Beware of servers using Vote Bots!

[jacobo_bobo]

In my opinion topsites are almost useless now days.. there are many servers that are using bots to increase their vote count and get a higher position on the topsites.

I know of some servers that are using such bots to cheat and gain an advantage over actual good servers, so I am here to expose them so that players can go to actual good servers instead of wasting time with cheating servers.

Based on the top 10 of most topsites:

First and foremost, a list of REAL GOOD SERVERS that do not cheat on top sites:

1. TalonRO - https://talonro.com/
2. New Sarah Server - https://sarahserver.net/
3. DreamerRO - http://playdreamerro.com/
4. MyRO - http://myro.ph/site/   (used to cheat but not anymore)
5. EslandRO - http://main.estlandro.cc/   (used to cheat but not anymore)

Now the list of CHEATING SERVERS using vote bots on multiple vote sites (such as http://www.xtremetop100.com/ragnarok-online)

1. ForsakenRO (botting votes for years)
2. LimitRO (botting votes for the last 1 year since population started declining)
3. Ragnarok Sakray Server (new server botting votes)
4. WeDevGames (newish server botting votes)
5. RagnaChanRO

These are servers on the top 10 listing on most top sites, beware of the cheating servers and don't waste your time on them.

YOUR BEST CHANCE IS GOING TO RATEMYSERVER TOP LISTING FOR REAL GOOD SERVERS INSTEAD OF VULNERABLE TOP SITES.

Stay safe and choose wisely~ 

[Cyan Hijirikawa]

Evidence, or didn't happen. When making these sort of claims, you should present factual evidence rather just some random banter that could have came from someone's behind.

And no, I am not defending any of those RO servers you've mentioned, but then again, when creating stuff like this, would really prefer having actual evidence presented before such claims. Do you get what I mean?

[jacobo_bobo]

It's hard to come up with concrete evidence considering most of the topsites do not share their graphs. But I have monitored the vote sites for quite a while and I can see the above mentioned servers getting burst of votes in a certain day or within a period of a couple of hours.

But Sure, let's take a look at the biggest cheater of them all, ForsakenRO.

Vote Count on Xtremetop100 - 916
Vote Count on TopRagnarok.org - 389  (This site has a dedicated Admin and banned ForsakenRO for botting votes in the past, fRO was rank 1. now rank 7)
Vote Count on Top100Arena - 2,630 (lol?) - (Compare it to Sarah server which has 5x the population of fRO..Sarah has 2,458)
Vote Count on TopRagnarok 200 - 2,266 (Compare it to DreamerRO and MyRO which have 100-300 more users than fRO during peak hours, dRO has 1,270 and MyRo only 1k.)

The vote count simply varies too much, it really depends where they aim their vote bots.

Take a look at LimitRO on XtremeTop100...it has more votes than servers with 2-3x their population.

How can LimitRO and ForsakenRO have almost as many votes as Sarah and Talon when both these servers have 1-2k online and LimitRO has 350 and fRO 500ish(?) Vote bots.

Do those servers have more dedicated players than the two biggest servers atm? of course not.. Limit and Forsaken are plagued by auto traders..you can tell because their population barely fluctuates throughout the day like normal server's populations do and their forums are dead.

Population Fluctuations throughout the day:
TalonRO - 1,100 ~1,700
Sarah - 1,100 ~ 2,2800
DreamerRO - 600~ 900
ForsakenRO - 500-600  (really 550 all the time..except maybe during woe)
LimitRO - 350-450 (really 350 all the time..except maybe during woe)

[Cyan Hijirikawa]

Well at least that's a start. That makes it more of a "viable" claim rather than just thrown out there. Thanks for the further explanation, and I do agree with you, if those servers do tend to use bots to get votes, then players should be wary. That in itself should be a red flag that says a big banner "WE ARE DESPERATE, PLEASE COME AND PLAY OUR SERVER" lmao. 

[DeePee]

Ragnachan and Estland are also some of the bigger vote bot users btw. So is Rebirth, lol.

Easiest way to check usually is top100arena as you can see the daily vote counts. In most cases you'll see 0-50 votes normally and then 2000 votes on the first day of the month. It's kinda funny to see really it isn't as bad as it used to be though.

[jacobo_bobo]

Ohh I was not aware Top100Arena had their graphs public! That makes it even easier to prove my case hahaha

ForsakenRO...Caught.
Apparently they stop botting votes when the end of the month is coming because they know they rankings will reset


RagnaChan moved to the list of Cheaters...I was aware they botted votes when they started but I was under the impression they had stopped..Maybe they just got tired of botting votes and not getting any results..



Tip for cheating servers:
Spend time listening to your players and making your server better. Doesn't matter how many users you trick into trying your server if the server sucks.

