They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but in the MMOG
world so many ideas have been co-opted on so many games it can be hard
to tell the chicken from the egg. That being said, knowing
that the collective mass of gamers has been introduced to certain
features along their journey means that eventually the strongest and
most desired facets will inevitably make their way to your game of
choice. Or else it will probably die, Mr. Darwin, your theory finds yet
another proof.



Rift has
been simultaneously heralded for its original features and lambasted
for those it evolved from other titles, but public criticisms be
damned; there is more work yet to be done. While we could
probably brainstorm together and populate a list as long as my arm (I’m
6’6” and have the arms of an Eastern Lowland Gorilla, so this analogy
works, ok?), below you will find the three features that my extensive
research (a.k.a: opinion) has shown to be the most desired in Telara.


Scalable
Raids

Rift
vs WoW
Rift vs WoW
Rift vs WoW
WoW Ideas in Rift
WoW Ideas in Rift
Rift WoW Ripoff
Rift WoW Ripoff
Rift vs WoW Rift vs WoW
Rift Features
Rift Features
Rift Features
Rift Features Rift WoW
Rift WoW


 Self-anointed proponents of “hardcore raiding” may disagree,
but
allowing players to determine the best size for their raid experience
is a no-brainer. Many may remember in style="font-style: italic;">Rift beta when raid
sizes were up for debate, with 10 and 20 player iterations being the
candidates. Sadly for many of us, 20 player raids won.



I know it may entail some extra work for an already incredibly busy
team, but slivers have proven that they know how to tune encounters
properly for smaller groups.  That of course is the counter
argument: 10 player raid groups have slivers, go do those.  I
don’t want to do only half the content, I want to see it all – Trion
put a lot of work into their raids, make them as accessible as
possible.

style="width: 525px; height: 281px;" alt="rift"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/206820">


Cross-Shard Raid Finder



A feature that was just introduced with the latest content update for
WoW, the Looking for Raid tool would be a welcome addition to style="font-style: italic;">Rift. What will
probably be the coffin nail for WoW’s craptastic community, a
cross-shard raid finder tool would help strengthen the already vibrant
community of Rift.
As calls for shard mergers grow louder on the forums, allowing players
of low population realms and those in smaller guilds the ability to
experience raid content would be an incredible boon. Thanks to the
relative maturity of the players and the innate community building
facets of Rift,
this tool would allow folks to have their cake and eat it too as they
wouldn’t have to shard swap or guild hop just to participate in
raiding. The truly wonderful thing about this feature is that those
that highly oppose it have the option of simply not using it.  




Public Character Profile



Hey, don’t get all preachy on me and tell me that EQ did this first, I
know – it’s just that WoW did it better and made it way more
popular. Having the ability to quickly and easily share your
character is a huge tool for the community. It allows access to gear
configurations and talent specs, as well as gives players an outlet for
showing off their hard work. To the detractors; I know style="font-style: italic;">Rift is about much
more than chasing gear, that its deeper than that – but taking pride in
your toon(s) is a huge factor in immersion and character investment, and
that’s what ultimately helps drive long term subscriptions. style="font-style: italic;">Rift has been very
proactive in social media and community, having a web based armory
would be a great addition to that arsenal.



What’s your take? What features would you love to see included in style="font-style: italic;">Rift? A shared mail
box for your alts or cross-faction mail/auctions? The ideas are as
widely varied as the people who play the game, so let us know in the
comment section below.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our RIFT Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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