Extremes of Ryzom: Favorite vs. hated

[mitijea]

I've been playing for a couple months now and have been drawing some pretty strong conclusions about the game, both good and bad (which is normal), that I finally feel I have enough experience to trust. One thing though I haven't done is ask for other opinions so I thought it might be a good idea to put up a query here on the forums.

Basically, it's simple:
I would like to know two things,
1) What is the one thing about this game that is your favorite (yes, just one - I know it can be hard to pick, but pretend your life depended on it Or some other extreme reason to force you to take a stand).
2) What is the one thing about this game that you hate (same as above, just one. Note: I know hate is a strong word, but no other antonym really exists for favorite that isn't too weak... least favorite, dislike the most... just doesn't put it exactly into words. I hope you all get what I mean.)

Please also, if possible, explain a bit why you chose your answer. Sometimes a three word blurb might seem self explanatory, but most of the time others will read into it all kinds of things you never meant. Usually it is better to be specifc then have others believe something that might be the exact opposite.

One other request - please do not argue with others about their picks. Remember I am only asking for opinions, so please respect the posters enough to allow them their own. If you don't like it start another thread (they are free).

The main reason I ask is to see if I have missed something important, or misjudged the mood of the community. By reading through the forums here I have seen certain trends rise and fall, but everything seems pretty timely. What I am after is more of an overall thing, not just the concerns of the moment. I'm hoping that maybe a few might arise that haven't been talked about because they might seem trivial when viewed against other more immediate concerns that others have, or just given to be part of the way things are. Also, sometimes the best things are taken for granted, and that should never be.


Now to start it off, I will put up mine:

Favorite: The community. I have not found another group online that can even come close to equaling the friendliness, care, helpfulness, and concern that I find here. I still am amazed that almost everyone ingame treats each other with respect and kindness (yes, you can probably tell I've played other mmog's....didn't prepare me at all for Ryzom - kind of scary at first, thought I was being conned into something until I realized those high levels in the newbie areas where actually genuine about helping out).

Hated: The lack of good quests. I am not a fighter by nature, only do so if compelled by reason. Leveling isn't a good enough one for me. Now if there is something to actually fight for I might be more interested. But until then... Specifically though, I hate that there are a lack of story driven quests that do not seem random (like the missions seem to me). I would love to see quests involving something besides fighting/killing that actually mean something besides a way to build up a fame number.

Well, those are mine, now it is your turn.

Disclaimer: For those of you who feel any need to point out that this has been done too many times in the past, please note I do understand... but it's not like there are an abundant of topics flooding the forums and really, I would like to know how people feel now, not then. Things have changed, both in game and in mind. Okay? Thanks for understanding.

[lupine04]

I've been playing for a couple months now and have been drawing some pretty strong conclusions about the game, both good and bad (which is normal), that I finally feel I have enough experience to trust. One thing though I haven't done is ask for other opinions so I thought it might be a good idea to put up a query here on the forums.

Basically, it's simple:
I would like to know two things,
1) What is the one thing about this game that is your favorite (yes, just one - I know it can be hard to pick, but pretend your life depended on it Or some other extreme reason to force you to take a stand).
2) What is the one thing about this game that you hate (same as above, just one. Note: I know hate is a strong word, but no other antonym really exists for favorite that isn't too weak... least favorite, dislike the most... just doesn't put it exactly into words. I hope you all get what I mean.)

This should be very easy for me...

1. Loved: The graphics, the world, the unique flora and fauna. The lore - or at least what can be read on this website. The people who play this game are, from my experience, among the most mature and level-headed of any MMORPG I've played, with few exceptions.

2. Hated: The lack of quests. The lack of variety of quests that are available. And especially, the absurd difficulty of those damn Ragus and Gingos.

Nevrax, for the love of all that's reasonable - please turn down the difficulty of those damn things outside Yrkannis, will you? I just had one knock me from 1200HP down to 0 in almost nothing flat, actually closer to 1600 because I used a self-heal in there, too - and I'm at 40 offensive magic. Why? Because of the following pattern which, yes, did happen to me yet again just now..

I see a Ragus off in the distance and it's still more than far enough away for me to get at least two hits off on it before it reaches me.

I hit it with the spell once - resisted.
Cast again - resisted.
Now it's on top of me..
I try casting.. interrupted.
I cast again.. interrupted.
I cast again.. resisted.
continue that for a few more rounds..
I manage to land *one* cast before finally I decide to hit self-heal and run... it continues to hit me and finally kills me while I'm running.
I landed one successful cast in that, and I'm using Poison 4 on the thing.
Meanwhile it's hitting me 100% of the time knocking off over 100HP with each hit. That is, to be completely blunt - utterly and stupidly horrible difficulty balance.

