So you're thinking of playing Ryzom...

[pxdxa]

-Table Of Contents-
1 - Introduction
2 - Gameplay
3 - "Feel" of the game
4 - Things that make this game unique
5 - Comparing this game to other popular MMORPG's


-(1.0) Introduction-
(This is a description of the feel and gameplay coming from an MMORPG veteran so that you don't have to download to game to figure out whether or not you would like it. This is the the newcomer welcome board because I think that newcomers would find it useful. )

-(2.0)Gameplay-
In my opinion gameplay for Ryzom is like Runescape (Open ended and class-less). Its is completely open ended, so you can choose to be any combination of "Classes". There is no level cap that I know of, so you can max out all skill trees. (Fighter, Magic, Crafting, and Harvesting.) Starting out you will probably choose one of these trees to start in depending on what "Classes" you have played before in other MMORPG's.

-(2.1)Gameplay: What Each "Class" Is like-

Fighter: Your regular Hack and Slash Melee Weapon wielding Warrior. Warriors use Melee Weapons, and heavy/medium armor. The heavier your armor the more of a penalty you will have on attacking. (Dps fighter should wear Medium armor so that they don't have as high penalties while Tanks -Meat Shields- should wear heavy armor that will take a beating)

Unlike in other games, if you choose to be a fighter you can also branch out into the other tree's like magic for example, and cast to draw enemys to you instead of having to run up to them, although you would have to sacrifice some armor to do this, because you recieve a penalty for wearing any armor heavier than "light".



Magician: Magicians have high damage, but unlike other games, your magician doesn't have to be "frail" because the game is open ended you can train your other skill tree's and spend points on "Constitution" which increases your HP. This would create a mage with high hitpoints and respectable damage. You can probably start to see at this point how open-ended this game really is.



Crafting: Crafting is the skill tree that allows you to make Weapons, Armor, and Jewelry.

Weapons: This branch of crafting allows you to make weapons for you and fellow players.

Armor: This branch of crafting allows you to make Armor for all slots, Including gloves for mages to increase damage and crafting speed. This is the main "Weapon" for mages.

Jewelry: This branch of crafting allows you to make Jewelry for you and your fellow players to wear. Jewelry gives extra bonuses on top of armor. (Jewelry is very good for mages because it allows them to achieve high bonuses while still wearing light armor.)


Harvesting: Harvesting allows a player to prospect (Look For) and Harvest resources used in Crafting. The higher your Harvesting level the faster that you will be able to harvest from nodes around the world, and you will be able to prospect for nodes from farther away.




-(2.2)Gameplay: Graphics and effects-
No exceptional game that is worth playing has bad graphics, and Ryzom thankfully has some pretty good graphics. You'll know as soon as you login that your dealing with a beautiful game. Its not some crappy Korean made mass produced MMORPG. Ryzom is like nothing else and the graphics aswell as the spell effects are superb.



-(3.0)"Feel" of the game-
The feel of Ryzom is that of freedom, that is the only way to describe it. As soon as you login you are free to do whatever you like, whether you want to Harvest and Craft and become rich, or whether you want to train hard and become a famous slayer, the choice is yours, and you can do whatever you like. There is no tutorial in the game (There is in the form of missions but there isnt any explanation on how to start missions, the only thing that your really told on logging in is how to move) So you'll want to read lots of guides on the game. There are very helpful players online most of the time who will help you with your questions, and a nice forum community, so if you have questions, get stuck or lost, ask in region. If you don't get any help in region, ask in universe. But be careful not to abuse the universe channel, whatever you type in universe gets sent to EVERYONE.


-(4.0)Things that make this game unique-

There are many things that make Ryzom unique, but to highlight a few:

• The Combat System (Hybrid Classes)
• The Class System (See Next Bullet)
• The Game being totally open-ended (No set path I.E. Your a mage, you only get to cast magic spells.)
• "Rings" or scenario's (Instances)
• Unique Death System (You can be resurrected within 5 minutes of death to recieve no penalty)
• Graphics (Amazing Graphics and Spell Effects)
• Lore (Story Behind The Game)

-(5.0)Comparing this game to other MMORPGS-
Most Like: Runescape

Why? This game is totally open-ended and class-less and has many skill paths and combinations that you can explore to no end. There is always something fun to do in Ryzom.

