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Free to play MMORPG Ryzom launches on Steam with Linux support

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The classic MMORPG Ryzom has officially launched on Steam with full Linux support. This new release has a few updates to the old game too.

It has a bunch of graphical improvements like FXAA, anisotropic filtering, improvement of bloom. Improved security, OpenGL by default for all platforms, optimizations and much more. You can see what they added in here.

I've never tried it myself, so I will be giving it a download to see what it's like.

About Ryzom
Ryzom is one of only a few commercial-grade MMORPGs that are fully open source: client, server, tools, and media. Being open source means that Ryzom draws on a vibrant community providing fixes and functionality above and beyond that of what the team can provide. It offers players a unique opportunity to become involved in the development of the game.
Sandbox

Far from being a frozen world, Ryzom is constantly evolving in regard to your actions. Will you spark another war? Will you found a lucrative commercial guild or aim for political power? What if your hunting talents could be decisive in the struggle against Kitins?
Pick your actions well, for each one of them may impact the world and its inhabitants!
Classless

Ryzom characters are unusual in that they are not bound to a class. That means you don't have to choose between being a warrior, a mage, a harvester or a crafter. You can improve your skills in all these classes with only one character; you do not need to focus on one path. For example, you can, at your leisure, either train your pike handling, put on your magic amplifiers to heal or cast offensive spells, pick up your pickaxe and harvest materials, or go into crafting a new armor or weapon.
You have absolute freedom!

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Free Game, MMO, RPG, Steam
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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23 comments
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Shmerl May 6, 2016
Quoting: rustybroomhandleThere is quite a bit of grinding though, but not of the WoW-like variety (ie, repeating dungeon runs/raids to get gear drops etc.). It's more because the economy is player-managed, all gear is crafted, materials have to be gathered etc. It's grinding, but of the more leisurely variety.

That reminds me of PlaneShift. But I don't mind that kind of activity, since it can fit with roleplaying well.


Last edited by Shmerl on 6 May 2016 at 8:30 pm UTC
khalismur May 6, 2016
This game has the best community ever, or at least had since I last played one year ago.

The gathering, crafting and skill system are VERY REALLY VERY much deep and complex. You can create any skill you want from compatible 'effects'. You add negative things such as mana cost and cast time, and add positive things like damage, conditional effects, hit rate, etc. Insane really, since you can create any skill.

Gathering is largely dependent on regions, seasons. Very deep vein searching. No equipment dropped from mobs. All is player crafted...

Also liam, the things you mentioned (bloom, FXAA, Depth of Field) were already in game for a few years. They are not new to this steam release (even on the native Linux client for at least one year we had those).

However, Ryzom is OLD. Many players have maxed absolutely everything (which should take 3 years of gameplay or more). This is the reason why I quit. There were new players, lowbies, people with alts leveling BUT there are also many with gear which is almost impossible to craft unless you play for yeeeeears (such as the golden sets).

The only second negative point about the game I think it's worth mentioning is that I felt very little mob variety. There were some 20 models of monsters only. They change in colour, shape, size, behaviour, texture, but still only those few models. The world is so rich in other things, however, that this was not a big issue for me. Maybe for younger players used to games with 20GB or more of data it could be.

The AI is insane as well. Mobs are seasonal, migrate, move in packs, etc.

Highly recommended. Take it with open mind. It's not a sandbox, but rather THE sandbox MMORPG. Only comparable to SWG in terms of depth.


Last edited by khalismur on 6 May 2016 at 8:54 pm UTC
GustyGhost May 6, 2016
Would you say role play is the only way to truly enjoy this game? If most of the experience is based on crafting and exploring for drops, what is there to get from Ryzom that you couldn't get out of, say, Minetest?

Also, Winch Gate sure know how to advertise hooooooooo boy!

Shmerl May 6, 2016
Quoting: AnxiousInfusionWould you say role play is the only way to truly enjoy this game?

If it's on-line RPG, I expect roleplaying to have the major focus :) Otherwise it's not an RPG, right? That's the reason some on-line multiplayer games drop RPG from the title and call themselves MMOs.


Last edited by Shmerl on 6 May 2016 at 9:24 pm UTC
khalismur May 6, 2016
Quoting: AnxiousInfusionWould you say role play is the only way to truly enjoy this game? If most of the experience is based on crafting and exploring for drops, what is there to get from Ryzom that you couldn't get out of, say, Minetest?
I played with moderate active role playing and it was a blast for some four months. Didn't play Minetest (am I missing much? ) Since many players are maxed out in everything or mostly everything (3+ years of play), they help newbies and are active in guild RP, which is why the community ROCKS. It's definitely a good experience for the sandboxer, maybe not for the younger crowd used to insta-reward and easy mode everything like in WoW retail.

I quit because of RL changes but the game is truly deep and complex and engaging. The skill system is so unique I cry with little customization of other MMORPGs, where usually the 'Talents' are made as a way to customize skills. In Ryzom you CREATE skills in any way you want.
Want a magic bolt with ultra range and ultra hit rate, special effects? Will need to compile the skill with lot's of mana use, cast time, low damage, etc.
Fast close range blast spell, heavy hammer crushing hit, etc etc. You can do it all. No classes, so you can even mix that things to have a true hybrid character. That's why the very old players were so powerful. They mastered all schools of combat and gathering and crafting (gathering is divided by gathering in lakes, forest, deserts, jungles, etc...) and are just too powerful. But since there is almost no PvP, there is no direct competition. The focus is really PvE.
PublicNuisance May 6, 2016
I'm going to give this game a shot down the road but right now I only get 30-45 FPS when maxed out on my R9 390 so I will shelve it for now. Looks very interesting though.
Beamboom May 7, 2016
Hm, judging by the comments here this really sounds like my kind of mmorpg. I just hope such an old game have been properly visually upgraded along the way.
STiAT May 7, 2016
While I enjoy Runescape, I'll give this one a shot too...

It's a week free2play for all (with all features).

Though, if you subscribe, be aware that if you drop subscription you can't play anymore. You can only play freely if you don't pay at all, once you paid you can't go back to free2play.
Quoting: BeamboomHm, judging by the comments here this really sounds like my kind of mmorpg. I just hope such an old game have been properly visually upgraded along the way.

WoW wasn't either and is still up and running :D.
denyasis May 8, 2016
Sounds Really interesting. Tell me, I've never done an online game, is this something that you can play semi-casually (Not sure if the right word - play for a short period of time every once in a while), or does it require a rather large time commitment to really enjoy?

I ask as I only have a few hours a week of time to myself for R&R and if you need a continuous session to be a few hours long (before you can save/quit), I might have to skip it until I get more free time!

Thanks!
Julius May 8, 2016
Just a general note: It's mostly open-source, but the audio assets and the story/gameplay scripts are not. Still a great pool of open source assets though.

It's just such a shame that this never really took off in open-source development. Sure, it got some improvements and works quite well on modern systems... but it's still essentially the same game with little custom made content or alternative open-source game servers etc.

I guess it is mainly due to the fact that it is just sooo outdated by today's standards that improving it in your free-time seems like an uphill battle :( Maybe a Android port and a VR version would help, as for those the relatively low-spec requirements actually help getting a larger community intersted.


Last edited by Julius on 8 May 2016 at 3:43 am UTC
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