I keep seeing that one of Ryzom main problem is its low population, due to it nichey-ness (new word!) and lack of advertising, and that it has this chicken and egg problem for a while now (people don't want to play it because of the low population, so it stays lowly populated).

Have they ever considered making the game Free2Play with in-game purchases or a sub system for "Premier" content? It worked for DDO and it looks like other games are following suit, I can see it working for Ryzom.

They should at least consider it. I tried Ryzom a few weeks ago, logged in every night, didn't see anyone. I wanted to get into it because I like sandboxes but kept thinking why am I going to pay a sub fee for a game that no one else is on? So I subbed to another game instead. Making it F2P would at least get people looking at it. Right now Ryzom is just too obscure to do anything with.

It was completely free for a while, lots of people tried it out, not too many stuck around I think.

Neat game though, for the AI and crafting/skill system, yea

Originally posted by randomt

It was completely free for a while, lots of people tried it out, not too many stuck around I think.

Neat game though, for the AI and crafting/skill system, yea

 

 

Yep, it was completely free for months, didn't help. People didn't stick around because there wasn't any "content" ( i.e. quests and such ) once you left the starter area. People in general need to feel like they're accomplishing something in a game for it to be fun for them. While some are more than happy to "make their own content" ( like most current Ryzom players ), the majority of gamers expect there to be content already there fr them to do.

I've always said if they just filled the world with quests that gave nothing but faction and maybe some crafting mats or something, people would still eat it up because there would be a "purpose" to play and do something while exploring a beautiful, alive, but ( comparatively ) boring world.

Not everyone is content just harvesting and killing the occasional Kitan swarm.

From what I hear, the devs have finally started realizing you do need to have some existing activities with direction even in a "sandbox" game. Maybe when they flesh it out more, a hybrid model like AO or DDO/LotRO may work. But I don't think they'd even have to consider F2P if they just added more for the average gamer to do in the world.

It looks like the current owner of the game is actually patching in content. There was one just a couple of months ago that add a bunch of occupations and a new boss, and one a few more months back that added an area. Not sure how good the contents are though, I am just starting the game myself.

Here they are:

http://forums.ryzom.com/showthread.php?t=34963

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Eight new occupations:

* Butcher (Prepare meat for consumption)
* Magnetic cartographer (Create magical maps)
* Florist (Make bouquets of medicinal flowers)
* Larvester (Make fortifying Kitin larvae)
* Toolmaker (Create special tools)
* Scrollmaker (Create parchment and ink)
* Water carrier (Prepare bottles of revitalizing water)
* Medic (Manufacture healing kits)

Thanks to these new occupations, players can perform many new unpublished missions to get various regeneration items. These items will allow you to recover your HP, sap, stamina, concentration, etc. much faster, making it easier to hunt alone or in small groups in dangerous territories.

A new marauder boss "Dante the Teaser"

A new challenge for groups of players: Dante the Teaser appears on Atys and it'll be difficult to make him reveal all his secrets! You will have to confront a warrior who, even if he doesn't seem very brave, could well prove deadly with all his special strategies... Moreover, a rumor has already spread telling of a funny game in which Dante invites all of the New Lands homins to Fairhaven, soon... (Wednesday, 26 May at 19:00 GMT, in front of the stables)

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http://forums.ryzom.com/showthread.php?t=34685

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The Kitins' Lair

It's been years coming, and now it is here: a new zone! And now it's done and the first part of the Kitin's Liar is now open for you. But don't just go rushing in there, you'll not leave it with your skin intact!
With the release of the Kitins' Lair, we have also added 2 new "rites", linked to the Kitins.

Role Play Profile

The new "Profile" web application allows you to define your character's heritage and identity. For example, you can fill the date of birth of your character, parents' names, biography etc.
When a player right clicks your character and then chooses "Info", they will see your profile!

New display of the target's level

Many of you expresses yourselves regarding the new display system of the level of your target, introduced in a previous patch. We have considered your comments and decided to combine the best of both systems. We put back the stars which indicate approximately the level of the creatures while keeping the display of the precise level when your level is close to the one of the creature.

Miscellaneous :

* New mail or post notification are back! You will see them next to your compass.
* The new RP and guild forums are now accessible using SHIFT-G
* The new mail system is now accessible using SHIFT-M
* Official support for Windows 7
* Fixed various minor bugs

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Originally posted by eyeswideopen

Originally posted by randomt

It was completely free for a while, lots of people tried it out, not too many stuck around I think.

