Why isn't Ryzom getting the attention it deserves?

[stellus]

Being an avid MMOG player, I was busy playing my City of Heroes, Final Fantasy XI, Lineage 2 (ugh), Star Wars Galaxies, EVE Online, and Planetside before Ryzom came around. Just like every other hardcore MMO person out there, I was eagerly awaiting EQ2, WoW, and MEO and had my preorders set for their release.

One night I was browsing the web, reading up on the gaming sites, when I saw an ad for Saga of Ryzom (which they did a heck of a job doing, I've seen tons of Ryzom ad banners on different gaming sites). I checked out the link and read up on the game. I noticed beta was open so I downloaded the "august_client.exe".

The screenshots are what got me interested. Everything looked so well done. The world looked immersive and I couldn't find one picture where the armor and weapon did not look cool. "Nice designs", I thought as I sat staring at a Fyros with a full helmet and a flaming axe in hand. There was apparently a lot of attention to detail.

So I hopped into beta and to me, it was somewhat of a turn-off. The very first thing I noticed was the lack of music and even sound (some sort of sound driver issue where they had to take the sound out of the game for a few days). The servers seemed unstable too. The other thing I noticed was some choppy animations and a few bugs (nothing game stopping however). Other than these problems, I had a blast with the game. Everything was so different, like it didn't even resemble a "just another MMO" game.

So the beta ended and I thought nothing of it: "Back to playing City of Heroes I suppose". Then it hit me. I needed it and I couldn't stand being away from it. My urge to play Ryzom hit me so hard and so fast, I thought I was going to collapse.

Like I said, I'm an avid MMO player. I've played too many MMO's perhaps. It was getting to the point to where it didn't even feel like I was playing a game anymore, like it was just another job. Well, right when I thought I was completely burnt out on the genre (kill-loot-level-repeat), Ryzom suddenly breathed new life into my MMO experience. I was instantly hooked.

Each and every day, the only thing I could think about (besides my schoolwork and my girlfriend) was Ryzom and how I couldn't stand the wait. Release day was so close, yet so far away. Oh, and let me tell you, EB Games and Gamestop delaying their delivery was just about the end of me. It was sheer torture.

My friends thought I was nuts, they couldn't understand why I loved the game so much. One of my best friends tried out the beta, spent 5 minutes in the game, then decided it wasn't worthy of his time (he too was turned off by the missing sound and such). He's very picky and very impatient about his games. If it doesn't entertain him in the first 5 minutes, he's out. His loss I suppose.

Finally, I got the game. I swear I wanted to kiss the Fed Ex lady, but that would result in my arrest and further delaying my Ryzom game time. I loaded it up and played until my body completely shut down on me from the lack of sleep and food. It was like I was playing an MMO for the very first time. "I haven't felt this way about a game in years", I said to myself.

Now before I go on with my newly found fan-boyisms, let me first say that Nevrax pulled a complete 180. They must have put in some long hours because they really turned the game around from the end of beta to the day it released. Almost everything that had bothered me with the game had been fixed. The release version was like a complete makeover of the beta version. It's like they spent an entire year working on the game from the time beta ended up to the hour it hit the stores.

Anyway, here I am sitting at my desk wondering why The Saga of Ryzom isn't such a big hit? This game is truly amazing. I've never been so immersed in a world in my whole life. On top of that, the game is actually fun. It amazes me how much thought went into crafting even. I could go on and on about how great this game really is and how I came to love it so much. I know I haven't been around as along as some of the other Ryzom players who have been waiting for this game for years, but I can tell you that I love the game just as much, if not more. This game has persuaded me to completely forget about EQ2 and WoW. Those preorders have been cancelled as I know already that this game is thrice times better than what they will be.

So why aren't the servers packed? Why aren't we seeing swarms of players flowing out of noobie island? Where's the publicity, the magazine ads, the bright lights, and all the attention that this game deserves? Why hasn't this game gone platinum yet, huh? Well, I can dream though can't I?

I would love nothing more than to see this game succeed far beyond the developers' wildest dreams, because they deserve it. To me, The Saga of Ryzom > than any other MMO I've experienced so far.

Ryzom truly is the answer to my multiplayer prayers.

[pandorae]

I could not say it any better.

Thank you.

P.s. - I like the Gamemaster lyric. Great song, great application! http://ryzom.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

- Pandorae
- Comitatus Praetorian

http://complabs.nevada.edu/~sansonem/pand1e.jpg

[stellus]

P.s. - I like the Gamemaster lyric. Great song, great application! http://ryzom.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.gif


You know, I was listening to it yesterday and thought "This fits PERFECTLY with Ryzom". I thought of the last part, "those who watch over you..." as the Karavan. Weird huh?

