Am I in the wrong game or does this game get more challenging?

[Flimble]

This game seems really easy, too easy, is there any challenge at end game or would I be better off trying some other game?

I say this for three reasons:

1 - Levelling: Seems awfully quick, I've only been playing two weeks and have a 39 rogue, 26 mage, 26 cleric, 10 warrior. (I assume it would be even quicker if I joint a guild...)

2 - The dungeons, I've run every dungeon that my 39 can do and they all (to varying extents) seem very easy. The only other mmo I've played is LOTRO so I can only compare to that, the first dungeon I did here Iron Tomb seems ridiculously easy compared to the starter one there (GB - I'm thinking the worms bit / thadur are just much harder than anything on any dungeon I've done in Rift so far).

3 - Skills - I played burg / loremaster / warden / cappy in LOTRO there were no macros (aside from people if they wished using a G15/G13, etc), however even if there had been, I had to use a lot of different skills at different times, in a non-predictable manner, so macros would have had less impact. Here I can macro my rogue down to blink, main, finisher, aoe, it seems very, very easy. (or is there a class / build that is more complicated that cannot be macroed, that may appeal to me?)

So does it get challenging or should I be looking elsewhere?

[Ngamok]

Try soloing a major event. You can't do it, there is your hardmode. In all seriousness, game is really easy compared to the older games (I remember getting run over by goblins in Everfrost Peaks on my Barbarian Warrior). Today's crowd couldn't handle older games were pulling to a zone wall was the preferred way to handle things and anything else was suicide.

[BobbiSue]

When you hit 50 try and go solo Hammerknell. If you can do it, then we can both unsub.

[Boneloaf]

If you end up raiding, yes there is challenge there (on whatever the newest progression content is). Otherwise, even the raids are less of a challenge. Between the gating, guild plat requirements, and need for near-flawless dps/execution, the Akylios fight is a hefty challenge.

Unlike WoW, just because your guild ends up progressing through the gear-checks to get to higher content, does not mean your guild will succeed.

[Xenoheart]

Hello, I've been here since beta, but wanted to answer your questions from my point of view. I am not from a game that had raiding or so many instances and things like this so keep that in mind.

1 - Levelling: Seems awfully quick, I've only been playing two weeks and have a 39 rogue, 26 mage, 26 cleric, 10 warrior. (I assume it would be even quicker if I joint a guild...)

I actually will agree. Leveling is very very fast in this game. With that being said, you can expect most of the game content and challenge will be at level 50. My opinion is that this is to help new mmo-ers get used to playing and after investing some time they can try challenges at level 50. Old mmo-ers will level up fast as they get the jist of things already, and the content at 50 will be there challenge, not much before.

2 - The dungeons, I've run every dungeon that my 39 can do and they all (to varying extents) seem very easy. The only other mmo I've played is LOTRO so I can only compare to that, the first dungeon I did here Iron Tomb seems ridiculously easy compared to the starter one there (GB - I'm thinking the worms bit / thadur are just much harder than anything on any dungeon I've done in Rift so far).

Again I will agree. And for the above reasons. However, again at 50 their are two different grades of expert dungeons, and for those that master the dungeons, different grades of raid instances, and even a master mode dungeon (which DDMasterMode is a test, and I very much think they'll add a MM for every dungeon to give players a challenge). Another fun challenge if you are into pvp is the pvp rifts. Those things can get very nasty if a you come up against a good pvp group but they are so much fun even if you lose. One thing I would like to see in the game is some more challenging rifts. they have expert rifts but I'd like to maybe see some master rifts or even some T2 raid rifts and the like. I'd also like to see much more challenging solo content. Maybe T1 or T2 solo instances would be cool to add as well when I can only log on for a little bit and just get into something challenging right away or something to challenge the indivudual ability of highly geared players.

TLR Get to 50. The game is significantly different than pre-50 and there are several different grades of dungeons to try.
3 - Skills - I played burg / loremaster / warden / cappy in LOTRO there were no macros (aside from people if they wished using a G15/G13, etc), however even if there had been, I had to use a lot of different skills at different times, in a non-predictable manner, so macros would have had less impact. Here I can macro my rogue down to blink, main, finisher, aoe, it seems very, very easy. (or is there a class / build that is more complicated that cannot be macroed, that may appeal to me?)

I am not famlier with macros at all, because I can use the pre-Q ability to quicken my casts anyway. I usually play more mobile classes like a warlock (I'm a mage) and I find macros to be a bit challenging because of the various CDs and the fact that its really about exploiting what the enemy is doing. Same with dominator. I think you should play a class who's main focus is exploiting what the enemy does because macros don't necessarily predict what the opponent does. The only macros I use now are party and raid announcement if I rez someone, shield someone, or add a damaging debuff to an opponent so everyone class knows which enemy will be hit harder because of it.

So does it get challenging or should I be looking elsewhere?

