Re: What Ryzom has to offer...
Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:13 pm
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.
- 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.
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