wesdbest wrote:1. Does this game have an ACTIVE PvP scene where there is non-stop, 24/7, intense PvP action? If not, what is the level of PvP on this game? Is it only in primetime hours of the day? Only on certain days?
not really. There is an arena in Matis lands that is rarely used. that tends to be used more for friendly duels (or death porting). However, if you wish to find a pvp battle, usually showing up at Yrk or nuking an opposing faction member will result in more showing up and a fight starting (Yrk tends to be the main area since its a popular Kara hang out and that they attempted to declare it Kara only)
2. How does most PvP occur? Is it mostly in the Prime Roots? Is it mostly between guild-owned outposts?
There are PvP flags. you have to have flagged on to enable pvp (unless its a pvp zone, but pvp rarely happens in the roots anymore). You then just need to find an opposing faction member to attack. You can also send duel requests to anyone (same faction/opposing faction/neutral).
As for OPs, I've not seen an OP fight that wasn't just faction related. Everyone shows up and kara go one way, Kami another. To be honest, I'd love to see more guild v guild battles (or a way of just setting it so that only the attacking guild can go attacker, defending guild going defender. all others auto-neutral)
3. Whats the rough percentage of players who actually PvP regularly (daily)? Is there only 3 or 4 dominant PvP guilds on the server? I took a look at the guild listing... and errr... to be honest it didn't look very populated (mabye its just outdated).
thats a tricky question. There are many guild who show up for OP fights, but will not be pvp enabled any other time. If you count those, then its a pretty high %. If you're just looking for the people with their tags on, then you're looking at a much lower percentage.
As for guilds, I just returned to the game myself, so I can't really answer that. Based off past knowledge, yes, a few guilds would dominate the daily pvp stuff *coughInfinitycoughcough* pesky cold... (biased? whos biased?
). As I said before, OP battles are a huge mess of people, so proclaiming one guild above the rest doesn't work.
4. In Ryzom is it possible to log on after work (7 est) and be able to group up with your guildies and join some PvP action almost every day of the week?
The fights are out there if you're willing to go find them. Getting a group together and attacking Yrk for example will result in a pvp battle. Usually a hostility will build between guilds and often result in fights starting out when members collide. For example, Omega V members or Citizenz of Matis members would meet with a few Infinity members and a brawl often started with many guild members dropping what they were doing and suiting up for the fun.
5. How balanced is PvP in general between players? Will a mage totally destroy a warrior everytime (I know theres not classes in this game, so by "mage" i mean "highly leveled offensive magic guy" and "warrior" "highly leveled melee fighter")? Is it mostly based on individual skill, level of character, group makeup, or rock/paper/scissors class vs class?
Its a combination of skill, gear and internet connection. Pit a lvl 225 against at lvl 250 'mage', the 250 would win easy if both were outfitted the same way. But thats usually not the case. Gear tends to be a huge aspect of the fight (hence finding decent crafters). 97/97 or 100/100 ele amps or high resist jewelry tends to be essential for any pvp. Internet connection plays a more dominant role in duels where he who nukes first will usually win.
As for balance, Nevrax adjusted it a bit to make it so that armors give HP boosts on top of the boost a crafter gives it. So, a warrior, can take a few more hits before being killed. Does this make much of a difference if that warrior has no healer and crap resist jewels? no, not really. the mage wil win almost every time then. Range in PvP? Launcher has its uses, but to be honest, range is so nerfed at the moment that its better to just heal those around you.
6. How big of a difference does character level make in PvP? I've heard that it takes a LONG time to level your combat skills to 250. Will I be "gimped" by being say... around level 100? 175? 225? Does PvP really start at level 250? Or just whenever you feel like PvPing? I imagine most PvP guilds have members near the 250 mark in their combat skills... do most PvP guilds have a level requirement for joining?
Most guilds don't place a level restriction on joining (and if they do, they're usually not worth joining anyway). To be honest, anything under the upper 200s won't last long when going looking for a fight. Many of the tagged players are tagged on because they are high level (not all, but most). As such, lower players usually end up poking the sleeping dragon and go down in one or two hits. So does it start at 250? not really, but its usually a good idea to get to the upper levels to stand a fighting chance.
7. By the time I reach a level that I can actually start doing some serious GvG PvP, will the PvP scene in Ryzom be dead? Is this game too old to be worth it for newcome PvPers? I know no one can tell if PvP will be dead or not, again, I'm just looking for opinions.
Will pvp be dead? No. Spires are on the horizon that will continue people to fight over them, similar to OPs (and probably will switch hands as often........). Also with R2, hopefully there will be some PvP lands (sorta like the Old Lands event) that will allow players to go off and join the fight.
8. Last but certainly not least... after reading all of this: Do you think that this game is the right game for me and my friends? I know that nobody can tell if another player will truly enjoy a game, I'm just asking your honest OPINION.
Thats something only you can truly answer. however, I think that if you enjoy the game itself (crafting, digging, hunting, trekking, etc) that you can make the game what you want it to be. Infinity did much of what you're asking about here. We attacked Yrk, we were active in PvP, we owned multiple OPs, etc. Did this create us many friends? No, but we didn't particularly care. We would joke that we were the Oakland Raiders of Ryzom. Hated by the other team, hated by the folks at home. We simply had a loyal following and a close group of friends that we could rely on. (this all changed somewhat with OPs and PvPing taking a more active role in Atys. What was once a nuisance was now a nice ally). Many of the players of Ryzom aren't all that interested in PvP (or wish only to PvP on their terms) and such guilds that go all out to PvP end up with a stigma. If you don't care about that or, in fact, enjoy it, then by all means, please make SoR your home (and if you do: you need any info, crafting, etc, send me a tell in-game)
I would esepicially enjoy reading posts from people who've made the switch from WoW PvP to Ryzom PvP and have some extensive knowledge into both game's PvP systems and are able to compare and contrast the two.
Not really played WoW, so can't comment on this one.
Just try the game out. If the starter isle (its free to try it out btw) is fun, then give it a shot for a month and see what its like on the mainland.
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