Server Interest Check?

[MyogiRO]

Good day everyone, I'd like some feed back about this idea of mine and if it is interesting enough to go through with it.

A classic server, low rates but mid-rate drop rate.

Server Information:
3x / 3x  /30x - reduced sell price of items to compensate for the drop rate


Episode - 1.0 -> Start of an Adventure [ Modified, first jobs only (swordsman,merchant....) ]
Current level cap -> 70/50

Potion Functionality revamp, instead of single use, one potion will last for 30 seconds, healing appropriately every 5 seconds.
Exp tables adjusted to be more friendly and not too grindy.
Potions are now being sold of higher value.
NPCs are now able to brew potions for player in exchange of herbs and empty bottles.

Acolyte skill changes
- Heal
- Now provides 2% mp regeneration * level of skill

[Lomen]

I like the idea of starting from episode 1 and only first class. Problem is how long will it take for updates? And this will be harder on you. Gotta make sure everything is implemented correctly, as not to allow exploits. The updates need to come out somewhat fast enough to maintain player interest. Eventually players will want to know when updates will stop also. Personally, I would only ever be interested in pre-renewal, and I prefer non-trans. Exceptions can be made though.

I do not like you messing with the pot functions, exp tables or skills. The classic players are usually not looking for any new stuff, they prefer the old. My 2 cents. but you have my interest in your server if you do the first part of your post. Oh, and only if it's English first language!

[Bue]

If this is all you got, don't go through with it.

[Minabe]

Doing Tripper's job.

[Floki]

Don't know if any of the people will be interested in that.

[Xarale]

I think changing the way potions work would likely put off a lot of potential players.  Putting a cooldown on healing items like yggdrasil seeds/berries isn't so bad, but I don't think it would be well received if you added cooldowns to regular potions.

I quite like the rates, especially the mid-rate drop rates, but this is just my opinion.  Players looking for a classic RO experience may not like the higher drop rates though.  I also like that you're intending to start from Episode 1 and progress forward from there.  How far apart do you intend to release new episodes?

Anyway based on the amount of features you've currently listed, the server personally wouldn't interest me enough to play it.  Have you thought of any other potential features you'd want to add to your server?

-X.

[MyogiRO]

Of course not, those are for the episode 1 update only.

Updates will come in a weekly basis until we come to an episode where we can pseudo-freeze the server and slowly pick out what content will be released and whatnot.

As regards for the potion functionality, it will of course only last for up until WoE is introduced. The potion revamp is there to "enhance" their leveling gameplay, not solely based on solo leveling with potions. Now they have to kite monsters properly and not go trigger happy with their potions.

The skill configurations are for ease of life, especially on the Acolyte class early on, as most will be sitting down and recovering, the mp recovery will be quite helpful, this is to help with the potion revamp as well. The server will be going into beta phase in a month or two while i fine tune most of the features that will be added upon the start of beta.

As to why is the drop rate high, well for me, and my opinion only, the fun in RO is in leveling, playing with others and of course, pvp. Not mindlessly killing mobs just to get their drops for hours on end. The increased drop rate will alleviate the time spent on farming, this is to give way to active quests that will be the key feature in the server, it's PvM mechanics, which we have taken into consideration for quite some time.

What to expect?

Rate: 3x / 3x / 30x
Max level: 70 / 50 [ First jobs only, no second jobs yet ]

• Monthly server-wide monster extermination quest
• Daily monster quest on whatever you are currently killing
• Daily log in reward
• Party-based dungeons for easier leveling

There should be more, but those are the high lights of the server. And yes, server will be an International server, hence, English will be the main language.

[Kensei]

I'm sorry to say but putting back to EP1 when the game is already like half our age old is pretty much a bad idea.

Nobody is that free to repeat the nostalgia over and over. And I don't think new generations would dig RO when ToS has been released.

Also I don't really see the point why the item drop rate should be higher while the EXP isn't. RO is a very old school game where the items doesn't have unique enhancements when it drops. Not like current games where items have enhancements when dropped, hence higher droprate until you get your wanted enhancements.

