I Finally Figured out What Ryzom Truely is =)

[vinnyq]

This doesn't nullify the fact that the Saga of Ryzom universe, the backdrop, the settings, the story, the design, is a good one. One that intrigues, one that attracts, one that is fresh, unique, and still in development.

And if you already got that, why not make it into reality with the engine you're trying to sell?

If they had wanted to just demonstrate the engine, they would have just make Kingdom of Elf and Dwarves DRAGON QUEST!

[gecker]

The open source NeL has been around for some time, if my memory serves me correctly, about 4 years ago it started. If anyone has followed Open Source development, this would not come as a surprise that Nevrax released a commercial license for NeL. Some companies are reluctant to use software licensed under the GPL (Gnu Public License) for their development because the GPL puts certain restrictions on what they can do. By providing a commercial license, other companies may be more inclined to use NeL. A good example of a dual GPL/commercial licensed program is the MySQL database software.

[kostika]

You won't find it, and if you ask about it, you will most likely be told there no longer carying it.

Last I checked with EB they stated they got a limited shipment of it and there only getting it in on special order only, there not going to cary it anymore.

Same goes for Babages, GameStop, and a few others, there all on by-order, pre-pay only, they won't even order it unless you pay ahead of time for it.

Its still on the Game Shop shelves in the UK. I wonder if its jsut the US shops doing this.

[amcyr]

In my city in Canada, there is one copy of Ryzom, at EB (that's been sitting there since September 2004), and that's it. If they do sell that one copy, I doubt they will buy any more.

[jfoxp]

There has been almost no advertising in the US beyond the few and far between internet ads.

Furthermore, most of the US gaming magazines that I've read have given it low scores because of it's steep learning curve, though they admit the game will probably be better in 6 months.

If Nevrax really wants to sell the game in the US, they should probably wait 6 months, and then do an advertising push, when they can brag more about the features that they've finished.

In any case, it probably wont do a whole lot of good, because it'd be hard pressed to grow much in WoW's shadow right now.

[kostika]

There has been almost no advertising in the US beyond the few and far between internet ads.

Furthermore, most of the US gaming magazines that I've read have given it low scores because of it's steep learning curve, though they admit the game will probably be better in 6 months.

If Nevrax really wants to sell the game in the US, they should probably wait 6 months, and then do an advertising push, when they can brag more about the features that they've finished.

In any case, it probably wont do a whole lot of good, because it'd be hard pressed to grow much in WoW's shadow right now.

There are internet ads all over the place. Alot of webcomics have banners and I've seen them on lots of gaming sites.

So as far as internet advertising is concerned, they've definately got that covered.

[zukor]

There has been almost no advertising in the US beyond the few and far between internet ads.

Furthermore, most of the US gaming magazines that I've read have given it low scores because of it's steep learning curve, though they admit the game will probably be better in 6 months.

If Nevrax really wants to sell the game in the US, they should probably wait 6 months, and then do an advertising push, when they can brag more about the features that they've finished.

In any case, it probably wont do a whole lot of good, because it'd be hard pressed to grow much in WoW's shadow right now.

There are not ads now, no. But there were a ton of ads in the major US gaming mags when the game was in late beta. That's how I found out about the game, and frankly that's why I became interested in the game.

Unfortunately, the game currently doesn't play anything like it was advertised. In particular, there is no "story" yet, no sense of dynamism or living in a war zone, no feeling that one's actions have any impact on anything beyond leveling your character. I'm not sure how the encyclopedia, even when it's implemented properly, will change that.

I would not advertise unless/until the game is ready to be advertised. Right now, there is not enough in it to justify major ads.

Doctor Z.

[geezas]

With all due respect - if I were the one writing the business plan and I had a piece of software that can potentually be sold on the same terms as Quake engine and I was doing it for money - I would do exactly that:
Develop an engine, develop a showcase for it and sell the thing to anyone that asks for it. A profit corporation is there to generate ... profits.

I truly hope that your statement is correct; I do however, question whether the big cheeses have different agenda that is not exactly being publicized.

That is a good point. Taking it little further. NeL is not a chair that you can churn out a factory for years and years you, need to develop, support and test it.

To keep the development/testing going it is nice to have a real online MMORPG over wich you have alot of controll to test things. The ATS is a developers/beta, and we are in a beta/live situation.

Developing a boat without water to test it in would be kinda silly