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Originally posted by nickelpat

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Originally posted by Gabby-air

Darkfall's community is most likely the worst one of any MMO, and ryzom's most likely the best. Ryzom dosen't really have much pvp, its more of a thing to do for fun or when your bored while darkfall revolves around pvp. Mortal online which is also pvp focused and a sandbox is in beta right now too, so might check that out too. My personal opinion would be to go with ryzom if your wondering.

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Is the Ryzom population healthy right now?

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That depends on your definition of healthy. It has a low population compared to a lot of MMOs, but because everyone's so friendly and helpful it doesn't feel dead. You definitely won't see a ton of people all over the world, but it doesn't feel as empty as VG did.

Out of those two I'd go with Ryzom.   Better crafting, even if the leveling system gets in the way.   You can of course start Ryzom without buying it as well,  though the trial area is a bit "different" than the rest of the game.

Both games are sandbox games. If we are going to debate a "real sandbox" then the only game that would apply is Second life.

I'm going to cover Ryzom since most people here could tell you about DF.

Ryzom, while having GvG territorial (outpost) pvp, a FvF system and FFA pvp zones the game is more of a focused pve game. Gathering, crafting, Boss hunts, player run events and Kitin Lair raids are king in this game.

Ryzom's combat is similar to guild wars, you can't jump and when you attack a mob in melee your character will run to the mob. The combat system becomes unique as you mess with the stanza system.  The stanza system is basically a spell and ability customization system it lets you take a power strike and add a bleed, increase damage and even add accuracy to it. As a caster you can take a Acid bolt spell, increase range, damage, add a AoE and even a Dot effect to the spell. It really is amazing. No two people have the same type of spell or ability.

Ryzom has a massive world, it takes near forever to explore and is really hardcore (its a group focused world). The mob AI runs on this predator/prey system where animals will travel in herds, animals will hunt the packs and each mob acts differently to you depending on that particular situation. Mobs also follow weather and season effects and arent just static in the game world.

The crafting in Ryzom is just awesome, lets just say you can mess with stats and bonuses on gear, change quality and color. Ryzoms crafting isn't some simple knode placement system that never changes. In this game we use the prospecting system its an ability that lets us track deposits underground and the placement changes every season so it never gets boring to harvest.

If your into pve we have Large boss raids, small boss hunts, Events, Lairs (large non-instanced areas with thousands of mobs that could kick ur ass with a boss in the middle).

I'm sure im missing something, We have mounts that you actually have to feed, pack mules, apartments and more.

Dude I could go on and on.

Personally I play both games on and off while staying subbed to Eve fulltime. All three games are totally different from one another.

Anyone who says DF, Eve or Ryzom arent sandbox games are complete fools. All of these games give you freedom to craft a character however you want, have large worlds and have a major crafting focus.

Addition: As for population Ryzom has three servers each one covers a particular language. I find the games population alittle low but the quality of people playing this game are second to none.

I would say around 5-15k players subbed which is decent for such an Indy game. I believe DF has around 10-15k across two servers so its a same basically.

More Ryzom info: http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/katriell

Darkfall is sandbox! you can do anything you want!*

*If all you want to do is pvp

There is no such thing as a Sand Box MMO atm. Right now its just an idea that one day may become a reality. Keep your eye on Mortal Online because its the only game that looks to be even close to a Sandbox.

Originally posted by nickelpat

Originally posted by Gabby-air

Darkfall's community is most likely the worst one of any MMO, and ryzom's most likely the best. Ryzom dosen't really have much pvp, its more of a thing to do for fun or when your bored while darkfall revolves around pvp. Mortal online which is also pvp focused and a sandbox is in beta right now too, so might check that out too. My personal opinion would be to go with ryzom if your wondering.

Is the Ryzom population healthy right now?

Ryzom is the deadest game i've played as far as population goes. there are also a lot of issues that don't seem to have been addressed since launch. it has potential, but it's never lived up to it, and hardly anyone plays. as for df, i've never tried, nor ever want to try, it.

I really dont understand the sandbox debate, Its not hard to understand. what would you do in a real life sandbox?

How much can you manipulate your environment? well the more you can, the more sandbox it is, and games should be rated from 0-10 on how much this can be done.

Dark fall I think is around a 6 or 7 and ryzom is less, but with that said. Ryzom has a really cool skill system, (stanza)

I only played ryzom for a month and it seems like years ago allready, but it is a nice game to try its not a waist of time. It has relaxed game play and looks nice. The crafting/gathering I thought was really cool.

Darkfall I am still playing, and been playing since beta. its a unforgiving game and pvp interuptions will happen all the time if you dont adapt and move around lots. It brings back a bit of the Ultima online feel, But only when your out hunting mobs, its crafting is basic like any game, but,...... theres nothing stoping everyone from making there own stuff since its vary easy to max crafting skills. so the economy is a bit dry, its still there but not exciting like other games.

But heres the deal,. should you pay 50 bux to try darkfall? well ask your self somthing,. do you have tough skin, will lossing all your stuff kill the intrest to play? will pvp interuptions that effect your progress kill your intrest to play? and yes, if you like to play solo will it effect you if large groups of players prevent you from hunting in alot of the open playing field?

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