Ben

On that very link Rift link you posted I see in the rotating banner an advert to download the client and get started: "Buy now! RIFT is here! Buy a copy from your local retailer, or from Trion Worlds, and join the Ascended today!" The 'buy it' link on the right also links to a page with info for both the standard and collector's digital downloads.

I've been enjoying playing something new with a new system and more realistic style. (I've been a huge WoW nerd since the open beta.) Playing just for a few hours during Rift's open beta was enough to convince me. Ultimately, I see it as very similar to WoW, so maybe it won't keep my attention for more than a few months... But it's been a lot of fun so far. Definitely worth the money for the enjoyment I am getting out of it. I'd suggest anyone that is even a little curious about Rift and a little tired of WoW give it a shot. It won't be time or money wasted for most, even if they don't stick around.

I, too, enjoy the irony. It's like a rocket or a missile with a smiley face painted on the nose-cone. One will frequently find forums turning SW:D into SW*grinning face* where they support smileys.

Your advice for blood doesn't make much sense, specifically leaving out parry. Parry and dodge both have the same diminishing returns now and have equal value. (The catch here is no one seems to know yet at what point diminishing returns kick in.) They utilize these two stats optimally, one wants to keep them as even as possible whenever one can swap them 1 for 1. Personally, I use defender (purple, parry+sta), regal (green, dodge+sta), and solid (blue, stamina) to satisfy any bonuses that are +9 stamina or higher.

As for the blood mastery, it is nice, but it has its problems. The shield effect is not very significant (the additional absorb from death strikes vs incoming damage in most situations) vs the large chunk of avoidance one gives up to boost it through reforging. The blood shield effect currently appears to overwrite an old shield effect if it hasn't expired, further diminishing its value somewhat. And finally, blood shield is only absorbing physical damage currently. Some seem to think this is intended, reasoning it serves a purpose similar to shield block which only effect incoming physical damage as well.

Advice I have seen and would pass along is: For those just starting out, build up a respectable hp pool (stack stamina). Once one reaches a comfortable gear level, balance one's need for threat stats (hit and expertise) vs survival stats (dodge, mastery, and parry) but don't bother reforging mastery unless you have the gear that can spare it. -Which is at the high end in current content, at which point a tank probably has figured what works best for them and doesn't need this advice.

My DK's tank set is just over a 6k GS and has an average ilvl of 270 or so, if I recall correctly. Only last night did I get upgrades that had excess hit and expertise that I was comfortable reforging into mastery. Self buffed dodge and parry are around 22/23%. When I'm tanking in ICC, I would rather have my 5-6% pure avoidance vs improving a shield that is only going to absorb an addition small portion of a hit.

5162 comments and counting!

wow only 1968 comments when I clicked.. ;) *crosses-fingers*

Correct me if I'm wrong... I took my elemental shaman out of moth balls a week or two ago and found that I didn't dismount people flying in Wintergrasp.

Excellent interview as usual. While ready, I thought of a small suggestion. I'm thinking of how this would be a great read for some non-gaming friends, except for the small smattering of gaming jargon. "What is an RTS???" Might it be worthwhile to try to cover a few of those instances with links to wowwiki or something else suitable?

On that note, I'd think shattering throw deserves special note to finally have a tool of our own for dealing with bubbles and ice blocks.

And, yeah, go warriors! I have many alts most of which are 80, but the only class I've leveled to 80 more than once is the warrior.

I'd bind the '5' button to my Zergling pet for turning Murky Marines into goo. :D

It happens to both sides. If you have a high level of tenacity when you kill an enemy player/npc, you get more credit. I've seen times where we zone in with 20 tenacity and there's one unfortunate enemy player nearby and the entire group around you simultaneously gains 1st Lt rank.

I imagine this is much less of a problem since the number of players in the zone is now capped. I haven't seen such high levels of tenacity since 3.2 on my pvp server where it happened frequently.