[Kensei]

YOUR BEST CHANCE IS GOING TO RATEMYSERVER TOP LISTING FOR REAL GOOD SERVERS INSTEAD OF VULNERABLE TOP SITES.

Nah, we can't really predict how good server are nowadays. Even RMS rating wouldn't help.

The best would be knowing the admins and their reputations, but well, I don't think alot of people take that into consideration unless you're a very old player who befriended / known them in the past.

If you're new, there's no way you can know those, and thus you'll better off asking in this forum. See who cares enough to reply and try to fit to your preferences.

[Lai]

This is how we create new jobs in RO branch ^^

[jacobo_bobo]

This is how we create new jobs in RO branch ^^

Pretty ballsy move for your to admit to botting votes on ratemyserver forums but I can't say I am surprised. So now you have a GM in charge of botting votes and you consider this a "job"? Aren't you ashamed to admit that your server sucks and you have to rely on cheats to attract new players?

Smh... RO Admin these days.. I really hope the few players your server has reads this arrogant comment of yours and discover they are wasting their time following a lame admin/server who relies on cheats, and I hope they move on to the good servers that actually make it to the top with hard work and dedication.

I suggest to move GM/Admin Lai and LimitRO to the Hall of Shame. (if he isn't already there)

[Lai]

Not being bold or arrogant.
Just being honest

I don't see anything wrong with buying a service that is common today.

I do not admit that my server sucks, theres nothing to be ashemed of

Private servers are private for a reason, since each server is created by a private person, which gives the server the soul of that private person.
And LimitRO is mine, therefore, every Limitronian likes me, of being me ^^

I can't, and won't be able to please everyone, especially not you bobo ^^

doesnt bobo mean" stupid" in ph? o,o

Peace out!

[jacobo_bobo]

Not being bold or arrogant.
Just being honest

I don't see anything wrong with buying a service that is common today.

I do not admit that my server sucks, theres nothing to be ashemed of

Private servers are private for a reason, since each server is created by a private person, which gives the server the soul of that private person.
And LimitRO is mine, therefore, every Limitronian likes me, of being me ^^

I can't, and won't be able to please everyone, especially not you bobo ^^

doesnt bobo mean" stupid" in ph? o,o

Peace out!

You should be ashamed of yourself. "You see nothing wrong in buying a service" -- A service that breaks the terms and regulations of the vote site? A service that falsely places your server on a higher rank than it should be? You are not ashamed of tricking players into joining your server? You should be.

You say its your server and it has your soul, so your server is a cheating server? You say every player is like you, so all your players are cheaters? Nice to hear...even more of a reason for players to stay away from this trash.

"Limitronian" really? can you be more original and stop copying TalonRO's "Talonians"? Cause Limitronian sounds like s*** to be honest. Be more creative, if that's even possible for you.

I know you can't please me. Doesn't mean you need to cheat to get ahead.

It wouldn't surprise me if you used proxies to cheat your way through Ratemyserver rankings too.

[Raikon]

buying a service that is common today.

[ citation needed ]

therefore, every Limitronian likes me, of being me ^^

Ignorance seems to be bliss. A lot of people wouldn't approve of this behaviour if this thread was spread around in your server's forums or in-game.

Private servers are private for a reason, since each server is created by a private person, which gives the server the soul of that private person.

I can't, and won't be able to please everyone, especially not you bobo ^^

You're right, but would you allow a thread in your forums linking to this one? To see the community's response that is. I mean, you have voiced your opinion over the matter, and you have a strong stance on purchasing these services with no shame or arrogance. Why not?
It'd prove your second quote I put up there to be correct, no?

[Terpsichore]

Is anyone even surprised? From "premium" accounts that get you a certain amount of starting votes every month to this, it's always been this way. Top site lists aren't a good way to measure anything.

I would be more concerned with servers that have more RMS reviews than actual population (vendors included) and those reviews all seem to be written by the same person, with minor modifications.

Also, before you hound on Lai, consider that he's just being honest, which is already a more respectable behavior than the average, where server owners straight up lie to their players while pretending to act cool and "professional".

[Lai]

haha
Popcorn time! ;DDD

[jacobo_bobo]

Is anyone even surprised? From "premium" accounts that get you a certain amount of starting votes every month to this, it's always been this way. Top site lists aren't a good way to measure anything.

I would be more concerned with servers that have more RMS reviews than actual population (vendors included) and those reviews all seem to be written by the same person, with minor modifications.

Also, before you hound on Lai, consider that he's just being honest, which is already a more respectable behavior than the average, where server owners straight up lie to their players while pretending to act cool and "professional".

