jksmith wrote: Games that were made 5 years ago have tons more content..
Most of which took them 5 years to add. They also have 5 year old graphics which are closer to Gameboy standards than current PC capabilities.
Up until recently I played one of the older MMOs (AC) and there were constant complaints from people that they needed more content, despite there being hundreds of quests. Of course these were the people that power-levelled their way through the game, ignoring most of the low-mid level content and quickly tiring of the high end stuff. So even in games that have masses of content there will always be some who demand more.
MMOs evolve over time, with new gameplay elements, extra quests, new landmasses etc. While Ryzom may be a little lacking in quests and dungeons atm, the other important elements are there already - a superb graphics engine, a multitude of skill options, an original story (not an elf or orc in sight!) - all that is needed is to flesh it out.
The much-called-for extra content is on it's way with patch 2, bug fixes and tweaks to game balance are in the pipeline too. Maybe it should have been in at retail, but I really don't buy these comments that there is no content (what have people been doing to level up then?) or that it is too hard (why have I been getting 2.5-3k per kill solo on my level 50 melee with relative ease?). It's the usual case of exaggerating problems so people have a stick to beat the devs with. There will be similar complaints with the other new games - different specifics but similar "Fix it now or I quit" demands from players.
What has impressed me about Nevrax is that the devs appear to be open to the ideas and feedback given by the players. Maybe they don't respond to concerns instantly, but I take it as a sign that they are checking things out, verifying the problem and discussing a solution - how fast was the hotfix to harvesting after patch 1?
I've seen other companies give quick responses which amount to "Tough luck, it's staying this way". Nevrax may not have instant answers to make us all happy but at least they don't have the arrogance of some other companies. I'm sure all those that have quit for EQ2 will know what I mean after a while of SOE's "Welcome to OUR world" attitude.