Ryzom was the first online game I played, and I was very happy about it.
It offered me a social life, where I found many friends. The reason behind it was that I had emigrated from Norway to Sweden. The only friends I had before Ryzom was those I made through my work. But I constantly moved around because of my job, so I only made a few permanent friends. Ryzom offered me a channel where I could stay in touch with friends. It didn't matter where I lived, and how far away we were. All it took was logging in and start having a good time with friends. To me, social life doesn't have to be physical, because I don't see the virtual world as less important. After all, it's still a real human behind that character I am communicating with. And communicating is what social life is all about for me. I guess this is in part because of my job. As a crane driver I communicate with people through walkie-talkie and I operate it by using two joysticks. Not much different from using a mouse and a keyboard
In one aspect Ryzom has really made a deep impact on my life. I always thought that looking for a partner through advertisements were crazy. I know my mother did that sometimes when I was a child, and I thought she was sooo stupid. But Ryzom taught me that real communication can actually be found through means other than sitting down next to a person and talk. All that is needed is a sincere attitude and honesty.
Because I have always been different from all my friends in real life, I have had problems finding someone who I really could communicate with on a deeper level. But internet offers a channel where one can find others that one can be happy together with, no matter how far away one lives.
I just returned from Siberia last night. I spent a full month there, because I visited a woman I had met on the internet. Our communication had been very satisfying to me, and I went to see her to find out if that could be true even in real life. And I will tell you that I am very glad I did. She is really wonderful, and I regret the fact that I had to go back home and that we cannot live together yet. Real world politics sometimes sucks.
I also wish to add: It's great the forums are back up and that the future of Ryzom looks brighter
