saga-of-ryzom posts

One Shots: Just when you thought the snows were over

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 10th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Ryzom, One Shots

With a recent patch offering some much appreciated code updates (including Win7 support) Ryzom is still rolling along, thanks to its devoted player-base. However, it would appear that much like the waves of winter in the Northern hemisphere, Atys is experiencing snowfalls that keep coming back as well. Our Ryzom regular, Steven K., writes in to explain this wintry shot: Having my fill of another snowfall this morning, and not in the mood to brush the snow off the roof of my small home in Yrkanis, I went searching for some inspiration. I found it sitting in an unlikely spot. So I quickly plopped down my easel, and my bum, and scribbled this painting out before the sun melted the snowflakes off the overhanging trees.

One Shots is all about you -- so we need you to send in your screenshots. All you have to do is email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post them out here on Massively and give you the credit. How cool is that!

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

Tags: Atys, one-shots, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, screenshot, screenshots, steven-k

Ryzom launches 1.7 patch

by Eliot Lefebvre Dec 17th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Patches, Ryzom, News items

Ryzom might be a five-year-old game, but despite the few hiccups it went through, it remains an attractive and diverse game with a number of features still not widely found in the genre. Having celebrated its anniversary earlier this year, the game continues to roll along at a steady clip, exemplified by the newly-released patch 1.7. The patch's title, The Kitin's Lair, alludes to one of its central elements: a new zone, the first part of the aforementioned lair. Kitins are one of the game's central adversaries, and so the patch's warning to avoid entering the lair alone is no doubt well-advised.

That's hardly the only feature in the latest patch, however -- the game has also added an overhauled mail system, in-game forums for roleplaying and guilds, and the ability to enter viewable character biographies built in to the game's engine. The game has also adjusted the level display system, now using numbers to indicate the target's level only when it is close to that of the player. The addition of official Windows 7 support makes Ryzom more accessible, so the game's players would do well to take note of what the patch brings, and those of you who've never heard of the game may want to give it a fresh look.

Tags: kitins-lair, news-items, roleplaying, rp-profile, ryzom, ryzom-patch-1.7, saga-of-ryzom, system-updates, win7, windows-7

One Shots: And the moon looks down

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 16th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Ryzom, One Shots

While they say that life is tough on Atys, it certainly is very eye-catching as well. This alien science-fantasy shot from within the world of Ryzom shows off both terrain and something strange in the skies. It almost resembles an eye to us. That said, we'll let Vendayn explain the scene: I'm Vendayn, otherwise known as Vendeyn in Ryzom. The visuals continually impress me in the game. The planet can be considered one giant plant. Here you see the planet with a ring around it, with the planet's roots going overhead. [There is also] a peaceful view of an island.

We love to see MMOs from small to large, but we need you to send in screenshots of your adventures! Try as we might, we just haven't perfected that time machine so we can play everything we want to. If you'd like to help us out (with the screenshots - unless you have a functional time machine, in which case we'd take one of those too) send your images to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to add in your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it up here and give you the love.

Gallery: One Shots

(Of course, if you send a functional time machine, we'll meet you last week and buy you a round.)

Tags: one-shots, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, screenshot, screenshots, vendayn

One Shots: Happy 5th anniversary, Ryzom!

by Krystalle Voecks Sep 17th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Events, in-game, Ryzom, One Shots

While we work very hard to bring you tons of excellent daily MMO coverage, occasionally something will slip by that we don't catch in time. Thankfully we have some truly excellent readers who send us tips - or occasionally will drop us a screenshot from a celebration! Take, for example, this great image captured by our friend Petter Mårtensson, who writes over on Gamereactor Sweden and is a huge fan of Ryzom. Here's his note:

I thought I'd share this lovely picture from the 5th anniversary event which took place in Ryzom [yesterday]. The GMs set up a race in the Zora jungles, but gave it a bit of a twist and shrunk all our Mektoub mounts. (You can see some ordinary sized mounts loitering in the background.) It felt quite silly to race through the jungle on a mount almost smaller than yourself, but it was a lot of fun. The event ended with some giant monster slaying and a party in a secret oasis which normally isn't available to players. Everyone there had a wonderful evening, celebrating the birthday of a great and very different MMO!

If you know a game we don't get to look at often - or happen to catch a celebration - we'd love to see some screenshots from it. Just email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick blurb about what's going on. We'll post it out here and give you the love for sending it in.

Gallery: One Shots

Tags: 5th-anniversary, one-shots, petter-martensson, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, screenshot, screeshots

Ryzom switching to billing 'soon'

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 29th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Ryzom, News items

While the players of Ryzom have enjoyed playing for free for the last while, it appears that the time is approaching for that to end. An announcement on the Ryzom forums indicates that they're working on changing the game back over to being under a pay-to-play monthly subscription. After initially seeing the game taken offline last year, then bouncing back, It's been a hell of a ride for the Ryzom faithful. While this most recent reincarnation seems to be doing well, only time will tell if the move back to a monthly subscription model will help it grow further in terms of new content and players or not.

