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Ryzom: Gameforge in Receivership
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
The official forums for the MMORPG Ryzom are full of disappointing news for the game's fans. Today Marjo, the game's Community Liaison, told players that Gameforge, the company currently in control of the game, is going into receivership (a near equivelent to bankruptcy in the US), and the future of the game is unclear.
Folks who have been following this game may remember that last year, a similar announcement was made by Nevrax, the company running the game at the time.
Hello, as much as I'd have preferred to speak about some upcoming projects, I bring you today news about the financial state of the game you're all so passionate about.
Ryzom is going to pass through a few uncertain days/weeks, a second time. Our efforts to move Ryzom forward didn't get the expected repercussions and today as I speak, while the game continues to run and to be supported, the company behind its development - Gameforge France SARL, located in Paris - is lacking the funds to keep going. For those who've known the Nevrax times and went through the transitory period in last December, the same legal procedure of "liquidation judiciaire" has been put in place yesterday. This means that while the appointed liquidator will do what it takes to close the company, potential buyers may show up to take over the game Ryzom. If nobody shows up, the servers will be shut down in less than 3 weeks at liquidator's request.
Meanwhile, what is going to change for you? Ryzom is still running and your characters remain. However the game development has been frozen and the billing system and Free Trials are undergoing the following changes:
- Paying subscribers will not be billed and will be able to continue playing for free.
- It's not possible to pay to subscribe to a full Ryzom account anymore.
- You will still be able to create a Free Trial account, but at the moment there will be no possibility to upgrade your account and go to mainland.
- The level cap on Silan is removed for the Free Trials in the meantime.
Closing Read more here.
Comments
Oh wow, again? I loved the world that this game takes place in, but constantly wondering where this game was headed made me wary of committing to it. Maybe you guys should consider an overseas acquisition from Sony or NCSoft? Or maybe you can try what your were going to do with the FSF and VCA on buying the rights? Also your link is broken, Szark.
Yep, again
I love this game.
Again, after less than a year... I do hope it takes a little longer the next time
It's a shame this game has had such a bad luck with its marketing division(s). I haven't seen such an elaborate, alien and yet coherent ecosystem combined with the stunning graphics and deep background story anywhere else yet, not to speak of the classless character development, the brilliant crafting system, or the customizable action stanzas.
I'll stay with the Homins there whatever will happen, and in the meantime pray for Ryzom to get well soon and prosper.
Might this revive the user campaign to buy the title out? It almost worked last time but Gameforge "won." I'd be willing to try again.
Have to wonder whether someone will actually step up this time.
To my mind, this is the sort of game that could really do well in SOE's Station Access stable. A working, very unique world, with a loyal customer base (probably a decent customer base too). Very little required with regards to take over (unlike VG for example). Hell I'd give it a shot if it was Station Access. Higher over a few bods from the Ryzom team to keep things moving, while regular SOE devs learn the ropes...
It's gotta be bloody cheap to buy by now
Those who mentioned SOE must be kidding... xD Many players of Ryzom are refugees from oldschool Star Wars Galaxies.
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In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on August 13, 2008.
It's a shame about what SOE did with SWG a couple of years ago. I guess the right thing to do is for Sony to close its doors and all mention of the corporation be erased from history.
But seriously, I'm not sure what can be done for Ryzom. Gameforge took it on and cut costs wherever possible but they still lost money and their cuts impacted negatively on the community. There must be a small influx of new players but does it even match the number of people getting bored and leaving after three years?
I know the hardcore still love the game and even I drop in from time to time just to look upon the beautiful environment but that can't keep it afloat. Even the graphics look dated by today's standards, so how will they compete with the next gen stuff like AoC?
I'll be very sad to see it goes, but times change. I hope the community spirit we once had there can be regained in a new game.
I really really hope that a company with a passion for the game will buy it out or something. New content needs to be added and the game needs to be ADVERTISED and I just know it will succeed! It really is an amazing game worth much more attention that it gets at present.
Hey Korvass, I hate to say this but if Ryzom does goto SOE, they will lose a lot of us loyal customers because we were once very loyal customers of SOE's during the Debacle of the NGE that has all but destroyed Star Wars Galaxies! I and a lot of SWG vets will never again play a game that SOE has anything to do with. I love Ryzom and want to see it prosper and to do that it needs to go to a company such as NCsoft or Turbine a company that can hopefully turn the game around and develope it more. If the game goes free source I feel it will fade out of existance because this game really needs advertising!
I totally agree the game is very beautiful but it needs more content added! I left the game after my account expired and was going to come back in a month or so to see how things are going but not sure if I can log into the island on my current account.
I'll definitely be there.
Since it's the only game I've been focused on playing lately, it's cruddy news to have read on the forums.
I feel bad that people paid ahead and likely won't get their funds back or their play time and that we won't have the game to play more than likely.I feel bad that people probably lost their jobs somewhere or are having to relocate/reintegrate as the nobody in a new place that were on the backend.
I wonder if another company were to take over, would they have a responsibility to restore the characters or would they be allowed to wipe it and start over... dunno... haven't been through a game closing to know. If they did wipe them, that sounds like just less people that would play as they wouldn't want to start over and get frustrated so it's like bad news to even think of a continuation under a new name, how many people can leave before they are all gone heh.
