Bitttymacod
Kovabon -- I have always been a paying player starting when there were no options and then continuing just in order to support the game.
I agree that we need to attract paid devs. I think we can start with Kervala; after reading what he has been doing so far I'm good with his being the next paid dev. (That is, if he doesn't like his day job better.)
However, the half-cap unlimited time extended trial / F2P option is not, in my opinion what is keeping people from subscribing. As I said, I have heard of a few people who say they can't afford it, and I'm perfectly happy to have them around and playing. A 125 level healer can be a great assist in a team.
Most of the poeple I've seen who have said "Oh, I'll play until I'm totally mini-mastered, then I'll subscribe, end up doing so long before they are close...
In the end, we have to realize that Ryzom is a niche game. We're never going to have millions of subscribers. However, by going onto Steam we have a chance to collect a few thousand, and that would be enough.
Thanks a lot, but I'll refuse to be paid :p I have a full time job I love and I like working on Ryzom as a volunteer (I have less responsibilities like that) :)
And yes I agree about the "niche game", Ryzom is very unique. Most of new MMORPG don't try to be original, they are only clone of other existing MMORPG with a new appearance :s And their unique quality is their graphics quality. We won't have millions of subscribers but if players enjoy Ryzom because it offers a different game experience, I think that's enough :)
The small community is a big advantage too, we know almost everyone and we can create greater friendship and RP relations :) Steam is a good opportunity to advertise Ryzom towards people interested by original games, a lot of indies games published on Steam are original enough :)
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Kervala - Ryzom volunteer developer - Working on different clients