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My views so far on Ryzom
When I first started playing this game, I loved it. I stayed up until 3 in the morning playing it, because leveling was quick... and crafting was fun.
Then I reached the level 30 range of my melee skill, and I was still fighting the same monsters I was fighting at level 15... and this is where the fun starts to end.
This goes for all skills. Crafting tapers off, and starts to crawl... foraging is extremely slow, and extremely boring since it requires no activity on your part once you start the extraction process.
This game has such a small player base, and it is no wonder that it does considering the skill system that requires a lot of work to get the same outcome you would in any other game...
for instance, you may level twice in crafting and have 20 skill points, but the next skill you need requires 25 or 30 skill points. So in reality, 3 levels = 1 level in any other MMORPG. Some skills even require more then this, making 5 levels = 1... Which is extremely disheartening, considering the pace at which you level.
At some point in your melee/mage training you will find that you require a group to level at a decent pace, but there is no player population to do so!
Why would they make a game that depends a lot on players working together when they know that their game hasn't had any population for quite some time?
So why wouldn't they lower the skill requirements?
Also, another flaw is that the game doesn't work out well for new players at all. Crafting does not scale with melee abilities, so you will most likely have a lot of strength and not be able to make the sword you need. Since the game's been out for a little while, you can most likely buy something from the market to make up for it... but it's just not as fun as making your own stuff.
They also boast an inventive and creative skill system. A lot of the skills aren't as useful as others... for instance the stanza system. Stanza's are when you combine skills for one action... why would you bother using that one skill like accurate attack when you have critical and bleeding all in one action and there's no recast timer so you can just use it over and over? Sure there might be mobs you can't hit all that well, but that doesn't mean you won't hit and hit for a hell of a lot more then you would if you used accurate hit. This is not even considering that the skill system doesn't scale well.
For instance, I get level 20 in combat training, and now I'm at level 21 range and melee. The problem is, I never used range training and so I don't have any of the abilities for it. Yet... range is at level 21? So, I'm going to have to use points in my melee training (a few more levels of grinding) just so I can actually train range at a decent pace.
This is how it works for all the skills. Crafting works this way as well, you train all the crafting as one skill and then all of a sudden it branchs off... but since you don't get one skill to work each area, and have to spend the points from other areas to be able to train the new areas... you end up spending a lot of levels just trying to be alowd to do everything.
Now, a lot of people say sure you can just be a melee you don't need to forage, craft, or cast magic... but everyone else is an expert in all 4 areas. Why? Because there's no possible reason to ever just train melee, when you can get a SAP using heal spell, or a ressurection spell which will make melee training a lot easier... in which case, you can level melee quicker with some magic spells, making pure melee's not a viable training course.
This game has way too much of a grind for the rewards each level brings. The levels need to be scaled down more... I don't mind melee where it's at, but I honestly thing that they should get rid of the 4 beginning area's, and start with the next branch.
so instead of choosing combat, you'd choose melee or range. Or for crafting, you'd pick a particular area and train that. I hate thinking I have to consider the next branch of skills for my path, and that my other branchs are going to be gimp if I train this one particular area because they're going to be brought to a high level along with my new skill, but when I train it it's going to start at a low level and so training will be a grind... and very slow.
I know this sounds as a rant... but I LOVED this game when I first started playing. I haven't been this excited about a game in awhile, and then as I neared leve l 50 melee I realized that this game has so many shortcomings... things that keep new players from sticking around, and just in general doesn't meet up the expectations of a casual gamer, as well as a hardcore gamer... I don't have hours on hours to train my skills and gather mats, and this game requires you do so 
Things I did like:
The community is by far the best community I've EVER seen in any MMORPG. Without this community, this game would be dead and there wouldn't even be one server. The developers owe this game to the community, since they're the ones puting money into their pockets. I have a hard time not playing, simply because I enjoy working with this community so much.
The rewards system for killing monsters... the hunter/gather system is so awesome. I love it, if monsters were more of a blast to kill I would love it even more... just gets tedious having one stanza you use over and over.
