Coming from WoW, some questions

[gexkko]

Hey all, I'm coming from WoW which I have played since open beta. I haven't cancelled my account as I'm not sure if there is another game to replace it, even though I am becoming increasingly bored with it. I am looking for some serious answers to these questions to help me decide if SoR is right for me

First, PvP: The PvP system in WoW was implemented poorly from the beginning, and after 7 months of promises it hasn't improved much. It favors Hard-core gamers who don't have jobs/school/lives to live, and as such casual gamers such as myself cannot advance. Further, they have limited the strategy to a zerging style, leaving little actual thought and just mindless combat. As such, does PvP in Ryzom:
1) Have any point/purpose other than some casual fun
2) Provide a means for strategic battles if desired

Second, Game time: Is this truely a game where a casual gamer can succeed just as much as a hard-core gamer, just over a longer period of time? WoW was marketed as such, but it realistically isn't.

Third, Content: Is there enough content to keep someone interested, or are there large periods of nothing to do/endless grinding to advance skills.

Fourth, Crafting: I like the description of the craft system providing the only real means for advanced items in the game, creating a theoretical true economy (unlike WoW). However, is the economy really based around crafting? Or does gathering outweigh crafting in terms of profit? Is crafting truely worth it?

Fifth, Community: I'm coming from a guild in WoW that has an incredible community. Honestly, it is one of the few reasons I still play and gives me twangs of regret as I think about leaving. How (overall) mature is the community, both in game and in the forums (the latter I have seen high levels of maturity from just from browsing the forums briefly)? Is it a supportive community where players of all skill levels can be appreciated, or is it one where only the best are worth anything and the rest just get forgotten?

I ask these not because I expect to leave WoW for a perfect game (WoW is far from perfect itself), but I want to know the strenghts and weaknesses from a player perspective so I can make an educated decision. Of course, I will be playing the 14 day free trial to get my own perspective, but there is only so much that can be done in 14 days. Thanks for the help in advance.

[ahlmea]

Hey all, I'm coming from WoW which I have played since open beta. I haven't cancelled my account as I'm not sure if there is another game to replace it, even though I am becoming increasingly bored with it. I am looking for some serious answers to these questions to help me decide if SoR is right for me

Welcome to the forums. Glad to have you here

First, PvP: The PvP system in WoW was implemented poorly from the beginning, and after 7 months of promises it hasn't improved much. It favors Hard-core gamers who don't have jobs/school/lives to live, and as such casual gamers such as myself cannot advance. Further, they have limited the strategy to a zerging style, leaving little actual thought and just mindless combat. As such, does PvP in Ryzom:
1) Have any point/purpose other than some casual fun
2) Provide a means for strategic battles if desired

PvP is limited to certain areas such as the Matis arena, Nexus and Prime Roots. The last two areas contain high quality mats, so you can probably see the point of having open PvP there. Besides that, it's just casual fun

Second, Game time: Is this truely a game where a casual gamer can succeed just as much as a hard-core gamer, just over a longer period of time? WoW was marketed as such, but it realistically isn't.

No system like the Inn, so it will take some time to advance at higher levels.

Third, Content: Is there enough content to keep someone interested, or are there large periods of nothing to do/endless grinding to advance skills.

Quite a few CSR and player created events, but NPC missions are not very advanced.

Fourth, Crafting: I like the description of the craft system providing the only real means for advanced items in the game, creating a theoretical true economy (unlike WoW). However, is the economy really based around crafting? Or does gathering outweigh crafting in terms of profit? Is crafting truely worth it?

The economy is "true". High demand/rare items, high prices. Low demand/common items, low prices.

Fifth, Community: I'm coming from a guild in WoW that has an incredible community. Honestly, it is one of the few reasons I still play and gives me twangs of regret as I think about leaving. How (overall) mature is the community, both in game and in the forums (the latter I have seen high levels of maturity from just from browsing the forums briefly)? Is it a supportive community where players of all skill levels can be appreciated, or is it one where only the best are worth anything and the rest just get forgotten?

We include everyone. This is an exceptionally great community. Very mature and serious. Since there are few of us, you'll be recognized

Hope my answers were somewhat sufficient.

Enjoy your stay

[vinnyq]

Hey and welcome

First, PvP: The PvP system in WoW was implemented poorly from the beginning, and after 7 months of promises it hasn't improved much. It favors Hard-core gamers who don't have jobs/school/lives to live, and as such casual gamers such as myself cannot advance. Further, they have limited the strategy to a zerging style, leaving little actual thought and just mindless combat. As such, does PvP in Ryzom:
1) Have any point/purpose other than some casual fun
2) Provide a means for strategic battles if desired

1) No, no purpose except for casual fun and events.
2) battle can be strategic, but really, no.

PVP is not a big part of the game right now.
It might be once Outposts are released, but not at the moment.
Here's a camcord held vid of the Outposts feature that were shown briefly at E3, get what you want from that, although I have a feeling they won't be here for another few months.
http://www.ryzom.com/forum/showthread.p ... ight=video

Second, Game time: Is this truely a game where a casual gamer can succeed just as much as a hard-core gamer, just over a longer period of time? WoW was marketed as such, but it realistically isn't.

