Added

I have an idea that I think could jump ryzom back into its hayday of activity!

On steam they just launched what they call the "Greenlight" program. Its basically where indie developers can submit their games for the community to vote on for approval to be a steam supported game.

Now i dont know anything about what kind of contractual deals steam would require of WG in order to do this but i think it would be worth a shot! They seem to be pretty lenient and the steam community loves niche type games.

This game has always filled a hole that nothing else will for me though i havent been able to afford a sub lately :( think i will just to see how the pre and post new beginning stuff goes though.

This would require as many zommers as possible to create a steam account in order to vote it up, as for proof that the game is awesome and alive there are tons of videos on youtube that show off the beauty and websites that show the depth.

With this Rebirth, as i call it, and its achievements plus everyone starting over i think now would be a perfect time to submit it for this program as all the community is here but no one will really be a "noob" as everyone will be starting completely over!
Also steam games tend to support achievements as they are a driver in the game world now i figured it would go hand in hand.
Im not sure who has to submit the game honestly, pretty sure someone that has the authority to tie the game to steam would have to do it. so either a dev or company rep would have to make a steam account to submit with.

All in all i think this would totally be worth it!!
anyone else have any thoughts on this?

OH forgot to link the program page just incase some important ppl read my post :)

http://steamcommunity.com/greenlight/

Just some points that might be interesting from the developer point of view:

Steam includes a patching System which is working very well (and can fix data if needed)
Steam supports saving things like settings in the cloud
There are currently windows and mac clients (alternative to the Mac store that didn't accept the last patch) and are working on a Linux client as well.

The registration for Greenlight costs an initial fee of 100 USD (they did this because there were too many fake and fan registrations)
Implementing the steam API would need development man power.

I think it would be worth it though. open zom up to a whole new community.

sounds like a great idea to me!

with that many people using Steam Ryzom is sure to get more players

+1

Anyone know a way I could directly contact the devs to propose this? It would of course require any zom players currently using steam to up vote it as well as non steam using zommers to make an account and up vote lol

If you look at the very bottom of the website it says:

That is the idea I just was about to post!!
Lets get Ryzom on Steam!!!

This one is smart ;D

thanks though!! ill send them an email now i thinks :) Everyone should send them an email regarding this!

Probably the easiest would be to create a poll and have the community vote. Then send them the poll

As a heads  up I have been talking with Steamworks about the SDK. This is going to have to be an endeavor spearheaded by Winch Gate as the SDK has no loopholes to make it open source friendly.

Hello,
I'm wondering if there has been any progress or word regarding this at all? I'm a long time absent but veteran player (joined Nov 2004). It makes me so sad to see that tonight, i.e. New Years eve 2014, Ryzom is practically empty. A social game without players, that is just...(I'm lacking for words).

I've read all the articles I could find regarding the topic about Valve and Steam. This was the latest thread I could find where it was mentioned. Please correct me if there's another more recent or suitable thread.

Ryzom to me was always about OpenSource. Later, I fell in love of the Game itself: it's heart, soul beauty and least but not last - community. That was the main reason for joining and for staying. Even though, at the time, playing SoR on a free platform was a pain... I don't mind paying for playing, I payed for three subs for years for me and my kids and I know for a fact FOSS and commercial interests can be combined. Yes I'm a nerd, badly stricken - but not at all a fan-boy and not without sane insights about what makes the world tick.

What follows concerning Linux is slightly off-topic, but here is a red-thread.
Linux has bee taken seriously for years now by, I dare to say, by *all* major parties (except by those obvious ones who still live in the past and who'd rather stick their head in the sand squeezing out the very last drop they can). Server manufacturers as mobile phone manufacturers alike: all favor Linux. 250 million Android (aka. "Linux") phones per year is respectful enough I think (http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/28/smartphone-sales-pass-250m-in- q3-and-samsung-grew-twice-as-fast-as-apple/).

(Note: That is per year and pads are not included. PC market has come to an almost standstill, at least for non-office use. Everyone and their grandmother is now using Smart-phones and Pads for what was traditionally PC territory. What was considered state of the art in 2004 for PC:s can now easily be run on mobile phones. It's quite impressive to see advanced 3D games play out on an XPERIA Z1 for example, with their 8-cores 2.3GH ARM CPU:s, 2GRAM actually. Considering it all runs on ~5W peeking up to maybe ~15W. My current desktop uses a power-supply of 1KW. Food for thoughts...).

Therefore the following should come as no surprise:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57615424-235/steamos-gets-offic ial-launch-date-december-13/
The worlds biggest game-provider Valve, not only supports and promotes Linux: They seem prepared to put their money where their mouth is. Can this work? It most definitely can. If someone can figure out how many "Windows" games are actually played on Linux/OSX Wine, a cloud on-line distributor like Steam would. They've run the numbers, no doubt about that.

So once again, asked kindly: Will Ryzom ever see the light of day as a real product and will the player community ever be taken seriously? From what I've read about failed negotiations with Valve, incompatible licenses and so forth, all I can say is: Burn your babies, keep no holy cows. Try again!

NeL is too incompatible? I actually don't care. Rewrite it, keep the content, do whatever is needed. That's what's it's all about anyway. The story and the idea is too precious to be wasted. Anyone ever played with the thought that box-office hits like Avatar was more or less influenced by Ryzom? I wonder sometimes whom among us at the time James Cameron was playing :-)

Without a vibrant community, Ryzom is not more alive now than it was when Newrax gave in. IOW: dead.

I for one however would like to meet my old friends again, to see new content added en masse, to see the game evolve the way I know it could: with new levels, new lands...

Compared with todays "eye-candy" games, Ryzom is no match I'm sure. But Ryzom has assets and value no other game that I've tried can compete with. Ryzom is not just a game, it's The Game! Is this something deserving to be let to vanish into the Darkness of Oblivion?

//Aprak, the mighty mouse. Former "Free Ryzom Campaign" evangelist. Who once loved, ate, slept and lived SoR.

(Not a very good writer... But perhaps one or two smiles can be lurked out by these few attempts:
http://cea-history-old.blogspot.se/)

I have to say I was rather surprised (and somewhat frustrated) how many people didn't seem to have a real social life involving family and/or friends and celebrate the New Year's Eve on Atys instead (not counting that we have so many different timezones - the Brits celebrating an hour later than the French and Germans, while other countries celebrated already hours earlier or still had to wait another few hours probably). Even I, who rather seldom leaves the flat, would have been away if not illness had kept me at home.

Not to derail this thread: All the best and speedy recovery to you, Salazar!

..and I have to agree: Maybe the state of the community is reflected perfectly by the fact that it was rather empty on new years eve (can't say, wasn't online *sic*): It is a mature community - not a dead one. When you spend a hundred evenings per year in Ryzom digging, hunting, crafting, marauding and what have you, then New Year's Eve shouldn't be one of them :)

You are allowed to shoot fireworks every day in Ryzom, but only one night in the year in RL. *boom*