Ryzom is a wholly original MMORPG fusing science fiction and fantasy. Ryzom Ring (R²), Ryzom's first and free expansion, evolves the Saga introducing the first ever MMO scenario editor.
Planet Atys is a living world, with five rich and diverse ecosystems. A powerful AI technology makes flora and fauna interact dynamically with each other and the ever-changing environment.
A Lush, Living Ecosystem:
Known as the Living Planet, Atys doesn't behave quite like any world you've experienced in an MMORPG. To start with, Atys is growing, slowly sending tendrils out which can unveil new lands and cover up existing ones. Due to this constant growth, the climats and weather on the surface can vary greatly, even in a short time span.
Creatures' behaviour - On the surface, the creatures behave even more intelligently. Each creature has its own set of behaviours, and natural enemies. Wild gingos travel in small packs, willing to attack anything they think they can kill for food. The more docile bodoc will travel with its herd, but fiercely come to each others defence should they be attacked. Some creatures will migrate naturally; others will prefer to remain in the same general area.
Seasons - They change naturally, altering not only the landscape of Atys but also the resources available to harvesters and the behaviour of the creatures that live there. The weather can also change these things, from raging snowstorms in the forest to thunderous storms in the jungle.
Battles with Hordes of Monsters:
Imagine standing outside a city, watching a hill in the distance, and seeing the first members of a wave of Kitins appear. Now imagine hundreds more following them, moving as a single, swarming army. Battles of this scale will require dozens of players working together to fend off serious invasions.
Choose and fully customize a character from any of the four races of Atys. The skill-based action tree allows to gain experience in fighting, magic, crafting and/or foraging, and you can also customize your own spells and special attacks (thousands of possible combinations!).
Flexible Skill-Based Advancement:
Although you earn experience and gain levels, your advancement is measured on a skill tree. There are no classes in Ryzom, and you can advance in any tree as far as you'd like.
At the beginning, you only have access to the four most basic skills - Fight, Magic, Craft and Harvest. As you advance, these skills will begin to unlock new ones below them on the tree, each getting more specific than the one above. You finish and masterize a specific skill branch when you reach level 250.
* For example, fighting with a mace will first gain skill in the basic Fight tree, then the more specialised Melee Fight branch, and all the way down to Master Mace.
Each of these skills allows you to train in different Actions. The more specific the skill gets, the more powerful the Actions learned are. It may take a long time to be able to completely learn an entire skill branch down to one of the most specific skill levels, but it's not necessary to do so to become capable. In some cases it might even be better to generalize and work on several branches.
This skill tree also makes it possible to give the benefit of flexibility to veteran characters, while still allowing newer ones to be effective. Because you never forget a skill once it has been learned, and because there is no penalty for learning multiple skills, the more skills learned, the more options that are available.
Item Creation:
Although NPCs sell basic equipment for characters of all levels, high quality and enchanted items are only provided by player crafters. Even at very low skill levels, crafters can begin creating items with stat increases on them, and the bonuses (extra Life, Sap, Stamina, or Focus) they can place on equipment only get better as the crafters get more skilled.
In order to craft an object, materials need to be found to fill each of the roles in the equipment. Depending on the item, a dozen or more pieces of raw material may be necessary to create a finished product.
Quartering - One way to get raw materials is by hunting the creatures of Atys. Each creature can be quartered for materials appropriate to their type. For example, a carnivorous creature may provide sharp teeth that are appropriate for spearheads, while a herbivore may have a soft skin that makes excellent light armour padding.
Foraging - The other way to get materials is to harvest them from the land through the Harvesting skill tree. Two separate actions are necessary to do this. First, you must search for material locations using his Prospecting ability, which will make nearby resource points visible. Then you must harvest one of those resource points, to gather the material.
