New Person - Thoughts and Questions
Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:31 pm
I'm not sure how appropriate it is for new people to continually post new threads, but since the community seems rather forgiving, I thought I would chance it.
My thoughts first.
I am very early into my Ryzom career, with all my initial trees falling in at about 16 or 17 at the time I write this. Having tried most of the other MMO's out and about, Ryzom initially struck me as quite different. In truth, all MMO's are about "improving" your character, but to me, the means in which this is carried out is where the adventure lies, so to speak. There is no question that for me personally, the fun is in the journey, not at reaching the end. That being said, I think it is obvious that my initial reaction to the wonderful world of Atys is a positive one. Very positive in fact.
The skill-based system and the branching trees themselves are probably the biggest attraction to most people beginning the game. I am certainly no different. This is an obvious game engine strength, and I praise the designers for implementing such a simple yet rewarding concept. Seeing your character progress further along these trees is extremely rewarding, and serves not only in the gratification of the player, but as a very functional game mechanic. Bravo. The "what you use is what you improve" system is extremely logical and intuitive as well.
With the possible exception of the original Star Wars Galaxies crafting system, I am not sure there is a finer system in place in the MMO community today. The Nevrax developers have managed to make crafting easy, intuitive, and rewarding, while maintaining the ability to have the player make decisions and be able to influence the final product by the choices he/she makes with regards to component composition. I should say, it appears to be this way at this early stage. Using item X will yield a piece of armor that is highly resistant to slashing damage, while all other things being equal, using item Y will yield that same piece of armor resistance to piercing damage. A question arises as to whether or not this remains true as the game progresses, and if these decisions seem to actually make a noticable difference during actual gameplay. This would be my first question to the community. Does this indeed appear to be so, or does the "windowdressing" merely give a false sense that making things a certain way makes a difference as you progress further into the world of Atys?
Part and parcel with Crafting is the Nevrax implementation of Harvesting. Again, an interactive mechanic that is rewarding to the player character, even at the early level of this player. The concept of prospecting, again similar in some ways to that of Star Wars Galaxies, is a mechanic I personally find extremely rewarding. Call it what you will; but the simple way to explain it is this: I hunted all over for this highly coveted material, and through diligent and painstaking searching, was able to finally find it and make it mine. Once finding it, I had to use all my skills in order to take it out of the ground for use later in the crafting a most wondrous item. Does this actually occur? Obviously, I have no idea. But I would be encouraged to hear that it does. I have heard stories of Homins coming together for great treks into hostile lands in order to harvest under the umbrella of protection through numbers. I hope this is the reason. That would be my second question.
Combat... What is a grand MMO without the experience of satisfying battle being a staple of the game? For me, it is not possible. Combat in and of itself is simply too much fun to skimp on. The combat mechanic must be a rich and rewarding one in order for modern MMO's to succeed, at least in this player's mind. My thoughts on Ryzom's version of combat? Actually, I have no earthly idea. I have barely scratched the surface of the skill trees, know virtually nothing about what lies ahead of me in terms of skills to be learned, and enemies to be slayed. I can say this: My thoughts on how it will play out are positive. Ryzom has hit locations, armor types and statistics, weapon types and statistics, magic types and resistances, individual monster weaknesses and strengths, the power of teamwork to turn the tide of battle, and possibly the most innovative feature of all... the Stanza game mechanic. To the originator of this idea, I applaud you. In concept, I can not think of a more enticing way to draw the would-be player into a game where combat is their focus. "Create you own skills!" I find this revolutionary in concept, not merely an evolution of what already exists in the MMO community. The natural question here being... Does this concept hold up long term? Does it actually "mean" something as you progress through the game? My guess is that it truly does. That it is much more than a gimmick to lure new players into the game. But I need to ask the community their thoughts here, thus it is my third question.
My last comment (geez, finally, what a windbag!)... is on the Living World. My guess is that this was one of the most difficult things for the developers to implement into the game itself, and yet it is likely the most subtle, and potentially overlooked system by many casual players. I must admit, I don't fully understand it. Heck, I probably don't even minorly understand it. Certain things are obvious to the casual eye: Animal behaviors, herd movement and migrations, true seasons and corresponding weather patterns and effects, resource generation based on seasons and location, individual wildlife A.I. including natural aggression behavior toward other creatures as well as Homins themselves. My question then is this: Does the living world play a significant impact on the planet in the later regions of the game? Are there specific deserts and snow covered peaks that yield different resources that are more naturally found in those climates? Do animal migrations occur on a massive scale? Can a player become "one with nature" and learn to read the behavior of Atys' creatures, learn the weather patterns, learn the resource tendencies? Or, are these completely random events masked to be something more than they really are?
Obviously, there are many areas I have not touched on. First, because this post is already entirely too long. Second, because I have no clue what to even write about. PvP? Outposts? World Events? Lore? Factions? Invasions? Guild Workings? Quests? Etc...
In closing, I want to thank anyone who actually reads this mess. I do not proofread, and I do not worry about how things come across. So I apologize in advance for anything that is out of sorts. Anyone who takes the time to answer my questions, I thank you. To the devs, if you come across this post in your travels: Thank you for Ryzom. I have no clue if I will stick around long enough to experience the detailed world you have created. But irregardless of that, I thank you for your work, your innovation, and your efforts to be different. It is obvious you have put and continue to put the time in to make Atys special as compared to other experiences out there. I hope you are proud of what you created, because to this poster, it is a milestone. Bravo to you.
