In an effort to 'recruit' more players to one hell of a great game, I will be sending e-mail to a number of friends I have made in other MMOs (many of which have become RL friends as well). I would like each of you to pretend for a few moments that you know NOTHING about Ryzom, except for what you may have seen in magazines. Then please read the body of the email I have mentioned and let me know if that would be enough to entice you to invest in this game.
Text follows,
Thanks,
Wolf
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Hello my friends
Several of you have asked for my opinions on Saga of Ryzom (the newest MMO on the market). Though I have yet to see my first 12 hours of in game time, I have put together a short "review" of what I''ve discovered so far. So, without further ado...
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Okay, you wanted a little feedback on the game itself. Here's what I have learned so far, with about 12 hours actually logged in. (Listed in no significant order, just how my mind comes up with them
)1) Due to game play and "live events" it is distinctly possible that EACH SERVER will create it's own destiny. In other words, when AC (for example) rolls out an event, it affects all servers identically. Granted, one server or another will 'solve' the event faster than another BUT, BUT the end result is still the same across all servers, NOT necessarily so with SoR.
2) VERY open-ended advancement system. A big example: You start off in a magical casting role, advancing several levels, then decide it's not for you. So what! Pick up a dagger and equip it. Any further XP you acquire will AUTOMATICALLY start going to your melee training. This applies as well if you advance melee high enough (level 20 I believe) the skill tree "opens" a new set of branches enabling you to choose a ranged attack. However, you still keep the stats etc that you have already earned as a melee warrior.
3) Same thing holds true with the crafting skills, At first, you can only choose either crafting (weapons and armor) or harvesting resources. Like in your 'adventuring skills' once you advance one of the two initial crafting skills to level 20, the skill tree again branches out, enabling you to be more skilled, more specialized.
4) Basically then, what I am trying to say in #2 and #3 is that the skill system is the most flexible that I personally have seen. It can really be summed up in one sentence: If you want to advance a certain class, just equip the appropriate weapon/tool and have at it.
5) Battle monsters (a/k/a mobs) run free and, like in Asherons Call, Horizons and who knows how many others, the beasts are visible long before you can get to them. From what I have experienced so far, (and this could change at higher levels), for the most part mobs are non-aggro to the player. Two exceptions worth noting here, if for no other reason than ALL my deaths have been caused by them, are called ragus and gingo. Even the lowest class of these beasts will attack without provocation, and they have a WIDE range of aggro.
6) One thing that is taking some getting used to, there are no visible means to identify the level of the creature that youre attacking. Rather, SoR uses a color coded aura (target indicator) around what you are attacking. Ive been looking into it, and so far been unable to come to a firm conclusion.
7) Crafting I cannot honestly tell you too much about it, because I havent pursued the skill myself yet, however, I will share what little information I have gleaned about it. When you loot a kill, and r/click on an item (also called mats for materials), it not only tells you the quality of the item, the window also tells you what item(s) can be made with that particular item.
8) There are only TWO different kinds of mats those with a gray or neutral background to the icon are meant for crafting or for sale. The icons with a green background have only one use, and that is for quest completion,
otherwise, destroy or dont pick em up. Which brings me to my next point.
9) Questing is not what we are accustomed to in Asherons Call or Horizons. Actually they are more like a military mission, in fact, they are called missions. Each mission however, has BOTH positive and negative consequences relating to your personal, guild and racial fame, which I shall discuss next.
10) One of the things that I find intriguing is that from minute one in game, your every action is reflected in one of the only two ways by each race within the game. For example, my character is of a race called Matis. By accepting and completing a Matis mission, I am adversely affecting my relationship with a race called the Kami. Each Matis mission completed, raises my stature with Matis, and deteriorates it with the Kami. Also, once you are part of a guild, your actions not only reflect on you but also on the guild. So, you can see its important to keep the political climate in mind as well
.11) Regarding missions, each player may only have a maximum of 3 active at any one time. As in Horizons though, the player always has the opportunity to reject any quest, without any backlash. BUT, BUT, I need to make something clear at this point. Player missions (quests) are not the be all and end all of the questing system. Once a player forms a guild (as I have) or joins one, then guild quests become available. One caveat to this last statement though. Even though the player is part of a guild, the guild missions cannot be accessed until acquisition of a guild hall (current cost 100,000 dapper (the local currency.))
12) Within the game world itself, you have a wide variety of options available to you. Some of them include user configurable window placement and sizing, chat window has separate tabs for guild and team chat. These two are not active unless you are part of a team or a guild. The downside to this though, is that there is no audiovisual notification if a new message appears in a window currently closed to your view.
13) Graphically, SoR does not have the greatest character (or monster) models. To me, these models are only two or three generations removed from the character models used in DOOM. However, its my opinion that SoR shines in the 3d world environment.
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Well, I have rambled on for almost two pages worth now, so its about time for me to shut-up for a bit. <<grin>> I have not covered initial character creation, or combat specific actions, electing for feedback from you first. Hopefully, I can convince at least some of you to give Saga of Ryzom a try, at least for the first 30 days free.
Until we meet again in game, God Bless, take care and remain safe.
