Almost everyone likes new. In our culture, newness gets an undeserved sense of respect and cachet. There’s a sense of anticipation and mystique about an upcoming film, a new restaurant, a fresh-faced music artist, new politician and yes even a brand spanking new MMO.
We all like to believe that just because something is new that somehow it will be superior to what came before. Newness in the realm of product and service development seems to imply that all lessons of the past have been learned and the result will a better product. But this is not always the case.
Newness and even youth is all about having potential. Remember when you were 16 and the world was your oyster? So it is with the typical new MMO. We put our hopes, dreams and aspirations into new MMOs because we think finally “this is the one”.
Time after time, we MMO players have been burned by the much ballyhooed “new” MMO that comes knocking on our door like an optimistic salesman. Despite the hype, despite the empty promises that this time — things will be different — we get suckered and fall for the same scam. Like the classic comics character Charlie Brown believing that Lucy will keep holding the football in place we have this enduring faith that MMO companies have finally learned their lesson.
How Different is RIFT Really?
Despite having that tantalizing new MMO smell, I’m afraid RIFT is yet another competently crafted yet predictable amusement park ride that has copied most of the standard feature in today’s MMOs.
Today’s MMOs reminds me of how automobiles have slowly progressed since their introduction into our way of life. I remember when automatic transmissions, power brakes, power steering, air conditioning and even seat-belts were considered optional equipment. Today it would be unthinkable not to offer these features as standard equipment. So it is with the MMO industry and the features that many players expect to see new MMOs.
After 12 years of existence, the MMO has become a mature product much like an automobile. A car is basically an engine with a steering wheel, accelerator, brakes and a seat. You get your choice of styling, colors, leather or cloth, and other bells and whistles but in the end it is still a car that transports you from point A to point B. And so it is with MMOs.
Even though RIFT has its own unique take on features such as art, story, world, classes and even some dynamic content it is basically still a standard MMO in the style of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.
While RIFT takes one step forward in new features, it takes two steps backwards in its unambitious and outright replication of existing MMO conventions and mechanics such as the promotion of solo gameplay, quest-centric character progression, crafting, achievements, PVP and more. The result is a paint by numbers MMO that lacks authenticity and feels rather soulless.
With the exception of the rifts, invasions and the soul system to a lesser extent, RIFT is arguably a carbon copy of almost every MMO that has gone before it.
MMO Fatigue Setting In
Part of the problem is that with each passing year we see fantasy MMOs that keep recycling the same old mechanics and design archetypes and end up with the same tired formula. There is a sense that we have seen it all before. MMO fatigue has set in as we’ve all become so familiar and blase with how virtual worlds operate. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Instead of trying to be more revolutionary, unambitious developers like Trion opt to go the safe route and copy WoW. The result is RIFT.
Here’s an interesting, somewhat cynical and painfully long video (you’ve been warned) that shows how unoriginal and derivative RIFT and most MMOs actually are:
[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55F9IKW2T2M’]
The Problem with Rifts and Invasions: A Lack of Consequences
Every MMO since EverQuest has a “hook”. WoW had solo progression via questing as it’s prime selling feature. Upon closer inspection Trion’s signature RIFT hook is fraught with problems. The big pitfall with rifts and invasions is that if players choose to ignore them (and they eventually will if nothing changes) there are few if any consequences.
Once a rift emerges it exists as a temporary nuisance for the nearby traveling or questing player. Friendly NPCs and mobs that they need to interact with may be dead or impossible to get to because of the rift stands in the way. Many players might choose to flee and complete other quests. So far so good, this is appropriate dynamism and makes Telara feel a bit more real and believable.
The next step of a rift is that invasion parties spawn and head toward settlements. The worse that can happen here is that travelers using the roads are killed and inconvenienced for a few minutes.
Eventually the rift spawned invaders reach a settlement and kill all the NPCs. If players fail to rally and defend the towns eventually the NPC’s unceremoniously despawn. Within seconds the original friendly NPC’s all respawn as if by magic. This strikes me as very unrealistic and unbelievable and detracts from immersion.
How to Improve Rifts
From a game design point of view, the current rift system is half-realized and lacks polish. Why not give players the chance to resurrect dead NPC’s such as vendors, guards and questgivers? Let players use their vast amounts of Planarite to do so. Why not have some new quests that allow players to rebuild the towns and settlements that should have been destroyed by the invading forces?
