Are there more players, or still like a single-player game?

brihtwulf

I originally played Ryzom when it launched, and liked many of the aspects of the game.  However, I decided to leave in favor of other games releasing soon after...

When they changed ownership and offered a free play period, I jumped back on to "check things out" and see what changes had been made to the game.  I had mixed feelings about the game and community at that time.  Free to play games seem to draw in a higher amount of immature and obnoxious people.  And due to that and the fact that the population felt sparce, I often felt like I was just in a single-player RPG (ala Oblivion).

So, is there enough player interaction, socialization, interdependance, and sheer population to make you feel like you're not alone?  I don't mind soloing, I don't mind grouping, but I don't like to be forced into either.  When there is no chat, and no one around to help or join up with, I might as well just play Dragon Age.

Anyone have a recent viewpoint on this?

Jianyu

The first couple of nights were quiet for me when I started up over the weekend, but there were still a good number of people on Silan that I grouped with from time to time. Since I hit the mainland though, I've been meeting people on a daily basis. Population-wise it isn't anything like say Orgrimmar or Dalaran on a highly populated WoW server, but its enough that I don't feel like I'm playing a dead game.

Chat outside of tells is relatively quiet though (in the jungle, anyway) unless people are getting into something on the universe channel, but that may also be due to the fact that a lot of the population is dispersed into regions I haven't been to yet - there is a general channel for each region, which is a subdivision of an ecosystem.

I hear Fairhaven has the highest population density of any of the cities, but the lakes are (supposedly) the most difficult trek and I haven't been yet to see for myself.

If it helps at all, I also see maybe 3-5 new players asking questions in Universe over the course of a day, so people are at least still looking at the game

GTwander

Originally posted by brihtwulf



Anyone have a recent viewpoint on this?

 

My only issue is that you need to have a pretty good group size to even take on the bosses in the noob isle, and they are mandatory to escape the place for the mainland. Vet players have alts in the starter zone just to help people get past them, and you really end up relying on them because it's doubtful that 3-4 people will be on the same phase as you, and online at the same time. There really is a bit of a crippled population, and the universal chat option is quite dead besides handing out /hugs like candy.

It's a shame because this really is a decent game.

Codenak

Um, you can leave Silan at any time, as soon as you are "born" even, just means talking to some npcs and picking where you want to land on the mainland.

MaDSaM

Originally posted by GTwander

Originally posted by brihtwulf



Anyone have a recent viewpoint on this?

 

My only issue is that you need to have a pretty good group size to even take on the bosses in the noob isle, and they are mandatory to escape the place for the mainland. Vet players have alts in the starter zone just to help people get past them, and you really end up relying on them because it's doubtful that 3-4 people will be on the same phase as you, and online at the same time. There really is a bit of a crippled population, and the universal chat option is quite dead besides handing out /hugs like candy.

It's a shame because this really is a decent game.

 

Ryzoms community, for some unknown reason, is quite averse against random chatter in Universe channel.

Me included.

A good, normal discussion on some InGame topic is absolutely ok, but no banter around last sundays football or the likes will be tolerated.

I guess most of us are simply glad that there isn´t the "usual" chat full of "1337" and LFG blabber that spams the UI.

This condition might stem in part from the initial Nevrax years, when Universe channel wasn´t even implemented, for some technical reason. At least this might be the case for older players.

Recently the amount of LFG calls have increased, but they still are phased in a more "friendly" manner as in other games, where DPS is all that counts.

So, ask nicely and you will be heard Ask rudely and you will either be ignored, or told how to behave, please.

I guess its just one of the quirks that makes our small community so "special"

 

CU

SaM

GTwander

Originally posted by Codenak


Um, you can leave Silan at any time, as soon as you are "born" even, just means talking to some npcs and picking where you want to land on the mainland.

 

It means having to kill a minimum of two group bosses. Reitzak can be killed with two people kiting him and pelting with spells, or with a single tank and 1-2 healers (I've done both). Kirosta takes at least 2 healers and a very good tank, or a vet with crazy high stats that stays behind just to help people get off Silan.

I have seen no such option to just leave the place, and it's a said that you can't leave with active missions - and the missions there cannot be abandoned. All you can do is stop short of a group boss, but that's if there's even a ride out without having to do it.

 

~Also, say what you want about universal chat being strict or unused, people literally hand out /hugs on it all the time. Was not even joking about that. Other times it's quiet for 20 minutes to an hour. For a game with so little people I would enthuse using *any* chat channels with someone actually on the other end.

oGMo

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Originally posted by GTwander
 
It means having to kill a minimum of two group bosses.
<snip>
I have seen no such option to just leave the place, and it's a said that you can't leave with active missions - and the missions there cannot be abandoned. All you can do is stop short of a group boss, but that's if there's even a ride out without having to do it.
<snip>

---

Note: I am a complete newbie to Ryzom. But first off, the above is not true. You can leave Silan at any time, active quests or otherwise. Talk to the NPC on the hill by the tower in camp you first talked to upon arrival ("Chiang the Strong"). Select the last mission and say yes, you're ready to leave. Go to the appropriate teleport and tell them yes, you want to go, and you're out. I did this just last week with multiple active missions (including undefeated Reitzak, which I probably could have soloed with a bit more leveling).