[ayne31]

The answer is easy: its neither a US nor an Asian but a EUROPEAN game.

As a european myself I have tried to introduce my experiences so far in my US based EQ forum but mentioning alone that its by French developers was enough to get flamed into oblivion......

[pandorae]

I have been pushing it in both my communitys ... with decent, though not glowing reception. I will continue until they give in and try it. Or shoot me. ;)


http://complabs.nevada.edu/~sansonem/pand1e.jpg

[Heilsbringer]

Two words: Publicity, European!
I think thatīll wrap it up.
I think most americans think of european culture as of avengarde and not main stream. What sometimes is indeed true but never a minus!
And even as wide spread as the commercials on german game-sites were before launch, it wasnīt enough for SoR in my opinion.
A german MMORPG-site had started a poll, asking what company got the best support for MMORPGīs. Guess whoīs first?
Bingo, Blizzard. THEY DONīT EVEN HAVE A MMORPG LIVE!
Itīs the name, nothing else!!

With your permission, stellus, I want to copy your post to our german forum, because i think itīs great what such an experienced player like you got to say.
And i want to ask my community, what they have to say to your question!

Ok? :)

[stellus]

Thanks! Go fot it, I don't mind at all :)

[jurism]

There is more to say... yes, ryzom is a great game. no doubt and i enjoy it like you all. anyways, i think ryzom lost many many potential customers during the first open beta. the first open beta was advertised everywhere. they had advertisements, clients on dvd in many many game mags. sadly, the game was not ready for the masses. everyone and his mother jumped in and many many players got bad impressions because of bad performing server and buggy gameplay. they then decided to push the release 3 months back, which was the only right decision but many players just did not understand why and turned away...
thats what i think...

anyways, ryzom has the potential to grow! just like other mmorpgs with "not so good" releases it might grow in the next months, it all depends how things will develop now and on the one and only promotion... Player to player, gamer to gamer... talk about ryzom, tell everyone how great this title is! yes. thats what to do... ;)

[pandorae]

Ermmm yeah ... about that.

I took the liberty of copying your post to the open forum. Hope you don't mind.

My mistake!! Sorry!

http://complabs.nevada.edu/~sansonem/pand1e.jpg

[Heilsbringer]

Yes, jurism, itīs sad that most of the people thought of the open beta as of a complete game. I mean what in BETA is to misunderstand?
Poor folk!
Not my bad that they left. Better people will take their places!
:)

And stellus, thx and done! :)

[sintas]

This may be my only post in here. I am new into playing MMORPGs and started out playing in the WoW stress test. I played every minute I could... even took extra long lunch breaks at work so I could play it. I only heard about this game a week or two ago and it just seemed like it was going to blow any other MMORPG game away. It talks about how the world is "alive" and it has a "story line that matters." Well... that certainly got my attention!

Unfortunately, I've been very disappointed in this game even though I've been forcing myself to play it hoping that it will eventually get better. I'm still on this "noob island" that I hear about (with my magic at 16, fighting at 12, and harvesting at around 10)... and the whole place is just surrounded by walls... it just feels like I'm stuck in a prison. I haven't seen a story line at all... the quests don't work... except once... There is no life in the NPCs and I keep saying it just feels "dead."

I usually try demos of the games I buy before I play them, but I know most MMORPGs don't have demos... and I wasn't early enough to try the beta of this. The controls are terrible... it would have been better if they were more like Morrowind or WoW.

I'm not posting this as flaming.... I WANTED this game to be good... I tried giving it a chance... but I'd rather stare at my ceiling for the rest of the day than play this. The towns have no characteristics to them. It just looks like lazy work by just making the towns the same. Who knows.. maybe it is only on the noob island. I'll give it one more chance by teleporting to somewhere else even though I should wait until I"m a higher level, but all I've been doing is just hacking and slashing... since there has been no storyline with broken quests. At each town the quests look just like another... it just seems there was no thought to it. I just want a refund on this game...

