As a man of my word, I downloaded the client, created an account and I'm playing under Xabu for now. Making my way through all the tutorials before I hit the mainland.
The game is definately sandbox and very interesting so far. No where as near sleek and visually impressive as some of the newer games, however they (the devs) did a few things that I really am impressed with.
1) Released a scenario editor so now the community can start making their own content. I'm very supportive of amatuer community creativity like mods etc.
2) Released the source code for free and to the GNU free software community: reasons stated above and I also support the GNU Community.
3) Lowered monthly fee without any initial client costs. $11 bucks a month or $60 for 6 months makes sense to me. The fact that they didn't attach themselves to the free-to-play (edit) means I can play for 6 months whenever I want to without the mechanics nipping at my pockets.
Which is one of the reasons that we (the mmo community) does not like F2P games is because I don't want to constantly be reminded that I need to spend money on this or that. I know that at endgame, if there is an endgame in Ryzom, that it isn't pay to win and a more level playing field.
4) There is a TON of database information out there. TONS... I found a really good website: http://ballisticmystix.net/ that gives all the info in easy to read form.
What I've noticed so far is that Ryzom has depth without being overcomplex. Many sandboxery style games try to make things so incredibly confusing ::cough Mortal Online cough::: that the newcomer gets overwhelmed.
5) 3 shards, 1 is german speaking and 1 is the newly established francophone (french) version. That shows some growth and I do see people, its not a barren wasteland as I expected, haven't hit the mainland yet, but its not a complete ghostown.
Day 2: so far, so good. Hit me up on Xabu if you want to group up.
SoR was my first MMORPG. I loved it but then like some of posters here i got swept away with other games. I will definitely give this F2P a go, to just bring that feeling of nostalgia of long years ago in this little world. Was good times... Then WoW came and changed the world of MMOs to dumb template of grind and raiding... i wish WoW never happened. We'd have all kinds of MMOs today, for any taste and color. But... unfortunately it did happen and all the MMOs today are the same.
i cant even try to play Ryzom because im getting connection failed during login. I put every files through my firewall and still im getting it. Nothing on the forums about this or here so i cant judge if this game is good. Too bad...its just like Forsaken world..another MMO i cant login or start up.
I've tried Ryzom several times, and never managed to get hooked. It's perfect on paper, I just can't seem to stick with it, mostly because of lack of people playing.
That said, I gave it a go again today, and the newbie area seems to be a LOT more populated than last time, the very generous scope of the unlimited free trial means there's no rush to see as much as possible before deciding if it's worth a monthly fee, and last, but not least, the native linux client is pure awesome and almost enough reason in itself to support the game. WINE is great, but I usually end up booting to Windows anyway just to get the most out of graphics settings on my aging computer. Ryzom actually runs smoother with all settings maxed out in Linux than it does in Windows 7.
Hi, I'm Vianney, CTO of Ryzom. I would like to thank you all, Ian Stolz for the article but also all of you who post those nice comments. It's really great to see so many people talking about Ryzom like that. THANK YOU we love you!
Just tried Ryzom last week. I have to respectfully disagree about the graphics. They are horribly outdated. But, that said, the crafting is intriguing and the stanza system is unlike anything else in MMOs. You can basically make your own actions, whether they be combat moves, spells, or recipes. In fact Ryzom is probably deeper and more hard-core than I am looking for. Grouping will become necessary at some point. And I am a soloer at heart.
Ryzom is an interesting little game that those looking for sandbox elements should check out. If you are cool with the old-school look, it is a unique game, if ultimately not for me.
You nailed it smack dab on the head for how I feel about this game, too. I have nothing further to add, wow, get out of my mind, lol.
The one game I'm always returning to after trying out quite a few others, including the most successful ones (which usually were terrible, brain-dead grinders as far as I'm concerned). The only game I know where you can become a real character and don't have to roleplay in a self-imposed ghetto just with friends. The only World where I also can just sit down and watch the time go by, because it's so beautiful to look at, and so alive. I wish they'd be more players - I fo remember OP battles with about 200 people - fascinating to look at if not involved, and hell of a challenge when - but still each time I log in I feel at home. And we all know there's no place like home, don't we?
I haven't yet tried it, but EQ was my first and I share the social and experimental nastolgic pull to base other mmo s off of. although I'm eager to test this ones environmental twists and crafting system! Mmo's today lack rpg, crafting and an alluring environment. I await the day an mmo takes us back to the future as it were
God OP is sooo right, back in late 2003, I joined Final Fantasy 11. My very first mmo, that was an amazing game and I experienced just about all that OP went through. I think these pre-wow era mmos made us players more tolerable to mmos and we understand that end game and such is made to be difficult, these games are made to be fun and there is no reason to get angry while playing. (I left wow after 1 year of playing, I have been in Everquest 2 now for 2 1/2 years.)
