Ryzom

This is off of the retail box which I got at launch.

Guilds and Factions
Meet new friends and form your own Guild to compete against other players (PvP) or build strong alliances to face common enemies in mass combat.

So it would appear that Ryzom is finally delivering on what should have been in the game at launch. If we hadn't of gotten so used to the non-pvp grind all day long collect as many titles as you can style of play over the last year, these pvp/faction changes might be more welcomed. As such, whenever there are changes in gameplay there is dissatifaction and people leave. Similarly when there is a lack of change, people leave.

I'm looking forward to the changes, because for once it seems like the storyline is moving along and there's actually in-game mechanics to support it, rather than pure RP. Who knows, they might even get the TPs in Loria and Void working with this one...

I'm not against closing down enemy faction teleports to those with low fame to that faction. It would be incredible of them to make use of the fame system. Closing off the zone entirely to friendly teleports... that is another thing.

Plus taking away what people have in the name of yet even more PvP. Very, very, very bad for the non-pvp community. This game needs more content, not less for those who don't pvp or are losing.

I read a lot of general MMO sites, comics, etc. Ryzom comes up with a lot of former players and those who tried the trial. The reasons I usually see for not becoming a subscriber are:

#1 - lack of content. By this they usually mean in-game story, story missions (Rites), and new things to do.

#2 - Nevrax's unfulfilled promises regarding Kitin raids, Outposts (and not the Neocron, err, new kind), Goo, "storyline that matters", etc.

#3 - lack of solo ability. Particularly a complaint of those who left with patch 1 it seems.

#4 - Bugs.

Things I've never seen those who've quit the game complain about:

#1 - Not enough PvP.

#2 - Not enough opportunities to get ganked as a low level player or non-combatant.

#3 - Traveling is too easy

#4 - Too much use of the fame system

#5 - Too many Raids

Why is Nevrax going exclusively towards PvP content? where and who did they think this is a good idea from?

gecker wrote:This is off of the retail box which I got at launch.

Guilds and Factions
Meet new friends and form your own Guild to compete against other players (PvP) [highlight] or build strong alliances to face common enemies in mass combat.[/highlight]

So it would appear that Ryzom is finally delivering on what should have been in the game at launch.

No, only on the PvP part.
'to face common enemies in mass combat': this is a reference to mass invasions. It's been a long time anything like that took place, and with the focus that Nevrax currently has (see Xavier's posts earlier in this thread), we will not see it in use for an ever longer time.

Sad thing is, it's only one of a plethora of non-PvP features that were never implemented or abandoned in a half-baked state.

Nice job guys. Thanks for cramming pvp down our throats reguardless if we want it or not. At least up until the point this is put into game, I can stay out of it and just enjoy the game . With this ill have to deal with pvp and its effects. I must have missed the part that said I was subscribing to this form of game.
After reading many forums and trying to keep up with current events. I have to believe as others do that you may read the forums and opinions but I really dont think you are listening.

Add me to the list of folks who will depart if this is done.

I'm a neutral, and I have no interest in PvP. I've been waiting for the things promised _on the box and in the manual_ for quite some time now. Since february, in fact. The ONLY thing keeping me here is the other players.

Hmm. Civilisation was nearly wiped out by "bugs" from underground. 3 generations later, you get to contribute to the rebuilding of civilisation. Defending against Kitin raids, rebuilding outposts and villages, finding out what the deal with the goo is and perhaps stopping it? Nope. PvP. Great. I did NOT come here to get ganked by some l33t d00d. I came here for an RPG.

If I wanted PvP I'd be playing Battlefield 2.

Oh, and while on the topic of PvP: Who thought it was a good idea to split guilds along personal fame lines? I've got _one_ point of Karavan fame, and it's enough to keep me from going in with any of my guildies who have 1 or more Kami fame. You seriously didn't think of grabbing the guild average and making everyone in the guild the same faction for PvP?

Also, looking through this thread, seems the majority of people who care enough to post don't want PvP either. How's about you get off your high horse and listen to the people paying your bills?

