How to avoid burn out in any game - Ryzom in particular!

[raynes]

Much of this is based upon the idea that people get bored or burnt out because they spend all their time leveling and not doing other things. That is not the case with me however. I've done just about everything but level and I am bored with this game. The problem isn't with people leveling, it's with the fact that the game is 6 months old and has next to no storyline in game and has just a handful of missions.

[akm72]

Much of this is based upon the idea that people get bored or burnt out because they spend all their time leveling and not doing other things. That is not the case with me however. I've done just about everything but level and I am bored with this game. The problem isn't with people leveling, it's with the fact that the game is 6 months old and has next to no storyline in game and has just a handful of missions.

You seem to be saying this an awful lot on these forums, if you really feel like this, why do you still play?

[borg9]

Much of this is based upon the idea that people get bored or burnt out because they spend all their time leveling and not doing other things. That is not the case with me however. I've done just about everything but level and I am bored with this game. The problem isn't with people leveling, it's with the fact that the game is 6 months old and has next to no storyline in game and has just a handful of missions.

Hi Raynes - I understand your point. I follow your treads and the majority of what you say is very constructive. It will never be possible for any game to completely absorb every player, forever. I have played many games, alot with a huge amount of content (Balders Gate series), but there comes a time when the individual decides they have done everthing. Its great that you have stuck with the game as long as you have despite of it lack what you want to see in it.

I see no point in arguing with you about 'story-line' as I see a story-line, I see the development of the Kami's and Karavan's influence over the refugee homins. I have seen the effect of the players attitudes towards both swing from one side to the other. I have watch many Trykers rejoin the Kami and some Zorai follow the Karavan. Many have been put off both and a following a path of self belief!

Atys is changing, it was once impossible to break out of Tryker, now regularly trips are made, many solo!

Races are integrating, the prime roots have become much more accessable.

Will history repeat itself and the 'Dragon' be released again. Will Homins chose to fight each other or the common foe?

This is a story, in fact IT is the story. The players are writing the history. The events are land marks by which we judge our progress and give us tales to tell our children.

More is being revealed about our past, very slowly, but Nervax have had internal issues which they have freely admitted to us. The have ask us, the players, to accept what they plan to do and choose whether to stay or go.

I promised a friend who was is a guild that I will be the last to leave Atys. She said I will have to walk through the door with her as she felt the same about the players and the world.

[dazman76]

I strongly believe this game has a future, and that the promised features will arrive. The game is already incredible, and to get such a project this far with a small team is very commendable indeed.

However, I'm also standing at the crossroads. I've been playing Ryzom on-and-off, since last April (the start of Open Beta 1). My almost-accurate Ryzom timeline looks like this:

April 2004 - End of June? 2004
November 2004 - March 2005

So, around 7 and a half months of playing Ryzom. I absolutely love this game - I loved it when I first played it, I loved it even more when our guild (Atysian Sentience) was started in Open Beta. I met new friends, and I had some great times. Unfortunately, AS died officially just before Christmas, and a lot of my online friends are no longer here. Since then, I've been hanging with my remaining friends, and generally harvesting and crafting enough to supply Manchester United with their football merchandise for a whole season.

I've been on trips (hello lovely Zella ), and guild-organised escorts. I've been to see the Goo and the Kirokya in the distant Grove of Umbra (nice harvesting spot btw...), and I've wandered some of the roots. I've been to 2 weddings, and honestly couldn't attend another one - sorry guys

I think my main problem is this : Although I love logging on to chat to people, that isn't why I bought the game, and it certainly isn't why I pay a monthly fee. Also, though I love the game to bits, it pains me to admit that I spend an entire evening logged in, doing nothing but chatting (and harvesting at the same time), especially when I spend all of my day in front of a PC. In all honesty I think I'm looking for something that's less of a time-sink, something where I can happily not log in for a couple of days, and know I won't have missed anything major. Something where I can play for just a couple of hours, and still see lots of new things.

My will to play Ryzom has been steadily chipped away. I saw a lot of this game back in Open Beta (please don't say Encyclopedia, you know it's irrelevant), and to be honest my options now seem to be just those I had in Open Beta - further explore some lands I've already seen, harvest, mob hunt. If I hadn't been playing this game early last year, this may not be such a problem at the moment. I know there are 'secondary' things we can do, but they're all social-based (meeting up, big hunts, impromptu trips etc.) and time consuming. I also believe, they are secondary to what this game should offer - I couldn't spend all of my time doing social stuff, It's just not me Some, yes - I look forward to it. But when game experience is second to chatting, I'm afraid it's downhill for me...

And one last comment : If I do choose another direction from this crossroads, I'll be keeping my Ryzom account open for as long as possible... I guess something may come along soon to ignite the Ryzom fires again.

[vinnyq]

Actually daz, it might be wiser to not be paying for a sub that you know you won't be playing (it'll just aggravate you more), and check back in a few months, 6 months, a year, to see if there're any improvement and try the game again (almost from a fresh player view, if lots of contents were added).

You said so yourself that the game has lots of potential. Like pot roast, let it stew for a while, eh?

[hans1976]

@Neun: who said i wont block the door?

@Daz: What you descrive sounds like single player games or Wondrous offline World...

[a02chrha]

I feel somewhat the same as mr Dazman.

It shouldnt really only be up to us to socially involve everyone to log on each night and chat the day away. As daz said.. the game stuff you can doo right now comes secondary, because the things you can doo, have allready ben done many hours.. like mob hunts, explore lands etc...

I mean, the community seems to take very good care of the new players, even academys from guilds pick upp the new ones and show guidance, this is good.. but as some other one has stated somewhere on the forum aswell, dont remember name, arent we letting Nevrax running loose by just occupying everyone with chatting and weddings? Sure there is events and cool Kitin progress sometimes.. but during the day and night of play, you veeeeery seldom get to experience something new that dont come from interacting with other players (like getting mad and start to dislike another guild for them behaving like asses..)

