Before trying Ryzom, do these 2 steps

[browserice]

I which that people would do 2 things before playing Ryzom:

-Just because you may think Ryzom looks and feels like any other MMORPG games, doesn't mean you have to play it expecting everything to be the same as those other games

-Don't plan to judge the game based on a 1 day game experience or on a level-10 experience. Play at least until level-50 and go on mainland to get a better idea of what Ryzom can offer you.

[jam2005]

Where's the "Trying to give people rules about how to approach a new game will never work." poll option?

I'd prefer to just gently suggest that folks take the time to give it a chance (it wasn't until my 2nd sampling that Ryzom really grew on me), but at the same time the folks that don't already possess that character trait probably aren't the ones I'd want to see much of anyhow.

[thlau]

I use similar rules for myself, when I test other MMORPG.

Especially the 1-day rule is a good one, even if I don't agree with your interpretation. Sometimes I identify a game play element, that annoys me a lot in a game, so I usually take a break and return a day or two later, to check if its actually a problem to me, or if it just was a mood on the day I tried first.
So my rule would sound more like 'Give it a second try another day'

[danebramage]

Going to the mainland at level 20 is likely to be an exercise in frustration that will turn new players off faster than Rosie O'Donnell in a bodysuit. Not being able to venture farther than 20 feet outside of town isn't exactly going to give anyone a taste for what's out there.

I think Silan is an excellent introduction to the game and new players should hang around there as long as possible.

[browserice]

Doh, the level-20 is a typo !!

I'll try to fix this right away.

[katriell]

Grinding to 50 on Silan is an exercise in pointlessness and frustration in my opinion, but maybe I'm unusual.

Another little opinion of mine is that Silan is a horrible introduction. A player who graduates from Silan expects the whole game to be a questfest, unless from Universe or forums they've picked up the fact that it's not. Silan also portrays a game where crafters don't matter, harvesting is much more difficult than it is, there are no guns, there are a bunch of stanzas arbitrarily missing from every skill tree, your character's race locks them into one racial craft style, and worst of all the community is trash.

[khyle]

Grinding to 50 on Silan is an exercise in pointlessness and frustration in my opinion, but maybe I'm unusual.

Maybe you're not alone.

Another little opinion of mine is that Silan is a horrible introduction. A player who graduates from Silan expects the whole game to be a questfest, unless from Universe or forums they've picked up the fact that it's not. Silan also portrays a game where crafters don't matter, harvesting is much more difficult than it is, there are no guns, there are a bunch of stanzas arbitrarily missing from every skill tree, your character's race locks them into one racial craft style, and worst of all the community is trash.

Couldn't have said it any better.

[whiterider]

A player who graduates from Silan expects the whole game to be a questfest, unless from Universe or forums they've picked up the fact that it's not. Silan also portrays a game where crafters don't matter, harvesting is much more difficult than it is, there are no guns, there are a bunch of stanzas arbitrarily missing from every skill tree, your character's race locks them into one racial craft style, and worst of all the community is trash.

QFE.
(cheesecake)

[gcaldani]

I voted "One of them is wrong".

In my opinion, players should leave Silan at 21 max, as it was before Silan was implemented.

Don't forget that last year Ryzom already got simplified doubling the initial stats from 100 to 200.

[petersk]

I would have to agree with the basic idea of this thread.. But differ on the level when a player should leave the island. In general, I think a Player could/should leave at level 30 in magic and melee (maybe at 35 if desired). Much higher and you run the risk of your amps being not strong enough to handle the spell level, which can be frustrating to a player who does not know how to manipulate the stanzas. Plus, the experience you get after that for kills drops rather quickly.

Would have to agree with Katriel's summary of Silan, sorry to say, especially the foraging missions...Frustrating at best..Game ender at the worst.

I left silan at level 10 in melee, but I had a friend on the mainland already and was able to get help with equipment and leveling right away. So, on that note, if a new player has friends on the ML, they could leave any time they like, but I would recommend doing a few of each of the missions to get a basic idea of the way the game works.