Grendel1, just do all the kami welcomer missions and switch over to the same side as your guild. An averge is no good as a few people in the guild could then switch the faction for everyone whether they liked it or not. Faction used to be based on the guild score but now it's better - your 'religion' is a personal choice

Xavier, how about putting just one encyclodedia mission per race in each patch? I miss these too and I think they'd give people who don't like chapter 3 something to cling on to until Chapter 4: Attack of the Killer Shookis (the PvE chapter ). You can even backdate these additions for extra credit

I just cannot understand the logic going off here. These developments are only alienating more and more people, the same people who PAY your wages Nevrax.

A new player coming into he game will have so much of the game denied to them and they are faced with the grind but in restricted areas thus giving them restricted content, older players are leaving because they are becoming alienated from the game because they don't want PvP, FvF.

To me this has just become a money thing now. 2 million subscribers to WoW, xx amount of subscribers to SoR. OOOh lets copy some of WoW and get our slice of the pie then we can make loads of money. Sod the players who have faithfully supported the game through lean times, sod the players who want to stay in the game they love.

SoR is a house of cards and you are pulling out the foundation cards with your ideas of moving forward. How many more do you need to pull out before the house comes crashing down?

Why not leave SoR as it is and just launch "Ryzom Wars" or be honest and tell all those that have concerns there is no future for them. Stop with the political style crap answers that actually don't give answers. Stop with just throwing out what you consider is enough information to keep them interested so they keep paying your wages!

Start actually answering the questions put forward, in a positive and constructive manner with as much information as possible. If you don't know, say so.

Remember, we all took approximately a year to get to where we are now as players. To me it seems that a huge gulf is appearing as the game splits into those with high levels (veteran players) and those with low levels (new players).

Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy the new content mainly because I have the high levels that allow me to enjoy it. I can also plainly see why others don't like it and thats what worries me.

I want to keep playing this game, I still enjoy playing this game but the future looks bleak as it seems there may not be a game to play soon.

Will there areas be using the current FvF ruleset ?

Specifically, if I want to team with (and heal) a member of the "other faction", will it be possible with the PvP Flag on? Will it be possible with the PvP flag off?

I really hope the answer to at least one of those is yes

Dear Nevrax.

your confused me.
On the one hand you created a wonderful world,
you have many nice ideas

and on the other hand you give many people the feeling,
that you are not interested in non-pvp-players.

I see many friends going to leave SoR. Player who has been here from the first hour.
And there is not a hint, that you are unsatisfied with this.

We don't ask you to stop pvp
we don't ask you to stop chapter 3
we don't ask you to do more than you can.

Give them a way, a hope that they can get the same stanzas.

For example,
let the Zorai notice that they have to repair the town hall.

Make a copy of the new land, two kincher more, maybe a little bit less reward and disable pvp-zone.
The non pvp-player will notice, that you want to keep them and they will be happy to have an own way to get this.

Is there really no way to show them you also like the non-pvp-player, too?
Even the players who stays in SoR and like pvp has a strange feeling. They lost guild members and friends.

I can't believe that this is necessary and your wish

Mardok
(I know I have to improve the english skill)

And don't forget. Even the truly warrior likes to have a moment silence between the fights.

After reading through the information about the upcoming global FvF several times I have to say it looks interesting. However after over two year of FvF(ish) in Anarchy Online I’ve had quite enough of endless simulated war. Further more after seeing the implementation of FvF in E3 I have grave doubts about E3….

My biggest concern is what the effect of the (I’ll say it again) strong focus on PvP will have on the community. Episode 2 already chased off many good players and the recent publication of the global FvF-details will probably cause even more people to unsubscribe.

When I signed up for beta it was the feature list that made me do so. More than a year after release non (!) of those features is in the game, even worse; it looks like they won’t be in the game for long, long time (if ever!) Despite that I kept on playing and paying and it was the community that made me do so. It was the community that made SoR worth while despite the total lack of progress…

A lot of the people that made this community so great have now left, are thinking about leaving or will unsubscribe in the very near future. Some (like me) have shortened the subscription period to one month and probably will unsubscribe if this haven’t improved by then. They left for three reasons one, they didn’t like the how PvP was forced down their throats two, the utter lack of responsiveness to player concerns who have been opposing PvP since it was first introduced, three the fact that not only were the concerns of non-PvP players not addressed properly their call for some non-PvP content was blatantly ignored!

