Ryzom

I just downloaded the game, signed up for my trial and began playing last night. After being a WoW junkie like so many and then getting utterly and completely bored, I have been seriously re-evaluating my MMO choices. I have really been looking forward to LOTRO coming out but I anticipate that it will be no better than UO, WoW, DDO or anything else that has come out over the years. It will be a lot of grind. It will be a "teflon world" that I cannot affect. In short, it will be enjoyable for a while until it loses its luster.

Last night I experienced something completely different ... a character in an MMO that I have complete control over. I can make him whatever I wish. I am fascinated by crafting which is not something that has happened to me in ANY MMO I have ever played. I am absolutely smitten with this game so far.

I do have a few concerns (brand new to game = grain of salt )...

1. The minimap is completely useless to me. I can't find anything on it and the colored dots are not different enough for me to make head or tails of what I am looking at.

2. I am having a hard time finding anything in the game when it comes to mechanics. I guess its just that Ryzom is not set up like any other game I've ever played. I anticipate that it will take me a long while to get used to where all the commands and indicators are. So many RPG's have gone icon style that I admit it is a culture shock to jump into this game.

3. The graphics are ... well, odd. I don't want to say they are bad, because they are not. I do find the environments inferior, however, to most current games. The animations do somewhat make up for it as they are INCREDIBLE!! Decent enough trade off for me but I wish the environments were better.

4. I can't jump? Why not?

5. I have to hit f12 to deselect? Huh? This makes no sense to me. Why can't I just left click on a random patch of grass to deselect like every other game in the world? Weird development choice and makes me unhappy.

6. I am ashamed to admit this, but this is the first game that I've played in I don't know how long where I could actually use tooltips. There are tooltips in the game but they are infrequent and they concern the easier things to figure out on your own. I really could use a better in game tutorial. There is sooooo much to learn about this game I am feeling very overwhelmed. Maybe it's just an anxiousness to be fluent in the game mechanics so that I can get to some serious playing. I'm awfully bumbling right now.

Anyway, I am enjoying what I am seeing right now. I am the co-host of a gaming podcast and will be plugging Ryzom big time in the next few episodes. This is clearly what MMO's should be. I have said on our show before that they might as well change it to MMOAAG (Massive Multiplayer Online Action Adventure Game) since no current MMO has even the possibility of true role-playing. I sit corrected ... there is one true MMORPG as far as I can tell and it is The Saga of Ryzom.

I look forward to running into many of you in game.

AoA Fizz

P.S. Been browsing the forums for a few hours now and love the community.

aoafizz wrote: 2. I am having a hard time finding anything in the game when it comes to mechanics. I guess its just that Ryzom is not set up like any other game I've ever played. I anticipate that it will take me a long while to get used to where all the commands and indicators are. So many RPG's have gone icon style that I admit it is a culture shock to jump into this game.

The game is well-known to be complex and poorly documented. Fortunately, more experienced players understand this - just ask in Universal channel if something confuses you. Alternatively, a lot of the common problems that new players have are discussed on this forum.

aoafizz wrote: 3. The graphics are ... well, odd. I don't want to say they are bad, because they are not. I do find the environments inferior, however, to most current games. The animations do somewhat make up for it as they are INCREDIBLE!! Decent enough trade off for me but I wish the environments were better.

I'd tend to disagree, but I have maxed out the settings. Graphics seem comparible overall to CoX or AutoAssault though, which are MMORPGs I've played recently. Perhaps you mean stylistically, rather than technically poorer than other games, which is personal choice?

aoafizz wrote: 4. I can't jump? Why not?

I don't know why this is, but whatever the reason, I am glad I can't. No more do I have to watch people constantly bouncing around like rabbits. I find that not being able to jump like my legs are made of springs adds greatly to the feeling of realism of the game, though it took some getting used to at first.

aoafizz wrote: 6. I am ashamed to admit this, but this is the first game that I've played in I don't know how long where I could actually use tooltips. There are tooltips in the game but they are infrequent and they concern the easier things to figure out on your own. I really could use a better in game tutorial. There is sooooo much to learn about this game I am feeling very overwhelmed. Maybe it's just an anxiousness to be fluent in the game mechanics so that I can get to some serious playing. I'm awfully bumbling right now.

See my answer to question 2, above.

aoafizz wrote: Anyway, I am enjoying what I am seeing right now. I am the co-host of a gaming podcast and will be plugging Ryzom big time in the next few episodes. This is clearly what MMO's should be. I have said on our show before that they might as well change it to MMOAAG (Massive Multiplayer Online Action Adventure Game) since no current MMO has even the possibility of true role-playing. I sit corrected ... there is one true MMORPG as far as I can tell and it is The Saga of Ryzom.

