The saga of a player that misses the point

[katriell]

Harsh words there Goupi!

But let me ask you all, would some optional quest that get a player started on the mainland ruin the sandbox-gameplay? Say, a few missions that makes you understand WHY you should work for the Kami or the Karavan (or not), or some stories that defines the races and their relation to each other. Something that makes it easier for a new player to get attached to the main storyline. (I never did a Silan quest above part 3, maybe it is there already)

I'm wary of anything that makes the game even slightly easier...

Interracial politics and such are fluctuous, anyway. They'd have to either update the missions whenever something changes, or leave them as static expressions of traditional cultures and relations.

[mrshad]

Johnny is a bit of a problem, isn't he?

On the one hand, he is just the sort of player who wouldn't *get* SoR.
On the other, SoR needs new players if it is to survive.

*Something* in this game needs to change. Players move on...it is just thier nature, so there needs to be something in the game to attract and new players, and entertain the ones that are here.

Nevarax thinks the Ring will be it. This might be true...hard to say. It has it's possibilities, but player created content is by and large poor, and most content creation tools have a steep learning curve. Think about the thousands of morrowind or NWN mods that have been made, and contrast them againt the 50 or so that are worth downloading. Still...those that are good are very good, and really enhance the game, so there is hope still.

Personally, I liked Silan. I thought the NPCs were entertaining and the "missions" were well done. The game as a whole could use more of that. Many of us have been begging for more rites since the start of the encyclopedia. Sadly, Nevarax figured they could distract us more effectivly with PvP (really, this was thier justificaiton, I am not making it up).

It is difficult to argue with success. WoW is the most successfull MMO yet. If a quest driven game that is largly playable solo is what gets results, oother companies would be well advised to take notes.

A great deal more mission based content would be good for SoR, and if it came in the form of encyclopedia rites, that would be even better.

[katriell]

It is difficult to argue with success. WoW is the most successfull MMO yet. If a quest driven game that is largly playable solo is what gets results, oother companies would be well advised to take notes.

Welcome to the wonderful world of MMORPGs! Everyone wants to be the new WoW. Trying to appeal to every type of player is the "certain route to failure of the year." Niche is what Ryzom is, and it's better off for it.

Oh and, solo content in MMORPGs is a joke. Sorry to all the soloists out there, but it really is an oxymoron. Quests enable players to seclude themselves from the community, only emerging long enough to demand the location of NPC X.

A great deal more mission based content would be good for SoR, and if it came in the form of encyclopedia rites, that would be even better.

I'm sure if that was implemented, we could say bye-bye to the community.


On another note, I understand how easy it is to get locked into a rut of grinding at early levels. You feel like you simply must get higher to be useful or to be able to do anything worthwhile. How ironic, though...you could be doing worthwhile and fun things right now if only you weren't smacking mobs over and over and then coming onto the forums to whinge about how awful the game is due to your choice to grind.


Disclaimer: My aggressive, frustrated ranting does not reflect the opinions or state of the community at large.

[rushin]

It is difficult to argue with success. WoW is the most successfull MMO yet. If a quest driven game that is largly playable solo is what gets results, oother companies would be well advised to take notes.

i think that goes against the whole design ethos of SoR, if we wanted a game like that we would play WoW. It's no good for us, or for the genre generally if every game is a carbon copy of the most successful

[rothimar]

While I have yet to find a major issue with what is available in Ryzom at the moment, I do have to disagree with the idea that quests will ruin a community. There are some rather large quest based communities at the moment in far more profitable games.

I am the sort of player that loves to group, occassionally raid, PvP is fun so long as PvE is available as well, and yes... I do love to solo.

I prefer a good balance between solo and group play. Sometimes, I just feel like taking on a challenge or five to see if I can do it myself. I find that when I group, I am more of an asset because I know my own abilities from soloing.

I am also a big fan of lore and progressive story. I like the occassional quest to advance part of a story, though I would much rather it not be a grind fest to get each part of the quest completed. I plan on doing as much of the encyclopedia missions as possible, and would love to see that concept advanced. It gives people the option to quest if they wish, while really doesn't effect the current player base... unless some of you secretly wish for more quests.

The simple fact of the matter is... all games must evolve somewhat to include that which the people who pay the overhead of running the game want to see. I do not want to see Ryzom become an EQ2/WoW clone, but I would also hate to see it never get any better because some are afraid of change.

In the eventuality of things, games like Vanguard will come out and attract a large number of players from many existing games. New games may introduce new features which could severely limit the interest of existing games, costing the developers of existing games revenue, which means lower development/support budgets thus less happy players. There needs to be a balance between new features and content, and the existing style of play.

These are, of course, just my points of view.

[mrshad]

I am not defending WoW in particular, or even trying to say that it is a good game. It is, however, a succesful game.
I think it is the best of the "traditional" MMOs; but I think those of us here are bored of the standard fare.

I don't see how more mission based content would ruin the community, but then, I don't really have a crystal ball. The way I see it, more in-game content could only be a good thing. Done right, it could enhance the community and increase guild cohesion.

It need not be easy (nothing in Atys is ever easy) but it should, at least, be an option.

[vladww]

*Why* would quests/rites make :

- The game easier
- people go solo
- turn SoR into WoW

?????????

I understand Jelathnia's and others fear about questing but ..
Quests/Rites can be hard, may require a full team, and be filled with atys lore.

The Ring might or might not give a new breath of creativity to Ryzom (i think it will ) but right now :

Many new players coming from RoS are lost, isolated and dissapointed with the situation on the mainland,
while most of the veteran players are busy with OP security politics , sharing cats -which would be more useful to new players-, & sharing op mats between themselves.

Nevrax, give new players a reason to explore the mainland :
Complete the encyclopedia, bring on all the rites, balance and add new skill trees, and Lore content, and more rp events.
Forget about elitist high level PvP for a while.

Just like Ryzom was meant to be.

PS: This is not a rant. I love the game, but feels like it could get even better this way imo.

PS(2) : French poll to bring back Lore & RP back to Ryzom
http://www.ryzom.fr/forum/showthread.php?t=25268

[pietes]

Another game that is based on the sandbox principle and used to have no questing to speak of is Eve Online. Before the basic quests its agent system offers where available or even worth doing in terms of financial gain, that game was doing fine.

The introduction of content uniquely distributed through the quest system and rewards that can compete with the player-organised activities in that game led to a basic disfunction in the gameworld that now, almost two years later, has still not been set right. It's le to Eve Online stagnating as a game, and as a community.

I don't know Ryzom well yet, but my instinct would be to be glad that there are no quests on the mainland. A questing system which offers unique rewards or rewards competitive with those achieved by player-organised or group-inspired activity does not function in a sandbox game where a high level of intereaction is the life blood of gameplay.

[vladww]

my instinct would be to be glad that there are no quests on the mainland. A questing system which offers unique rewards or rewards competitive with those achieved by player-organised or group-inspired activity

Totally agree, we're talking here of a complete encyclopedia with lore rites for players of all levels.

No one wants to see quests which gives away uber items or such.

[sprite]

No one wants to see quests which gives away uber items or such.

I think you'll find you're wrong in that assumption - it may be that no one here wants that type of quests (though having read some of the posts recently I doubt it), but there's a helluva lot of people who do, and that's one of the main reasons that everytime someone says that SoR should have quests there are at least 5 who say no.