Ryzom's graphics are much better than the advertised screenshots

Talandis

RANT to MMORPG:  You removed my ability to rate the game.  What?  Because I don't log into MMORPG.com every day of my life.  You should fix that.

When I looked at the screenshots, I really had no reason to load Ryzom.  After seeing the game at the top of the list here, I decided to give it a try.  I am so glad I did!  What's with the crappy screenshots?  The game looks sooo much better.

Being an older game, I was able to jack up most of the graphics settings - big difference.  Also, what may make up for the outdated textures is the animations.  I've never seen another MMO like it.  Here are some gems that I noticed:

1.  All vegitation has animation, trees sway, grass shifts around...

2.  Each creature has it's own unique personality.  Some even herd together, and move accross the landscape in pack of 50+

3.  Creature AI is dynamic - not static

4.  There are seasons to all areas of the game.

5.  Sports nice Winamp style MP3 player for playing your own background music in the game.

6.  Amazing and realistic harvesting and crafting system

7.  Great sandbox (rouguelike) character dynamics.  You level up skills as you use them.  For instance, you don't have to murder creatures to increase your harvesting skills. 

8.  No more boring "I only get 10 - 18 abilities to use throughout the whole game".  Each of the abilities that you assign to your top number key row are custom crafted using a mix of skills as you learn them.  I've played a lot of MMO's and the original Everquest was by far the MMO with the most unique skills.  Ryzom is definately in the same league. I can judge how long it takes me to delete an MMO off my harddrive by how many unique skills it offers.  Ryzom will be here for a while.

Ryzom really feels like a living virtual world.  Don't let the outdated screeshots turn you off.  This thing is much better than most of the new MMO's I've tried this year.