Also the Rift interface that pops up annoys me and makes no sense. How can I be getting loot from this magical thing that appears on my screen that has no connection to the game world? Why can’t players loot the destroyed evil wardstone to get their items instead of via this bizarre contrivance?
Many people claim RIFT is polished. I disagree. It only appears to be polished. The rifts themselves are one example where Trion dropped the ball and failed to fully design and implement their signature concept.
We’ve Been Down This Road Before
I believe that RIFT will follow a familiar path that most of us have been down before. It’s like a big funnel that leads to one destination: raiding. Here’s how it goes:
- Everyone is enthusiastic and happy as they all start out at level 1 in brand new and unexplored virtual world full of dynamic content such as rifts and invasions
- The community is largely cohesive and united as everyone is excited about the challenges that lay ahead of them
- Most people will create classes that are self-sufficient (read: easy to solo) and that are specced for fast leveling
- Everyone will explore the delightful lands of Telara and level their characters as fast as possible via questing to reach the level cap
- Once they get to level 50 they will find that RIFT is a different MMO altogether
- Rifts and invasions have become routine and players really start to wonder if Telara is truly dynamic
- Now they realize need to join a guild to keep advancing their characters
- Many players will find that their lack of social skills and lack of group class abilities has not adequately prepared them for the world of grouping and raiding
- The RIFT community will start to show signs of fracture and discontent as it starts to segment into casual/solo gamers, the PVPers and raiders
- Trion will focus on trying to keep these groups happy but like most MMO companies they will cater primarily to hardcore raiders (Note: I believe they are furiously working on raiding content and placating the hardcore players as we speak as many basic things that were feedbacked and bugged during betas back in 2010 have still been ignored)
Who Will Dominate the RIFT Community?
My biggest concern is the eventual quality of the RIFT community. There are a number possible problems to contend with:
- Invasion of WoW tourists — they will bring their low brow, anti-social tendencies with them and quite possible ruin the RIFT community. I noticed in beta event 5 the quality of discourse on general chat channels was starting to erode.
- Rage of the Fanboy Bullies – already these types of players (most are already level 50 and bored) are busy cleansing general chat and admonishing anyone that brings up any issues that shows Trion in a less than perfect light. These people are sanctimonious fanatics that are so invested in their new MMO that they are willing to go on a virtual jihad to rid Telara of all unbelievers (even those with constructive criticism).
- Solo Friendly and Quest-Centric Gameplay – this is the exact formula that created today’s WoW player. Since RIFT is following it almost note for note it will have the same deleterious effect.
- Nice People — Yes they actually do exist! After years of playing WoW I almost forgot that there are good and decent folk playing them. I hope they hang around stay long enough to positively influence Telara.
It is very possible that mature players from other existing communities will also help to mitigate both factors listed above — but don’t hold your breath. The WoW kiddies will need to be put on notice that their behavior will not be tolerated. The intolerant RIFT fanboys need to stop their bullying of anyone that disagrees with their orthodoxy.
Regarding the RIFT Beta
When I started the first beta I back in early December 2010 I happened to be at Gamestop when I asked them to check for new MMO releases and they told me that RIFT is due to be released March 1, 2011. So it’s very clear that this release date has been cast in stone for a while now making me wonder if the beta event have been nothing more than a publicity stunt and sneak peek for players.
Clearly before beta event one, they knew full well that RIFT was in a polished state and ready to go live (their standards, not mine). Why have a beta test with such a short window to release if major problems can’t be addressed and fixed?
Sadly Trion has not learned the importance of one of few things I agree with Blizzard: release it only when it’s ready.
Listen to the RIFT podcast where the Trion Senior VP of Publishing David Reid talks about how he doesn’t want to disappoint all the usual suspects that have killed thousands of potentially good video games: the marketers, the advertisers, the manufacturers and the retailers. In the RIFT podcast he clearly states that the worst thing you can ever do is change the launch date. I strongly disagree. If a MMO is not ready then it should not be released.
Even if one were to concede his point, why did they feel that RIFT was ready for release early in December before the start of the beta events? Why on earth did they not anticipate that the feedback and opinions of thousands of beta testers might find major flaws that would need to be fixed that would push the release date forward?
Some Rays of Hope
I must confess that this article has been in the making for about two months. It contains many of my observations from previous betas and the current live RIFT world event. I’m happy to say that all is not lost and there is reason for optimism.
