I'm not saying Ryzom isn't a good game, maybe it is..i haven't play it.But if is so good that you say why has low population? I'm just asking nothing offensive:)
2. a concept that simply doesn´t sit so well with "the masses". Players that are used to Games like WoW, LotRo and now Aion, often have trouble finding their bearings in a "pathless" world. Many newbes, that come form said games, do complain about there being no "sense of direction" in the game. There´s nothing that "points them the way", no loooooong questline that finally leads to max. level and then so called "End Game".
Ryzom doesn´t do that, it leaves many things up to the player him/herself. To figure out what to do and what "must" be done to get from point A to B, In more than one sense. In my opinion its a more "adult" game. Adult in the sense of "grown up", a game where there´s more to bear than simply some Items, you may well come to bear a certain kind of responsibility. First for your own way of playing and having fun, and almost equally second for the way of playing and fun of other players. Because
3. Ryzom is pretty hard to solo. Mind you, it is possible, no question about it. But its pretty dam hard and the game expects you to invest more than just dps and some mousclicking into it. It coaxes you into thinking, really using your brain to figure out some things. Be it crafting, or be it sneaking through the wilds. Some players, who can´t leave the beaten path of "grinding to max, to be Über", think these are a waste of time and simply copy what they and others think is "the best way to play" over and over again. Missing a lot of fun and excitement along the way. I think this is rather sad, but everyone may play as he/she likes it.
4. You can play just the way you like it.
Wether you are a hardcore "grinder" or a harcore "RPer", you will find your place in Ryzom and no-one will think any less of you. Grind if you must, level to max. in two weeks if you´ve got the time, PvP all you like, or leave this alone and smell the roses on the wayside to compose an epic about the beauty of your beloveds eyes. Just do it. And just have fun. I sometimes get the feeling that many players are simply overwhelmed by the concept if NOT being stuck in one "class" and/or "skill path".
5. The open skill and stanza system.
While by no means perfect, these systems provide you with some unique opportunities. Building your own way of fighting and magical force has its definite appeal. And while many don´t delve deeply enough into the system to really learn its benefits, by simply copying time proven methods again, you may just as well become a most unusual fighter in a sea of "the usual", if you just take your time figuring everything out. But many do not have the patience needed for that. Which leads us to,
6. Time is of the issue
I think the biggest problem is, that Ryzom takes time to truly understand it in all its intricacies. And sadly most players do not want that. They want an easy to understand, easy to play, fast paced, easy satisfaction game that carters to the need of "accomplishment" in the most basic and, most significant, the fastest way. The masses do not want to bore over literally thousands of different combinations to find THE recipe for a great sword. The masses do not want to have to learn the best way to gather a certain resource. They want it all at a click and that´s it. Maybe recipes may contain up to four ingredients, but these have to be easy to harvest and to be found by looking out for color coded boulders, or signs on a provided map. Everything must carter to them. The Game must provide. Not the other way around.
And here´s where Ryzom is unique. And, if you ask me and many others, in a good way so.
For I don´t like my new sword to be drawn from the corpse of a pig half the size of the blade, or my new clothes to look just the way those of that guy over there do. I don´t like to be chained to a "role" I have to play with my character, in the game.
I like my character to be able to play some and any role in the game. I like the way how I can switch from tank to healer in a few seconds, I love the way how I´m able to really make an impression with my character, by doing what I like best. Writing and composing songs. Allthewhile being able to hold my own in the most vicious fights against hordes of monsters. And to later tell a tale about it, with nobody saying: "Ah, yes I did kill that same dragon in just the same way yesterday."
Ryzom is unique, in many ways, and many players sadly and simply do not like "unique".
But, as I always say:
We dare to be different!
Do you dare to adapt?
CU
SaM
Ryzom, we dare to be different. Do you dare to adapt?
