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Ryzom News - Nevrax Going Into Receivership
Posted by Dana Massey on Nov 20, 2006 | 44 comments in our forums
It's been tough times for the ambitious French developers Nevrax. Today, the company announced that next month their company would be going into receivership. Although the world will keep running, they also announced that it would no longer be possible to pay to play their game. Instead, all accounts will be made free starting in December and only through free trials can new players join (without a skill cap).
The changes could signal the end of Ryzom if no new company is able to take over the product in the next few months.
| As you will no doubt know, Ryzom has been going through a transition over the last few months. This transition is continuing into the new year and changes are starting to happen today.
The first news is that while the game WILL continue to run and be supported, Nevrax (as a corporate entity) will be going into receivership next month. We emphasize again that the game will continue to run and be supported as this is not the beginning of the end - just the end of the beginning. As you all, we love our game and we want to see Atys and its homins continue to evolve. We are not alone in this feeling as from the shadows a company has emerged and are currently preparing a plan to take on Ryzom. We can't tell you more at the moment since it is being discussed but we will keep you informed when we get hard facts. We can assure you that much is happening behind the scenes. In the meantime, Ryzom goes on. Your CSRs will continue to help you and to take care of everything, while our devs will continue to work on their current schedule: the next step is to patch the ATS with a few new things. So basically, while these negotiations are ongoing, everything else is business as usual. As we don't want to cheat on you, while Nevrax is going through this transition period, the following actions have just been taken today around 3pm GMT regarding the billing system:
|
You can read more at their official website.
again sad news
i have been playing ryzom in beta and just won the 1 month free (cough) here on mmorpg
i also tried the new Ring feature and its an awesome idea if i wasnt busy with building gameworlds for living i would definately have liked creating some nice areas with this tool.
nevertheless i always disliked the look of the pc models
but well we will see what happens sounds like they have some kind of backup plan
gonna try if my account works
I guess its a very dog eats dog world for independent developers.
I hope no one tells SOE...I'd hate to see them get their paws on it.
bankruptcy :(
I hope SOE did get their hands on it but it wudnt be profitable lso they wudnt lol.
It is really sad. I play Ryzom and I hope they survive this.
What is really unusual is that we as gamers are always complaining about the same old formula being used to make MMO's but we don't put our money where our mouth is.
As long as games that try to be different, keep failing or have a small following we are going to continue getting the same old crap.
Guess what it is our fault.
So the next time you complain about MMO's look in the mirror. Its not the companies its us.
This news ruined my day
Yes, Nevrax must've done something special, then . . . it's such a good game, yet this news has nothing positive going for it. Meanwhile, SOE continues to build on their flagship mmorpg, EQ2, improving it yet again with a quality expansion. Despite whatever grudges you may have against them, they are among the top of the pack, and Nevrax is falling right out of it. So god forbid SOE finds out . . .
I don't play Ryzom, although I've tried to a couple of times. It just wasn't my type of mmo, but I do remember it being aweful at launch, which I never completely got over, and so I have half a smile on my face seeing Nevrax go down. No product of SOEs ever was as bad as Ryzom was at launch, not even SWG:NGE. But I have to give a lot of credit to Nevrax for picking themselves up and really improving their game. Too bad it doesn't seem to have worked out for them? It is good to hear that the game will continue to be supported, however.
first seed, now ryzom. what's next?
I am glad. This game needs to die like all games with low subscriptions.
I understand there are people who really enjoy this game and I am not gloating or wishing you unhappiness, but this game does not belong on the top 10 rating list, it's a farce and proves the rating sytem on this site is a joke. I tried Ryzom and liked some aspects but disliked others and it certainly is not one of the better games out there.
If this game was truly as good as the ratings show, and had that much support, then obviously it would not be in receivership.
Fallacious assumption.
Not a great number of people like opera or renaissance paintings bt they are still worthwhile.
Not everything needs to be a runaway hit.
There's room for niche works to fulfill nees.
