Too many servers..

penguins33 · May 21, 2007, 02:26 AM

Well wow i can't belive how many servers there are..all the rates they carry, and the customs.There is a problem that i see though.Imagine like 10 of these small private servers merged into one..Doesn't everyone dream of a gigantic ragnarok server that has 2-3k people online.So that they actually have people to talk,level with,and just have fun with.People who put up chats saying wanting to travel places we've never gone and such.Well i do..I just had to make this thread to hear what people had to say about this.But after seeing like 200+ servers alot of them are so similar..So how would merging like five of em hurt..Maybe some of you could spread the word or such.But i don't see whats wrong with my idea..no dream..because i can't see it happening.

Max · May 21, 2007, 04:09 AM

Quote from: penguins33 on May 21, 2007, 02:26 AM
Doesn't everyone dream of a gigantic ragnarok server that has 2-3k people online.So that they actually have people to talk,level with,and just have fun with.People who put up chats saying wanting to travel places we've never gone and such.

Maybe you should try playing on an official server?

Dais · May 21, 2007, 11:48 AM

well official server i gotta pay -_-
which is the #1 reason i go to private
and there are some private server that has around 2-3k ppl online or at least close to it u just hasnt look hard enough

Krystalx · May 21, 2007, 12:54 PM

I like having less than 1k people, 3k people WoEs r just too much (and my comp wouldnt handle it ....)

finnith · May 21, 2007, 01:42 PM

I remember AnimaRO had like 2k people on daily. That was the best server until GM Debbie died.

Caprion · May 21, 2007, 02:36 PM

There are a lot of people who actually prefer smaller servers. I, myself, would like to see about 50 to 75, with 100 being the maximum.

penguins33 · May 21, 2007, 03:27 PM

I can't play official D= mom won't get me a credit card and im not 18..I have the money in cash all the time just need a bank card which mom won't get >=O

finnith · May 21, 2007, 08:30 PM

Quote from: penguins33 on May 21, 2007, 03:27 PM
I can't play official D= mom won't get me a credit card and im not 18..I have the money in cash all the time just need a bank card which mom won't get >=O

That's good. Playing on the official server is a waste of money. Too many botters

Jayne Cobb · May 21, 2007, 09:18 PM

Quote from: finnith on May 21, 2007, 01:42 PM
I remember AnimaRO had like 2k people on daily. That was the best server until GM Debbie died.

they had about 3k until phil died

Tsolless · May 23, 2007, 05:52 PM

2k people around. Servers with too many people fall into disrepair. Community falls down and etc. Look at it this way. New York versus a small town with a close knit community. New York has a whole lot of crime and etc... Bad analogy I know.

devow · May 23, 2007, 09:35 PM

a large server is not really necessary. what you need is a quality server with good people. a server with 100 nice people is better than a 2k server full of a******..

NikitaDarkstar · May 23, 2007, 10:02 PM

WEll honestly the only thing I like about 2-3k servers (lowrates) is they tend to have damn good WoE's... other then that.. nah I prefer smaller servers where you know pepole.. ok it's abit trickier to get into a community like that.. but it's much more fun, and the GM's tend to be nicer cause they're not swamped with work (and idiotic questions that a quick search on the servers forum would answer)... So well I want the smal server feel with the BIG server WoE's

Anyway your idea most likley will never happen as half of the server admins out there belongs to the "OMG I'm a server admin!!! LEEET!!!! INET POWAHHH!!!!!!" -category...

Pandora · May 24, 2007, 08:41 AM

Your idea is a little.. utopic perhaps. In theory it sounds nice, in reality its hard to merge servers with like database/custom items/npcs/different rates, also imagine 10 Admins together trying to take decisions, always arguying.. and the community might not respond so well either.

penguins33 · May 25, 2007, 11:52 PM

@Pandora:
Yeah i know..I just wish it were like that because ragnarok to me is abused.I mean 200+ servers is kinda outrageous and i think people should realize the potential of a really good server.Keeping in mind that 150+ of those 200 are bad servers in general.

Skotlex · May 30, 2007, 01:25 PM

Heh... I was bored and browsing around reading some random topics when I read this.

It is true that pretty much ANYONE can set up a RO server nowadays, that easily explains the hundreds of private servers out there. There's nothing wrong with people who want to try out setting a server, and learn from the experience, the problem is that the players are in quite a pinch when it comes to locating a server to call their "RO Home". Every server eventually 'dies' (usually bad administration, or corruption among the GMs, or financial problems, or they just become stale), so I suppose that's why very high rate servers are the most common now. Anyway... to avoid going off-topic, how does a player finds a good server?

