Guppy and I practicing our evil laughs

Practicing my evil laugh with my buddy Guppy as well as a rousing game of Peek-a-boo.

Why I fell in love with a game I'd never heard of.

I can't remember how I originally heard of the game, The Saga of Ryzom. It happened just when I finally lost interest in struggling through grinding villas day in and day out in Age of Conan.

Age of Conan? I still love, I really do. It is without a doubt a game that actually outshone Vanguard, and when I played Vanguard, I thought it was the most amazing graphics MMO wise (that I'd seen,) yet. AoC blew this out of the water, several times and twice on Sundays. I reflect and think about AoC on occasion, much like I did with Vanguard. But it was over, this love affair. AoC forgot to give content to those of us over 50. Quests that did not take a full group to do any of them disappeared, crafting was FUBARed beyond recognition, and hitting the same 20-40 minute instances with the same mobs, with the same drops, every day (because there was a timer on the villas. You could only do them once every 24 hours) was not my cup of tea.

But what did that leave me? Nothing but the quest to fiddle with free to play games.

I tried to get a hold of the international Perfect World (as I had the Malaysian version)--that didn't work out. It took them four days to send me the first account verification e-mail. By the time I got it, it was no longer valid. The second try, I made an account but could not sign into the site nor the game itself--no matter how many times I changed my password at the site itself. So needless to say? I gave that up too.

And then I found Ryzom in my boredom inspired search. I was actually entertained.

What's a sandbox MMORPG?

A sandbox MMORPG can pretty much be summed up by saying there is no limit on what you can do. There's no one forcing you to do quests, to collect this-many-whatevers, there's...nothing hampering you doing whatever it is you want to do. They give you a MMORPG world, you create a character, they slap you on the back and tell you, "Good luck!"

What are the classes?

There are four main/base classes: Fighter, Magician, Harvester, Crafter. Those are just the base classes. Each of these classes split into several different talent trees (those of you familiar with the old SWG will get what I mean.)

If you don't know what I mean by talent trees, it's sort of like this: You decide to work on your fighting skills. You put on some armor and a sword, and from roughly levels 1-50, you work on fighting. You hit 50, and suddenly your fighter xp branches off into four different trees. (This is just an example, not 100% accurate.) Now your xp trees are: sword, spear, mace, hammer, and depending on what weapon you equip and use you gain experience in that tree and are able to use special attacks tailored to that tree.

Magician, of course, can also be healer as well as offensive magic slinger. Crafters can focus and craft anything--jewelery, light armor, heavy armor, weapons, tools.

Here's the deal though: you can be a magician fighter crafter harvester. All at once. There are no penalties and the base skill trees all go up to 200. But wait, it's not just the base skill trees that go up to 200. It's all the trees that split off from the base trees too.

You could, literally, spend years trying to level everything up if you wanted too without fear of penalty. Other than leaving other skills behind in the dust.

What are the graphics like?

I won't lie to you. They're severely outshone and outdated compared to other games. If you want to get right down to it, WoW in it's Alpha state might be on par or equal to Ryzom. This might drive some of you off, as I know it did for my husband. He just did not like the look of Ryzom, to him it was too brightly colored and cartoonish.

On one hand, I can understand and agree with where he comes from. Comparing it to Age of Conan, Hellgate London, Vanguard, even Warhammer Online? They make this game look closer to an 8-bit creation. But Ryzom has its charm that I cannot deny.

The world seems absolutely huge. When it is laid out before you flat on the map, it doesn't look so bad. And then, when you try to get to point A to point B for the first time, you realize how difficult and how expansive the world of Atys (the planet the game is placed on) really is.

If the world is so huge, what's travel like?

The world can be traveled somewhat, however, without the use of feet. You can use "teleporters" placed by two of the world's factions, Kami or Karavan. Of course, you aren't limited to picking a side to actually use them. There are Kami/Karavan neutral teleports all over Atys.

There are also mounts for sale--the downside to both teleports and mounts is that they both cost money, and they aren't cheap when you are starting out. You'll need to spend some time either farming materials, harvesting or crafting/selling in the beginning to get around.

I don't like to farm. I don't like games where I have to farm.

Show me a MMORPG where you never have to do this and I'll put something here other than me rolling my eyes.

Okay, maybe that's me being the usual cranky h0r. Some games are more clever at hiding the farming, some games aren't. I will admit that Ryzom isn't--but I am having fun with this game so I really don't notice it. I guess that's what will predetermine whether or not its farming or fun to you.

Aren't there Quests?

Yes and no. Once you are out of the beginner area, called Silan, there aren't any real quests as there were on the "newb island."

They're not even called quests in Ryzom, but Missions. Almost all of the Missions on Atys proper (away from Silan) are for faction points.

How do you level in Ryzom?

Kill, craft, or harvest. It seems pretty simple and presented that way, it is.

Can I customize my fighting abilities/magic/harvesting/crafting?

Yes.

