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Ryzom News - At A Glance: Ruins of Silan
Posted by Jon Wood on Jan 04, 2007 | 37 comments in our forums
In the return of our At A Glance feature, Donna Desborough takes a look at Ryzom's "unlimited trial area", Ruins of Silan.
In every MMO's life a few changes must come. This is a fact of life. The Saga of Ryzom is no different than any other MMO. One can always hope the changes are for the best, and in this case that just might be true. The Ruins of Silan is a starter area for new players to familiarise themselves with Ryzom. It is a place dedicated to the new player complete with tutorial missions and special rewards.
Missions in the Ruins of Silan are a bit different than everywhere else on Atys. The missions you'll encounter here aren't just for shiny rewards; they're here to teach you how to play. Ryzom's game system has always had a steep learning curve that could sometimes put new players off. This need not be a problem anymore with these new missions.
You can read the whole article here.
As far as using it to learn the lore and how to play, all I can say is that Ryzom (formerly Nevrax, now Gameforge) could and should do a better job of documenting the ins and outs of the game online. There is a lot of stuff from beta days (two years ago) and very little since. There are very few reliable external sites with guides and such. There is too much of the "well, just get in the game and ask someone, they will help you" thing. Lore shouldn't have to be pieced out on some other player's dime. The business with Stanzas and Actions, for example, is elegant, mathematical, has a structure to it and can be understood... but it takes a little work. Guides are much better for that stuff than the chat room.
Ryzom is gorgeous and fun and I'm not knocking it, but I would love to see some more support materials emerge.
There's tons of lore...
http://www.ryzom.com/game-lore
A majority of my days are spent RPing and talking to my fellow player. We have worship, stories, culture. The difference in Ryzom is that it isn't spoon fed to you. Go read the site's lore. Then go play. If anything, Ryzom is the least combat heavy MMO I've ever played. No raids here.
Yes, I have actually played Ryzom.
Roleplaying stuff only comes from players if it has at least SOME support from the software. In Ryzom there's none. You can't expect players to roleplay eating a meal together if there's no way to show a table, chairs and plates with food, or a picnic laid out on the ground. There's just nothing to work with in Ryzom. Imagination is all well and good, but I think it's a bit futile to try to use your imagination when you're pretending to have an evening in a tavern and you're hampered by the fact that there's no tavern, no chairs, no tables, no food, no drink, no entertainment and no way to provide entertainment even if a player wanted to (okay there's one dance move, but do it more than a few times in a row -as you'd have to in order to look like a dancer - and you could get booted for spamming the message that's tied to the move). Similarly, I'm sure some worship goes on, but what there is is severely constrained by the fact that there are no real temples that feel the part. I mean sure, we COULD pretend to do these things without support from the devs, but I don't think it would be much fun - and that's why it's so rare to see such things in Ryzom. Players can only supply so much in terms of imagination, and it soon loses steam if the devs don't choose to build support structures for such playstyles.
If Ryzom is the least combat heavy MMOG you've played then you've never played SWG. It has a class (entertainer) that's entirely non-combat and mostly non-crafting. Sure, SWG may have a bad reputation, but for non-combat playstyles it's way ahead of the competition.
Although this thread has been very interesting to read with lots of good points, I have to agree with this post. If players can conjure up RP in Ryzom without support from the software, I think its great. However, there are other mmorpgs that do fine job of supporting RP and making it more of a part of the game. I don't mind being spoonfed, especially when it comes to RP, something which is still only practiced by a minority of players in mmos.
I hate to refer back to SWG, because of what it has become, but I always do because even still, it offers a lot to players in terms of RP. With that and with players imagination, it has been a far more fulfilling experience than I ever had playing Ryzom. Right now the most common playstyles are supported by most mmos - Fighting, exploring, crafting, etc. but there still isn'treally a mmo that supports the RP playstyle, and perhaps that's because they rely on the players for this.
I don't mind that responsibility. I will always do my best to make do with what the game has to offer, but the more the game creates opportunity for RP, the more we'll see it happen, and it will only lead to a richer experience.
There was a whole (destructive) plot arc around their construction.
I think you're also underestimating the power of The Ring.
