o.k. the lag stuff with Ryzom usually comes from one thing. They use UDP instead of TCP for network stuff. Some routers dont handle the UDP very well....when I played it my router just would not do it not matter what I tried. When I stuck my network cable directly into my cable modem game ran great. One of those annoying issues that would probably get fixed if they game had a real revenue stream but otherwise ends up being on the bottom of the stack.
I did not play past the free trial myself as I knew I wasnt willing to pay to play the game at the time for one major reason...lack of population. The content was also lacking in the form of interesting combat situations...IE dungeons or something similiar. All combat at the point I stopped playing - which was past newbie isle but still around the main town you go to after newbie isle - was basically killing mobs that wandered around in groups aimlessly. Nothing wrong with that as a filler but not something that would keep me occupied for long.
I think the game could easily be set up as a free to play with a store with some very basic and simple items. This would breathe new life into the game and quite likely make it viable again. I loved the skill system. I loved how you level stuff up. I loved the ability to create your own attacks and spells etc. If you have not tried the game out and dont know what I am talking about...the free trial (assuming they still have it) is well worth the time. You wont get the full effect of the skill system untill you have spent enough time to at least get off the newbie isle so that would be my recomendation.
For me the graphics were fine, overall gameplay was fine, population was big minus, lack of interesting content was a big minus. They do have a lot of tools in the game that could remedy the two big minus's but it would require a company to think outside of the box only a little bit to do it.
For me if I was a low budget game company I would try to buy the game...use all the systems that were created in the game and make a brand new game with a brand new engine all the while making the first game free to play to get some revenue coming in. I bet you could make a good updated game for under $10M that is better than most of the crap that is out there today.
Overall, I liked the game. The ecosystem is still one of the most realistic I've ever experienced in an online game, the creature AI is just amazing. That being said, the resource gathering is complicated to the point of being annoying, and the lack of population truly is a point of contention.
I mean really, you can DIE while gathering? Truly?
I like involved crafting systems, but dying while gathering takes the cake for me. From what I understand it gets easier and more profitable as you learn more skills, but this game is even less hospitable to the novice than EVE in terms of crafting.
The community is grand... until you question a certain game mechanic. At that point, they get all FANBOY on you, insult you, and tell you to leave. I'm not talking about an insult, or poorly worded critique (which IMO are deserving of flaming), I'm talking an honest-to-God bit of constructive criticism. Say anything against the game, and they pounce like a group of hungry cougars. In my own experience, I had a good time until I made a remark that resource gathering was tedious and boring. The flaming and insults which ensued were the stuff of legend. This community is WAY too defensive.
That being said, I recommend the game for those whom are seeking something deeper than 'the next raid'. I just hope the community that exists can learn to live with the fact that not everyone who plays will agree that this game is GOD.
I am playing Ryzom now for a good year. And I like the game.
In most games you are always doing grinding. Sorry to say, but grinding is no real fun.
In Ryzom you can feel free to do what you like. Yeah you can do some of the quests that are offered to you. But you can also wander around and explore new areas. You are free in what you do.
For some this is bad, because they need the strong hand, that leads them from point A to B and say kill 10 stupid mobs to get a new sword. I personally like the freedom to do, what i like.
And Ryzom has no class system as many other systems. You can specialize in everything over the time and you are not restricted to what you learn. I said over the time, because you need a lot of time to get high levels in all areas.
Havesting may be boring to some players... and yes you can get killed by doing it. The mobs around will watch you and may find you interesting enough to take bite Its like a real life. So while casting a spell that takes some time, it also may take some time, to turn in between around and run away. That makes it more realistic. Harvesting will take some time - and is mostly a solo job. In the beginning it is frustrating, because gathering 1 or 2 Materials out of the ground takes some time. But with the time, it gets faster and more Materials can be gathered in the time. There are areas where you can harvest easily, without fear of aggro Mobs. But the interesting part to harvest are the Prime Roots area. There are more aggro Mobs and you have to watch your back while digging to stay alive. Thats not boring. Especially because there you can find the better materials to craft your weapons with.
The crafting system is unique at all. Dependend on the materials choosen, the resulting equipment varies in its values. But the best recipees are not always using the "Best" mats at all, but to place some lesser mats in there as well.
For Fighting you have 3 main areas. Melee, Gunnery or offensive magic. Each specialises with the time. So maybe you are very good with using your 2 handed sword, but with a dagger you can only clean your fingernails. The offensive actions can be done alone, but it is easier to do it in small teams. And teammates are easily to find, just ask in the universe chat.
