What Ryzom has to offer...

[olepi]

Let us look at what all MMORPG's have to offer:

- Create a character -- in most games, you pick a "class" and a "race". The classes serve to limit you to a specialization, such as mage, melee fighter, healer, etc. The races serve to give bonuses to attributes of the classes, so perhaps a mage needs extra intelligence, etc.

In Ryzom, you can do everything, be a mage, fighter, healer, etc, all with the same character. Instead of classes and races with attributes, each character is free-form, allowing the player to completely craft his character. Ryzom wins here.

- Explore the surroundings -- in all these games, there are harder and easier areas. Exploring these areas is fun, showing you new sights, new resources, etc.

In Ryzom, the areas are self-alive; ie, the predators attack the prey, herds of prey try to avoid the predators, etc. There are also sometimes harder enemies in easier areas, making it somewhat dangerous wherever you go. I think Ryzom wins here.

- Fighting mobs to get XP -- in all of these games, you fight mobs to get XP, and level up your skills. Mobs typically have a "con", or difficulty rating, and some may take more than one person to kill. XP is shared in different ways.

In Ryzom, the sharing of XP is based on what you did in the encounter. You cannot stand around, do nothing, and leech XP while the group fights. This eliminates a lot of "power levelling" that I have seen in other games. In that sense, Ryzom wins. Otherwise, the fighting is traditional, and mobs are traditional. I happen to like City of Heroes, where you almost always are fighting an enemy group of mobs, instead of singles.

- Quests or missions -- most of the games have some method of dispensing missions, and rewarding the player for doing them. They also provide for the player to just fight to get XP, and skip missions, although this may restrict the player's options.

In Ryzom, quests or missions have been minimized. There are some basic quests to raise faction, etc, but these have a small impact on the player. This is a personal choice: do you like open ended games, or structured games? Ryzom is open-ended, where WoW is very structured.

- Harvesting and Crafting -- most games have this too. Basically, there is some way to get raw materials, and a way to make something from them. In most games, you pick "occupations", and that, like a class, limits you as to what you can do.

Ryzom has the same free ability to do it all in harvesting/crafting, that it does in character skills: you can choose to do it all, or specialize in one thing. It is up to the player. Again, I feel that Ryzom wins here.

- Community and economy (and "loot") -- in most of these MMORPG type games, there is some kind of economy; and a community to keep the economy going. Every player wants better equipment, and will pay for it. Also, mobs frequently drop "loot", like materials, weapons, etc, which can be traded or sold. Communities develop, and "guilds" form with players cooperating and playing together.

Ryzom has the best economy I have seen so far. DAOC had a good economy, with crafters in demand, until they allowed the mobs to drop loot as good as crafters can make. This ruined it.

Ryzom's community is the best I have seen, with a more mature, "we are in this together" kind of mentality, as opposed to the "uber l33t" kid mentality that rules many other games.

In Summary:
- character creation and progression -- Ryzom has the best
- explore the areas -- Ryzom has the best
- fighting to get XP -- Ryzom is traditional, not exceptional
- quests -- Ryzom is unstructured, you either like it, or you don't
- harvesting/crafting -- Ryzom has the best
- economy -- Ryzom has the best, unless they introduce mob's that drop loot
- community -- Ryzom has the best

Ryzom is a lot like other MMORPG's, except with better features in most cases. That is what it has to offer.

[chessack]

Olepi... VERY well put. I agreed with you on most of your points. Nicely said.

C

[capn123]

Mkay, you guys have fun killing enemies. I'll just wait until PSU. Thx for the help.

[grimjim]

Mkay, you guys have fun killing enemies. I'll just wait until PSU. Thx for the help.

You DID read olepi's post, right?

[ace142]

Don't forget about the Ring, be a master of your own world, Atys style.


Zorvax
Guardians of the Lost

[thlau]

There are some peeps around here that can testify

CU and have Fun
Acridiel

I testify.

Good work Acridiel

[leetah]

Hi,

Some good information here for someone who just started playing the game trying to get a feel for stuff.

One thing Olepi left off the list for most mmorpgs.. Raiding.

I don't see it mentioned anywhere, but it does seem to play an important part of most MMORPGs. It's usually guilds getting all their members together to kill some very power mob. I haven't heard it mentioned at all. Honestly, I have no interest in raiding as it is in most current mmorpgs, but I am curious about the kitin (sp?) swarm attacks. Is this something guilds participate in, or is this everyone who is on the server when the attack takes place?