I haven't tried this Ruins of Silan thing, but I don't recall the learning curve being terribly steep when I tried the game.
There were tutorial missions which did a good job of explaining how everything worked.
The main reason I didn't stay was the lag.
This is absolutely true, but with a major problem: Those detailed popup windows full of instructions and explanations are gone forever once you close them. You can't look them up again, you can't re-ask the question that triggered them, they're not in your chat backscroll, and there's no "Journal" as in other games where you can reread the details of what you've been taught along the way. Nor is any of that neat new stuff echoed in the in-game Help system or the web-based Documentation tree.
This is just a basic example of the gap between the marvelous imaginations behind Ryzom and the nuts and bolts of software support that translate imagination into usability. It's fixable. They just need to do it.
The Ruins of Silan has actually been for quit some time now (since June/July). So depending on how long ago that was, you may have done Silan and not the original starter area since before there were no tutorials and the starter missions were rather useless.
(not saying you don't know what you area you did, but alot of people don't realise the area is called The Ruins of Silan)
Good point there. Being able to review things in a journal would be useful. The help info in game could do with some love for sure.
Good idea for a column - but I fail to understand the reasoning behind having the review done by a staff writer that actively plays the game. I would think that would be the last choice if the aim is to get a view on the "trial experience".
I mean, I wouldn't regard myself as a good choice to review the EVE trial experience having played the game for years now. It's entirely probable that there are things that are second nature to me now that would boggle a completely new player. Likewise, I'm sure that there are elements of the UI that I've simply gotten used to over time that would be completely unintuitive and hindering to someone on a trial.
It just seems that the purpose of the column would be better served if the reviewer was coming from the same perspective as a prospective trial player.
Please tell me, is there something wrong with the article.
If the point of the article is to review the "trial experience" from the viewpoint of someone completely unfamiliar with the game, then clearly it would be a bad idea to have it written by someone who plays the game.
On the other hand, only someone who has played the game can evaluate the trial with respect to the game itself - in other words, how closely the trial prepares you and is representative of the real game.
I think the former though is covered by the usual game reviewer, who picks up a new game, tries it for a while, and then writes about the experience. The latter requires someone who has played the game extensively.
Personally, I found the trial area fun and well thought out. The two issues I had with it were the problem of help text disappearing and the heavy emphasis on quests which give good rewards. I didn't really have a problem with the help, the community is very friendly and helpful, and I always got quick answers if I was confused. The quest thing I think is more of an issue, you can be really disappointed if you expect a quest-driven game. There are only a few rites that provide you with useful plans, upgrades, etc. and they are nowhere near as clear as the island quests, though there is enough information from other players and on the web to find and complete them if you want.
The article as written is fine, it's a good review of the new area - I was just questioning whether it was meeting the aim of the column.
" Editor's Note: At a Glance is a new feature at MMORPG.com that asks our writers to examine their first few hours of gameplay within an MMORPG's free trial."
Given that it's not actually the reviewer's first hours, but a review that comes after many hours of gameplay, I don't see the logic in promoting the column as such.
It seems most of the reviews and re-reviews on this site are written (appropriately) by people who have been in game for a while, which is pretty much a requirement to get a balanced and informed view on an MMO. At first glance would (at first glance) seem to be the companion to this usual practice - being a review closer to what someone just picking up the free trial could expect. Having both types of columns done by experienced players seems redundant. May as well just expand the scope to a full review at that point.
IMO, having the "At First Glance" review done by someone who actively plays the game doesn't meet the stated aim of the column. It's not a value judgement on the piece at all, simply a comment for any future articles.
Ok, while I do agree that there are many things that could be made easier and that could be improved and so on, I haveto say that if you had explored a bit more you might have found out that every town has its own bar complete with barman and tables. Also there are two temples in each land, one fore the Kami and one for the Karavan, though in some lands they're only building sites due to the fact that there weren't enough supporters to build a full temple there.