Yes for low level up to lvl 100, and if you enjoy harvesting and crafting, which can be solo to max level, and quite enjoyable at that.

Third, Content: Is there enough content to keep someone interested, or are there large periods of nothing to do/endless grinding to advance skills.

You'll have to define content more, but I am guessing you mean quest system and game mechanic related contents, such as fishing and complex missions etc? If that is the case, that's a big NO. The quests system suck atm, even with the more complex one such as rites.

And there is grinding, a lot of it (if you treat it as such), although I hunt and dig and craft with team of friends and guidies so it's quite enjoyable for me.

There also need to be more official events and raids, but I haven't seen one in a while now, and only about 3 or 4 since I joined in November.

There are lots of player run and GMs run events, however, which can be tons of fun.

But here, I am guessing by content you mean missions and quests kinda content, and I think you'll be very dissapointed if that's the case.

Fourth, Crafting: I like the description of the craft system providing the only real means for advanced items in the game, creating a theoretical true economy (unlike WoW). However, is the economy really based around crafting? Or does gathering outweigh crafting in terms of profit? Is crafting truely worth it?

The crafting and harvesting (they pretty much go hand-in-hand, although not necesarily so) rocks! You just have to try it out for yourself to see what I mean.

Fifth, Community: I'm coming from a guild in WoW that has an incredible community. Honestly, it is one of the few reasons I still play and gives me twangs of regret as I think about leaving. How (overall) mature is the community, both in game and in the forums (the latter I have seen high levels of maturity from just from browsing the forums briefly)? Is it a supportive community where players of all skill levels can be appreciated, or is it one where only the best are worth anything and the rest just get forgotten?

I am sad that you will be leaving a great group of your friends in WoW. SoR do have an AWESOME community though, moreso than the others (imo) namely because this is niche game, and not a popular SOE Blizzard monster. And also, somethings about the game draw in the more mature players.

I do hope you will be able to make new friends and experience the greatness of this community

I ask these not because I expect to leave WoW for a perfect game (WoW is far from perfect itself), but I want to know the strenghts and weaknesses from a player perspective so I can make an educated decision. Of course, I will be playing the 14 day free trial to get my own perspective, but there is only so much that can be done in 14 days. Thanks for the help in advance.

Good luck with your decision, I hope you find what you're looking for. If not, you can use Ryzom as a break from WoW or vice versa, maybe.

[art3an]

Welcome! Just arrived to SoR from WoW myself (a couple of weeks back at least...)

The "content subject" is, as on so many other mmorpg-forums, the real long-run discussion where there just dont seem to be any clear satisfactory answer. Clearly, it is a matter of perspective and expectations from players, and vision and focus of developers/game creators.

Without being incredibly long-winded, the general advice to new players, probably better than any other advice, is to: "live the saga"... Of course very cliché, but what good advice is not

In practice, it means to enjoy the detailed and rich world of Atys, interact with its inhabitants (the PLAYERS - not npc when not necessary), enjoy the events (which, ofc, could be more and more frequent), get involved in the "political" scene etc.

Don't run around search for epic quests that you and thousands of others have/will do (how "epic" is that...); don't grab a ticket to your local dungeon and grind your way through it (there is no dungeons in Atys...) etc.

If you don't enjoy the eco systems, the world with its details and design, the inhabitants (both players and the various creatures) - then I guess this is not the game for you.

Cheers!

[borg9]

***WARNING Heavily Ryzom Biased Player ***

Ryzom can be seen as a lot like real life.

There is much to see and do, but no one is going to tell you what needs to be looked at and what needs to be done. People will however hint at whats out there.

You get out of Ryzom what you put in to it.
If you talk to people they talk back.
If you role player you will find there are lots of role players.
If you want to grind, most of the time you can if some on else who wants to grind.

I used to be a 'casual gamer', limited play to 2 hour a night (hummm). I found that I could progress at a reasonable pace and the game system means that any char of any level can still have fun.

This is NOT a lead you by the nose game.
In fact its a dump you in a corner and ignore you game.
If you choose to sit in the corner and not interact with the other players, you will find Ryzom is a grind.

Key advice -
Read the Lore on the main web site - and check back every now and then.
Read the SAGA section on the forums.
Download and install Klients - don't wait till you have a problem to do this (DO IT NOW!)
Talk to everyone and anyone!

[philu]

Welcome, welcome, feel free to make yourself at home!

Hey and welcome



1) No, no purpose except for casual fun and events.
2) battle can be strategic, but really, no.

PVP is not a big part of the game right now.
It might be once Outposts are released, but not at the moment.

Well we had an event recently that involved PvP that is part of the currently ongoing storyline.

It was faction based (Kami vs Karavan) in the Prime Roots and involved the kami players rescuing a 'spy' from the Prime Roots and getting him past the Karavan players. Some serious tactics were involved there, which lead to (in the one I was involved in - there were 2) the Kami side wiping the floor with the Karavan side.

