Hi there,

I'm just downloading the client to Ryzom now, after taking advantage of the "start a free new account" option from the official site.

Just a few things someone might be able to help me with...

1. Who is actually running Ryzom at the moment? Seems a bit of a mystery. I know this might seem an odd question, but Im concerned about installing a large piece of software from an unknown source, especially these days of the wild west trojan infected internet. Do the Vets and loyal fans of the game have any info on the company running the game now?

2. Any idea how long this free account Ive set up will last? Is it just a time limited trial, or is it indefinitely free without any subscription?

Im looking forward to trying the game out, as Ive heard it offers a very original and fresh take on the MMO genre. And I also hear the fanbase is very helpful and mature.

Thanks, any advice is appreciated.

Originally posted by Zerly

Hi there,

I'm just downloading the client to Ryzom now, after taking advantage of the "start a free new account" option from the official site.

Just a few things someone might be able to help me with...

1. Who is actually running Ryzom at the moment? Seems a bit of a mystery. I know this might seem an odd question, but Im concerned about installing a large piece of software from an unknown source, especially these days of the wild west trojan infected internet. Do the Vets and loyal fans of the game have any info on the company running the game now?

 2. Any idea how long this free account Ive set up will last? Is it just a time limited trial, or is it indefinitely free without any subscription?

 Im looking forward to trying the game out, as Ive heard it offers a very original and fresh take on the MMO genre. And I also hear the fanbase is very helpful and mature.

 Thanks, any advice is appreciated.  

1) As far as I know it is currently being ran by a company called Spiderweb.  It has been said that Spiderweb is comprised of some new and older Nevrax employees.  As far as I can see, it is the same client as before, but I have yet to hear of any trojan or virus scares.

2) We have no idea yet how long the free period will last, but most are certain it will be subscription based at some point.  For right now, all trials are unlimited and you can also get to the mainlands as well.  So soak it up while it lasts.

You have heard right.

1: The new owners as far as I know have never made an official announcement of their purchase of Ryzom or who they are.

There have been official posts by admin as poster.

All the rest is rumor as far as I'm concerned, however some players are rumored to have at least poked around into the legal documents relating to the liquidation and who Spiderweb International is.

MY GUESS is that there are still legal issues that they are worried about such as old owners, investors, or employees sueing them. So we may never know who they are, actually pretty good roleplay for Ryzom as in game we really do not know who the Kami or Karavan really are -- most is mystery.

MY GUESS is that the old investors and developers were split on how to develop and promote Ryzom and one faction of investors/developers who really believe in Ryzom have gotten control of Ryzom.

2: This is also all just mystery as the new owners ( admin ) have never stated anything about future subscription policy.

Actually the only posts by the new owners ( admin ) that I know of have been the Step 1,2,3,4 posts which have all been related to who has access to play the game at each stage mostly.

3: I know you didn't have a 3, lol

Are the new owners listening to players? The only indication of listening to players is that they are apparently working very hard to give access to all who they have posted should have access to Ryzom. There have been issues here that really are not their fault at all but previous owner created issues or player created issues -- such as me changing my e-mail after the game shut down -- they helped me out in like 10 minutes after I logged on CeB chat.

Other than that I have seen no changes in gameplay of implementing improvement suggestions. They seem to be concentrating on making the server stable as population ramps up. AND THEY ARE DOING A GREAT JOB AT THAT. Really very minor problems very rarely, which from my past MMO experience is not the norm.

4: Is this working?

I gotta tell you, I think it is. Lots of new players, never seen this much activity before. I see a lot of new players that look to me like they are hooked. The numbers for Ryzom are just great.

Hey Zerly,

I'm right there with ya. I only just started playing, I've heard great things about the game, and was wondering how long this free trial was supposed to last. They do say "Try now for Free" instead of "Play for Free." And their lack of details leads me to believe they are planning on implementing the subscriptions again, and I trying to get the player base back before doing so.

Hopefully I'll see ya in game somewhere.

Best of luck!

It is true that the new owners are prtetty secretive... Noone knows why but they prefer to leave their identity in the shadows for now.

But at least they try to do something for the game - and the wonderful influx of new players on the starter island shows it quite vividly.  They also do at least some marketing and we see news and adds about ryzom appearing at major gaming websites.