The starting island (Silan) is quite nice, to learn the game mechanics a bit. But often i hear, that there is almost nobody there. So move quickly to the main area. Here the Homins of Atys will welcome you and help you where ever possible to get used to the game (at least on Leanon the german server, this is common)
If you like a game, that does not place you in a corset, that gives you freedom to do, what you like, you should give Ryzom a try with the 21days free trial and move after a few levels on Silan to the mainland.
There is everything for PvE, PvP, Roleplay and just having fun.
I would like to thank you, Adam Tingle, for this great re-review. It's honest and the current reality. We continue to work hard to make things better.
I'm sad that you had some network/stability issues and we take this very seriously. Don't hesitate to contact us to do more investigation if you want.
I want also to thanks guys who made all these great comments and continue to support Ryzom after all these years. We are really happy to have you in our community.
I would like to thank you, Adam Tingle, for this great re-review. It's honest and the current reality. We continue to work hard to make things better.
I'm sad that you had some network/stability issues and we take this very seriously. Don't hesitate to contact us to do more investigation if you want.
I want also to thanks guys who made all these great comments and continue to support Ryzom after all these years. We are really happy to have you in our community.
See you soon in Ryzom!
Vianney Lecroart
If you are who you say you are this makes a refreshing change.
So many game companys focus on their own forums way too much. They should spread out and see what people say of their game when they are not under the restrictive rules of their own forums.
OK, well firstly, here is a rundown of the DDO sub service, the bottom line is that the monthly sub is probably the most useful, but the diversity of subscription costs, is mind boggling and just too confusing (for these old brain cells) to fathom easily.
The Ryzom subscription is very cheap, So should be able to stand on its own merits, but as an "added value" if they took Catalyzers out of OPs and gave them to players as a part of their subscription rate, it may make an attractive proposition, to new players, but the way they currently stand, all they do is make the high level players more powerful and annoy those with no easy access to them, other than to go "begging" for them from guilded players.
On to Ryzom the game, it (for me) is one of the most beautiful universes, with some of the most evocative scenery I have ever seen in a MMOG, its a beautiful world to inhabit, check out Acridiels movies, the eco system and the actual monsters are quite awesome, compared to the dross in most MMO's :
On saying that, it is unfortunate that is has such a tiny population, I would even say that a significant number of characters you see in game, are alts of players, I know players with more than one or two subscriptions, dual boxing their way through the game.
Its hard to get a team, because the dual boxers dont need help, so unless you are in a guild, good luck on getting a team together, so its not new player friendly, in that respect, sure you can get tons of advice and gear, even if non guilded, but getting people to actually play with (the essence of a MMO for me), is next to impossible.
As regards crafting/harvesting, well there are so many players that have maxed out those skills, that it is pointless grinding those skills to level 250, just to be able to make one weapon ever few months of Q250 for yourself.
This basically leaves combat, the game is probably solo-able to lv 100, but after that you will need to get a team to progress in a timely fashion.
It is a universe that in my opinion, should be experienced by all MMOG players, just to see if you would fit into that setting and maybe stay on playing it after the trial period finishes, it is unique in many respects and beautiful in all.
As regards performance, I have played Ryzom on a 500mhz 1gig ram PC, and a current Win 7 2.93 ghz with 6 gigs of ram and it ran fine on both, but of course exceptionally well on the 6 gig PC.
Unfortunatly no matter how good an MMO is, without population its nothing.
A player is much like a single human cell, the body needs a certain amount of these cells to survive, and its needs a certain amount to flourish.
Some mmo's tick over in an almost comatose state, bairly alive sustained only by a hand full of stubborn players.
But on the bright side, when these MMO's finally die their players continue to exist strengthening another games population, as malice as it may sound sometimes I wish that these near-death MMO's would just let go.
I played Ryzom for 8 or 9 months a while back and really enjoyed the game. The only reason that I stopped playing was the shutdown, then when it came back online I was involved in something else and never returned. I generally prefer sandbox MMO's to themeparks, so it was no surprise that I enjoyed this game.
As others have said the ecosystem in the game is truly unsurpassed in any MMO. Migrating herbivores, stalking predators, curious yubo's that like to 'investigate' your feet, changing seasons... The game pulls this all off with aplomb.
