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

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 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 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.

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 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 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. 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 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.