> If this game was truly as good as the ratings show, and had that much support, then obviously it would not be in receivership.
To clarify what grim said in a humorous way: Britney Spears must have made astonishingly good music, not to talk of the quality of Windows. ^_^
This is very sad news. After being captivated in beta, I played solidly for over 2 years once the game launched. The community, for the most part, were great. The crafting/harvesting system was novel and required a bit of brainpower. There was even freedom in skills with the option to pay for a spell with range and time credits as well as the traditional 'mana' and health. Character were of course skill based rather than class based.
The amount of official events are unprecedented and more than make up for a lack of quests. Unofficial player events were well put together and showed great creativity on the players' part. I've not seen or been motivated to roleplay as much since leaving and my annual subscription would have been renewed if I had the chance, just to help keep this game alive.
Ryzom did seem to keep changing direction which is probably why it shed so many loyal followers. Initially a PVE-centric game where you tried to uncover the mystery of the planet which ultimately lacked enough content. PVP was the next big thing with old friends fighting over outposts to gain xp-boosting crystals and materials to craft better equipment. Recently Ryzom changed again to satisfy another group of people with the launch of the Ring, and plans on the horizon were for the whole world to become a PVP battle for control of teleporters.
Any of these game styles is fine on their own, but for me it was too difficult to switch between them. Like most of the players I had a strong emotional attachment to the game (hence the high ratings scores). I'm not sure what Nevrax will do now, or what will happen once this free month expires but I'd like to know what the closest Ryzom replacement is out there...
Rashan (Arispotle), currently playing Auto Assault & Roma Victor
It's a small company that has been doing the best it can. And Ryzom deserves to be a top ranked mmo for both it's gameplay/design and it's community.
Now here's the ass kicker: everyone on the official boards are having the expected "who is buying us" discussion with the also expected statements of leaving if bought by SOE, EA, Turdbine, etc. Nevrax is a French company. What if the bottom-dwellers at Farlan/NPcube bought it? Or what if the scumsucker leeches at EII (the Horizon's "devs") bought it? Those are the two things that would make me recommend killing this game. Anything else can be worked on.
I dont think SoR is $OE or EA's thing. Turbine, im not site about, and I think Nevrax would rather let the game die that hand it to Farlan/NPcube. EII I cannot comment on because I dont know much about them. If you truly think French connections would make the difference, dont forget Blizzard, subsidary of the French company vivendi.
I would like my first question answered though, about who the community would like to see take over the game.
note: im not trying to pick a fight, or suggest that anyone should be happy if the crap companies listed above got the game. Im genuinely intrested in who you would like to see take over the game.
If it wasn't for the fact that they would just butcher it into a WoW copy, I'd be fine with Blizzard taking over. Maybe if they bought it but let the original guys stay and develop with Blizzard's money to back them, then that would be different. The top pics on the official boards right now as far as preferences, Funcom and CCP are the ones players would like to take over if that's the way it goes. But with CCP's recent merger and Funcom working on AoC as well as AO, neither of these two would seem like likely candidates at this time. most agree these two would be the most likely to be able to run with the original concepts and ideals of Ryzom without totally changing the game. As well as the reputations of their ingame communities and customer service, which in my case I'd prefer Funcom of the two.
To everyone out there who doesn't like niche games and think that all MMORPG's are about huge fanbases and such, just remember, many many neich games provide the market with new idea's. If everything was left up t huge companies, then all you have to look forward to is "Everquest 7 expansion 13: The same old thing", and "WoW 4: now with 5 Elvish races"
Ryzom Ring was a superb idea and as gamers we really should be supporting the indies a lot more, I agree with another poster this is our fault and especially WoW lovers like Jorev.
-Adam
I'd like to see CCP buy into this game.
EI interactive wants to publish your game!
(damn... that joke was just too evil to even be funny)
Oh I don't know, it's a very unique game and is very highly rated. Even by people who don't find it to their tastes.
Remember, in some cases, going to receivership can be a good thing as it allows a company to better manage debt.