God OP is sooo right, back in late 2003, I joined Final Fantasy 11. My very first mmo, that was an amazing game and I experienced just about all that OP went through. I think these pre-wow era mmos made us players more tolerable to mmos and we understand that end game and such is made to be difficult, these games are made to be fun and there is no reason to get angry while playing. (I left wow after 1 year of playing, I have been in Everquest 2 now for 2 1/2 years.)
Hye FFXI was my first MMO too! Back before they added easymode, abyss and faster leveling. It was great! A game that you really had to rely on your social skills because NOTHING was soloable back then.
God OP is sooo right, back in late 2003, I joined Final Fantasy 11. My very first mmo, that was an amazing game and I experienced just about all that OP went through. I think these pre-wow era mmos made us players more tolerable to mmos and we understand that end game and such is made to be difficult, these games are made to be fun and there is no reason to get angry while playing. (I left wow after 1 year of playing, I have been in Everquest 2 now for 2 1/2 years.)
Hye FFXI was my first MMO too! Back before they added easymode, abyss and faster leveling. It was great! A game that you really had to rely on your social skills because NOTHING was soloable back then.
And if it didn't have a fanatic Japanese (and to a lesser extent western) hard core audience, it would have met with the same fate as Dungeons and Dragons online, in its original format. There is also the fact that the general demograpic back then wasn't the same as now. Even that hard core wasn't nearly enough to save FFXIV. People keep forgetting that this is first and foremost a SERVICE industry.
One of the reasons that WoW turned into the monster that it is, is that Blizzard hit enough of the right buttons at the right time, to draw in (and largely sustain) a much wider demographic than any other game before it (or after it for that matter to this point).
Its all about supply and demand. What many of those bemoaning the "horrors" of theme park style games, can't seem to grasp, is that there is a *demonstrated* demand for such games. The large majority of gamers these days WANT to be lead from point A to point B. They WANT "easy mode" (to use the expression of some of the 733t...). But that, as anything else can be over done. But look at what happened when Blizzard upped the difficulty of the inital dungeons in the last expansion.
From what I'm hearing WoW has now lost between 1.2 to 1.8 Million players (at this point), and the decline continues. At some point the suits are going to panic, and seriously lean on His divine Dev'ness Ghostcrawler, and we will see a moderation of his Vision(tm) for such things. But at that point, I suspect its going to be too late. I've said for years that the only real threat to WoW was Blizzard (or Ghostcrawler...^^).
Originally posted by Wraithone Its all about supply and demand. What many of those bemoaning the "horrors" of theme park style games, can't seem to grasp, is that there is a *demonstrated* demand for such games.
Well now since we're getting somewhat technical, here's a term for ya:
Its all about supply and demand. What many of those bemoaning the "horrors" of theme park style games, can't seem to grasp, is that there is a *demonstrated* demand for such games.
Well now since we're getting somewhat technical, here's a term for ya:
Market over-saturation.
Totally agree. But as with most such things, its a matter of perception as much as reality. Which is why marketing is a branch of propaganda theory. ^^ Ryzom and games like that have their following, but its not nearly the size of that of the theme park games these days.
This article is poorly titled, it's all written from past experiences and fond memories. "Worth a Second Look" would imply a recanting of what the game is like now, not years ago.
Ryzom is incredibly dated, graphics are awful and the game controls are hideous. This aside, the game is empty, hardly anyone plays it and you can go days without even seeing another player.
It's more of a litter tray than a sandbox.
Expresso gave me a Hearthstone beta key.....I'm so happy
Ryzom and games like that have their following, but its not nearly the size of that of the theme park games these days.
I think the market is starting to get ready for a new try of the more original MMO concepts like Ryzom. It's a game I've truly enjoyed during my several stays over the past years. You have to consider the demographic of the "gaming" internetpopulation in 2004 compared to what it is now. The reason a game like Ryzom or even further back UO are as niche as they are is because gaming and even worse, gaming over the internet was frowned upon when they were first released. Today, my mom plays all kinds of facebook games whereas in 1998 when I picked up my first MMO I wasn't allowed to connect from home, I could only play from my student flat with it's free broadband internet connection ! Above that my friends mocked me because they were more into Championship Manager then into 2D games with anime graphics. Any MMORPG was a niche (Internet) within a niche (Gamers) within a niche (Roleplayers).
