We have already seen a huge decline in video stores.  They have been replaced by more convenient options.  This got me wondering if I would miss electronic/gadget stores?  A wealth of information is available all over the internet for any gadget you can dream of, but is it really possible that we could completely lose our ability to walk into a store and pick the gadget up?  Turn on the television and play with the remote?  Play with a stereo receiver?  How close do you think we are to seeing these stores become nothing more than memories like Hollywood Video?

Further, assuming these stores do disappear, where would we go for our gadget fix?  Is engadget enough?  Could you ever imagine a day where you would pay to browse gadgets?  If Best Buy were to disappear and you had zero options for physically browsing televisions would you pay to enter a store that was focused on product demonstration and trial?  A gadget amusement park.  If not do you think product demonstration and trial is something that we lose entirely or do you expect new alternatives?  New brick and mortar options?

Following vs Friending (Circles?)
With Google+ you do not send friend requests.  Instead you find someone you know or someone your interested in (a poet, a photographer, a journalist, a technologist, anyone) and follow them by adding them to a circle (similar to following someone on Twitter.)  Circles allow you to organize who you follow.  You might simply create a single circle and throw everyone in there or you might end up with a circle for friends, for family, for musicians, for photographers, etc…  Personally I have fifteen circles ranging from close friends to unknown photographers.  Members of these circles do not know where I have assigned them, only that I am following them.  I enjoy this level of customization and like that it is a core component of Google+ used throughout the system for enhanced sharing options.

Sharing Content
By now almost everyone is familiar with the status update.  Whether your doing 140 characters on Twitter or 420 characters on Facebook.  I love that in Google+ your not limited to a set number of characters.  In addition Google gives you formatting options:  http://mashable.com/2011/07/12/the-google-cheat-sheet-pic/

This makes sharing on Google+ almost like a mini-blog.  You can share as much or as little as you like.  Further (expanding on the Circles concept mentioned above,) you have full control over who sees what you share.  You can post publicly, to a specific individual, to extended circles (everyone in your circles as well as everyone in their circles,) or to a specific circle (family for example.)  Here is a nice post that covers this in more detail:  https://plus.google.com/103438332263642514693/posts/HQ24XFuVFx1 the image at the bottom of the post is especially helpful.

Sharing Photos
Similar to any other content you share on Google+ you define exactly which circles (or specific individuals) can see what photos. The interface is incredible and creates a much better browsing experience than Facebook’s photo interface.

Profile
I really like the simplicity and layout of profiles. There is plenty of room to get as detailed or as brief as you want. Further you can limit each of the profile sections to specific circles or individuals just like any other content you share on Google+.

Games
Many were afraid of the imminent arrival of games on Google+ but so far I would say they have been an incredible success. I love that I have not been spammed by endless automated messages from people I follow. No farmville requests here. I have seen exactly one message in my main stream about Angry Birds and it was not automated. Beyond the avoidance of spam, the games are actually fun. I have no doubt that Facebook games are fun as well, but because of the intense amount of spam, I stopped playing them.

Superficial reason I enjoy Google+
I really like the look of Google+ better than Facebook.  I am tired of the blue.  Google+ looks cleaner.  Maybe this is nothing more than an artifact of Google+ being newer.  Either way Facebook is likely due for a face lift (although they need to be careful at the same time – the last thing they want to do is give people a reason to try Google+.)  Google+ is still evolving.  Most of the development team are active posters or readers on Google+ and you can see user feedback being incorporated into Google+ weekly.  Totally dig that.

Other Google+ Features
There are several other features that I have not used significantly. The most popular/useful one is hangouts. I have not done a hangout yet mainly because I do not have a camera or mic. Hangouts allow up to ten people to have a video conference. I’ve seen some pretty cool uses of this including live concerts and jam sessions. Sparks are another feature I have rarely used (and at least from what I have read seem to be much less useful when compared to hangouts.)

So what about the ugly?
While I think Google+ is great there are some key areas where Google has been criticized:

Nym wars:  There has been a significant backlash to Google+’s real name policy and the lack of support for pseudonyms.  One of the major issues has been inconsistent enforcement of the policy.

Noise filtering:  Many are complaining that there are not enough means for filtering/preventing noise.  Some have even abandoned the system already because of the noise.

