I'll probably pay the subscription fee and give Roma Victor a try anyway. As much as I've enjoyed Ryzom, looking through the forums and dev posts I'm coming to the realisation that the company seems to have no intention of expanding the RP side beyond what is already there. People talk about various potential changes or additions that would improve RP, but all that the roadmap consists of from the launch through to the furthest future plans is one PvP-based addition after another. Apparently, they have decided that the big money comes from barely literate PvP-monkeys and that the game is to become yet another World of Warcraft clone. A tragic waste, as it has the potential to become so much more, but there doesn't seem to be anything better around yet. I'll keep looking.

I doubt that it will be completely true to history- I don't think most players will have the knowledge to do so. Also, there's the fact that female characters would be very limited in a purely historical setting. But however it turns out, it seems more aimed at RPing than most MMO games.

I've just been looking at the site for Roma Victor. As both a roleplayer and a historical wargamer, it looks to be a VERY interesting game. It requires purchase of an initial subscription before play, but after that, you pay nothing to play. Instead, you can convert real money to game money to finance your character, though someone who spends a lot of time in-game could theoretically do without and pay nothing.

The game has been intended as a historically accurate version of 2nd Century Europe under the Roman Empire. Currently, Britannia is the only province on the map, but this will be gradually expanded.

If the site blurb is to be believed, then it has all the elements that should be present in Ryzom and are missing- none-military player controlled groups, the ability to construct buildings, player-owned structures with variable access settings, and the ability to employ NPCs as servants and bodyguards. PvP is present- it would hardly be a realistic depiction of the Roman empire without combat. But the damage and injury system seems more like the Seed medbay injuries than hit points, and there are more serious consequences to death than just respawning.

I'd advise people to take a look- I'm going to give it a try.

http://www.roma-victor.com/

(Strangely enough, the best description of the game features is in the "status" section.)

104

(10 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

Someone who has access to Fairhaven should have a look at this spire- it sounds good. The ideal place in any city will, as with the campfires on Silan, be private enough that we don't get constant traffic to disrupt the RP, but public enough that people can overhear the conversations and join in if they are so inclined. We need to attract those who are inclined towards RP into doing so.

Once we've settled on the locations, we should also consider posting them on the Ryzom boards.

105

(79 replies, posted in Steambaths)

"Dark Chest of Wonders" by Nightwish. One of my large collection of Nightwish songs, and possibly my favourite.

106

(10 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

So, we have proposed:-

Yrkanis:-  The Green raised area beside the Karavan shrine. (Whatever it is)

Pyr:-   The Bathhouse

Zora:-  The Bar (where the trainers are, strangely enough)

FairHaven :- The Bar (Never been, so will assume there is OK)

Anyone who can think of a better meeting place, speak up- the time to do so is before people get used to assembling there.

My own thoughts are that the area should be fairly public, but not to the extent that it will see a constant traffic of players through it. This means I have reservations about the Bar in Zora, but can't immediately think of a better place.

107

(10 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

Guild apartments would be good, but the idea is that we can also meet people who don't join any guilds we might form in the future. The campfire meetings drew in several people who'd never played Seed but saw the RPing and joined in. We won't have anything like that happening if we only meet in Apartments.

108

(10 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

Since FairHaven is the only capital I've not yet been to, I'll defer to your judgement on this. And welcome to the Mainland, Wheri!

109

(10 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

In order to make sure that the RPers could find each other, the campfires were designated as the gathering place on Silan Island for the newbie players. We all met up there, and in time other RPers started to congregate there.

I my suggestion is that we designate a similar area in each of the four capital cities as the Forum, where citizens of all races and factions gather to talk. This will make it much easier for RPing to take place, since anyone who is not busy can hang around there and see who turns up. This idea occurred to me when I realised that I was simply checking my contacts list and hunting down those online whenever I wanted to do some RP.

The Bathhouse in Pyr already seems to be the default gathering spot, so that would be the gathering place for the Fyros lands. What suggestions do people have for the others?

