Where is the direction in Ryzom ?

[klogger]

Ok, I have been playing for a while now (3-4 weeks) as a Fyros and really don't understand the point of the game.

Reading the forums it seems like we are meant to build up the NPC guard in order to help fight of the Kitten invasion. I found one person on the way to Dyron who asked me to craft armour (forget exactly what he asked - maybe a package of armour) for the Fyros Imperial Guard which I didn't take at the time. When I went back to him to find out more, he was gone. How did people find out that this was the aim of the game? After 3-4 weeks I would have thought someone in game would have told me (I mean an NPC and not another player).

I am fighting in a team rarely less than 3 (occassionally 2 teams with 12 people in) all with levels 25 - 40. We never manage to get further than Dyron so do we just have to hope we can find someone to get us out of the area or mindlessly kill the same monster (Prime Isam and Goari) over and over agian until we reach level 100+ ?

The missions seem a little pointless, OK they raise fame and get me dappers but they don't actually lead me anywhere. No more info about the games objective and they don't seem to lead onto other missions. OK, hopefully the patch for the encylopedia will fix this but the encylopedia was only introduced a few days ago wasn't it ? What did people do before that ? Run around and mindlessly kill things for weeks on end, never leaving the starting city?

The game so far looks like it could have great potential with lots of tricks available in it (modular action, pretty spells, team play etc.) - it just doesn't seem to have direction. It seems as if lower level characters (20-40 is as far as we have got) have a very grinding time trying to level up to be able to get somewhere new - is it possible to get somewhere new (and I mean with an objective and not just to Thesos which is probably just another city much like Pyr - I know great waterfall but ....) at higher levels or am I stuck in the same grind for ever?

Basically what is the objective other than 'I have a new shiny pair of boots' or 'I am now level 150 but doing the same as I did at level 10'?

the barman gave me one mission (amber cube which I know was buggy and no complaints - it happens) but other than that it is just 'deliver a package to ....' or 'kill some intelligent plants' which I get again and again when I log back in.

And hints about what you found enjoyable appreciated.

[klogger]

SORRY THIS IS MEANT TO BE IN THE ENGLISH FORUM SO HAVE POSTED THERE AS WELL.

[plarfman]

What do you look to get from any game?

[neiana]

I enjoy running around, exploring different areas and doing various tasks for various tribes. I also did a lot of work to have access to all 4 racial areas of the game - which was a lot of fun. Right now at 82 I can only hunt in maybe 1/3 of each Racial area solo ... maybe 1/2. Then there's all the roots which are incredibly beautiful... I actually found those more interesting when the Kitin patrolled the area, it gave a sense of being.

As it is, there are so many things to see in the game - and levelling to be able to fight to those areas, grouping with others and charging in, or sneaking in and around them to get a look are all very fulfilling. It just gives me one more clue about what happened before I found my way to the refugee camp.

- N

[klogger]

Thanks for the reply especially about the things you enjoyed in the game.

I think the problem for me is that it seems very circular. The missions I have found and been able to complete have always been available again once I have done them which leaves me thinking that it is pointless to do them, especiallly as I don't seem to get any info that would allow me to do a different mission.

When I get to a new city it seems the same as the last one - wander about and kill the surrounding wildlife - which always appears again shortly afterwards.

I don't understand what my goal is. In most games I have to kill the big baddie or retreive item 'x' and save the world. There is a purpose to playing that makes me think 'Well the world is now a safer place because of my heroic efforts!'. In Ryzom it seems that the reward is in seeing new scenery, pretty as it may be that just doesn't do it for me. I have seen plenty of scenery in other games that makes me think 'pretty'.

I think I can get another couple of weeks from the game and see if I find what I am looking for as the next patch may make it more the game I am looking for (Encylopedia getting fixed).

Maybe I am just missing the point of this genre of game or have been spoiled by storylines of other games like Doom and FarCry.

Thanks for the replies.

[madnak]

In this game everyone shares a world. You can't individually save Atys, there are just too many players for that. You can, however, join in group events and help out.

Other than that, the point of the game is what you make it. With rites and outposts there should be more options there. But it's very freeform, you aren't pushed into a specific role. For some people that might be a turn-off. For me that's what appeals.

[xenofur]

the problem is, you are used to single player games, which have a storyline that is centered around you, the player and can be played out in a few hours per day, completely according to your wishes.
with ryzom you have something completely different, it has many players and a storyline that doesn't conform to your free time and is not centered around you, it's going on all the time and is based on all the players. also ryzom is by no means complete at the moment and it will be a few months before the most important parts(outposts, big quests that actually work, huge storyline events) get integrated. a sad side-effect of this is that ryzom can at times become very boring and may seem to consist of nothing besides power leveling.
but what is really going on, is that your character is one of many in one huge living world and what most see as leveling is just the daily life of your character(hunting, building, gathering). now these missions were supposed to be only place-holders, but several mishaps put quite a dent in the original time schedule and they have existed for so long that they have even been integrated into the quest system now.
what comes nearest to what you are seeking for are the offical story line events, which occur at semi-regular intervals. in the past they have been things that happened in one evening and were ended in one evening too, examples are: invasions, country-wide invasions where the kami and karavan faction were in a race to free their respective lands first, invasion in the nexus based on the appearance of a sap source which was the goal for both the kami and karavan factions and the latest: invasion of each continent over more than a week with the possibility of gaining real rewards and an infrastructure to build up a defense network. i can't tell you when the next event will occur, other than a general timeframe of a month maximum(going by experience), but there is one thing i can tell you: it's going to be bigger than the previous ones =) (on of the event managers said they regard events like the last one as small fry compared to what they are still holding in store)
so now what are your goals? as in every mmorpg, there is only one goal: to become stronger as you become stronger, you'll also get access to other continents with other mobs and also other quests(when they are fixed and also depending on your fame) and most importantly, you'll be able to play a bigger role in the upcoming events

