I have read things like that in the Beta of Ryzom 2003/2004 already :D
I have experienced the dwindling of players even during Beta-times and then shortly after release with disappointment about "promises (expectations) not fulfilled" and because of complaining about "not enough features" and horrible bugs.
I have seen tons of players (who I still miss) leaving Ryzom with patch 1 and during the years afterwards, losing motivation to play on, after having waited for a long time for more or for specific features that have once been announced.
I have experienced the friendly people from former support-businesses being replaced because of money-issues.
I have seen "The Saga of Ryzom" changing into "Ryzom", thinking that this is a sign of resignation, and that reality has obviously beaten the once gigantic visions of David Cohen Corval.
I have seen Nevrax going down.
I have seen Ryzom changing owners for the first time (Gameforge), and how badly they failed at making this game significantly "better" nor more popular with their ideas.
I have experienced the death of Ryzom in 2008.
I have watched over its sleep.
I have experienced Winch Gate reviving the corpse of Ryzom, but without any of the changes or features so many have hoped for.
I have seen the transformation of Ryzom into partly "open source".
I have seen the struggling-on with the help of now unpaid support-members and much less players than ever before, but at least with some new features and even more events than ever.
I have experienced the merging of the servers.
I have seen the loss of nice features like alchemy and the sanctuaries/temples in the process of the server-merge.
Once again I have experienced an exodus of dozens of players originating from many countries because of arguments among the communities and problems with all the different languages.
But during all these long years I have also seen countless lovers of this game supporting it in any ways possible.
I still see new patches once in a while, new additions to the game here and there, events with new ideas being introduced or old ideas revived, and also new visions being formed: http://app.ryzom.com/app_forum/index.php?page=topic/view/22302
I have learned from all of this that there is no death without the option of resurrection for Ryzom ;) And even if Ryzom should ever die for good, it will live on in our memories and dreams.
I have experienced the dwindling of players even during Beta-times and then shortly after release with disappointment about "promises (expectations) not fulfilled" and because of complaining about "not enough features" and horrible bugs.
I have seen tons of players (who I still miss) leaving Ryzom with patch 1 and during the years afterwards, losing motivation to play on, after having waited for a long time for more or for specific features that have once been announced.
I have experienced the friendly people from former support-businesses being replaced because of money-issues.
I have seen "The Saga of Ryzom" changing into "Ryzom", thinking that this is a sign of resignation, and that reality has obviously beaten the once gigantic visions of David Cohen Corval.
I have seen Nevrax going down.
I have seen Ryzom changing owners for the first time (Gameforge), and how badly they failed at making this game significantly "better" nor more popular with their ideas.
I have experienced the death of Ryzom in 2008.
I have watched over its sleep.
I have experienced Winch Gate reviving the corpse of Ryzom, but without any of the changes or features so many have hoped for.
I have seen the transformation of Ryzom into partly "open source".
I have seen the struggling-on with the help of now unpaid support-members and much less players than ever before, but at least with some new features and even more events than ever.
I have experienced the merging of the servers.
I have seen the loss of nice features like alchemy and the sanctuaries/temples in the process of the server-merge.
Once again I have experienced an exodus of dozens of players originating from many countries because of arguments among the communities and problems with all the different languages.
But during all these long years I have also seen countless lovers of this game supporting it in any ways possible.
I still see new patches once in a while, new additions to the game here and there, events with new ideas being introduced or old ideas revived, and also new visions being formed: http://app.ryzom.com/app_forum/index.php?page=topic/view/22302
I have learned from all of this that there is no death without the option of resurrection for Ryzom ;) And even if Ryzom should ever die for good, it will live on in our memories and dreams.
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