One very positive thing that Trion has created with RIFT is that they have demonstrated that MMOs can really shine when they focus on community interaction and cooperation in the real virtual world — not the fake instanced virtual world within a virtual world of other MMOs. In other words, I’ve noticed that RIFT players are happy to bind together to vanquish outdoor RIFT bosses. Killing stuff is fun with lots of other people!
For me, I’ve rediscovered a new found joy in being part of a virtual world that is fraught with some semblance of danger and drama as opposed to the scripted, sanitized and predictable nature of WoW’s Azeroth.
The monthly events also provide a sense of excitement and variety that helps one to suspend their disbelief. One might actually start believing that this is a living and breathing world where time passes and things can change.
Finally, I’m really enjoying the robust leveling curve. Leveling is not easy in Telara and that is as it should be. My level 15 bard would probably be level 50 in WoW.
Conclusion
Probably my biggest misgiving about RIFT is that the developers have created yet another safe MMO world with few consequences. When I play RIFT I feel almost nothing. Gone are the days when I used to feel a sense of danger and terror when venturing out into the wilderness of a virtual world. Gone are the days when you had tight-knit communities were players actually needed each other to survive yet alone advance.
With nothing to lose because of dumbed-down death penalties and easy solo gameplay there is almost no potential for emotional investment or social cooperation. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As humans we are far more motivated by potential loss than potential gain. Today’s new breed of MMO designers have failed to understand basic human psychology and how to leverage it to create a compelling and visceral virtual world experience. Perhaps they are just afraid to scare away the new MMO demographic made possible by Blizzard.
I believe that RIFT should not have been released when it was. As I mentioned in a previous article, combat animations and audio still need to be added and improved. The character models especially the Defiant ones are ugly and are not AAA+ quality. I feel that this MMO could have easily used another 6-8 months of fundamental work and polish to be considered even a competent WoW clone. Also there are thousand of outstanding bugs and issues that still have not been fixed from the beta testing.
If RIFT fails to live up to the promises and hype it’s because they released the MMO too soon.
What will it take for the corporate suits and Harvard Business school graduates to realize that you can’t release a MMO before it is ready? It is folly to duplicate the same pattern of systemic insanity that the entire video game industry is based on: the unfair and unequal developer publisher relationship that produces bad games destined for the bargain bin. Only Blizzard and a few other select studios who are their own publishers have defied all the odds, learned this lesson and are creating games on their own terms and releasing them only until they are ready.
The problem is that Trion made RIFT to appease the investors that ponied up $50-100 million dollars. I’m sure that the Trion big shots promised investors WoW-like revenue for their investment capital; so the result is that they used WoW as the underlining design for almost everything. Even the Trion devs have admitted in interviews that they would personally liked to have made RIFT more hardcore.
Despite my concerns, at the end of the day I’m hopeful and bullish about RIFT. If Trion plays their cards right and adds in more polish and keeps the MMO fresh and true to their dynamic world vision I predict it will be a niche MMO that will be vastly more successful than comparable MMOs like AION. The MMO industry needs serious alternatives to WoW and right now Trion’s RIFT is it.
-Wolfshead
I guess you made some people foam and wanting to strangle you before they came to the “Rays of Hope” paragraph. 😉
I experienced a Déjà vu in Stonefield, which reminded me so much of Connall’s Valley in AoC, and Gloamwood of Duskwood in WoW. In Allods there was a winter themed zone that made me exactly feel like in Dun Morogh in WoW. 😉 I think the longish 30 minutes video failed somewhat to explain that it is also the familiarity of gameplay, UI, quest design etc. that creates this impression. During Beta it was interesting that people constantly stated “this is like in X”.
But that’s also true for fantasy tropes and literature, there is not that much innovation, actually.
Rift is not really innovative, the usual argument is that it does what it does really well. That is true. This makes it a great game for people new to MMOs, but for MMO veterans it might fail due to extreme familiarity! It is also very hard to explain especially to younger players why I think that the first MMOs had a stronger “virtual world” and community feeling, and then MMOs became rather “games”. For some odd reason the MMO paradigm is to play up to max level all alone or in the case of Rift join a Rift gangbang on the way to the endgame. Then it’s dungeons to gear up for raids. In the case of WoW the whole levelling world has become something you are really urged to leave behind you quickly, go to the max level and do your dailies and then join the dungeon finder queue for badges of X.