With the new emote system you can dance without spamming ;) just type /dance none , and the animation will run without the text \o/
Also hopefully they will add more working rites soon, those are pretty neat for lore ingame ^^ And I'm thinking that one of the reason you haven't seen any much rituals and stuff is because alot of players in ryzom are just playing for the game and not the world, and they don't really rp as such, as a guildleader, I have my own rituals of brining in new wares from the merchants to stock up the guildhall, wishing various people (and some npcs) g'morning and so on (not gonna list'em here ^^) Anywho, it all depends where you look for the stuff and how, if you look at it with your "geez this could be so much better if it were more like <put in game there> eyes" then ofc you'll be seeing all the bad things, you'll be looking for them, not just a bad thing, but it'll propably make your day-to-day life a bit less enjoyable :)
*fishes a thermos outa her packers sidepocket and crashes on the floor of the fairhaven bar* I like to try and look at things as half full ^^
*hugs from lil me* enjoy!
With regards to the writer having activly played ryzom prior to the review:
The Ruins of silan only came out 6 (ish) months ago. Lots of players (like Myself) Have NEVER steped foot on the Ruins Of Silan. (As the Mainland is NOT missions based.) If i was to step into the Ruins of Silan then i would probably feel a bit out of my depth, sure i may know how things like stanza's work. but at that level its so much simplir than the levels my char is on atm. I dont read anything in the review thats "fanboy" like. I can understand having a problem with a review if it only said "OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!! COME PLAY MOFO's LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL" (thats not a literal, its figirativly speaking)
Nice overview of the ruins of silan.
peronaly i wish they would finish alot of the stories and lore, 4 years? cmon now. hope the new company will implement this stuff.
i still like the game i still play, i hope i still will play, it depends on a couple of things............
on a darker note. ryzom billing is having problems apparently the records up to november 1st and to the billing shutdown are gone. right now i have gameforge telling me i have a 1 month sub when i paid longer. the credit card record doesnt lie, but these folks havent got a clue.
so be very careful when that free playtime is up and you sign up for long or short term and have a problem, their records arent the best right now, hope they get them cleared up.
and thats simple fact boys and girls.
Its been just over 2 years since release. there was an 8 year plan set up by nevrax. So they are 1/4 of the way through the lore. so i would say they are on par with how much they have given us. Gameforge will no doubt take things their way and we'll just have to see what else comes along.
Erm. on your billing note. Its still the same physical poeple handlining the billing. they have experience "attacks" on their billing but most of the people who you say havnt got a clue have been doing it since release. prehaps you could send them your CC statement (obviously doctored) to them. as far as i know you can only purchase 1 month at a time (since GF took over afaik)
"when your free playtime is up" ?! - Its an unlimited trial.
I'm an active player in Ryzom and regarding the article I think it was well written. Silan is only a small part of the game with an excellent set up as tutorial. Yes, when doing the Silan missions one may lose the details after closing the tutorial windows but the Universal channel is very helpful and really nobody gets stuck unless they don't ask questions. I see it many times when even the new players in Silan are helping other new arrivals themselves, so not having a journal does not limit the ability to play and enjoy the game at all.
As for the there not being a lore for role-players’ I disagree. There is a section on the main site that says Lore that expands into History, Races, Higher Powers, Atys and now a new section call Writtings featuring stories written by the players. Also you have to visit the Chronicles where you will read about the different rituals, weddings, death ritual, and the RP events the CSR team constantly implement.
I do agree that it has been a slow run for the storyline and it is obvious that we are far from where we should be. But that could not be help. The former owners of the game had major financial problems and this forced them to focus on developing and improving the game in the best way they could. I'm glad that they were able to open Outpost, create Ruins of Silan, and even release the free expansion - Ryzom Ring. I’ll take that over an updated storyline any day. One of the reasons I still play is because Ryzom is not a quest driven game. I still enjoy it even with its minor flaws.
I am sure now that the financial issues are no longer an obstacle in the development they can focus on what is missing. Just don't expect it overnight.
I personally never played the game when it came in beta because i could not get into beta wasnt accepted
Even though its probably a grindgame i did allways like the world somehow with different races and the beasts walking the land
(screenshots) just the look of it i once was about to start the game but was pulled back since i heard nothing but bad things about it anyway i moved on to other stuff.
