Ryzom

theproxima wrote:Ryzom looks a bit different, so, before I download and get started, my question is, is it more sci-fi than anything, or is it the same ol' medievil stuff?

It is, but not in a lot of obvious ways.

Homins (collective term for the playable races) are not a very advanced society. They use swords, daggers, axes and the like for melee fighting, pickaxes for harvesting, and simple tools for crafting. They use some sort of "magic" as well. But they also use guns instead of archery (which you can't access on the starting island).

A highly technological and mysterious faction, the Karavan, is present on the planet Atys however. They observe homins and use religion to manipulate them. Opposing the Karavan are the Kami, supposedly native entities who act as guardians of nature. It's said the Kami taught magic to homins; they too try to gain homin followers via religion.

Part of homin advancement or lack thereof may be due to the influence of the factions. Part may be because Atys does not have mineable metal or stone; homins must use wood, shell, amber, adobe, and other organic materials for everything. It may also be simply that they have not had a lot of time. A definite factor is that their civilisations were nearly wiped out about half a century ago by an insect race called the Kitin, resulting in a significant loss of knowledge.

No elves or dwarves here. Ryzom has a very original look and feel. Even the animals break the normal mould and have very distinctive personality. Ryzom finds a nice middle ground between Fantasy and Sci-fi.

It isn't for everyone but it's definitely worth a try. Download it and give it a go. Play at least a few hours to get a real feel for it because it takes at least that long to start finding some of the things that make the world more unique. I have even heard people who have played for years discover new things from time to time.

Its not sci fi realy apart from the lore aspect also there is a ranged weaponry system, in the from of guns.

What really sets Ryzom apart from other MMO's would be the following :

Awesome graphics.

Really original monsters

An eco system, where carniore monsters will attack herbivores, monsters dont sjust stand in a spawn spot, to be killed, the wander around, migrate to different places, walk up to you and check you out ..... or attack you as the case may be.

There are villages that are constantly being attacked by monsters and the guards are constantly trying to repel them.

Combat isn't sci fi, you have the standard mages and melee, but the world which they inhabit is astoundingly beautiful. You have 4 continents, each with its own theme, Fyros is desert for example, Tryker is coverd in water (like the movie Waterworld), Matis is covered in forests.

The game also has seasons, it snows and rains as befits the current season, the seasons also affect what materials can be gathered for crafting.

Its a great place to be, hope you enjoy it

memir wrote:anything on the iland that looks crab/big bug like are the kitin

You're right that the Kitin are extant, but incorrect in this specific statement. There are crustacean animals which are not Kitin (cray, goari, clopper, and horncher); no Kitin is crustacean and all Kitin species have names beginning with "K".