Closing of Ret-RO

[DavionFuxa]

Greetings

I figure that with some players gone from playing on the server, it might be a good idea to let others know the server has closed, for those who once played on it and may be interested in knowing about it. If this thread doesn't belong here then the Mods can move it to where it belongs. It should be noted that this is NOT and advertisement to join the server, since the server is pretty much closed at this point.

After a year and half, the long lived Non-Trans/Adv. Class server has come to an end. The server has had it's ups and downs but has managed to outlive many other servers of it's type, and likely gained some renowned as a destination server for those looking for the an RO experience akin to the early days. All good things must end however, though at least Ret-RO ends AS a good thing which is a nice thing to go out with.

Below is the closing announcement by GM Retro:

Dear Ret-RO Community,

It pains me to say this, but I think this is the end of Ret-RO. I've been holding out to see how things would go for as long as possible, but I think this is it. I've opened it up for discussion with the other GMs, but I've finally decided that we've lost our fight.

I founded Ret-RO to prove that not only was Classic RO more fun than the gear treadmill that current RO has become, and the advent of an official classic server is validation of this, though in a way that I never would have foreseen. When I started work on the original Ret-RO over 4 years ago, many players were calling out openly for a classic option, and now that there is an official solution to the problem, I see Ret-RO more as a detriment to classic RO than as a benefit. I have been watching for over a month, and have seen the official server gain traction and good reviews, which not only makes competing wrong, it also removes any pool of new players we may gain.

It's not only this, foreign classic Athena servers have also cut into the available market, and while for the first 3 years I worked on this project I could devote 20 hours a week into setting us apart in quality of content and support, I no longer have that time to devote. I do want to thank Fuxa, Yrgav and Slot, without whom there would have been no semblance of quality over the past 18 months, as I moved from having 20 hours a week to devote to working full time and having a wife to take care of. Most importantly, with out Fuxa's tireless dedication, we certainly would have died or shuttered a year ago.

In light of this, tomorrow is the last WoE. The server will be backed up and then taken down next week. The forums will be closed and the website shuttered following that.

Good luck to all of you, whether you continue to play RO or kick the habit for good.

Regards,
Retro


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For fun, we've had over 5,000 individual players this server. 600 of those have been active in the past month.

Donations made in the month of August, or made any time in the last 60 days that I did not provide in-game points for will be refunded in full.

As for myself, I will likely not be continuing with Ragnarok Online after this. Even if the Official Classic server came out. Without Further ado, goodbye to the RO community, and may you always remember the Ret-RO server if you tried it.

Former GM of Ret-RO

[GM] Fuxa

[Gene]

A good choice to close a server with good name, rather than letting it live longer without monitoring it, turning bad and die eventually.