Also something I would like to know more about is FvF. Is this like RvR? I never played DAoC, but I heard they were a lot of fun.

My first impressions in the 2 days I have played...

Great crafting setup! I am still a bit confused on the harvesting part though... I see how it is involved and requires your attention and you have ways to counter a bad hit to one of the pools, but I have no clue how to find the mat I need. I am hoping there will be better ways to find them then the 50m fine quality. I have to say I loved swg's way of searching for resources. This is close to that, but no friendly machine to give you a waypoint. Swg could get away with waypoints though since you had high levels of technology in that game.

Fighting has been a challenge so far. I am getting used to what I can and can't do. I haven't decided what area I want to focus in yet. I hear that you can do everything, but what really happens when your out fighting in a group?

I imagine that people do not do everything even if the trees are open to them. For example, you have people that focus on healing and others who might focus on melee fighting and taunting? If you have two offensive mages, will they have the same skills or will they have a different customized set of skills? There is a max on the skills you can get, right? 10 per level with a max of 250 levels, right? I assume that means you cannot get every single line. Right now I have make choices because some skills or spells cost 25 or 30 points and there are several spells for each set of levels. What do skills cost at level 200? I am guessing they will cost more then 30 points, but I could be wrong.

As for the ring expansion.. That almost sounds like an instanced type of event that players can create with a builders pack kind of like Oblivion's construction set. Is this true? When you enter a ring, is it just your group or is it anyone who is on at the time? Do you have to do it at a set time or can you enter it anytime?

Anyway, time to check the server and see if it's back up.

[iwojimmy]

People specialise at first, but diversify again as the mood takes them

You do get the standard "roles" in a hunting party, primary and secondary tanks, nukers, healers, debuffers ( ryzom doesnt really do buffers.. auras too slow for dedicated user, and everyone can use their own ), But the players arent restricted to one role.. the tank can switch to LA and Amps, and nuke.. the Nukers can heal, or grab a weapon and start swinging.. Its flexibility to respond to the situation and players desire.

Major Raids are few and far between, generally Kitin Invasions triggered by the Events team, but "Boss Hunts" are regular player activities, where a party goes out and takes on the most powerful Creatures they think they can manage - usually against a retinue of powerful guards and special abilities, with rewards of supreme quality mats to craft the best gear in the game from.

The other Raid style content would be Outpost Battles, when a Guild and its allies challenges another for ownership of the scarce Outposts, and their valuable products. Some huge battles take place here... and emotions and responses can become heated

Faction V Faction combat is pretty random at this point, more like rival football thugs wandering around looking for their enemies than an organised war, but it does provide the basis for most of the large scale alliances.

Harvesting does become easier, a skilled harvester can pick the specific material and grade they desire and over a large area. Alongside the improvement in your available skills, is the improvement in your knowledge as a player, of where to look and what to expect. low level digging IS a drag, but it does get better

As the skill tree branches out, you find yourself with a surplus of skill points, even in crafting Im told

[katriell]

If you have two offensive mages, will they have the same skills or will they have a different customized set of skills?

They might have similar skills, but with different customization - so, basically, the latter.

There is a max on the skills you can get, right? 10 per level with a max of 250 levels, right? I assume that means you cannot get every single line.

250 is only the limit of a single branch, i.e. 2-Handed Sword. There are about 11,000 levels total, and in theory you can attain all of them. But no one has ever done it because of the sheer time and effort it would take.

[geezas]

<snip>
One thing Olepi left off the list for most mmorpgs.. Raiding.

I don't see it mentioned anywhere, but it does seem to play an important part of most MMORPGs. It's usually guilds getting all their members together to kill some very power mob. I haven't heard it mentioned at all. Honestly, I have no interest in raiding as it is in most current mmorpgs, but I am curious about the kitin (sp?) swarm attacks. Is this something guilds participate in, or is this everyone who is on the server when the attack takes place?
<snip>

With raiding I presume you mean the backstabbing, waiting 6h for respawn, drop 1 item for 100 people and a ninja looter runs off with it, process ? Haven't seen it on atys. Edit: example: To be a good healer you don't need X,Y,Z item from A,B,C mob that drops once in a blue moon on monday morning.

There was a kitin invasion event, rather well thought out. (Can we please have another kitin invasion )

It started with NPC outposts that needed supplying. You could dig the special materials and craft with those or use normal ones to craft weapons for the NPC's. With the supplies the outposts generated NPC guards to defend the lands. In a final battle the kitin swarm leader had to be killed. ( a bit short but it was a while back)