It could not be forseen that Trion would try and rejuvinate their game by adding in an expansion and revamping a large number of systems from their game. I enjoy working with Trion Worlds but anyone can see their game was a collosal failure when compared to juggernauts like SWTOR.

SWTOR didn’t go free to play because they were doing poorly, they had over 1M subs after six months…. to compare Rift was done to under 200,000 after two months. SWTOR went F2P because it was a better profit model for them. A little over a year later they’re now up to 2.4M players with 500,000 on premium subscription model.

Rift went free to play because subscription based play wasn’t sustainable. Just like your situation in which you weren’t willing to pay $15/month… neither was the vast majority of the mature player base that enjoyed their game.

It’s not a statement of opinion or thought, it’s a matter of fact.”

One could say the same about Blizzard. They have Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft. Just because Trion is working on other projects doesn’t mean that they abandoned the game. They release new patches and updates ALL the time.

“Trion invented the atunement system. It seemed like a perfect idea. Until it dawned upon people, Rift will never be able to have an expansion. It’s actually impossible.”

Um, Storm Legion? Introduced a whole new CONTINENT, new classes, and loads more to do. Also gave you another 10 levels to level up, just like any WoW expansion.

“There was also lore. There are people (like myself) who love lore. But the developers at Rift were not really all that into story telling, nor are most MMO developers.”

You play MMO’s for the history? Sorry but nobody watches PORN for the story, either.

“A game has to be noobie friendly. ”

No it doesn’t. That’s like saying that they should change the rules of Chess and scale it down to Checkers so anybody could play. Sorry but no. Rift also has introduced a new soul suggestion system that helps you build dynamic and effective characters (but you haven’t played it long enough to know that). And this learning curve is easily remedied via some actual online research. There are plenty of forums with plenty of advice on how to succeed at the game. Sorry if you’re unwilling to do that, but as you were taught in school, life is a continual learning process and Rift is certainly not any exception.

“I remember the first time I hit Level 50 and did not have a clue what to do.”

Do whatever the hell you want! Go PvP, go craft something, roll a new character, explore more of the map, run dungeons and deck your hero out in legendary gear!! It’s an open world, you’re free to do whatever you like! You are obviously the kind of person that needs his hand held and for ‘Mommy’ to tell him what to do.

“It [Rift] is the first launch of Trion Worlds and because of this it was not really expected to have amazing results.”

You really are a special kind of stupid, aren’t you? Launching a failed first product often-time spells doom for a fledgling company. And no company would spend 4 years developing a mediocre game. Unless you count the 10 years that Duke Nukem Forever was in development (that would be a one-off exception, not the rule).

I’m sorry but I feel that you didn’t honestly give this game a chance. You might have played it a few months but you mercilessly judged & condemned the game even though 90% of your arguments are invalid and just prove your ignorance. Your “facts” are opinions, and your opinions are just pure bullsh*t. Rift wouldn’t have gotten an expansion or had all the great content added to it if the game truly had “failed” as you say it did. Most of your qualms against the game (substandard dungeon finder, learning curve on building characters etc) have been addressed via updates. You don’t like Rift? Fine. Everybody is entitled to an opinion, but that in no way means that Rift failed. Rift lasted for 2 years on the subscription model before it went free to play. 2 years. Looking at Star Wars: Old Republic that game didn’t even make it 6 months before it was forced to go free to play. The only reason I stopped playing Rift was because I have too much work & school & family going on right now that paying $15/month only to be able to play a few hours a month wasn’t worth it. Now that Rift is going free to play, guess who will be roaming Telara again?

the game is cartooned and graphiced almost perfecty after the first which was the goal (DUH!) as for the loading screens it is this way because of the hot key system (walking not required) as mentioned by steven you can in game get a guide to unlock a legend for thees hotkeys but they work anyway.

the items in the game unlock thiings such as sabotage, bonuses, and locations.

if you pay attention to the series of levels they teach you about things such as what comprises your image and how to keep from losing money.

i picked it up just fine and have spent 150+ hours in this game (sad i know)

AS FAR AS SIMPLICITY DUDE IF YOUR TO STUPID TO PICK UP A GAME THAT MY 12 YEAR OLD NEPHEW LEARNED IN A DAY YOU SHOULD NOT BE SLANDERING DEVS GOOD NAMES GETTING THE CHANCE TO WRITE REVEIWS FOR GAMES YOUR TO DUMB TO PLAY GO WRITE REVIEWS FOR SHREK OR SOMETHING AND LEAVE US BIG BOYS TO PLAY WITH OUR “TOO COMPLICATED AD IN DEPTH” BUISSNESS GAMES!

ALL “free” mmorpg’s are NOT games they are just a monney making busniss …to fucking bad !!!