[Heilsbringer]

Iīm sad to hear, sintas, that playing SoR was such a pain to you. :(

All i can say is that the refugee land is supposed to be basically the same in every outpost, to avoid disadvantages for the players. If you tried harvesting you would have to travel a lot because the important materials are strewn all over the place. That is interesting. For me at last. If you started as Fyros, the desert is a most certainly boring place, if you donīt like deserts and wooden walls! Maybe the Zorai or Matis would have been of your liking. Itīs all jungle and lush green woods. And to start the game on the stress-test server is not a good start at all. :o
I have to admit, itīs kind of hard for some totally new guy to get stuck in the game from the start. It needs some reading and some reading and patience!
I know that in the next months there will be some pretty nice changes on Atys. I donīt want to miss anything.

I donīt like everything right now. No. But iīm patient. I know this will pay of later.
I hope, if you peak into the game in a few months, you will find some or everything as you please.
Weīd like to welcome you, when ever you are ready. :p

Yours Heilsbringer and the community

[wicker]

Got to get off newbie island.

Anyway, yeah Ryzom needs way more publicity. And it deserves way more attention. So far I like it better than any MMO I've ever played. It's almost erie how little you hear about this game. Usually game sites are falling over themselves just to post a screenshot of any dumb game. You'de think they would be pushing this great game like crazy.

I have to say though, I was also very turned off to the game at the very first beta. But then out of total bordem I tried the open beta and loved it. And Ryzom is so much better than World of Warcraft too. It deserves more attention and more subscribers. I want it to go very strong for a long time.

[maerlyn]

I played Ryzom during the first open beta and I fell in love with it then. The options of who you can be in the game are endless. I have played mmorpgs since soon after EQ came out and I have gotten tried of all the cookiecutter classes. In this game I can finally be a tanking mage or whoever else I want to be. I love skill-based systems, which SWG sucked at, but lately have had to turn to text-based MUDs for my fix. The best thing we can do as gamers is hyped the game to our friends and write emails to websites and magazines so the the more main-stream will hear about the game.

[Fred1l1]

All i have to say is im going to die waiting the month it'll take for the new patches to come out...some awesome stuff coming...

This is an awesome game...hooked me in beta like none have yet, i played the free EQ trial and it bored me in a matter of minutes, bought FFXI and got bored of it within a week, played the free EVE and it bored me in minutes, played SWG and it bored me in a couple days. Never really got into the whole MMOG style of play (though i do like most RPGs) cause it was either too boring and/or cost too much, this is the first one i feel that the money is well spent!

Congradulations on an awesome launch Nevrax. I'm hoping good reviews especially in magazines like PCGamer will help this game take hold in the US.

[falrik]

Open beta is a double edge sword. The vast majority of negative posts that I have read have been from beta-testers.

Ryzom is just really different from other online rpgs. Alot of players like the comfort of familiarity.

I almost didn't buy Ryzom because of the lack of classes in this game. Don't get me wrong I don't need to play a particular class, it is just that my experience with skill-based progression systems (AC2) has been dissappointing.

I am glad I bought Saga of Ryzom.

[lonwolf]

I could not agree more on the info in this post!!

WHAT! the French made this game? /Lonwolf looks around to see if any Americans are watching him play...

SO WHAT!! I love this game, even if it means combing the american server with the french one! I cant get enough, and to think I play even without theme music, I think the Kipee roar in the background is my theme music ;)

Enjoy Homin's!

[YellowSnow]

Many people I have talked to that played the open beta briefly were very impressed with the overall game, but weren't quite convinced it was a game they wanted to play regularly. Everyone of them said that they will definately keep an eye on it though, so I think there will be several players joining in after a few months. All we have to do is spread the word that this really is worth playing and is one of the best MMO's released to date. ;)

[lyrah68]

I would like to agree and PLEAD with the distributors to get the news out there. I have talked with just about every game store within driving distance (looking for the game) and I tried to make SURE the managers KNEW this game was NOT for the Ubber loot Leet D00ds, but for the rest of the gaming world it was Vibrant and alive.

It took me about 6 days to find ONE copy...in DALLAS for pity sake...if ANYTHING exists, I can find it here, but ONLY one copy in 25 or more stores I called. The publisher and distributor of this game needs a beating, since the developers so CLEARLY put so much heart and soul into this game.

I don't buy the gaming mags (since I don't play the gaming system games, If I can't install it into my PC, I don't buy it), but I did flip through one to look for Ryzom, since I betaed it, I wanted to "watch" the release. I didn't find ONE review, ad or ANYTHING. It was like the forgot the North American release altogether.

[jdiegel]

Heck, I had trouble just finding the game...

[ZonMezz]

I have mixed feelings about the publicity of Ryzom not being as high as it could be. On the one hand I wish it would be more successful so that Nevrax could happily keep working on the worlds and make this into a disgustingly awesome game.

