Ryzom

Hello Devs and the Ryzom community,

I wanted to post and ask some very specific questions in order to get a feel for the general level of happiness in this community, I came here after reading hundreds of great player reviews at MMORPG.com about the community and customer service here so figured it was worth a try despite vowing never to play another MMORPG....why?......

SWG

I played SWG for 18 months and have been put off playing MMORPG's heavily by the negative community and the absolutely tyranical development team and obscenely bad customer relations.

So here are my questions to my fellow players... (please try and answer fairly if there are things you are unhappy with, as not to turn the post into a gripe-fest)

1) I've seen people talking about content, is there enough and is more added often enough? Also what's the quality of content like?
2) Is the game restricting in any way if there aren't enough people to form groups with or can you solo if you want to?
3) Are there a lot of bugs/exploiters that take away from your enjjoyment?
4) If you had to name only 1 real problem and 1 favourite thing about the game what would they be?
5) Is this game fun for casual players or a grind fest requiring 6 hours at a time to get anywhere?

And my questions for the Devs - again please just answer fairly, honestly and stay away from corporate 'generic' speak.

1) Paid expansion packs, extra free content or fixing existing content, with limited manpower how do you make the decision of where to focus your labor?
2) At E3 this year my co-worker saw your booth but said he walked past it without stopping because he'd never heard of the game, how do you feel about that? Do you consider yourself a different market segment from WoW or SWG?
3) MMORPG communities are notorious for being unhappy, SoR seems to be pretty happy from what I've heard, how does a Dev team keep that going? How will you avoid the 'Dev's versus community' rift?
4) Big community or happy long-term community???

Thanks for your replies, I'm looking forward to my 14 day free trial

Firstly, Welcome!
I am quite sure you will enjoy your stay on Atys.

untamed wrote: 1) I've seen people talking about content, is there enough and is more added often enough? Also what's the quality of content like?

Content for someone starting the game right now is very extensive. I've been playing over four months and there's still tons of new things for me to see and do every time I log in. Those who've mentioned a lack of content are generally those who have been around a very long time. Still, there are a couple things on the horizon that will greatly expand the game, namely Outposts and then Ryzom Ring. Those huge additions will be around long before you've seen and done everything there is to do currently.

untamed wrote:2) Is the game restricting in any way if there aren't enough people to form groups with or can you solo if you want to?

Firstly, it should be quite rare that you can't find anyone to group with. I largely attribute that to ryzom's open skill system. Even players who have maxed out a skill at 250 could very well have a skill at 55 still which they'd love to team with you as a new player to work on. Soloing is easy for the first few levels but does get increasingly difficult. Although definitely possible up to 100, albeit slower. Of coruse you could do what I do when I don't feel like looking for a team; harvesting and crafting. Those are 100% solo compatible (although harvesting in team is fun too) And there is enough depth in both to keep your attention once you get into it. Working on craft recipes are fun and even a little exciting.

untamed wrote:3) Are there a lot of bugs/exploiters that take away from your enjjoyment?

Very few. In fact, I personally haven't had a problem with this at all in all my time.

untamed wrote:4) If you had to name only 1 real problem and 1 favourite thing about the game what would they be?

Favorite thing: The community. The people you will meet are the best group of people you could possibly imagine for any MMO. It do not get better than this. (atm I'll abstain from getting into all the runners up in this category)

Worst thing: I'd have to say the lack of ability of players to really alter the gameworld in a lasting manner. There are a lot of options in this respect, but for the moment they don't pan out.

untamed wrote:5) Is this game fun for casual players or a grind fest requiring 6 hours at a time to get anywhere

I work full time and would definitely have to consider myself a casual player. That being said, I enjoy my time here 100%. If I only have 15 minutes to play, I'll log in and harvest and have something in my bag to come back to next time. Or if i have all day on a Saturday, I have just as much fun hunting all day with my guild and gaining some levels.


All in all, there's a lot to do and see here. If you have any trouble at all when you're starting, don't even hesitate to ask for help. The people here will thoroughly enjoy helping you with anything they can.

See you in game!

Thanks for your reply, I almost forgot to ask...

is there a quest system for levelling or can you level in different ways ( I hate the generic 'run there, go to that guy and kill six bunnies' quests)

untamed wrote:Hello Devs and the Ryzom community

Hello and welcome.

untamed wrote:1) I've seen people talking about content, is there enough and is more added often enough? Also what's the quality of content like?