Yeah, the roleplaying seems quite good, and for the first time seems to be an accepted aim of the game (I've played on RP servers for WoW and it really feels like Blizzard don't care as much about RP on a dedicated RP server than the support staff do here).

aoafizz wrote: I look forward to running into many of you in game.

Welcome to the game and I might see you if you are on the Cho shard.

aoafizz wrote:...
I do have a few concerns (brand new to game = grain of salt )...

1. The minimap is completely useless to me. I can't find anything on it and the colored dots are not different enough for me to make head or tails of what I am looking at.

Try zooming with mouse wheel, click on the citys for street maps, use the back button (an arrow at the to of the map) for world view.

Colours on compass are customisable. Check the Configuration screen.

aoafizz wrote: 2. I am having a hard time finding anything in the game when it comes to mechanics. I guess its just that Ryzom is not set up like any other game I've ever played. I anticipate that it will take me a long while to get used to where all the commands and indicators are. So many RPG's have gone icon style that I admit it is a culture shock to jump into this game.

A simple interface for a complex game system, in a short while you will get very familuar with it and you will understand that the lack of clutter is a blessing.

aoafizz wrote: 3. The graphics are ... well, odd. I don't want to say they are bad, because they are not. I do find the environments inferior, however, to most current games. The animations do somewhat make up for it as they are INCREDIBLE!! Decent enough trade off for me but I wish the environments were better.

The graphics are different, as you travel different lands you will see some stunning sights that will put other games in the shade. Viginia Falls or Thesos for example.

aoafizz wrote: 4. I can't jump? Why not?

Why? /alert will make you jump and wave your arms.

aoafizz wrote: 5. I have to hit f12 to deselect? Huh? This makes no sense to me. Why can't I just left click on a random patch of grass to deselect like every other game in the world? Weird development choice and makes me unhappy.

Never found this to be a major issue in 2 years play, guess its what you get used to.

aoafizz wrote: 6. I am ashamed to admit this, but this is the first game that I've played in I don't know how long where I could actually use tooltips. There are tooltips in the game but they are infrequent and they concern the easier things to figure out on your own. I really could use a better in game tutorial. There is sooooo much to learn about this game I am feeling very overwhelmed. Maybe it's just an anxiousness to be fluent in the game mechanics so that I can get to some serious playing. I'm awfully bumbling right now.

Always hard to find a balance, the missions on Silan give a very good tutorial. 90% of this game is about learning the game.



Hope these bias comments help is some way.

Oh, don't even get me started on Blizzard, heh heh. They are the main reason I quit WoW. I am a member of an on-line gaming community of hundreds of people and WoW is the game of choice among the group. These people are like a second family to me and they are the only reason I stuck it out as long as I did.

I am indeed on the Cho shard ... seemed like a newer server ... I figured, newer server for a newer player. I brought one of my guildies with me and in one night he has decided to quit WoW and join Ryzom. That speaks volumes for the game.

Looks like your questions have been answered well enough! So welcome to Atys and enjoy your stay on the living planet!

aoafizz wrote:
1. The minimap is completely useless to me. I can't find anything on it and the colored dots are not different enough for me to make head or tails of what I am looking at.

Addition to Borg9 (neun's) comment...

Minimap is not shoving too much details, but it's customable. Making your own markings (flags) to minimap, help you in future find places ye explored earlyer (mat sites, boss locations, tribe villages etc.)

This add imho way more meaning to consept of exploring your surrounding world. It's harder than on some games, because it takes time, but that way every player have their unique mapping of Atys locations

Hard part of map is several "maze" areas, where you cannot use map on navigation. Only way to navigate there, is mark to you map every twist and turn or memorize how to navigate in different sites. Hard, but allso fun sometimes

Astovidatu

[quote="aoafizz"]

4. I can't jump? Why not?




Why dose everyone from WOW like to jump?

I tryed WOW for a day and found that jumping was just a way to get around faster. But in Ryzom we have supper charged mounts to get around on. lol
Just make sure you have plenty of food for the bugger though, because they will come to a screeching halt if you run out

But in any case here is a Big welcome to Ryzom from me.

buupi wrote:Minimap is not shoving too much details, but it's customable. Making your own markings (flags) to minimap, help you in future find places ye explored earlyer (mat sites, boss locations, tribe villages etc.)

Are we actually talking about the minimap here? If I hit M, that's the map, and the minimap is the compass thingie up in the top right corner, right? The minimap can be customized? Customized enough to show terrain?

wizaerd wrote:Are we actually talking about the minimap here? If I hit M, that's the map, and the minimap is the compass thingie up in the top right corner, right? The minimap can be customized? Customized enough to show terrain?

Thats the radar/compass.

It shows live and dead things.

You can change its range with the mouse wheel.

It can tell you the distance to a selected object.

Right click on it for a list of other fun stuff.

Hope that helps.

(no it can't show you terrain)