Least Like: World of Warcraft

Why? World of warcraft is a totally "Pathed" game. You have a set path after your starting area that you have to follow to advance in the game, and your class is restricted to whatever class you picked (I.E. Warriors can cast mage spells.)

In closing I would like to say that I have played Ryzom for about a total of a day, and if any of this information is wrong, please feel free to correct it. I posted this so that people would get a feel for this game before they played it, or maybe this would encourage people to play this amazing game. If you liked this guide, Check out my other guides:

• How To Install Ryzom On Windows Vista Is Located HERE

Player Additions to this guide

Posted By: Lylanea
YOU can make a difference!
With the player-administrations of the different races and for example the matis "nobles system", which allows you to become famous for things you DO besides grinding and/or other usual stuff,
great opportunity arises for passionate roleplayers. Not only do you play a "role" in a Team, like in so many other games. Here´s your chance to really be a personality. To play a role in the history of Atys.
To help the story behind Ryzom become alive. To be a part of it.
To become well known for their craft skills, or for their profession as a bard, or as a true statesman/woman, that cares about
his/her people and does his/her best to better their standing in the grand scheme of things.

Posted By: Sasi
1. Skill tree: Any character (you can have five per account) can learn every skill in the game, and train to the maximum skill level in each. (250) However, I am not aware that anyone has ever succeeded in doing so, not because you can't but because of the amount of time it would take. You begin at skill level one in the root of the four skill areas, which are listed above. At level 20, 50, 100, 150, and 200, each skill area branches out, and each branch is trained separately, by using the relevant skills. At the 200-250 level, there are dozens of different skill tree branches. There are literally thousands of "dings" to achieve.

Because of this, Ryzom does not entail racing through the levels to max out and begin "end game" play. There are things you can do that are much easier with certain skills at high levels, but even then you can participate in a party with lower level skills. Healing in particular is always welcome at almost any skill level.

2. Skills/actions: One of the most unique parts of Ryzom is that you can edit and create your own actions. As you gain skill, you may learn new "building blocks" (called stanzas) which you can use to make your own spell, your own melee attack, your own combination of enchantments on a crafted item, the most efficient harvesting action for a given situation. If you like PvP, the winner of duels is often the one with the best custom actions. The same goes for hunting creatures at your limit - the efficiency of your actions will determine your success... or defeat.

3. Quests (known as Missions): There are missions available at the beginning to teach you the basics of each skill tree. There are also some more "storyline" missions in the beginning area that you can do once you've become comfortable with the game. You may leave the training area at any time, but for the first time player I personally recommend completing all of the available missions first. Once you reach the mainland, there are more missions you may do, if you like them. However, the farther you go, the less important missions become, and cooperative play with others becomes more important.

This is an important note - it would be ridiculously difficult to play Ryzom as a solo game exclusively. It can be done, indeed. But it is hard, and you will miss out on some of the better aspects of the game.

There are indeed some higher level missions, but the majority of players don't bother with them most of the time. A few offer useful rewards, but most are done for the purpose of gaining fame with the NPC group that offers the missions. I won't elaborate on that - fame is a whole other essay.

As of this date, the dev team is working on more high level missions and content, so this is subject to some degree of change.

4. Crafting is possibly the most well-developed of any MMORPG. Yes, there are other games that have fun crafting, but I've never encountered any that I considered more fun, more engaging, or more well developed. Each crafted item is made to a certain plan, but different materials, both hunted and harvested, may be used for each component. A given material or combination of materials imparts different characteristics to the final item. There are millions (!) of possible combinations, and master crafters have discovered many recipes which they guard as trade secrets, because they produce the best stats. This is REAL learning, acquired through experimentation and practice, not something provided as a game mechanic.

The crafter's name stays with the item permanently, along with an optional message.

The best gear in the game, by far, is that created by players. NPC gear is the bottom of the heap. Animals do not drop gear, although bandits and "primitive hominid" mobs do in some cases.