On the other hand, it's kind of like having a really cool secret, you know?

Zeke.

[dyriddw]

The screenshots are what got me interested. Everything looked so well done. The world looked immersive and I couldn't find one picture where the armor and weapon did not look cool. "Nice designs", I thought as I sat staring at a Fyros with a full helmet and a flaming axe in hand. There was apparently a lot of attention to detail.


As much as I like this game, if you've at all checked the technical suport forum, this game has ENORMOUS video card compatibility issues. Almost all ATI card users and several Nvidia card users have sluggish play, system reboot, screen freezes, etc.

If this game isn't getting more attention, it's probably because it's so graphic intensive that many, many people can't play it when they buy it. I'd love to have friends play this game with me, but I can't recommend it to them because who knows if it will run w/their video card....

It would be one thing if Nevrax provided a list of cards that work with the game (ala the CoH support page, which gives a full list), but the specs on the box specify a mid-level card (64M)...and most people with anything in the that range (64M-lower 128M cards) have posted technical problems on the forums.

Yes, the options for Direct 3D and OpenGL are there...but why should users have to mess around with that? I've played DAoC, CoH, SWG, and AO...and I didn't have to tinker with any of those. That is the company's responsibility.

[stellus]

I could not agree more on the info in this post!!

WHAT! the French made this game? /Lonwolf looks around to see if any Americans are watching him play...

SO WHAT!! I love this game, even if it means combing the american server with the french one! I cant get enough, and to think I play even without theme music, I think the Kipee roar in the background is my theme music

Enjoy Homin's!

Hey, just because I disagree with the French government, doesn't mean I hate the French people. =)

[Heilsbringer]

Since i opened the same thread in the german forum, i watched a lot of interesting discussions about this subject. And now, after all this time comes the chance of a german wide distribution of SoR in national television (donīt know if it also will be watchable in Austria and Switzerland). :p
The computergames-show GIGA-Games(biggest games-show in Germany) on NBC will show a first-view of SoR tonight. That means they will only show some starting minutes of the game; the character creation, some steps on the refugee island and such, by what i know atm. But usualy after a first-look they do a test a few weeks later.
The host that presents the game asked us if we could tell him the most important aspects of the game and what we think will be important to say.

So, thats the good news i wanted to tell you, if you want to know.:rolleyes:

Bye :)

[hastings]

I've been playing Star Wars Galaxies -- my first mmorpg -- for a little over two months. It has all the interface and foundation for being a great game, but there just isn't any compelling content. The quests/tasks/themeparks suck -- boring, boring, tedious, mindless.

And noone roleplays, at least as far as I've seen.

Not to mention that in just two months, people have worn me out with the constant whining about becoming a Jedi. (Are you glowy? I'm glowing! Where's the village? I mastered 32 professions! Blah blah blah.)

SoR further appealed to me, leading me to purchase and try, because: Everquest 2 will have NO PvP and WoW characters look too cartoonish, even tho I have a preorder coming.

So, if this ends up being fun, I'm golden. If it's more of the same, I'll try WoW with my roommate who's a big WoW RTS fan.

[spazzlad]

I'm relatively new to mmo's (started with Shadowbane year before last) and now I've played AC2 (briefly), Horizons, tried out DAoC, etc. I did try Ryzom in their first open Beta, and I was impressed with the visuals and full collision that is lacking in so many other games (hate how you can run right through other people an stuff in other games, and MOBs that walk through walls an stuff.)

Now, I'm still playing Horizons, and I like Ryzom as well. So looks like I am going to be a multi-game players (gasp!), just how to divide my time between games and work (wish I could get paid to play!).

I didn't return to any of the subsequent open beta's after the first, not because I was disappointed, but because I am pretty involved in my guild in Horizons, and didn't have the time to help in testing another game. (I'm a guild officer.) But I kept an eye on the game, and even tho I didn't pre-order, I did go by the store and pick one up a day or two after release.

My biggest thing right now is lack of music, but that can be ignored =) I am looking forward to the first patch, and I'm impressed that the devs have already let the player base know what to look for in the patch this far ahead. In Horizons, you never really knew for sure until after the patch goes live and you read the patch notes while it was actually patching (sigh).

The thing that I find so refreshing about Ryzom is it's originality in appearance and feel. It's not the same ole, same ole. Also the use of consensual PvP. I prefer RP-ing, and I think that PvP could definately be used there, i.e. rp disagreements, racial tensions (heard that Trykers and Matis are not very friendly), etc.