bit of rambling there, but i hope it helps, if things are unclear, don't hesitate to ask

p.s.: forgot to add something, ryzom is also a riddle, you won't get many pointers here and any piece of information you'll have to find for yourself or get told by other players

[vaquero1]

the problem is, you are used to single player games, which have a storyline that is centered around you, the player and can be played out in a few hours per day, completely according to your wishes.
with ryzom you have something completely different, it has many players and a storyline that doesn't conform to your free time and is not centered around you, it's going on all the time and is based on all the players. also ryzom is by no means complete at the moment and it will be a few months before the most important parts(outposts, big quests that actually work, huge storyline events) get integrated. a sad side-effect of this is that ryzom can at times become very boring and may seem to consist of nothing besides power leveling.
but what is really going on, is that your character is one of many in one huge living world and what most see as leveling is just the daily life of your character(hunting, building, gathering). now these missions were supposed to be only place-holders, but several mishaps put quite a dent in the original time schedule and they have existed for so long that they have even been integrated into the quest system now.
what comes nearest to what you are seeking for are the offical story line events, which occur at semi-regular intervals. in the past they have been things that happened in one evening and were ended in one evening too, examples are: invasions, country-wide invasions where the kami and karavan faction were in a race to free their respective lands first, invasion in the nexus based on the appearance of a sap source which was the goal for both the kami and karavan factions and the latest: invasion of each continent over more than a week with the possibility of gaining real rewards and an infrastructure to build up a defense network. i can't tell you when the next event will occur, other than a general timeframe of a month maximum(going by experience), but there is one thing i can tell you: it's going to be bigger than the previous ones =) (on of the event managers said they regard events like the last one as small fry compared to what they are still holding in store)
so now what are your goals? as in every mmorpg, there is only one goal: to become stronger as you become stronger, you'll also get access to other continents with other mobs and also other quests(when they are fixed and also depending on your fame) and most importantly, you'll be able to play a bigger role in the upcoming events

bit of rambling there, but i hope it helps, if things are unclear, don't hesitate to ask

p.s.: forgot to add something, ryzom is also a riddle, you won't get many pointers here and any piece of information you'll have to find for yourself or get told by other players

That said it all 4 me nice one *)

[sidusar]

I think the problem for me is that it seems very circular. The missions I have found and been able to complete have always been available again once I have done them which leaves me thinking that it is pointless to do them, especiallly as I don't seem to get any info that would allow me to do a different mission.

I agree the problem seems to be that you're used to singleplayer games, where you're controlling the hero who singlehandedly saves humanity by doing quests that nobody else can accomplish. In multiplayer games like Ryzom you're just another person out of hundreds of others, living a normal everyday life. The missions you are doing are not quests to save the world, they're the daily chores that need to be done to keep the community thriving. Local wildlife will multiply after a while so they'll need to be hunted again to be kept in check. Materials will be used up after a while so new materials will need to be foraged/quartered. Messages and packages need to be transfered from one place to another on a daily basis.

As for the storyline, there is one, but only up until this point in time. Unlike for singleplayer games, the story isn't already completed. The idea is that the players make the story as the game goes along. Nevrax has said that the actions of the players will affect how the story progresses, though I don't know how far they'll go in that. Could mean we'll once in a while be presented with situations offering a few different outcomes depending on our actions, or could mean that the event managers will be constantly watching all our actions and actively shaping the world around it. Either way, it will take a lot of players working together to make any difference.

Lastly, I do agree it would be nice if there were some individual accomplishments as well; some tasks that give you a permanent and unique reward upon completion. (Unique in that each person can only get it once, not unique in that you're the only person who has it.) The only thing I've done so far that was like this was sneaking to other towns to get the spawn points. But the encyclopedia should fill up this gap quite nicely once it's fully implemented

[xcomvic]

I SOLOed To Fryos last night with my Steed... omfg that was a lot of fun!!! I died only twice, once at some Kami Tribe NPC Camp, I thought they would not kill me, but I was wrong... and then again trying to rescue my steed on the way back to Hidden Source (i wasnt paying attention and some torbak sideswipped me), but on my third try, i was able to not only rescue my trusty steed, but i also made it to Thesos without incident! of course I tried to get to Pyr, but after dying 3 more time and having to almost abandon my steed in some Springs, I rescued him again and treked back to Thesos for a good night's rest.