i have just spent one whole week in the universe of Ryzom and figured i would post about my thoughts on the game so far. If nothing else it might give other people thinking about playing this game an idea of what to expect.
This game in itself is very unfriendly towards noobs. The noob island is more or less totally deserted, the interface is overwhelming and you just dont know what to do when you first start out. But this is also where one of the games absolute strongest points comes into play, the community.
The people on Atys seem to be very friendly and helpfull, much more so then in other games i have played. I always thought Eve-online and Atidt for instance all had very nice communities full of people ready to help. The people in Ryzom are even cooler then that. Not just guildmates but perfect strangers keep helping me out whenever i have a question or just offer to show me good spots without me even asking!
The skillsystem is another very good thing in ryzom, i really love the idea behind stanzas and beeing able to customize my actions. It is kind of sad that you start out beeing so utterly helpless though. When you are just starting out is also when you are most likely to be doing stuff solo (you dont know anyone to gang up with). But when you are totally new you really cant do much at all. The first levels are a real pain. If you persevere you will find it well worth your trouble though.
The world with its different lands, prime roots, seasons and very active wildlife is another thing i really love. It is well worth exploring, much more so then any other game i played. Prime roots perhaps impressed me most, but it is evident that the world in itself has been of great importance to the devs.
After a week i am a little over lvl40 in foraging and just yesterday was the first time i felt that i had enough skills to do anything worthwhile on my own. This is a serious issue that i think the devs should adress. If you have only a one week trial and it takes a week of very active playing before the game becomes fun to solo that is a problem.
I think there are two ways things can happen when you start to play this game. Either you get stuck on noob island, get bored and leave never to return (which i suspect happens quite often). Or you travel to the main land, meet some nice people to gang up with and never leave
It is well worth giving this game a serious try, i was kind of lucky in finding a guild that seem to be pefect for me and will most definately stay. I would advice any other noobs to try and do the same, start talking to people and gang up and this game can be truly great.