Also, some way to correct mistakes in assigning SP's would be nice. (I've already started over on my Zorai caster). But these are all little things and no big bother. Since I bought Ryzom, Ive been playing it regularly, it's a lot of fun!

Oh, hate those darn Ragus!!! =)

[korin77]

Not to stereotype but if you mention the french and programming in the same sentence in the US you usually hear alot of laughter. Americans don't hate the french, they hate the french government. However they think of the french as snobbish elitists who tries to turn their nose up at Americans. This contributes to alot of the negativity about the french. Ask any guy what they think of the french and they will tell you about french women. Yes we love them french women. OUI LA LA!

I heard about this game a year ago and couldn't wait to try it but try as I may I could not get into beta. Then the open weekends started and I managed to get into the game for 2 days. There was a great deal of bugs all over the place in my experience and the frustration level was high. I was pleasantly surprised when I got my game to note most of those bugs are gone. A game company is judged by the amount of bugs they fix within the first month. Bugs can kill a game as nothing else can.

Why do I want to play EQ2? The graphics, the immersiveness. The same is there in Ryzom. Ryzom however gives you a sense of freedom to play any style you want, to customize your playing style. Char classes limit EQ and you are always going to get class envy. This game does have alot of potential especially once the game story and events start. Its going to be a fun ride.

[Cilar]

the french and programming in the same sentence in the US you usually hear alot of laughter.


Well, it's funny knowing that the 3 first European video game publishers and makers are french : UbiSoft, Vivendi Universal Games (owning Blizzard (so WoW :) ) and Sierra (Half Life) BTW) and Inforgamme (as knows as "Atari" in the USA since they bought this name 3 or 4 years ago). I'm pretty sure that many americans already played a game made (Prince of Persia Sand of Time, Splinter Cell or XIII for example) or published (Unreal Tournament, Warcraft 3, etc) by a french company.
Note I made a difference between making and publishing (I'm aware Warcraft 3 was made in California but the company owning Blizzard is french (VU Games) ).

[korin77]

The original companies that you mentioned were not french, they were later acquired by the french. Thats a difference. You are talking about publishing companies which usually only make management decisions and not actual programming decisions. Blizzard was a canadian company. Sierra was US from washington state. HECK EA and SONY owns everything nowadays. Both publishers are Japanese. Also I think some of those companies you mentioned are under different publishers in the US.

[hastings]

The idea that the game was developed in Europe, released there first, then a North American server was the most recent to launch made me nervous. But I'm a "power user" and pretty much a low maintenance type person overall, so I doubt I'll have to deal with tech support ::: knock on wood :::

I've seen several typos or strange wording in the game -- nothing major, just enough oddness to remind me that NA English isn't Ryzom's first language ;-)

[Cilar]

EA is American for sure, not Japonese. You're sure Blizzard was Canadian ? They are based in California.

[korin77]

Ok I looked up the info and I had a few errors. You are right about Blizzard, it was from california, Im thinking of bioware. Sierra was based in california for a while and moved to washington. Electronic arts is based in US, but I read somewhere that it was acquired by a Japanese company. I am probably mistaken. However my point is that just because the publishers are foreign doesn't mean the software company is. EA has steadily brought up companies in canada, europe and japan.

[stevenso]

I'm enjoying all the other European's claiming that this is why the game is not being listed number one or haveing such a flow of people to it. Though this may hold some wieght, it's EXTREAMLY unlikely. I saw one comment saying that Americans may see this and see Europe as not mainstream so not worth intrest. I dunno how you can make assumptions on people you don't know. That's the problem with the world today, people believe what they hear in the media n such. Yes, i am American and no i do not make these assumptions and if everyone around the world did then it'd be great lol. And yes i am axiously awaiting this jan to vote this bumb, stuipd retard, who cheated to get into office the heck out the whitehouse. ANYWAY, back to the subject at hand. The MAIN reason the game isn't getting the spot light it deserves (at least in america). Is that the first marketing company that they singed with (of who i forget who it was) they had a falling out with just months before they were going to release the game. They then scrambled to sign with uh man i forget their freakin name, but it's a big name in the gameing industry. If someone remembers this please respond. But that is the main reason they haven't been able to get the word out to people. If you go to www.gamespot.com one of the previews there for the game says this. It is from that site that i first learned about the game several months ago. Prior to that i had never heard of it before(this preview is after the change in marketers). And supposedly they people here at Ryzom are now running a high marketing campaine. We all know it will succeed b/c this game is absoultely amazing.