110

(9 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

The reason to make our own guild, as I see it, is to found the Ring settlement. Everything else we want we could achieve by simply joining the Dragonblades.

Whilst the Order of the Dragonblades is already performing all of the first three tasks, it is in the end simply a group of people working within the existing structure of Atys society. We seek not achieve this, but to plant the seed that will grow into a new nation, where our ideals will be followed by all. The Ring settlement would be a land dedicated to RPer, where we can hopefully create the community we saw around the campfires at Silan on a larger scale.

This should be our major goal. If it isn't, then we should just join the Dragonblades- because there really would be nothing to be gained by not joining. Other than simply clinging on to the Seed community for its own sake, of course, but we're supposed to be RPers and that isn't a reason that holds much water for our characters.

And whilst certain prospective members might like to believe that we're going to be neutral but lean steadily closer to the Kami, they should be aware that other people feel differently. big_smile

111

(6 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

I'd not have any objections in principle to PvP, but it'd be quite a way off, as we're all fairly weak right now. And like Darkhawk said, I'd do it if there was a good RP reason for it but not just for the sake of it. Most PvP seems to be between the followers of the Kami and the Karavan, and we're out of that simply because we're neutral.

I a reason does come up, I'd be willing to march to war. As long as I agree with this reason.

112

(5 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

We could of course simply rule that the Rangers on the Newbie Island taught everyone the basics of reading. As with my idea regarding the OOC channels for communication, this idea is designed to give us an IC excuse to use the mail system, not to add another layer of skills and trining beyond what the game already has.

You can, of course, RP characters having only basic literacy- simple, badly-spelled letters and confusion when reading long words in a recieved letter ("Excuse me- what does this word say?"). But immediatetely trying to have the characters NOT use this just strikes me as counter-productive. I prefer to come up with an IC reason for efficient and productive ways of working, rather than being obstinate about something in game for the sake of RPing.

And yes, if Tantavalist had a problem with anyone in the Tower, it was because they seemed to be acting like this. You can probably expect the same from Naetin. It irritates me a little to see this as a player, and this usually translates into how my characters act.

113

(5 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

Looking at the communication tab for my character, I suspect that Ryzom players can send mail to other players as they could in Seed (and most other MMORPGs). I've had a few thoughts about how this might be used In Character, given how the group will shortly be split into four by our journey to the Mainland. This would ba an excellent way to keep in touch once this happens.

Given that Teleports exist between the various cities, despite the limits placed on them, I think it is entirely possible that a postal service exists to take advantage of this. Our characters can thus send mails to each other, and say that what we have actually done is write a letter and send it.

To keep it IC, I'd recommend that people write such mail as entirely IC and in letter format. For example:-



((OOC header giving how letter is received, eg delivered letter or note stuck to your door at the inn))

Dear (character),

(Main content of letter here)

signed (character)




Would be posted as:-

((Letter delivered in post to Tinai that morning))

Tinai,

I hope that this letter finds its way to you in a timely manner. With our band scattered across the Mainland we will be relying upon these letters to keep in touch until we are all re-united. The Matis contingent has arived safely, and is all is well so far. I hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,
Naetin



Or less formal versions such as:-



((Note found pushed under the door of your room at the Inn))

Perun- meet us in the Inn courtyard tonight. Can't say more in a note, but it's important.

Naetin.




What do people think of the idea? Obviously, you can only use options other than the post if you're both in the same city, but beyond that?

114

(3 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

From reading the posts here and on the Ryzom site, I've discovered that:-

1: The four races appear to go to different areas on the mainland when they leave the Newbie Island.

2: Travel on Atys is very difficult and dangerous, and requires that a groups of experienced fighters escort people along the journey in order for people to arrive safely. (Are there Karavan Teleporters? Are these widespread?)

3: Ryzom Ring, which people will be using if we decide to create a permanent headquarters, requires that people explore as much of Atys as possible and collect respawn points in order to be used for full effect.

((Anyone with information or experience that contradicts this, feel free to correct me.))

Puting all this together, I propose that we should make moving around Atys, first to regroup and then to explore, our first objective in the game.

