New year, new Start !

[Anarkia]

First of all, on the name of the whole Animation4 team, I wish you a very happy new year 2010.

2009 was a great year for Ryzom, and specificaly for the animation, rythmed by a lot of advancements.

We first began with regular events, with the sequence which was called "4 Events for 3 Shards". Then there was the establishment of governments of nations, between winter and autumn. It was a story of "Hugging Kitin, weeping homin" when the patrollers Kirostas came back into the Prime Roots. Then, the fear arrived among the homins, with the building of the encampments, at the sweat of the brow, followed by enormous invasions of white Kitin of the root, finally eradicated, during the "Spring, when tents blossomed" sequence.

After a deserved break, and a completed tanning, it was the return, and since october, you could thwart the sordid plans of the Maraudeurs during the "Enemy of Past" sequence. Then, after the interlude of Halloween and of headless tricks, you could assist to the coming back of Kitins in the Almati's Woods Kitins Nest, thereby its opening to the homins by the Atys Rangers, during "The Queen under the Bark" sequence. Finaly, it was Atysmas, OOC events called "Let's have magic!".

And we do not expect to stop, our intentions for 2010 is to offer you animations always more passionate, more dynamic, and where you'll be able to delve deeper than ever in the Atys's mysteries.

We want to slighty rebalance the game, in order to give back an important influence to the factions in the animation context, while continuing to consolidate the nations roles. The goal being to allow more interractions between these important two Deity on Atys. Followers of faction, prepare!

We wish eagerly to allow to each of you to immerse yourself more in the Lore, an essential element of Ryzom, and for that we already have projects about many animation sequences based around it. The Lore will be viewable more easily in game, via the new profile panels introduced with the objects (info) query, so that each of your characters can more easily learn about the known history of Atys

These sequences will begin in the next weeks, and you'll of course be informed in due course. It whispers that some secrets, found in the tomb of Nung Horongi, could resurge.

Howerver, we won't forget the OOC events, we know that it pleases you a lot, and we will continue to innovate and propose to you events with as much creativity and humor as we can muster, and allow everyone to participate, whatever their tastes may be on Atys.

Finally, we will continue to work on our communication and information methods, in order to more easily find information that you need for the different events.
Don't forget to regulary consult the WebIG home page (Shift+W) where every event is announced. We also wish will improve the information panels of the main town, so it will be more useful for all.

To finish, don't forget that we are always listening to your notices, suggestions, scenario ideas. You can contact us in game, on the RP forum (http://atys.ryzom.com) or via the CeB.

Once again, we wish you an excellent year 2010, and will make an announcement soon for when these new adventures begin!

Anarkia,
Animation Leader

[kalindra]

I absolutely loved the events of 2009 and did my best to attend most of them. Now I have a lot of work to catch up on the events covering with my Roleplay and Gaming blog.

This time, I must remember to take screenshots...

I really want to thank the Animation team. You guys are one of the two main reasons I keep paying my sub. May the Saga continue for a long, long time !

[katriell]

Positivity first:
- It's always nice to read communication from the people behind or beside Ryzom.
- Events are a good thing.
- The summary of what happened in the storyline during 2009 is helpful.

Thank you, Animation, for all your efforts. Even though I don't agree with some of your ideas and implementations, you still have my appreciation.

Now for the griping:
I hate OOC events. When a mainstream game like Aion is more immersive than Ryzom simply because they bother to wrap holidays in creative, relevant lore...well, it's unfortunate. "Atysmas" and its Halloween counterpart are tacky jokes.

[kalindra]

Gotta admit that the tinytoub races are hilarious though.

[katriell]

Originally Posted by kalindra

Gotta admit that the tinytoub races are hilarious though.

True.

I wish there was a way to separate such things from the rest of the game, though. Maybe by confining them to Ring scenarios, but the Ring isn't stable enough for it...

[gcaldani]

Hello and happy new year, Animation Team.

I feel the need to clarify that my past complaints never were against the event team nor about events in general.

You are doing a great job and, after reading about last past events notes, I seen you understood it's better to advise the community before taking away the entire content from Atys.

Very good idea to improve the in-game information panel: surprises are good but informations are better.

As a side note, I agree with Katriell about OOC events: i never liked them in any mmo I play(ed) because they so artificial, anyway I know many people like them so anything that makes community happy will be always welcomed.

Just give me (and everyone else that feels as me) a chance to continue my life in Atys and ignore such events.

Happy new irl year and good work to all of you.

[danolt]

Originally Posted by Anarkia

We want to slighty rebalance the game, in order to give back an important influence to the factions in the animation context, while continuing to consolidate the nations roles. The goal being to allow more interractions between these important two Deity on Atys. Followers of faction, prepare!

I am glad to hear this. I think the factions are the core ingredient in the lore and themes of Atys. One of the most attractive aspects of the game to me is creating a character that has a belief system that can be rooted in the ideology of either the Kami or the Karavan.

There is depth in their conflict, that goes beyond the normal range of other faction based games. On Atys an entire world was designed around conflicting principles. Somewhat like the movie Princess Monomoke the sides are destined to fight, there can not be balance, there must be conflict.

It is a shame that in a history and culture full of examples of divine interaction, the gods are silent to the point of being pointless. To borrow a phrase from Martin Luther, the people of Atys "should fear, love and trust" their gods. I'd say even the most devout role-player has been 0 for 3 for most (if not all) of the games history. It is perhaps my biggest disappointment in the development of the game that while pretty much every lore story is centered in the development of creating a mythos based on either faction, new in-game development has ignored, and even at times conflicted with what was established dogma.

So anyway, thanks for planning on bringing back some much needed depth. I look forward to it.

[jwenting]

Originally Posted by danolt

I am glad to hear this. I think the factions are the core ingredient in the lore and themes of Atys. One of the most attractive aspects of the game to me is creating a character that has a belief system that can be rooted in the ideology of either the Kami or the Karavan.

There is depth in their conflict, that goes beyond the normal range of other faction based games. On Atys an entire world was designed around conflicting principles. Somewhat like the movie Princess Monomoke the sides are destined to fight, there can not be balance, there must be conflict.

And the more faction determines what you can do and where you can do it, the more strife and grief will develop, with people trying to ensure that their faction is the upper dog and the other utterly destroyed.

In the end there'd be nowhere to go and not get harassed for being in one faction or the other.
I've seen it countless times in other mmos, and one of the reasons I came here was to get away from that.

[ajsuk]

In which case, I back Pero 100%.

[danolt]

Originally Posted by jwenting

And the more faction determines what you can do and where you can do it, the more strife and grief will develop, with people trying to ensure that their faction is the upper dog and the other utterly destroyed.

That is a very probable reality of what would happen if things stay the same. However, if this is to be a story based game, and the existing lore is part of that story, conflict is inevitable. That does not mean it has to be never ending, it can be resolved, it can be ended. Conflict, resolution...followed by a new conflict, so on and so on, that is pretty much how every saga goes. Enemies become friends, friends enemies, truths revealed, falsehoods discovered, is pretty much part of any serial plot line.

I am not advocating eternal conflict, I would prefer resolution. A purpose to base my character actions on, other then controlling a limited resource. I am not of fan of having to take from someone else to get something, I and I think most others prefer a mechanic where they could build it on their own.

There are many visions of how Atys should be, and there are many interpretations of the lore. I have quite a few of them myself, but I really don't care as much about them being correct as I care about the developers having a clear vision and the courage and ability to see it through.