Everyone starts off with the same basic spells/skills and can then, as they level, earn points toward "purchasing" upgrades which made each skill/spell unique. A better explanation of this system can be found here: http://forums.ryzom.com/showthread.php?t=2014

While the post is a bit outdated, you can get a gist as to what it's like.

What makes it fun, then?

There is nothing in this game forcing me to do anything I don't want to do. If I don't want to group and mindlessly kill for hours on end? I don't have to. I can find a nice patch of resource rich land, keep an eye out for things that will aggro me, and dig away to my hearts content or craft away until my eyes cross.

If I get tired of crafting, I can ask if anyone is interested in killing anything that moves for levels and do so. If I get tired of all of that, I can wander off and role play.

The community I have found within Ryzom bears a striking resemblance to the community I first found years ago in SWG (Star Wars Galaxies), and in fact, a lot of the player base purportedly comes from SWG pre Sony-FUBAR...And I believe it. Though I haven't found any names familiar, the attitudes, the "tone" of people as well as the general way people treat one another remind me greatly of my early days playing SWG. Where the people made the game stand out, not the game itself.

Too long; didn't read:

Ryzom Pros:

A great community

Endless customization level wise

Complex crafting/harvesting system

A huge world with great environments despite the limited look an aged game has

A small, thriving community of role players

Free to play at this moment

Ryzom Cons:

Learning curve: it is steep for those of us used to having a game give us a tutorial or walk through in the beginning. A lot of the missions aren't explained very well, there is no "quest book" that records NPC instructions. You have to pay attention to what the NPC's say to you in speech bubbles when you first pick up their missions because that is the only time you get any in depth information as to what you are doing.

Travel is expensive by transporter/mount and very dangerous by foot

Missions are generally not worth it but for faction

It's an old game with aged graphics

There are bugs with the system used to mark flags on user map. If the game crashes, you some times lose the file

Some players complain of lag (I haven't seen any of it yet.)

So there you go. I play Ryzom for the people. The fact that it is, as of right now (they may not always be) free to play helps but it wouldn't make me stay as much as the group of crazies I'm occasionally thrown into. There is something about Ryzom that charms me which I cannot quite explain as well as I could with other free to play games which captures and keeps me.

Screen shots by House Etchmarc and yours truly :D

So you want an uber guild, eh?

In MMORPG’s, the guild is often a welcome addition to any game. Should you PVP, your guild generally has your back but that’s not the only plus in having an excellent guild! Here’s a chance to socialize with people like minded, often online when you are and generally available to group with, without the rigmarole of ‘you get what you LFG’ for as well as PUGS.

Running and maintaining a guild however can often suck the fun right out a game for guild leaders and officers. When they aren’t having fun the entire guild often picks up this emotion and echoes it back. Throughout my rather illustrious (read: geeky) career of MMORPG’s, being a guild leader and officer, there have been some really interesting opinions and things I have learned as to what I think makes or breaks a good guild and lucky for you, I’ve written them up and offered them here.

By no means am I saying that a guild has to be run this way. These are just a collection of my thoughts and opinions and I hope they help you!

DO NOT:

• Mock your members openly in public places. And I’m not talking the fun mock you do in guild chat when they slip up and mistype or misspell. Calling your members stupid, their issues or anything they wish to privately share with you stupid is a great way to alienate guild members from you.


• Allow your guild officers to do whatever they want because they’re officers. Nothing sends a clearer “You’re not important, we’re not really a group, you’re not as awesome as we are, poo on you” than this do as I say, not as I do behavior.


• Allow your fellow guild leaders to do whatever they want because they’re guild leaders.


• Allow yourself to do whatever you want because you created the guild and that somehow makes you moar speshul than everything else.


• Forget to make some place some where for fellow guild members to meet and chatter that is outside the game. A message board, a web site, a chat room--anything to help bring a sense of community to your members is a plus.


• Ignore what your members have to say, no matter how annoying and repetitive it is.


• Believe most guilds are a democracy. Few are.


• Have officer and guild leader drama spill publicly—be it in guild chat or boards. Present a united front whenever possible. If and when you lose an officer in a particularly nasty /guild leave, save face by staring down anything nasty they have to say by remaining calm and polite. Who do you think will come out looking like the better?


• Snap, treat discourteously, or be rude intentionally to your guild members. Even if you think they deserve it. Your members are your guild’s life. You don’t HAVE to like them, but as an officer or guild leader you do have to work with them.


• Be unavailable to members when online with your guild leader or officer character. When you signed up for this gig, you signed away your privacy in game for that officer/leader avatar/toon. Be prepared to be PM'ed and in-game mailed.

DO:

• Keep your gripes about members, rants, issues to a private place far away from member’s eyes. I don’t begrudge guild leaders or officers the right to blow off steam. Make sure it remains private, however.


• Expect and demand your guild officers to uphold and follow your guild’s rules and charter just like every other member must. If they break a rule, then they should be punished in the exact same manner you have deemed fit for a member.


