Ryzom: The Greatest Unknown Game Ever Made

[stellus]

Well I'm about 2 weeks into Ryzom and I must say, I'm still loving every moment of it. There's so many things about this game that make it great, I don't even know where to begin.

Ryzom produces a good feeling inside of me after a long day of working my butt off on projects at school and a grueling soccer practice in the Arizona heat. The game really allows you to to sit back and enjoy it as if it were your own little mini-vacation away from real life without the many hassles produced in other MMO's.

With rock-solid mechanics, a lush, living and breathing environment, and a skill system that gives the player the most freedom of any MMO to date, The Saga of Ryzom is hard to put down. To me, this game is THE MMO to play and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In a developer's point of view, Ryzom has an extremely sound design, providing strong builds in three key aspects of game design: Core Mechanics, Interactivity, and Narrative.

Core Mechanics are basically the rules that define how the game is played and operated. It is the heart and soul of a game and Ryzom truly shines in this area as it has plenty of it. There's nothing fundamentally flawed and that's important in making a great game.

Interactivity: the way the player senses the game, through sight and sound. It's also how the player acts and reacts with the game. Of course, the sense of sight is wonderful as the graphics are stunning. With a symphonical music soundtrack coming very soon, Ryzom can be expected to deliver in sound as well. However, the most impressive part is the player's actions and how they affect the gameplay. It's obvious that the game provides a dynamic environment that shapes and forms around what the playerbase does. This not only opens up more ways for players to react to the game, but it also allows the game to react right back at the player. Leaving outposts unmanned can lead to its destruction, lands unchecked will result in a flood of enemies, the ability to manipulate your fame in a way that allows you to take advantage of different objects is especially innovative. These are only a few of the things the game provides as far as interactivity goes.

Narrative is self explanatory. It's the storytelling! But Nevrax takes the narrative a step further by adding the story into the game's core mechanics and interactivity. In this game, there seems to be a reason for everything. In a future patch, the storyline will be more involved in the game's dynamic world and from this you can tell that it can only get better from here.

Add in a great customer support team and the company's active involvement with its community, and you have yourself an extremely good game.

Well, now that I given you my full opinion on the game and why I love it, it's time to share my one and only one complaint about this game. There aren't enough people playing it. I believe that the overall enjoyment of gameplay could increase ten fold if the playerbase was larger.

Nevrax, as a true fan of your game who plans on staying with you until the end, I give you my one request. Bring in more players. If it comes down to Free-Trials, or more contests, then so be it.

Other than this, Ryzom is a superb game. You've worked extremely hard on this game, and it deserves to succeed more than any other MMO on the shelves today.

[dkwraith]

I agree with the majority of what you say. It worries me that Ryzom might become a sleeper hit MMORPG. With a game this good, it'd be a shame if it died off simply because not enough people found out about how great it is. The last MMORPG I played was Horizons, and it seemed everyone knew about that one, but Ryzom is so superior to that game and yet most people I talk to have never heard about it.

It's sorta nice having the small player community, since I can recognize and remember the majority of the players I come across. But this is also a bit worrying for the future of the game. I'd hate to see the development pace slow down due to budget cuts, or worse, have the game prematurely abandoned because of an undersized player base.

[stellus]

Yeah, this is what I fear as well. When I look at Ryzom, I see a game that has so many great features that can really make the game even more interesting when given a large playerbase: The RAID system, Guild Outposts, etc.

Some of the things in this game are really innnovative as far as game concept and design. You can tell a lot of thought was put into the fundamentals of the gameplay and it really shines through when there are people there to experience it together.

I really don't want to see Ryzom tossed, because it's something I've been waiting for for a long time. Nevrax is a fairly new company and this is their first game.

To me, Nevrax hit a homerun with their first game, but it isn't going to be as glorious if there isn't a crowd there to celebrate it.

[stellus]

So what ideas do you guys have as far as getting Ryzom's name out into the open?

Should Nevrax form a deal with a popular media source such as IGN.com or G4TechTV? I know SOE likes to team up with Fileplanet for their Free Trials.

