PvP on Newbie island?

[31767]

I have questions regarding PvP in Ryzom. I have read website info on attacking/defending towers, faction flagging for PvP and PvP zones like the Ring areas (?). What I am confused about is PvP auto flagging places within the confines of the Newbie island.

During my first couple hours in Ryzom I ventured about foraging and such and found myself receiving a message at one point about being "vulnerable to attack." Although a little confused, I continued my foraging, seeing no sense in the message other than perhaps there might be "dangerous" fauna about since I had not seen any up to that point.

A few moments later, a helmeted player came running along and he stopped to eyeball me. Without a word and no provocation he attacked me and began to, with ease, relieve me of my health. I turned around and ran back to the Newbie camp as soon as I got my bearings.

Needless to say, I was disappointed for a variety of reasons. Why is there such a thing on the Newbie island? I feel hemmed in; can I not stray far from the camp without being auto-vulnerable to (basically) players with a "ganker" mentality? It was more than obvious to this culprit that I offered no threat to him, he could see what I wore and that I was only wielding a pick.

I had heard that the majority of Ryzom players were more mature than the average WoW player. Did I somehow run into a member of the rare %? I had also hoped for a modicum of RP and, at the very least, a chance to make some New friends.

Needless to say, lack of substantial information on PvP within the Newbie area (within the same zone, not introduced via portal, especially) and the fact that my first encounter with another player nearly got me killed without an introduction, has left me with a slightly bad taste in my mouth.

I am no stranger to PvP in many MMOs but my encounter was not fun in the least. If anyone can enlighten me about all this, please do.

Disheartened,
Jaeda

[ruslan]

There is a small arena area not far from the main camp in Silan which you must have strayed into. The vast majority of Silan is non-PvP (as is the mainland). The arena is there so new players can try out PvP should they wish to.

As you saw, you will get a warning when you are in such an area and have a little time to get out before you are vulnerable.

I'm sure your attacker does not represent the majority of the community, but once you are in a PvP zone, you are taking a risk.

There are, however, no penalties for being killed by other players. You just respawn as normal only with no death penalty.

You will find that there are plenty of opportunities in Ryzom for role-play and making friends.

[31767]

So there are no markers for this arena? No obvious boundaries? Seems a little funky .

Jaeda

[klaelfr]

well..no obvious markers, for sure, and the ressources that pop there do look tempting....
But.. the arena is a sort of rock cavity, the soil is plainly different from the one near the camp (dark brown i think) and the message kinda give a clue..
now, i know it may not be obvious the first time. and we can endlessly argue about the 'pvp flag=kill on sight' vs 'i didnt know'.
let just say that now you know

[nephy13]

There is even a ranger NPC next to the arena who explains that it is a PVP zone as well as the messages you get when you enter. Can't say they didn't try to warn you really...

Although there are role-players on the servers, we aren't in the majority. You can usually expect not to be ganked though, as far as I've seen, since, as you suggest, most of our players are more mature than the average WoW player. Realise though, that the island is full of casual trial players, so can't really be considered representative of the long-term, paying players that we have on the mainland.

On the mainland, all areas, except the Prime Roots (Which have better drops and digs to reward you for taking the extra personal risk), are PVE. Anywhere in the PVE zone though, you may manually turn on your PVP flag (if you have taken steps to align to one of the factions). It takes a minute or two to switch that flag. There is also an obvious PVP-arena area, like that on the island, to be found in the Matis homeland.

**Edit** I looked back at the island and think that the location and extent of the arena is painfully obvious on the map. However, if you are not using the map, then yes, I do agree that it woulnd't be completely obvious, but yet I do think obvious enough.

[sehracii]

On the mainland, all areas, except the Prime Roots (Which have better drops and digs to reward you for taking the extra personal risk), are PVE.

And just to specify, MOST of the Prime Roots are PvE only as well. It's only some Prime Roots zones that are PvP enabled.


As far as your experience on Silan, it is just the arena that is PvP enabled. I don't think they should have put material sources in it, that's a bit silly... I understand how that would make it easy to wander in and hang out unknowingly. But once you learn about the arena there's no reason to ever go in if you don't want. Those materials can be found elsewhere

Oh, and just want to emphasize.... don't base all community judgement on Silan players. Being a free trial area you'll get a good sampling of every type of player out there... the mainland is where you'll find people that actually stick with the game.

[meitemax]

Pretty much the same that happened to me on my first run-in with the beautiful lands of oh, ah, pretty shiny green things, must have... hay stop killing me! respawn... Ouch, not again! Respawn... AAAH!! *run* he is at me again...


Got killed 3 times in a row and learnt to look for such warning stuff as "you are now beeing pvp flagged" a bit more seriously. Im pretty sure I whined about it in the region chat, but I cant remember the response.

[31767]

In daylight, especially panned back, one can readily see the vague boundaries of the arena, the ranger, even the torches placed at the upper ridges of the area. At night, however, the structureless arena is not so easily discerned. Only on day two of Ryzom was I enlightened about the illumination key available, and don't even get me started on additional vision modifiers like simultaneous rain and snow. If one approaches the arena from one major access point, as I did, you won't even run into the ranger. I also agree that resources should not be spawning in this area.

I think, too often, players forget what it was like absorbing all that any game offers when a newbie, in this case a completely alien world coupled with a brand new UI.

I am not 'sold' on Ryzom yet, at any rate. This event, combined with two instances of kill stealing and more than a few generally rude answers when questions for help were asked, have me at arms length so far. As for the latter, I personally don't get it. I have high level characters on other MMOs and like to help others when I can. 'Helpful" answers to questions followed by verbal slaps to the face are not helpful. The way one treats a newbie is how they usually learn to treat others. I make an effort to live by the old saying, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

[pahya]

Quite honestly, I dare you to find a more friendly, warm, intelligent community than Ryzom. You simply can -not- base your assumptions on the currently un-capped unlimited free trial are. Give Universe a try, filtering out those that you see also speaking in Silan region. I've played pretty much every MMO available at the moment and never met a more intelligent, friendly player base. If you don't give it a try, you're cheating yourself

And as for RP: There are plenty of RPers, you just need to find an RP guild that fits your style. There are also very few griefers

[katriell]

I am not 'sold' on Ryzom yet, at any rate. This event, combined with two instances of kill stealing and more than a few generally rude answers when questions for help were asked, have me at arms length so far.

Don't worry about it. Silan's population includes morons because it's free. The mainland is far better.