I know many people skip the generic Rift quests in favor of “Rifting”, due to better rewards, what makes me a bit wonder is that this does not get boring quickly. Because Rifts did get boring for me in Beta. Mostly it affected me when questgiver NPCs were despawned due to an invasion. The Player vs Developer blog described that just BEING THERE matters the most, not so much what you do, if you score high or low.
The name giving Rifts are falling short of their potential. It’s another version of the “public quest” that Warhammer also had. Guild Wars 2 will try something similar and call it “events”.
Yet I agree, there is nothing to hate about Rift. It’s very well done, and the levelling process is a bit more challenging not as dumbed down as in Warcraft. But some friends of mine who are VERY casual gamers are already 50, and I wonder what the “endgame” will be: I still wonder at which point it was decided that players solo level to max level before they get put in the gear progression grind in dungeons and raids. Which somehow have become like dance choreographies. No matter which MMO, when Boss X does that, do Y. Sometimes it’ glowing good, sometimes the boss says something, or an icon appears above the player’s head.
I am no longer interested in raiding for various reasons, but one is that I have danced the very same dance for ages already in so many MMOs. And for some reason this seems to become the standard endgame for every MMO.
So people should pick their MMOs by IP? Per se the achievement and reputation grind mechanics and many other things are the same in every MMO. I wonder if Guild War 2 will really be that different or if it is not in danger or becoming yet another MMO following the generic scheme and system we all should know by now by heart.
I am afraid the “virtual world” gets lost more and more. It seems to degrade to a very slow solo tutorial to Dungeon&Raidcraft as the “true game/endgame”.
P.S. At least the Eth have the hottest girls in all of Rift. 😉
Tangentially, there’s a bit of a running gag among game devs that each game with multiple worlds has to have an ice world and a fire world. Lo and behold, that’s exactly what we did with A World of Keflings, the sequel to A kingdom for Keflings; we added an ice are and a fire area.
As with the Allods “Dun Morogh” riff, that’s just something you’ll see everywhere in game design. Originality is, well… rare. Sure, we all rend to come up with our own little twists, but derivation carries a LOT of creative works in all sorts of mediums.
Honestly, it really doesn’t bother me all that much. I’ve been in the art world long enough to see it and accept it for what it is; human nature. I’m more interested in execution and the little twists of insight than I am in how much something resembles some bigger source.
Great analysis as usual Longasc!
I guess what troubles me is that the developers didn’t make the MMO the way they wanted to, instead they made it for a target audience/demographic at the behest of their investors. Everyone is far too concerned about making their MMO accessible which means making it easy and dumbing-down core MMO concepts.
This whole MMO thing has become so tired and predictable. Go from questgiver to questgiver, kill 10 rats, solo to the level cap, join a guild, etc.
Like you, I remain very hopeful for the future of RIFT. They might not have gotten everything right from the start and I agree they have focused their polish on getting traditional and established MMO features ready rather than their big selling point (=rifts), but if Rift can manage to hold a solid player base over the course of the year, there is lots of potential. Trion seems to be much more in touch with their player base and respective feedback than other developers – that leaves me hopeful that they will adjust and invest more time and care into the core features that set them apart from other MMOs, improving things steadily from there in future patches. let’s also not forget, that not everything was well in Azeroth when Blizzard launched the game; if you can interest your customers for long enough by delivering the basic package (which Trion has done in my opinion), there is a sort of “grace period” in which you can work on the missing parts. even better if players get the feeling you’re including them in this process (which I guess makes up a little bit for the otherwise rather odd beta strategy you mentioned).
Right now, end game is my biggest concern with Rift: I cannot yet judge that part of the game, but should they fail to make it any more appealing than WoW’s endgame content was, I will definitely not pay for Rift for too long. I also agree that while leveling up IS slower and better paced, the quest-centric and soloplay-friendly focus of 1-49 suggests that the game really starts at lvl 50, so they better be ready for it.
I agree with the “when it’s done” mentality of releasing, but reality is often a lot different. Even if you have a relatively small team, a title of these proportions easy burns through 500’000 USD per month. Every day the title is not on the market, they burn cash. I don’t know many Investors, but losing a million flat every 2 months in the smallest of cases, is pretty much unacceptable to them. With budgets of 50+ Million, that probably is even more.
Now Blizzard and other big shots have the luxury of keeping a product back or even canceling if they don’t like it. WoW is in the core a once canceled product from Blizzard by the way, that then got revamped as MMO. With a size like Blizzard or EA comes a certain rigidity though. So on one hand Developers should be as flexible and innovative as the garage developer, on the other hand they should have the long breath of a multinational developer. If that were possible, everyone would do it. And we would see more interesting games.