Still need an invite to check it out?
https://plus.google.com/_/notifications/ngemlink?path=%2F%3Fgpinv%3Dw4ZSdSqCaXI%3ANQL9COA1ABI

Have you tried Google+ yet? Thoughts?

In addition, I was a little uncertain about Raids & Max Level (50) content. After doing some more reading, it looks like there is plenty (a welcome surprise compared to previous games and their lack of high end content at release.) For a solid introduction to some of that content check out Eliniell’s post at Rift Junkies: End Game and You! Important information to begin your journey! (The post currently covers Expert Tier 1 Dungeons, Expert Group Rifts & Expert Tier 2 Dungeons.)

In addition the first raid instance, Greenscale’s Blight, is live with 5 bosses. Trion Worlds patched it yesterday after at least one guild cleared it. The amount of time it took guilds to level and clear the first raid instance is about on par with previous WoW expansions. Here are Trion’s patch notes for Greenscale:

GREENSCALE’S BLIGHT [Raid]
* Increased Damage of Duke Letareus, Infiltrator Johlen, Oracle Aleria, and Prince Hylas.
* Increased Health of Johlen, Hylas.
* Enraged bosses now have increased movement speed.
* Increased Damage of Blighteaf Hexmasters, Blightleaf Guards, Voracious Bloodletters, Blighted Sentries, and Blightleaf Protectors.
* Increased Health of Blightleaf Shamblers.

In addition to patching Greenscale the patch notes included another note related to max level content:

* Water, Life, Death, and Air Raid Rifts are now available.

Here is a link to the full patch notes: Rift 1.01 – [NA] 3/10/11 8:00am PST

All in all, very impressive for an already smooth release. The patch did include the first nerf that directly affected me (Void Knight’s Discharge ability – worthless now as far as I can tell.) But I’m happy with how well Trion is managing things thus far.

I played EQ up to the Gates of Discord expansion when I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at World of Warcraft. Much like the jump from UO to EQ, I thought WoW was a significant improvement over its predecessors. WoW has held my interest off and on since 2004. I’ve cancelled my subscription several times, the longest being for nearly a year and a half (during the Burning Crusade expansion,) but it has continued to be my game of choice. Many MMOs have come out since the release of WoW, but none of them have been able to match WoW’s success. In addition, none of them have captured my interest. All that changed this week with Rift.

Rift is a new MMO developed by Trion Worlds that went live on March 1st. It was Rift’s class system that first caught my eye. Basically it looks like a mash up of WoW’s talent and Diablo’s skill trees. The possibility of some unique combinations was intriguing and so I started to look a little deeper. After searching youtube a bit I watched several Yogscast videos about their first impressions of the game (you might need earmuffs:) Rift First Impressions – The Yogscast Bottom line, they really liked it. Combine their enthusiasm with my initial interest and I had enough justification to try my first new MMO since 2004.

After several hours in game and reaching level 19 out of a level cap of 50 I have to admit that I am very impressed. Obviously in an MMO things can change drastically as you get closer to or obtain max level but thus far I could easily give the game a 4.5/5. The bigger question that I will not be able to answer yet, is will I be willing to pay the monthly fee after the free 30 day trial? Even beyond that, will the game still be compelling at level 50? Pure speculation, I say yes. Below are some of my thoughts/ratings on specific areas of the game:

Stability 5/5
MMO launches are traditionally borderline comical. We generally see new terminology invented during their releases (rubber-banding, ghosting, etc…) as well as significant outages. Trion Worlds did a really good job of avoiding some of these release pitfalls with solid planning. From what I understand there was a lengthy alpha, beta, open beta and even a one week head start for pre-orders. Their initial set of servers filled to capacity during the head start but Trion Worlds managed to add more quickly and by the time I picked up the game (two days after the official release, 9 days after the head start release,) I had plenty of servers to choose from. I have played on both an original and a new server and have not been able to notice any performance differences between the two. Beyond this, when I have been in-game I have not experienced any significant lag related issues. The game is running smoothly.

