I've gotten into the Rift Headstart, with a level 14 High Elf Cleric (14 Justicar, 2 Druid, 2 Sentinel) named Telhamat on the Byriel server. Here's a few random thoughts from the weekend so far.
- Queue Queue Moar:
The queues are probably the story of the game so far - many new servers have been added, and Trion is plaintively asking players to actually use them. Either the problem will fix itself with players quitting by the one-month mark, or there are going to be chronically overcrowded servers (especially Faeblight) for a long time going forward, because no one wants to move once they're set up camp on a popular server. Personally, I put the time in queue to productive use prank calling the Rift Watchers hotline. (The gang plots my demise at minute 26 of the linked episode.)
- Rifts/Invasions Are Everywhere
People often compare Rifts to Warhammer Public Quests, but I think they've missed the broader point. You might log in and find a quiet solo game that plays a fair amount like, well, Azeroth. Come back in peak hours and you might be killed four times between the newbie camp and your faction's main city by level 18 invasions that are destroying the entire zone. (This was my experience trekking across Silverwood on opening night to sign the charter for the Telara branch of Ferrel's guild, Iniquity.
With Invasions, Trion has tried to create the "War is everywhere" feel that Mythic hoped RVR would bring to Warhammer. It's not safe to AFK anywhere because invasions could get you (and it's not safe to log off, because the queue will get you - yes, going back to the character select screen sends you to the back of the line). Because NPC's actually do what the developers want, in a way that players usually don't, it looks like they might suceed.
- Wait, I just got all the souls?
Having experimented in beta, I was sure I wanted to start with Justicar, Druid, and Sentinel. My fourth pick would be easy, because I'd debated between Purifier and Sentinel for the healing slot, and it's good to have both for your healing role anyway. I wasn't sure what I'd want next... but it turns out to be a moot point because you get all five of the souls you didn't start with almost immediately upon hitting level 13. The "quest" to obtain these souls requires you to participate in beating any rift, and then fighting a mob version of your desired soul (which your public rift group will generally do for you, if you click the item immediately after the rift closes).
The good news is that it's now basically impossible to find yourself with a build
you don't enjoy playing. Also, I didn't really care about several of the souls, and might not have bothered to chase them down if they were hard to obtain. Even so, it seems a bit anticlimactic to have all of the souls at such a low level.
Overall, I'd say the launch is going well. That said, I think I can probably get to level 50 before that first monthly bill comes due. It's going to be very interesting to watch mid-level populations (especially on the new servers) as the population moves to the cap.