There is nothing respectable about his behaviour.. It appears he just has complete disregard for honesty since he is tricking players into joining his server. I wonder what else is a lie, his fake population? Fake reviews? Doing deals behind his player's back for extra cash?

I do not respect his "honesty" about cheating... That would be the same as respecting a serial killer for openly admitting he enjoys killing his victims.

[Cyan Hijirikawa]

Question, what is the purpose of voting sites? I mean if they are just now being handled and voted by bots, then what's the point of them? Votes mean nothing anymore if that is the case. Maybe a few years back when server owners weren't desperate enough to grab players, it was a good thing. Now it turned to this.

[DarkDevine]

Question, what is the purpose of voting sites? I mean if they are just now being handled and voted by bots, then what's the point of them? Votes mean nothing anymore if that is the case. Maybe a few years back when server owners weren't desperate enough to grab players, it was a good thing. Now it turned to this.

Honestly, today they simply exist as a reason to give freebies to users to lure them.

People that voted often and got stuff through it feel like they "earned" it by "work", hence they won't leave the server that easily, as their work would get lost, even it it's obviously crappy.

Making a server, I wouldn't even post it on these s*** sites. There are better ways to advertise and better ways to keep players on your server (e.g. actual good content, management and support)

[jacobo_bobo]

The purpose of Vote Sites is obviously to attract new players. Most people use Google and search engines to find a server. When they google "Ragnarok Private Server" all you will find are top site.. New player clicks topsite --> New player checks top site rankings and generally go for the top 5 servers as they believe them to be the best.

Servers want to be on the top 5 so they have Vote for points systems in place to encourage their players to vote.

[Cyan Hijirikawa]

Why do you need players when I can have bots.  Well, veteran players know what sites to check anyways when playing servers, namely RMS and other actual forums who have server reviews on them.

[DarkDevine]

Most people use Google and search engines to find a server. When they google "Ragnarok Private Server" all you will find are top site.. New player clicks topsite --> New player checks top site rankings and generally go for the top 5 servers as they believe them to be the best.

Honestly, who searches a server like that doesn't deserve any better.

Pretty sure social networks and good SEO can bring just as many, if not more players.

[Minabe]

Doing Tripper's job.

[DarkDevine]

So now the state of RO pservers scene is the players' fault? I can finally say RO is dead.

It has always been the players fault. Crappy admins are normal RO players as well, they just were able to ask someone on rAthena forums to set their server up. The problem is when people aren't able to pinpoint the factors that makes a crappy server crappy. Most people are simply in it for money, it's a fact. They don't want to provide a nice and cool RO experience or give players the best they can, they want to milk every digit that appears in their player count.

Maybe that would be worth writing a guide. "How to avoid crappy servers".

If more people would concentrate on joining good, larger servers and stop giving every of those 500.000 private servers out there a reason to stay alive, things would be different and you wouldn't need to spread a lie like "RO is dead".

[jacobo_bobo]

So now the state of RO pservers scene is the players' fault? I can finally say RO is dead.

I agree...it's not the players fault that they use search engines to find RO servers. We are in 2016, everyone uses search engines to find anything and everything they are looking for. Private servers should not be any different... I only wish Ratemyserver was higher in the rankings and that vote sites actually had caring owners that cleaned cheating servers from their top sites.

[Yuzo]

Problem with those voting sites is who is accountable for them? I don't know who you can even look to. At least here we have yC, Triper and the gang that we know we can complain about shet.

[DarkDevine]

I agree...it's not the players fault that they use search engines to find RO servers. We are in 2016, everyone uses search engines to find anything and everything they are looking for.

They don't use search engines to find servers, they use crappy voting top-sites that are obviously easily bottable.
They only use search engines to find those crappy voting-sites.

A RO server that is able to land on top by searching "Ragnarok Online Private Server" on google (Only LimitRO and TalonRO make it to the first page) are obviously at least RO servers which admins understood SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and thus are probably technically competent enough to run a RO server (Not implying they have to be good admins or good persons, but they are worth more for the RO private server community as they are able to keep servers online over years, not just for 4 weeks)

Additionally, RateMyServer already is result No.1 when searching for private servers, but it requires 2 clicks more to get a RO server while top-sites list them in a list of 100. That is both's fault, players are too lazy, RMS doesn't evolve.

TalonRO is actually even visible (Second result after Gravity's official site) when you search for "Play Ragnarok Online" on Google, which is a real achievement and is probably the reason why they actually got a solid player base and keep it at that. Gravity probably hates them for this.

SEO is one of the most underrated skills a server admin should have.


Most factors that make a crappy server crappy are visible from the outside already, before even registering. The majority of players simply can't pinpoint these factors or they lack the technical knowledge to decide if something is implemented well or badly.

I am actually thinking about writing a "How to search for a server"-guide.