Mystic Worlds

Level 38.5 and Wouldn't Trade It

I’m half way to level 39 and still enjoying every single moment of Rift!  I can say with absolute certainty, that unless a personal or technical catastrophe happens which prevents me from playing any game at all, I will reach max level in Rift and continue on to raiding. I’m sold.  I’m done and in for the long haul.

I found a new love. I recently started questing in Droughtlands and exploring Lantern hook.  I was having a good time and enjoyed investigating the area's nooks and crannies.  That was until I went to Moonshade Highlands to heal two guild-mates during a couple of elite quests.  OMG - I’m unconditionally, irrevocably and unequivocally in love with this zone.  It reminds me of fantasy meets the springtime Japanese gardens in the Chicago Botanical Garden.  I’m going to quest here for a while then head back to DL which provides some overlap in questing levels.

Riding around MH I feel young again, in terms of gaming. I feel like a new player fresh off the MMO arrival boat astonished by everything I see.  I’m inspired to visit every spot – not wanting to miss a morsel.  I still don’t do all the quests before leveling out of a zone.  I mix the quests with rifts, instances and make my own adventure (slaughter runs against all things I perceive as evil). *Laugh*

Rift - Delicious Visual Delights

I really missed playing Rift while I was down for the count with a stomach virus.  I imagined all the fun I was missing.  Mostly, I don’t want to fall too far behind the guild instance junkies. Broken record here but I think the Rift dungeons are some of the best of any MMO I’ve played.

My first day back in the game it was pretty quiet in guild chat.  I finished up some quests in Scarlet Gorge (levels 26 – 30) and even though there was plenty of content left and I enjoyed the whole Red Dead vibe, I decided to move on to Scarwood Reach (levels 30 – 35).

The next evening, more of the gang was online and we did King’s Breach with two non-guildies. Evening after we ran through Foul Cascade for a couple of people who needed.  I started out as I always do, as main healer.  Half way through our "mage that night but often our tank" suggested that I could go DPS off-heal and he’d go Chloromancer if I wanted to ride the wild side for a bit.  Even with two members who hadn’t done the instance before and a few mishaps we were victorious – meaning, COW’s don’t wipe.  Well of course cows don’t wipe… err… uh, you know what I mean.  Forget it – stop laughing!

 Scarwood Pie  

When it’s time to move on to another zone I’m a bit worried that the game will drop the inclusion of having a living NPC community in the area, much like World of Warcraft does after Southshore and we’ll go back to being out in the middle of nowhere fighting over who cares what.  But no, Rift did not fail me.  I know – I’m a broken record on this subject but for me, this is what makes the questing relevant!  

People trying to survive and thrive in an area – living their lives under the threat we’re trying to combat is the story.  I don’t need your long quest text, 20 minutes of voice-over or lore off in some wiki outside the game, all of that should be additive - extra.  My surroundings and what I’m doing within them should tell me most of what I need to know about my life in your virtual world and why it matters.

Scarwood Reach might creep in as my favorite zone with its Eliam fields (farmlands) meets Darkshire (Tim Burton quizzically creepy). Trion packs a lot of variety in each zone.  There’s even an outpost that reminds me of the area surrounding Saruman's Tower from Lord of the Rings, equipped with hollowed out tree trunks and large root structures that you enter to harvest, quest or whatever.  

Be sure not to miss the Fight Club esk repeatable quest that was a hilarious diversion.  I remember when Asherson’s Call 2 added a gauntlet-like solo instance you could match yourself against on a daily basis, to see how far you could go – each mob was progressively stronger.  It can take me a while to settle down to questing when presented with such delicious visual delights and diversion.  And although I don’t personally do overt RP, RP chat is alive and thriving on Faeblight.  Mo’ spice.  Mo’ sugar.

Getting All Beau Hindman - Immersion Run

I don’t care what Rift has borrowed from other games.  I’d like to see a modern MMO that hasn’t.  It’s like getting your mother’s favorite recipe and adding your own twist.  Whatever they’ve done, it’s taken me back to my golden days of MMO adventuring minus the icky stuff that has since been improved.

I found myself feeling all Beau last night while I was out harvesting.  I felt so immersed in the moment; I wished having a graphical interface wasn’t necessary.  I just wanted me and the game in my view.  I took matters into my own hands.  I closed down the UI, turned off all name plates and pushed in the camera close in my character.  I attacked what attacked me or looked like it might, relied on my instincts to know how I was fairing in a fight and when I could use what abilities.  If I died, so what, it’s not like there’s perma-death.  *Smile*

I completed my harvest run in this manner, even through encounters where I had multiple mobs one me and survived them all.  Yea for being a keyboarder and not a mouse-clicker.  *Snicker*  It was exhilarating, fun and I felt so much more a part of the game, I got why Beau likes to do his full immersion projects.  I’m going to harvest like this more often. 

I’m back in the groove and closing in on level 35.  I’d love to make up some ground this weekend and hit level 38 so I can do the next instance with the members hanging out in the early 40s waiting on the rest of us folks.  Rift and COW have made a main healer out of me and I like it!

Rift Free Weekend

First I was busy with seasonal activities like spring cleaning, switching out wardrobe and the yard. Sounds fun doesn't it? I was sure I'd be able to get online to play Sunday. Unfortunately, my body had something to say about that when it came down with a stomach virus. So here I am, doubled over in bed, clutching an iPad waiting for this to go away. *sigh*

I'll probably miss the guild's weekly alt night. What I miss more is keeping up in levels. So far that hasn't been much of a problem since many have gone all alt crazy. It's been years since I've regularly done instanced content and even longer since doing it as a healer. I'm having a great time as one of the guild healers and enjoy Rift's dungeons so much, I don't like missing opportunities to run them.