The stanza system is truly unique, being able to build your own attacks/spells is very refreshing. Gathering and crafting are the best since Pre-CU SWG. I find crafting in pretty much all other MMO's nothing but an annoying minor inconvenience, SWG and Ryzom had crafting done correctly, Vanguard isn't bad in this regard either actually. All other MMO's might as well take crafting out the game tbh.
Last thing that I'd like to mention about the game is Ryzom Ring. It lets players create their own quests and storylines for other players to experience. This was introduced to SoR long before NGE SWG's 'Storyteller' system or CoX's 'Mission Architect' system again proving what an innovative game Ryzom actually is.
I'm really glad that this article turned up as it has gave me a reminder of how good this game actually is. I can see myself subbing for a return to Atys in the near future.
MMORPG History: Playing - EVE Online. Played (Retired) - AO, SWG, MxO, WoW, RFO, SoR, CoX, EQ2, GW, L2, Vanguard, LotRO, AoC, TCoS, Aion. Favourite MMO - Pre-CU SWG, 3 Years, 4 Accounts, 2 Pre-CU Jedi (1 Pre-9). Awaiting - Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, Earthrise.
Unfortunatly no matter how good an MMO is, without population its nothing.
A player is much like a single human cell, the body needs a certain amount of these cells to survive, and its needs a certain amount to flourish.
Some mmo's tick over in an almost comatose state, bairly alive sustained only by a hand full of stubborn players.
But on the bright side, when these MMO's finally die their players continue to exist strengthening another games population, as malice as it may sound sometimes I wish that these near-death MMO's would just let go.
Honestly... The reviewer may be correct in saying the game world felt empty... I mean it would feel empty if 5 thousand people were on the server the world is that massive.
Ryzom is one of those "need to get into a guild asap" games. I'm sure if the review did such a thing he wouldnt have been so hard on the games lack of population.
Oh and Ryzom's community isnt going anywhere, they have some pretty wicked large scale OP battles constantly. player run contests and events, dev events and with a bit of pre-planning they even raid together.
The game is filled with drama and social ties that keeps the game going. Amazing gathering/crafting, fun exploration and truely a challenging game world.
Ryzom is a Gem and with the amount of shit on this market that completely fails I hope it keeps on going even with its small 5k playerbase.
Honestly... The reviewer may be correct in saying the game world felt empty... I mean it would feel empty if 5 thousand people were on the server the world is that massive.
Ryzom is one of those "need to get into a guild asap" games. I'm sure if the review did such a thing he wouldnt have been so hard on the games lack of population.
Oh and Ryzom's community isnt going anywhere, they have some pretty wicked large scale OP battles constantly. player run contests and events, dev events and with a bit of pre-planning they even raid together.
The game is filled with drama and social ties that keeps the game going. Amazing gathering/crafting, fun exploration and truely a challenging game world.
Ryzom is a Gem and with the amount of shit on this market that completely fails I hope it keeps on going even with its small 5k playerbase.
I'm not trying to nit pick, but I would love to know where you get those figures of 5000?
I play on the Arispotle (english speaking server) and there is nowhere near those figures, maybe a hundred or so regular players, the "large scale OP battles", half of the participants are alts., player and dev events are sporadic at best, the "drama" on Arispotle has caused a huge chunk of the player base to leave.
What server do you play on Rockgod? I would consider moving there.
Honestly... The reviewer may be correct in saying the game world felt empty... I mean it would feel empty if 5 thousand people were on the server the world is that massive.
Ryzom is one of those "need to get into a guild asap" games. I'm sure if the review did such a thing he wouldnt have been so hard on the games lack of population.
Oh and Ryzom's community isnt going anywhere, they have some pretty wicked large scale OP battles constantly. player run contests and events, dev events and with a bit of pre-planning they even raid together.
The game is filled with drama and social ties that keeps the game going. Amazing gathering/crafting, fun exploration and truely a challenging game world.
Ryzom is a Gem and with the amount of shit on this market that completely fails I hope it keeps on going even with its small 5k playerbase.
I'm not trying to nit pick, but I would love to know where you get those figures of 5000?
I play on the Arispotle (english speaking server) and there is nowhere near those figures, maybe a hundred or so regular players, the "large scale OP battles", half of the participants are alts., player and dev events are sporadic at best, the "drama" on Arispotle has caused a huge chunk of the player base to leave.
What server do you play on Rockgod? I would consider moving there.
