Rift vs Salem
Rift
Rift is one of the world's top 10 most popular MMORPGs even until today. In fact, many would agree that this game can be considered a classic, which will put it on the same level as epic MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and Runescape.In this game, you'll need to choose a side – either the Guardians or the Defiant – before venturing into the rift-torn world of Telara. The character customization in this game is absolutely brilliant mainly because you can literally mix and match Callings (a.k.a. classes) and the large number of souls (talent trees) to create the perfect “3-soul talent tree” to fit your own play style. Of course, aside from the usual raiding and PvPing, the game even has exciting world- and zone-based Rift events that involve players from the level cap to the newbies, as well as the incredibly fun, sandbox feature - Dimension Building. You'll be truly amazed at the various creative worlds that Rift players have built over the years.
Surprisingly, there isn't as many immersive MMORPGs anymore at this day and age, and at times, we're thankful that games like Rift still exists and is still going strong. If you pride yourself in being a hardcore MMO gamer, then this is definitely one game you mustn't miss out.
Salem
Salem is an old-school and somewhat obscure (but fun) sandbox MMORPG that unlike Wurm Online has a stronger emphasis on its in-depth crafting system and survival aspect rather than building.Similar to Wurm Online though, Salem is not a voxel-based game, but you are still able to mold the game environment through resource gathering, mining and digging in a way that reminds me of the currently-shelved MMORPG, EverQuest Next: Landmark. Of course, although not exactly the focus of the game, you can still build your homestead and the process is quite similar to Wurm Online except that it occurs at a much higher speed.
Not to mention, the game world in Salem is simply humongous to the point where it feels like an actual world. Salem also borrowed some features from ArcheAge where open-world PvP is the norm, so you'll need to be vigilant at all times, but players who kill and steal for no reason will be labelled as criminals and can be punished.
However, as good as it is despite being an indie MMO and all, Salem does have its fair share of flaws due to its low development budget. So, we'd recommend you to take a look at Salem without carrying along any high expectations. It's a pretty good MMORPG like Minecraft, but if you're expecting a Minecraft clone, you may end up disappointing yourself.