Questions for Beyond Silan

[50kal]

Hi

I’m living in South Africa and only picked up ADSL 2 months ago.

I've been mainly playing FPS style games online, and still am, but I wanted to try the MMORPG scene as well.
So I decided to take a look at the MMORPGs available, and..... well the choices sucked, they were all so bland and looked like Diablo Online, don't get me wrong, I loved Diablo 2 and wasted a lot of my life playing it, but that was not what I was looking for.

Then I came across Ryzom, and I was intrigued, and when I found out about the free trial I downloaded & installed it immediately.
And I enjoyed it, until I hit the level cap a few days later, must have missed that info on the "unlimited" trial page. ;-)

Anyway, I'm really tempted to go further, but the Trial doesn't really answer many questions, especially involving the leveling and skills.
I think a few more levels in the Cap would have helped, but anyway.

I've searched.... alot, and found answers to many of my questions from Manuals, Guides and a forums, but I still have a few, and I'm sure some other unsure 'freeloaders' ;-) have some questions to, so if the experienced players would be so kind as to help answer a few it would be much appreciated.

[50kal]

1. Is the Ranged Tree of weapons balanced and a viabale primary weapon skill?

2. Just want to confirm the Manual. What types of animals can you have, and how many can you have at one time?

3. Can you buy a home/building for your own character, and what types?

4. Can guilds buy buildings, and what types?

5. Do you guys have Race/Guild wars, or mainly PvE?

6. How many hours will it take to get a character to level 150 in one skill?

7. What level should I be when I leave Silan?

8. Not sure if anyone knows, but how many (reasonable active) people are there still playing Ryzom?

9. I'm in a different time zone, GMT+2, so when would be the best time to find alot of players online over the weekend?

10. How many characters do most of you have, cause there doesn't seem much reason to have more than one?

11. If I register tommorrow & pay for one month, will I be able to play from the 8th of November to the 8th of December, or will it automatically default to standard month, ie: now till end of November?

12. Finally, with the currently problems around Ryzom ownership, in your opinion is the game still worth it and active enough?

[50kal]

PS: Thanks for your replies.

[skifryan]

1. The ranged tree is not a very good skill to start with. It requires a lot of digging and crafting to use.

2. There is only one type of animal you can buy, Mektoubs. (Elephant-like things). There are Mektoub Packers(which hold a lot of stuff) and Mektoub Mounts(which don't hold much stuff but you can ride). You can have 3 packers and 1 Mount. Packers come in different speeds and HPs.

3. You can buy an apartment, but it is only for holding items. You can't decorate it.

4. Guilds can buy Guild Halls, which are also for holding items, but hold more than apartments.

5. Most PvP these days is Alliance vs. Alliance. Guilds fight over "outposts"(which produce helpful items), and their Alliances(usually based on faction, but faction doesn't decide who you can help in a battle). There is also flagged PvP, which is Faction vs Faction.

6. Depends if you use "catalyzers" (experience doublers you get from outposts) and the efficiency of your hunting. If you work on one skill, you could get to 150 quite fast. I also helps to have a good guild or some friends that can help you level.

7. You should finish all the missions on silan, until yoiu think you know what you're doing.

8. Well, at this bad time, many are still playing other games while we wait for any news of Ryzom being bought. During normal times(before the bankruptcy) there were many people around. Our community actually talks to eachother here, so you won't really be lonely even as a newbie.

9. Players can be found around the clock. The game has many european players that would be online when you are.

10. Alts aren't necessary, but players find it fun to return to silan sometimes

11. Assuming you COULD register tomorrow, yes, it will be 1 month from the date you subscribe.

12. The population will be back to normal when the game is bought. However, there are still enough people around to play with.

Sorry for short replies, but I didn't have much time

[kuroari]

1. Is the Ranged Tree of weapons balanced and a viabale primary weapon skill?

Pure opinion i'd say.. some people can do it and others cant.. why? needs a lot of crafting to make your own ammo or find someone that can make the ammo for you! besides from that, i'm convinced ranged weapon is viable primary weapon

2. Just want to confirm the Manual. What types of animals can you have, and how many can you have at one time?

you can only have mektoub packers (3 of em) and a mount to ride. the packers carry your things, the mount carries you

3. Can you buy a home/building for your own character, and what types?

Sorta, you buy an apartment which is more like buying 'bulk space' to store your things in. sadly these are content that have not been capitalized on.

4. Can guilds buy buildings, and what types?

same as above, only this one all guildmembers can access and all High Officers + guild leader can access the items within

5. Do you guys have Race/Guild wars, or mainly PvE?

i'd say a decent mix of both. its religion-wars though. Kami vs Karavan. for those of us that are ingenious slick bastards *pats chest proudly* - Neutral Rogues that will only fight for money!!

6. How many hours will it take to get a character to level 150 in one skill?

that depends, how do you play? Me? i like to stop and smell the humus. takes me several months. Sunce? 2-3 days

7. What level should I be when I leave Silan?

when you feel comfortable. the beginning area of any city is very like Silan, minus the very helpful NPCs. however you get much better assisstance from a community that is way too friendly for our own good.

8. Not sure if anyone knows, but how many (reasonable active) people are there still playing Ryzom?

NO IDEA. but Universe chat gets pretty busy at times.

9. I'm in a different time zone, GMT+2, so when would be the best time to find alot of players online over the weekend?

we play all times of the day mate. some people forgot what 'sleep' means

10. How many characters do most of you have, cause there doesn't seem much reason to have more than one?

i have 4!! Nightblade, Vionn, Teoh, Dzaiur. (i use duo accounts though) . Nightblade and Dzaiur are for the mainland, Vionn and Teoh for Silan to help out the little'uns.

11. If I register tommorrow & pay for one month, will I be able to play from the 8th of November to the 8th of December, or will it automatically default to standard month, ie: now till end of November?

i thought you was running around on the forums? you can't pay yet as far as i know.... not until somone buys the game.. (look more closely at official news)

however, it _would_ be 30 days, nothing to do with the month of the year.

12. Finally, with the currently problems around Ryzom ownership, in your opinion is the game still worth it and active enough?

oh, oops, answered my statement in 11 with this one!! i'm here. many of my good friends are still here. most of us won't go away until they FORCE us too. if they'd let you get on the mainland, i'd be confused as to why you werent there with us already!!!!

[blaah]

6. How many hours will it take to get a character to level 150 in one skill?

this one depends on if you have (most important first) equipment, do you have extra damage dealer and/or healer and do you have access to xp cats.

if you have all that, then it can be measured by hours (not 2 or 3, but less than a day ;-). no quests/missions that give xp on mainland. all pure grind on "one" spot.

getting to 250 (max), will take a bit longer.

[50kal]

Thanks for the reply, kuroari, this is great, except for number 11 that is, I thought they would still let people buy their product. ;-)

Oh well, I've waited this long, I can wait a bit longer. I just hope things come right.


EDIT: Thanks blaah, that's not as bad as I thought. I usually aim for mid level with RPGs at that's where I have the most fun.

[kuroari]

problem is - no one -really- owns the game, so no one can accept payment at the moment :/ so who's "their" game ? we don't know whats going on but the french government has control of it atm (i think?)

[50kal]

Well here's hoping things get sorted out soon, and in the mean time.... "Viva la France"

[petersk]

Welcome to Ryzom, even if it comes a bit late. Your interest and appreciation of Ryzom will only grow once you get to the mainland. As was stated by Nightblade, there are people playing 24 hours a day, so someone is always around. Hope to see on the ML soon.