All that said, I love the game, the open sandbox world, the crafting and harvesting systems, the skill building system, the unusual style, AI coding, etc. In fact, the only thing I'm really missing is seeing other people... if Fairhaven---the city I chose as a Tryker---is an indication of "populated", then almost no one must be playing. I have seen 2 or 3 people around tops, usually none. Lots of NPCs (which is neat), but no PCs. There were a few more people in Silan, but not many. Compared to Fallen Earth, which I would consider a low-population game, this is a ghost town.

I really want to play this game, but I'm not sure I want to do it single player. It would be really nice to see the devs do some promotion and get more people into this. They have an amazing game on their hands.

MaDSaM

Then DON´T leave!

Ryzom´s only so "underpopulated" because of people always complaining about it and leaving as soon as they haven´t read a new line in Universe chat for two hours. As I´ve said above, we (the communities) simply don´t like random chat for some reason.

Sorry for me ranting a bit, but its a vicious circle that I keep reading about around here again and again.

Someone thinks the game is soooo coool and great and all that, but he leaves because he´s had one or two days in three weeks of trial where he did see only a minority of the players in the beginning areas of the land he chose.

Most players simply have left those behind already and are running around somewhere else.

We are there, and we are far more than for example Fairhaven lets on.

And if new players keep leaving for above reasons, these low areas will never be populated, because no-one is there to populate them.

When was the last time, for example, you saw a lvl 80 Char. in say, the Hordes starter area?

Never, huh? What reason would he have to be there?

And we DO have reasons, as our appartments and guild houses are located in these cities, so chances are you´ll encounter at least some folks who have some business there. Also, and it can not be emphasized enough, please remember the time zone problem. Someone from say Sweden will probably never encounter a player from the U.S. East coast, on Arispotle (International) Server.

So, if people would just stay and wait for other new players to arrive, then this part of the game would be far more populated.

Simple, but sadly nobody seems to think that far anymore. They just say, this is "a Ghost town" and leave before anyone had the chance to get to know them.

 

So just take your time, get to know the area and the players, be open and friendly, ask around and people will help you

Just don´t expect to be rushed with "LFGs" and "LFTs" all the time, as in other games.

CU

SaM

GTwander

Cry more. All I said is that I can't find a way out without doing the bosses and that universal chat borders on inane if it's ever active. Your attitude is that of an elitist "this is my game" guy that turns off tons of people from even playing. If you think my honest points are going to turn people off, imagine what they will think when they see how defensive you get over it. People will assume the game is full of you types (and it is). I'm usually helping noobs with bosses on my chars and giving them the straight-deal in what the game is about while vets dance around the subject or sugarcoat it in uni-chat. People see right through it, and it's not a good way to convince people. Neither is an over-glorified "this game isn't for you" or "go back to WoW" post such as yours.

So all in all, bite me.

oGMo

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Originally posted by MaDSaM
<snip>
Someone thinks the game is soooo coool and great and all that, but he leaves because he´s had one or two days in three weeks of trial where he did see only a minority of the players in the beginning areas of the land he chose.
<snip>
And if new players keep leaving for above reasons, these low areas will never be populated, because no-one is there to populate them.
When was the last time, for example, you saw a lvl 80 Char. in say, the Hordes starter area?
<snip>

---

I don't play WoW, so I don't know. I played FFXI for a considerable period of time, however, and always saw characters running around the major "starting" cities, because they weren't just starting cities. Of course it also helps that a level 75 character one day may be playing a level 5 job the next, but there is more to it. There were major high-level things to do, too.

My complaint isn't against the players. You're playing the game, not trying to sell a world or entertain newbies. I'm complaining that the developers should either be advertising more, and should be designing the world such that the population isn't clustered in a few high-level areas and the rest of the game is a ghost town. Bit of a waste of design and resources.

It's fine to say "don't leave," and I don't want to leave, but like I said, I don't want to play a single-player game, either. Universe chat doesn't come into the picture. It's about atmosphere; it's having low-level guild activities; it's having a player market for low-level items, and random people to party with, too. Otherwise it's just another WoW-esque grind to get to the "real game".

Codenak

There are people, be assured of that, and people are returning too, slowly, as they have tried the other games and found SoR outshines their new games. I talk more in guild than in faction chat, and more in faction than in Uni, but i do watch Uni and i have a character on Silan ready to help, if i spot a request and am not busy being turned into lunch by the kitins.

Absolute best place to find people is at the stables btw

MaDSaM

Originally posted by GTwander


Cry more. All I said is that I can't find a way out without doing the bosses and that universal chat borders on inane if it's ever active. Your attitude is that of an elitist "this is my game" guy that turns off tons of people from even playing. If you think my honest points are going to turn people off, imagine what they will think when they see how defensive you get over it. People will assume the game is full of you types (and it is). I'm usually helping noobs with bosses on my chars and giving them the straight-deal in what the game is about while vets dance around the subject or sugarcoat it in uni-chat. People see right through it, and it's not a good way to convince people. Neither is an over-glorified "this game isn't for you" or "go back to WoW" post such as yours.
So all in all, bite me.

 

Hmhm, all I did was trying to be nice and offer a different point of view.

Sorry if this came as an offense to you. It wasn´t meant this way.

Your points btw. are just as honest as mine. And no amount of getting rude will change that.

 

CUaround

SaM