New Guy Here

[vilseck1]

Hello all,
I've been watching this game for a long time, since about beta. The community is pretty supportive of the game and I rarely see any negitive feedback. So I figure what the heck, I'll give it a try.
The graphics and interface are really nice, cool weather effects and the way the animals act is really neat. (I got trampled by a bunch of herb things when I attacked one of them, so cool)
but good grief the noob island is rather bland.
Is it just a grind until you hit a lvl 20 in something? The only missions I saw are a variaty of box carrying and crafting task?
Im not disatified with the game, yet. I have read in several placesthat you "need" to get off the noob island as soon as possible. If that is the case, why have it?

Also the tutorial is about non-exsistant. I still pretty much have no idea what Im suppost to be doing besides trying to get off the island.
I would think the Devs should spend alittle time developing the the new player areas. There is nothing wrong with adding a few missions/quest that have a bit of story behind them. In - game lore is very scant. (so far, but the biginning is the most important part, if you dont hook me know, when?)
Im not saying add a bunch of kill task either.

So far, nothing to compelling going on here, besides trying to hit 20 in something so I can get off the new guy island. I'm kinda dissapointed.

Anyway, that just my first impressions of the game. and as we all know, first impressions are everything.

The game may be great later on, but it doesn't "hook" a newbie at all. The competition is this, I played Guild Wars last night after I logged off Ryzom and did this....Went into a new area where I had to save a village from an undead attack then get to a temple and protect the priest from more attacking undead. After he was safe he sent me on to find another priest who had a staff the undead where searching for. We rescued him and we where rewarded with a nice cut scene movie where we where made members of the order.

Am I missing something?

[vinnyq]

You're not, my friend. The game is.

At this current moment, the only "mission" that's worthwhile to do are the rites (go talk to a barman in your capital city). The rest of the missions? craps.

The reason why most of us enjoy ryzom is because of the flexibility, openess, community, support, etc, and not the quests. esp. not the quests, atm. The invasions are cool too but for some reason nevrax stop doing them for a while now. It is planned that the rest of the rites will be released soon though, so you probably won't have long to wait for cooler rites to show up.

eta: and we all (including the devs) agree how crappy the tutorial/newbie islands are.

I *think* Nevrax's working on making the newbie experience a tad better.

pps. Hope you're enjoying Atys Do leave the island asap and partee with us on the main land. You won't get a feel for the magic of SoR until you at least travel from one civ to another.

What race are you? I suggest starting out as Fyros or Matis if you are still trying out char.

[mmatto]

Hello and welcome.

You share same opinion about starter islands as most of us. Actually, in last Q&A session Nevrax told us that they are going to do something to fix starter islands http://ryzom.com/?page=news&id=686 (last question). Starter islands are dull and not too well populated

However, there is no lvl limit for leaving from starter islands. You need to speak Kami or Karavan near starter to town to teleport you to mainland. However, reaching lvl 20 is easier at starter island than mainland (especially for solo) and you can explore starter island more safely with starting character as you would explore mainland. But, starter islands are boring and not worth much exploring.

There is same low lvl mobs and easy foraging spots near mainland cities and towns, so it is perfectly possible teleport to mainland with lvl 1 character and play there with no problems. Mainland is much better designed and far more populated than starter island.

Basic tasks offered by hundreds of NPCs are not that interesting and are not the meat of the game. Tasks are basicly kill mobs, kill tribes, go scouting somewhere, fedex, craft specific items and harvest mission materials.

There is also more complicated, interesting and much better rewarded encyclopedic quests available. Talk to barman at capital to get started with them. There is just not too many of those available atm on live servers.

There is, however, big and interesting world to explore with nice community. Participate a trek, I like those best myself. Treks are very intersting 'quests' as there is challange and real reward that opens up lots of new regions to explore. Events are interesting too.

I have not played Guild Wars but I think that well designed missions are the very meat of that game. The meat of Ryzom is the open world and freedom.

Upcoming interesting things are much more encyclopedic quests and outposts. In longer time frame there is much excitement about Ryzom Ring that should give players ability to design their or maps and stuff in there

I'll hope that Nevrax gets this game more interesting for newcomers. Hooking effect in this game takes some time but it will get you with force

[grimjim]

The game may be great later on, but it doesn't "hook" a newbie at all. The competition is this, I played Guild Wars last night after I logged off Ryzom and did this....Went into a new area where I had to save a village from an undead attack then get to a temple and protect the priest from more attacking undead. After he was safe he sent me on to find another priest who had a staff the undead where searching for. We rescued him and we where rewarded with a nice cut scene movie where we where made members of the order. Am I missing something?

