Trial almost over, the nitty gritty of it all

[isthyl]

I have two days left on the trial so I decided to write up some of my impressions/experiences for better or worse.

I'll start with the things that I thought this game does well as those are generally easier to read for the game's current playerbase than adverse comments are.

The good :

-Graphics and detail of the scenery. The tree sways in the wind, the water, the rain and thunder in the clouds are all impressive.
-Customization level of actions/equipment.
-Ability to be a fighter, mage and a crafter all in one character.
-Intricate balance that must be kept such as options/credits with actions, increased protection at the cost of durability or other statistic, slower casting time on spells to reduce sap cost, etc.
-Detailed crafting system which depends heavily on materials used.
-Interesting skill system that branches off in categories.
-Ability to purchase pack mules to store items/materials, albeit a bit costly.
-While combat is so so, the animations are neat.

The bad :

-Graphics of monsters/animals seem dull when compared to surrounding scenery.
-Not much variance in monster models, a lot of reuse.
-Solo play is quite hard, too much so I'd say.
-Forced grouping due to unrealistic solo play.
-Lots of downtime in between fights (solo) waiting for very long self heal reset timer.
-Generic skills : Matis=Fyros=Tryker=the other race. I made three characters of different races and never once felt different other than my surroundings and appearance. My skills were all the same. Increase damage, acid, cold, heal other, slow, fear...etc. I was told races don't begin to differ until Elemental Magic around level 125 (yikes!). That is a very long time to wait until you see a difference in your race.
-Grouping with others made difficult due to very wide range of levels (and low population).
-Inability to run from a fight. Once engaged it's either you die or it dies. No inbetween.
-Missions are fun at first on the starter island but they get old quickly and the lack of quests in the general sense is bad. I completed a mission and now have completed part of a Rite (whatever that is...in game doesn't tell but I assume it's close to the idea of a quest) yet my Encyclopedia doesn't tell me where to go or what to do next. Confusing and frustrating to say the least.
-Steep learning curve. While the intricacy of all of the stats is great, it's so cumbersome to new players and the game does little to explain it.
-Large break in starter island difficulty and mainland difficulty. Once I was able to move around quite well on the starter island I came to the mainland (Fight around 30). I go to target an animal and attack and I proceed to get ganged by two or three of his close friends as well. Hardly a welcome change from the mostly one-on-one combat of the starter island to the mostly several-on-one combat of the mainland. Sure, there are places to isolate animals but for the most part they move in packs and attack in packs.
-Dependance on crafted gear for outfitting yourself. There are no loot drops to equip yourself with. As a crafter by trade I like this aspect mostly, but it's disappointing there is no 'loot' in the game besides crafting materials (and jewelry drops from large bosses I was told in game).
-While mining, native animals feel the need to eyeball me and run up to me. Now, ordinarily this wouldn't be a big deal but when they're about three times my size and are blocking my mine so that I can't click on it to harvest it, then it becomes a problem. I have to act quickly to mine both sources I find and these 'eyeballing' creatures get in the way and cause me to miss out on my second source. They should just eyeball at a distance instead of running up to get petted.
-Mounts cost 500k? Yikes!
-Can't logout to change characters. Have to quit game and reopen game. Ugh.

The Ugly :

-Swimming. Why does it have to look so turbo speed?


I've decided I won't be subscribing after the trial ends. Based on my own preferences I feel this game, while having good potential mainly due to its customizability in all facets, just doesn't have enough of the things I need to fork over a substantial amount of money a month to play. This list is meant more for the developers than any player. If you feel the need to respond and say how this point or that point is wrong because of this or that, well you can do that, but it won't serve any purpose to anyone. These are my experiences and nothing a devout fan might say changes them. This is meant more of an insight into how I viewed the game on my trial. Potential, but still lacking in key areas, at least to me.

One last thing, the in game community seemed very helpful and willing to help with money, gear and guidance. While I don't like being spoonfed with gear and money and feel it ultimately detracts from a player's experience, I appreciated their intent and it helped to foster a welcoming atmosphere amidst the harsh environment.

I'm sure I've missed some points for each category, but this is an overall summary.

Enjoy.

[svayvti]

You seemed pretty fair in your review overall. There were a few things I wanted to point out though.

The good :

I wanted to add that while we don't see the dynamic aspects of it yet, Saga of Ryzom isn't setup to be another static MMO world where nothing changes. You can play a true role and have impact in Ryzom. Even if right now it is very minor.

Hopefully Nevrax can get back to work soon on the Dynamic aspects for chapter 2, and it looks like they're working hard on it.

The bad :

-Not much variance in monster models, a lot of reuse.
[/quote]

Actually I haven't seen monster models reused at all in Ryzom. Monsters only have the same model when it is the same type of monster.

-Dependance on crafted gear for outfitting yourself. There are no loot drops to equip yourself with. As a crafter by trade I like this aspect mostly, but it's disappointing there is no 'loot' in the game besides crafting materials (and jewelry drops from large bosses I was told in game).

This is designed well in my opinion to create a community. If you could get items without crafters... then you wouldn't need those crafters. Try the shops and you should find a bunch to outfit yourself with. The biggest problem is that this community focused aspect of the game lacks a proper sized community to work with.

-Mounts cost 500k? Yikes!

It is more attainable than you think. Money is a lot easier to make at higher levels. It is good to have a goal is it not? If you can't earn enough for the mount, you'll have a hard time earning enough to keep it fed anyways.

Sorry your not coming back and I hope the fanbois are gentle and realise that losing people like you is a loss to what could be an even greater community. But as you said Ryzom has potential, a lot more than games like WoW or EQ2.. so lets keep checking back to see if it lives up to that potential. I personally am hoping it will soon with Chapter 2.