My final opinion is based on a report in Science Magazine (ya it was a behavorial study of gamers, very interesting actually lol). They reported that about atleast 95% of most games player base is casual. So ya if its about keeping a game financially alive they have to cater to them, its not really a choice if they want to compete against other games. however it is important to have a challenge waiting for them once they catch up to serious players so I definitely think RIFT will have even more challenging stuff coming into the game. As for me the Raids are really challenging to me because I have never raided before. Once you learn them its not bad but some bosses it almost seems it doesn't matter how much you know. One accidental mistake and you are toast!

TLR Get to 50! most of the challenge compared to pre-50 is there. Try the experts, masters, and raids, and definitely try to solo a duo instance, that is definitely a fun challenge to me.


PS: Also I want to agree with the above post. There are many boss fights I think that are not gear dependent (meaning you die if you mess up no matter what. those are rough so even decked out players have a challenge for sure)

[darkeden]

Apparently people are having a hard time with HK.

[the_real_seebs]

Levelling is pretty quick, but...

This game is mostly easy, but not always. I was out artifact-hunting, so I was a level 47 in a 20-30 zone. Helped some people with a major rift, level 26. Died. At level 47, I can still die to level 26 events if I'm not paying enough attention. Heck, I'm not sure I could have beaten that one even WITH paying attention in my bard spec. (It was the big life rift where the stage 3 spider boss goes around spawning additional elites. 6+ elites on one character is Not Survivable with only a 20 level gap.)

[bigart]

This is like making a decision to buy/not buy a car after test driving it through a parking lot.

[Syleen]

If you want a challenge with non-macroable (at least not effective macros) abilities, roll a healer.

[bitnine]

People often compare leveling to 50 as a long, drawn-out, and quasi-relevant tutorial. I know others like the whole leveling experience, but it's not inaccurate for folks who want to cut to the challenge. If that's what you're looking for, a lot of it is going to be end-game and raid focused. Though they have added a new level of dungeon difficulty (for 1 dungeon currently).

Also, apparently the post-50 zone, Ember Isle, will have more challenging invasion elites and mobs around. From trying it out on the PTS, it was a little refreshing to have rifts and elite packs that weren't a pushover to solo. There were also 139k HP elites hanging out in the Dormant Core, who I may have been less successful in fighting. So it does look like there's some focus on new tiers of difficulty for non-raid content in the pipe.

At this rate, I'd like to see some harrowing and face-melting events in the storm-touched wilds. That'd be neat.

[Lande]

The only thing that comes close to a challenge in this game is raiding. This is mostly due to so-called 'casuals' complaining about anything that takes work. Luckily they don't raid, so it doesn't effect that aspect of the game as much.

There are some real casual players that do enjoy raiding a couple nights a week, so I'm only talking about the lazy players who co-opted that term.

[Hupailija]

Funny thingy, I did come to Rift from WoW and my first feeling was: "damn, finally for a while good instances. I can actually take damage here and I have to hope that healers actually heal me".

Having played Lotro I don't remember that instances there were particularly hard really. Then again there is this nasty habit on Lotro that everyone is way too helpful and almost force themselves to your instances if you even happen to mention about it ;)

To your other points. Of course leveling is easy, what else could it be? This isn't Lotro or AO where goal was to get to max level and enjoy that trip (not saying that one can't enjoy about it on rift... think that everyone who has played Lotro understands what I mean). Instead Rift continues "WoW-like" game serie where true content starts at max level. (as in form of instance/heroic instance/raid/heroic raid)

Likewise with skills (though having played Warden and Champion on Lotro I really didn't find difficulty in there ;) Rift continues to line of games where game mechanism is made as easy as possible for players but where real difficulty comes from powerlevel maximum bosses which blasts party with meteorites if someone happens to sneeze (that probably went bit too far ;).

Good example is actually quite beginning: on 3rd instance in rift (that goblin place) 2nd boss (werewolf) has this nasty habit that if tank doesn't get to melee and aren't top on threat list when boss runs to light everyone dies. (blasted earth elementals kept taunting him last time... and I'm afraid to start to pummel him at light -.-)

Lotro (if I remember right) wasn't that hard with it's punishing. If you just was able to heal enough or dps enough you were able to beat content without actually knowing what to do (not saying that content would have been too easy either, it's just that difficulty did come from completly other things).


Anyway games like this opens usually (still trying to level my chars to 50, have 3 at 35-40 now) at level 50/85.

[Fujitasix]

I think Trion is under the presumption most players are interested in max level content, and I'm going to side with them. That's no excuse for poor leveling content, but other than mundane quest hubs I'd say they did well enough in that context.

I mixed PvP, dungeons, zone events, and rifts into my leveling. If it had been quest chain after quest chain, I might not have made it to 50.

[ChainsawPlankton]

tbh most of the "hardness" that I have seen in game has been gear checks. :-/

and a few idiot checks too

[Anuhart]

The only thing that comes close to a challenge in this game is soloing group content. This is mostly due to so-called 'hardcores' complaining about anything that takes work. Luckily they only raid, so it effects that aspect of the game most.

There are some real hardcore players that do enjoy soloing group content every day of the week, without simply doing content designed so forgiving such that 20 people will succeed in synchronisation, so I'm only talking about the lazy players who co-opted that term.