Neat game though, for the AI and crafting/skill system, yea

 

 

Yep, it was completely free for months, didn't help. People didn't stick around because there wasn't any "content" ( i.e. quests and such ) once you left the starter area. People in general need to feel like they're accomplishing something in a game for it to be fun for them. While some are more than happy to "make their own content" ( like most current Ryzom players ), the majority of gamers expect there to be content already there fr them to do.

I've always said if they just filled the world with quests that gave nothing but faction and maybe some crafting mats or something, people would still eat it up because there would be a "purpose" to play and do something while exploring a beautiful, alive, but ( comparatively ) boring world.

Not everyone is content just harvesting and killing the occasional Kitan swarm.

From what I hear, the devs have finally started realizing you do need to have some existing activities with direction even in a "sandbox" game. Maybe when they flesh it out more, a hybrid model like AO or DDO/LotRO may work. But I don't think they'd even have to consider F2P if they just added more for the average gamer to do in the world.

That sums up the main problem with Ryzom, there just doesnt seem to be much of a purpose and from the very directed tutorial your dropped in the world totally lost as to what exactly your suppose to do. I absolutely loved the tutorial, it was the most fun I've ever had in a while but when i hit the main land it just felt empty. In my opinion ryzom would do wonders if it took a hybrid route like fallen earth where we have all the sandbox progression but a lot of quests and a main storyline to tie everything together.

Yeah Ryzom has it's faults as any game does.

One thing you have to realize is Ryzom area is huge, plus with all the times zones involved, it mays seem no one is on line.  (I sometimes feel I am the only on ingame :).  But there are people there.

F2P is very tricky.  Mostly because you tend to get trolls that enjoy ruining others playing experience.  Not saying all are but alot tend to be.

The devs are trying and as stated, advertising has never been big with any of the companies.  We have a top notch Event team,  a great support team, probably one of the greatest communities ever.

The low population thing really bugs me as if you don't stay, then how will it grow.

I know not every game appeals to everyone.  But try it give it a good try, after trial, maybe sub for one month.  You probably waste that much money anyhow. 

Hope to see some of you ingame

Ryzom had a free trial for quite awhile some year or two ago.

Really the game is stuck in hard place. A lot of people seem to enjoy their experience with the game, myself included, but are completely turned off once they get to the mainland and have next to no one to play with.

People would come back if their was a larger population, but at the same time the game will never have a large population because people leave due to the lack of players.

Originally posted by Wolfenpride

 

People would come back if their was a larger population, but at the same time the game will never have a large population because people leave due to the lack of players.

*Plays Alice Cooper's "Lost in America"*

I can't get a girl cuz I ain't got a car
I can't get a car cuz I ain't got a job
I can't get a job cuz I ain't got a car
So I'm looking for a girl with a job and a car
Don't you know where you are?

Catch 22's suck.

I found the game to be quite interesting in the tutorial zone with quests and tasks explaining the game, but once you were done there, ast least for me, it turned into a game I don't enjoy "create your own story and fun" otherwise known as a 'sandbox' that so many players are screaming for.

And before you go on your themepark/hand holding arguments, no I don't need to have my hand held in a game, but I like to have tasks, quests, missions and storylines built into the game by the game developer. They don't necessarily have to lead me to the next zone, I'm fine with having to find the next storyline/quest, but I'm not fine with having to come up with them on my own. I'm not into RP and didn't create the world, so the lore/story shouldn't be of my own making. I view my game play in MMORPG's as I'm just a pawn in the grand scheme of things.

I find it interesting that Ryzom is a sandbox game, yet it sounds to me like it's not thriving. In my opinion that should tell players that are into sandbox games that they are a minority and this is why developers aren't in a big hurry to craft such world.

Would I play this if it went F2P/Item Mall, nope.

Originally posted by Emeraq

I found the game to be quite interesting in the tutorial zone with quests and tasks explaining the game, but once you were done there, ast least for me, it turned into a game I don't enjoy "create your own story and fun" otherwise known as a 'sandbox' that so many players are screaming for.

