Ryzom

Overall people in Ryzom are pretty nice and helpful.

Guilds tend to destroy the openess of any player community as everyone goes into their seperate cliques. You are either in their guild, in which case you get what attention the guild has to offer, or you aren't, and you are ignored.

Guild groups form all the time. I've been in some or listened to guild chat as they have formed. People spend more time on the guild channel (or teamspeak) than they do in region. The longer this game goes, the worse that aspect will get.

I went through the same in DAoC. For the first few weeks everyone you met was a potential friend. Everyone always helped each other and pick up groups were a snap. Once the guilds started forming, pick up groups were pretty much no more. People became far more self absorbed and chat died to nothing.

jeffhill wrote:Its the playerbase. Sorry guys

Log on. ask for a group, no replies. Do a /who and find over 50 people in the region. What is everyone doing ? I decide to go see if anyone is doing bayling gingos. Nope, no one there, off to Clopper camp. Nope no one there again. Hmm. On the way I see quite a few people, and what are they all doing ? Soloing!

If you want to harvest stuff alongside me that's fine. Maybe we could group up and take care of each others nodes (yes, that sounds bad).

Dunno about group crafting though. I think that may have to just stay solo.

But seriously now

I'm glad that soloing is such a viable option. I'm tired of MMOGs that require you to group in the later levels. Everquest was a game of non-stop "LFG" with no response. That killed EQ for me. I hope that Ryzom doesn't go that route.

You might like joining a guild -- I'm really looking forward to participating in some guild missions in the future. It does sound like a lot of fun. But, for now, I'm glad I can get somewhere solo.

Actually ..

this game seems to punish you for making large groups rightnow. Once the item decay system is fixed, things may change. With things the way they are now, if you invite someone into your lvl 50 group and that person uses a q10 item while fighting a lvl 100 MOB .. everyone in the group will suffer great item decay.

most of what I have seen has been small groups of 2-3 people or solo. I personally tend to solo a good amount. The main reason is that I am either harvest, farming mats off easy mobs or doing missions.

jeffhill wrote:I have a character with each race and the problem seems universal. This MMORPG's player base is a bunch of soloers. Why even play a MMORPG in this case. Why not play a non online game.

I'll answer this because it seems to be the logic that comes up everytime someone says that they like to solo. Why not play an offline game if you enjoy soloing? Because offline games don't continually get new content. They're static. Because offline games end as soon as you "beat them," whereas MMOs continue to evolve until the company finally shuts them down.

Why do people like to solo? I can't speak for everyone, but I often feel pressured to achieve "maximum efficiency" when I'm in groups. I like to take my time, look around, smell the roses, and generally set my own pace. Few groups encourage this mentality. I also like the sense of accomplishment I get for creating a character myself. I like to be responsible for getting to whatever point I reach with them and knowing I did it on my own.

That said, just because I don't like to engage in group combat with people doesn't mean I dislike people. I enjoy listening to and participating in chatter on the chat channels. I enjoy roleplaying when I find it, and I enjoy speaking with people who share similar interests. I'm not antisocial, I just like to dictate my own pace and reach my own goals. I like running into people; the presence of other people makes any game feel more alive, and that's true regardless of whether or not I happen to be in a team with them.

The simple fact of the matter is that there are those who enjoy grouping, and there are those who do not. Both are perfectly legitimate playstyles and neither is more important than the other. The majority of players fall somewhere in between the two extremes, however. Most MMO developers seem to realize this point these days. Alienation of either faction equates to a loss of potential income, and nobody in a suit wants to see that happen if it can be avoided.

If you have ideas that would make grouping more appealing, then you might try filling out a suggestion ticket in the game. There aren't many people playing at this very moment, which means your voice has a much greater chance of being heard. When you do, though, I urge you not to make the mistake that most people do- don't offer a solution that simply swings the pendulum in the opposite direction. Unless it ends up in the middle, it's just going to cause a different set of problems.