So yes battle CAN be strategic, it certainly influenced that event IMHO.

It will become even more significant when Outposts are released.

You get out of Ryzom what you put in to it.

Truest thing said so far.

I am also a 'casual' player so yes you CAN progress in Ryzom only playing a limited amount of time. It does, indeed, just take longer than the power levellers but you get to savour your levels more!

The community here is quite mature with a varied mix of ages and all very helpful. You post a question here, for example, you'll get any number of answres - as you can see!

[mmatto]

Second, Game time: Is this truely a game where a casual gamer can succeed just as much as a hard-core gamer, just over a longer period of time? WoW was marketed as such, but it realistically isn't.
.

Depends what you mean by succeeding. If you set your goal to get to max level(s) then you are getting there much slower than 24/7 powergamers. But, I would not set goal to reach max lvl as that means only grinding.

Third, Content: Is there enough content to keep someone interested, or are there large periods of nothing to do/endless grinding to advance skills.

Depends what kind of content you like. Quest/dungeon/instance style stuff is lacking or not part of this game at all. However, there is quite much other things to do out there and those does not require grinding.

Fourth, Crafting: I like the description of the craft system providing the only real means for advanced items in the game, creating a theoretical true economy (unlike WoW). However, is the economy really based around crafting? Or does gathering outweigh crafting in terms of profit? Is crafting truely worth it?

Only couple of armors can be looted from npc, pretty much everything else is player crafted. You can be a public crafter and/or guild crafter. Many powerful guilds are able to supply their members with most required normal items thus limiting the public markets.

Foraging outweights crafting in terms of profit for mundane items. If you can sell your crafts to other players, then you can make good profit with crafting.

If you craft something special then you can get serious dappers. To craft something special you need to have a supply of very specific and rare raw materials both foraged and hunted. Then you must have good knowledge how to combine these raw materials for best results (luck and/or experimentation required).

Usually it is best to combine both foraging and crafting. So, you can always supply yourself with raw materials even if you get most of your materials from markets or friends.

Fifth, Community: I'm coming from a guild in WoW that has an incredible community. Honestly, it is one of the few reasons I still play and gives me twangs of regret as I think about leaving. How (overall) mature is the community, both in game and in the forums (the latter I have seen high levels of maturity from just from browsing the forums briefly)? Is it a supportive community where players of all skill levels can be appreciated, or is it one where only the best are worth anything and the rest just get forgotten?

Very supportive community. Some older players even play alts at starter islands to help new players. Of course, some really exceptional players can shine and be known in whole Atys but that does not take away from others.

[targus]

I am also currently a WoW player and I appreciate all of the replies in this thread. It contains a lot of great information, and has sold me on this game. After reading over the forums, I am certainly impressed with the maturity of its members. It seems that the player base is not infested immature kiddies who use words like, "wtfpwned", "ftw", etc, etc repeatedly in every post. I am in a wonderful guild in WoW that is certainly going to be hard to leave, however playing a game where the majority of the population has the mentality of an 8 yr old is not my cup of tea. I am looking forward to the crafting aspect of this game and meeting new friends, and hopefully joining a a wonderful guild that will accept me I am not a powergamer by any means..I am 22 years old with a 3 year old little girl + a full-time job. I enjoy digging deep into a games lore and getting sucked into the game, and I am impressed with this game so far

[dazman76]

Heh, I've had a few good random encounters in WoW, but they are certainly few and far between. The Ryzom community is way ahead of WoW, due it's 'niche' appeal (as discussed elsewhere on these forums - WoW is basically too mainstream *not* to attract the kiddies - it's a matter of probability)

A genuine WoW conversation (including spelling mistakes for effect ):

UberOrc: What doing?
Dazman: Waiting for some friends atm, for hunting
UberOrc: Look my swrod
(brandishes flaming sword)
Dazman: ...
UberOrc: It Burn
Dazman: Indeed it does
UberOrc: It kick asses
Dazman: OO sorry I have to go, friends in need...
(incoming Duel request)
Dazman: *pop*

And yes, when we got back to the same place, he was still there, he told all group members about his sword, and challenged us to Duels one by one

[targus]

Heh, I've had a few good random encounters in WoW, but they are certainly few and far between. The Ryzom community is way ahead of WoW, due it's 'niche' appeal (as discussed elsewhere on these forums - WoW is basically too mainstream *not* to attract the kiddies - it's a matter of probability)

A genuine WoW conversation (including spelling mistakes for effect ):

UberOrc: What doing?
Dazman: Waiting for some friends atm, for hunting
UberOrc: Look my swrod
(brandishes flaming sword)
Dazman: ...
UberOrc: It Burn
Dazman: Indeed it does
UberOrc: It kick asses
Dazman: OO sorry I have to go, friends in need...
(incoming Duel request)
Dazman: *pop*

And yes, when we got back to the same place, he was still there, he told all group members about his sword, and challenged us to Duels one by one

hehe...sad but true I get annoyed by running through an area and receiving about 50 dueling requests...Dueling proves no skill, seeing that you are prepared for the encounter.