Ryzom

norvic wrote:... fleeing Trykers had the gates closed on them by the Zorai, effectively feeding them to the Kitins.

I think that the Zorai gates were closed on fleeing Trykers twice. Once during the Great Swarming and then again when Trykers fled the Jinovitch's army.

http://www.ryzom.com/game-lore/races/tr ... g-a-tryker

The Lore wrote:Zoraï: The Zoraïs are not to be trusted, they openly breach Jena Law by venerating the Kamis. What's more, during the Great Swarming in the old lands, the Zoraïs refused to let us through their great wall and let many thousands of Trykers perish in the jaws of the kitins. More recently, it was the Zoraïs who first installed slavery in the new lands.

http://www.ryzom.com/game-lore/story/ti ... y-of-loria

The Lore wrote: ... many a Tryker took their chances in the hills that backed onto the great impassable wall of the Zorai. But once the Matis closed in on them they were like sitting game for the picking and the Matis made examples out of most of them.

By the way, jmadison, there is a large Kamist Tryker guild, Team Spirit.

jmadison wrote:1) What benefit is there to staying Neutral?

2) Which side has the MOST Population, Kami or Karavan?

3) How bad is the population disparity (I'll almost always go for the underpopulated side), particularly in PVP?

no expert on lore, so I'll leave that to others...

1. benefits... less hostility towards you... usually. tbh, other than staying out of the factional war, not sure there are any. You get less TPs, limited Prime Roots access, etc. IMO, better to just pick a side and claim you're neutral or not hostile.

2. Karavan

3. No clue on the %s. 65/35 maybe. Problem is the high Kami turnover. Many of the karavan players have stuck around and joined with the new players. The kami on the other hand have seen many of their high level players leave for greener pastures (i could give you a list a mile long) leaving the new players to attempt to fill the void (hehe... get it?). This wouldn't be such a bad thing except that it takes a while for a player to reach high levels and do some serious damage/healing in pvp. Hence the Kami are outnumbered and outgunned (which results in many not willing to go to an OP fight. If its not fun, why go?).



Ps. I don't want to seem like the karavan haven't lost any people. Ryzom in general is much emptier than when I left in Feb and the karavan have lost their share. However, the kami have lost a considerable amount of their high level players and it seems to me that the karavan still have a decent amount of theirs around.

You could always just play your tryker as a kamist, agnostic (neutral) or even a karavaneer, who doesn't trust the Matis and won't cooperate with them in any way. There's many people already doing that, and managing to fit their own backstories and roles into the lore.

While it is true that there are more players with Karavan faction than there are with the Kami faction, many karavaneers don't play a hard line faction loyalist role at all. They'll trade with, team with, and even side with kamist guilds or players, placing friendship or old ties above faction loyalty. I've seen karavaneers helping kamist guilds attack outposts held by karavan guilds, not only in the lakelands but also in the jungle, desert and even the forest. Faction doesn't dictate gameplay here, although it will influence your relationships to some degree.

You have alot of freedom in this game, to choose your role in the world as you see fit. There is a great variety of guilds to choose from also, or you could also found your own if nothing out there suits you.

varelse wrote:I've seen karavaneers helping kamist guilds attack outposts held by karavan guilds

Just to make it a bit clearer (is that a word) I've only seen Tryker-Karavan guilds helping lately, but correct me if I'm wrong please..

Individual experience influences/directs the choices we make in life. It is always important to know history and learn from past events.....but don't let history dictate your actions.
I am neutral....true neutral....I have no interest in which faction is stronger, I will trade with any. As for assistance and hinderance, again I have no preference.
Of course over time my view of the world and my personal perception of factions will change....and actions that effect me (my character) emotionally/physically/financially/morally will determine my alliance.
So I do like to be aware of the Lore and history as a general guide only.
Of course some people like to be extremist followers of the Lore and 'continue the struggle'.

I would recommend just waiting, see what happens. Ryzom can be a game/story based deeply in character development. There is no need to force or rush your choices especially as a Tryker. My characters political views have changed considerably over time and I would say it was a natural progression due to events and the people I have met.

Give it sometime, you will eventually be drawn in by one of the factions or neutral guilds. Take it slow.

