Rift: Planes Of Telara

[Riftoff]

This game is a pretty slick MMO currently in beta. Its claim to fame is its class system, where you pick three (out of nine souls in each calling) souls from a particular calling (Mage, Cleric, Rogue, Warrior) and then toy around with them until you find something you like. Here's a list of them:
List of souls

[*]Warrior
-Champion (offensive)- Champions are powerful Warriors who excel at melee combat. Wielding massive two-handed weapons, these battle-tested fighters find few equals in one-on-one battle. Champions strive to become one with their blade, constantly honing their fighting skills to win glory through warfare.

-Reaver (defensive)- Reavers are warriors who combine the art of combat with the entropic energies of death. The slightest touch of their weapon can spread disease, incite madness, and death to those unlucky enough to face them.

-Paladin (defensive)- Righteous defenders of the weak, Paladins use heavy shields and divine blessings to stand as a bulwark against their foes. The Paladin’s large shield not only offers protection, but affords many opportunities to launch devastating counters in close combat.

-Warlord (support)- A Warlord’s commanding presence expresses itself in auras that inspire her comrades to victory and cow her enemies into submission, allowing her to control the field of battle.

-Paragon (offensive)- The Paragon moves like a furious storm, never giving his enemy time to regroup. A master of dual-wielding, he uses parries and disciplined forms to build up power attacks and stay out of danger.

-Riftblade (offensive)- Riftblades are Warriors who learn to enhance their attacks with elemental magic, allowing them to cast bolts of force across the battlefield and strike with boundless energies.

-Beastmaster (offensive)- The Beastmaster is an offensive warrior whose strength comes from a deep bond with their spirit companion. This companion both manifests as an ally in battle and also emboldens the Beastmaster, granting its virtues to its master.

-Void Kniight (defensive)- The Void Knight is a defensive specialist who has trained in eldritch techniques to fight those who wield magic. Spells that would bring another warrior low are shaken off by a Void Knight, reflected back at the caster,or stored in magical pacts they an unleash with devastating effect.

[*]Cleric
-Purifier (support)- The tradition of the Purifier begins with a baptism by fire, a test of faith from which only the strongest souls emerge. Those who pass are reborn as masters of the curative secrets of fire, able to heal the most grievous wounds with a searing touch.

-Inquisitor (offensive)- The Inquisitor is a cleric who no longer follows the doctrines of life or death alone; instead, they stand between these forces demanding purity from both. An Inquisitor passes judgment on those who are worthy, and damns those who are corrupt.

-Sentinel (healing)- The Sentinel brings the blessings of light to all who do the will of the gods. Capable of healing many wounded at one time, Sentinels bolster their allies and protect themselves with divine wrath.

-Justicar (defensive)- Justicars are healing clerics who fight shoulder-to-shoulder with their allies in close combat. Conviction builds with each swing of their weapon, bolstering nearby comrades and powering the Justicar’s potent healing magic.

-Shaman (offensive)- The Shaman binds the power of the icy north to his very being, wreathing himself in pure elemental force. This power augments a Shaman’s attacks, making him a powerful melee combatant, and provides shields and reactive healing.

-Warden (healing)- Echoing the soothing ebb and flow of the tides, Wardens specialize in slow healing that escalates over time, making them ideal for prolonged fights that would exhaust most healers.

-Druid (offensive)- Druids excel at melee DPS and healing, has access to pets that heal & dps. Wisdom is converted to melee attack power by a passive buff while soul is active.

-Cabalist (offensive)- A master of AoE, the Cabalist is one of the cleric's best DPS classes. The more mobs the better is the motto of the Cabalist. The Cabalist applies sigils to their enemies, which detonate upon a certain amount of damage being done or a certain amount of time elapsed.

[*]Rogue
-Nightblade (offensive)- Possessing deadly agility and mastery of the blade, the Nightblade can also draw upon the planar magics of fire and death to deal doom in a variety of ways. Favoring light armor, their ability to stalk and quickly eliminate their adversaries means the unfortunate quarry rarely has the chance to defend, let alone counterattack.

-Ranger (offensive)- Rangers are consummate hunters who know the strengths and weaknesses of every beast, taming animal companions to augment their considerable prowess in ranged combat. This synergy between bow and beast allows Rangers to handily overcome the most daunting obstacles.

-Blade Dancer (offensive)- Blade Dancers are masters of wielding edged weapons. They specialize in ritualized combat movements that are lightning fast. Blade Dancers can overwhelm even an accomplished opponent's defenses, setting them up for a devastating coup de grace.

-Assassin (offensive)- Masters of subtlety and subterfuge, an Assassin’s ability to walk in the shadows allows them to bypass obstacles and launch devastating surprise attacks. A rare few survive the initial assault, only to succumb to virulent poisons.

-Riftstalker (defensive)- The Riftstalker is a defensive specialist who bends the planes to enhance his constitution and shift in and out of the physical dimension. These highly skilled and survivable combatants keep their opponents’ focus while easily evading incoming blows.

-Marksman (offensive)- Marksmen are offensive sharpshooters trained to thin enemy ranks with ruthless efficiency. They combine swift hit-and-run attacks with devastating volleys, endlessly harassing targets, sowing the battlefield with dead and crippled foes.

-Bard (support)- Bards are support specialists who use their songs to inspire their allies and dishearten their foes, and are most effective as part of a group of adventurers, where their musical motifs, codas, fanfares, and anthems are most effective.

