English

Hello there.

I played Ryzom a few years ago and loved the experience, until I hit the incredible grind following the tutorial area. However, since it reopened and the servers merged (with various patches), I am once again interested in playing. I have a few questions for you.

#1: Is there still an incredible grind?

#2: How many people are still playing?

#3: Is PvP still fun and useful?

#4: Is the economy healthy and a functional part of the game?

#5: How is the end game?

Thank you.

Blessings,

interesing, i'll take a stab at some of this:

there is still indeed a grind, some fun, some work, some needed, some not (depends on game play style and what you like i guess, i'm going for "yobo points" so my play's kinda off the norm.)

i can't give you a number of how many ppl are playing, i would love to see it myself, but there's more then one or two guilds that seam to have healthy numbers. and people are imo a-plenty

on PvP i can't say, i'm not much for it, but from what i read it's there, sometimes even for those that don't care for it, after all, that's what pvp zones are for i guess, lolx.

i'd rather not get into the econ, i have my own opinion on it and it's not good, i'm a believer that a game shouldn't reflect real life and make getting a "dapper" feel like a real job, and there are those that feel it would make the game less fun if there were more ways to make higher dappers at lower levels, stuff's going to ware out or get used up, blah blah, sorry to rant, like i said, i have an opinion.....

(size limited?)

END GAME? you mean there's an end? if so i think it's going to take me forever to get there, but that's part of the fun, getting to the "end" (and there's no real end to ryzom, unless i guess you get ALL the "yobo points" for everything, fame of every type, ect. so i hope my posts here have helped you answer some of your questions.

The grind is there for those who want it. I generally cannot be arsed (still only one lvl 250 skill after almost 2 years), yet I still manage to have fun during most of my logged hours. This is a sandbox, the game won't tell you how to spend your time. Other players might, but you can always tell em to bugger off if you don't feel like it.

I don't know exactly how many people there are playing, but it's many many people. Maybe even 18. Sometimes.
The servers have been merged, so if you know french the amount of players is threefold of what it used to be. Those of us who can't be bothered with illogical languages still have enough people to annoy and play with though, even 'ze germans. Don't mention the war though.

PvP isn't fun. It isn't useful. Has never been. OP-battles are still present, but those are boring. Prime roots PvP has picked up due to the growing population, but you can consider most of the people doing it as griefers. I know I do.

Economy is as healthy as it has always been. People who have give to those who don't. If you want economy based on cash, dappers, gold or what-have-you, then no. I don't want another person to argue against on that matter on the forums.

End game.... See point one, I suppose. This is a sandbox game. The endgame is what you make of it. The options for those less gifted in the imagination-area are npc-bosses, which require at least 8-20 max level homins, depending on which one you do, and regular bosses. Regular bosses depend on level, but in general can be done with as little as 2-3 homins if you know what you are doing. To this I also count the hunting of supreme mats in the Prime roots. I'd rather kill Clopperketh all day than go against all the vorax' and homins in the roots, if I'm honest.

Basically: Can you find a way to enjoy yourself, have fun chatting with other people, and in general just cock about? Then come do some time on Atys. It's the best prison around.
If you want to compare it with other games, want to do quests and instances as per other mmo's: This game's not for you. Kindly bugger off.

blunt, lolx, anyway, check us back out, silan is still a sandbox beyond doubt.

I’ll add a few words.

#1: Is there still an incredible grind?

It’s only a grind if you make so… there is no reason to rush in this sandbox, so the grind is what you make of it. With the double XP for sub accounts there practically isn’t any. I’ve been here for seven (give or take a few months out of game) and only have one master. So the grind can only get to you if you let it be the only thing you do in game. Fortunately there is plenty to do so is not easy to get bored doing the same thing over and over. Just don’t expect to reach master levels in a week.

The mainland is nothing like Silan – what you find in Silan is the basic tools to get you familiar with the game. The mainland is the real game! Joining a guild, making friends, asking for team will make playing much more fun in the mainland. Read the guild listing and try and find a guild that shares your game style, team with members, and see if they are the fit for you. There are plenty of good guilds, old and new, and every one of them enjoys helping new players learn to play Ryzom.

#2: How many people are still playing?

With the server merge I find the world more populated. Granted not everyone speak the same language, but I think that adds to game positively. There are channels for each language and help is always available if only with words of encouragement if you feel stuck. There are some hours in the day when it feels like you are the only one in world, but that depends on your time zone, and the world is quite large – so there may not be someone in your region but somewhere on Atys a homin is being chased by kitins, exploding a node, or brown-nosing the groomer at the stables – finding players to team with on your time zone is a plus, and the only way to do this is by being social.

