English

One should play a game for an experience, not for experience points.

At the end of the day, all you are losing over what I'm losing is your levels. Paying for the game has to give me something over you. You want to keep your levels, pay to play. Simples

In passing, level 125 on Silan as it's been implemented can't happen. You stop gaining experience at 95 in Forest digging, and 100 in fight/magic/crafting, the rule being you don't get experience past item/critter quality + 50. Realistically, the Silan training series takes you to about level 35-40, which is reasonable to make the trip to mainland, to be able to wear appropriate equipment and train actions in keeping with your progression.

Oh yes, did a run through with a new toon shortly after the wipe was first announced to check out Silan again. Got to the last mission with three buddies and was swarmed by some "high level" Silan lifers. They told us they were going to solo kiro first and then we could have a go at it. Told them "No, we're finishing our missions first and then you can play with it all you want."

"High Level" on Silan is really a problem in that new players think they need to rely on high level players (on Silan or Mainland) to stand a chance. Two low levels can keep a steady flow of good XP (even better with the 2x for subs). Yakapo and I used to 2man team it all the time when we first came from the Zoraï island long ago. Four lowbies can hit 3k xp with no problems at all if they just play it smart.

Always been a paid sub player, for 7 years.
I kept my sub alive even when i was not playing for months/years, just to support this game.
I still have an active sub now and yet i agree with the OP.
If Ryzom started an f2p model, it should stick to it without hurting the players that were attracted by this model.
Players who chose the f2p way have to work more for their stuff usually, they are keeping the game alive just like the paying subscribers do, so why punish them?
If you can save the levels of paid subscribers, you should save the levels of free players too.
When a game opens it's gates to f2p players, it should treat them with equal respect, or not go f2p at all.

This should be put on the main page of all mmos out there, its the best quote for an mmo, hat off to you sir.

i hope that i didn't just waste money getting a sub, i want to keep what i've got, and i want to get more, so to those that said i never planed on paying, guess why your wrong, it just hurts that i was forced to do it so much sooner then i had planed on doing it, but i hope it was worth it and that i don't loose everything a year from now, hope the game will live long enough for me to pass this on to my son once he's ready to play something this complex, and then the legacy will be born. so i guess i see ryzom making at least $530.00 usd from me, cause i guess it will be at least 5 years b4 he can play it. and since i only have one toon and only want one toon, he'll get a slot all his own, then he can play for 20 years and pass it on to his kid, if the game last that long, but we in my family like to do things long term and pass what we can on, and this would be kinda crazy a thing to do that with, but what the heck, maybe it will live that long... wait i forgot it's 2012 and december is right around the corner, lolx.

"When a game opens it's gates to f2p players, it should treat them with equal respect, or not go f2p at all."

Well, Ryzom is not free2play. Ryzom has a free trial. There's a difference.

Try it out. You have unlimited time to do so. You can travel to every corner of the game. You can partake in all activities inside the game. And if you like it, pay for the game. That will give you 2x experience (since after the merge), access to packers & appartement for storage, and access to the higher 125 levels in any skill. It's a fair deal. Always remember that whether you pay or not pay, you cost resources in hardware, and you're benefitting from time paid developers have to put into the game. You're also competing on ingame resources with paying players, be it CSRs, event team's time, mobs/npcs, etc.

Ryzom has the most open free trial on fair terms I've ever seen. And yet people complain. Sometimes I believe the game's too cheap, and it's "too free trial". Cap the levels to 75, reintroduce a free trial time limit of e.g. six months, and maybe people stop complaining because finally they realize this game is not free 2 play. It never was.

If you're hesitant about subscribing because you have little money, I can relate to that. And that's sad, but cannot be helped. If for any other reason, always think of the fact that the company has to pay servers , bandwidth, and developers - otherwise we'll all whine about missing content/development.