1) What I remember is that you as game master can spawn monsters depending on the strength of the group that plays your adventure. Not sure if you can directly control them though. [Submitted by jlemmo (EN)]

In the Ring Alpha, you can already control mobs, bosses or NPCs directly. You just have to click on it and then on the "control NPC" icon, and then the mob/NPC will follow you and do everything you do (as a DM, you are invisible to the players). If this is an NPC, a special chat window is also available to you: everything you write in there is said by the NPC.

2) I am looking for someone who is inside the R2 beta, to sponsor me. [Submitted by johniba1 (EN)]

For the time being, we don't accept new testers into the alpha - as mentioned elsewhere, we are preparing the beta right now, and will only resume considering applications and sponsoring when we will have reached that stage.

Stay around though, there should be a news to warn you about it then.

3) On the Saga’s roadmap, we can see that the release of R2 is scheduled for the Q1 2006 and that the release of Chapter 4 (the arrival of the spires) is scheduled right before. I would simply like to know if Nevrax has more precisions as concerns these dates. [Submitted by bquartz (FR)]

So, as concerns the Ring... I had actually planned to keep you up with its progression as the beta stage is approaching, but since you are asking, here’s some info, a little bit in advance. :)

The alpha, which consisted in testing the Ring in its most basic concepts, went pretty well. The alpha tests are not representative of what will happen next, but it enabled us to correct many bugs and to become aware of certain things soon enough to have the time to adjust them (for instance, some of the interfaces were hard to understand and a bit chaotic, we are working on it, little by little).

Currently, most of the effort is dedicated to preparing the beta, which consists in moving the Ring to the ATS and making the test accessible to more people, including people as players, because until now we had particularly concentrated our attention on the actual edition of the adventures. There, we begin to get closer to the end of the list of the features necessary to release the Ring, and the beta should enable to polish the whole - more than heavy developments, we will try to make features of good quality.

As for the ATS: moving to the Ring depends on an important architectural change; that is the unification of the shards; this is another way of saying that we should be able to move from any shard to the Ring (also, interesting fact, the possibility to create characters whatever the shard). That’s why we are taking our time to reopen the ATS, because if we leave too many bugs at this level of the beta, it is going to be a real mess.

If you have more specific questions concerning the Ring, feel free to post them in a specific thread, I’ll try to answer them as best as I can.

4) Thanks for these precisions; I’m not sure I understand well: Basically the ATS would become the Ring-beta server and we would be able to access it from all the other servers? [Submitted by desdi (FR)]

The ATS would become the server of the Ring beta, yes, but it will not directly be accessible from the live shards (at least not at first, since it would also involve a new architecture for the live shards).

In the long run, what will enable the new architecture (once patched everywhere), will be connecting to the same adventure, indiscriminately from Aniro, Arispotle or Leanon (therefore making multi-shards events).

5) The Ring will enable the players to create their own worlds, but I would like to know what the Ring will bring to Nevrax and to the development of Ryzom. I heard it was development tools for you, is it the case? [Submitted by clyser (FR)]

In the end, that is indeed the objective; the Ring in its current version is already beginning to make people drool in-house. Yet, a certain number of challenges remain in terms of compatibility, so it will not be used immediately in our in-house productions, but as soon as it is able to edit the current data of the game, Ring edition sessions will pop up on the level designers’ screens.

Actually, this will not be its only use - the event teams will take advantage of the Ring for their animations as well, although it will not take place on the mainland (not at first at least).

6) The aim of the Ring, is for players to create their stories? So, from this I’m guessing that a part of the community will spend their short IG time creating their stories, and then will offer another part of the community to live them. As a consequence, all those parts will be separated, and in the end nobody will play with one another except in the stories? [Submitted by keikoku1 (FR)]

It would be true if the groups playing in the Ring scenarios were always the same, leading players to always see the same smaller group of people. But public scenarios, open to all as part of the pioneers program, will actually enable players to play with different people, each time - and certainly to meet more people than if staying with one’s guild.

So, we carefully try to maintain strong links between the Ring and the rest of Ryzom: for example, one of the solutions envisaged for the attribution of XP within the scope of the Ring is the looting of XP catalysers, which would compel the players to keep on playing in Ryzom “Mainland” whatever happens, to turn them into real XP.

7) I have not seen anything however as concerns direct interactions with the map, like chest to open, items to pick up (not necessarily from an NPC) etc. etc. [Submitted by nepherk (FR)]

Yes, in the Alpha it is already possible to place chests "Easter Eggs"-like or to trigger an action when a player enters a zone.

8) If it is only about setting 3 monsters and bandits, it will be of no interest. [Submitted by ussaxel (FR)]

This reference may only mean something to coders (May others forgive me!), but the Ring was built on the basis of event-based object model. Basically the objects are placed (NPCs, zones, roads, buildings, etc.), they each have characteristics (name, sex if NPC, etc.) and they carry out actions/methods (follow such and such a path, say such and such a thing, etc.) when given events take place (when such and such NPC dies, when another says such and such a thing, etc.).