Instead of asking 'LFG' and waiting for someone to ask you to join them....

.... you could try saying this: 'Making a group, send me a tell'.

I personally find that a great way of meeting people, finding a group and getting xp all at the same time. Its really amazing, and so simple.

Benjamin

jenuviel wrote:I'll answer this because it seems to be the logic that comes up everytime someone says that they like to solo. Why not play an offline game if you enjoy soloing? Because offline games don't continually get new content. They're static. Because offline games end as soon as you "beat them," whereas MMOs continue to evolve until the company finally shuts them down.

Why do people like to solo? I can't speak for everyone, but I often feel pressured to achieve "maximum efficiency" when I'm in groups. I like to take my time, look around, smell the roses, and generally set my own pace. Few groups encourage this mentality. I also like the sense of accomplishment I get for creating a character myself. I like to be responsible for getting to whatever point I reach with them and knowing I did it on my own.

That said, just because I don't like to engage in group combat with people doesn't mean I dislike people. I enjoy listening to and participating in chatter on the chat channels. I enjoy roleplaying when I find it, and I enjoy speaking with people who share similar interests. I'm not antisocial, I just like to dictate my own pace and reach my own goals. I like running into people; the presence of other people makes any game feel more alive, and that's true regardless of whether or not I happen to be in a team with them.

The simple fact of the matter is that there are those who enjoy grouping, and there are those who do not. Both are perfectly legitimate playstyles and neither is more important than the other. The majority of players fall somewhere in between the two extremes, however. Most MMO developers seem to realize this point these days. Alienation of either faction equates to a loss of potential income, and nobody in a suit wants to see that happen if it can be avoided.

If you have ideas that would make grouping more appealing, then you might try filling out a suggestion ticket in the game. There aren't many people playing at this very moment, which means your voice has a much greater chance of being heard. When you do, though, I urge you not to make the mistake that most people do- don't offer a solution that simply swings the pendulum in the opposite direction. Unless it ends up in the middle, it's just going to cause a different set of problems.

Thank you so much Jenuviel.
This is exactly what I think about mmo games.

I like teaming with people or being part of a guild, but I also really enjoy playing on my own, reaching my own goals, at my pace...

It's not that I don't like grouping, it's just that sometimes I don't have much time to play (and how do you want to join a group when you know that you'll have to leave 30 mn or 1h later). Or I'm not in the mood of having to type much... Participating in the region chat can be enough for me on some days.

So why aren't I playing an offline game?
Well, Jenuviel explained it so clearly , no need to say more (especially when your English is as bad as mine ).

Anyway the main point for the original poster is not the fact that people on this specific game do not like to team. It's just that there are so few people playing Ryzom at the moment, it can be very difficult to join or find a group.
The guild system and how people tend to turn the region channel off increase this phenomenon even more.

Ryzom needs much more customers for grouping not being that difficult anymore.
I really hope Ryzom will finally get the attention it deserves <crosses his fingers>

jeffhill wrote:Its the playerbase. Sorry guys

Log on. ask for a group, no replies. Do a /who and find over 50 people in the region. What is everyone doing ? I decide to go see if anyone is doing bayling gingos. Nope, no one there, off to Clopper camp. Nope no one there again. Hmm. On the way I see quite a few people, and what are they all doing ? Soloing!

I have a character with each race and the problem seems universal. This MMORPG's player base is a bunch of soloers. Why even play a MMORPG in this case. Why not play a non online game. If a MMORPG goes down this path, many people will get bored in no time at all. I think the game is awesome, but if I have to explore it on my own, then its not really an online mutiplayer experience, is it ? More like an online mono player experience.

Occasionally I will find a group to play with, maybe twice a week, but more often than not, I'm forced to solo, and I end up logging off as I finding soloing boring. Sure, you can solo in this game, so why not ? Maybe someone can answer that question. But, why not group ?