Today both the internet and gaming over the internet are commonly accepted as normal. Success of games like the Sims show that "Sandbox" is not necessarily a style that has no future as long as you give enough options to players. Blizzard created the demand for themepark MMOS with good marketing, EA also created the demand for a single player social game sandbox that is the Sims. Any good propaganda machine can create sufficient demand for any product. I consider WoW as a niche product. They only managed to get about 14 million subscribers on a demographic of 2 billion people in the world with access to the internet, that's less then 1%.
I think Ryzom is probably the gameworld most fit to the term MMORPG because it's a truly immersive world and is just for that worth a try for anyone that believes they're a fan of the MMORPG genre. Convincing an investor to try this concept is where the problem lies.
** edits I definatly needed food when I started writing.
For me, I wouldn't need a half-million people to be playing the game. I could be ok with a solid 20-30 regular people who I'm on a friendly basis with to log in. I would have a good time and the time I spent ingame would be meaningful. Better than spending it with arrogant and distant strangers who can only put a sentence together when it sounds like leetspeak long enough to finish an instance and then its seeyalaytah.
This article is poorly titled, it's all written from past experiences and fond memories. "Worth a Second Look" would imply a recanting of what the game is like now, not years ago.
Ryzom is incredibly dated, graphics are awful and the game controls are hideous. This aside, the game is empty, hardly anyone plays it and you can go days without even seeing another player.
It's more of a litter tray than a sandbox.
Okay so here is a proper recanting, Zinzan.
I've been playing Ryzom for a couple of months now and can say the population is growing. Silan (the training island) is full of new players (and old players) teaming and soloing. Even the mainland has a steady flow of players grinding and enjoying the content. There is even room for the few that spam the universal channel, but above all the Q&A channel is always a steady flow of conversation.
Every weekend there are live events. With the news of the new PvP cities and the constant attacks (lately) by Marauders, even "old players" are returning. Overall I want to make it clear that the game isn't dead. You do see people in the four capital cities and if you trek (travel the lands) you do find others going about their business.
I agree that the graphics and interface are outdated, but it's obvious they would be. Ryzom just turned 7 this month. For a 7 year old game Ryzom still has a few tricks that other games lack. But even for an old game the graphics aren't terrible (IMO) and the interface can be adjusted and works fine for Ryzom. This is all a matter of personal opinion of course. Anyone interested needs to register an account and play the free trial, otherwise you will never know if what you read here is true or not.
Ryzom is legit, but I think what is really hurting it is the website. I realize that the publisher doesn't have a ton of money, but a good website is not very expensive. It seems that an updated website would be a very cost effective way to promote the game. First impressions are important, especially in today's visually driven gaming culture. It wouldn't hurt to package something as great as Ryzom into an attractive box. Not simply to attract shallow people who only care about pretty graphics, but to show that it is a game worth playing. As it stands, the website looks like a third party forum board, and what is communicated to the public is that the publisher isn't very proud of their game. Ryzom is shooting itself in the proverbial foot.
Ryzom is legit, but I think what is really hurting it is the website. I realize that the publisher doesn't have a ton of money, but a good website is not very expensive. It seems that an updated website would be a very cost effective way to promote the game. First impressions are important, especially in today's visually driven gaming culture. It wouldn't hurt to package something as great as Ryzom into an attractive box. Not simply to attract shallow people who only care about pretty graphics, but to show that it is a game worth playing. As it stands, the website looks like a third party forum board, and what is communicated to the public is that the publisher isn't very proud of their game. Ryzom is shooting itself in the proverbial foot.
Yeah, having a good website to attract visitors is a good idea. Having a quality product but failing to advertise it still makes for poor sales.
Comments
As a man of my word, I downloaded the client, created an account and I'm playing under Xabu for now. Making my way through all the tutorials before I hit the mainland.
The game is definately sandbox and very interesting so far. No where as near sleek and visually impressive as some of the newer games, however they (the devs) did a few things that I really am impressed with.
1) Released a scenario editor so now the community can start making their own content. I'm very supportive of amatuer community creativity like mods etc.
2) Released the source code for free and to the GNU free software community: reasons stated above and I also support the GNU Community.
3) Lowered monthly fee without any initial client costs. $11 bucks a month or $60 for 6 months makes sense to me. The fact that they didn't attach themselves to the free-to-play (edit) means I can play for 6 months whenever I want to without the mechanics nipping at my pockets.
Which is one of the reasons that we (the mmo community) does not like F2P games is because I don't want to constantly be reminded that I need to spend money on this or that. I know that at endgame, if there is an endgame in Ryzom, that it isn't pay to win and a more level playing field.
