in eve nearly everything is player crafted and when you die your stuff blows up meaning crafted items are ALWAYS in demand as well as resource gatherers.
only problem with eve is the notoriously dastardly learning curve. go into it with patience.
as far as non linear mmo games it's hands down the best of the bunch.
Played eve a lot, and crafting was something I did...though didn't enjoy...
Crafting in eve is kinda like being an accountant. It's not a lot of fun, even if you do make money with it. Not to mention you also have to be an accountant, which is boring. And I agree that the learning curve is the Dwarf Fortress kind of fun.
Regarding vanguard, how stable is it, and how is the server pop?
Ryzom is...interesting...but the stanza/ability thing is strange, and I'm not certain I like it all that much. Crafting is solid, and that might make me stick around. Still experimenting.
The stanza system, IMO, is one of the best things about Ryzom, certainly one of the most unique. You may never grow to like it, but I'd strongly encourage you to play around with it long enough to completely understand it before giving up. Also, fair warning, Ryzom is difficult to enjoy solo. It's possible, but the game plays much more smoothly with a group of players. I found myself teaming up nearly every single day I played on the starting island, something I haven't had to do in an MMO in a very, very long time. I imagine many people now days would throw a fit if they had to ask for help completing one of the very first quests they received in an MMO.
Ryzom is...interesting...but the stanza/ability thing is strange, and I'm not certain I like it all that much. Crafting is solid, and that might make me stick around. Still experimenting.
The stanza system, IMO, is one of the best things about Ryzom, certainly one of the most unique. You may never grow to like it, but I'd strongly encourage you to play around with it long enough to completely understand it before giving up. Also, fair warning, Ryzom is difficult to enjoy solo. It's possible, but the game plays much more smoothly with a group of players. I found myself teaming up nearly every single day I played on the starting island, something I haven't had to do in an MMO in a very, very long time. I imagine many people now days would throw a fit if they had to ask for help completing one of the very first quests they received in an MMO.
Is there a cap to skills, or will I eventually get enough points to buy every upgrade for an ability (I know there's a cap for the trial)
From what I understand, you can theoretically max out every single skill in each of the four groups/classes, but I could be wrong, and I'm not sure how practical it would be to do so. All skills are capped at 250 though.
From what I've been reading, you either have to specialize to make the best gear, or be a jack of all trades making everything that's just OK. Which really just means having 5 characters all ground out to specialize in 5 things, which sounds boring just typing it. I'm going to continue with my jack of all trades character to mess with the system. It is unique enough to keep my interest (though gathering raw materials is being difficult at the moment, probably because I haven't levelled enough for where I am trying).
Comments
also check this pages:
istaria:
http://istaria.wikia.com/wiki/General_Crafting_Guidelines
http://community.istaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9922
Vanguard:
http://www.vanguardmmorpg.com/vanguard_crafting_guide.php
http://vanguardvault.ign.com/wiki/index.php/Crafting_Overview
Played eve a lot, and crafting was something I did...though didn't enjoy...
Crafting in eve is kinda like being an accountant. It's not a lot of fun, even if you do make money with it. Not to mention you also have to be an accountant, which is boring. And I agree that the learning curve is the Dwarf Fortress kind of fun.
Regarding vanguard, how stable is it, and how is the server pop?
ad vanguard: i would say it is pretty stable, but population is really low
Forgot that it was a sony game...thanks for the recommendation, but low pop + SOE = fail in my book.
The stanza system, IMO, is one of the best things about Ryzom, certainly one of the most unique. You may never grow to like it, but I'd strongly encourage you to play around with it long enough to completely understand it before giving up. Also, fair warning, Ryzom is difficult to enjoy solo. It's possible, but the game plays much more smoothly with a group of players. I found myself teaming up nearly every single day I played on the starting island, something I haven't had to do in an MMO in a very, very long time. I imagine many people now days would throw a fit if they had to ask for help completing one of the very first quests they received in an MMO.
Is there a cap to skills, or will I eventually get enough points to buy every upgrade for an ability (I know there's a cap for the trial)
From what I understand, you can theoretically max out every single skill in each of the four groups/classes, but I could be wrong, and I'm not sure how practical it would be to do so. All skills are capped at 250 though.
From what I've been reading, you either have to specialize to make the best gear, or be a jack of all trades making everything that's just OK. Which really just means having 5 characters all ground out to specialize in 5 things, which sounds boring just typing it. I'm going to continue with my jack of all trades character to mess with the system. It is unique enough to keep my interest (though gathering raw materials is being difficult at the moment, probably because I haven't levelled enough for where I am trying).