So I downloaded the game a few days ago

  Its actually very good. Intellegent and interesting crafting, you can skill up both a mage and a fighter and get gear for both, it is challenging and the mobs are not a pushover ala WOW or LOTRO or EQ2 , it has missions(quests) it caters to the hard core but also certainly the casual player as well. It takes some thought to play this game but is not as confusing as Eve.     The graphics are a bit dated but certainly better than many older MMO's. The combat is OK, certainly on a par with LOTRO, not as fluid as AOC or WOW.

     The community seems helpfull,  I was out hunting and I went on the regional channel and asked if someone could help me with my mission and immediately 2 people chimed in and within a little while we had grouped.  I was walking around camp and someone came up to me and asked if I wanted gear and proceeded to give me some nice gear, so the community is very good.

     Where the game runs into problems is the same thing that has plagued games like Vanguard, the fact that it does have a small number of people, nice as most of them are.  As on now I am on the trial Island,  I wonder if it would still be easy to find a group on the mainland?  In some ways this game is similar to Fallen Earth although I like Ryzom better.

      Any way A very good sand box game with missions it just needs more people,  Unlike other games which offer free trials there are very few things you dont get with Ryzom ( I am looking at you AOC)  you are just missing a pack mule for extra storage and you cannot put extra stroage in your apartment.  You actually get to go up to level 125 in the free trial which is going to take anyone a long time. There are also guilds of course , I have not checked those out yet but I am sure they are filled with nice people too