Requiem for a Game
Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:47 pm
Well folks, I've played now for about a month, and I have a few observations to make. It doesn't matter if anyone agrees or not, because these are my opinions. And as these are forums, I am wont to voice my opinion in a way that might upset some people, because that's what forums seem to be good at doing.
First off, let me tell you the best MMO I've ever played is Star Wars Galaxies. I know a slight ton of the community here is made up of SWG "Refugees", so I won't expand on that anymore. I just think that the point should be made for contextual purposes.
One of the things that really appealed to me about this game was the feeling that I got that reminded me vaguely of the tingle that SWG gave me the first time I played. There's a sense of wonder, of hope, and scale that makes Ryzom a fantastic game. The systems, particularly the customizable skills and the player-built expansions, are just ground-breaking and unabashedly amazing.
However, there's something missing from Ryzom. Story. Characters. These things make a true RPG. Sure, the argument could be said that it's up to the player to make the characters, but there has to be somewhere to start, and Nevrax hasn't done a satisfactory job in my opinion of starting that ball rolling.
There's also many many problems with bugs in the game, and incomplete functions that should have been made years ago. Why is Nevrax adding more content when it hasn't finished the content they started already? I know the long-term plan is probably to bring in more customers with enhanced PvP and such, to make the money needed to finish the original designs. But if people want PvP, they play WoW because that's a damn good PvP game. So Nevrax should include PvP, but they shouldn't try and make it a focal point of the game. They're never going to take customers from WoW, and SWG has lost most of their customers to other games already. Instead, Nevrax should be focusing on making the game the best that it can be, and then bringing customers to them by having the best of the best.
For those SWG players that know what the pre-CU game was like, they should understand two things:
First, SWG will never be what it was, and if you want pre-CU style gameplay, Ryzom is your game.
Second, SWG sucked pre-CU too, just in different ways. There were massive balance issues, tons of bugs, and the game-killing Hologrind. If you want to grind out levels day in and day out, Ryzom is your game.
Now, none of that means that I hate Ryzom by any means. It just means that if Nevrax wants to get me back, and to keep the new players they want to attract, they need to fix the problems that they already have. The mobs are very well scripted, though the models are a bit passe and very repetitive. The harvesting and crafting systems are very well designed and implemented, almost up to the quality of SWG (which is my favorite crafting system ever). Combat is a bit quirky still, but the magic system is just done perfectly.
Until the problems get fixed though, I'll keep my eyes on Ryzom and I might return. But for now, I have found a nifty little game that allows me to play with my friends, socialize all I want, have a developing story and evolving characters. It's called Neverwinter Nights 2.
First off, let me tell you the best MMO I've ever played is Star Wars Galaxies. I know a slight ton of the community here is made up of SWG "Refugees", so I won't expand on that anymore. I just think that the point should be made for contextual purposes.
One of the things that really appealed to me about this game was the feeling that I got that reminded me vaguely of the tingle that SWG gave me the first time I played. There's a sense of wonder, of hope, and scale that makes Ryzom a fantastic game. The systems, particularly the customizable skills and the player-built expansions, are just ground-breaking and unabashedly amazing.
However, there's something missing from Ryzom. Story. Characters. These things make a true RPG. Sure, the argument could be said that it's up to the player to make the characters, but there has to be somewhere to start, and Nevrax hasn't done a satisfactory job in my opinion of starting that ball rolling.
There's also many many problems with bugs in the game, and incomplete functions that should have been made years ago. Why is Nevrax adding more content when it hasn't finished the content they started already? I know the long-term plan is probably to bring in more customers with enhanced PvP and such, to make the money needed to finish the original designs. But if people want PvP, they play WoW because that's a damn good PvP game. So Nevrax should include PvP, but they shouldn't try and make it a focal point of the game. They're never going to take customers from WoW, and SWG has lost most of their customers to other games already. Instead, Nevrax should be focusing on making the game the best that it can be, and then bringing customers to them by having the best of the best.
For those SWG players that know what the pre-CU game was like, they should understand two things:
First, SWG will never be what it was, and if you want pre-CU style gameplay, Ryzom is your game.
Second, SWG sucked pre-CU too, just in different ways. There were massive balance issues, tons of bugs, and the game-killing Hologrind. If you want to grind out levels day in and day out, Ryzom is your game.
Now, none of that means that I hate Ryzom by any means. It just means that if Nevrax wants to get me back, and to keep the new players they want to attract, they need to fix the problems that they already have. The mobs are very well scripted, though the models are a bit passe and very repetitive. The harvesting and crafting systems are very well designed and implemented, almost up to the quality of SWG (which is my favorite crafting system ever). Combat is a bit quirky still, but the magic system is just done perfectly.
Until the problems get fixed though, I'll keep my eyes on Ryzom and I might return. But for now, I have found a nifty little game that allows me to play with my friends, socialize all I want, have a developing story and evolving characters. It's called Neverwinter Nights 2.