Matis people are frail, pale, they live in the trees...literally IN the forest trees. Their haircuts look a bit elfic with lots of braids, sometimes. Even the males look somewhat feminine... the resemblance with elves stop there. They don't shoot bows. They are mostly affiliated with the Karavan's technolords, they also genetically modify plants to acomplish whatever purpose they have in mind.
Fyros are short hairy tanned people, known mostly for their roughness. However, they live in the desert, not in the caves of a mountain. They did carve their capital (Pyr) from the trunk of a fallen tree, though. They don't have a long beard, but the guys do have sideburns.
Trykers look like gnomes. They have big eyes, and they are short and cute. They are crafty : they invented a way to turn the wind into energy by crafting those windmills you can see in the Lakelands. They live in very beautiful floating cities.
Similar, yet different. People shouldn't be scared of a bit of originalty.
The Zorais... well, I've never seen anything similar in any other game. Only the recently released Avatar movie has creatures that resemble them... a bit.
--------- Sherkalyn Crazy Marshmallow Lady Guild Leader of The Exodus Syndicate in Ryzom "Experience Perfection :: Unharness Your Power" www.exodusgs.com
From my personal experience the old newbie area was just awful.
I first tried Ryzom back in... 05 or 06. It was lagged to hell, completely empty (I only saw 2 other players in a whole week) and didn't make a lot of sense.
I tried it again after they introduced the new newbie area and was instantly hooked.
I think Ryzom suffered from several problems like this back in its early days which prevented it from realising its potential, in terms of playerbase size.
1. The game is pretty much about socializing and player interaction. The poor housing is completely contradicting to this and should get polished to a level like SWG for instance
2. The graphics are ... "extraordinary": Kinda "dirty", kinda comical. This isn't necessarily a bad thing - but you need to get used to it and mostly/honestly is not appealing o everyone.
3. The character customization is limited, there are many look alikes.
I also think Ryzom is a great game. It has a few flaws tho, imho:
3.
The character customization is limited, there are many look alikes.
There's a flip side to this though.
In games like WoW and other EQ clones there's normally a single set of raid gear that every member of each class aspires to - so eventually nearly everyone ends up dressed exactly the same. Every time I flew into Ironforge I had the feeling I was dropping in on a clone convention. More recent releases like Aion escape this by letting you apply one item's statistics to another, so you have a customised look.
But Ryzom has never suffered from this problem. You might have slightly limited options for customising your physical appearance, but a huge amount of freedom when it comes to dress - which accounts for most of your appearance. You can mix and match 5-6 armour pieces from 4 racial sets, each with 3 versions (some of the lower qual ones actually look better) with 8 colours.
Not all of those combinations look good - some should possibly get you arrested - but there is a lot of scope to customise your look there. I always felt Ryzom really shone over games like WoW in this respect.
And thank the gods of gaming, we ain´t got midgets with giant heads, or walking beanstalks, with needlepoint heads running around.
Or folks with almost no legs and a normal upper body, gigantic eyes set in a face much to small for them, noses that put Pinochio to shame and other misbegotten shapes that are named, oh so funnily, "Dumbsucker", or "Doveslayer", or "Nolegsbiatch"... and other "nice" things I´ve been forced to endure on Aion servers.
CU
SaM
Ryzom, we dare to be different. Do you dare to adapt?
The character customization is limited, there are many look alikes.
But since you can get new haircuts and tatoos on the mainland, it's also very possible to look very unique. In 2 or 3 years on Atys, I've only seen ONE person with the same haircut and color as me, and it's still easy to tell us apart by the tatoos and clothes. (Aside from the names floating over our heads, that is. On a pretty screenshot, all those captions are turned off.)
--------- Sherkalyn Crazy Marshmallow Lady Guild Leader of The Exodus Syndicate in Ryzom "Experience Perfection :: Unharness Your Power" www.exodusgs.com
Comments
Ryzom got some unique features and a deep living ecosystem.
If you like it, you play it. Regardless of the population.
Nickname registered on www.mynickname.org
Ryzom doesn't hold your hand and tell you what to do, and most people don't like that.