-Saboteur (offensive)- The Saboteur is an offensive based rogue who employs all manner of explosives and other incendiaries to cripple their opponents and control their battlefield. With proper preparation a Saboteur can destroy a group of opponents without ever engaging them directly.

[*]Mage
-Elementalist (offensive)- Elementalists are mages who specialize in manipulating and controlling the raw energies of the planes. Through fierce discipline and strict study, these mages dedicate themselves to commanding the harshest and most chaotic forces known to exist.

-Warlock (offensive)- Consummate practitioners of the dark arts, Warlocks embrace the grim forces of entropy and death. Protected within a cloak of shadows, they lurk on the edges of the conflict, as their deadly energies inevitably consume all that stand in their way.

-Pyromancer (offensive)- Pyromancers are destructive mages whose sole focus is the mastery of fire, from launching massive incinerating blasts, to trapping their opponents behind a smoldering wall of flame. No other Ascended can match the sheer destruction at the Pyromancer’s fingertips.

-Stormcaller (offensive)- Stormcallers are mages who channel the raw fury of the wind and water to command the battlefield, chilling their opponents to the bone or stopping their hearts with electric shock.

-Archon (support)- Archons are support specialists who steal their opponents’ strength and convert that raw energy into beneficial magic. These mages bolster their allies and unleash potent kinetic blasts, quickly turning the tide of battle.

-Necromancer (offensive)- Necromancers are damage dealers who synergize with their pets. The majority of a Necromancer’s damage comes from a fully supported and buffed pet. In an emergency, Necromancers can also serve as secondary healers by sacrificing their own health to their allies.

-Chloromancer (healing)- The Chloromancer is a healing specialist who draws on the vital energies of plants and nature to find a balance between life and death. This allows them to harness energies into a devastating force, or recycle destructive magic to heal their allies.

-Dominator (support)- The Dominator is a support specialist who excels at terrorizing their opponents leaving them unable or unwilling to act. Those who are capable of mustering the courage to assault a Dominator will find themselves at the mercy of arcane shields that return the fury of their blows tenfold.
[/list]

This game is a theorycrafter's wet dream and is already fairly polished and fun to play in "closed" beta. I've got a several use beta key that'll give 20+ more people access to the beta. If you've got some time to waste this weekend, check it out.

How to get into beta:
JZMD-X2XG-HJN2-DDYQ-LC9X

To Apply the VIP Code:
1. Go to https://account.RIFTgame.com to login or create a new account.
2. Click "Apply Code" on the left-hand navigation bar and enter your VIP key.
3. You're done! You will automatically be invited into the remaining beta events.

I'm pretty sure I played on the Deepstrike server last event, so that's where I'll be if you want to hook up

BONUS TF2 ITEMS FOR PREORDERS
http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=25090
If you preorder Rift (It comes out on March 1), you get two sweet looking items in TF2: an axe for the Pyro, and some kind of mace for the scout. Also, anyone for (presumably) forever can get the crazy spider hat in Rift by completing an achievement in TF2. This achievement involves killing someone shortly after they use a teleporter. You'll recieve an item with a code that you'll use to activate the item in Rift.

[WampRats]

Are you playing it because it has rift in it?

[Riftoff]

That was the initial appeal, but its a really solid game, so I'm sticking with it for a bit.

[Beetle]

you excluded the best part. Free TF2 Items!

[Riftoff]

you excluded the best part. Free TF2 Items!

Aderp, edited

[Beetle]

Really though, MMOs always suck me in whether they are good or not. I dont know if I want that. That being said, I played in the first beta (lvls 1-20) and it was what you said, "solid."

[Riftoff]

Really though, MMOs always suck me in whether they are good or not. I dont know if I want that. That being said, I played in the first beta (lvls 1-20) and it was what you said, "solid."

From what I've gathered from goons and other people I know who played through all the betas, the game has changed significantly for the better since the first two betas. Perception went from "Meh, a solid WoW clone" to "Holy shit, this could challenge Guild Wars 2" in a matter of weeks. So if you played the first beta, you may want to play this one to see how much has changed.

[PhrozenFlame]

If Riftoff's playing in the Stonecrest server, that's where I'll be too, with a character probably under the alias of "GiroTheHero", or something.

[Riftoff]

Whooops, I'm playing on the server Deepstrike, not Stonecrest.

[PhrozenFlame]

Good thing the game hasn't even downloaded yet, and apparently won't be finished for another 5 hours. Not to mention the patches.

[PhrozenFlame]

See, the game was fun until a few hours after the "Bring Down The House" event ended today.

I was looking on the map screen for a quest waypoint, when I see a large amount of rifts open. Suddenly, INVASION.

This wouldn't be too bad if it didn't go on for another HOUR AT THE LEAST. They were level 20 elites when most of the server was around level 12 (myself included), so we were getting one shotted every time we tried to spawn. We got both of the spawners down, but WE'RE STILL trying to finish off the invaders. I should have recorded it. It was obscene.

Besides that, game is fun and I'll probably pick it up.

[PhrozenFlame]

Tomorrow at 10 A.M. PST through the 22nd is the last chance to play in the beta. Start installing NOW, because it's a long wait.

[Beetle]

Gonna give this a try. I will be playing guardian side on gnarlwood server with my gf.