5k accounts were recorded combined through all three servers. considering that about 20% of those players are active at a time that would mean a couple hundred are on the server at any time. so your right in saying there are about 1-2 hundred people on.
I have to look for the link for my source.
I played on the English server. I unsubbed last month to focus more on Eve but ill be back soon.
Its true that you could potentially disregard an MMO's player quantity providing your in a good guild who successfully integrates you in their community. This, unfortunatly is very rare and unless you have played for some number of yearsalready your going to feel woefully inadequate, you wont be involved with the high end guild gaming events and you'll find yourself lonley.
Ryzom does look good! I think I did do the trial once and saw its potential, but any new player would rather consider spending 'mmo' amounts of time on a more vibrant and busy game that has more options where guilds are concerned.
Its the only Real reason ive picked up DDO again, sure its improved massivly but I get good groups almost instantly when I log on.
I would like to thank you, Adam Tingle, for this great re-review. It's honest and the current reality. We continue to work hard to make things better.
I'm sad that you had some network/stability issues and we take this very seriously. Don't hesitate to contact us to do more investigation if you want.
I want also to thanks guys who made all these great comments and continue to support Ryzom after all these years. We are really happy to have you in our community.
See you soon in Ryzom!
Vianney Lecroart
bows*
I do beleive that you are who you say you are. It is great to see you post here. It gives me a boost of hope. I have been and will always be a deciated player of Ryzom. But this post really made my day.
Thank you for all you and your team have been and are doing. To have Ryzom back is a wonderful thing.
Ive tryed Ryzom trial, but i gave up as i passed the trial island. Normaly im not a guy who searches for the best graphic, but this was simply too much for. Graphic and uglyest UI ive seen were KO reason for me. I cant judge the gameplay of Ryzom as i just played tutorial island.
PS: Yeah it felt really empty almost as i would play a single player game except you saw ppl chating in chat.
Ive tryed Ryzom trial, but i gave up as i passed the trial island. Normaly im not a guy who searches for the best graphic, but this was simply too much for. Graphic and uglyest UI ive seen were KO reason for me. I cant judge the gameplay of Ryzom as i just played tutorial island.
PS: Yeah it felt really empty almost as i would play a single player game except you saw ppl chating in chat.
Don't forget this game was developed back in 2003. So considering the age of it, it is outstanding. I still like to sit and watch the leaves and flowers move. and everything else. Have you looked at the detail. If you had stayed in the game to make it to the Lakelands, the shells and water plants are awesome.
To each his own. But thank you for at least trying it even tho it was for a short time.
Ryzom is a good game. It is a rather clan oriented game for sure. I was with Nexus back in the day, nothing like a couple of crazy Frenchman to make your game time fun. Hi Genia and Darm if you're watching! I stopped playing when I lost my comp and by the time I was able to play again, they'd shut down. Once it returned I was in other games and clans. It's been one of those games I want to go back, but just haven't yet.
At first I wasn't to sure about the graphics and animations, but they grow on you. I really got to like the magical animations. The AI is top notch. They seemingly had a mind of their own, they interacted with each other, and they would migrate during the various seasons. The yubos were just fun. The seasons made game play interesting, especially when trying to get various digging materials. Pretty cool stuff overall.
Perhaps they should offer a one month free trial. Yes, it's a long time but it would get people playing and have the ability to develop a character. Once the character has been developed, perhaps people would pay to keep it going.
Oh and like CCP/Eve online, offer to get the game at monthly cost, no purchase (if thats not already the case)
Alright, one month is a long time. heh, just trying to justify playing it myself
I haven't had any problem with running Ryzom on my laptop either. I have an older laptop that I run Windows XP on. I know that sometimes there is minor tweaking involved with laptops that use the newer Windows processer, but they are simple to fix.
Originally posted by Toquio3
Its weird that you had problems running the game. I run it on a 5 year old machine, a true pos and it runs fairly well.
Agree on the population. Although being in a guild helps finding people to do stuff with, the game could use more people. But some just nitpick so much that they end up not enjoying a game that would totally suit their needs.
I would like to thank you, Adam Tingle, for this great re-review. It's honest and the current reality. We continue to work hard to make things better.
I'm sad that you had some network/stability issues and we take this very seriously. Don't hesitate to contact us to do more investigation if you want.
I want also to thanks guys who made all these great comments and continue to support Ryzom after all these years. We are really happy to have you in our community.