And before you go on your themepark/hand holding arguments, no I don't need to have my hand held in a game, but I like to have tasks, quests, missions and storylines built into the game by the game developer. They don't necessarily have to lead me to the next zone, I'm fine with having to find the next storyline/quest, but I'm not fine with having to come up with them on my own. I'm not into RP and didn't create the world, so the lore/story shouldn't be of my own making. I view my game play in MMORPG's as I'm just a pawn in the grand scheme of things.

 

I find it interesting that Ryzom is a sandbox game, yet it sounds to me like it's not thriving. In my opinion that should tell players that are into sandbox games that they are a minority and this is why developers aren't in a big hurry to craft such world.

Would I play this if it went F2P/Item Mall, nope.

You miss the entire concept of handholding.

It's not about leading people around by the nose geographically, it's about disguising the base gameplay you get tired of otherwise through smaller goals. The quests you want are all "kill X of these", when you could just handle that on your own without having to be told to. This kind of mentality is that of a lab rat, not a player. Granted we people that don't need structure to have fun *are* in the minority these days, but the vast majority of players don't even play games anymore, they just scream for acheivements and rewards in small doses while they run a maze as intended.

Ryzom kicks ass for what it is, and so do most sandbox games in a way, but they are completely lost on players that have been spoiled by games that throw tiny doses of incentive around every corner. You can't even get yourself to *do* something unless you're properly rewarded for it. How do any of you even play single-player games anymore if it doesn't roll over somehow?... oh yeah ~gamerscore~

Ruined, absolutely ruined by lab rat mentality. I hope you know that *you* are the ones really being played here, by devs that know how you are, and exploit that.

Originally posted by GTwander

Originally posted by Emeraq

I found the game to be quite interesting in the tutorial zone with quests and tasks explaining the game, but once you were done there, ast least for me, it turned into a game I don't enjoy "create your own story and fun" otherwise known as a 'sandbox' that so many players are screaming for.

And before you go on your themepark/hand holding arguments, no I don't need to have my hand held in a game, but I like to have tasks, quests, missions and storylines built into the game by the game developer. They don't necessarily have to lead me to the next zone, I'm fine with having to find the next storyline/quest, but I'm not fine with having to come up with them on my own. I'm not into RP and didn't create the world, so the lore/story shouldn't be of my own making. I view my game play in MMORPG's as I'm just a pawn in the grand scheme of things.

 

I find it interesting that Ryzom is a sandbox game, yet it sounds to me like it's not thriving. In my opinion that should tell players that are into sandbox games that they are a minority and this is why developers aren't in a big hurry to craft such world.

Would I play this if it went F2P/Item Mall, nope.

You miss the entire concept of handholding.

It's not about leading people around by the nose geographically, it's about disguising the base gameplay you get tired of otherwise through smaller goals. The quests you want are all "kill X of these", when you could just handle that on your own without having to be told to. This kind of mentality is that of a lab rat, not a player. Granted we people that don't need structure to have fun *are* in the minority these days, but the vast majority of players don't even play games anymore, they just scream for acheivements and rewards in small doses while they run a maze as intended.

Ryzom kicks ass for what it is, and so do most sandbox games in a way, but they are completely lost on players that have been spoiled by games that throw tiny doses of incentive around every corner. You can't even get yourself to *do* something unless you're properly rewarded for it. How do any of you even play single-player games anymore if it doesn't roll over somehow?... oh yeah ~gamerscore~

Ruined, absolutely ruined by lab rat mentality. I hope you know that *you* are the ones really being played here, by devs that know how you are, and exploit that.

 We can agree to disagree on this.

If we are going to have to kill the same creatures, regardless of whether it's sandbox or 'themepark' then I don't see anything wrong with having direction or reward. What's the reward for killing the same critters in a questless sandbox game? Looking at UO, a majority of the reward was for stat gain, and not so much for enjoyment?

Not all quests are kill X, some are just kill this boss to advance the storyline, or recover this artifact, discover a traitor (which you will eventually kill),etc. I enjoy story, I enjoy cutscenes. I enjoy instances with well written dialogue and combat that advances the plot. And much like a single player RPG I feel that I shouldn't have to do be the one telling the story.

If you look at RPG's roots in PnP, a group of players don't just sit down and make up their own story, the DM has a module or campaign written by him/herself or others, and he tells the story that the players play a part of and sometimes the DM has to work around the players decisions to tie the story back together. What I like in an MMORPG is for the developers to be the DM, and me to just play my part... Is this being ruined by a lab rat mentality, I don't think so.