You know, technically your mission example that you state isn't ACTUALLY any different, in structure, to any other 'go get this and bring it back' mission.

All that's truly lacking in the Ryzom stuff is the fluff.

Put your example mission into context though.

That's your training mission, but every bugger in that game has done that exact same bloody mission! How many undead are there?!? How many staffs?!?!?!?

What SENSE does that make in a persistent world? None.

When you accomplish something in Ryzom, its generally as part of an organised event, roleplayed with other people and when you've been part of it its not something that _everyone_ has done.

Even the Ency missions are more like 'prove yourself to me' so those being repeated makes sense.

If you accomplish something heroic or build upa reputation here, it MEANS something.

[basicart]

Aya in Guild Wars ya have to say that no one there really cares about ya hehe ya in a town and getting flooded with LFG and WTS/WTB theres no idel chat theres no running about looking for see the wonders of the land and its not even a MMO i made bigger teams in Diablo.
Leave Starter Island and come and see the true wonders of Atys and meet a comunity that will want to get to know you and kick some kitin butt. You can get your lvls out side the towns where people will throw you a Rez now and again if ya need one and lots of peeps to ask advice from.
Starter Island IMO should be removed i see to many people put off by it as its 100% non user friendly

[vilseck1]

You know, technically your mission example that you state isn't ACTUALLY any different, in structure, to any other 'go get this and bring it back' mission.

All that's truly lacking in the Ryzom stuff is the fluff.

Put your example mission into context though.

That's your training mission, but every bugger in that game has done that exact same bloody mission! How many undead are there?!? How many staffs?!?!?!?

What SENSE does that make in a persistent world? None.

When you accomplish something in Ryzom, its generally as part of an organised event, roleplayed with other people and when you've been part of it its not something that _everyone_ has done.

Even the Ency missions are more like 'prove yourself to me' so those being repeated makes sense.

If you accomplish something heroic or build upa reputation here, it MEANS something.

I completely understand your point. I guest what I'm trying to say is that...it was fun. I'm not really interested in building a reputation. I play MMORPG's to have fun. They are games. I've met alot of really cool people in the games I've played.
All Im saying is that the starter islands don't do much to entice a new player to give the game a real shot. Someone who is on the fence might say "man, this is a drag" and bail to earily.
I've played many many MMORPG's and I believe you can pretty much tell where the game is going within the first 10 or 20 hours of play.
If I have to play through 40 hours of "dull" gaming just to get to some "good" gaming so I work up to "great" gaming experience....the game itself stands a very very good chance of losing me before I get there.
Why not start off with "good" work to "great" then on to "excellent"

Yes, I like "fluff". If I didn't want "fluff" I would play tick tack toe or something. Games are for fun not to feel like a chore.

Other then that, I like the game! Dev's just need to grab the new guy and drag him straight into the game and knock his/her socks off....you only get one chance with so many great games out there right now.
Compare to the newbie experience to games like City of Heroes, World of Warcraft or Guild Wars. They are designed to bring you into the game. Show you what a good time its gonna be. Then introduce you to the grind lol.

The community is awesome by the way!

[varelse]

Other then that, I like the game! Dev's just need to grab the new guy and drag him straight into the game and knock his/her socks off....you only get one chance with so many great games out there right now.
Compare to the newbie experience to games like City of Heroes, World of Warcraft or Guild Wars. They are designed to bring you into the game. Show you what a good time its gonna be. Then introduce you to the grind lol.

The community is awesome by the way!

We all are pretty much in agreement that the newbie island needs a lot of work - it's the weakest area in the game. That's really bad for Nevrax, and they've recognized they need to improve it. Thanks for reinforcing what many of us have already pointed out to the devs.

Meanwhile, the best bet for a newbie right now is to get as close to 20 in fight as you can (before you go nuts from boredom) and get off the island. Once you hit the mainland, be ready with a big stick to fight off all the people who'll try to recruit you immediately into their guild... but do be ready to encounter a lot of genuinely friendly and helpful people who will spend time getting you up to speed without expecting anything in return.

[grimjim]

I don't know that you're quite getting what I mean.

I agree on the starter islands being pooh however...