The graphics, and the environment are by far the best i've ever seen in any game. I love the way the trees blow when environment changes are going on... and how some creatures travel together. This is all great stuff!
well these are my two cents, and maybe a developer reads this and hears me... and I will come back to this game and pay for it 
Comments
Nice view
But i dont agree with you saying
"At some point in your melee/mage training you will find that you require a group to level at a decent pace, but there is no player population to do so!"
Through my experince im a three week old player. When you get level 50 you should be in a guild and they will help at that level alot. Cause there will be a few people in guild at same level as you. And just ask anybody and there always nice and willing to help, and introduce you to a guild.
just type /who which will tell you who is online in your region and there is always somebody. And send a few tells saying are you in a group and can i join it.
If i do find myself without a group which is very rare because my guild is very active and always willing to team. I will just solo, harvest and craft.
But a nice two sided argument. I subscribed because of the helpful people after my two week trail. And the third week is so much fun. Theres always something to do.
When the outpost patch comes i think that guilds will become much more active and looking for new people to join and help them level up much more.
But if nobody is around just /who and send a few /tells
Agree with beeb, not sure where you played, but Arispotle (european) server has plenty of people playing there, almost any hour of the day. Yes, game is very much team oriented and leveling beyond 50 is almost impossible when soloing, but if you get into a good team, leveling goes very fast and actually is a lot of fun in group. And as beeb described, there's always a way to get into a team...
For me, the game is still fun after about 2 months of playing and lvl100 passed in most skills. And there's still a lot to discover for myself in terms of both areas and mobs.
I can agree with you on the skills. Some of them are not as useful as others. But players have to discover that for themselves and that's the nice thing about it - finding out how things work and then make the best out of them.
I have actually agreed with a friend of mine on one other shortcoming of the game, which is very basic mobs intelligence. No rocket science to kill even the hardest of them in a team. If this could be improved, hunting would be much more fun. Other things you mentioned, not really relevant imho.
And of course, agree with you on the things you like :-) Especially the community in the game just rocks.
--- Bambul's Signature ---
there supposed to be really intelligent btw
http://animatlab.lip6.fr/papers/gameon.pdf
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:HxrkHy5C1O8J:animatlab.lip6.fr/papers/gameon.pdf+ryzom+artificial+pdf&hl=en&client=firefox-a
Beta Tested: Lineage 2, Ryzom, City of Heroes, RYL, EverQuest 2 World Of Warcraft European
Truly Loved: World of Warcraft
I bet when Outposts get implemented and we're all scurrying around to take bases and keep them we'll be wishing for the quieter lvl grinding days :P
At any rate, yes the game is a grindfest. Thing is, and I doubt they intended to do this on purpose, all this grinding is prepping us for the ultimate GvG battles over the outposts. This type of gameplay isn't for everyone however. Unfortunately, I think we'll see a lot of the laid back players that mainly harvest and chat leave the game.
It will be competitive and very different from what it is right now. That's my hope anyway...
Does the system lean heavy into groups? Yes! Is this a bad thing? NO! There's so many great people I've met in this game only because I was forced to group with them. Noone likes to be forced to do anything but there is a greater good to be achieved...
That's my whole point of view on the thing. I hope the game lasts. It is very much in a niche of it's own; the people who want to make it more like WoW or EQ2 have to come to realize that.
About the slow grind that occurs that the original poster is talking about. Yes, soloing up to lvl 40 or so is hard but dooable - after that grouping is a must unless you want to crawl the rest of the way. Then grouping slows down to a crawl at lvl 125 or so because the xp requirements to lvl grows considerably. You can do a 4 hour session of 2-3k mobs and only come out with about 4 or 5 levels. Thing is when you get to lvl 140 or so you find that hey... traveling just got a hell of a lot easier! and wow I have so many left over daps! You don't have to be 250 to be a great and significant player in this game.
It has been said time and time again and some people will resist to the very end but... you need a guild to get the most out of this game! This is not an exageration.
/endrant
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