Why I tried the game
I'm not much of a MMORPG player... mainly because I'm very conservative about paying recurring fees. I'm more or less squarely in the target demographic for Guild Wars (pen & paper RPGer, fantasy fan, fast connection, few hours to play per week), if that helps identify where I'm coming from.
However, I decided to try Ryzom because it sounded like exactly the game design I would like to build if I was creating an MMORPG. Specifically, it has a fantasy + sci-fi mood with new and interesting cultures to explore and learn about, a unified "look and feel", and a flexible and well-thought-out skill system.
In particular, I also love the "carrying capacity" idea that allows pressure from player factions to reshape the world, while maintaining some "elasticity" so that bigger changes require more effort to make and to sustain. The idea that cultures (including the enemy cultures) can be pushed back but not wiped out is brilliant (even if I did think of it first!). You also took it a step beyond what I had thought of by incorporating that environmental theory directly into the game, and making it a core component of the world. Assigning missions to help enforce this balance is also a clever idea, and one I admire!
So, my kudos on that. It all made me think that your game designers were on the ball, and your concepts were so sound and intriguing that I had to try the game.
Experience so far
I like to start with a base of knowledge with these games... many of them are not very forgiving if you make a "wrong" character building decision early in the process. I used the website to get as familiar with the game as I could before starting my trial period. (I can also web surf while working, while playing requires more concentration, so that's not an option.) It took me some effort to figure out that my race wouldn't actually affect my stats directly, and that the total lack of stats info in general was something of a design decision. On the one hand, that was a bit frustrating for the more technical / analytical side of me. On the other, it was kind of appealing to see that much emphasis on culture and roleplaying.
I started the free trial Friday night around 6pm. Then discovered that it seemed to have assumed that I had already downloaded the client when I activated... it took me a couple minutes of confusion to understand that the "now you're ready to play" message didn't have any sort of link to start the game! I eventually found the client download page, and downloaded the client until about 10:30pm. So much for my night of gaming! Still, stuff happens, and I figured I just approached the free trial from a different angle as most folks, and / or had accidentally skipped a step on the instructions.
I created three characters over the two days: Matis, Fyros, and Zorai. As is usual for these games, I assumed my first char would be something of a learning experience.
Faea (Matis): I took the advice I'd seen here about not taking Fight package, because it was easy to learn in newbie-land. Instead I took Magic + Forage x2 to start. The tutorial was a bit sparse... I didn't learn how to DO anything, just where the various NPCs were. Fortunately, the interface was pretty easy to figure out.
I bushwhacked another newbie into roleplaying with me, engaging him in conversation about his role as a warrior and mine as a humble forager and refugee. He played along gamely, and this was probably one of the best parts of my game experience.
Foraging was nice... a little light on the graphics side (green bubbles... everything is green bubbles!), but interesting learning about the various risk bars and what have you. Fighting was more challenging, and I managed to do the typical newbie thing of having my kill stolen by the guards, and then going farther away and dying to an enraged Suckling Yubo. I worked off my death penalty, learned a half dozen skills, and got to the point where I was deleting and editing actions on my bar.
At this point, after a trip to another city, I ended up dying again, and faced with a daunting death penalty, and the feeling that a lot of those skill points had been invested foolishly since I was just deleting all those actions anyway, I decided to make my second char.
Riatha (Fyros): this char was an attempt to make a more combat-worthy char, and go bash some stuff for fun. Fight + Magic + Forage, and then investing my first skill points in attribute boosts to Con and Metabolism.
In short order, I killed a yubo, attacked and got killed by whatever the second mob the trainer pointed at was, then discovered the aggro mobs near town, and managed to rack up a decent death penalty rather quickly. It didn't help that I didn't notice that I respawned with only 30 HP or so, and promptly went out and got "pwned" by a Yubo.
Frustrated with the bad start, I created my third char.
Faera (Zorai): This time I was determined to "do it right". I took Forage + Magic + Craft, but quickly bought all 4 skills to 2, and bought some attributes to keep me alive. I then resolved to keep foraging until I had earned a decent weapon to kill those pesky Yubos and such.
I foraged. And foraged. Hmm, this must be that "grind" thing people talk about. It was fun enough when it was just for spare change and / or materials to craft with. Now it wasn't quite so much fun, especially since my lack of investment in Willpower made me have to take periodic "rest breaks" of just sitting around.
But finally, 9000 daps later, I had a nice, two handed axe. Surely now those Yubos would fall before me! I killed a Yubo! Two, three in a row, even! Without resting, or even taking much damage! Then I managed to take out an Izam! Woohoo! I'm a force to be feared now!
So I got overly cocky. The first wounded Weeny Ginko (?) when down easy enough, but the second managed to take me down just before I killed him with my mighty axe. Dangit! Fine. I guessed I'd have to stick to Sucky Yubos for a little longer. I waited until I was back up to 75 health or so, before going a-slaying to get rid of my death penalty. After all, I could take down Sucky Yubos in one swing! Swish. OK, in one hit then. Swish. Swish. Oh, come on! Swish. Ack. Please tell me I didn't just get killed by a Yubo. Again.
Frustrated, I gave up for the night (Sunday night).What I liked
The character appearance customization was awesome. The fact that it was different between the races was even cooler.
The interface rocked. Seriously, your interface designers are really cool. As a professional developer, I'd hire them in a second. Multiple redundant interfaces and methods of input, reasonable customization, nice layout, intuitive feel. Definitely a big plus!
Load messages: funny, and put me in a good mood to start playing in. Helped aleviate any lingering frustration from my last attempt to play.
What I didn't
Dying. Repeatedly. To the weakest monsters in the game. That are little more than squirrels. The fact that they were called "Suckling" just made it that much more embarassing / frustrating.
Death penalty. Not only do I suck, but I get penalized for sucking, not once, but twice. I lose XP... fine. But I also lose play time, when I have to sit around and wait for my stats to regen after spawn, and that's not acceptable when I only have a couple hours to play per day.
Newbie land population. You've heard this before; I won't belabor the point.
Disappearing windows. Having keyboard shortcuts to hide windows is good! Not having any idea what they are and how to find them... not so good. Help file interface docs go along with this: pointers to which window you're talking about is good! Still having no idea which key I would have used to get that window back afterward... not so good.
Suggestions
10-day trial instead of 7-day: for those of us who don't have the luxury of much play time during the week, having two weekends to try this would be really nice.
Yubo names: I know, funny and a play on the whole newbie thing. Most people probably have no problems with the little buggers. But dang it's frustrating to get killed by a "suckling" or "weeny" anything.
Death penalty: put a healer in town, and have the Welcomer point to her during the tutorial, so I don't have to sit for 10 minutes while my health regens.
Newbie escort missions: Give experienced players missions to "Mentor (Newbie XXX)". If they accept the mission, transport them to newbie island. The "return" goal should be reasonably simple, but something that they can put off if they want to help further. Perhaps the welcomer could ask if the newbie would like a mentor?
Next steps
I haven't given up on the game yet, but I'll probably have only about 2-3 hours to play this week. So far, I plan to go to the mainland, just to see the population and eavesdrop on the larger community. Any other advice or feedback is more than welcome!
, come back, we miss you 