I left WoW over 6 months ago and was really uninterested in this game due to all the WoW comparisons. After having played it (a surprise from my hubby) I am glad I gave it a chance. There are enough differences to make it enjoyable.
Just a few notes though… The npc’s don’t just magically despawn. They try to kill the spawns and are killed. Then they respawn, try to kill the mobs again and get killed. It can take an hour or so for them to despawn and I have never seen someone just leave the area, they all try to clear the mess. With that said, it is still early in the game and we are all trying to level. When fewer people are trying to level I see more ignoring it because soloing a foothold will be more difficult.
I personally like the loot system. I have been in a full raid where someone in another raid tags the invasion boss. I still get the higher item once he is dead. Also, the loot is given out based on participation. I have been in a raid where half was fighting the invasion boss while I was helping close a rift. I show up just as the boss dies and I only get planarite. So I do see it as being fair.
But I am loving the mass grouping. I never played the original EQ, but this is making me wish I had. The only issue so far is people not healing, but no lack of tanks as yet.
I agree, that video was really long. It’s true though, it’s like we’re playing the same games under different titles with different graphics. I’ve been dying for a worthwhile space-based MMO mostly just for something different.
I think the leveling pace is the same but feels slower due to the content being new (i.e. terrain, town layouts, etc.) so there is some getting used to the changes. Maybe some of my leveling speed, despite time spent, was related to the ‘rested’ xp bonus.
I really didn’t find it to be all that challenging. 🙁
Tradeskills were pretty easy too, more like WoW than others I’ve seen.
I’ve been a bookseller for many years now. The entire publishing business runs on two concepts: “new fads” and “more of the same”.
Each new fad itself produces “more of the same” for the duration of the fad. Occasionally a fad establishes itself sufficiently firmly to move across to semi-permanent “more of the same” status.
Most consumer-based industries seem to follow this pattern, so why we would expect MMOs to be any different I can’t really imagine. MMOs themselves became a new fad somewhere around the turn of the 21st century and now they are firmly established as “more of the same”.
This is going to continue for the rest of any of our lives, just as we are still living with earlier new fads which bedded in long ago, like detective novels, soap operas or skateboards. All these things may go stale for a while, but once their commercial potential has been proven over time they will be eternally revisited.
Me, I’m a big “more of the samer”. I’m open to new things, but I’m always happy to take another helping of something I already know I like. I don’t expect Rift to change my life, I just expect it to entertain me for a few hours a day for a month or three. That, in my opinion, is what it is for, and so far it’s doing a good job.
The publishing business analogy is spot on! I think the same is true of the film industry too — they find a successful formula and proceed to milk it to death.
All the talk of innovation is just talk, in the end it’s all about risk aversion and maximizing profits. In other words, let’s just use WoW as the foundation, add a few new features and then
put a few cosmetic changes to disguise it.
Interestingly enough, my wife just read an article to me the other day about how Soap Opera’s are loosing steam, and some big named ones are finally ending.
Agree with everything up to the last paragraph. At last a voice of reason amongst so much misguided love for RIFT.
Frankly, Telara is not dangerous. Danger, to me, implies something that *can* kill you, but you have a shot at killing it, too. You have to be skillful and sharp to beat it, but it’s great when you do. RIFT doesn’t have that. At all.
Either you’re:
a) killing hopelessly easy quest/static rift mobs that take the same amount of time a non-heirloomed WoW character would.
or
b) getting steamrolled by elites from invasions that you could never defeat on your own.
Do I think RIFT could have a future? Yes. Do I think it will be in any way dynamic? Absolutely not. Most of the promises that Trion made before the game launched are half-done at best and non-existent at worst, so, despite all their marketing bullshit giving customers a free month for being hacked, I don’t trust them. I don’t trust Trion to deliver on all the things they said would come at launch. I trust them, instead, to deliver patches that could read exactly like a Warath-era WoW patch note, including all the new features like cross-server dungeon finding.
I hope this ones dies in a fire, and I hope TSW becomes a major hit for FunCom. At least they look to be breaking the mould somewhat.
Firstly there should be no surprise that Rift feels like WoW since its clear just from the videos that they conciously made the decision to mimic WoW’s look and feel.
E.g. whether having GCD’s or not would improve things the decision was made to make the game welcoming to WoW players, so there should be no amazement that the game has a lot of ex-WoW players/tourists.