Before leaving the island, anyone wishing to join the "Great Caravan" should state their wish to do so. Upon arrival on the mainland, the four groups assemble and plan their moves to the common destination point. Then, once all groups are assembled, we can begin moving from region to region, exploring the world.

This would ensure that the community stays together after leaving the newbie island, provide a sense of purpose and an achievable goal for our new arrivals, and allow us to gain experience- both in and out of character- of the game world.

The details will need to be filled in, and I might be wrong on some of my key assumptions... But what do people think of the general concept?

115

(0 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

Having begun to wade through the 2-year accumulation of material in the Ryzom Chronicles section, I've come across an interesting bit of information about the Rangers- yes, the same ones that run the Refugee camp on the Newbie Island.

The Rangers were a force created by the Karavan to fight the Kitin during the Great Swarming. They are an elite force of woodsmen and guerilla fighters, whose sole purpose is to protect Hominkind from the Kitin threat. Lately, however, they have cut their ties to the Karavan, declaring that they have become more interested in their wars with the Kami than in protecting Hominkind from the still-present threat of the Kitin. They are now an independent force that seeks to guard Homins, regardless of faction, from a danger that their patrons- Kami and Karavan- seem to have lost sight of.

Given that many people have expressed interest in keeping neutral in the Kami/Karavan conflict, and forming a group that welcomes all races and philosophies, this seems the perfect inspiration for our characters. I'm not sure if they are an actual faction with followers in the game, but their existence and the fact that we've all been exposed to their teachings at an early point in our careers, gives a good IC reason for the ideas we've been having. Working together against the real enemies- the Goo and the Kitin- instead of fighting for the glory of our patrons seems to be a direction that many of us are leaning towards in-game.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Especially from those who are well established in Ryzom and know more than I do about the Rangers.

I've found that the best way to stop any quests being boring is to have someone working with you on them. Even if you don't need the help, get someone to come along and RP whilst you're working. Simply helping someone through quests I'd already completed was fun, as opposed to the grind of doing them myself, because there was RP.

Form a team to do the quests, and talk about them. It means that Grinding to improve skills doesn't cut into RP time.

117

(57 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

Regarding the Magical communication system skill values that Darkhawk gave, I'd suggest that while the concept is good, the numbers could be a bit high. The system as it is would mean that nobody who isn't a magician and not just a magical dabbler could communicate effectively IC. Given that this is what a large number of the people posting here seem to want, this may be acceptable to people. But personally, I'd split 1-50 into 1-20 and 21-50, and move the catagories down one step.

The main concerns regarding this seem to be that many people are, strange as it seems, having trouble separating what their character perceives and what they perceive. In Seed, everything you saw on the screen was visible to your character as well. In other games, this is not the case. A lot of posts seem to imply that people think that anyone who uses something your character doesn't have is ruining the RP experience for everyone.

I don't find this to be the case. I can filter what I see on the screen into what my character perceives without difficulty. But then, I'm a veteran pen-and-paper RPGer who's used to translating notes on a sheet of paper and the results of a dice throw into a game world inside my head. So using the "Radar" around the compass and telling myself that my character in the game is just hearing the sounds of their movement or following the creature's tracks is second nature to me. I fail to see how this mindset can't apply to everything in game, as long as we're not talking about game stats or real-world events around the campfire.

Are there people who feel violently opposed to this point of view?

118

(57 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

That's certainly true- my own character is probably one of them. But this could be argued to be an innate ability rather than a leaned skill- that all other Sap-using abilities are extensions of this basic awareness.

After all, when is comes right down to it we're looking for a plausible excuse, not a solid reason.

119

(57 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

As far as in-game excuses for number 2 go, I have the following suggestion which I came up with after considering the Mystical background of the setting:-

Atys is a living world. It has streams of life energy that flow through it, connecting the various living creatures at some level. Exploitation of this fact is common amongst Homins of a mystical bent- Magicians learn to channel the primal life energy of Atys, the "Sap" of the World-Tree through their bodies to power their spells. Harvesters can tune into the flows of the great branches of the canopy to locate resources and call thyem to the surface.