#3: Is PvP still fun and useful?

You can have PvP 24/7 if you want it you just need to flag up. Work your fame, join a cult and join a civ, and smack that PvP button ON and you will have a KOS macro with your name before you can say WTF! There are zones dedicated to PvP, these zones are max level areas, with the meanest agro, and the sweetest materials in game. You don’t go down there for a stroll in the park, you go there to fight or survive. Just don’t complain if you are PvP active and get killed. I hate when players complain of getting killed when in PvP zones or flagged, just as much as I hate guilds owning OP and then complaining when their OP gets attacked or taken away. If you are flagged or in a PvP zone expect to die, and if you own PvP content expect to fight for it.

There are good and bad apples on both sides of the coin, so if you have a bad encounter that is clearly against the TOS you report it – don’t complain in Uni channel about it. PvP guilds/PvP players enjoy PvP zones and PvP content, if you don’t want to be part of that then stay away from it. Very simple!

#4: Is the economy healthy and a functional part of the game?

Hahahaha! Hahaha! Haha! Ha! Aaaargh!

#5: How is the end game?

What end game? It never ends; it continues and continues, like a long stem that keeps expanding and sprouting new tendrils.

CU in the rootball
Trixie ~

1) Yes. Of course, nobody force you to do so, but if you don't like being one-shot'ed by every mob or die to every source explosion, or being a useless burden for your team or guild, then you gotta do some grind. If you plan to participate in PvP, then having at least one combat skill maxed to the top is mandatory.

2) No idea. The population is bigger than it used to be on Arispotle before the merge, that's all one can say for sure .

3) PvP in Ryzom is boring as it is, but it got even worse after the merge. Basically with the removal of cats and tools revamp, the Outposts got nerfed to shit. It's all about OP mats now and the Outposts of 50-150 levels could also be non-existent, as they are completely useless now. And the ones that remain aren't really tempting to fight over them. Due to these changes mass-PvP lost like half of motivation. As for tagged PvP, it does still exist and there are some guilds and players PvP tagged 24\7, but PvP shops were removed from the game and we have no words from the devs on "when" or "if" they'll be back. Not like contents of those junkman's stores used to be really exciting anyway. Collecting sets of PvP gear and weapons, or abandoning PvE activities and profiting from PvP... Not in this game. There are also fights over supernodes, which thankfully weren't nerfed though.

4) Sort of. Dappers do matter now unlike it was before. Main source of income is crafting missions from overseers. Making and selling stuff or grind mats can be profitable sometimes, but it's still based on sheer luck. But market is much better now as there is more people willing to craft and sell gear and weapons, now one can find almost anything up for sale.

5) The thing that amuses me about Ryzom fanboys is that they archly pretend they don't know what does the "end game" term means in MMO. Joking and jabber aside, Ryzom end game is poor atm. Given that the Outposts were nerfed and tagged PvP is meh, all of worty content that's left is harvesting supreme materials (which is bugged atm according to reports, at least for Windows clients) and hunting bosses. Regular bosses, as it's been mentioned above can be taken out by classic triple consist of a tank, a mage and a healer. Or one mage and two healers if they are cocky enough. NPC bosses require more people and some tactic in order to kill them. That's it.

Umm... I see a lack in the responses when it comes to "end game".

First of all, there really is no "end", in the same sense as massive instances with a hyper-uber-boss. Yes, there is a time when one has leveled all the skills one particularly cares about (or so I have been told).

However, there are not just bosses (and I disagree that they can all be taken out with a threesome -- some are harder than others, and they aren't all the q270's) and NPC bosses. There is content that hasn't been explored (at least on Arispotle) for YEARS. I can't remember when the last expedition to Demon's Lap to harvest Kitin Larvae was. I think it was long enough ago that Bittty didn't have a combat master.

There are aspects of the game that still surprise me after four years of watching Bittty work. There are areas that I have never been to and skills that I have not *yet* bothered to explore. I haven't even begun to explore the content that relates to the various tribes, nor even most of the mission content.

So, at least for me, the problem of "end game content" seems to be very far off.

End Game is not a concept that applies to Ryzom. After you reach level 250 in all skills (which will take years) it just means your training is over. That's when the fun really starts.

See the quote from Katriell in my sig.

I would recommend the one from Remickla. Maybe not more appropriate, but more of a giggle :D

That's why it's there. ;o)