As for the dynamic content I’m not seeing the Rifts being that interesting enough a feature to hold the playerbases attention BUT….
That idea about having the player base more involved really got me thinking, how about the Rift as you suggest actually destroys buildings etc.
And then allow the players to rebuild them, in their own image, I could see players trying to redesign a zone in that way to match their faction. This is one itch that I think the current crop of MMO’s fail to reach, allowing players to truly influence the world that they are in.
Because until someone does release an MMO that does this (departing from the path of just “trying to tell the story to players”) then as far as I am concerned they’re just the same game that I’m playing right now, and for me new does not automatically equal interesting anymore.
I just can’t understand why a major MMO company has not done something to allow players to make their mark on the virtual worlds they inhabit. Heck, Free Realms just introduced farming for their players.
Let players customize their worlds beyond their own appearance. Let them shape the storylines and even the geography based on their participation or lack of participation.
To use WoW as a brief example, why is it that the Lich King (Arthas) had to die on every server?
Why can’t each server progress in a way that is unique to the wishes and actions of their players?
Heck, it’s 2011 and we are still making the same DIKU MUD inspired EverQuest. Where is the innovation people?!?
I’m confused about the technical details of 2 statements:
1. Invasions and settlements:
If an invasion ganks its target settlement, the NPCs don’t just reappear. Instead the invasion creates a foothold after killing the NPCs and the wardstone. Only if a player then defeats the foothold the NPCs respawn. In my opinion this is quite some impact and player interaction is necessary to resolve the conflict of e.g. unavailable quest NPCs that have been killed by an invasion.
2. Rifts and loot:
Wardstones are at settlements, not in rifts. So maybe a possible alternative would be additional loot from the rift mobs while trying to guarantee fair loot chances between all who contributed, independently of grouping.
Hi. Greetings from Germany and sorry for my bad English. Just a status from my group. We (12 player) played since 2007 Lord of the Rings Online. 4 of our group tested RIFT during the BETA-events and asked the rest of us to join the RIFT headstart. There were some discussion in Teamspeak but finally we all ordered RIFT at Amazon and joined the headstart. In the first week 2 of the 12 canceled their order and left RIFt (myself included. At least we both got our money from Amazon back). The other 10 leveled the chars in RIFT to level 50. But soon they got bored. They defined RIFT as a “small world” with no true story. After LOTRO got new content 9 of the 10 RIFT-player left RIFT completely, stopped paying for the game and switched back to LOTRO. Only 1 player is trying to play both games. So I think the main problem of RIFT will be that it cant motivate players for a long time. At least this happened in my group of MMO-players.
Awesome video. Thanks for posting it. Really goes to show you that content and visuals mean very little nowadays and it’s more really about the interactive experience (i.e one being better than another usually often relates to how they interactively differ, i.e. usability, functionality, core elements, mechanics, etc).
The video is disappointing. He keeps repeating what he says the whole 30 minutes. He could have just said it in one sentence that only takes 10 seconds and that would give us exactly the same point he’s trying to make. I find it disappointing because he focuses on Theme and Aesthetics and forgets about the real core reasons. The very foundation of all these games he mentions. They all share the same gamish foundations. He ignores the zillions of core game mechanic similarities and just complain about “Here’s a desert, there’s a desert”… I mean… really?! above everything bad we see in recent MMORPGs you’re complaining about deserts? really disappointing video and I doubt the owner of the video really played all the mmorpgs as he claimed to be. If he did then he really need to analyze the games he plays in a more intelligent way because he sounds clueless.
That video gave me deja vu just watching it, as he repeats himself constantly! I take his point, though. To an extent, we are caught in a procession of the simulacra with all of these MMOs and the original feeling people once had is, like one’s first love, never really recapturable. It’s like Gatsby’s response to Nick’s observation that you can’t repeat the past. He says, “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” To him, it seems perfectly possible. Sadly, he is proved wrong. I do get fleeting moments of the ‘Elwynn Forest’ excitement playing Rift, but I know it’ll never be really the same. I find the community a lot better: WoW is unbearable nowadays. I also think Rift has quite a good mythology behind it already, especially if you are on a RP server (and actually RP). As far as a fully player-designed world goes, they already exist in areas of Second Life, where players actually design every single thing from scratch, including races, buildings and rules. Most people can’t accept that kind of freedom, though, but it does exist.