For instance, if we want a border guard NPC to say "Halt!" when a player gets close to him/her, the NPC (object) will have to be set, dressed and named (characteristics), then a “Halt!” dialogue will be created (method), and triggered when a player enters the zone surrounding the NPC (event).

Well, I’m pretty sure now all the non-developers ran away :) but don’t worry, all of this is done through interfaces which make the whole process accessible. And it will enable those who have already practiced to realize that, if there are enough types of events and “methods”, the potential is almost infinite.

9) We have seen during the presentation of the Ring on German TV that Jessica was customizing the guards’ suits of armour. Is it also possible to configure the stats of each guard (50000 hit points, auto regen on time, sap at...)? Along the same line, could we add a simple kincher, name it (I want to name it KinChou), modify its stats, colour, tints...? [Submitted by rrdmx (FR)]

Not at this level of detail, no. However, its level can be chosen quite precisely, to make sure it corresponds to the players in terms of difficulty.

As concerns colours and tints, it is not on the agenda for now.

10) From the very same video, about a hundred maps available when released. [Submitted by athina (FR)]

Yes, it is the objective for the release - basically 25-30 per ecosystem; this may be rounded up or down a little, depending on the bugs’ correction rate.

By the way, note that all of them will not be immediately accessible, the basis will consist of about ten maps per ecosystem (to be confirmed); the rest will be purchased with "Ring Points", which will be attributed according to the level of your character and also certainly to a progression specific to the DMs.

11) But as concerns this release, the specialist press mentions a release in about one month from now, can we confirm, invalidate? [Submitted by athina (FR)]

No, the Ring will not be released in a month. The beta and the release are scheduled for this year’s second trimester, for now - but as with every date, it can change depending on the needs.

12) Hum Ring Points, what are they? Could you be more specific? Or maybe the system is not yet fixed about what they are going to be and what use will be made of them? [Submitted by athina (FR)]

Not everything is fixed concerning the Ring Points yet; but basically, they will be attributed according to the level of the character and to a progression specific to the Ring (this could be related, for example, to the number of animated scenarios, to the number of people who participated, etc.) and they will enable you to buy "packs".

As I was saying a little earlier, on beginning in the Ring, you won’t have all the maps; you won’t have all the entities of the palette either (mobs, NPCs, objects from the scenery). Both maps and entities will be purchased through packs, each containing a small number of maps and/or entities.

13) What does DMs mean? [Submitted by 05081982 (FR)]

Dungeon Master, i.e. the one in control of a running scenario (like in pen & paper RPG). But as this name was registered by TSR, we are certainly going to use another one...

14) Will we be able to control ragus, kitin PCs etc., NPCs in general? [Submitted by 05081982 (FR)]

Yes; as I have described it a while ago, there are control mechanisms for the mobs and NPCs. When you control a mob, it starts following you around and copies exactly its actions on yours (DMs are invisible). As for the NPCs, you can also make them talk via a specific chat window.

15) Will we be able to put on some music when some actions/methods are triggered? [Submitted by 05081982 (FR)]

No, this is not scheduled at all for now - but in absolute terms everything is conceivable, it will depend on the needs.

16) That’s where all the questioning lies. Will the persons concerned be able to add methods, or is the system closed? (To users I mean). [Submitted by arbraz (FR)]

This would mean letting people code directly on the server, which is unconceivable for a MMO, at least not without a very advanced control system or a system based on patch submission (like with free software). No one would fancy spending their nights watching the servers go down each time a Ring user would launch bugged code... :/

17) The worst is the guy who will want his "rewards", well he’ll have to pay every month to have his maps hosted. [Submitted by laurent0 (FR)]

As already mentioned earlier in the thread, only persistent maps (Outlands) are to be paid for; the basis of the Ring, the making of scenarios lasting as long as the animation goes, is entirely free. The monthly cost of the Outlands is exclusively related to the server resources they constantly consume.

18) So yesterday, we were limited in maps, today in entities, Xavier, maybe you are going to tell us that tomorrow we will be limited in commands, triggers...? [Submitted by laurent0 (FR)]

No, at the logical level (triggers, components, etc.), progression will not be taken into account - everything will be accessible from the start.

19) What is the point in limiting the number of maps, entities... in "packs"? [Submitted by monwalker (FR)]

Ahh, the good old debate: "pro or anti XP"... :)

The reason for setting up a progression system for the Ring is quite simple actually: it is always more pleasant to get things in return for a hard labour than getting everything from the start. Be it within the scope of a video game (what would be the point of starting from the maximum level or playing with cheat codes?), of work (directly starting as the big chief or get into a profession by the back door and take more and more responsibilities over time?) or even - sorry for the analogy - of love (seduce the other instantly or seduce him/her and let yourself be seduced little by little?)

Currently, on the Ring Alpha, everything is accessible from the start. When you create your first scenario, you are drowned in a flow of maps and entities - this is useful, you can have and use everything, and personally I don’t deny myself.

But I know it will feel much better to place a sexy Kami the day I have to win it.