Over the past many months, content updates have been pretty non-exisitent. There were new features and content added early on in the game but they had some real issues with bugs and decided to take several months to clean up the code and create a more stable foundation. They're supposedly towards the end of that and ready to add new content and features again.

untamed wrote:2) Is the game restricting in any way if there aren't enough people to form groups with or can you solo if you want to?

Ryzom heavily favors group play. It is possible to level most of your skills solo but it will be much more difficult and take longer. At low levels, it's not so much an issue but once you get to the mid-high levels, it's more important to have a team. I find it fairly easy to find a team as I have guildies to group with. Not sure how it is for someone not in a guild that likes to go it alone more.

untamed wrote:3) Are there a lot of bugs/exploiters that take away from your enjjoyment?

I haven't really had any run ins with exploiters. There have been a few known exploits that have been reported and addressed by Nevrax but nothing that's ever impacted my enjoyment at all. As for bugs, there are definitely bugs as there are in any game but usually they're just annoyances that don't really impact your ability to play the game.

untamed wrote:4) If you had to name only 1 real problem and 1 favourite thing about the game what would they be?

Problem: Lack of storyline and epic missions/content in the game. We had about 6 months ago that I thought was incredible. It lasted about a week and took efforts from crafters, harvesters, and fighters to push back the invaders. Other than that, there's just been a few small events (mostly just RP events) and a good deal of these are run by players.

Favorite: Skill system. This is what drew me to the game. Unlike most games, there are no "classes". It's possible to fully level every single skill in the game if you have the time for it. Another cool part of the skill system is the ability to customize your skills. This isn't very apparent when you first start on the newbie island but once you get higher, almost every single skill you put on your hands bar ends up being one you customized or created from scratch.

untamed wrote:5) Is this game fun for casual players or a grind fest requiring 6 hours at a time to get anywhere?

If anything, I think it favors the casual player but mainly because that type of player is less likely to get bored by the current lack of storyline content. It's definitely not like other games where it's all about getting to a high level so you can finally get the cool equipment and take place in the fun raids and such.

untamed wrote:And my questions for the Devs - again please just answer fairly, honestly and stay away from corporate 'generic' speak.

1) Paid expansion packs, extra free content or fixing existing content, with limited manpower how do you make the decision of where to focus your labor?
2) At E3 this year my co-worker saw your booth but said he walked past it without stopping because he'd never heard of the game, how do you feel about that? Do you consider yourself a different market segment from WoW or SWG?
3) MMORPG communities are notorious for being unhappy, SoR seems to be pretty happy from what I've heard, how does a Dev team keep that going? How will you avoid the 'Dev's versus community' rift?
4) Big community or happy long-term community???

Not sure you'll get an official response here. They've been doing formal Q&A sessions and you can post questions here. But I doubt this will provide answers in the timeframe you're hoping for.

My take on it is that they are focused on keeping a happy community. The Q&A is an example of that. The community was screaming out for more feedback and within a couple of weeks, they hired an official "Community Liason" and they started the Q&A to get formal answers from Nevrax. Also, the CSR team is really outstanding. They're not always in the position to fix your problem (like if it's a bug in the game code), but they always give you a lot of personal attention and make sure they understand your issue so they can pass it on.

Leveling and questing are pretty much independent. There are some of those types of missions, but you can totally avoid them if you like.

You level simply by using the given skill in any situation.

You gain experience, and thus level, for the actions you perform. For example, in a fight if you cast an offensive spell, heal a teammate, and hit the mob with a sword, you'll get some experience in Offensive Elemental Magic, Standard Heal Magic, and Melee Fight all for the same kill.

It's not like some games where you have to spend a ton of time doing random unrelated tasks to gain the skill. In Ryzom, to progress a skill, you use that skill so you can gain xp and get better at the skill.

The main purpose behind NPC missions (at least at this point) is to get fame. by doing missions for an NPC, you gain and lose fame with the factions in the game based on the faction of the NPC. Currently, this fame has very little effect on your gameplay, but with the addition of things like outposts, it may have a much more significant effect.

untamed wrote:is there a quest system for levelling or can you level in different ways ( I hate the generic 'run there, go to that guy and kill six bunnies' quests)

You can level up just going out and doing things. ATM there are rites (8 now with more coming soon(tm)) that you can do to get special bonuses which involve the type of quest you say you dislike.

I've been around since open beta, playing 3-4 hours weekdays and all day Sat & Sun and have yet to top 130 everything except foraging - I'm not into power leveling. I have plenty to do and in fact, with outposts soon(tm) to be in the works, I need to schedule some time to boost my guild's fame.