It is more than possible that another company is already ironing out details to absorb Nevrax and its game. I wouldn't sweat it just yet.
Also, if the company has a lot of cash it could be a good thing.
directly from the official site http://www.ryzom.com/news?set_language=en:
Tuesday,21 November , 2006 at 18:20 UTC
The situation here as you know is that Nevrax as a corporate entity will probably cease to exist in a few weeks. It is not up to Nevrax to decide the exact date, which is why we can't be more specific right now. Discussions are ongoing with various creditors so you may see "news" stories appearing here and there about Nevrax going under, but you will still hear all the facts here first.
In the meantime, Ryzom will continue to run and evolve. Right now we are happy that several companies and/or individuals are actively engaged in negotiations to take over Ryzom. Again we can't tell you more at this moment as these negotiations have to be carried out privately.
We've opened a thread in the account support section to answer your concerns regarding your account. Click here for more information.
Nevrax has changed the whole game experience and visions of its future too often without warning, driving hundreds of players away. So I don't believe it could get worse right now. :D
Lots of people played the beta without any PR at all because Ryzom had so much potential :) Not a word about PvP for the best materials in the roots and the outposts, about mobs suddenly getting tougher, less XPs for team-play, losing teleporters and fame by having to choose factions, hundreds of missions without any purpose, etc... The most promising announcements turned out to be lies and that hurt a lot :(
I just hope some ambitious company is going to pick up this game and fulfill those old promises: a steadily growing/evolving world, an ongoing story, where actions of players will have influence, background and mysteries to find out about, hundreds of events (ostensible already existent on paper), spreading goo to fight against and infected creatures to drive back, interesting factions with different goals, cultures living due to their maxims, lots of active tribes pursuing their own goals, different invasions...
I dearly hope to be able to experience a real story not through just two events a year but by questing and discovering hidden treasures/infos as well as lots of smaller RPG-incidents :)
Hm, and some make-over of balance, missions (rewards, infos for the story), XP-gain (action-based again), teleporters between all countries, PvP (reducing), better mob-placing, mats-source-placing, graphics (moonwalk, goo-surface), NPC-talks (all the background from the homepage), maps closer to real landscapes, more different mobs, equipment-designs and some more alternatives to just fighting or digging all day would be nice too ;)
I'd give it a go there newbie island (the free trial) is pretty neat and theres a fairly substancial amount of gameplay there for free. Nothing to loose except the time for the download and patch.
How can this game be rated in the top five, yet be failing financially?
As Jorev said, something about the rating system on this site is screwed up.
I fail to see what one has to do with the other. For example McDonalds does well financially but many restaraunts serving 'gourmet' food fail each week. Does that make a Big Mac and fries the top foodstuff on the planet? Mind you 50 billion flies eat sh*t does tha make sh*t the best food stuff on the planet for that matter.
if you notice of the half dozen categories that users vote on none of them are 'financial stability of producer' perhaps thats something to do with it? I do think the rating system is poor however for example graphics sound etc. aren't nearly as important as gameplay and fun factor.
Cheers.
I fail to see what one has to do with the other. For example McDonalds does well financially but many restaraunts serving 'gourmet' food fail each week. Does that make a Big Mac and fries the top foodstuff on the planet? Mind you 50 billion flies eat sh*t does tha make sh*t the best food stuff on the planet for that matter.
if you notice of the half dozen categories that users vote on none of them are 'financial stability of producer' perhaps thats something to do with it? I do think the rating system is poor however for example graphics sound etc. aren't nearly as important as gameplay and fun factor.
Cheers.
It does make Mcdonalds one of the top foodstuff in its price catagory, as well as in fast food catagory. Flies eat shit because its the best food on the planet for flies obviously.
This once again proves how way off these ratings are.
If people rate a game highly, making it one of the top 5, then obviously they should be playing that game.
If that many people are playing the game, then it should be financially successful.
Pure logic.