Faction/Race/Class Options 4/5
Rift has two factions (Guardians and Defiants,) six races (Dwarves, High Elves, Mathosian, Kelari, Eth and Bahmi,) and four callings (Warrior, Cleric, Mage and Rogue) each with 8 classes. Faction wise, Rift does not deviate from WoW, while this does not bother me, it could be an area that future games explore in more depth. Races are a definite low point in Rift when it comes to choice. Three per faction compared to four per side for WoW in vanilla (pre-expansions.) In addition, the races are not very distinct. Basically each faction has a human race, and an elf race. Beyond this Guardians have Dwarves and Defiants have Bahmi, which are like giants.

Character creation is the first step towards making up for this lack of choice. Options are vast, including facial structure, eye placement, nose appearance, hair styles/coloring, etc… Rift is a step above WoW for character customization, but probably still several steps below some of the superhero games. Finally, we have callings and classes which are a major strong point for Rift. Each calling has 56 potential class combinations. While I am sure that it won’t be long before we start to see ideal builds and optimal combinations, this level of choice is something many WoW players have been begging of Blizzard for a while now. In addition each character can have up to four roles (multi-spec) in game. New roles are purchased (prices increasing for each successive role,) starting at 30 gold for the second one (the first is free/part of questing.)

Graphics/Environment 4.5/5
One of the first things I heard about Rift after starting to research the game was that it had amazing graphics. Watching videos and browsing screenshots really did not convince me. In fact, I chalked most of the comments up to over-hype. After spending some time in the game, I have to say I was wrong. The graphics really are impressive. I am not saying that the game has the highest polygon count, or the best art, best models, or best of any particular one thing. BUT the sum total of the graphics and environment is beyond solid, it is impressive. My favorite so far being the last portion of the first instance for Guardians, Realm of the Fae:

Interface 3.5/5
The game interface is polished with plenty of options (including a very nice Edit Layout option.) Anyone that has played WoW even a little will instantly feel at home in Rift (this could be good or bad.) While most recent MMOs have tried to differentiate themselves from WoW as much as possible, Rift seems unapologetic for duplicating many of the proven interface choices made by WoW. Action bars, unit frames, chat, mini-map, etc… are all extremely similar to WoW in function and placement. In addition Rift has achievements, guild quests, guild ranks and probably a dozen other items I am forgetting. One thing the interface currently lacks is custom add-ons. You won’t find deadly boss mobs, quest helper or damage meters.

Instances & High Level Content TBD
Realm of the Fae is the one instance that I have run thus far. It is an outdoor instance in the starting zone for Guardians. The recommended level is 17. Honestly I am not sure what I was expecting, but the instance was a blast. While WoW has options at earlier levels, the mechanics seen in Realm of the Fae were much more robust. In addition, the instance ambiance was off the chart culminating with a weather change that included the coolest affects I have ever seen in a game.

Beyond this initial instance there a seven other instances. Each instance can be done in expert mode at max level (similar to Heroics.) I have also seen mention of raid content already present in the game but have not been able to confirm.

Other Misc. Notes
- Installation took ~34 minutes (17m install 17m patch)
- 6 Character slots per server
- Patches and Hot Fixes have been regular but quick & painless
- Guilds only require 5 signatures
- Each character can have 3 professions (not played with them enough to comment further, but they are a lot like WoW)
- There are plenty of PvP options but I’ve only spent a fraction of my time on them (a single keep away type of Warzone/Battleground)
- 1st content patch is 3-4 months away

A few more screenshots:

Voices in my head, a glimmer of who I really am?
A roller coaster of emotions explode inside my mind.
Temporarily tempered by sleep;
sometimes difficult for me to wake.

Voices in my head, ripping life from my weakening grasp.
Second guessing the meaning of everything.
Does the sun really shine;
sometimes difficult for me to see.

Voices in my head.
Wish they were dead.
Pray for silence.
No response.

Here are a couple of other random photos I took today (1st day with it.)

Bella #1

Bella #2

My Desk

I practiced using the right words.
Practiced all the trivial acts of kindness.
I reinvented a more comfortable you.
Something more like what I want.

Your words are still on my lips.
Perverted into weekly therapy.
I changed all the difficult parts.
Reassigned my own improved meanings.

I can justify my every action.
Insult for insult.
An eye for an eye.
A lie to warm my heart at night.

Who am I becoming?
Where am I going?
Why am I here?
Will I find you in the end?