Is is too much of a stretch to accept that a form of empathy can connect the Homins of Atys?

Many Homins find that those close to them- their friends and family- will share some level of empathic bond. Thye will recieve flashes of image and feeling at times, and can learn to communicate their purpose and actions to these people. The communication has no words, it is trancendent of them. A Homin simply knows that this is happening. From an early age, people learn to shut off their bond, to avoid hearing or receiving when they do not wish to, but any who wish can send brief snatches of consciousness to those they call their own.
((Messages can be PMed to those on your friends list. The message is obviously in text form to us, but not to the characters. You might say "I'm killing some Javings in the ruins" and the character who gets the message gets a brief image of you doing this. When you say "I've respawned in the Karavan enclave" the characters who get the message feel your life-essence slowly rekindled in the direction of the enclave. So in this version, the words are OOC but the messages sent are not.))

Homins can also voluntarily lower their mental defences to listen in to the flow of thoughts and feelings around them. Normally this simply results in a flood of empathic noise that slowly erodes the Homin's mind. However, a determined Homin can sometimes glean information concerning the surrounding area's inhabitants, though the annoyance factor means few will do so on a regular basis.
((You listen in the the Realm/Universe chat channels.))

These two factors have been known long enough that many Homins have discovered ways to take advantage of them. Rituals have been devised that will allow Homins to mimic the bonds between close friends, and form their own empathic bond-groups. These rituals are conducted as a blessing for those who intend to work together, so that they will act as one. A more permanent version is enacted when a new organisation of comunity is formed, to bind the members together.
((The forming of Teams and Guilds, and the unique channels thereof.))

What do people think? I feel that it gives an excuse to use the chat channels fully whilst staying in character, and that it fits in with the Ryzom mythos. Add your comments and criticisms of course, they will be welcome.

120

(28 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

This post is for people to announce what character(s) they are playing in SoR, so that we'll be able to recognise other former Seedlings in the game. I've seen people giving this information elsewhere, and thought it might be best to have all such information in one place. You can also give out who you played in Seed if this name is different to the one you're using on this board, so we'll know who our old friends and rivals are in their new incarnations.

I am currently playing Naetin, a Matis currently honing his skills on the newbie island.

121

(8 replies, posted in Floatbed Dreams)

With the announcement that the game was closing down, the designer at RGD released several of their admin blogs to us on the Seed forums. The idea was obviously that we might as well see what was really going on, since it was all coming to an end and it wouldn't hurt the storyline.

How do people feel about the players doing the same thing?

Whilst there is nothing really earth-shaking there, I imagine that people from Rings like KDS and Evolution would find several of the posts on The Mission's members only message board forums to be interesting reading. And I know that we'd be equally intersted to find out what our rival were up to, and what people really thought of us when we weren't there to overhear.

122

(13 replies, posted in Saga of Ryzom)

I'm a Matis on the newbie island, and going by the name Naethin. Tin/Ahnion made a good suggestion for a meeting place on the island (reposted in "Keeping the Seed Community" in the Ryzom section), so I'll be dropping by every so often to see if anyone's there.

Somebody (I forget who or where) suggested a Seedling guild called Da Vinci. This name wouldn't really fit the mood of Ryzom, though- may I suggest something like "Scattered Seeds" as being both appropriate and in keeping with the Ryzom setting?

123

(12 replies, posted in Sava's Garden)

The only game I played before Seed was EVE. I found it the best game in terms of pure gameplay, and also liked the fact that the skill system (essentially identical to Seeds) meant that there were no power levellers. I quite happily proclaimed it the greatest MMORPG ever to anyone who would listen, and spent hours blowing up ships for the glory of the Caldari State.

Then I found Seed, and actual Roleplaying, and began to spend less and less time playing EVE. EVE is wonderful as a space-based combat and trading game, but has no roleplaying aspect. It's a very good game, but no what the former Seedlings are looking for.