Rift At 20
I wrapped up the head start/launch weekend in Rift by hitting level 20. I'm most of the way through the quests of Silverwood, and have done most of the local rift events at least once.
Overall, I'm impressed with the game. I have not encountered any obvious bugs or server issues. I am waffling on whether to use the low quality rendering option, but a commenter correctly discerned that this is actually my fault - the CPU speed on my laptop is below the stated minimum specs of the game (1.73 GHz, with a requirement of 2.0). I didn't even think to check those numbers because they're usually set laughably low - WoW at its launch minimum specs would have been a painful experience - and Trion gets points in my book for putting the bar at a point where the game actually runs in a state that you'd be willing to play it.
One thing that is a bit disappointing is the realization that the zone I've already cleared is my only option for future Guardian alts. Yes, the experience will play differently on future characters because of different numbers of invasions, rifts, etc. Yes, it's vitally important that players not get scattered between so many zones that there aren't enough people around to do open world content (a major problem Warhammer faced). Even so, I've already seen some of the zone-wide events multiple times, and I'm already shrugging when the giant Satyr with the AOE squirrel-morph ability attacks Argent Glade yet again. I'd ordinarily keep my alts on the same server/faction, but going to the other side is tempting simply for variety.
(One actual functional complaint about zone invasions - it's not always easy to tell which of the invasions and rifts in the zone are part of the bigger event, and which are ongoing random incidents. This kind of matters because I'm assuming that you only get contribution towards the purple Rift currency if the stuff you're fighting is actually part of the zone event.)
That said, replay value only matters because I'm looking forward to at least one re-roll to see how the other callings live. This speaks to the high quality game that Trion has put together. I also feel that I'd like to see whether/how the higher level dynamic content is different from the entry level stuff. So far, most of the invasions and rifts that I've seen is relatively tank-and-spank (especially with large enough numbers of players present), and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out at higher levels.
Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to at least one trip through Telara. That may seem like a low bar, but it's actually a major accomplishment compared to what other games have managed for launch.
Overall, I'm impressed with the game. I have not encountered any obvious bugs or server issues. I am waffling on whether to use the low quality rendering option, but a commenter correctly discerned that this is actually my fault - the CPU speed on my laptop is below the stated minimum specs of the game (1.73 GHz, with a requirement of 2.0). I didn't even think to check those numbers because they're usually set laughably low - WoW at its launch minimum specs would have been a painful experience - and Trion gets points in my book for putting the bar at a point where the game actually runs in a state that you'd be willing to play it.
One thing that is a bit disappointing is the realization that the zone I've already cleared is my only option for future Guardian alts. Yes, the experience will play differently on future characters because of different numbers of invasions, rifts, etc. Yes, it's vitally important that players not get scattered between so many zones that there aren't enough people around to do open world content (a major problem Warhammer faced). Even so, I've already seen some of the zone-wide events multiple times, and I'm already shrugging when the giant Satyr with the AOE squirrel-morph ability attacks Argent Glade yet again. I'd ordinarily keep my alts on the same server/faction, but going to the other side is tempting simply for variety.
(One actual functional complaint about zone invasions - it's not always easy to tell which of the invasions and rifts in the zone are part of the bigger event, and which are ongoing random incidents. This kind of matters because I'm assuming that you only get contribution towards the purple Rift currency if the stuff you're fighting is actually part of the zone event.)
That said, replay value only matters because I'm looking forward to at least one re-roll to see how the other callings live. This speaks to the high quality game that Trion has put together. I also feel that I'd like to see whether/how the higher level dynamic content is different from the entry level stuff. So far, most of the invasions and rifts that I've seen is relatively tank-and-spank (especially with large enough numbers of players present), and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out at higher levels.
Regardless, I'm definitely looking forward to at least one trip through Telara. That may seem like a low bar, but it's actually a major accomplishment compared to what other games have managed for launch.