I go into my local EBgames a lot and I always thought it would be cool to see a Saga of Ryzom cardboard stand up or maybe a featured spot on their main web page. Seeing some articles and dev interviews in gaming magazines would be cool, too.

[crames]

Well, I've seen gamesites preview the game, but it's a little hard to find reviews. IGN.com doesn't have a review up yet.

I kinda like the underground feel of the game, (I mean, there's something unappealing about a game as popular and "mainstream" as EQ or FFXI), but isn't one of the big reasons no one's heard about it--the distribution issues? It's not like this game is sitting in everybody's store. I had to go kinda far away to find it. It'd be nice if the guy at Gamestop or Bestbuy knew what the heck I was talking about.

Vendor: "Saga of what?"

Me: "Saga of Ryzom."

Vendor: "Of what?"

Me: "R-Y-Z-O-M. Ryzom"

Vendor: "For what system?"

Me: "It's for the PC. Came out last month."

Vendor: "Hey Bill, have you heard of a Saga of Ryzom?"

Bill: "No. It's probably an expansion pack."

Vendor "It is probably an expansion pack. What's the name of the original game?"

Me: "No, it's not."

Vendor: "Oh. Let me check. What's it called again?"

Sheesh. Don't even think of calling Target. Not the one near me. You'll be put through by the operator into the soundtrack to every bad 80s movie you ever saw, for 10 MINUTES. Then some lady will pick up the phone: "Who are you waiting for?" ...

Me: "Uh, I was just wondering if you have a PC game in stock--"

Lady: "Oh, electronics is between shifts. Someone may almost probably be here to kind of help you in a not-really sort of way in 10 minutes. Could you hold on sweety? Thanks."

Then there is the ever helpful, kind, and knowledgeable guys at EB Games who let you down.

Me: "Do you have Saga of Ryzom for the PC."

EBGamesGuy: "Yes! We do carry it."

MeInThought: Finally! I can play Ryzom.

EBGamesGuy: "Yes, I'm afraid we don't have any in stock right now. More on the way though, if you want to wait--"

You can even drive down to OfficeMax if you're crazy. You won't find Ryzom, but you WILL find a stack of pens for a good price. Do yourself a favor and stab yourself with them, because you're in for a long haul before you can play Ryzom ... especially if you have an ATI Radeon 9000.

/rant

[jmaynus]

That reminds me of when I called my local Gamestop about SoR.

me: "Yeah I was wondering do you all have Saga of Ryzom. R y z o m."

guy: "yeah let me go check."

He puts me on hold for a few mins.

guy: "that game came out about a week ago but we're sold out. Should be getting more in early next week."

me: "oh ok, thanks."

Later that day I go out there to look and see if theres any games I want to buy. While looking at the PC section guess what I find on one of the bottom shelves? Two copies of Saga of Ryzoms. Guess he didn't look hard enough for them. lol.

[stellus]

Yeah, people had the same problems with EVE Online and Planetside. Both were excellent games, but neither company put any boxes in any store.

Shipping out massive amounts of boxes isn't really the solution. It's getting a few of them out so places like EBgames and Gamestop can at least put the game's box on the display shelf for people to see. I also think they should publicize the Online Download a little more.

[jmaynus]

I remember buying EVE from my local Gamestop, stupid key code said it was already in use. Took it back but they had no more copies left so I got my money back. I then ran out to Wal-Mart and they had TONS of them and for $10 less. Planetside tho isn't that hard to find. I believe I've seen them at my local Gamestop not very long ago.

But yeah both games were pretty good but both got boring really fast. Haven't played Planetside in a while now and last played EVE almost a year ago.

[sputniik]

After the bugs are worked out, Nevrax should release the game for free trial. I have friends that are willing to give it a try but they've been burnt too many times by other MMOs and so refuse to play anthing without a trial.

[stellus]

You're right, SOE released Planetside again after the playerbase complained that there weren't any copies for their friends to buy. EBgames and Gamestop had a drought for awhile.

I spoke with an EBgames manager a couple months ago while looking for EVE Online and he said the two companies (EB and GS) had both zeroed out EVE from their inventory. I later found out that EVE was digital download only since April.