[promotions]

Episode 1 is interesting as there are many things different from how they are now. When is the last time you used Auto Counter on a knight? Well, it is viable there along with at least a dozen or more skills/builds that no one would use now. I actually have nostalgia for it because it is what I originally played (well, along with beta.. rip agi wizard) and no one ever makes a server that goes that far back. The best you get is countless "old school" RO servers on episode 8 or something. Even when aRO or other official servers started on EP1 they had mechanics changes from far later episodes.

Getting EP1 to work right is probably a decent amount of work though unless you use AEGIS, which makes custom changes a bit harder to implement.

[Mrew2]

Classic servers are a gimmick now. There was a time where they were actually something "special" but now they are so overused it is hardly considered a pulling feature. As for other features, the reason people play RO is because they like RO. Make a feature that changes an aspect of it rather than adding a feature usually has negative backlash, like your potion change.

As for the rates, they are a bit strange. The rates are in a way that you would most likely grind for at least thirty minutes in an area before heading back to town if you want to drop stuff off but with a 30x drop increase, the amount of items you get will most likely put you well above 50%, if not 90%. It causes this disconnect where people will not actually loot things except for the specific one they want. Also, because of the change and how hunting is more viable, zeny becomes pretty useless, so changing it doesn't really matter because nobody will have anything to buy.

Also, how are things going to work in terms of balance? 1st job classes aren't exactly very balanced.

[MyogiRO]

Zeny will still be of use. Yes, the drop rates are high, but the selling prices of items are reduced by a certain percentage that will still impact on how much a player can earn based on what he is looting.

And even with a 30x boost, rare items and cards will still be rare. It just alleviates the mindless grinding in one spot for too long.

As for the reason of the increased drop rate and why the exp rate is low is this:

1. Farming items vs Leveling - which do you think is more fun?
2. Partying vs Solo-farming - which do you think is more fun?

What I am trying to recreate here is the feeling of working hard to level characters on a new way and not just trying to snag people because of the nostalgic feeling. As for the potion change, it is to enhance the game's difficulty early on, rather than making it easy to tank high level monsters and mobs due to potion spamming, with a certain duration of a potion and ticks to its healing, players will be forced to engage monsters in a more cautious manner therefore making game play in-depth. I have played the server while I am developing it and the challenge is really there.

As for balancing issues, it should not be that much since the first jobs update or episode will only be available for a week or a week and a half at most. Most people will be farming for whatever they can and then the second jobs will introduced then and more content will be opened up every week or every other week depending on the update that was previously released.

This server isn't just for nostalgia, it is for innovation as well since we are implementing some server-wide monster hunting quests and more.

[totoro]

you are on point with having the drop rate higher than the exp rate. i've experienced being 99 naked then hunting low level critters like fabre for days. i like the features you mentioned except the starting episode. however, if you plan to update weekly then it's fine.

[Mrew2]

Zeny will still be of use. Yes, the drop rates are high, but the selling prices of items are reduced by a certain percentage that will still impact on how much a player can earn based on what he is looting.

And even with a 30x boost, rare items and cards will still be rare. It just alleviates the mindless grinding in one spot for too long.

As for the reason of the increased drop rate and why the exp rate is low is this:

1. Farming items vs Leveling - which do you think is more fun?
2. Partying vs Solo-farming - which do you think is more fun?

What I am trying to recreate here is the feeling of working hard to level characters on a new way and not just trying to snag people because of the nostalgic feeling. As for the potion change, it is to enhance the game's difficulty early on, rather than making it easy to tank high level monsters and mobs due to potion spamming, with a certain duration of a potion and ticks to its healing, players will be forced to engage monsters in a more cautious manner therefore making game play in-depth. I have played the server while I am developing it and the challenge is really there.

As for balancing issues, it should not be that much since the first jobs update or episode will only be available for a week or a week and a half at most. Most people will be farming for whatever they can and then the second jobs will introduced then and more content will be opened up every week or every other week depending on the update that was previously released.