See you soon in Ryzom!
Vianney Lecroart
I dont play any more, It was more a group game and simply didnt have the population for it when I played. While I never griefed or bad mouthed the game and wont to this day I can say two things. Reduce the chained spawns, return the unlimited free Island. Maybe even expand it. From what I recall that Island was busy and there was a desire to play this game. If even 10% of that converted to Sub you would have a solid base. Even after I sub'ed I stayed on noob Island for a while because it was poulateted. Traffic in this game is critical, or was anyway.
One thing i will say about Ryzom is that it still looks good after all this time, it's held up really well.
I agree with others that have posted here, it's too party driven. This in and of itself isn't a problem when you have a moderate population, but when the population starts to dwindle it became a frustrating affair.
If you have a group of friends that want to try some other MMO out then Ryzom isn't a bad place to go, i enjoyed my time there but trying to get into -any- type of group was difficult, especially at lower levels.
I miss playing Ryzom quite a bit. I have a lot of fond memories of the game, even though none of my characters ever made it exceptionally far being a solo player primarily. The world and architecture and environment all were very surreal and had a very painterly feeling to it that I loved. It really brought out the imagination in the game.
I tried getting back into it, but found the controls encumbersome as I've since gone away from the point and click method of gaming.
It was realy the environment and ecology that drew me in to this game as well as the crafting. Curious creatures coming up to me to inspect me, and some defending their young from being attacked by aggressive creatures.
In crafting, I liked how the quality of the materials you got affected the outcome of whatever you were making. A stick wasn't just a stick. A bone wasn't just a bone, but all had varying qualities that could be used to craft, essentially the same item.
Want a wood long sword? A bone one? A steel one? What about one made from an armored carapace? The possibilities were endless. And not just within the varying materials and elements that go into the crafting, but the actual quality values of the materials. You could find a really really really good stick, or a really crappy stick. using a good stick would make a better longsword than a crappy stick, obviously, and the items overall stats reflected that, and that blew my frickin mind.
Comments
o.k. the lag stuff with Ryzom usually comes from one thing. They use UDP instead of TCP for network stuff. Some routers dont handle the UDP very well....when I played it my router just would not do it not matter what I tried. When I stuck my network cable directly into my cable modem game ran great. One of those annoying issues that would probably get fixed if they game had a real revenue stream but otherwise ends up being on the bottom of the stack.
I did not play past the free trial myself as I knew I wasnt willing to pay to play the game at the time for one major reason...lack of population. The content was also lacking in the form of interesting combat situations...IE dungeons or something similiar. All combat at the point I stopped playing - which was past newbie isle but still around the main town you go to after newbie isle - was basically killing mobs that wandered around in groups aimlessly. Nothing wrong with that as a filler but not something that would keep me occupied for long.
I think the game could easily be set up as a free to play with a store with some very basic and simple items. This would breathe new life into the game and quite likely make it viable again. I loved the skill system. I loved how you level stuff up. I loved the ability to create your own attacks and spells etc. If you have not tried the game out and dont know what I am talking about...the free trial (assuming they still have it) is well worth the time. You wont get the full effect of the skill system untill you have spent enough time to at least get off the newbie isle so that would be my recomendation.
For me the graphics were fine, overall gameplay was fine, population was big minus, lack of interesting content was a big minus. They do have a lot of tools in the game that could remedy the two big minus's but it would require a company to think outside of the box only a little bit to do it.
For me if I was a low budget game company I would try to buy the game...use all the systems that were created in the game and make a brand new game with a brand new engine all the while making the first game free to play to get some revenue coming in. I bet you could make a good updated game for under $10M that is better than most of the crap that is out there today.
Personally, I think it should switch to a free to play model with an item shop.
That would bring in gamers
IS it still UDP only??
Overall, I liked the game. The ecosystem is still one of the most realistic I've ever experienced in an online game, the creature AI is just amazing. That being said, the resource gathering is complicated to the point of being annoying, and the lack of population truly is a point of contention.
I mean really, you can DIE while gathering? Truly?
I like involved crafting systems, but dying while gathering takes the cake for me. From what I understand it gets easier and more profitable as you learn more skills, but this game is even less hospitable to the novice than EVE in terms of crafting.