5. Harvesting: is fun! Yes, actual fun. It's not at all the "locate a rock and click it" harvesting found in most MMOs. The skills are very involved, and you have to pay attention or you will blow yourself up or poison gas yourself. Again, a whole other topic, but I have never, ever, ever, encountered another game with resource harvesting even half as fun and interesting as Ryzom's.

With that said, I should point out that harvesting is probably at its most frustrating and difficult at the beginning, and gets at least more fun if not actually easier as you progress.

6. Learning curve: Ryzom is rich with things to learn. You will not learn it all in a day, or a week, a month, or a year. Even our eldest veterans are still learning. Don't approach it with the idea that you will race through the tutorials and become uber ASAP. You won't, and you'll be frustrated if you try it. The most enjoyable approach that I've seen is to approach it as something which will keep surprising you for a long time to come. Be patient, observe, ask questions, and accept help. Personally, I'll probably never be "uber", but I've had years of fun, and hope for years more.

7. You will be eaten by angry predators. Often. The missions you are sent on and the goals you set for yourself will pit you at times against obstacles and enemies you cannot yet overcome. Thankfully, the powers (Kami and Karavan) will graciously resurrect you, if a generous homin doesn't beat them to it. So don't sweat it. Relax and accept the brief and easily overcome Death Penalty as the normal course of education. Seriously, it's no biggie.

Do feel free to ask in region chat for someone to come resurrect you. Sometimes nobody will be around or close enough, but often people will drop what they are doing and run to your rescue. That's just the way we are in this game. Be that way, too, and you'll fit in just fine.

[iceaxe68]

Thanks, that's a really nice introduction to the game!

I'd say it's pretty much all accurate, though I'd like to add a bit of elaboration on a few points. You already know or you'll soon discover these things, but for someone considering the game they might appreciate knowing up front.

[snip snip - this bit has been added above. /]

I'm sure others can add more, there's so much to say!

[pxdxa]

Thank you for adding your .02 cents.

[hemera]

nice
Amps for mages is melee weapons crafting and not armor tree

[acridiel]

Great
But does it always have to be old BETA Screenshots?

CU
Acridiel

[iceaxe68]

Originally Posted by acridiel

Great
But does it always have to be old BETA Screenshots?

CU
Acridiel

The beta shots get used because they are available.

Maybe we should make a repository of freely usable screenshots that people can add to. Put it all under creative commons license or similar, so the images can be used suitably.

Hmm, I wonder who has a website to host Ryzom images....

Originally Posted by pxdxa

Thank you for adding your .02 cents.

You are most welcome! (But you might want to edit your reply and cut out my quoted great wall o' text, just to avoid the repetition.)

[pxdxa]

We could make a photobucket account specifically for Ryzom Screenshots, perhaps have a sticky thread about it to get the word around? I would be willing to make the account and host new images aswell as manage it.

Edit: I just now noticed the sarcasm in your post about the website, I noticed the link. Perhaps we could convince the owner to allow people to host screenshots aswell as videos?

[acridiel]

Originally Posted by pxdxa

We could make a photobucket account specifically for Ryzom Screenshots, perhaps have a sticky thread about it to get the word around? I would be willing to make the account and host new images aswell as manage it.

Edit: I just now noticed the sarcasm in your post about the website, I noticed the link. Perhaps we could convince the owner to allow people to host screenshots aswell as videos?

Harrdeeharr!
That would be me

Jup, good idea Sasi.
I´ll put a new category into the gallery asap.
And hopefully, in the process, will find out why the heck the picture-zoom function doesn´t work anymore. *grumble*

Or, you´ll just send me some nice screenies and I´ll host them on my ftp for this thread

And one more thing, that is important, at least to me, and should go into this description of the game:

(Added to the above text)

I LOVE THIS GAME !
CU
Acridiel

[pxdxa]

Great! I'm glad that we will be part will now be a place for player to post screenshots, and we can get some nice updated screenshots!
I added Sasi and Acridiels posts to the guide, so if you could edit your posts (Deleting things that got added to the guide) I would appreciate that, as I would like to keep this thread nice and clean !

Maybe someday I'll be able to afford a subscription so that I can play after my 21 days are up, and really get into the game ^-^.

[acridiel]

Will do so in the next few days. Probably on the weekend.

CU
Acridiel