[asyne]

Matis=Fyros=Tryker=the other race

The *other* race?!? If I wasn't _Zorai_, I might be offended!

Not much variance in monster models, a lot of reuse.

Hmm, well, I will say that the model *skeletons* tend to be reused a good deal, but the textures and polygon overlays change a signifigant amount across regions, along with the scaling. Plus, having a few small changes that are recognisible as compared to completely different models makes displaying multiple same-modeled mobs easier, not to mention the lowered size on disk.

Lots of downtime in between fights (solo) waiting for very long self heal reset timer.

Emphasize diversity. Harvesting takes focus, magic/fighting takes the corresponding stat along with HP, crafting can take nothing if you don't put any stat buffs on. Switch between stuff so other stats have a chance to regen, and you don't loose any train time.

Inability to run from a fight. Once engaged it's either you die or it dies. No inbetween.

Not true. Ask any level 100 or up player about the importance of water. Ask yourself why Speed Up goes beyond 2 or 3. Ask the town guards why they attack any mob that's attacking a player.

Large break in starter island difficulty and mainland difficulty. Once I was able to move around quite well on the starter island I came to the mainland (Fight around 30). I go to target an animal and attack and I proceed to get ganged by two or three of his close friends as well

Tried Taunt? Or if you want to get tricky, a ranged weapon or 50m spell can pull an social mob away from its pack to make it more of a viable target. Otherwise, trial and error, check with other players, and find out which mobs are social.

Now, ordinarily this wouldn't be a big deal but when they're about three times my size and are blocking my mine so that I can't click on it to harvest it, then it becomes a problem

Target macros. A "Target entity : 'Raw Material Source [Isthyl]'" can go a long ways.

Mounts cost 500k? Yikes!

I'll say! But you only need to get them once. Ever. Unless you want to get it to the other side of Atys. Then you'll have some...difficulties.

Potential, but still lacking in key areas, at least to me

Well said, and very much agreed. I chose Ryzom based on its community and potential, as these were the area that I saw as important for a MMO. 'To each their own,' so I won't critisize you.

[mmatto]

-Mounts cost 500k? Yikes!

It is less than 720k for mount in WoW (+ additional 180k for riding skill). Mount is quite affordable and you can have it at any level

But you can't have a packer at starter island

[ffxjosh]

The Ugly :

-Swimming. Why does it have to look so turbo speed?

Im guessing he was a tryker?

[nijht]

Well if the turbo speed swimming bothers you, you can always switch to the languid walk mode. Aside from walking around on land instead of running all the time, it gives a breast stroke animation while swimming. It is, however, terribly, terribly slow. Turbo swimming while doing missions in the lakelands is bad enough ... but drowning is preferable to the alternative. Then again, maybe the fact that I am fyros has something to with this? Um... yeh, that was a bit offtopic, but it's somehow a tiny example that there's a lot more to Ryzom than you have experienced. Best wishes for wherever your heading next!

[acridiel]

Sorry, all I have to say is that you´ve not given yourself enought time to test everything. Most of you "bad" points indicate a less then in depth understanding of the Game ans its system. Ok, it´s "only" a 14 day trail, but IMHO one should be able to try and find out more then just what you did, befor building an oppinion on a Game as complex as ours.
You actually percive things as bad, because you just didn´t ask anyone if there were other options. And if there is a place to ask, its here. Why didn´t you ask?
Why are you basing your "review" on assumptions, instead of getting to know the real Gameplay.

It sadenes me deeply to see a possible new freind walk of, just because he could not overcome his pride and ask fpr help or advice.

Have Fun werever you´re going.

Acridiel

[vutescu]

When he talked about reusing I tought he wanted to say that a high level mob is not different by a low level mob in the same race. Well, exept the size. Textures are the same, color is the same. He is right, imo.

He is also right about solo play and about grouping, and I said this in a lot of other posts. Also about quests.

Unfortunatelly, due of the small amout of time he invested in playing the game, most of the other bad points are wrong pointed. You can use speed up or a mount to outrun a mob, the mining problems are easy to sove with right macros, the log out problem has been explained in the site. The learning curve can be fixed by downloading and reading the manual, also by asking other player. I hope you will re-read your post and see the good and bad points of your words

[sidusar]

-Dependance on crafted gear for outfitting yourself. There are no loot drops to equip yourself with. As a crafter by trade I like this aspect mostly, but it's disappointing there is no 'loot' in the game besides crafting materials (and jewelry drops from large bosses I was told in game).

Hmmm, getting an awesome sword or getting the materials with which an awesome sword can be made, what's the difference? Only that the second system makes crafters redundant. I'm opposed to any 'loot' items that would be better than what crafters can make, and I believe most of the players share that view.
Though I wouldn't mind bandits npcs dropping very basic equipment, fine swords of durability and such, the kind that the merchants sell. And I'd really like bosses dropping mats with special properties, like adding a jugukoo ligament to a piece of armor gives the wearer resistance to jugula poison, making a jewel out of rendokin eyes gives that jewel double it's normal health/sap/stam/focus bonus, things like that.

[gwythion]

I would agree with the comment about the difference between the starting isle and the mainland, it is a sharp change. It is not so much that it is more difficult as there are quite a number of differences in the way creatures behave. I think this point alone is one of the reasons why so many people say that once you have the basics sorted that you should move to the mainland and therefore not get into too many bad habits.

As to loot drops. I really dont like games that drop coin and treasure from creatures that obviously would not be carrying them. Too many games start off with kill the rat with your club to get your kit, it is just daft. Ok some people really don't care about a game world being logical. I for one do and I think that many others including non-RP types prefer there to be some sense to things.