I think all the mobs should be made a LOT harder, or our abilities toned down to help force grouping, otherwise there is no teamwork or strategy.
Its satisfying to have a group built for a specific purpose. Healers heal, tanks tank, others cast debuffs and control the crowd etc. Everyone has a purpose and helps enforce the role for a particular job or skill set and makes the experience of taking down something you have no chance of taking solo very satisfying.

So, can we try to group more ??

I am honestly puzzled by this post. Although I don't doubt that this represents your experience in the game, I seem to have the opposite experience when I log on.

There isn't a single day I can remember in the Matis land, either the newbie land or the mainland, when I didn't get some form of invitation or request to team, or someone wanting to join my team. And, I accepted nearly all of them. Many of the people I team with now are not in my guild; some are not in any guild, others are in a different one.

Tryker newbie land seemed a bit deserted when my sister and I visited it, I have not explored Zorai land yet, but on the Fyros newbie island it was only about 10 minutes into playing there before we were approached by another player and wound up in a team with him and his friend.

And, it's not like I am a super outgoing person, either. I do try to be polite, friendly, helpful, and respectful but I rarely will be the one to "break the ice" and start a conversation, ask for help, or invite someone to a team.

Looking back now, and even further back to Beta, it seems that many invites to teams and the beginnings of lasting friendships have started with a simple act of consideration, such as healing someone who's fighting 3 growling gingos and has about 30 hp left, or killing off one or two of a mob of angry capryni to give them a fighting chance, or resurrecting a fallen person to keep them from spawning with a death penalty, or... well, anything

Also, alot of times people will pass by while you are hunting solo in an area, and ask to team up with you, using "around" speech, but many more times they will just walk up on you and not say anything. If you just say "hello" really fast in around you will find that you have the makings of a team.

Alot of people now have Region muted, and it's not because of the trading activity or the people looking for teams, it's because of all the OT spam and all of the complaining, bickering, and generally irritating extraneous speech that we see on that channel. And tells can be very distracting when someone is fighting, so might not get a response right away. So, if you run into someone in town or in the field, be sure to try "Around" speech as they may miss your hello in Region.

Again, we are out there, and we do group, just keep looking, we are worth it when you do find us

YES FINALLY ! i agree exactly with you (first poster)

Ive quit playing the game now as it just wasnt fun any more. Theres virtually no new stuff after lvl 1 as a fighter, no new special attacks (well, circular) no new flashy animations, no difference between the different paths of weapons higher up, but these things i could live with if i could just find people to team with. But NO, no one wants to team, they all SOLO. Why do you play a mmorpg if you solo ?
Actually i dont care any more, ive tried talking and posting about it but it all falls on deaf soloer ears who claims theres nothing wrong with this game, and like claims that dagger/dagger deals the same dmg as pike for example, lol.

Suggestions :
-Increase the max xp cap while in team (as long as all team members either hit the mob or healed)
-Remove those absolutely redicilous difficulties to getting to other zones so that its easier for people to meet up and team in other places

jeffhill wrote: ...I think all the mobs should be made a LOT harder, or our abilities toned down to help force grouping...

I hope and pray they do not do this to the game. Almost every other game on the market basically forces you to group through one means or another. The biggest reason I tried this game was because of the solo-ablity.

I don't mind grouping sometimes. But I prefer solo play, period. I don't want to have to call out "LFG" and have to depend on someone else for my fun and enjoyment that I am paying for. I am not paying to be forced to do anything ever again in any game. The minute this game changes towards that, is the day I hit the cancel button.

Someone suggested hanging around the respawn point and healing people. I tried that today, and it worked and got a group pretty quick, so thanks for the idea.

Some people seem to have stated that they like to solo.. thats great. But, what is your attitude when dealing with an invasion which is grouping on a mega scale ? or someone needs particular mats from mobs that only a group can take down ? Oh sorry, I prefer to solo, go deal with that yourself. I'm not asking that people stop soloing, but maybe think more about how teamwork can make the game more enriching instead of drawing ones fun purely from oneself.

On the other hand, its no fun grouping with people who play badly either heh