they started making endgame pve easier so more would do it.

     

    If i ever get back in the mood for themepark pve this would be my go to game i think. PVP without risk or loss doesnt interest me other than a side dish.

     

    So is the endgame pve still really difficult or did they cave to the mouthbreathers?

     

    Also, the soul system imo was a total fail, really leaving the door open for 1-3 builds that were viable and most souls had overlapping abilities that were the same ect..has this been fixed?

  • FoomerangFoomerang Member UncommonPosts: 5,628


    Originally posted by Crunchy222
    Why play this game if you dont enjoy raiding?

    I enjoy crafting, fishing, cooking, housing, roleplaying, and exploring open world dynamic content. Thats why I play this game :)

  • RydesonRydeson Member UncommonPosts: 3,852

         Rift's end game is pretty much WoW clone... Spend your end game life queueing up for instances whether it be dungeons or raids..  oh sure you can do PvP fights.. and I found those just as boring as I did in WoW.. If I never did another WG it would be too soon.. lol  Games like WoW, Rift and (insert wannabe name) aren't designed to be PvP games.. but they are still there for those crazy enough to pay $15 a month to play "call of duty" with swords and lightsabers.. lol  

         Rift's dynamic rifts was there best option for me, but that part of the game was nerfed and ignored because the raiders demanded more attention.. Rift events fell short of their potential.. oh well..

  • WhitebeardsWhitebeards Member Posts: 778
    So much mis information. After this new expansion i don't know how anyone can say that Rift is all about raid or die. If you haven't bought and played Storm Legion, why even bother spread wrong information?
  • GeezerGamerGeezerGamer Member EpicPosts: 8,855
    Originally posted by Rydeson

         Rift's end game is pretty much WoW clone... 

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDBoqg1RcfU

  • strangiato2112strangiato2112 Member CommonPosts: 1,538
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    So much mis information. 

    Its not as mch misinformation as player stupidity.  I have yet to see an MMORPG thats raid or die.  Even EQ was never raid or die.  WoW sure as hell isnt and Rift isnt either.

     

  • FoomerangFoomerang Member UncommonPosts: 5,628


    Originally posted by DMKano
    Originally posted by strangiato2112 Originally posted by Whitebeards So much mis information. 
    Its not as mch misinformation as player stupidity.  I have yet to see an MMORPG thats raid or die.  Even EQ was never raid or die.  WoW sure as hell isnt and Rift isnt either.  
    My thoughts exactly.

     


    I thought the phrase "raid or die" came from WoW when battlegrounds came out and the pvp gear was a joke compared to raid gear.

  • VhalnVhaln Member Posts: 3,159
    Originally posted by strangiato2112
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    So much mis information. 

    Its not as mch misinformation as player stupidity.  I have yet to see an MMORPG thats raid or die.  Even EQ was never raid or die.  WoW sure as hell isnt and Rift isnt either.

     

    Maybe you misunderstand what "raid or die" means, then?  When people say they want more to do at endgame, what they usually mean is that they want things to do that are worth doing.  Rewarding.  Character progressing. Etc.  Things to do that won't feel like being left in the dust, by players who raid.  It's not really a question of what there is to do besides raiding, but what is there besides raiding that will still feel like some sort of progression.

     

    Since I haven't played Rift since it launched (and I got three characters to the cap before my free month was even up) and I'm seeing all these glowing impressions of the expansion, I'd kinda like an answer to this question, too.

    When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.

  • FoomerangFoomerang Member UncommonPosts: 5,628


    Originally posted by Vhaln

    Originally posted by strangiato2112

    Originally posted by Whitebeards So much mis information. 
    Its not as mch misinformation as player stupidity.  I have yet to see an MMORPG thats raid or die.  Even EQ was never raid or die.  WoW sure as hell isnt and Rift isnt either.
     

    Maybe you misunderstand what "raid or die" means, then?  When people say they want more to do at endgame, what they usually mean is that they want things to do that are worth doing.  Rewarding.  Character progressing. Etc.  Things to do that won't feel like being left in the dust, by players who raid.  It's not really a question of what there is to do besides raiding, but what is there besides raiding that will still feel like some sort of progression.

     

    Since I haven't played Rift since it launched (and I got three characters to the cap before my free month was even up) and I'm seeing all these glowing impressions of the expansion, I'd kinda like an answer to this question, too.


    So the standard progression is still there: Do quests to gear up for dungeons to gear up for raids.

    Crafting also has epics for every gear slot and is nearly as good as raid gear. Trion has been pretty good at keeping crafting current with the release of a new raid tier.

    PvP gear via conquest and warfronts has its own tiered system in place with epics on par with best in slot.