4) There is a TON of database information out there. TONS... I found a really good website: http://ballisticmystix.net/ that gives all the info in easy to read form.
What I've noticed so far is that Ryzom has depth without being overcomplex. Many sandboxery style games try to make things so incredibly confusing ::cough Mortal Online cough::: that the newcomer gets overwhelmed.
5) 3 shards, 1 is german speaking and 1 is the newly established francophone (french) version. That shows some growth and I do see people, its not a barren wasteland as I expected, haven't hit the mainland yet, but its not a complete ghostown.
Day 2: so far, so good. Hit me up on Xabu if you want to group up.
Cheers,
~Ink
SoR was my first MMORPG. I loved it but then like some of posters here i got swept away with other games. I will definitely give this F2P a go, to just bring that feeling of nostalgia of long years ago in this little world. Was good times... Then WoW came and changed the world of MMOs to dumb template of grind and raiding... i wish WoW never happened. We'd have all kinds of MMOs today, for any taste and color. But... unfortunately it did happen and all the MMOs today are the same.
Impressive article.
Ryzom was my second MMO (AO was my first, and URU Prologue was too different to be compared), i started playing it in december 2004.
I was at a game shop to buy EQ2. Once there, i found that awesome Ryzom box, so beautiful that i decided to buy both.
I didn't know anything about the game when i bought it. I played EQ2 1 month, I'm still playing Ryzom (with some small break).
Because Ryzom is not just a game, it is a virtual world. If you don't understand this, you'll never enjoy it.
Nickname registered on www.mynickname.org
I've tried Ryzom several times, and never managed to get hooked. It's perfect on paper, I just can't seem to stick with it, mostly because of lack of people playing.
That said, I gave it a go again today, and the newbie area seems to be a LOT more populated than last time, the very generous scope of the unlimited free trial means there's no rush to see as much as possible before deciding if it's worth a monthly fee, and last, but not least, the native linux client is pure awesome and almost enough reason in itself to support the game. WINE is great, but I usually end up booting to Windows anyway just to get the most out of graphics settings on my aging computer. Ryzom actually runs smoother with all settings maxed out in Linux than it does in Windows 7.
Hi, I'm Vianney, CTO of Ryzom. I would like to thank you all, Ian Stolz for the article but also all of you who post those nice comments. It's really great to see so many people talking about Ryzom like that. THANK YOU we love you!
You nailed it smack dab on the head for how I feel about this game, too. I have nothing further to add, wow, get out of my mind, lol.
The one game I'm always returning to after trying out quite a few others, including the most successful ones (which usually were terrible, brain-dead grinders as far as I'm concerned). The only game I know where you can become a real character and don't have to roleplay in a self-imposed ghetto just with friends. The only World where I also can just sit down and watch the time go by, because it's so beautiful to look at, and so alive. I wish they'd be more players - I fo remember OP battles with about 200 people - fascinating to look at if not involved, and hell of a challenge when - but still each time I log in I feel at home. And we all know there's no place like home, don't we?
Mmo's today lack rpg, crafting and an alluring environment. I await the day an mmo takes us back to the future as it were
God OP is sooo right, back in late 2003, I joined Final Fantasy 11. My very first mmo, that was an amazing game and I experienced just about all that OP went through. I think these pre-wow era mmos made us players more tolerable to mmos and we understand that end game and such is made to be difficult, these games are made to be fun and there is no reason to get angry while playing. (I left wow after 1 year of playing, I have been in Everquest 2 now for 2 1/2 years.)
Hye FFXI was my first MMO too! Back before they added easymode, abyss and faster leveling. It was great! A game that you really had to rely on your social skills because NOTHING was soloable back then.
And if it didn't have a fanatic Japanese (and to a lesser extent western) hard core audience, it would have met with the same fate as Dungeons and Dragons online, in its original format. There is also the fact that the general demograpic back then wasn't the same as now. Even that hard core wasn't nearly enough to save FFXIV. People keep forgetting that this is first and foremost a SERVICE industry.
One of the reasons that WoW turned into the monster that it is, is that Blizzard hit enough of the right buttons at the right time, to draw in (and largely sustain) a much wider demographic than any other game before it (or after it for that matter to this point).
Its all about supply and demand. What many of those bemoaning the "horrors" of theme park style games, can't seem to grasp, is that there is a *demonstrated* demand for such games. The large majority of gamers these days WANT to be lead from point A to point B. They WANT "easy mode" (to use the expression of some of the 733t...). But that, as anything else can be over done. But look at what happened when Blizzard upped the difficulty of the inital dungeons in the last expansion.