Of course, the ratings would have to be representative of the truth, which obviously is not the case, and suggests Ryzom is not a quality game, and the ratings system on this site is broken.
Hehe, Jorev is a bit harsh.
Since, someone like me give this game a DECENT rating. I play it 1 month, which is a LOT longer than EQ2 + WoW + AA + DDO put all together.
Financial success is something that these devs are not well versed in, they are not focused on this aspect. Someone can buy the game for about $4 and get a free month. These devs are honest about their game, they don't lie, so they lose a few subscribtions in the short term, but if they do the rest of the job fine, in the long term it will help them.
See, if peoples like me, give this game a 7 or 8 rating while we gave 4 to WoW, 5 to DDO, 6 to EQ2 and 7 to AA...it all sums up eventually. Having the highest ranking means that you offend the less players while pleasing some, not that you have more subscribtions. I give CoH a 9, and this is the only MMO I restore my subscribtion to...sporadically, atm I am not paying for any MMO.
These devs, they hold to what they believe, they are honest about. This game isn't for me and it sadden me to see them in troubles, but instead of closing like many competitors does, they find a better alternative for the players. Jorev is "french-racist"...this would explain a LOT more than anything else in this current thread. I only have respec and kindness toward Nevrax myself, despite the fact they didn't build a game that I could enjoy, they NEVER LIE...they have this, "generalist" approach, where you have to do a little of everything if you want to be good, even the stuff you dislike...other devs are falling for the same traps and lying about it...These devs are fighting for their players, to the last stand. It would have been easier to just close the game, but they find an alternative for their players...this is dedication. This mean that when their boss told them they bankrupt and need to close the company, these devs didn't think of themselves, they think about the game survival in a way or another, rather than on their personnal treatment, I have no idea what sacrifices they made, but I am sure there was some.
This game has a great deal of potential, a fantastic skill system and probably the best community I have ever encountered in an MMO. The financial troubles of Nevrax have been going on a long time, so a new company taking over Ryzom could potentially be a very positive thing and take the game to new heights.
The free trial now has no level cap and the starter island is always busy with plenty to do...so why not show support for this great and original sandbox game by playing the UNLIMITED FREE TRIAL now! You have nothing to lose!
Oh, so they never lie?
* Well, then tell me: how can you persuade tribes to hand out outposts to your guild peacefully like it's written in the manual? And why did Nevrax even put these informations into the manual long before outposts were actually implemented?
* Where are those guild-trainers and guild-hall-thingies the manual is talking about?
* Is this really "consensual" PvP when you have to stay away from most of the best material-sources (in the roots of Umbra) and the most interesting features for your guild (outposts), because you can't decline duels/guild-wars there?
* Did the world ever grow even a bit in all those two years like it's stated on the homepage?
* Did the goo spread?
* What about the "story arc"? Yes, Atys does change, and we all know how much harm some sudden changes in gameplay have done to the community. But how does it count as a "story" when one day new buldings have suddenly popped up at a few outposts from out of the blue and a new login-screen claims that "the factions" are now giving those outposts to homins to fight each other for? What story is this when the Karavan are announcing Jenas arrival nearing so homins will have to kill each other in some areas for building temples to their gods - but after the event is done and the temples are there nothing more is done or heard about Jenas arrival for month. Also no Kami-creature has ever been seen fighting against a Karavan-officer...
* Take a look at the homepage: "Certainly, there are many questions yet to be answered. What is the origin of hominkind ? Is Jena really the almighty creator of Atys that the Karavan claim her to be ? Does Jena really exist ? Who are the Karavan really ? Why do they keep themselves locked up in their strange suits ? Why do they hate the Kamis so much ? What is behind the bond between the Kamis and Atys ? What is Atys ??" Of course nobody could find out about that, because no new facts or findings were ever implemented in all these 2 years :( Some nice but useless informations about other things can be gathered by doing those rites though (only 9 of them available on all 4 continents, right?)