Anyhoo - welcome to SoR and I hope you enjoy your stay!

You want to level by exploring the world, which is impossible unless you level.

>1) I've seen people talking about content, is there enough and is more added >often enough? Also what's the quality of content like?

This really means what you mean by content.
If you mean tons of instances that everyone else has done and other things along that score then you might consider Ryzom to be without much content.

If you look at the lore, the world, the community and what they do as being the true content, then there's more than you could ever explore.

>2) Is the game restricting in any way if there aren't enough people to form >groups with or can you solo if you want to?

Grouping is better and easier, you CAN solo up to 100, 200 if you're verrrrry patient but the game is angled more towards guilds and groups.

>3) Are there a lot of bugs/exploiters that take away from your enjjoyment?

A few, not many, exploiters p*ss me off.

>4) If you had to name only 1 real problem and 1 favourite thing about the >game what would they be?

Problem: The story isn't moving forward fast enough.
Favourite: The community.

>5) Is this game fun for casual players or a grind fest requiring 6 hours at a >time to get anywhere?

Since you can level anything, you can make progress casually.

untamed wrote:Hello Devs and the Ryzom community,

Hello there,

untamed wrote: 1) I've seen people talking about content, is there enough and is more added often enough? Also what's the quality of content like?

When people speak about content they can mean lot of different thinks. There is surely lot of content to keep people interested in game for 6-12 months almost fulltime atm. Maybe less nowadays as lots of thinks are faster to do as there are lots of experienced players around providing help and information.

Obviously, there have not been enough new content introduced to game this year after introduction of chapter 2. Reasons is spring clean to clear code base so that new content can be produced more efficiently. I think that was unfortunate but right decision as many content patches had bug problems. I have good hopes from now on, but we will see.

There should be a spring clean related patch tomorrow.

Also, some talks about lack of content is based on the fact that outposts were not implemented when game was released. I did not play back then so I can't comment if there were broken promises or what. There is ingame teasers for lots of rites that have not yet been implemented. Spring clean resulted in long wait time for new rites and many players have grown inpatient.

Rites and outposts will provide quite major additions to game so in that sense content patches have high impact on game and I have high hopes for them.

untamed wrote: 2) Is the game restricting in any way if there aren't enough people to form groups with or can you solo if you want to?

Some things require big group, but you (or someone else most likely) usually arrange that beforehand so it won't be problem. Like trekking to other continent or going after some big boss.

Also, normal hunting while training certain skills is impossible to solo (healing and defensive affiliction). Some other skills are done mostly solo (harvesting and crafting).

For normal activities, like hunting, 2 man team is enough and should be easy to find. Solo is possible but harder than teaming. Some may say that solo is impossible. I would say that powerlvling is impossible for solo.

I am solo most of my online time.

untamed wrote: 3) Are there a lot of bugs/exploiters that take away from your enjjoyment?

No. I would go to say that there is no serious bugs in this game that would ruin your game. There have been but those are fixed.

Exploiters. Not much problem there. Haven't seen any bots or like that. I have seen some people doing 'cliffing'. I do not know if that is practiced nowadays, but that exploit won't gain anything for exploiter. You would get same xp with normal hunting + loot. Storing at merchars is annoying too, but not to any serious degree. Tomorrow's patch should address that issue as player inventories are enlarged.

Random kill stealing & pulling agro on others might be seen but not much. In these cases players in question does not like each other for some reason.

untamed wrote: 4) If you had to name only 1 real problem and 1 favourite thing about the game what would they be?

Problem: there were some very serious problems but I think those are now addressed or being addressed. Well, most serious problems is quite small player base. It does not limit my gaming experience but it would be surely fun to have lots of more players and Nevrax getting more income would mean better game for all of us.

Addressed problems have related to communication to players, keeping timetables, testing of content patches, server stability and lag problems and so on. It is quite evident that Nevrax was not too experienced in running MMO when they released game. They have learner a lot and hiring a very experienced executive producer in team has provided to be success even ifthat happened quite recently and I hope to see more fruits from that addition in future.

Favorite: unique, consistent and interesting game world

untamed wrote: 5) Is this game fun for casual players or a grind fest requiring 6 hours at a time to get anywhere?

I would say it is fun for casual player but as I am not one I can't say for sure Getting to lvl 250 fast would require lots of grinding, but I do not see much point taking that as a goal.

untamed wrote: And my questions for the Devs - again please just answer fairly, honestly and stay away from corporate 'generic' speak.

Try posting to sticky questions thread. I have feeling that right persons monitor that more frequenty.