The thing with rping its based on some people who like that type of thing (im not one of it) some say its never in a type of game or it is
Just depends on your fantasy
Same goes for the lore it is there on the site and if your drawn t it somehow you will read it, but also like some games its pretty non exsistant ingame
Also the trial world will probably be some easy type of tut wich will be pretty much useless for the most mmo players, since its not allways so different from an other game (sadly to say) i personally see no reason for it im just one of those people who likes figuring that stuff out on my own kind of see it as exploring
sorry for any typo's its late and i cant fall asleep
Editor, please.
Other than that, I thought it was a fine article/mini-review. Would like to see more in this vein.
I've played the Ryzom free tr5ial for a month or so, on the side, to check the game out.
I don't really get where people get the 'complexity' from tha tthey quote so often with regard to it tho. Ryzom admittedly is more complex then the norm, but in all essentials still is a pretty damn simple game in terms of gameplay options.
I never got to the mainland, because from what I understood by way of the ryzom forums and riends that did go to the mainland earlier on, for some reason Ryzom never payed up on its promise to be a game with emphasis on player driven content.
Of course, It might be that I'm just not a fan of games that go there, but shy away from taking the neccesary steps to make it all the way. Ryzom lacks a good economic system, and most of all doesn't seem to be getting much content form player competition for some reason. While I liked the gameplay, I didn't like the heavy emphasis on missions in the starter area, especially considering how the mainland doesn't seem to have many of those, begging one to ask what it *does* have to occupy oneself with ...
Anyway, I like Ryzom for the few original mehcanics it does have, but generally would put it in the "failures"category, sadly enough.
I don’t think Ryzom is a failure. I think the game is very refreshing and smart compared to other games out there. The fact is Ryzom is not a game that will spoon feed players like other MMORPG games tend to do. The game is clearly not for everyone but I would not categorize it a failure. Yes, it still needs some work, mainly to be brought up to date on the in-game lore. But to me and those that actually play the game Ryzom is better than other games out atm.
Hello all.
After I read this article on Friday, I decided to try Ryzom. I also read through all the comments while the game was downloading.
The tutorials are great, however they definitely need a way to get back to the lesson that was taught or at least include the same info within the help database. I found myself going to the website or talking in /universe in order to get forgotten info.
The scenery is great. The beasts roaming on the island are cool. They pack together and rush over to sniff(or bite) you if you are in the area. Seeing animals fight each other was also great.
Stanzas was a little confusing at first, but after the tutorial it became easier.
Harvesting/foraging in the early levels has been the most fun. I still don't understand how seasons play into this, but I'm sure someone will explain it after I move to the mainland.
Overall, the experience in Silan has been a good one. The game fascinated me enough to pick up a subscription. If Vanguard launch goes badly then I'll definitely be in Ryzom until Warhammer.
I have played ryzom for a long time and yes it is a good looking game,nice community,good game play and content but i do wish they would not make it such a long grind when doing the starter quests on the noob island once you have harvest and crafted things once or twicw most ppl who play get the idea of what to do, also why cant they put an item indicator on the stuff in the ground when you come to harvest so you are not running around cliking on things that you dont need.
And why cant you harvest after someone has left items that they dont need but you might need ???
Sidley
I also question the point of an article like this being written by somebody who's obviously spent more than a few hours with the game. There are a lot of questions left unanswered by the tutorial that somebody experienced with the game wouldn't pick up on. Yes you can ask people for help or look outside of the game for reference, but you can do that with any game.
I do agree this new starting zone is better than the previous ones in some ways, but it isn't completely sufficient in explaining the complexities found in this very confusing game. A step in the right direction, but still far short of adequate.
In the Stater Island you don't get Prospecting stanzas that are specific to the materials you want to harvest. The starter island is to get players familiar with the mechanics of the game. I think it does that. Now because it's a free trial of course you won't get to experiece the full scope of available actions, but you get a good idea of the game mechanics. You can search for specific materials with your tracker and when you have enough levels and the skill points you can train the stanza to dig for specific materials needed for your crafting. I forget what is call but its there; basicaly the stanza shows you the name of the materials, plus shows the type of material, and its quality. Technicaly you can dig other players sources but you need to do it before the source expires and if they don't mind. Besides you get more XP by prospecting and harvesting your own source.
Yes there is.....the editing is horrible.
Just here to say that Ryzom is the EvE of the fantasy genra. Which means its inovative and has some good ideas.
I hope it dont die.