Rift - A World of Warcraft Killer?

Rift is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) released by Trion Worlds late winter of 2011. Its main competition is the juggernaut that is Blizzard’s World of Warcraft . The question is will Rift be able to overtake World of Warcraft ? It would take a scrying mirror or crystal ball to accurately answer this, but when comparing the features of both games, it seems plausible. Rift will not only be able to stick around, but capture some of the market-share as well.

One thing must be kept in mind, though, when comparing the two. World of Warcraft (WOW) has been around since late 2004. It lauds the most important thing that separates Rift and WOW: investment. Gamers have been using WOW for so long, they have years of playing already invested in the game. Either from characters at top level with top equipment or massed in-game currencies, players are hesitant, if not unwilling, to part with years of dedicated play. Because of this single reason, WOW will continue to thrive as long as they continue to release new content. Along this same vein, the amount of in-game features continues to separate the two, but only because Blizzard has had more time to implement them.

A player of WOW can advance his characters to level 85 (soon to be increased by the next expansion). They have introduced a variety of in-game specialty items that can only be achieved by completing certain arduous feats, specializing in particular crafts, or even from collecting their trading card game cards. The in-game economy is running along like a steady heart-beat, players buy and sell equipment, materials for crafting, vanity items, companions, etc. Players can travel by foot, land-mount, or fly anywhere in the in-game world. Queuing for the Dungeon Finder tool, which randomly pairs the player with four other players in order to complete a dungeon, may have little to no wait because of the massive number of players.

In the seven years since its release, Blizzard has maintained a cartoonish look and feel to the game. (And now, soon there will be panda bears roaming the streets of all the major cities.) Once a class (a defining characteristic) has been chosen for a character, it cannot be changed. In-game mail can only be delivered to other characters of the same faction. (If a player has a character on the Hoard side and a character on the Alliance side, they cannot mail one another items.) When travelling between two points, a player can choose to take an automated “taxi” ride to a destination, but this moves in real-time and is almost no better than the player doing it himself.

A character in Rift must choose one of four major classes (Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Cleric), but from that point it is up to the player to decide what type of character it will be. A player can be a mage that heals, a cleric that tanks, or a rogue that is ranged-attack only or invisibly slips up on his opponents. Each character has 3 souls and it is up to the player to pick from the 9 allotted souls of each class and pair them up to their desired result. But to impress the versatility of a character even more, the character can contain up to 5 soul combinations, allowing the player to switch back and forth between combinations as they see fit (usually one for questing, player-vs-player (PVP), dungeoning, raiding, etc.). Rift also caters to those who have reached the level-cap, but want to continue playing. There is a system that allows the character to keep gaining experience and dumping the attained points into certain stats that will better improve them. The look and feel of the game is not so childish, and players can have characters on opposing factions, but mail items between them. Also, grouping with other players to finish quests can be frustrating and time-consuming, but Rift has a mechanism that allows players to enter a queue to be randomly paired with other players trying to complete the same quests. Dungeons are not only for 5-character groups anymore with the single player / dual player dungeon adventures.

These will likely change with future releases of the game. Remember, Rift is less than a year old and has a lot of room to grow. The maximum level is 50 and makes for a shorter gaming experience (except as noted above). There is no flying in the outside world. Although Rift features portals to instantly teleport from one area to another, there are only one or two teleport points per area. The in-game world is relatively small and the number of dungeons and raids can seem a bit lacking.

Ultimately, Rift has the opportunity to surpass the MMORPG giant that is World of Warcraft. The features that are being introduced are happening at a much faster rate than WOW. The fur-ball is now in the throat of Blizzard’s panda, and it is up to them to either define their downfall or their emersion into dominance one again.