1. too little exposure and overall advertisement
2. a concept that simply doesn´t sit so well with "the masses". Players that are used to Games like WoW, LotRo and now Aion, often have trouble finding their bearings in a "pathless" world. Many newbes, that come form said games, do complain about there being no "sense of direction" in the game. There´s nothing that "points them the way", no loooooong questline that finally leads to max. level and then so called "End Game".
Ryzom doesn´t do that, it leaves many things up to the player him/herself. To figure out what to do and what "must" be done to get from point A to B, In more than one sense. In my opinion its a more "adult" game. Adult in the sense of "grown up", a game where there´s more to bear than simply some Items, you may well come to bear a certain kind of responsibility. First for your own way of playing and having fun, and almost equally second for the way of playing and fun of other players. Because
3. Ryzom is pretty hard to solo. Mind you, it is possible, no question about it. But its pretty dam hard and the game expects you to invest more than just dps and some mousclicking into it. It coaxes you into thinking, really using your brain to figure out some things. Be it crafting, or be it sneaking through the wilds. Some players, who can´t leave the beaten path of "grinding to max, to be Über", think these are a waste of time and simply copy what they and others think is "the best way to play" over and over again. Missing a lot of fun and excitement along the way. I think this is rather sad, but everyone may play as he/she likes it.
4. You can play just the way you like it.
Wether you are a hardcore "grinder" or a harcore "RPer", you will find your place in Ryzom and no-one will think any less of you. Grind if you must, level to max. in two weeks if you´ve got the time, PvP all you like, or leave this alone and smell the roses on the wayside to compose an epic about the beauty of your beloveds eyes. Just do it. And just have fun. I sometimes get the feeling that many players are simply overwhelmed by the concept if NOT being stuck in one "class" and/or "skill path".
5. The open skill and stanza system.
While by no means perfect, these systems provide you with some unique opportunities. Building your own way of fighting and magical force has its definite appeal. And while many don´t delve deeply enough into the system to really learn its benefits, by simply copying time proven methods again, you may just as well become a most unusual fighter in a sea of "the usual", if you just take your time figuring everything out. But many do not have the patience needed for that. Which leads us to,
6. Time is of the issue
I think the biggest problem is, that Ryzom takes time to truly understand it in all its intricacies. And sadly most players do not want that. They want an easy to understand, easy to play, fast paced, easy satisfaction game that carters to the need of "accomplishment" in the most basic and, most significant, the fastest way. The masses do not want to bore over literally thousands of different combinations to find THE recipe for a great sword. The masses do not want to have to learn the best way to gather a certain resource. They want it all at a click and that´s it. Maybe recipes may contain up to four ingredients, but these have to be easy to harvest and to be found by looking out for color coded boulders, or signs on a provided map. Everything must carter to them. The Game must provide. Not the other way around.
And here´s where Ryzom is unique. And, if you ask me and many others, in a good way so.
For I don´t like my new sword to be drawn from the corpse of a pig half the size of the blade, or my new clothes to look just the way those of that guy over there do. I don´t like to be chained to a "role" I have to play with my character, in the game.
I like my character to be able to play some and any role in the game. I like the way how I can switch from tank to healer in a few seconds, I love the way how I´m able to really make an impression with my character, by doing what I like best. Writing and composing songs. Allthewhile being able to hold my own in the most vicious fights against hordes of monsters. And to later tell a tale about it, with nobody saying: "Ah, yes I did kill that same dragon in just the same way yesterday."
Ryzom is unique, in many ways, and many players sadly and simply do not like "unique".
But, as I always say:
We dare to be different!
Do you dare to adapt?
CU
SaM
Do you dare to adapt?
Why Ryzom has low population ?
- no elves, no dwarves
- no strong licence
- no "as big as you" swords
- it was closed 10 months
- it's an old game. Peoples doesn't want to try old games
- no marketing
Ryzom is a wonderful game. A gem hidden under an old and dusty carpet.
