While I understand your concerns, I don't share them, mostly for reasons others have already given.
Many of the ill-behaved are too lazy to learn the intricacies of Ryzom. Many don't even bother learning basic mechanics like UI elements let alone more complex things like trainers or missions. Those sorts will weed themselves out. Most likely won't leave Silan, and those who do will resign when find that they are no longer big fish in a small pond as so many of us are about 200 levels above what would be considered "powerful" in Silan.
The dedicated trolls that have the patience to grind their way up high enough to be a threat will find that grind takes longer as they will either use inferior equipment or stop training fighting in order to craft their own gear. I don't see too many q250 Supreme Vedice 2H Axes for sale, nor do I see any master crafters who have access to q250 Vedice and Sups making such an item for anyone other than a friend. Such trolls rarely have powerful friends, and I think the digging required to get even one weapon crafting master to sidestep that need would require more patience than those who just want to go out and troll often have.
Of course, you don't have to be at the level of most of us in this discussion to troll other new players or spam Uni, but if the innocent victims are made aware of things like the /ignore command that problem is largely self-regulating. It's made a little more difficult considering that PvP here is by mutual consent and there is no looting of player's bags or meks. And it's not like counter-trolling is out of the question; if I want a break from digging, I might be inclined to answer distress calls from bullied players just as many of us respond to calls for a rez. It might be a little more effort from us, but I think it's manageable.
Now, if Ryzom were more conventional then I would agree, but I think that between the inherent design of Ryzom and the community, I don't see them being too much of a threat in that aspect. Many other games have a far more level playing field and/or strong "pay-to-win" aspects that allow one to be a true menace in a short amount of time. For instance, in World of Tanks you can just buy a Tier 8 tank with cash and be a powerful bully within seconds of installing the game. And it's not like Counterstrike allows one to have fifty times the HP of a new player just by grinding or opening the wallet.
As for bad reputation/publicity, that's a matter of numbers and they are outnumbered. I've seen plenty of reviews of Ryzom and I sincerely doubt that the ratio between good, bad and neutral will change from what it currently is; the only difference will be absolute volume. The only thing left is DoS attacks, I view them the same way I do viruses for OS X; technically possible but not a big enough target to be rewarding enough to offset the effort required to pull it off, especially if you want the DoS to last more than a few minutes.
Overall, I see Ryzom on Steam as merely change. I see no real dangers that we don't already face due to the inherent nature of being online at all in the first place. Yeah, we may have to make a few changes ourselves, and Silan might wind up a bit polluted (for lack of a better word) but I think we'll be fine overall.
Many of the ill-behaved are too lazy to learn the intricacies of Ryzom. Many don't even bother learning basic mechanics like UI elements let alone more complex things like trainers or missions. Those sorts will weed themselves out. Most likely won't leave Silan, and those who do will resign when find that they are no longer big fish in a small pond as so many of us are about 200 levels above what would be considered "powerful" in Silan.
The dedicated trolls that have the patience to grind their way up high enough to be a threat will find that grind takes longer as they will either use inferior equipment or stop training fighting in order to craft their own gear. I don't see too many q250 Supreme Vedice 2H Axes for sale, nor do I see any master crafters who have access to q250 Vedice and Sups making such an item for anyone other than a friend. Such trolls rarely have powerful friends, and I think the digging required to get even one weapon crafting master to sidestep that need would require more patience than those who just want to go out and troll often have.
Of course, you don't have to be at the level of most of us in this discussion to troll other new players or spam Uni, but if the innocent victims are made aware of things like the /ignore command that problem is largely self-regulating. It's made a little more difficult considering that PvP here is by mutual consent and there is no looting of player's bags or meks. And it's not like counter-trolling is out of the question; if I want a break from digging, I might be inclined to answer distress calls from bullied players just as many of us respond to calls for a rez. It might be a little more effort from us, but I think it's manageable.
Now, if Ryzom were more conventional then I would agree, but I think that between the inherent design of Ryzom and the community, I don't see them being too much of a threat in that aspect. Many other games have a far more level playing field and/or strong "pay-to-win" aspects that allow one to be a true menace in a short amount of time. For instance, in World of Tanks you can just buy a Tier 8 tank with cash and be a powerful bully within seconds of installing the game. And it's not like Counterstrike allows one to have fifty times the HP of a new player just by grinding or opening the wallet.
As for bad reputation/publicity, that's a matter of numbers and they are outnumbered. I've seen plenty of reviews of Ryzom and I sincerely doubt that the ratio between good, bad and neutral will change from what it currently is; the only difference will be absolute volume. The only thing left is DoS attacks, I view them the same way I do viruses for OS X; technically possible but not a big enough target to be rewarding enough to offset the effort required to pull it off, especially if you want the DoS to last more than a few minutes.
Overall, I see Ryzom on Steam as merely change. I see no real dangers that we don't already face due to the inherent nature of being online at all in the first place. Yeah, we may have to make a few changes ourselves, and Silan might wind up a bit polluted (for lack of a better word) but I think we'll be fine overall.
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Do not assume that you speak for all just because you are the loudest voice; there are many who disagree that simply have no desire to waste words on you.