Sincerly,
Just another person.
My thoughts first.
I am very early into my Ryzom career, with all my initial trees falling in at about 16 or 17 at the time I write this. Having tried most of the other MMO's out and about, Ryzom initially struck me as quite different. In truth, all MMO's are about "improving" your character, but to me, the means in which this is carried out is where the adventure lies, so to speak. There is no question that for me personally, the fun is in the journey, not at reaching the end. That being said, I think it is obvious that my initial reaction to the wonderful world of Atys is a positive one. Very positive in fact.
The skill-based system and the branching trees themselves are probably the biggest attraction to most people beginning the game. I am certainly no different. This is an obvious game engine strength, and I praise the designers for implementing such a simple yet rewarding concept. Seeing your character progress further along these trees is extremely rewarding, and serves not only in the gratification of the player, but as a very functional game mechanic. Bravo. The "what you use is what you improve" system is extremely logical and intuitive as well.
With the possible exception of the original Star Wars Galaxies crafting system, I am not sure there is a finer system in place in the MMO community today. The Nevrax developers have managed to make crafting easy, intuitive, and rewarding, while maintaining the ability to have the player make decisions and be able to influence the final product by the choices he/she makes with regards to component composition. I should say, it appears to be this way at this early stage. Using item X will yield a piece of armor that is highly resistant to slashing damage, while all other things being equal, using item Y will yield that same piece of armor resistance to piercing damage. A question arises as to whether or not this remains true as the game progresses, and if these decisions seem to actually make a noticable difference during actual gameplay. This would be my first question to the community. Does this indeed appear to be so, or does the "windowdressing" merely give a false sense that making things a certain way makes a difference as you progress further into the world of Atys?
Part and parcel with Crafting is the Nevrax implementation of Harvesting. Again, an interactive mechanic that is rewarding to the player character, even at the early level of this player. The concept of prospecting, again similar in some ways to that of Star Wars Galaxies, is a mechanic I personally find extremely rewarding. Call it what you will; but the simple way to explain it is this: I hunted all over for this highly coveted material, and through diligent and painstaking searching, was able to finally find it and make it mine. Once finding it, I had to use all my skills in order to take it out of the ground for use later in the crafting a most wondrous item. Does this actually occur? Obviously, I have no idea. But I would be encouraged to hear that it does. I have heard stories of Homins coming together for great treks into hostile lands in order to harvest under the umbrella of protection through numbers. I hope this is the reason. That would be my second question.
Combat... What is a grand MMO without the experience of satisfying battle being a staple of the game? For me, it is not possible. Combat in and of itself is simply too much fun to skimp on. The combat mechanic must be a rich and rewarding one in order for modern MMO's to succeed, at least in this player's mind. My thoughts on Ryzom's version of combat? Actually, I have no earthly idea. I have barely scratched the surface of the skill trees, know virtually nothing about what lies ahead of me in terms of skills to be learned, and enemies to be slayed. I can say this: My thoughts on how it will play out are positive. Ryzom has hit locations, armor types and statistics, weapon types and statistics, magic types and resistances, individual monster weaknesses and strengths, the power of teamwork to turn the tide of battle, and possibly the most innovative feature of all... the Stanza game mechanic. To the originator of this idea, I applaud you. In concept, I can not think of a more enticing way to draw the would-be player into a game where combat is their focus. "Create you own skills!" I find this revolutionary in concept, not merely an evolution of what already exists in the MMO community. The natural question here being... Does this concept hold up long term? Does it actually "mean" something as you progress through the game? My guess is that it truly does. That it is much more than a gimmick to lure new players into the game. But I need to ask the community their thoughts here, thus it is my third question.
My last comment (geez, finally, what a windbag!)... is on the Living World. My guess is that this was one of the most difficult things for the developers to implement into the game itself, and yet it is likely the most subtle, and potentially overlooked system by many casual players. I must admit, I don't fully understand it. Heck, I probably don't even minorly understand it. Certain things are obvious to the casual eye: Animal behaviors, herd movement and migrations, true seasons and corresponding weather patterns and effects, resource generation based on seasons and location, individual wildlife A.I. including natural aggression behavior toward other creatures as well as Homins themselves. My question then is this: Does the living world play a significant impact on the planet in the later regions of the game? Are there specific deserts and snow covered peaks that yield different resources that are more naturally found in those climates? Do animal migrations occur on a massive scale? Can a player become "one with nature" and learn to read the behavior of Atys' creatures, learn the weather patterns, learn the resource tendencies? Or, are these completely random events masked to be something more than they really are?
Obviously, there are many areas I have not touched on. First, because this post is already entirely too long. Second, because I have no clue what to even write about. PvP? Outposts? World Events? Lore? Factions? Invasions? Guild Workings? Quests? Etc...
In closing, I want to thank anyone who actually reads this mess. I do not proofread, and I do not worry about how things come across. So I apologize in advance for anything that is out of sorts. Anyone who takes the time to answer my questions, I thank you. To the devs, if you come across this post in your travels: Thank you for Ryzom. I have no clue if I will stick around long enough to experience the detailed world you have created. But irregardless of that, I thank you for your work, your innovation, and your efforts to be different. It is obvious you have put and continue to put the time in to make Atys special as compared to other experiences out there. I hope you are proud of what you created, because to this poster, it is a milestone. Bravo to you.
Sincerly,
Just another person.