• Listen to your guild members, even when it’s the fiftieth time George the Wizard has complained to you about the epics purple unicorn hat that has been bugged for weeks that everyone knows about. George probably just needs an ear to listen to him, and guess what? As guild leader or officer you unofficially signed up to do this. If listening to people gripe and complain gets on your nerves you might want to consider rethinking your position—because you will be doing this for your entire tenure as guild leader/officer.


• Be courteous, kind, and polite. Whether you know it or not, part of the job guild leader/officer is customer service. You signed up to be the ears and eyes for either the guild leader as officer, or the head/boss of a group of people. Therefore, not only are they all going to look at you as well as to you for examples being lead, they’re going to want to talk to you and bring their issues or problems to you. Officers will either be expected to bring such issues to the guild leader, while working to keep any ruffled feathers smooth. If you are a jerk to your members, the only message you’re getting through is that your guild doesn’t care and you might find yourself out of a few dozen members. Quickly.


• Know the difference between being honest and just being crass and rude. Honesty is a hard pill to swallow, but you can still be bluntly, brutally honest with someone without calling them names, resorting to swearing, mocking or dragging their name through the mud. For example: “Well you can’t get that piece of epix gear because, quite frankly, you suck.” Or“Well, I think that you might not be able to get that piece of epix gear because you might be doing something wrong. Here’s what I think: …" See the difference?


• Put your foot down and don’t be afraid to do so. There is no reason for any guild leader or officer to put up with really nasty crap for a long period of time. Despite all your best efforts of being polite and reasonable, some members or people just won’t get it. Don’t be afraid to cut these members loose. Deal with continuously problematic members without hesitation or fear, courteous does not mean you need to be a welcome mat. You can be a nice hard-ass and you will no doubt learn how to do so as a guild leader or officer.


• Have as much fun as possible with your members and fellow officers, leaders. If you aren’t having fun in a game you’re paying to play—well—what are you doing playing it?


• Try and keep your officer and fellow guild leader roster full. No one can run a guild by themselves, no matter what they say. Burn out happens, real life happens, computer trouble happens. Eventually the inevitable might come to pass, and if the guild only has one leader, where does that leave the guild?


• Take breaks. When you find that you just want to throttle someone, find yourself yelling at the monitor or disliking the game that’s a good sign that you might want to take a break. It’s also a great way to avoid burn out which happens a lot in officer/leader positions. Tell your leader or fellow officers that you need some time away and go do other things to refuel and recharge.

There are no doubt hundreds of other little things you, as a member, officer, or leader can do to ensure a kick-ass guild experience, but these to me are the most important. Hope these have helped you in some way and happy gaming!

2phatgeeks.com

First: I'm really sorry that I haven't updated here.

That doesn't mean I am not updating, however. Shawn and I have recently re-upped a self-hosted WordPress blog at www.2phatgeeks.com.

In it, my husband and I (mostly I) update nearly every day with more of my witty comments about body hair and gas with cat poop and socks. Should you like, (I know I would!) you can join me over there at 2phatgeeks.com and read more about us, check out some of my digital photography, comment, rate articles, poke me on twitter and be nosey about all kinds of things!

I look forward to seeing you guys there!

Aging with grace and style

My body doesn't want to do that at all.

Really. Because if it did? If my body wanted me to age with grace and style? I wouldn't notice every month or so while scrubbing my face at the mirror the small fucking beard of blond hair on my god damned chin.

It started with one. Just one, innocent, fat, long blond hair that was thicker and far more rude than the fine blond hair that has covered my entire face for my entire mammalian life. Eyeing it with suspicion and hatred, I did what many braver women have been doing long before the dawn of chemicals--I grabbed an implement of tor--I mean, tweezer, and yanked that motherfucker out of my chin. Satisfied, I continued on about my life marginally pleased with my beardless face.

And then it happened some time last year.

There were more. There were more of these longer, thicker christly little hairs on my god damn chin.

Well. They weren't dark, it wasn't like I was growing something that I could mousse and style into a fine upstanding British monstrosity that shits the queen--but, I had noticeable hair. On my chin. Longer, thicker, hair. On my chin!

So I pluck again. But instead of a one second of pain that passes quickly, I now have four or five seconds of eye watering, butt clenching pain. Have I tried slathering sticky shit all over the bottom of my chin, then pressing a piece of fabric or plastic over it, smoothing it in, then ripping it away with a sound that I imagine flesh being shred from bone sounds like? Have I for that moment, experienced the shrieks of my skin as I tear hair, root and all? I have. Did it work? No.

It got some but not all. Forcing me to still pick up those hellish little forceps of face-rape known as tweezers.

And so this morning, as I am recovering from another round of grooming myself before I turn into a passable beer-gutted trucker from Mississippi, I try and reflect upon aging gracefully with style as I imagine other great ladies in my family, past and present have done.

None of them warned me about the growing a god-damned beard.

I suppose by the time I hit 60+ and my hands get too arthritic and palsied to hold a tweezer, I can always buy myself a packet of those terribly pretty little glass beads and make myself look like a female Captain Jack Sparrow.