The community is grand... until you question a certain game mechanic. At that point, they get all FANBOY on you, insult you, and tell you to leave. I'm not talking about an insult, or poorly worded critique (which IMO are deserving of flaming), I'm talking an honest-to-God bit of constructive criticism. Say anything against the game, and they pounce like a group of hungry cougars. In my own experience, I had a good time until I made a remark that resource gathering was tedious and boring. The flaming and insults which ensued were the stuff of legend. This community is WAY too defensive.
That being said, I recommend the game for those whom are seeking something deeper than 'the next raid'. I just hope the community that exists can learn to live with the fact that not everyone who plays will agree that this game is GOD.
I am playing Ryzom now for a good year. And I like the game.
In most games you are always doing grinding. Sorry to say, but grinding is no real fun.
In Ryzom you can feel free to do what you like. Yeah you can do some of the quests that are offered to you. But you can also wander around and explore new areas. You are free in what you do.
For some this is bad, because they need the strong hand, that leads them from point A to B and say kill 10 stupid mobs to get a new sword. I personally like the freedom to do, what i like.
And Ryzom has no class system as many other systems. You can specialize in everything over the time and you are not restricted to what you learn. I said over the time, because you need a lot of time to get high levels in all areas.
Havesting may be boring to some players... and yes you can get killed by doing it. The mobs around will watch you and may find you interesting enough to take bite
Its like a real life. So while casting a spell that takes some time, it also may take some time, to turn in between around and run away. That makes it more realistic. Harvesting will take some time - and is mostly a solo job. In the beginning it is frustrating, because gathering 1 or 2 Materials out of the ground takes some time. But with the time, it gets faster and more Materials can be gathered in the time. There are areas where you can harvest easily, without fear of aggro Mobs. But the interesting part to harvest are the Prime Roots area. There are more aggro Mobs and you have to watch your back while digging to stay alive. Thats not boring. Especially because there you can find the better materials to craft your weapons with.
The crafting system is unique at all. Dependend on the materials choosen, the resulting equipment varies in its values. But the best recipees are not always using the "Best" mats at all, but to place some lesser mats in there as well.
For Fighting you have 3 main areas. Melee, Gunnery or offensive magic. Each specialises with the time. So maybe you are very good with using your 2 handed sword, but with a dagger you can only clean your fingernails. The offensive actions can be done alone, but it is easier to do it in small teams. And teammates are easily to find, just ask in the universe chat.
The starting island (Silan) is quite nice, to learn the game mechanics a bit. But often i hear, that there is almost nobody there. So move quickly to the main area. Here the Homins of Atys will welcome you and help you where ever possible to get used to the game (at least on Leanon the german server, this is common)
If you like a game, that does not place you in a corset, that gives you freedom to do, what you like, you should give Ryzom a try with the 21days free trial and move after a few levels on Silan to the mainland.
There is everything for PvE, PvP, Roleplay and just having fun.
Hello,
I'm Vianney Lecroart, the CTO behind Ryzom.
I would like to thank you, Adam Tingle, for this great re-review. It's honest and the current reality. We continue to work hard to make things better.
I'm sad that you had some network/stability issues and we take this very seriously. Don't hesitate to contact us to do more investigation if you want.
I want also to thanks guys who made all these great comments and continue to support Ryzom after all these years. We are really happy to have you in our community.
See you soon in Ryzom!
Vianney Lecroart
If you are who you say you are this makes a refreshing change.
So many game companys focus on their own forums way too much. They should spread out and see what people say of their game when they are not under the restrictive rules of their own forums.
OK, well firstly, here is a rundown of the DDO sub service, the bottom line is that the monthly sub is probably the most useful, but the diversity of subscription costs, is mind boggling and just too confusing (for these old brain cells) to fathom easily.
http://furlugedepot.com/2009/09/15/the-true-price-of-ddo-unlimited-free-to-play/
The Ryzom subscription is very cheap, So should be able to stand on its own merits, but as an "added value" if they took Catalyzers out of OPs and gave them to players as a part of their subscription rate, it may make an attractive proposition, to new players, but the way they currently stand, all they do is make the high level players more powerful and annoy those with no easy access to them, other than to go "begging" for them from guilded players.
On to Ryzom the game, it (for me) is one of the most beautiful universes, with some of the most evocative scenery I have ever seen in a MMOG, its a beautiful world to inhabit, check out Acridiels movies, the eco system and the actual monsters are quite awesome, compared to the dross in most MMO's :
http://www.ryzom-movies.de/
On saying that, it is unfortunate that is has such a tiny population, I would even say that a significant number of characters you see in game, are alts of players, I know players with more than one or two subscriptions, dual boxing their way through the game.