* It's the year 2525, homins are "reconstructing their cultures" - then why didn't the cities and tribes change over the years, grow, evolve with new buildings, new technology, suburbs with gardens or farms etc.? Only some new small booths in 2 years - hairdresser/tattoo-shop and outpost-stuff. Doesn't look like "reconstruction". Well, the homins never even managed to drive away all the carnivores and kitin (their arch-enemies!) camping very close to their cities. No cultural changes either: no new laws, no new works of art, no new researches except a few skills suddenly appearing along with the rites, being entitled as "old knowledge found anew". We can't even read nor write (pictograms). So where and how IS this "reconstruction of cultures" happening?
The game has good graphics, an excellent character progression system, a really nice skill system, fun combat and passable crafting. It is unfortunately lacking in content, in the traditional sense. There aren't any quests to speak of... and really not much to do with your time other than level for leveling's sake.
Having another company take over might be exactly what the game needs. Everything positive about the game could continue with the addition of some story driven content, some quests... some overall depth of variety to the things they already have. More armor and weapons, more than one type of mount.. some vehicles.. The story begs for varied content. Hopefully the new guys will do what they have to do to make the game commercially viable without ruing the things Neverax already did right.
*edit
I see a few people mentioning Seed in this thread. I really feel like they both suffered from the same lack of content issues. The people that enjoyed both games would tell you there was plenty to do, and it was better to have community driven events than the story driven content most people are used to. If that is true, I think both games failed to point players toward that type of gameplay. If you don't know what you are looking for it just seems like there is nothing to do other than grind your skills, with no real end goal to that grind.
Oh, so they never lie?
* Well, then tell me: how can you persuade tribes to hand out outposts to your guild peacefully like it's written in the manual? And why did Nevrax even put these informations into the manual long before outposts were actually implemented?
Well, the game wasn't final and complete. They intend to do more, maybe in the english translation someone change stuff, but in french, it was crystal clear. Again, the game change design a LOT and they prolly did a noobish mistake in the manual by not clarifying enought.
* Where are those guild-trainers and guild-hall-thingies the manual is talking about?
It was in the process of been added and created progressively, it wasn't ready for release yet.
* Is this really "consensual" PvP when you have to stay away from most of the best material-sources (in the roots of Umbra) and the most interesting features for your guild (outposts), because you can't decline duels/guild-wars there?
I agree with you, however, they don't lie. They play with words. Nobody is enforcing you to go there and you can trade for these goods, however, I agree with you here, but technically, they aren't lying, this is doing like Sigil/Verant to a much lesser extand. But they are not nice here.
* Did the world ever grow even a bit in all those two years like it's stated on the homepage?
Yes, but not much and not as intended, they didn't have the financial support to actually implement this...but here, I can't disagree more with you, they intend to do it, they would have sold their souls if they could. But business is business and they have to work on different aspects in different order.
* Did the goo spread?
* What about the "story arc"? Yes, Atys does change, and we all know how much harm some sudden changes in gameplay have done to the community. But how does it count as a "story" when one day new buldings have suddenly popped up at a few outposts from out of the blue and a new login-screen claims that "the factions" are now giving those outposts to homins to fight each other for? What story is this when the Karavan are announcing Jenas arrival nearing so homins will have to kill each other in some areas for building temples to their gods - but after the event is done and the temples are there nothing more is done or heard about Jenas arrival for month. Also no Kami-creature has ever been seen fighting against a Karavan-officer...
You can blame their skill and their ability as a team, but I think you just provide the example that they where trying...
* Take a look at the homepage: "Will they (homins) be able to find the right path to lead them to the lost secrets of their ancestors?" Of course they won't, because no new facts or findings were ever implemented in all these 2 years :( Some nice but useless informations about other things can be gathered by doing those rites though (only 9 of them available on all 4 continents, right?)
Again, this is not lying. This team WOULD have done it, they where fighting to do it. But they have bosses like everyone of us. They did all they can to do that, up to the end.