Defend it all you want. Explain it away all you want. Tell me I don't know what I'm doing all you want. There is *no way* a creature that close to a starting city should be that powerful. About 1600HP gone in a matter of moments and I was lucky to knock it down by 1/3 of its health... even with a 2 cast head-start. I'll say it once again - the Gingos and the Ragus are absurdly over-powered for where they are located. They were only *minutely* fixed after the infamous Chapter 1 patch. I'm 20 levels over the recommended level to leave the starter island, 10 levels from moving on to my next magic specialization -and I'm still being *annihilated* by creatures no more than a couple hundred meters from a starting city. You should either tone them down further or move them farther away from the city and place something more reasonably difficult in their place.

They're talking about expanding on the world of Atys and even to the point of adding additional planets, and they can't even get it right with a single zone of creatures outside a starting city.

Difficulty is supposed to steadily increase as you move farther away from a starting city. Not go from a steady increase to a 90-degree wall. I should not go from overk-killing Bodocs or Caprynis with one hit to being destroyed by a ragus only 10 meters away. It's completely irrational to think that was a wise design decision. It's a residue from Chapter 1 that Nevrax never bothered to fully correct.

If anyone wants to argue that I'm wrong, please, here is an official challenge: Find me *one* other successful game, MMORPG or otherwise, followed a similar design pattern - placing creatures that are capable of wiping the floor with players who are 20 levels above the recommended level for people to enter the area they're in (as is the case for entering Yrkannis from the starting isle). And remember.. *successful* game. A game that has gotten good ratings and continues to maintain a large playerbase of loyal players. You won't find one. Why? Because every successful design company out there understands the fundamental concept that a new player should not be presented with creatures that are that difficult to kill that early on, much less someone 20 levels higher than that.

Challenge is supposed to increase steadily and predictably; *especially* at lower levels when people are still learning the game. But again... prove me wrong. Name me one successful game that receives consistent praise that has followed the same pattern as Ryzom in this case and I will humbly concede to being wrong and apologize. Again, you won't find one.

[micrix]

Only one like and one dislike ? Thats impossible. Both are always one side of the same medal. So i post my two highest ranking medals


1) I like the coherence (graphics, design, skills, gameplay). But this is ending at about lvl100. After lvl100 there is a lack of any common sense.

2) I have met the nicest players ever in this game. On the other hand there is absolutely nothing to support a playerbased and selfregulating society.

[akm72]

LIKE; The community, 'nuf said by the previous posters.
DISLIKE: The rate of fire of the nukers. I don't mind the power per shot that they achieve. As a melee'er fighting face to face with some ugly monster that just refuses to die, seeing them knock a chunk off it can be very welcome! But when they can churn out that sort of damage so quickly, they kill too fast for PvE to be a challenge, and PvP becomes a nuker/healer-only event, with melee almost an irrelevance.

That's what I think, anyway!

[micrix]

Nevrax, for the love of all that's reasonable - please turn down the difficulty of those damn things outside Yrkannis, will you? I just had one knock me from 1200HP down to 0 in almost nothing flat, actually closer to 1600 because I used a self-heal in there, too - and I'm at 40 offensive magic.

Not interfering with your two points, but a suggestion about your Gingo/Ragus Problem.
The magic word for your problem is: RUN

1200HP with lvl40 magic is a lot. But lvl40 with one of those is to low. So only two choices. Run or team.

I went on saturday all the way from Yrkanis to towerbridge. I was too lazy to fight them and decided just to run. With 2800 HP i had up to 6 of them on my butt, but i made it with 800 HP up to towerbridge.

[sofiaoak]

1) I like the friendly player community in Ryzom and the games general atmosphere. Graphics is nice and game is pretty stable. World is unique with many strange creatures. Economy seem to work also fine at the moment.

2) I dislike the leveling systems in general, because levels limits players ability be together. Most of the time, You character has to be in certain level range to be with others, when they do someting. If You belong to guild, there is never enouqh players online with same level range in same guild.

[myseren]

1) its gotta be the community, although the mob behaviour and overall prettiness comes a close second

2) *eating a lot of words said over a long period of time* the boredom factor at higher levels. I know we can make our own content, and that is wonderful, but it would be nice sometimes to just log on and do a quest which doesnt punish you for trying it (youve just spend 30 mins doing this part, the rest of this encyclopedia entry doesnt exist ) and unfortunately, although there seems to have been loads of cool events strting up recently, ive always been on at the wrong times (yep, my fault entirely but i dont have to like it).

[vinnyq]

Like: The story.

Dislike: the slowness of updates.

[b00ster1]

1.
a) Arispotles 'atmosphere' at game start (mature and friendly).
b) World.. Graphic, AI

2.
a) Players attitudes change last months
b) After some point - no meaning dig/craft/grind (with or without XP)
c) Nevrax's implementation of some features and allowing exploits instead of fix problem (storing at merchs, 1 person guild - instead of increasing bulk, stackable tickets but with bulk, etc)
d) Unfinished work on skills/weaps (eg. No difference between sword and axe, nothing new after lvl 150 (and nothing at all after 250) in armour/weaps craft, )

[trenker]

LIKE
The open-ended approach to class, activities and exploration.

DISLIKE
The speed at which the open-ended becomes dead-ended due to missing features, lack of skill/quest variety and bugs.