The Saga of Ryzom

What Grim just said is truth.

I'm probably sounding like a broken record by now, but Istaria/Horizons and its latest company Virtrium is a profound example of the kind of development paradigm Ryzom needs to survive and thrive.

- Virtrium's core (paid) team is very small, less than a half-dozen.
- Their team is supplemented by volunteers. This includes devs in several fields and community correspondents.
- They listen and communicate. This occurs via forums, support tickets, the community correspondents, and a monthly newsletter with additional email announcements when necessary.
- They fix bugs first and foremost, but each patch also includes small content updates.
- When revamping existing mechanics and content, they do so without sacrificing any of Istaria's spirit.
- They adjust changes/additions/fixes at all stages of development from planning to post-release according to player feedback, but judiciously.
- They make extensive use of a public testing shard.
- They're finishing old projects, but with tweaks to make them more appropriate if necessary.
- Although they can't place much focus on live events for now, on occasion they log in as GMs to spawn simple invasions, and they introduced two new holiday events that were firmly based in lore.
- More lore is being released through multiple mediums: forums, in-game, emailed RP explanations for some patches, etc.
- Overall, Virtrium is not trying to push Istaria toward millions or even hundreds of thousands of players. Instead they are nurturing it within its own niche, and they've stated this intent explicitly.
- The development team is composed of people who have great familiarity with the game. Some of them were there when it was created and for years afterward. They know exactly what it is and what its history is, and they've learned from that history.

Virtrium is showing no signs of financial distress, even as they support three shards and active development on a population numbering only in the hundreds.

If Nevrax learned as well as Virtrium did, I believe they are our best option and I hope Spiderweb is a front for them.

Naysayers to the preservation of Ryzom's niche status should keep in mind that at this point two major financial issues Ryzom had are gone: debt and an oversized development team.

In small words: /ack

The larger part:
A great, huge, enormous, lack of Ryzom, rather Ryzoms operating companies, ever since the last Closed Beta ended, was communication. As well, listening is a fundamental part of communication...
Of course, this also implies to filter opinions that reoccur only by being given in full blast volume (which will always occur anyways) to get an at least decent impression of what the main playerbase wishes (e.g. see above *g*). Those that cry out loudest usually move on fastest as well.

I seriously hope that will be "fixed" with top priority, I'm convinced that it'd not only let all of us who got their MMO view of the universe "cleaned" thoroughly by Atys return for a glimpse but rather return and stay for as long as it's possible...

Katriell, I agree with most of what you say especially the part hopefully that Ryzom is now starting off debt free and without a bloated staff.

However I do not see Ryzom as just a niche game, I see Ryzom having widespread appeal with the gameplay just as is. Part of the problem I believe is that Ryzom has the feel that it is for Computer Geeks.

Look at Klients -- is that user friendly for someone just wanting to play a game? The UI is somewhat the same way. Polish up Ryzom to make it player friendly and I believe many will find it the game they love to play.

Istaria also has the potential to be more than just a niche game but the developers are doing all the right things with that game for now imo. But with updated graphics, improved combat system, and better mob AI -- it has lots of potential long term.

And what's with this PvP, that players can not escape in Ryzom? I'm not aware of that. Was Underspring and Wastelands zones PvP at one time? Because I do not remember them being that way when I was there. The Lands of Umbra zones are PvP but they are only lev 150 and lev 200 zones. Of course I think they should get rid of PvP zones myself as I like PvE mostly; but I do like the PvP Outpost Battles in Ryzom.

If the new Ryzom developers take the same tact as Istaria's, Ryzom should be just fine. It will take time to turn it into a 100K+ player game but I see lots of reasons why it should get there.

PVP zones adds an element of danger above and beyond the often predictable AI of mmos, and gives more of a factional feel..

I hope there's going to be a fresh start on a new server, so that us newer players can take part in building a world and history, instead of grubbing around in the muck on our own while all the heroes are out doing their thing elsewhere :]

Originally posted by randomt

PVP zones adds an element of danger above and beyond the often predictable AI of mmos, and gives more of a factional feel..

I hope there's going to be a fresh start on a new server, so that us newer players can take part in building a world and history, instead of grubbing around in the muck on our own while all the heroes are out doing their thing elsewhere :]

Dude you will help build the civilizations in Ryzom even if there is no wipe the player base there is soooo newbie friendly and you won't be left alone! All you have to do is ask on universal chat for help and by and large you'll have us older players there to help! The community in Ryzom is like no other I have been apart of with the exception of Pre-Cu SWG! All you need are basic combat skills or magic skills which you get the the newbie island and you are off and running!

can anyone give me in one or two short sentences the actual state of the game? Are the servers coming back and if so, when can this be expected?

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Originally posted by Devildog1
Dude you will help build the civilizations in Ryzom even if there is no wipe the player base there is soooo newbie friendly and you won't be left alone! All you have to do is ask on universal chat for help and by and large you'll have us older players there to help! The community in Ryzom is like no other I have been apart of with the exception of Pre-Cu SWG! All you need are basic combat skills or magic skills which you get the the newbie island and you are off and running!

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You say that.. but thats not what happened when I left the tutorial island and reached the mainland, on 2 different occasions (2 different races).

Anyway I understand why you old timers would be against a wipe.. after all it would mean you lost all your progress, and thats your only real argument.. The notion that everyone starting from 0 would break the game because the infrastructure would no longer be there is a silly one, because I am pretty sure thats how the game started in the first place :]

What some of us want is the chance to be there building a new infrastructure from scratch, and create a new world, with active players, instead of messing around in a world that's 4 years old and only has a few of the most hardcore players left, the rest having gone off to do other things with their lives. A new world would feel like it belonged to us, and we would be taking pride in our accomplishments.. instead of just playing catchup in a world that's already been mapped out ahead of time.

A fresh start I would be one of the first in line to sign up to.. the same old pre-used existing servers I'd just wait for earthrise to start instead.

As for the newbie island, they should make the quest npcs make it clearer that they are only teaching you how to operate in the world, and that players are on their own after they leave the training camp... If i recall it said something more or less like that, if one took the time to read everything.. but you know players, they dont always read heh

Lastly.. anyone know any insiders that can reactivate ryzom forum accounts? Mine don't work, and I just get access denied for even just viewing the forums if I am logged in (but can see it all if logged out)

Originally posted by aRidion

can anyone give me in one or two short sentences the actual state of the game? Are the servers coming back and if so, when can this be expected?

Sadly at the moment, the only thing we do know is that it will be back.

Nobody knows when though. A possible date MIGHT be the 16th of September.

Would be the 4th aniversary then

But that´s just guessing.

CU

SaM

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Originally posted by randomt
Anyway I understand why you old timers would be against a wipe.. after all it would mean you lost all your progress, and thats your only real argument..

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