sifty wrote:Sweet so at least there is a couple around
I still have a couple accounts that are subbed to Darktide. I log them in whenever I have the urge to kill
I played AC1 for three or four years (on Leafcull), but I didn't jump directly from there to Ryzom. I tried Anarchy Online for a few months, Star Wars: Galaxies for around a year (I know, I know), and City of Heroes for a couple of weeks.
As far as comparisons between Ryzom and AC1, they're difficult to make. AC1 has had four+ years since launch to develop, while Ryzom still has that "new game smell." I'll give it a try, though.
-Customization. Character appearance allows a little more customization, though not much. I understand they're adding more options and a skill branch to change your appearance after creation, however, which is definitely a good thing.
-Skills. The skill system is definitely more intricate than AC's was. Big plus.
-Possibilities. Everyone can ultimately do just about everything here, which wasn't possible in AC1.
-Graphics. The graphics are significantly better, though who knows how the AC1 graphics update will look.
-Dungeons. The only real indoor environments in Ryzom are the Prime Roots caverns, but AC certainly had dungeons in spades. Hopefully this will change.
-Both games use non-standard/non-Tolkien races, which I find to be a big plus. I'm about as tired of elves, dwarves and orcs as I am of those Verizon commercials. Can you hear me now?
-Loot. Well, the differences are significant. AC1 has it (lots and lots and lots of it), Ryzom doesn't. If you enjoy the crafting aspect of the game, then this is a plus. If you can't stand crafting in any form, then this is a minus. I enjoy the crafting from time to time, so I'm somewhat indifferent about it. A lack of interesting loot seems to be mandatory for any game featuring a dynamic player economy. I suspect it will be a game-breaker for a large number of people, while a deal-maker for others.
-Player Housing. I liked AC's player housing quite a bit. Houses came in different sizes, had different floorplans and exterior styles, and could be found in neighborhoods or in secluded areas. Since there were fewer houses than players, however, there were serious problems with the system. I find apartments to be boring in the extreme, but at least everyone who can afford an apartment will get one.
-Difficulty. AC was easier and faster for the most part. AC was and is a complex game, but combat was fast and furious and very rewarding. The risk versus reward in Ryzom seems very...unrewarding, at least on the mainland. As a result, the infamous "grind elements" begin to show themselves rather quickly, even if you're purposely trying not to look at them. I found myself smiling a lot on the starter island, but I notice I spend a good deal of time frowning on the mainland. I find my fun in progress; the slower that progress occurs, the less fun I have.
-Buffs. I hated buffs in AC1. I despised them. Third party programs were written just so you could avoid the headache of them, and it hasn't been significantly different in any MMO I've played. There were even buffs in AO and SWG, and those games were based in sci-fi environments; Yes, Doctor Mandle could spell you up with medicine and make you 30 times more powerful than you were, and for the low low cost of 30,000 credits. I am overjoyed that buffs were not included as a necessary evil of everyday life in Ryzom. Cheers to Nevrax for that.
-"Feel." Both games seemed to be their own thing. When AC1 launched, the only other peers (games of similar size and budget) around were UO and EQ. AC1 felt like an entirely different beast. For Nevrax to have achieved the same thing today with so many other games out is just amazing. Ryzom doesn't -feel- like any other game I've played. That impresses me to no end.
-Communication. So far, Nevrax's GM/Dev communication with players has been leaps and bounds beyond any other game I've played. Report a bug in-game? There's a GM in front of you in less than two minutes thanking you for the report and/or asking you for more details. There are posts by representatives on the board every day. Turbine developers posted on boards occasionally, but nowhere near this level. Nevrax has set a new standard in this area.
-Lore. We haven't really seen much of Nevrax's lore so far, though hopefully that will change in a patch or two. What's been provided on the webpage has certainly been intriguing, however. For AC1, lore was falling out of trees, popping out of the ground, and pinching your nose while you slept. There were places in-game where you could buy books about the lore. You could find more tomes on quests. They even had player stories published and sold in the Hebian-to library each month. Those are big shoes to fill.
-Exploits. AC1 was coded as much by the Decal crowd as it was by Turbine. As such, exploits were everywhere. Decal showed people things they weren't supposed to see, it identified things they weren't supposed to know, and it generally allowed masses of players to circumvent the game engine. While XP chains were finally dealt with, they had been in game for 4 years before something was ultimately done. AFK macroing was rampant, though not as bad as in SWG, and nothing but indirect action was ever taken. Despite the fact that Verant (EQ) was viewed by many to be overzealous with their enforcement, they rarely had such problems while EQ was under their control. Ryzom recently had a duping issue, and this was corrected with a rollback. I consider this to be a good sign.
-Miscellaneous. I haven't really been involved with the guild system here, but it has to be superior to AC's XPchainpalooza/pyramid scheme. I've never enjoyed any aspect of PvP, so I can't really give much feedback on that area. In every game I've played, people have compared the PvP to the PvP on Darktide, so I guess that's going to be another difficult challenge. The fact that there are so many different yet effective character builds at least means there will be a greater variety of opponents, though. The community seems terrific so far, though it's always the diehards who find the game first. We'll have to hope the playerbase remains mature as its numbers swell.
In conclusion, I loved AC1, but I hated many of its elements. I am enjoying Ryzom, but I'm disliking several of its elements. There are similarities in the areas I liked from both games, but my complaints couldn't be more distant. I see a great deal of promise in Rzyom, certainly more than I do in World of Warcraft or Everquest II. Ryzom allows you to be who you want to be and to do what you want to do, while class-based games only tell you who you cannot be and what you cannot do. Everything else is whipped cream.