Before, knowing that any weekend might be a kitin invasion where I needed to defend Pyr was enough to keep me lvling melee.. but hell.. after some months my foraging lvls got higher than my melee lvl because I no longer felt obligated to lvl fightskill for an eventuall kitin onslaugt... So I instead transferred my motivation to being a supplier for crafters in the guild, because the joy of helping others outshined the old glory I felt when only lvling melee for the safekeeping of hominkind... it didnt last forever... If you read my first post on the forum hehe, youll see I originally only wanted to be a dual wield fyros fighter.... man what things have changed


I believe the game needs more "mini activities" like fishing, sitt at the bar, order a drink, play cards about dappers, being able to dance with your char.. fix emotes like bow/wave he/she... This way, we can also start to live our characters more, not just chat with them.. I thing we are a liiitle to stiff and limited in our daily interactions...

It all comes down to wanting more to immerse yourself in, be it roleplaying or new features and mini professions... Like the talk about hairstylists becoming a skill later to colour hair and tattoos.. is that gonna be a new skill like anyone else? (advanced tattooing man) or will they work like WoW´s secondary professions?

Well, the outposts are here "soon" so I guess itt will keep me busy for a while and re-ignite my fire =)

fanbois can tell me to play singleplayer games instead.. but im also in love with this game and care for it. The game will get my money for a loong time to come.. I just want the best out of it and enjoy myself.



crap.. just some venting....

[flynnkd]

I'm mostly bored also, even tho I really like the game.

I dont agree that the players are 'making the story' because nothing we do actually permanently changes anything. Six months ago gingos were waiting for me outside Yrk, today they are still waiting only now I kill them.

The issue here is game design. Games like these have set environments that dont really chnage much, they are designed that way to allow low level characters to progress through the same content that the older players have already done. As we progress we naturally move to new areas of content to match our skills and needs. In EQ this was handled by progressing players through various zones, each rated to a specific difficulty level. Players were challenged afresh by new zones, new things to defeat and new rewards to be experienced. The EQ method worked bacuse they developed a large number of zones over 5 yrs, and were able (mostly) to keep adding content to match the progression of their player base.

Ryzom promised an evolving world, by which I understood that player actions would change the world. I feel I mis-understood, and my optimism has been whittled away lately. Nothing is changing because of what players do, nearly all of the changes are design changes. As far as my character is concerned the game is essentially the same now as it was 6 months ago. Yes I can now access many different areas but most of that access is simply that - I can go there. Once there I cant access any of the content except harvesting, I spend all my time in fact trying to avoid all the content. That is fun for a time, but eventually I want more.

So... form a group and take on the content. Yes that would be nice but I play from australia and my time zone means that when I am on nearly everyone else isnt. I have some fellow aussies but not all of them are doing what I am doing... we are at different stages of content. So server population is a problem for me, the lack of it.

Wait for the PVP/GVG? I hate pvp. And what pvp are you talking about? PR zones are PVP already but I havent seen a single instance of pvp (although I heard of one indirectly). Certainly after all the work I have had to do (grinding) to be able to go to PR zones and make use of them I have too much respect for the other guys who are there with me to frivilously pvp them. PVP is a joke, a vocal minority want it, and an even small segment of them will actually do it. What it will end up being is a small bunch of griefers killing vulnerable harvesters who want nothing to do with pvp. The only thing it is going to do is create bitterness and divisiveness. And again server pop means pvp is an insignificant element of the game.

GVG? Well yes this has some attractions, but when? How long do we wait, and I'm sorry to say that I have little confidence in the implementation working without 6 months of refinement. Not because I think they wont try their hardest, but because it is a BIG task, and every MMORPG I have played (around a dozen) ALWAYS has these problems with major content additions. I put up with it for 5 yrs in EQ, but I am now a bitter veteran and find my willingness to wait much reduced.

And on top of that whats the bet that as an australian playing in an odd time zone they bring in rules to restrict what can be done at various times... MY TIME! So all you europeans will be GVG each other in your prime time, but to stop 'out of hours' abuse they will place timers on when you can and cant do it... call me defeatist but its just the way things go.

Anyway, I could go on for pages, it isnt my intent to pan the game, its a great game, but the technology still has its limits, and NEVRAX still have financial limits. Those limits will mean it takes time. My best option probably is to go away for 6 months like a few of you suggest and come back. But I still have some good fun now and then, so I hang on and hope.

[micrix]

Bahhh many bored people.

I understand well. Any exiting game has a point where a player knows it all.
Mainly singelplayer games and MMOs.

MMORPGs have more potential. If they have a good basic design they alow one feature that has no limit. The feature is phantasy. If you a re willing to use this feature your world gets endless.

Bored with digging ? with hunting ? Ever thought about ignoring TPs as if they dont exist ? Quite much content to deliver a heavy armour from Tryker to Fyros Oasis

The armour would cost 10 million dapper . To make it cheaper probably one organizes a caravan of 12 meks ? Hiring guards, much to organize. Such could give you content for a week or more. Under circumstances more content then you want

Outpost will bring some content. According to that i am thinking about establishing a bank

[sx4rlet]

To make it cheaper probably one organizes a caravan of 12 meks ? Hiring guards, much to organize. Such could give you content for a week or more. Under circumstances more content then you want

I thought about that too, Psylo!
Its a very cool idea, in my opinion. Get 1 team with everybody in it with 3 packers and you have 27 packers following you. Must be one sight to see.
I think hiring guards won't be the problem. I know certain persons who do anything for dappers.
(Now that I think of it, I havent seen Rashan doing a bellydance for me!)