20) It's a pity that some nice information is only available in French. [Submitted by iphdrunk (EN)]

Yup, if we want to be able to interact directly on the boards and say something else than "you will know soon", that's a necessary evil. But all these answers will be translated and published as a news in the next Q&A.

21) It is still unclear how these points are gained/distributed (a mix of the player own level, plus some progression based on the number of scenarios, number of players that played your scenarios, I guess if you pay for hosting etc.) [Submitted by iphdrunk (EN)]

True, the way Ring points will be gained isn't yet set in stone - that's also why we are interested in discussing it here, in addition to keeping you informed. If you have ideas, comments, we'll be happy to read them, since we'll be making decisions on this in the coming weeks.

22) I see reasons for limiting brand new players, but I see only problems with limiting long-time players, and thus supporters of the game. [Submitted by dazman76 (EN)]

We agree with you on this, that's why we want to relate the Ring points to the Ryzom character; currently we plan to give an amount of Ring points proportional to your character's level, but that's still being discussed - if you have better ideas, feel free to write them down here, we're reading!

23) What I hope is that it will leave some time to the devs, so that they might create new content (maps-skins-mobs etc.) on a regular basis before the players get the whole of the packs.
- Will it be the case? (If it is like with the Encyclopaedia, I doubt it but still, tell us if you plan it). [Submitted by bozo123 (FR)]

The Ring, on its release, will contain a significant set of maps and mobs (for the mobs notably, most of the game’s creatures will be made accessible, which gives a lot of matter to create from). Other maps will be added later, in addition to the initial first hundred; concerning mobs, it will certainly be less frequent (or maybe linked to additions in Ryzom, the aim not being to only take care of the Ring).

24) Don’t you think there is a risk of intensive ‘grind’ of R² which will lead to loads of crappy scenarios that will hide good scenarios which will go unnoticed? (Well... it depends on how XP are won) [Submitted by bozo123 (FR)]

You have made a good summary of the risk present at this level, and the reason for which it is crucial to make something that hangs together well.

By the way, thank you for the suggestions concerning the means to earn Ring Points, that gives us food for thought.

25) What about "persistent" universes? How are they chosen, can they be integrated into the world as a real part of it? [Submitted by faro1 (FR)]

Here, everything depends on the status of the owner of the Outland (persistent map); if it is a "pioneer" (a program designed to ensure - among other things - a minimal quality for the scenarios), he will be able to flag his Outland as public, so everyone can come, through teleporters, and it will be accessible as any other part of Ryzom. If not, the Outland will be private and accessible by invitation only.

26) What technical differences are there between a persistent world (Outland) and a scenario? [Submitted by faro1 (FR)]

Persistence. Even with no player or animation, the Outland will remain in the same state and will go on with its life; whereas the scenario will disappear at the end of an event, and will be brought back to its initial state when rerun.

27) Will there be maps like "building’s interior” to make our Guild Hall, our flat, our Outpost Hall larger? How, if it is possible, will it be integrated? Will we be able to build a "guild warehouse" with a chest (too much I know ...)? [Submitted by faro1 (FR)]

No, at least it is not on the agenda for now.

28) I have never seen a game editor kept on a tight rein. From Doom, Warcraft, TES or else... never. Everything was accessible, and no one talked about “spoil”. This notion of “spoil” on Atys is getting ridiculous... [Submitted by nepherk (FR)]

But they are not MMOs; notably, constraints in terms of spoil are not the same. You wouldn’t recommend we implement cheat codes in Ryzom because Doom or Warcraft have some would you?

29) Will we be able to enter a scenario or an Outland from any place, will we be able to set accesses in certain places of Atys, or both? [Submitted by 05081982 (FR)]

There will be teleporters, placed at different spots on the mainland, which will enable you to access the Ring scenarios.

30) Will we be able to grant permanent access to an Outland to whoever we want? And modify the accesses? [Submitted by 05081982 (FR)]

Yes.

31) Will we be able to see NPCs/PCs pop or make things appear (buildings…) with one phrase? [Submitted by 05081982 (FR)]

Hum, I’m not sure I understand the question... Anyway, making buildings appear or disappear while a scenario is running will not be possible, they will be a part of the permanent content.

32) Can we create and place buildings? If so, customized or only pre-made or pre-existing buildings (for example the same building as Zora’s Townhall), or all of that? [Submitted by 05081982 (FR)]

Create, no (same problem as mapping or modelling the mobs); place, yes if it is part of the palette.

33) It was mentioned earlier (I think) that we can't take anything out of the scenarios (to stop cheating). Does that mean your character stats/inventory is frozen until you leave? Or will we take mats in, craft, then lose the crafted item when walking out again? [Submitted by apb47 (EN)]

No, your character and inventory won't be frozen; if you take mats in a scenario, and craft with them during the scenario, you'll keep the crafted item when you come back from the adventure.

The limit would be in what you can gain directly in the scenario. Whether killing a Yubo will reward you with experience points or not is still undetermined; as mentioned on the French boards, we are investigating the possibility to only give "bonuses" in the Ring adventures, such as a buff or a quantity of XP catalysers to use on the continent to actually gain XP.

[ Discuss it! ]