Well, if it's just a naming issue...
Matis people are frail, pale, they live in the trees...literally IN the forest trees. Their haircuts look a bit elfic with lots of braids, sometimes. Even the males look somewhat feminine... the resemblance with elves stop there. They don't shoot bows. They are mostly affiliated with the Karavan's technolords, they also genetically modify plants to acomplish whatever purpose they have in mind.
Fyros are short hairy tanned people, known mostly for their roughness. However, they live in the desert, not in the caves of a mountain. They did carve their capital (Pyr) from the trunk of a fallen tree, though. They don't have a long beard, but the guys do have sideburns.
Trykers look like gnomes. They have big eyes, and they are short and cute. They are crafty : they invented a way to turn the wind into energy by crafting those windmills you can see in the Lakelands. They live in very beautiful floating cities.
Similar, yet different. People shouldn't be scared of a bit of originalty.
The Zorais... well, I've never seen anything similar in any other game. Only the recently released Avatar movie has creatures that resemble them... a bit.
---------
Sherkalyn
Crazy Marshmallow Lady
Guild Leader of The Exodus Syndicate in Ryzom
"Experience Perfection :: Unharness Your Power"
www.exodusgs.com
From my personal experience the old newbie area was just awful.
I first tried Ryzom back in... 05 or 06. It was lagged to hell, completely empty (I only saw 2 other players in a whole week) and didn't make a lot of sense.
I tried it again after they introduced the new newbie area and was instantly hooked.
I think Ryzom suffered from several problems like this back in its early days which prevented it from realising its potential, in terms of playerbase size.
Klingons?
CU
SaM
Do you dare to adapt?
I also think Ryzom is a great game.
It has a few flaws tho, imho:
1.
The game is pretty much about socializing and player interaction.
The poor housing is completely contradicting to this and should get polished to a level like SWG for instance
2.
The graphics are ... "extraordinary": Kinda "dirty", kinda comical.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing - but you need to get used to it and mostly/honestly is not appealing o everyone.
3.
The character customization is limited, there are many look alikes.
Claude
There's a flip side to this though.
In games like WoW and other EQ clones there's normally a single set of raid gear that every member of each class aspires to - so eventually nearly everyone ends up dressed exactly the same. Every time I flew into Ironforge I had the feeling I was dropping in on a clone convention. More recent releases like Aion escape this by letting you apply one item's statistics to another, so you have a customised look.
But Ryzom has never suffered from this problem. You might have slightly limited options for customising your physical appearance, but a huge amount of freedom when it comes to dress - which accounts for most of your appearance. You can mix and match 5-6 armour pieces from 4 racial sets, each with 3 versions (some of the lower qual ones actually look better) with 8 colours.
Not all of those combinations look good - some should possibly get you arrested - but there is a lot of scope to customise your look there. I always felt Ryzom really shone over games like WoW in this respect.
And thank the gods of gaming, we ain´t got midgets with giant heads, or walking beanstalks, with needlepoint heads running around.
Or folks with almost no legs and a normal upper body, gigantic eyes set in a face much to small for them, noses that put Pinochio to shame and other misbegotten shapes that are named, oh so funnily, "Dumbsucker", or "Doveslayer", or "Nolegsbiatch"... and other "nice" things I´ve been forced to endure on Aion servers.
CU
SaM
Do you dare to adapt?
But since you can get new haircuts and tatoos on the mainland, it's also very possible to look very unique. In 2 or 3 years on Atys, I've only seen ONE person with the same haircut and color as me, and it's still easy to tell us apart by the tatoos and clothes. (Aside from the names floating over our heads, that is. On a pretty screenshot, all those captions are turned off.)
---------
Sherkalyn
Crazy Marshmallow Lady
Guild Leader of The Exodus Syndicate in Ryzom
"Experience Perfection :: Unharness Your Power"
www.exodusgs.com