Ryzom

Why isn't Ryzom getting the attention it deserves?

Being an avid MMOG player, I was busy playing my City of Heroes, Final Fantasy XI, Lineage 2 (ugh), Star Wars Galaxies, EVE Online, and Planetside before Ryzom came around. Just like every other hardcore MMO person out there, I was eagerly awaiting EQ2, WoW, and MEO and had my preorders set for their release.

One night I was browsing the web, reading up on the gaming sites, when I saw an ad for Saga of Ryzom (which they did a heck of a job doing, I've seen tons of Ryzom ad banners on different gaming sites). I checked out the link and read up on the game. I noticed beta was open so I downloaded the "august_client.exe".

The screenshots are what got me interested. Everything looked so well done. The world looked immersive and I couldn't find one picture where the armor and weapon did not look cool. "Nice designs", I thought as I sat staring at a Fyros with a full helmet and a flaming axe in hand. There was apparently a lot of attention to detail.

So I hopped into beta and to me, it was somewhat of a turn-off. The very first thing I noticed was the lack of music and even sound (some sort of sound driver issue where they had to take the sound out of the game for a few days). The servers seemed unstable too. The other thing I noticed was some choppy animations and a few bugs (nothing game stopping however). Other than these problems, I had a blast with the game. Everything was so different, like it didn't even resemble a "just another MMO" game.

So the beta ended and I thought nothing of it: "Back to playing City of Heroes I suppose". Then it hit me. I needed it and I couldn't stand being away from it. My urge to play Ryzom hit me so hard and so fast, I thought I was going to collapse.

Like I said, I'm an avid MMO player. I've played too many MMO's perhaps. It was getting to the point to where it didn't even feel like I was playing a game anymore, like it was just another job. Well, right when I thought I was completely burnt out on the genre (kill-loot-level-repeat), Ryzom suddenly breathed new life into my MMO experience. I was instantly hooked.

Each and every day, the only thing I could think about (besides my schoolwork and my girlfriend) was Ryzom and how I couldn't stand the wait. Release day was so close, yet so far away. Oh, and let me tell you, EB Games and Gamestop delaying their delivery was just about the end of me. It was sheer torture.

My friends thought I was nuts, they couldn't understand why I loved the game so much. One of my best friends tried out the beta, spent 5 minutes in the game, then decided it wasn't worthy of his time (he too was turned off by the missing sound and such). He's very picky and very impatient about his games. If it doesn't entertain him in the first 5 minutes, he's out. His loss I suppose.

Finally, I got the game. I swear I wanted to kiss the Fed Ex lady, but that would result in my arrest and further delaying my Ryzom game time. I loaded it up and played until my body completely shut down on me from the lack of sleep and food. It was like I was playing an MMO for the very first time. "I haven't felt this way about a game in years", I said to myself.

Now before I go on with my newly found fan-boyisms, let me first say that Nevrax pulled a complete 180. They must have put in some long hours because they really turned the game around from the end of beta to the day it released. Almost everything that had bothered me with the game had been fixed. The release version was like a complete makeover of the beta version. It's like they spent an entire year working on the game from the time beta ended up to the hour it hit the stores.

Anyway, here I am sitting at my desk wondering why The Saga of Ryzom isn't such a big hit? This game is truly amazing. I've never been so immersed in a world in my whole life. On top of that, the game is actually fun. It amazes me how much thought went into crafting even. I could go on and on about how great this game really is and how I came to love it so much. I know I haven't been around as along as some of the other Ryzom players who have been waiting for this game for years, but I can tell you that I love the game just as much, if not more. This game has persuaded me to completely forget about EQ2 and WoW. Those preorders have been cancelled as I know already that this game is thrice times better than what they will be.

So why aren't the servers packed? Why aren't we seeing swarms of players flowing out of noobie island? Where's the publicity, the magazine ads, the bright lights, and all the attention that this game deserves? Why hasn't this game gone platinum yet, huh? Well, I can dream though can't I?

I would love nothing more than to see this game succeed far beyond the developers' wildest dreams, because they deserve it. To me, The Saga of Ryzom > than any other MMO I've experienced so far.

Ryzom truly is the answer to my multiplayer prayers.