From what I'm hearing WoW has now lost between 1.2 to 1.8 Million players (at this point), and the decline continues. At some point the suits are going to panic, and seriously lean on His divine Dev'ness Ghostcrawler, and we will see a moderation of his Vision(tm) for such things. But at that point, I suspect its going to be too late. I've said for years that the only real threat to WoW was Blizzard (or Ghostcrawler...^^).
Well now since we're getting somewhat technical, here's a term for ya:
Market over-saturation.
Totally agree. But as with most such things, its a matter of perception as much as reality. Which is why marketing is a branch of propaganda theory. ^^ Ryzom and games like that have their following, but its not nearly the size of that of the theme park games these days.
This article is poorly titled, it's all written from past experiences and fond memories. "Worth a Second Look" would imply a recanting of what the game is like now, not years ago.
Ryzom is incredibly dated, graphics are awful and the game controls are hideous. This aside, the game is empty, hardly anyone plays it and you can go days without even seeing another player.
It's more of a litter tray than a sandbox.
Expresso gave me a Hearthstone beta key.....I'm so happy
I think the market is starting to get ready for a new try of the more original MMO concepts like Ryzom. It's a game I've truly enjoyed during my several stays over the past years. You have to consider the demographic of the "gaming" internetpopulation in 2004 compared to what it is now. The reason a game like Ryzom or even further back UO are as niche as they are is because gaming and even worse, gaming over the internet was frowned upon when they were first released. Today, my mom plays all kinds of facebook games whereas in 1998 when I picked up my first MMO I wasn't allowed to connect from home, I could only play from my student flat with it's free broadband internet connection ! Above that my friends mocked me because they were more into Championship Manager then into 2D games with anime graphics. Any MMORPG was a niche (Internet) within a niche (Gamers) within a niche (Roleplayers).
Today both the internet and gaming over the internet are commonly accepted as normal. Success of games like the Sims show that "Sandbox" is not necessarily a style that has no future as long as you give enough options to players. Blizzard created the demand for themepark MMOS with good marketing, EA also created the demand for a single player social game sandbox that is the Sims. Any good propaganda machine can create sufficient demand for any product. I consider WoW as a niche product. They only managed to get about 14 million subscribers on a demographic of 2 billion people in the world with access to the internet, that's less then 1%.
I think Ryzom is probably the gameworld most fit to the term MMORPG because it's a truly immersive world and is just for that worth a try for anyone that believes they're a fan of the MMORPG genre. Convincing an investor to try this concept is where the problem lies.
** edits I definatly needed food when I started writing.
-
For me, I wouldn't need a half-million people to be playing the game. I could be ok with a solid 20-30 regular people who I'm on a friendly basis with to log in. I would have a good time and the time I spent ingame would be meaningful. Better than spending it with arrogant and distant strangers who can only put a sentence together when it sounds like leetspeak long enough to finish an instance and then its seeyalaytah.
Just sayin'
Okay so here is a proper recanting, Zinzan.
I've been playing Ryzom for a couple of months now and can say the population is growing. Silan (the training island) is full of new players (and old players) teaming and soloing. Even the mainland has a steady flow of players grinding and enjoying the content. There is even room for the few that spam the universal channel, but above all the Q&A channel is always a steady flow of conversation.
Every weekend there are live events. With the news of the new PvP cities and the constant attacks (lately) by Marauders, even "old players" are returning. Overall I want to make it clear that the game isn't dead. You do see people in the four capital cities and if you trek (travel the lands) you do find others going about their business.
I agree that the graphics and interface are outdated, but it's obvious they would be. Ryzom just turned 7 this month. For a 7 year old game Ryzom still has a few tricks that other games lack. But even for an old game the graphics aren't terrible (IMO) and the interface can be adjusted and works fine for Ryzom. This is all a matter of personal opinion of course. Anyone interested needs to register an account and play the free trial, otherwise you will never know if what you read here is true or not.
Ryzom is legit, but I think what is really hurting it is the website. I realize that the publisher doesn't have a ton of money, but a good website is not very expensive. It seems that an updated website would be a very cost effective way to promote the game. First impressions are important, especially in today's visually driven gaming culture. It wouldn't hurt to package something as great as Ryzom into an attractive box. Not simply to attract shallow people who only care about pretty graphics, but to show that it is a game worth playing. As it stands, the website looks like a third party forum board, and what is communicated to the public is that the publisher isn't very proud of their game. Ryzom is shooting itself in the proverbial foot.
Yeah, having a good website to attract visitors is a good idea. Having a quality product but failing to advertise it still makes for poor sales.