Of course, when it gets right down to it, there is very little penalty for switching ideologies.

Pero

jmadison wrote:in reading the lore behind this game, I'm trying to determine where my character fits in.

My character is a Tryker of undetermined profession (as of now will likely be either Daggers or Pistols, and some defense magic, along with Weapon Crafting), but in reading the lore...the Trykers are naturally aligned with the Matis. I don't see how that can be stomached, since the Matis are arrogant jerks who used to enslave the Trykers. I dunno...something just doesn't seem right about fighting to free yourselves from Enslavers...and then allying with them. I feel like my Tryker character should absolutely hate everything that the Matis are.

Then I look over on the Kami side, and I see the Zorai, whom the Trykers think are some sort of demonic mind-taking monsters. I'm struggling to think of a good storyline reason to side with them, other than flat out hatred for the Matis(which I suppose is not really within the background of the game?).

Lore/story lines, is just that. It is not how you must roleplay, it is just the big highlights in one place. Within this framework you can make your character pretty much as you like.

Take the Zorai, they are kami if you read the lore. But that is far from the truth. It is more correctly to say that the main Zorai civilisation is Kami, but some are not followers of said.
Some are karavan followers, for various reasons, one being that the Zorais used to be a Karavan civ. Some even roleplay to that effect (Narr I believe does that).

jmadison wrote:in reading the lore behind this game, I'm trying to determine where my character fits in.

My character is a Tryker of undetermined profession (as of now will likely be either Daggers or Pistols, and some defense magic, along with Weapon Crafting), but in reading the lore...the Trykers are naturally aligned with the Matis. I don't see how that can be stomached, since the Matis are arrogant jerks who used to enslave the Trykers. I dunno...something just doesn't seem right about fighting to free yourselves from Enslavers...and then allying with them. I feel like my Tryker character should absolutely hate everything that the Matis are.
<snip>
thoughts?

The king at the time who invaded the lakelands and held loria was overthrown by another matis king. He was set on his thrown by a alliance of zorai, trykers and matis dissidents. He has promissed not to invade tryker lands.

As with every race there are factions within it who want to go their way. The kings word is the law, but a command can be carried out any way you like realy.

The relation the tryker have with the matis is that the karavan has the most influence in their lands and therefor it makes them allies. This does not mean that it is a permanent and irrevokable aliance. The 2 peoples do things their own way and how they choose. see here: http://www.ryzom.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22535

hope this helps you

Don't worry mate, you can choose any race / religion combination you want. I am tryker / kami myself and I'm very happy with the choice, It is tremendous fun.

Best thing would be to wait a bit and see in which camp your friends are. On the other hand, there are so many excellent people in both camps (not to mention the neutrals) that you'll end up with friends everywhere no matter which way you go.

magick1 wrote:Some are karavan followers, for various reasons, one being that the Zorais used to be a Karavan civ. Some even roleplay to that effect (Narr I believe does that).

Actually, Narr is a kami zealot who assumes the role of a religious traditionalist and revolutionary. The Homin civilizations aren't monolithic, and I've tried to find construct a minority faction among the Zoraï. The Zoraï who fled to the prime roots fell under Karavan influence, and the concept of a "Kami Superior" became part of the culture. Hoi-Cho and his henchman Mabreka came up with Ma-Duk as a replacement to Jena as Kami Superior. As a refuge from a village that did not flee to the prime roots after the great swarming, the concept of a god or Kami Superior is alien and heretical to Narr. So there are at least three Kami-alligned Zoraï factions:
1) the state supported cult of Ma-Duk;
2) traditionalists like Narr;
3) outlawed Jena as Kami Superior" faction (ask my associate Qian about her Uncle Fung)
There are some Zoraï who are agnostic, followers of Elias or even Karavan aligned.

Zoraï have always been a Kami civilization and the Matis have always been alligned with the Karavan. The Fyros and Tryker have swapped their state religions, so it would follow that their civilizations would have higher proportions of neutrals and followers of the non-state religion.

To roleplay a Tryker Kami follower, there are any number of stories that could be derived from the lore (my family has always been Kami) or pulled from the air (a Karavan drank all my firewine).