Apart from that they are also planning to enlarge ryzomean audience by creating language-oriented websites and possibly clients in Spanish, Italian, Portugese and Russian. They are assembling the translation team, check outthis thread: http://forums.ryzom.com/showthread.php?t=32350

I have a great feeling about this game I really do. Even if it isn't an 'uber success' on the main-stream market. It think it will actually be a game I can play and enjoy and not have to worry to much about getting dissapointed. Because from what I can see, there are very few tit for tat dissapointment. "You want this, so we'll give you that." sort of thing.

My guess, is they are trying to get everything straight financially before they go announcing their the ones taking over the joint, with it's financial history and everything.

But for the most part, it's a game I'm enjoying so far. I still may be in that new sort of stage, but hopefully it won't last long, and I can begin to feel what the game is really about.

Hmmmm. Im a bit concerned about populations. This game was dropped by the developers in the past because of low subscriptions? I would hate to play a sandbox style game with empty servers, no matter how good the game is. Other than that I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

Originally posted by Troada

*snip* I would hate to play a sandbox style game with empty servers, no matter how good the game is. Other than that I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

Hardly any risk of that at the moment :)

Originally posted by Troada

Hmmmm. Im a bit concerned about populations. This game was dropped by the developers in the past because of low subscriptions? I would hate to play a sandbox style game with empty servers, no matter how good the game is. Other than that I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

Now this is absolutely wrong - the game was not "dropped by" previous owners because of lack of subscribtions. The previous owners HAVE DROPPED all the potential players because of total lack of proper marketing on their part. And we sincerely hope that new owners have learned from previous owners totally moronic mistakes...

Atm servers are blooming with life. There are tons of players on the starter island as well as on the continents - Come and see for yourself ;)

Originally posted by AtysTrader

Originally posted by Troada

Hmmmm. Im a bit concerned about populations. This game was dropped by the developers in the past because of low subscriptions? I would hate to play a sandbox style game with empty servers, no matter how good the game is. Other than that I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

 

Now this is absolutely wrong - the game was not "dropped by" previous owners because of lack of subscribtions. The previous owners HAVE DROPPED all the potential players because of total lack of proper marketing on their part. And we sincerely hope that new owners have learned from previous owners totally moronic mistakes...

Atm servers are blooming with life. There are tons of players on the starter island as well as on the continents - Come and see for yourself ;)

 

Sorry I think you misunderstood. I was asking if they dropped it, as I know no history of this game :)
Anyway right now I am downloading the client and I will give it a try. However low populations made me quit before finishing the trial last time I tried this game and there is no telling what populations will be like once it becomes subscription based again 
 

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Originally posted by Troada   Sorry I think you misunderstood. I was asking if they dropped it, as I know no history of this game :) Anyway right now I am downloading the client and I will give it a try. However low populations made me quit before finishing the trial last time I tried this game and there is no telling what populations will be like once it becomes subscription based again   

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Gameforge picked up the game in liquidation, but the liquidation agreement forced them to retain the Nevrax employees, and they did not fund it sufficiently to support the team and also grow the subscription base.  They let it wither and die, then liquidated the child company they had created to isolate the venture from their main business.

The game has had bumps and bruises along the way, but has always been highly praised for many of its features, and definitely has a hardcore fanbase.

There have been times that the starter area was pretty low in population, but currently it is quite crowded.  The Mainland areas are also busier than they have been in a long time.  Some of this is due to the availability of free accounts, and will no doubt moderate a bit when subscriptions are again required.

However, those of us who care are hopeful that this time the owners will pick up the game and run with it, rather than letting it languish as did Gameforge.  As many will attest, it has the potential to be quite successful financially, within its market segment.

One important note here, is that most of us in the game consider that market segment to be a bit different than the norm for MMO titles.  The game in general appeals to an older, more patient group, who want challenge and intellectual demands from a game.

There are parts of the game, notably the "encyclopedia rites", which have never been completed and brought online.  Also, several new game features have been proposed and ostensibly worked on by prior development teams.  We're all waiting and hoping that the new team will carry that work forward.

In the meantime, the large majority of features are complete and very playable.  The graphics were well ahead of their time at release in 2004, and have stood up well, in my opinion.  The gameplay mechanics are unique, and require a certain amount of effort to comprehend, but once learned, leave other titles feeling simplistic and unchallenging.

The much vaunted Ryzom community has been stressed by the onslaught of thousands of new accounts.  However, if you will bear with us as we try to help everyone at once, you'll find a fine and remarkable group of people, with a diversity of backgrounds and playstyles, but reasonably united in our love of "our" game.
 
So.... now you know.  :)

Sasi, well put!

Originally posted by Tuyet

Sasi, well put!

Say no more ;-).