While I may find the concept behind the Global FvF interesting and would like to see how it works out in practice I have no need for the excesses PvP always causes. Avid PvPers are for the most part not my kind of animals and I do not want them around. So if what is left of what used to be a great community leaves over the FvF issue I will do the same. I will not pay for a game that is populated by dimwitted badmouthing gank kids, there are cheaper ways of making myself feel bad.

As I said I find the concept of the global FvF interesting, it does however have some serious flaws. (I could try to find a way to put it more kindly but I’ve been kind to you for a long time and you repay me with a kick in the pants so I won’t bother) The most obvious one of course is that it splits up the game community into 3 factions that can only interact with each other through combat, that is if the neutrals have a way of capturing and defending territory which isn’t something neutrals tend to do and have the inclination to do so.

Making traveling harder by denying access to TP’s in enemy territories will mean people new to the game may never see what’s outside their own lands and will most likely not have access to other race’s spells and craft plans.

Unless some serious rebalancing is done the current dominance of Avatars of Destruction in PvP means anyone who isn’t level 250 in both magic and fight will be of little use in the FvF battles excluding a lot of lower level players from a lot of game content. Believing those players will stay with the game for very long would be, I think, foolish. This FvF concept will not only drive veterans away it will also prevent new players form staying, this is bad business.

While the TP restrictions make sense from a story perspective they provide bad game play and game play, like it or not, is what it all boils down to at the end of the day…

The current PvP system is, as said, a high level sport and seems to focus largely on the combatants leaving harvesters and crafters to “fuel the war machine” they appear to get very little out of both Episode 2 and Episode 3. If this is not the case then you should provide more info on this subject ASAP as you’ve already given people more then enough reasons to, here’s that nasty word again, UNSUBSCRIBE.

I don’t know how the spire guard NPC’s will work out in practice but they, again, seem to be focused mainly on the high level players which is not a good idea as it means that lower levels cannot participate in the storyline and are essentially left with less content than the was in the game at launch, this is a bad thing.

The fact that an Avatar of Destruction can kill a Refugee fresh from the newbie islands means it will happen and probably more often as we would like, this is not a good thing.

With 250 level in 2 combat trees there’s a huge difference in strength between players either forcing people into an unfair fight, power level to hit the cap or stay away from PvP altogether, this is not a good thing.

Speaking of the refugee islands their isolation has already been discussed sufficiently and nevrax has promised the address the issue yet; nothing further on that so far and with the current, here goes, strong focus on PvP it seems unlikely that any work on a more compelling newbie area will get done leaving it up to the players to instruct the newbies to leave islands as soon as possible. Unfortunately the players who are most inclined to so are, once more, UNSUBSCRIBING.

Currently the neutrals, or rather those that are not flagged for PvP cannot heal those that are regardless of faction. I don’t know if this is a bug or a feature but it is not good.

While on the subject of healing, explain to the newbie why you can’t ress him but have no trouble ressing the guy lying next to him. Some may understand and appreciate the “rich and compelling” (rich and compelling, bullocks. Nothing rich and compelling about being a WoW clone with better graphics) storyline that caused this others will not extend their subscription past their 7 day trial, this is not a good thing.
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The current, here we go again, strong focus on PvP means there probably won’t be much (I any) non-PvP content added to the game leaving all those who do not like PvP with (most likely) less content than there was at launch, this it not a good thing.

I understand that it is hard to make drastic changes when you are already this far in the development process but you have been forewarned and warned again, and again and decided to ignore it on and blindly move ahead as planned alienating more and more veteran players as you went leaving you at a point where it is extremely hard, if not impossible, to win back those you’ve lost and those you are about to lose but if you don’t at least make an effort I fear this game is doomed.

I’m sure there is much more to say on the subject but I’ve already wasted far too much time on this as I don’t expect to get any decent answers out of you lot let alone any concrete steps for improvement so I’ll just sit and wait till all goes to hell in a handbag.