Its hard to get a team, because the dual boxers dont need help, so unless you are in a guild, good luck on getting a team together, so its not new player friendly, in that respect, sure you can get tons of advice and gear, even if non guilded, but getting people to actually play with (the essence of a MMO for me), is next to impossible.
As regards crafting/harvesting, well there are so many players that have maxed out those skills, that it is pointless grinding those skills to level 250, just to be able to make one weapon ever few months of Q250 for yourself.
This basically leaves combat, the game is probably solo-able to lv 100, but after that you will need to get a team to progress in a timely fashion.
It is a universe that in my opinion, should be experienced by all MMOG players, just to see if you would fit into that setting and maybe stay on playing it after the trial period finishes, it is unique in many respects and beautiful in all.
As regards performance, I have played Ryzom on a 500mhz 1gig ram PC, and a current Win 7 2.93 ghz with 6 gigs of ram and it ran fine on both, but of course exceptionally well on the 6 gig PC.
Overall I think it was a fair review.
Unfortunatly no matter how good an MMO is, without population its nothing.
A player is much like a single human cell, the body needs a certain amount of these cells to survive, and its needs a certain amount to flourish.
Some mmo's tick over in an almost comatose state, bairly alive sustained only by a hand full of stubborn players.
But on the bright side, when these MMO's finally die their players continue to exist strengthening another games population, as malice as it may sound sometimes I wish that these near-death MMO's would just let go.
I played Ryzom for 8 or 9 months a while back and really enjoyed the game. The only reason that I stopped playing was the shutdown, then when it came back online I was involved in something else and never returned. I generally prefer sandbox MMO's to themeparks, so it was no surprise that I enjoyed this game.
As others have said the ecosystem in the game is truly unsurpassed in any MMO. Migrating herbivores, stalking predators, curious yubo's that like to 'investigate' your feet, changing seasons... The game pulls this all off with aplomb.
The stanza system is truly unique, being able to build your own attacks/spells is very refreshing. Gathering and crafting are the best since Pre-CU SWG. I find crafting in pretty much all other MMO's nothing but an annoying minor inconvenience, SWG and Ryzom had crafting done correctly, Vanguard isn't bad in this regard either actually. All other MMO's might as well take crafting out the game tbh.
Last thing that I'd like to mention about the game is Ryzom Ring. It lets players create their own quests and storylines for other players to experience. This was introduced to SoR long before NGE SWG's 'Storyteller' system or CoX's 'Mission Architect' system again proving what an innovative game Ryzom actually is.
I'm really glad that this article turned up as it has gave me a reminder of how good this game actually is. I can see myself subbing for a return to Atys in the near future.
MMORPG History:
Playing - EVE Online.
Played (Retired) - AO, SWG, MxO, WoW, RFO, SoR, CoX, EQ2, GW, L2, Vanguard, LotRO, AoC, TCoS, Aion.
Favourite MMO - Pre-CU SWG, 3 Years, 4 Accounts, 2 Pre-CU Jedi (1 Pre-9).
Awaiting - Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World, Earthrise.
Honestly... The reviewer may be correct in saying the game world felt empty... I mean it would feel empty if 5 thousand people were on the server the world is that massive.
Ryzom is one of those "need to get into a guild asap" games. I'm sure if the review did such a thing he wouldnt have been so hard on the games lack of population.
Oh and Ryzom's community isnt going anywhere, they have some pretty wicked large scale OP battles constantly. player run contests and events, dev events and with a bit of pre-planning they even raid together.
The game is filled with drama and social ties that keeps the game going. Amazing gathering/crafting, fun exploration and truely a challenging game world.
Ryzom is a Gem and with the amount of shit on this market that completely fails I hope it keeps on going even with its small 5k playerbase.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
5k accounts were recorded combined through all three servers. considering that about 20% of those players are active at a time that would mean a couple hundred are on the server at any time. so your right in saying there are about 1-2 hundred people on.
I have to look for the link for my source.
I played on the English server. I unsubbed last month to focus more on Eve but ill be back soon.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Its true that you could potentially disregard an MMO's player quantity providing your in a good guild who successfully integrates you in their community. This, unfortunatly is very rare and unless you have played for some number of yearsalready your going to feel woefully inadequate, you wont be involved with the high end guild gaming events and you'll find yourself lonley.