That said, if you've wanted to check out Ryzom, you'd better get on the ball. From what their forum message indicates, you only have a few weeks left before its free-to-play status is history. Who knows, you might find yourself enjoying it so much that you roll to a monthly subscription when the time comes too.

Tags: billing, forum-post, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, subscription

One Shots: Sand-free drinks are important

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 24th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Ryzom, One Shots

We've often discussed how much we dig the idea of user-generated content, and while there are some MMOs making inroads into it, Ryzom has had user-generated content for some time. Today's lovely and tropical screenshot (perfect for the warm weather of spring) comes to us from Petter Mårtensson, MMO fiend and fellow games writer, who writes in: Thought I'd send you a screen from Ryzom, a game which truly deserves more attention these days. It's my fyros Anioo in her new set of heavy armor, standing outside the bar in Thesos. The bar itself is owned by the barkeep Pecus Cegrips, who always make sure that the drinks are free from sand. Which is a good thing, considering Thesos is located in the Burning Desert in the northern parts of Atys.

If you're playing an MMO we don't see often - or even one we see regularly - we want to see your screenshots! Who knows - you may recruit some new players to check out your game. Just email those screens to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the game, and whatever you'd like to say about the screenshot. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in.

Gallery: One Shots

Tags: one-shots, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, screenshot, screenshots

Ryzom going to monthly subscription

by Krystalle Voecks Jan 6th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Ryzom, News items

Ryzom has been up and down, with changes in models, cancellation, and being re-launched. Recently, it's incarnation has been a free-to-play game, but word has come down the wire that to continue running Ryzom, they need to reinstitute some type of fees.The good news for those who loved Ryzom before, or who perhaps are newish to this world, is that the fee structure will be less expensive than previous incarnations. The better news is that they will continue the current free-to-play model until the end of January, in case you were considering checking it out but hadn't yet.

For month-to-month, you will pay $10.95 (7.95 €, £ 7.75); for three months at a time you'll get a discount down to $10.25 per month (7.50 € of £ 6.98 per month); 6 months will cost you $9.49 per month (6.99 € or £ 6.63 per month); and finally a year's subscription will discount furthest breaking down to $8.83 per month (6.50 € or £ 6.15 per month). With as many folks who are opting to give up on extra MMO accounts due to the cost, the price break may well keep Ryzom afloat - or even attract some players who want to try out a visually exciting new world for a bit less than the $15 many MMOs charge these days.

[Thanks, AterNox]

Tags: change-in-pricing, free-to-play, monthly-fee, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, subscription

Ryzom devs describe plans, promise free play through October

by Samuel Axon Sep 18th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Ryzom, News items

Ryzom (or the game formerly known as The Saga of Ryzom), came back to life a little over a month ago. Rumors of its death had apparently been greatly exaggerated. Now the development team has published a document detailing its plans for the immediate future.

The first item on the agenda is "to get profitable." Good plan! Money will surely be helpful. The second item: "To get all our new Developer Teams up to date with the Ryzom code," a task that is apparently quite difficult because there are millions of lines of code to get used to. Finally, the team is putting together a development schedule for adding new missions, content, and features to the game.

Our first impressions of the re-launched game were positive. It's a bit laid-back compared to other titles. We're glad to see that some clear goals are being set for the game's future, but of course until the dev team manages "to get profitable," that future will remain uncertain. If you want to give it a try, though, the devs say it will remain free at least through the end of October.

Tags: code, development, future, nevrax, plan, profit, reborn, relaunch, relaunched, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom

Ryzom opens free accounts to new users

by Shawn Schuster Aug 28th 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Business models, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Ryzom, Free-to-play

With the recent news of Ryzom's slow rebirth, allowing previous subscribers to reactivate their accounts for free, we're happy to report that free accounts are open to new players as well. This new account reactivation is happening in increments though, so if you've unsuccessfully applied previously, be patient! These activation stages will occur when each previous limit is reached, gradually bringing the populations back up in the game.

This new player activation is completely free, but they say it won't last long. If you've never tried the game and were put off by the reports of its untimely death, now is your chance to see what all the buzz is about.

Tags: free-accounts, nevrax, new-account, rebirth, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom

The rebirth of Ryzom

by Shawn Schuster Aug 14th 2008 at 8:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Launches, MMO industry, Ryzom, News items

After the recent onslaught of bad news coming from the MMO industry, with layoffs, cutbacks and closures, it's uplifting to finally hear some good news on the return of an MMO. Nevrax's Ryzom has pulled itself up through the ashes and announced its return to the MMO playing field. For the past few weeks, they've re-launched the website and re-opened the servers to all former Ryzom subscribers with completely free VIP access. Now they've decided to open this VIP access to anyone who had an active account, including free trials. However, Ryzom is still closed to new accounts at this time, but they plan to reopen the account activation pages shortly.