Someone did show some interest tonight in being able to view the gameplay for possible company interest that saw the posts on this forum gogo mmorpg.com! The problem is... around the time that they made the official announcement... the servers scooted down to a huge lag in the normal play areas. There is a constant flash of the connection being lost and the toon moves choppily a few yards every few minutes and as far as we know, noone can/wants to fix it. Was it sabotaged by GF to save some operating cost? Partial hardware already sold or just turned off? Who knows, but it does not reflect what the normal gameplay was to those who may show interest. The Ring portion of the game is working ok with some lag but I guess that was normal for it ha. The only problem with trying to play in the ring for the finality of the game is that anything you earn there is not saved once you leave so you are not really playing to improve the character, it's just for fun or practice. It just makes the entire experience more "real" to watch it die as you try to play in what time may be left.
The costs that GameForge cut, were the advertising budget, and the support budget, and the development budget, and the server budget....
in other words, they gutted the game pretty much as soon as they bought it. We struggled on, with heroic efforts from unpaid volunteer CSRs, minimal new content, buggy under-tested patches, and not much more than word-of-mouth for advertising. The failure of GameForge to advertise the game is what really killed the game, we were getting in new players, and they were amazed at how great ryzom was, and almost all of them would say "Why didnt I hear about this earlier ? ". We could have taken in enough people to keep the game afloat IF THEY HAD THE CHANCE TO HEAR ABOUT IT.
It is still a better game than any of the others I have seen here.
Thank you for sharing your opinion with us.
Now .. Go away.
I've been in Ryzom beta and I've opened an account 4 months ago to take a look at what it had become. As I was in beta, the basics were pretty much covered, so I went on to looking what had actually changed.
Nothing, the game was still simplistic, lacked stunning graphics, lacked athmosphere and most of all, a purpose to play.
It's not a good game guys, just because you cant familiarize yourselves with other games, doesn't mean "this game is better than all the other games you've seen here".
I am familiar with other games. I do believe that Ryzom is the best MMOG in existence. That's my opinion; your opinion is that Ryzom is not even good. That's fine...everyone has an opinion...but you appear to be one of many people who can't tell the difference between their opinion and absolute fact.
And as for this part...
"the game was still simplistic, lacked stunning graphics, lacked athmosphere"
Subjectively of course, I believe you're insane.
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In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on August 13, 2008.
First, I am sorry that some folk's game is going away. It is probably gone for good this time, unless an independent group can pick it up for free. However, that is unlikely as it will be a major tax write-off and the receiver would lose value by just giving it away. Probably cannot be legally done, but I am not a French CPA, so don't really know. But, I do suspect that this time, it is dead.
That being said, I did not find the game compelling at all. Played at launch; purchased a $50 box release version. Did not play more than a few days. Unending bugs in the software. Lack of focus and direction. But the thing that just killed it for me was being stopped dead in my tracks whenever I ran into a tree-branch lying on the ground.
That's right, there was (is?) no jump capability in the game, and there was (is?) no automatic 'run-over-the-small-branch' algorithm. So a very small rock or branch in your path would stop you dead in your tracks. Until you walked around it.
Add to that the 'We-Never-Stop-Chasing-You' mobs and all the other god-awful mechanics, Ryzom was doomed to fail from launch.
For those who have been around computer gaming for a loooong time, we know that the French have always been up for great graphics, but lousy gameplay. A generalization, true. But overally, pretty accurate, I think.
In any case, time to move on. Look to the next MMORPG that might satisfy. Age of Conan, Warhammer, who knows?
Best of Luck !
And, Good Hunting.
I truly believe that Ryzom would have been the most popular game ever made, if no other games had ever been made.
Sometimes the supposed star wars "vets" like you make me laugh. If things were so hot with SWG before the changes Sony made, then Sony would not have made any changes. C'mon.. I played the pre-Nge star wars and it wasnt that great.. better than now most likely, but looking at it from Sony;s point of view they had to try something.
If things were as good as some of you say, why was there such a huge decline in subscriptions.. it started falling from practically day one. I was there at opening and for a few months after, and I agree the classes were better, the crafting was better.. but the numbers were not there after the initial burst of players trying out a new game and finding they couldnt become a jedi right away and they left.
If you owned something like this and you were losing money you would try to shake it up also. Sure they made a mistake and lost what base they had from the old game, but realistically they picked up as many as they lost, so "vets" left, new ones came..break-even. It was the same with EQ.
I've been there since day one of it.. when Sony took over from Verant, I bemoaned all the changes too.. hated them actually, but realistically what no one ever points out.. is that without Sony all of these games everyone whines about would have closed long ago.. maybe some should have.. but to say that you love a game like Rysom and then turn around and say you would leave if Sony saved it for you.. ahh.. maybe they would be better off losing you after all.
Pretty much the poster was right.. Sony is their only realistic chance at staying online.
Money makes Ryzom go Round. It simply doesnt have the financial support it needs. The vision of the game does not match its budget. The game is entertaining. To me is even great and if not the best game Ive ever played. Where it is deficient is in the progress of the game that has for the last year and a half, due to its financial crisis, remained in lalaland.