Today I was talking to a number of guildmates about what was good or bad about this game, and seeing what people's plans were regarding upcoming games like WoW and EQ2, and the results of this I believe are something that ought to be discussed.
Just about everyone I spoke to said they were waiting for 'The Big Two' - no major surprise there. However, there were some interesting comments on the state of the game and (I believe) most importantly what people don't like about it.
It seems the lack of any real content is a real bone of contention for a lot of people, also the 'sameness' of the skills. One comment that was made was the fact that there's no difference between fighting at level 250 as there is at 25, just bigger bricks that use more stam/hp, and that all weapons are basically the same - there's no real difference between using a 1h sword, 2h sword, axe or whatever, aside from some minor things like ignore armour or bleeding.
I believe this is a valid point. How many of us sit and watch the same animation over and over when fighting, using magic or whatever, with the occasional press of the 'attack after dodge' (or similar) button? I believe a lot of this could be alleviated with the use of perhaps different animations for 'special' attacks, and also the inclusion of some real weapon specific attacks, for example a 'backstab' attack was suggested for daggers.
Now, you may say how would this be different from what we have now? Well, it would first provide variety, and secondly provide something tangible to work towards. Let me explain a little, using 'backstab' as an example. You could, for instance, have the 'backstab' brick ony available from say level 150 onwards. That way, people can see that when they reach that level, there's a brand new skill waiting for them, rather than simply getting increase damage 15 or whatever. It may not sound like much, but to many I believe it would make a big difference. With the novel brick system that Ryzom employs, I would think that adding such things would be relatively simple.
The other point I mentioned was content. We all now at present there really is no content other than what we make ourselves - ie exploring the land, trying to reach other lands and so on, and while these are of themselves entertaining, they need to be augmented by actual programmed content. I know that patch 1 and 2 promise content, but as yet we have no real idea of when these are coming. Somone made an interesting comment about Nevrax being perfectionists who wouldn't release new stuff until they deemed it ready, and while this is an admirable trait, I believe there comes a point where content simply must be introduced to prevent the game becoming stale, especially content that was originally planned for inclusion at release.
My concern is that people will become sick of waiting, sick of 'potential' instead of tangible content they can see and interact with. We've all played games with potential, but until that potential is realised it remains a pipe dream, and that unfortunately is not always sufficient to keep 'bums on seats'.
I personally think that at least half the people in this game are planning to try either EQ2 or WoW when they are released, with many of those planning to play one of those two exclusively, and this is not good news for this game, a fact I am sure is not lost on Nevrax. Something needs to be done to encourage a) people to stay and b) new players to join, and I believe the thing that will accomplish this most readily is fresh content.
As we all know, the majority of MMOG custom comes from word of mouth advertising - people play the game, like it and tell others. I believe a free trial would help a great deal here, but is probably unfeasible from a financial standpoint at the moment. Because a free trial is not likely for a while, the only way to generate the playerbase is to increase the 'wow factor' (wow, not WoW
) of Ryzom to the point where people are encouraged to at least try it. So, how do we increase the 'wow factor'? Simple - new content, especially those features that will really get people excited. A good example of this are the guild outposts. I think once they are in, people will really begin to work coherently towards that goal and it will generate a lot of interest on other forums.However, the issue we have is that we have no idea when this will happen. We don't seem to even have a tentative release schedule for patches 1 and 2, and I believe this is hurting this game and the perception of it. I have seen several comments (admittedly from forum trolls) about the fact that these patches have yet to materialise, and the trouble is others see these comments and think the worst.
So, in closing I would like to say to Nevrax that I truly believe you need to get patches 1 and 2 into the game as soon as possible. I'm sure you already know this, but it never hurts to to get the proverbial kick up the bum to keep the mind focussed
It would also help a great deal if we knew when they are planned, so we can at least attempt to both counter the trolls and spread the word to other forums.As usual, I welcome everyone's comments...