"I'm not really interested in building a reputation. I play MMORPG's to have fun. They are games. I've met alot of really cool people in the games I've played."

Yep, and its fun taking part in the events and roleplaying, getting that reputation and reaping the rewards of it. What you acheive here actually means something in the context of the game, people come to know your name, seek you out and so on.

What you do here actually matters, makes an impact, contributes to an event that releases lore or is part of an ongoing storyline.

"I've played many many MMORPG's and I believe you can pretty much tell where the game is going within the first 10 or 20 hours of play."

That's not true for this one.

"Yes, I like "fluff". If I didn't want "fluff" I would play tick tack toe or something. Games are for fun not to feel like a chore."

There's fluff and there's pointless fluff.

The fluff around your necromancer type mission from some other game is meaningless, since its always the same and completing the mission makes no difference.

The fluff here is the lore and developing world, hints, clues about the future, the past and Atys as it is now.

"Compare to the newbie experience to games like City of Heroes, World of Warcraft or Guild Wars. They are designed to bring you into the game. Show you what a good time its gonna be. Then introduce you to the grind lol."

CoH works as a 1 player game but is unsatisfying as an MMORPG I felt.
WoW - *yawn* elves and dwarves... again... plus a Leet Kiddy community and instanced quests with no impact, intrusive and awful PvP, no roleplay to speak of and a lot of it feeling like its on rails.
GW - Isn't an MMORPG any more than Diablo is IMO

What you get here is more... 'literate' for want of a better word.

Its Frasier to Friends, its Babylon 5 to Star Trek, its The Lord of the Rings to Chronicles of the Counter Earth, it's Deus Ex to Doom.

[quasar11]

I don't know that you're quite getting what I mean.

I agree on the starter islands being pooh however...

"I'm not really interested in building a reputation. I play MMORPG's to have fun. They are games. I've met alot of really cool people in the games I've played."

Yep, and its fun taking part in the events and roleplaying, getting that reputation and reaping the rewards of it. What you acheive here actually means something in the context of the game, people come to know your name, seek you out and so on.

What you do here actually matters, makes an impact, contributes to an event that releases lore or is part of an ongoing storyline.

"I've played many many MMORPG's and I believe you can pretty much tell where the game is going within the first 10 or 20 hours of play."

That's not true for this one.

"Yes, I like "fluff". If I didn't want "fluff" I would play tick tack toe or something. Games are for fun not to feel like a chore."

There's fluff and there's pointless fluff.

The fluff around your necromancer type mission from some other game is meaningless, since its always the same and completing the mission makes no difference.

The fluff here is the lore and developing world, hints, clues about the future, the past and Atys as it is now.

"Compare to the newbie experience to games like City of Heroes, World of Warcraft or Guild Wars. They are designed to bring you into the game. Show you what a good time its gonna be. Then introduce you to the grind lol."

CoH works as a 1 player game but is unsatisfying as an MMORPG I felt.
WoW - *yawn* elves and dwarves... again... plus a Leet Kiddy community and instanced quests with no impact, intrusive and awful PvP, no roleplay to speak of and a lot of it feeling like its on rails.
GW - Isn't an MMORPG any more than Diablo is IMO

What you get here is more... 'literate' for want of a better word.

Its Frasier to Friends, its Babylon 5 to Star Trek, its The Lord of the Rings to Chronicles of the Counter Earth, it's Deus Ex to Doom.

"Babylon 5 to Star Trek" - Priceless!!

Well said....

[danadita]

I've played many many MMORPG's and I believe you can pretty much tell where the game is going within the first 10 or 20 hours of play.

Took 15 minutes for me to drop and run from Trial of the Isle.

I think what pulled me into SoR was because this is a place I really want to be. I enjoyed EnB because I really wanted to be in space. The same can be said of Eve... but that's not a place I want to be. I did not enjoy living in the Eve universe. I enjoy watching SW movies, but playing the game... that experience was not enjoyable. Something was "off" and I can't put my finger on what it was. Maybe it's because I'm not a gamer. I came late to mmorpg's and the only other games I enjoyed playing were the Myst games.

I like Ryzom because I don't have to do quests to enjoy being in the SoR universe. There isn't a schedule of events one must participate in to get the full bang for the buck. I do what I please. You yunggin's always have to be off doin' stuff! 'cuse me... I've got some serious rocking chair time I've got to do.