    Now we have Hunt Rifts which offer a tiered gear system as well which can be upgraded as you progress. Almost all gear slots are available here.

    Dimensions are an alternate way to progress your character that involves crafting and creating instead of combat. Drag and drop hundreds of earned, found, or crafted items into a plot of land that is your home. You can move, rotate and resize items to create whatever you want. Dimensions can be set to public and people can hang out in your place and bump it up in rank if they like it.

    Planar Attunement combined with the mentoring system keeps the entire game world relevant at level cap. Right click your character icon and type in the level you want to be, anytime anywhere. Now you can visit any area and make it as challenging as you want, play with people leveling up still, gain rewards relevant to your actual level, and gain xp towards planar attunement (PA). PA is a series of honeycomb like grids that you can fill out as you gain PA levels via xp. Benefits include increased stats, defense and damage bonuses, mount speed, swim speed, weapon enchants, special rift lures, and more.

    There are a bunch of other activities you can do at endgame as well. But the ones I mentioned are the main systems for character progression at level cap.

  • XhieronXhieron Member UncommonPosts: 132

    I think it's a little disingenuous to feign offense at this question or suggest anyone in the OP's position is somehow ignorant.  I've raided in EQ, and I didn't have any trouble understanding the question, nor did I feel compelled to deride the questioner for deigning to ask.

     

    Raid or die means EQ/WOW gear progression.  It's not whether there's nothing to do, or even whether you can get better gear than what you're wearing by doing other things.  Of course you can; any developer worth it's salt knows better than to lock all content past a certain point behind a numbers gate.  What's really at stake here is whether non-raiders are second rate when compared to raiders, and I think the answer to that question is a resounding yes for every game built on the traditional theme park paradigm, up to and including Rift.  Hell, as of this weekend even GW2 has a similar model; the only principle difference is that the content is capped at 5 people.

     

    So to rephrase the question for the uninitiated, "Is it possible to complete non-raid content competitively when compared to raid-geared players without raiding?".  Judging from the answers so far, No.  No it's not.

     

    That doesn't mean the game is bad, it doesn't mean you don't have meaningful access to all content, and it doesn't even mean that non-raid rewards aren't sufficient for everything in the game except raiding, which I'll generally concede is true for almost every game in the paradigm (and that's a point ArenaNet has championed valiantly, much to the disgust of its original fanbase).  The principle grievance is that while raid gear is only necessary for raiding, it's nonetheless better than non-raid gear for non-raiding.  That represents a serious consideration for those of us evaluating games, and frankly I find it dishonest for fans of these games, however sincere, to discount this question as unimportant.

     

    As to this particular contender, I haven't played SL, so I'd be delighted to hear from someone who has that non-raiders can be competitive with raiders in Rift these days (and by competitive, I mean same completion time for content, which for practical purposes in a theme park means same stats).  A couple of later responses seem to indicte that, but lets be clear.  The players who have generously provided actual insight so far, however, have also generally indicated that this flatly isn't so, and it would be nice if, for instance, someone could outline a stat comparison for highest-level raid and non-raid gear.  Is that a deal breaker for a potential new player?  Maybe and maybe not.  But if you set out to champion a game's model, you should at least endeavor to represent the model honestly.

     

    /em steps off the soapbox and carries it away.

    Peace and safety.

  • ShakyMoShakyMo Member CommonPosts: 7,207
    Originally posted by strangiato2112
    Originally posted by Whitebeards
    So much mis information. 

    Its not as mch misinformation as player stupidity.  I have yet to see an MMORPG thats raid or die.  Even EQ was never raid or die.  WoW sure as hell isnt and Rift isnt either.

     

    wow is raid or die, why else would you play it once youve leveled?

    PVP - lol, wow pvp sucks, blizzard are obsssed with putting everything on a timer, theres no playing to a mmos strengths with an eve or daoc like pvp model, no its pvp is taken from fps with crappy little ctf and what have you in a ghettoed off box.  Whats more if you really like that sort of sectioned off token pvp, you can play it for free in countless moba games.

    daily quests - what?  really? people do these for months at a time?

    crafting, nope why craft when you can get much better stuff from grinding dungeons or the tuppoerware pvp.

     

     

  • ShakyMoShakyMo Member CommonPosts: 7,207
    Originally posted by Xhieron

    Raid or die means EQ/WOW gear progression.  It's not whether there's nothing to do, or even whether you can get better gear than what you're wearing by doing other things.  Of course you can; any developer worth it's salt knows better than to lock all content past a certain point behind a numbers gate.  What's really at stake here is whether non-raiders are second rate when compared to raiders, and I think the answer to that question is a resounding yes for every game built on the traditional theme park paradigm, up to and including Rift.  Hell, as of this weekend even GW2 has a similar model; the only principle difference is that the content is capped at 5 people.