* It's the year 2525, homins are "reconstructing their cultures" - then why didn't the cities and tribes change over the years, grow, evolve with new buildings, new technology, suburbs with gardens or farms etc.? Only some new small booths in 2 years - hairdresser/tattoo-shop and outpost-stuff. Doesn't look like "reconstruction". Well, the homins never even managed to drive away all the carnivores and kitin (their arch-enemies!) camping very close to their cities. No cultural changes either: no new laws, no new works of art, no new researches except a few skills suddenly appearing along with the rites, being entitled as "old knowledge found anew". We can't even read nor write (pictograms). So where and how IS this "reconstruction of cultures" happening?
Basically, you are confusing LYING and "INCOMPETANCE". (I find the word incompetance to be too harsh and I don't really meant it, but it explain my point, so please don't think I assume Nevrax is incompetant, they are not competant enough). Would you call a paladin who promise you that you will be safe a lyer if you get attacked and the paladin died defending you? Nevrax pretty much died trying to deliver the promises they made.
See, this team was CRYSTAL HONEST. Someone who is unable to see to the fullfillment of a promise isn't a lyer, it is incompetance if you want. But with even subpar fundings, they would have succeed and see to all these aspects. But they didn't get the fundings they need, so they where cut short.
Do you know how many peoples where working at Nevrax? Go check, you will see that the team isn't that numerous. I think they did awesome.
Fallacious assumption.
Not a great number of people like opera or renaissance paintings bt they are still worthwhile.
Not everything needs to be a runaway hit.
There's room for niche works to fulfill nees.
You forgot to add the standard Jorev-posting-equation into his post, Grimachu.
The '1] if Jorev thinks something, then it's the truth of 1000 truths. 2] If Jorev doesn't like something, it is outright wrong for any other person to find fun in it' equation that is.
He is one of those rare individuals who I think actually finds it impossible to comprehend the fact that people can do things purely for enjoyment. Fails to realise that if there's less than 250k subs then the game must suck. Fails to realise that if it's not made on a $15million+ budget, it must be a failure, must suck, and should cease to exist.
If he had his way, we'd have three mass generic MMOs to choose from I'd reckon, no room for smaller companies giving things a try.
Besides, you'd only have a point, Jorev, if you logged into Arispotle server and didn't see anyone for an hour.
And then, you'd only have a point if you had any experience with the game, which once again, you don't. Oh wait.. you "tried Ryzom"..
Jorev = permanent assumptions. He doesn't talk from experience, he talks from the angle of a psuedo-intellectual who likes to act as though he's talking from a position of knowledge, where the only position he's ever talking from is his ass.
All in all, he's a professional troll. Only ever posts in places he has no experience with, or knowledge about, to rile up those people who do actually give a toss. Best ignored, best forgotten.
Anyways;
It's a real shame about Ryzom. It's the only MMO I've played that is drastically different from other worlds, and I find it a lot of fun. Best crafting/prospecting system in any MMO yet too imo.
I don't care if it gets swallowed up by some ego-centre of MMO mass ownership, as long as it means the game gets to live on.
And perhaps that could be a good thing anyways, more money, more development etc...
Have to be better than just having the servers shut down anyways.
Sometimes these games just cannot survive, Autoassault and Ryzom were ahead of their time, there werent enough people ready to let go of their Elves and Orcs, However the market is begning to catch up to these games, cos there are a lot of "Can anyone show me a game that isnt all Orcs and Elves".
EvE was ahead of its time, but the market caught up with it, and now its thriving, I firmly beleive Ryzom and Autoassault will become great games if they can survive the problems they are having. If all the small time developers dissapear from the market all you have left is:
NCsoft Presents The World of Everquest 3: Thanks for the cash, have a new dungeon.
Too many people are scared to reach out beyond the games they know, because they are terrified at the prospect of not knowing what to do in a game. WoW holds your hand, Everquest and Lineage2 (although I do like L2) are kill, pick-up, kill, pick-up, rinse and repeat.