I'm thinking about starting to play Rift but with so many options on the market, what sets it apart from the competition?
The biggest aspect of Rift that sets is apart from other MMOs would have to be the rift system itself. While you're running around the world, you'll find these rifts that have mobs pouring out of them. At that point, you have the option of joining a public group and destroying monsters until the rift is complete, and you do receive rewards for it. While this is fun at the beginning of the game, it only grows in proportion as you level, making it more epic as you go along. Quite honestly, the game is completely free to play so I'd highly recommend you give it a try! Even when I was paying, it was well worth the money. I hope this helps!
Rift is a really great game, imho. As the poster above me said, the Rift system is excellent, and kind of reminded me of the World Events in Guild Wars 2. Also, the game is totally free to play, and the skill options are awesome. As in, you can basically combine any two or three kinds of classes to create your very unique hero. The graphics are WoW like, but the gameplay mechanics are far superior to WoW. Definitely check it out.