Aajay (atys)
Platform? Video card? Driver version? If you're on Linux are you using the latest proprietary driver? Don't use software or Nouveau. My hunch is that you're on Linux with Software-based Mesa or the Nouveau driver. Ryzom may have been developed in the days of the fixed pipeline but the particle system in particular does have some accelerators that are absolutely essential to perform up to standard. It sounds like you're in full software and not utilizing the GPU at all.
linux mint 15 cinnamon olivia (x86-64) 1.8.8 (basically ubuntu 12.04 i think) it is a dual core system
specifics are it is an hp pavilion dv7 notebook, intel core duo 2 cpu...t6400 @ 2 GHz x2
i also have 8 GB of memory installed
my swap file is set up to be 10 GB, but only usually use around 10 MB...so its not the operating system or the capabilities, because everything native usually runs very smooth and light weight...
the driver i have in place is the proprietary Nvidia driver, (310.44 the one recommended in the proprietary driver settings from the control center) not the one that it installed at first, but the latest version compatible with linux...i have a Geforce 9600M with 32 CUDA cores, 512 MB memory, and it is set to run off of the GPU not software...im not sure if there is a hidden setting i can check to make sure it is forced to use the GPU instead of the CPU, but whatever would be better is desired...so if there is a hidden setting i could tweak i would really like to know about it...
Aajay (atys)
That being said the particle system and the landscape system use a woefully small amount of the GPU due to the fact of the reality of technology when it was developed. We're attempting to upgrade the driver to a more modern OpenGL implementation and in the process hopefully begin offloading a lot of this complexity to the GPU rather than the CPU. But it's a lot of work and there's really only one person working on it part time (dfighter.)
i get this, which is why i am boggled...now dont get me wrong i like the game, just dont understand what could make it get all choppy and bottlekneck when i cast a spell solo, or when i am in a team battle and several of us are casting spells, but this is consistent whether or not i am with a group, and only with spells...nothing else...the other particle systems dont put a heavy load on the system like spells do... and overall the game runs really smooth when i dont cast spells, but i have to level those up at some point and i cant ignore magic any longer if i want to continue my quests...
i will double check my settings, but im pretty sure they are set as optimally as possible...i can handle the highest settings, so its frustrating to bump them down just to have a hope of staying alive through a battle...