If you're not familiar with Ryzom and its history, now is a great time to do some research before the new account activation begins. Keep your eyes glued to Massively for all the latest information on when new accounts are allowed and the game is completely re-opened.

Tags: breaking, nevrax, relaunch, reopen, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, vip

The Daily Grind: Which deceased MMO do you miss the most?

by Samuel Axon Jul 19th 2008 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

It's official: Flagship Studios' Mythos beta has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It is, in fact, an ex-MMO. Hellgate London subscriptions have halted, and it might soon join Mythos in the great void. There are hopes that they'll be back under a different banner -- or that Hellgate might not close at all -- but if only the worst happens, these two games will certainly be missed by many.

They are not the first ones we've lost, though. Underlight, Earth & Beyond, and Asheron's Call 2 have all gone the way of the 8-track tape. Saga of Ryzom went under as well, though it looks like it might make a comeback. Think about those games for a moment, or any others you've lost; which lost MMOs do you want back the most? Do you want them back because you played them and now you miss them, or because you never got to play them at all?

Consider this the Flagship Studios memorial Daily Grind!

Tags: asherons-call-2, closed, dead, earth-and-beyond, flagship-studios, hellgate-london, mythos, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, tdg, the-daily-grind, underlight

Saga of Ryzom forums quietly come back online

by Samuel Axon Jun 30th 2008 at 7:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, MMO industry, Ryzom, News items

A couple weeks ago, the official website of The Saga of Ryzom mysteriously returned to operating status. The game was shut down back in February when Nevrax, the French company that operated it, experienced a financial crisis. When the site came back, nobody knew exactly what was happening. All we got was a splash page that said "Ryzom will be back soon."

Well, now we have more. The official forums have come back online -- including posts and accounts from before the shutdown. It's as if they had never gone. Community manager boroshi posted a rather short note promising that "everything else" will soon follow. Note that boroshi was around before the shutdown, so it looks like the people behind the game's return are at least some of the same folks who were running it before.

If you're an old Ryzom player, go ahead and reunite with old pals. Klients is back, too.

Tags: boroshi, community, forums, klients, nevrax, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, website

Official website teases the return of Ryzom

by Samuel Axon Jun 19th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Rumors

The Saga of Ryzom met an untimely end in February. Its players were scattered around the MMO universe -- a diaspora of Ryzomites without a country to call home. History has shown us that not all MMO deaths are final, though, and Ryzom might be coming back.

The official website relaunched with the message "Ryzom will be back soon!" hastily typed in three languages (English, German, and French) over a screenshot from the game. Researching the site's domain reveals that the last known owner was Nevrax -- the original creator of Ryzom. Thing is, Nevrax no longer exists. It's likely that the whois data hasn't been updated yet.

A couple months ago, we reported that an organization called Spiderweb International Unlimited had placed a bit for the Ryzom property, and that fans of the game were trying to raise enough money to outbid them so the source code could be released to the public. We haven't seen any news since then, so we're not sure what ended up happening, but we'll let you know as soon as new info comes up.

[Via WarCry]

Tags: nevrax, relaunch, rumor, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, spiderweb-international-unlimited, website

The Daily Grind: Will your MMO still be here in 2009?

by Tateru Nino Mar 13th 2008 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Asheron's Call, Business models, MMO industry, Ryzom, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Nothing lasts forever. MMO's come and go, business plans succeed and fail, and sometimes the best will in the world keeps bleeding cash. MMOs and virtual worlds cost a bundle in power and bandwidth to operate and (for decent customer service, GMs, admins and billing) can cost even more in staffing (hint: That's why a lot of operators keep the staff counts down).

All the while the developer/operator is trying to keep the cash-burn rate down and recover the costs of the game, in the hope of breaking even before the money runs out. Asheron's Call 2, Auto Assault, Saga of Ryzom, Earth and Beyond, and more are gone. Sometimes subscriptions never quite rise high enough for the long-tail model to be sustainable for an MMO. Do you think your online world will still be here this time next year as the end of Q1 2009 rolls around?

Tags: asherons-call, auto-assault, business-models, earth-and-beyond, featured, mmo-industry, opinion, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, tdg, the-daily-grind

The saga of the Saga of Ryzom: Not over yet

by Tateru Nino Mar 11th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Ryzom, News items, Legal

The Saga of Ryzom (or just Ryzom for marketing purposes), has had a pretty rocky time in the market, struggling and never quite taking off. Poor Ryzom, even spiffy advertising on Penny Arcade could not save you.

As we posted back in early February, things were starting to fall apart, and servers beginning to close. The last of them finally did in mid-February. Game over, right? Well, maybe not.

Tags: gameforge, lagorama, legal, ryzom, saga-of-ryzom, spiderweb-international-limited