Ryzom does look good! I think I did do the trial once and saw its potential, but any new player would rather consider spending 'mmo' amounts of time on a more vibrant and busy game that has more options where guilds are concerned.
Its the only Real reason ive picked up DDO again, sure its improved massivly but I get good groups almost instantly when I log on.
OK mate thanks for that
bows*
I do beleive that you are who you say you are. It is great to see you post here. It gives me a boost of hope. I have been and will always be a deciated player of Ryzom. But this post really made my day.
Thank you for all you and your team have been and are doing. To have Ryzom back is a wonderful thing.
Hello all
Ive tryed Ryzom trial, but i gave up as i passed the trial island. Normaly im not a guy who searches for the best graphic, but this was simply too much for. Graphic and uglyest UI ive seen were KO reason for me. I cant judge the gameplay of Ryzom as i just played tutorial island.
PS: Yeah it felt really empty almost as i would play a single player game except you saw ppl chating in chat.
EvE doors
See the best doors on EvE-on!
Don't forget this game was developed back in 2003. So considering the age of it, it is outstanding. I still like to sit and watch the leaves and flowers move. and everything else. Have you looked at the detail. If you had stayed in the game to make it to the Lakelands, the shells and water plants are awesome.
To each his own. But thank you for at least trying it even tho it was for a short time.
Ryzom is a good game. It is a rather clan oriented game for sure. I was with Nexus back in the day, nothing like a couple of crazy Frenchman to make your game time fun. Hi Genia and Darm if you're watching!
I stopped playing when I lost my comp and by the time I was able to play again, they'd shut down. Once it returned I was in other games and clans. It's been one of those games I want to go back, but just haven't yet.
At first I wasn't to sure about the graphics and animations, but they grow on you. I really got to like the magical animations. The AI is top notch. They seemingly had a mind of their own, they interacted with each other, and they would migrate during the various seasons. The yubos were just fun. The seasons made game play interesting, especially when trying to get various digging materials. Pretty cool stuff overall.
I thought this game was "dead and forgotten". Interesting how it still has life.
Perhaps they should offer a one month free trial. Yes, it's a long time but it would get people playing and have the ability to develop a character. Once the character has been developed, perhaps people would pay to keep it going.
Oh and like CCP/Eve online, offer to get the game at monthly cost, no purchase (if thats not already the case)
Alright, one month is a long time. heh, just trying to justify playing it myself
www.ryzom.com
I dont play any more, It was more a group game and simply didnt have the population for it when I played. While I never griefed or bad mouthed the game and wont to this day I can say two things. Reduce the chained spawns, return the unlimited free Island. Maybe even expand it. From what I recall that Island was busy and there was a desire to play this game. If even 10% of that converted to Sub you would have a solid base. Even after I sub'ed I stayed on noob Island for a while because it was poulateted. Traffic in this game is critical, or was anyway.
Ryzom, now that brings back some memories.
One thing i will say about Ryzom is that it still looks good after all this time, it's held up really well.
I agree with others that have posted here, it's too party driven. This in and of itself isn't a problem when you have a moderate population, but when the population starts to dwindle it became a frustrating affair.
If you have a group of friends that want to try some other MMO out then Ryzom isn't a bad place to go, i enjoyed my time there but trying to get into -any- type of group was difficult, especially at lower levels.
I miss playing Ryzom quite a bit. I have a lot of fond memories of the game, even though none of my characters ever made it exceptionally far being a solo player primarily. The world and architecture and environment all were very surreal and had a very painterly feeling to it that I loved. It really brought out the imagination in the game.
I tried getting back into it, but found the controls encumbersome as I've since gone away from the point and click method of gaming.
It was realy the environment and ecology that drew me in to this game as well as the crafting. Curious creatures coming up to me to inspect me, and some defending their young from being attacked by aggressive creatures.
In crafting, I liked how the quality of the materials you got affected the outcome of whatever you were making. A stick wasn't just a stick. A bone wasn't just a bone, but all had varying qualities that could be used to craft, essentially the same item.
Want a wood long sword? A bone one? A steel one? What about one made from an armored carapace? The possibilities were endless. And not just within the varying materials and elements that go into the crafting, but the actual quality values of the materials. You could find a really really really good stick, or a really crappy stick. using a good stick would make a better longsword than a crappy stick, obviously, and the items overall stats reflected that, and that blew my frickin mind.