Returning after 4 years

[Grabulja]

Hey guys, I have decided to try RIFT once more after a very long pause as you can see in the title. The last time I played Storm Legion was active and I fell in love with the game because of it's graphics, soul tree system and raids of course. So I need to know right off the start if the game is still worth playing. I have a lvl 60 warrior and a rogue, I prefered playing tank in raids and it was a lot of fun. What has changed and is the game still F2P? Also are the new raids still as fun as they were back then?
Thanks in advance

[SonoMoenia]

Hello and welcome back.

RIFT has changed in many ways from Storm Legion days. There are good things and bad things. And then there are plenty of things that are either good or bad, depending on what you are looking for in the game. You said you specifically like "raids of course". Raiding in both original RIFT and Storm Legion was quite challenging. Hard core raiders were plentiful and enjoyed it a lot. The challenge level currently is quite different as Trion has shifted to be able to get more of the player base into the content. Additionally, the class balances are currently still a little out of whack. And that can affect some raid experience. One last detail is that the game has moved away from the 20 man content.

Unfortunately, the changes and/or current state of balance were too much for many serious raiders. If you were looking to hook up with 10 or 20 of your best pals with the best gear with all the macros, extra consumables and several hours to spend looking for every little thing that can help you *FINALLY* kill Regulos - well, that's not here for you now.

With all that said, here's an overall summary. There are LOTS of other fun things in the game. There's also lots of grind currently. And RNG seems more prevalent, and definitely more frustrating. The "fun bits" like wardrobe and dimensions and mounts and toys are outstanding. The art remains some of the best there is (IMO). The feel of the zones is great and distinct between artstyle, music and monsters. You will love Frogues; everyone does. PvP is in a sore position, I believe. I don't do it much but it has not received Dev love in a long time. Lore is interesting and they've done some nice things with NPCs and questing; handling the anomaly that some folks haven't yet "saved the princess" while others have "returned her to the throne" kinda thing.

Finally, I will add that the community is smaller. But I think it is stronger.

I hope to see you on the Comet soon!

[Grabulja]

Thank you for this thorough answer.

It makes me really sad to see the state of the game now, because I always felt the need to come back. Now I don't see the beauty there I did back in the day which was good PvE and which kept me addicted. Sure the game is beautiful and the combat and soul tree system is top-notch, but as I can see the community is tiny and the PvE scene is dead.

I hope someday the game would still go back to its prime and have tons of players playing dungeons and raids together. Until then, I will be waiting

[Aranel]

I wonder if Trion leadership do actually read this topic, sit and think a bit about the state of the game. About the frackery they did to it... Possibly, MAYBE, about fixing things and returning the game to its former glory?

[Isp]

Thank you for this thorough answer.

It makes me really sad to see the state of the game now, because I always felt the need to come back. Now I don't see the beauty there I did back in the day which was good PvE and which kept me addicted. Sure the game is beautiful and the combat and soul tree system is top-notch, but as I can see the community is tiny and the PvE scene is dead.

I hope someday the game would still go back to its prime and have tons of players playing dungeons and raids together. Until then, I will be waiting

I don't see it happening, rift has passed point of no return imho. PvE & PvP are unrecoverable, so it will be only RP, wardrobe, dimensions, artifacts and puzzles in future.