1- So beautiful/exotic in terms of graphics, sounds and design
2- So "open minded" as: limitless skill abilities, world exploration, ect..
3- So greatly managed by both the community (thanks for all the noob's helpers in region/UNIverse) and GMs
Since Saturday - the day I've downloaded and launched the game, I am spending some time reading the forum looking for info and checking how the general "feeling" of the community is: to me, a community is a sort of living entity, it has it's own desire, feelings etc.. and so far I pretty much enjoy what I'm reading even the current tension between "pvpers and non-pvpers": the simple fact they can debate together is a great point in my ex-L2 book!
Anyway, back to my original question and since I've seen few posts of newcomers stating how bad or disturbing or "broken" this game is, I think you might like to know that there are few like me who instead get a really good surprise playing this game. To tell the truth, 2 hours or so after the installation, I did pay a 3 month bill and started few threads in some of my previous game forum to describe what I felt..
I could resume here what I wrote down that day but a copy and past of the opening would fit better: you might find it more interesting to see what was at that time my total noob comments, from someone who heard of Ryzom only in a negative way.
Enjoy
Strange events can lead to great fun!
All started almost 15 hours ago, out of boredome and unwilling to keep going on my current solo game (UFO aftermath.. or was it shock...), I started to wonder if I could get a hand on an English version of NVN2 since the collector is only in FR -witch usually as as bad as the movie fr version are good. So, after lurking several websites and because I was unwilling to download it to torrent, or to be precise, because I feel such good games deserve to be paid for... I finally found out an online website to download the game. The only problem is that the game download is only open for US and the game itself only available at the end of the month.So out of solutions, I was lurking some forums and websites related to NVM2, to get at last some info about the game and that's precisely when the things started to derail completely
In one of these website, I saw an add for Rysom, mentioning a free Trial of 7 days.. since I had nothing better to do, I decided to give it a try! The first good surprise came out from the download itself: it took me exactly 40 min to download the necessary 1.7Gb that installs the 5Gb game.. then the game had to be patched out of a huge.. 80Mb lol.. So basically an hour after , I was able to try this game. At the launch, the systems automatically guide you through the necessary Registration (for the trial account) + Account creation: no need to wonder if you need to do stuffs prior install, it will all be asked after. During my hour of download, I also had the time to go on the Rysom website and to discover that the Trial was indeed far more that 7 days: it's unlimited in time! The only restriction is that you will stay on the noob area, your level is not capped, just your skills.. a pretty nice 2nd surprise if you ask me!
My third surprise came out right at the character creation : 4 races, male/female of course, but you can also modify, in several ways, the shape and form of their body and faces. I think I did spend around one hour, playing with the tools, creating the ugliest or funniest faces possible. Anyway, compared to the Korean rarity or the cartoonish look of WoW.. I must say that the look of these characters, as pointed out by some ppl , is really close the French comics artworks, something I already love.
Anyway, the HUD itself is extremely well done, you can move every windows, reconfigure the fonts, the transparency, ect.. they are also all connected to a direct keyboard shortcut, that also allow to be re-configured, lol. A pure beauty in terms of design. In certain ways, it made me think about Eve's HUD type: like Russian puppet, the more you open a sub menu, the more precise and detailed the info will become, really impressive.
So far, I am a pure noob and I still find several things very confusing: like the movement system that allows you to use the keyboard and/or the mouse, but in a different way than in L2: with the mousse you have to click left+right to move, though you use the keyboard for most of the situations. I still have some very limited spells and melee atks so I cannot tell much about it.
The main aspect is that there is no class in Rysom, you level your skills by using them, "a la Morrowind", you also start with basic Magic/Melee/Craft/Spoil abilities. So basically, it's up to you to decide what path you will chose, depending on how you feel in the game. I have 3 spells atm: Ice, Poison and Fear: the animation are really nice, the most impressive imo goes to the Fear spell : my toon start to levitate for 1 sec while casting the spell in a superb effect. There was also sometimes a slight lag between the visual Melee atk animation and effective action, something really painful but still a bit disturbing. Melee atk animations seems pretty diverse though I still haven't used any shield and am currently more on a magic orientation.
Mobs behavior is really fun : first their look is unlike any other, a mix of realism and dream.. then of course they got all the regular agro behaviors: agro, social, neutral and every combination possible. Also, just like when you target a mob to check it out, mobs can and will "target" you as well! careful, I am not referring to agro here but simply that when you are in range of a mobs, this mob might target you to "check" you out: you can see it by an eye that appears near their name. This may be a coincidence, but I feel that I do less dmg to mobs that are "aware" of my presence! Once they target you , they might also start following you, until you leave their area.. this can be freaky when you get suddenly surrounded by 4-5 mobs, all watching you and running around you (unlike in L2, it all but an Auto Follow mode!).. not knowing if they are social toward each other, hahaha. You might also catch these mobs doing stuff you would not want to know, lol.. see one of my screens below to understand. The weather and seasons management is also implemented and it looks really good : there are 4 seasons, all induce a distinct effect on the environment from what I've read. Atm , this is summer and it's frequently raining, sometimes there are also thunder: the sky is really breathtaking in these moments.
On the pvp side, well being an utter noob atm I have no idea, it looks like EvE's pattern: noob region with only consensual pvp (and Clan vs Clans), then some siege like areas: outpost where several factions can fight to control the resources .. something really close to L2 Castle siege imo: the fight last 2 hours, but you get a rematch, ie: if in the first match the defender lose, then the winner will have to defend in the 2nd match. There is also a full pvp area, strictly reserved to high levels where you find the best mat apparently. Looks interesting if you ask me, though I have notice one thing: there are Arenas just like L2.. but you still lose xp upon death in these places apparently! This leads to the many deaths I've had like every true noob: technically, you do not lose xp upon death in Rysom.. what you get in fact is an xp penalty that you have to "wash" prior gaining any supplementary xp. To wash it, well guess what: you got to grind.
Well, now, here are some screenees I've made.. hehe, oh I forgot: the emote system is absolutely insane: there are probable around 100 different emotes per toons. Many do not work or repeat existing ones, but I think I've already found 20-30 distinct one for my toon.. dunno if the devs are regularly implementing the missing/redundant ones but the existing are quite funny to see!
To tell the truth, I am a bit confused because everything I've heard about Rysom before, has always been extremely negative.. and really far from what I am currently experiencing. I imagine that there must be some flaws to explain how the game has been treated but until now, my experience in-game has been only positive.. so positive in fact that I've plan a bill for the next 3 months.
You won't find 2 identical toons
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4751/readisbeautifullmu0.jpg
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/3226/diversitytr9.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/7205/sunsetsisterslh5.jpg
I can't remember.. was this /egocentric or /heroic? Bah, who cares: we simply need you !
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8004/ryzomrh6.jpg
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/7173/weneedyoumh8.jpg
Mobs observing me and... and.. omg, how dare... erf...
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2753/mobs1wo0.jpg
Will I find my name up there?
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/8519/starsfi1.jpg http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/9153/moon1mj5.jpg http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/425/moon2iz9.jpg http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4133/thunderon2.jpg
So.. how come , what's Teh Hidden Trick Of Death?
and we cry for more things to do.