Sure, I could PUG them but I'll have to pass on that one. These instances are each more like WOW heroics and PUGing as a healer sucks more often than not. I know I can count on them to do a run for me if needed - they're cool like that. Still, I miss not being around to play and chat. Hopefully, I'll be back on my feet by tomorrow.

Queue Mayhem and Drama - COW's razing thru Rift

How did I arrive here so quickly?

At some point this evening I’ll ding 31.  I don’t know how this happened so quickly.  It’s felt effortless on my part. I log in and do whatever interests me on any given day, with an emphasis on having fun and somehow I keep leveling.  I’m not grinding or meticulously following my Quest Log like a mandatory script.  In fact, I end up leaving zones with at least 30% of the quests untouched and this is on top of being out of town on business for six days.

I can’t tell you the last time I enjoyed a class so much.  I find healing as a Cleric diverse and rewarding because I have many tools at my disposal, which I can vary to match the circumstance.  In formal instances, especially against bosses, I have to manage my mana carefully or I can go OOM too quickly.  I can live with that and continue to work on strategies to help in those situations.  For the most part however, I’m given enough options that healing is fun.  Imagine that!!  

Content is king – I’d play without the rifts

Even though we haven’t gotten away from healers having to watch green bars, it’s more engaging than what I’ve experienced in other games.  The quality of the instanced content contributes greatly to the enjoyment of playing my roll.  They are visually appealing, varied in size and theme, challenging and employ different mechanics on each boss.  They are not spank-n-tank only.  The first 3 instances have set a high bar.  I now expect all of the other instances in Rift to be as compelling.

Riotous Nights in Rift

Happy with my Choice

As my first full week in Rift comes to an end, I’m extremely pleased with my decision to purchase the 6-month subscription.  My primary motivation to play MMOs is to have fun during the leveling process which is my progression through that world’s story.  

The fluidity of your adventuring options is one of the game's greatest strengths. I can start the night focused on my quest journal, crafting or exploring and instantly be engaged into defending the world by closing rifts or beating down invasions.  I find myself moving from moment to moment, doing precisely what interests me and the evening races by.  As a player who enjoys a good deal of alone time to unwind first, I enjoy the effortless way in which we join and disband groups without interrupting whatever inner monologue I have going on until I'm ready for social fun.

Now that we’re out of beta I can jump into the instanced content. Yea!  I'm looking forward to seeing every single instance.  I’ve already healed Iron Tombs (defiant) and Realm of the Fae (Guardian) on my defiant Cleric.  If this is a taste of what’s to come, it’s going to be a sweet meal.  

For years, I've lamented about games where the vast majority of questing is out in the middle of nowhere and everything else is back in a player city.  One of the reasons I loved the WOW run of Northshire Abbey to Southshore is because each zone was comprised of NPC towns and villages which for me, adds meaning to the quests.  It makes the game feel more like a world and the critters I'm culling have a visible purpose because they're endangering nearby areas.  Runes of Magic does this to a degree, Cataclsym does it more than original WOW but Rift so far has carried the motif the furtherest.  

If everything that matters is back in the player city then why the hell do I care about what's going on way over there!?!  It makes the questing feel extremely artificial.  I'm happier questing in NPC inhabited areas and will tend to do each and every quest.  Once you dump me in the wilds, I much more inclined to just grind.  That's all if feels like you're asking me to do anyway in that setting.

A Fun Low Level Melee Cleric Build

Let me start by saying that I’m not a min/max player. I will occasionally run the numbers to help me make tricky decisions but I don’t have to be the best in order to enjoy a class.  I won’t intentionally gimp myself but being at the top of someone’s damage meter doesn’t factor into the equation. However, I do strive for builds that allow me to kill things effeciently.  Killing mobs is a major part of what we do in the typical MMO so I don't want to make it painful.  On top of which, I actually enjoy slay quest.

Why Melee Ms. Caster?
My typical modus operandi (MO) is ranged caster. There have been a few exceptions like the WOW Paladin and Druid, AOC Shaman and WAR Warrior Priest.  As you can see, those exceptions always surround a hybrid healer; otherwise I have no interest in melee classes.  The Rift Cleric fits into this exception because it’s a healing class that has 3 melee souls and it made sense to try them out.

I didn’t like the playing style of the AOE caster combination which is predominantly Inquisitor + Cabalist. The Cabalist didn’t appeal to me in any way, shape or fashion. That doesn’t mean there’s something wrong, it simply didn’t suit me.  I never liked the WOW Mage either no matter how many times I tried rolling one and even when I’d played ever other class I had the even the most remote interest in trying and all that was left was Mage, I couldn’t do it.  I think the Cabalist is the same thing for me but I want the ability to have an AOE build because I’ve been known to grind mobs as a way of decompressing at the end of a stressful work day.

Trion Holding the Line - Locks Head Start Servers on Launch Day

It's not a long delay but they've locked down the Head Start servers which will prevent the first wave of players from rushing to them.  The only downside is if you're joining your guild and they are on a head-start server.  Our guild has several players in that situation.  You'll now have to wait about an hour longer before you can join us.  

Eh, not a bad strategy or compromise.  We were just discussing this in guild chat last night.  What would today be like for us on a RP PVE server that has a 1 to 2 hour queue during prime time already, but it's a huge improvement from the 5 to 7 hour queues the first 36 hours or so into Head Start.

This strategy should lessen the new players coming into full servers.  There's no point in waiting for the locked servers unless your joining friends and family.