This server isn't just for nostalgia, it is for innovation as well since we are implementing some server-wide monster hunting quests and more.

There are so many things wrong with what you just said, although most of it was just you restating what was in your first post and your reply to another person. Zeny will not be of use because of the changes you made. The change you made was strictly to potions, so as a result, potions will be of less value than acolyte heal. As a result, why buy potions if an acolyte does a better job? Also, because of this potion change, it means tanks don't have a fall back method in case the acolyte is out of sp or just in general f***' up, so tanking is not recommended as it is easier to kite with a ranged class vs. a melee class. Because of this your parties will be lopsided with 2 archers to 1 acolyte ratio because the rest are not worth partying with, hence my balance question. Because of the potion change and how it will be at least a month, because each update will be 1 week, before WoE is implemented, it means melee classes will have a hell of a time leveling up at all until WoE is implemented. So, the server will just be a hunter/priest fest for the first month.

As for the drop rate and exp rate thing, your argument is invalid. The drop rate or drop chance is not at fault, it's the effect of the cards that is at fault. If you could change the way things are to where the higher level monsters actually  drop better cards, than that would be the ideal but changing too much, as I said before, turns off people. Your drop rate just makes an already existing issue less of an issue rather than fixing it, which is okay but I'm talking about how Zeny will be pointless. As I said before because potions have such a dulled effect, acolytes are better, thus why buy potions? Since, from the sounds of it, potions would be your highest expense, not buying them makes zeny pointless, which makes looting pointless, which makes the drop rate, aside from cards, pointless. Also, again you said that only potions are affected, who's to stop people from spamming herbs? If you change one thing, you'd have to change all, which means all healing items and skills that heal, or you just removed a part of the game.

On a side note, I do find it funny you asked us for feedback as to whether you should go through with this idea but then stated that you are already working on it and will have it up in a month or two, it just makes this post kinda pointless and more similar to shameless pre-promotion.

[Minabe]

Doing Tripper's job.

[MyogiRO]

@Minabe

This idea was taken from another server's stand point and I just polished it up. I am not the sole creator of the server's features.
As to why I am using "we" instead of an "i" is that before anything of this happens, I will need to find people to help me slightly with the server in terms of moderation and exposure as well. I will not be shamelessly saying I made the server by myself, I've had help with people and that is the reason why I am speaking in a plural sense. And no idea who you are talking about though, you might have come to the wrong conclusion. As for weekly updates, again, I have said it might or might not be a weekly update, depending on the content previously released.


@Mrew2

The goal of the server is to re-introduce the game from it's roots, and then implement changes early on to match the difficulty of the game. I am particularly very keen on improving the PvE experience of the players.

Regarding Acolytes vs Potions, as I kept saying before, the potions update will only last up until episode 1 or 2. The reason why is to amplify the need to partying and to experience a level of difficulty while leveling up and not just primarily spamming pots away. Players complain it's way too easy to level RO if you know where to level, well, here's a handicap, then it's a complain for making it hard. Always really hard to please players. As for melee characters, if you think it is that hard, it isn't you just need to kite properly and not be Rambo-diving dozens of mobs at a time. And you say the server will be Acolyte-Archer fest for a few weeks, well on every server I have played, it has always been Priest-Hunter pairings during leveling, so what's the difference?

As for zeny, the sell prices have been tweaked to offer up only a percentage of how much they would have sold normally, this presents a slower zeny gain even with increased drop rates. The increased drop rate just negates the issue of "Oh I got to 99, but I'm just wearing cotton shirts and a composite bow, now what?"

And no, this is not a blatant "pre-promotion" this is a way to ensure that I get anyone's ideas on how the server is shaping up and whatnot. See how other servers are fairing, listing to players' requests along the way instead of implementing it before-hand to make sure everything is secured and balanced.

If you have a server, have a conviction not to bow down to players, instead, listen to their suggestions and implement which will be a greater good for the server and not just for the greater good of a certain amount of players.