I have heard many interesting things about this game and decided to give it a try.   As a player, I'm a solo PvEer ... I avoid PvP and guilds and generally avoid formal grouping.  I try to avoid doing a lot of research before diving into a game - I like stumbling around and figuring things out as I go, treating games as sandboxes whether or not that's what they were intended to be. 

My trial started off well - controls were pretty straightforward to figure out and although it took me a little while for my sense of direction oriented in the opening village, I eventually figured out the basics.  I decided to focus on harvesting, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that I could do a little of everything.

The branching skills system is brilliant - I loved the way it grows the complexity and (potential) grind while allowing me to confinue to feel productive with every action I took.  The action design system worked very nicely and I was pretty happy with the rate at which I was gaining abilities.  I did get confused about how many points to spend on stats vs how many to spend on abilities ... for a while I was trying to max out stats, having trouble honing my intuition about what I should focus on.

Harvesting was quite interesting - I liked the complexity and lively economy.  I could see myself enjoying it a lot.  There was a bit of information overload trying to imagine what materials had what effects and or where they spawned, but I think I would have enjoyed it over the long term.

I found the crafting tree had too large of a barrier-to-entry ... I'm used to being able to craft basic equipment and bootstrap myself up in games, but there was quite a grind just to make basic gear.  Perhaps I didn't specialize enough but over the course of my triaI I never reached a point where I was making better gear than what NPCs offered.   So although I enjoyed the concept of it, it never felt like I was doing more than spinning my wheels. 

The fighting and magic systems were interesting and fun - on the fighting side, I was investing too heavily into stats to gather many moves, but still felt effective most of the time.  Magic was rather fun and situational and I liked swapping back and forth between melee and magic as the situation required.  I was a little surprised that the materials I was picking up were as good as my dedicated harvesting was finding - that seemed to devalue harvesting skill/effort.

Graphics are rarely a huge selling point for me one way or another - I found the character and creature models served their purpose.  The engine is little rougher than some of the big games, but still has a good amount of detail.   The lack of jumping/falling in the physics did stand out for me ... it's something I got used to easly enough, but it does make the game feel noticably 2-dimensional for a 3-d engine.  The creature movement/aggro was interesting - the "sniff you out" mechanic did lose its novelty quite quickly, but it's always nice to have your presence acknowledged and I always felt a need to watch out for migrations of preditors rather than just slowly pacmaning my way through a spawn zone.

In terms of quests, I was enjoying the intro breadcrumbs until I got to the bandit leader.  Yes, I know it's intended to be a group quest, but I'm a stubborn soloer.  So I decided to try to "outlevel" the content to complete the quest and that proved to be a long journey.  I'd hunt and harvest and craft for a day then finish the day with an attempt at the fight.  Each day I would lose and work off my exp debt until eventually I reached a point where I learned how to hit-and-run effectively.  When I finally took down the leader, for some reason I didn't get credit for it - which was the disappointment that broke my enthusiasm to continue.

So although I find it a very interesting set of game mechanics, I didn't manage to get out of the introductory zone.  I reached a point where I felt like I was fighting against the tutorial - which is a feeling a sandbox shouldn't give me.  I do lament that I didn't get to explore further - there are features of the game that sound very interesting.  I may revisit again some day and try a different approach, but for now, the game didn't quite manage to capture my imagination.

edit: fixed a few of the typos

Great write-up and really helpful. Will direct ppl this way when LFG: crafting, RP, Sandbox

Originally posted by maplestone I was a little surprised that the materials I was picking up were as good as my dedicated harvesting was finding - that seemed to devalue harvesting skill/effort.

Just one thing, for your information here :)

The looted materials actually complement the harvested materials, nothing works "on its own".

Although you could craft decent things from just harvested or just looted materials,

only a mixture of both will get you the "best results".

And its not even always "best mixes best", no, sometimes you´ll habe to mix basic with better stuff to get an even better result  ;)

A recent interview with the Devs stated that "...not all valuable recipes have been discovered yet."

And yes, I belive so, because people are fucusing on what they are getting from spoiler sites, instead of

trying to find/invent new ways of crafting things.

All in all a nice review, and I truly hope you´ll come back some day to enjoy even more of the game,

for the Tutorial just scratches the surface of an immensely immersive and deep world.

CU

SaM

Even though you didn't stick with the game, this was one of the best, most informative write-ups I've seen from a player just trying a game out. Usually in these forums, it's along the lines of "this game has no jumping! WTF? I'm outta here!"

Best of luck finding an MMO you enjoy. MMO-land is kind of disappointing at the moment.

No joke, this is how reviews should be written. Maybe the best review I've read on here. 

Excellent work, my friend. Despite the few downsides to the game (no jumping or falling?!) i think i'm going to go ahead and try it. The positive aspects you stated have me sold just enough to fill some empty space on my cpu. I don't think i have ever played a game that had animal AI migration... and the seasons- that is such a neat idea. Thank you again for the awesome write up, dude.

Have they fixed the stafing mechanic yet in this game  and are the gravity gods still preventing people from jumping?  I would consider trying this game (again) if they improved character control.

Ryzom is definitely a game that is extremely rough on solo'er. It can be done, but as you get higher and higher in level, it gets harder and harder to progress, in term of fight and magic and healing. Having just one other buddy to help you with hunting/harvesting is exponentially easier then trying to go at it solo.

However, you can most likely solo harvesting/crafting to quite a nice level if you don't mind the non-action aspect of the game.

---

Originally posted by MaDSaM

All in all a nice review, and I truly hope you´ll come back some day to enjoy even more of the game, for the Tutorial just scratches the surface of an immensely immersive and deep world.

---

I've read that although the tutorial has been improved, it is less representative of gameplay, and more to figure out mechanics. I agree with MaDSaM that it would be of interest to find out if you decide to return and experience the game-world outside the tutorial to get a more rounded feel for the game.

For any affidavit, I have yet to play because of time-constraints, but decided today (whilst out walking in the park, feeding squirrels) that I owe it to myself to try Ryzom, and limit myself to 4-6 hours maximum a week game-time - pending work, study (professional qualification and Chinese), reading periodicals, emails, yada yada yada.

I have re-acquired the MMORPG itch after playing single-player games, and have made noises about trying Ryzom over the years, but always ended up taking the path of least resistance and going back to the same type of generic fantasy PvE game that I vocally decried in these forums.

I'll start downloading the game to play the trial (and read my Corporate Strategy study notes whilst downloading), and decide whether or not my time-management skills have improved to allow me to fit everything in.

Post-script: I have just discovered that Ryzom runs under linux (Ubuntu 10.04). This is the icing on the cake that reaffirms my decision to play Ryzom. Sweet!