sdharrison

So the title of this thread is a bit obnoxious, but I would really love to start a discussion on what specific UNIQUE features make RIft so appealing.  I have watched videos, seen the ads, etc.  It just seems a whole lot like WoW with a different graphical palette and integrated mods.  The raw gameplay, questing, etc seems SO similar.  
 
So if you are playing Rift, love it or hate it, what makes it a unique experience?  If you love it, why should somebody who hung it up with WoW come back and jump in?

I'm a steam victim as well and have a friend who is on the fence about the game.  Why on earth SOE wouldn't want as many people to buy their game as possible is beyond me but whatever.  If anybody has one, I would be most grateful

I have been playing the game for around 10 hours so far - and pretty much have just kept my nose down and quested.  I was reading some posts here about the grouping, roles, etc - and I wanted to ask the experienced players how they have their social communication set up.  In my limited experimentation, it seems like everyone just shouts.  Also can you simply target and inspect a friendly player, or do you have to use that zone search tab every time?  Can you create one button macros to quickly go to guild/league chat, or group chat?
 
Essentially: At the level cap, what is the preferred and most efficient way of communicating with other friendly players in a pick up group or loose guild affiliation kind of way?
 
*by the way, this is a first post. I WILL be buying the 4.95 GB plan later tonight.  Much respect