maccer16 wrote:i would rather see sony own ryzom then it die
Think carefully about what qualifies as death and what qualifies as life for this game.
Between those states is undeath, exemplified by Star Wars Galaxies. Supposedly, prior to the CU+NGE, SOE reported 250,000 subscribers. Now, while SOE no longer reports subscriber numbers for SWG, it is guessed there are only about 25,000 left.
Granted, even 25,000 is massively higher than any population Ryzom has ever had. But, consider these factors:
- SWG always had an extremely well-known name and lore going for it.
- SWG had and has boxes in stores.
- I don't know how SWG is marketed, but just being on Station Access with several exemplary run-of-the-mill MMOs (including favored scapegoats EQ and EQ2) probably lends it an audience, some active and some potentially active, who believe the changes were for the better because SWG became more similar to the other game(s) they play and are accustomed to.
- Ryzom's lore is unlike anything in the MMO genre.
- Ryzom's features, in total, are unlike anything currently extant or under development in the MMO industry.
- Ryzom has no box in stores, except in rare cases.
- Ryzom has had very little marketing, leaving its population renewal to word-of-mouth and its placement on various MMO listing websites. An upheaval of negative word-of-mouth would send it to the grave.
- Many of Ryzom's players are refugees from SWG, who preferred oldschool SWG and prefer the current features and mechanics of Ryzom.
- Ryzom is one of few MMOs that can be considered an alternative to oldschool SWG. Admittedly, I'm not sure how SWGEMU will affect this.
- Ryzom's community has long been famed for being one of the best. To some extent, this has remained true in-game right up through the present, even considering the past changes and issues that have created friction and deterioration among the community.
At this point I'd like to note that the primary cause of Ryzom (or any game) having a decent community is the game itself. There may be rare exceptions to this idea, but generally, the weaving of features, mechanics, marketing, etc. and the whole formed by that determines what kind of people will enjoy a game. Development direction has already had effects on this community. Therefore what kills or half-kills the game does similar to its community.
Ryzom isn't a niche game just because it's rather unique and hasn't had much marketing. Due to its ensemble of features, it has supported a small, relatively good community...and naturally alienated the majority of MMO players. Thinking about those MMO players and what position the games they play likely occupy in their lives, I reached the idea that part of why Ryzom is niche to an unprofitable degree is that, when people come home from work or school, they tend to be tired, stressed, maybe feeling a deficit of personal power, and disinclined to do anything that requires what may be perceived as more work.
So easy, relatively mindless games like WoW that, in return for the "achievements" you are railroaded to, shower you with gratification, are popular.
Ryzom, on the other hand, is much less easy and demands some degree of brain work as you figure out what to do, how to do it, and pursue relatively long journeys to the goals
you lay.
Some people do enjoy what Ryzom offers. But they are few. The number of them who hear of Ryzom are even fewer, the number of those who actually try it are further less, and the number who stick with Ryzom rather than chickening out when they realise it is
truly different are infinitesimally few. Even within that niche, there are various playstyles, various backgrounds, and various opinions, which sometimes conflict as is natural anywhere.
There is a choice to be made, at every crossroad presented by development, whether in small developments (like what to write in quest dialogs) or large ones (whether to implement outposts and in what way with what rewards). This choice involves asking whether you want to please your current playerbase or reach out for a different, semi-mythical sort who might join your game if you implement something a certain way, and furthermore which playstyles within your playerbase it is safe to focus on. It also involves whether you preserve a particular vision or allow development to stray from or even give up on that vision; it's not only the end-results of development that matter, IMO, it's the vision driving them. Another consideration is how the development at hand might affect the current community, and if the current community is a good one, whether one feature or another might shift it toward a degradation, either by changing the game's atmosphere with regard to how players are encouraged to treat each other due to their own needs and wants (ever wondered what kind of community we'd have if dappers were much more valuable?) or by attracting a different, lesser-quality audience.
I and others do not believe SOE is capable of making that choice properly and with due consideration, in the context of Ryzom or any other unique/niche game.
For Ryzom, the price of making careless changes to the game would be undeath. And for Ryzom, with its already-small population and its existing community type, plus the fact that everyone who wants to play another sort of game is probably already playing such a game, undeath would lead to death or deeper undeath...certainly not life.