     

    well not every themepark
    coh and gw1 avoided heavy vertical progression

    daoc had strong crafting and pvp gave better rewards than pve

    warhammer didnt have raids and best gear came from pvp

    planetside doesnt even have pve.

  • emotaemota Member UncommonPosts: 413
    Originally posted by azzamasin

    Yes it is a WoW clone through and through.  Albeit with better content, better class systems but way worse off character animations.  The aniamtions were my biggest hurdle and I could never get over it.

     

    lol says the GW2 fanboi, now that's a game with terrible engame. Argh yes, there is no endgame, what a jokeof a proclamation that was by Anet.
  • VorthanionVorthanion Member RarePosts: 2,749
    There is other stuff to do, but progression is still tied up with raiding.  You will not get raid drops from PvP or regular dungeons or as random world drops, so yeah, best gear = raiding = typical miserable MMO endgame.

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  • InFlamestwoInFlamestwo Member Posts: 662
    You can run expert dungeons for weekly T1, T2 and T3 raid rewards.

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  • InFlamestwoInFlamestwo Member Posts: 662
    Originally posted by emota
    Originally posted by azzamasin
    Yes it is a WoW clone through and through.  Albeit with better content, better class systems but way worse off character animations.  The aniamtions were my biggest hurdle and I could never get over it.

     

    lol says the GW2 fanboi, now that's a game with terrible engame. Argh yes, there is no endgame, what a jokeof a proclamation that was by Anet.

    GW2 got a new endgame dungeon yesterday, might want to check it out.

    image

  • XhieronXhieron Member UncommonPosts: 132
    Originally posted by ShakyMo
    Originally posted by Xhieron

    Raid or die means EQ/WOW gear progression.  It's not whether there's nothing to do, or even whether you can get better gear than what you're wearing by doing other things.  Of course you can; any developer worth it's salt knows better than to lock all content past a certain point behind a numbers gate.  What's really at stake here is whether non-raiders are second rate when compared to raiders, and I think the answer to that question is a resounding yes for every game built on the traditional theme park paradigm, up to and including Rift.  Hell, as of this weekend even GW2 has a similar model; the only principle difference is that the content is capped at 5 people.

     

    well not every themepark
    coh and gw1 avoided heavy vertical progression

    daoc had strong crafting and pvp gave better rewards than pve

    warhammer didnt have raids and best gear came from pvp

    planetside doesnt even have pve.

    In COH Hamis were the absolute best enhancements available for most of the game's early life.  For a while after IOs came out they were eclipsed, but then Incarnate content made obtaining the high-end sets the product of running upper-eschelon content.  Like GW1 & 2, during the period in the game's life when raiding wasn't the avenue to the best rewards in the game, it was because as a practical matter, the game didn't have raiding.

    That said, I agree that the anti-treadmill principles behind COX and GW1 are some of the finest genius game design to come out of the industry in the last ten years.  RIP COX.

    Both Mythic games, DAOC and WAR, had RVR as the stand-in for raid content, and in both games, as a rule, many of the same patterns that makes raiding frustrating emerged in the RVR content.  To wit, apparently somewhere along the line someone convinced MMO developers that getting a bunch of people together is a skill worth in itself of reward, notwithstanding the fact that that flies in the face of roleplaying convention (we all remember when our AD&D DM told us that we wouldn't be able to fight the dragon until we got five other guys to come play with us on Saturday, right? ... Right?).  Planetside had the same issue--the content wasn't raiding because it was PVP, but it had many of the same features in the form of the numbers game, though to be fair, PS did a good job of spreading the game out so that this didn't dominate play, and DAOC had a system in place--a flawed system, arguably, but at least something--to prevent the zerg from becoming the only meaningful way to engage other players in rewarding RVR.  God bless Mythic for that one, and it's a shame games like GW2 haven't made more of an effort to do the same.

    I appreciate the list of exceptions, and I'm sure in an exhaustive enough search we could find more, but the exceptions are exceptions by virtue of mechanics that cause them to depart, in major or minor ways, from the paradigm.  They're still square pegs for square holes, but they're just a little bit warped in the hole.

    As a rule, in a PVE game that has raiding, you can't get better PVE gear than the PVE gear gotten from the raiding.  Is it ironclad?  No, but part of the drive for changing trends in the industry right now is the fact that on the whole we can put the majority of MMOs into this model, and many players are dissatisfied with that fact.

    Peace and safety.

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