What do you think that will make a High Rate Server fun and last long?
Do you suggest a hunting, quest-based, PK server will last?
Any thoughts/opinion?
guild packages and malleable admin through mob-mentality
Don't focus on PVP and WoE alone. Create item quests with storylines and unique instances.
Most of the SHRs today are focusing on PVP and WoE and their item quests are pure item gathering and I find it boring.
Since super high rates take away all the time consumed in leveling and equipment hunting, you will have to dedicate a lot of time implementing custom content into your server. Things for them to do after they are max lvl, mini-games, team based games, tournaments, story lines, instanced dungeons etc etc.
Unless you have a qualified developer, I suggest you stick with low rates or mid rates..since people are less dependant on custom content on those servers.
high rates render most of the original gaming content irrelevant, so the focus is on end game content.
so you need to produce a neverending series of end game content to keep the server healthy. it also helps that you're charismatic and recruit competent staff, i.e. someone who actually cares about the server. also, a way to keep players and low turnover rates is to focus on guilds and keeping order in a competitive environment.
core mods would be tweaking skills to feel more 'mechanical' and major focus on trigger bonuses in itemization, i.e. delay and cooldown. there are examples of skills that feel mechanical in other mmorpgs (conquer/silkroad online) that are massively successful and comprise the core of the pvp dance.
honestly, people who play high rates don't prefer casual things like headgear quest but are trigger-happy people that like to hang out like gangsters in the pvp room and regularly size each other up in game and on the forums.
of course, this is kind of stereotypical, but the formula works. also don't forget to make pvp videos with music fill with teenage angst.
then cash out by accepting donations once you're establish and milk it until population dwindles, all in the meantime starting another server that will be receiving the players from your old server. honestly, this would be the ultimate way to do it long term once you got the process streamline.
and post
eddditt
the last point is based on the fact that donation items are typically permanent and server owners never studied AP economics in high school to understand how a market economy work. there are ways to keep it up long term without being sneaky.
Along with "live fast" that high-rate provides it might be a reasonable option to make characters to "die young" via permadeath or item loss, involving some reworks on Earthquake MvP spell and such other one-shot thingies. You can get your new character up fast enought, but at some point you'll think twise on risks you are about to take.
Actually im onto making an offline sandbox to play with that kind of stuff to make RO gameplay a bit more exciting for myself in 1st place.
Less than a decade ago there was a server called "NLRO" I think that was the last best HR server that I played.
nothing, high rates are dead. there is no competitive community left for pvp, and that's the only reason you play on high rate. all high rates are destined to fail, and fast.
Problem with High Rates are too much customization.
Customizing is good, but what I see in most HR servers nowadays is they all fail at balancing the level of customization.
The best HR servers were in the past, such as Ceres/Qro
DarkRO was one of the best servers around.
I doubt any of the recent HR comes any close to it. So if you are planning on making one, make sure you have the following skills
- Ability to balance your own customizations
- Ability to think outside the box
- Ability to modify the source code - You'll need this one the most
- Ability to stay your hand and actually not play your own server
- Ability to resist money - Probably the hardest