A Storyline That Matters:
Who are the Karavan? Why does Atys grow? Is the Great Dragon real, or only a legend? Who are Jena and Elias? Why are we here? The planet of Atys is rich in mystery, and much is left to be discovered. Because of the collapse of civilization in the past, vast amounts of knowledge and history have been lost - only time will reveal these pieces of the story.
Events:
To ensure an entertaining life on Atys, the EMs (Event Managers) regularly run events for the three communities. These can be small events lasting a few hours as well as large-scale events extended over several days or even weeks and month; they can be story-telling evenings in the bar as well as invasions of nasty creatures or marauders in different regions or multiple continents.
There are mainstream events related to the Saga of Ryzom, including the Factions and the nations Leaders, how their relationships evolve and political stakes; and "side" events that are less or not related to the Saga, such as tournaments, murder affairs, rescues, fashion shows, etc. Both large and small events may differ from one server to the other, notably depending on how the players react to what happens.
To catch up on what's happening on Atys, you can have a look at the roadmap which gives a quick overview and the Chronicles which will inform you more deeply on what happened and will occur. Another way to keep in touch is to read the Saga section of the forums, where players and GMs both post to inform on the events and discuss in a roleplay way.
Factions:
Two groups as powerful and mysterious as one another seek to control the destiny of Atys. Both the Karavan and the Kamis claim to be the true guardians of the planet, both come to the aid of homins as long as they obey their rules, both are secretive about their origins and perhaps even their true intentions. For centuries now, they have followed different paths, observing one another without confrontation. You have no choice but to live with these powerful factions around. However, you are able to choose which side you'll join and follow: the Karavan, the Kamis... or neither.
Their presence and pressure becoming more and more strong on the world, a war finally began with the Episode 2 – The Homes of the Gods, where you were able to act for your faction and erect special buildings with the help of your allies. Steles of Valors, where are engraved the name of the best homins and guilds who participated in the construction, will remain permanently on Atys, so that everyone can remember who were the most famous ones who acted during the factions war.
The Karavan and the Kamis are rewarding those who help them. When you accomplish tasks for one faction (through missions), you gain fame with it, what will allow you to have access to more teleports. During specific events, you can also gain Honor Points, which you will be able to exchange for special rewards.
You will truly have influence on the outcome of the factions conflict, nothing is written yet, and nobody can foresee who will win!
Duel:
Different types of PvP combat coexist in The Saga of Ryzom, and - since not everyone likes PvP - you can choose whether or not to get involved. If you are looking to engage in players combats, the game offers various possibilities: Duels, GvG, FvF and full PvP.
By challenging another player directly to a duel, you can engage in individual combat even in areas where PvP is normally not allowed. To challenge another player, right-click on him and choose "Engage Duel" from the context menu - he will receive a challenge, and if accepted, the duel will begin. The duel will end when one player is slain, or if either of the two players abandons the duel.
Outposts wars:
Outside of the cities, across the four countries of Atys, exist many Outposts that give new tools to the guilds and some exciting challenges for both PvPers and crafters. Outposts are controlled by guilds, who have to fight to take them over. This brings a new dimension to PvP, with fights between armies of players.
Unique materials - Historically, Outposts are old buildings located above nexuses, which are special nodes in the depths of Atys. Their locations, strategically chosen by the Karavan and the Kamis, allow to grant access to specific raw materials through the use of a drill. By controlling an Outpost, your guild will be the only one entitled to collect these raw materials, used in the composition of unique items.
Battles - The Outposts introduce a turn-based concept of attack and defense cycles. First, the attacking guild has to declare war - compulsory stage that takes 24 hours to allow the two opponent to organize themselves and be there when the true conflict occurs. Then, within the next 24 hours after this first stage, the attack period starts and lasts 2 hours. The result of this first battle determines if a second battle - the defense battle - will occur or not. If the attacking guild won the attack period, it will then have to fight again during a defense period.
When a war has been declared to an Outpost and you pass close by, a window pops up asking whether you want to participate or not, and propose to choose your camp. If you don't want to participate, you can simply click on the "neutral" button.