There's the top listings... which basicly is masses crowding for the masses. Larger servers get more votes, which in turn get more people. That's why the very top spots usually have many more votes and people than the rest. As others pointed out... a large server will hardly be that good. They usually end up with the largest amount of noobs you can find in the Internet, and perhaps even worse, you will also find most of the Elitists that love shoving in your face how much better they are than you with their leet +10 donation items. They tend to end like this because they ARE the big servers, and "RO Noobs (TM)" love going where the most people are, while the Leet clan like having people to show off to. They usually can't bother to stick around a small server, and hence smaller communities tend to be more friendly. But this is all common sense and I already went off-topic again :x

There's stuff like RateMyServer, where people get a chance to do more than just 'vote', they can voice themselves out to help rate servers to see which one is good. The problem now is that anyone can write a review.. and anyone can write "OMG THIS SERVER ROXXORS. - Rate 100%", this does takes away part of the usefulness from it. I suppose, if the spam were kept low, and only the meaningful reviews remained, then it'd be easier to judge a server from those. But there's still the initial problem.. you have hundreds of servers available, how do you know which one to try? Will you start reading the reviews of each and everyone of them?

There's a lot of really good servers out there (or so I assume from the list of customs I've read around), and there's a whole lot more of mediocre servers out there. Being a player searching for the right kind of server that fits you must be (at least sometimes) a frustrating experience. I know I started my own server out of frustration when it seemed every server I picked to play in with my friends closed down within a month of being there. It's been quite a couple of years since then... and even though I've had so much fun working and modifying the server to be kind of RO I like (I know I'll never again play by "standard RO" rules :x ), the server still doesn't gets more than 5 people average xD I am certain there must be more people out there who would like trying MouRO, but they just don't know the server exists.

I do think that is the main problem with so many servers... players have really no "easy way" to locate the kind of server they want...

Hmm, now that I think about it, was the whole post off-topic? O_o; Oops.. well I felt like rambling about that.

dook · May 31, 2007, 11:28 AM

im suprised your server isnt more popular skotlex. if people knew who you were they would know its probably awesome

Skotlex · Jun 01, 2007, 03:50 AM

Maybe I spend too much time working in the server, and not enough making banners and promoting it :x Word of Mouth only works well enough once you reach a certain population threshold where it can self-sustain itself.

I am pretty sure it must be the same case for other good servers out there... it's hard for the players to find the kind of servers that they will like xP

dook · Jun 01, 2007, 02:39 PM

i had a look at your server info and it sounds very interesting. the kind of things i would have loved to have done with my midrate. but it made me think, players generally arent interested in midrate servers from what i can see. i ran one for a year, and eventually had to close it and open a 99/70 because there was so little interest from new players. after all that time i only had about 10 loyal players, and it was very rare to get some1 new come in and check the server out. in comparison the 99/70 server is just a couple of months old, and i have over 50 players on alot of the time and constantly growing. (and finally fun woe etc) it was like crimson daylight had some great scripting etc and like 4 players online. the way i see it most players either want something close to kRO, or some super high rate where everything is really easy and they can instacast spam huige numbers all over the place to make themselves feel good.

Skotlex · Jun 02, 2007, 02:09 PM

What is mid-rate? 25x~150x? I remember back in the Yare days when 100x was considered HIGH rates.
The one thing I don't understand about very high rate servers is... what's the point? Why not just use 1x rates and have the job-changer also max your base/job level and be done with it?
I am not sure what's the point of increasing exp rates when you also increase max stats and max level. It's like trying to blow everything out of proportion because you like big numbers. PvM becomes a joke because mobs can't touch you, and PvP loses balance since some skills will become exponentially better than others and so on. So what's the point? Just feeling mighty ? I would understand lazy/bored people wanting to try that out and just owning mvps with ctrl+click, but it would (or should at least) grow tiring quickly. So what's left after the initial hype? I really dunno... I don't play those very high rate servers.

On the other end of the scale, I bet many RO players are tired of spending days/weeks to get a character done when their previous server wiped/closed-down (yet again). There's also the problem with low rates that if you don't keep up, once your buddies leave you behind in level, you can kiss them good bye as they won't party with you ever again (it's unlikely you will catch up if you play less often than they do).

I could be off.. but this is what I believe the RO server scene to be like for players. The unbalanced rates of my server (10x base, 1000x job) were picked because I believe playing is more fun when you have all your skills (base level is not that important, it only determines which kind of enemies you can pick on); this way it will take "forever" to reach a very high base level (so you don't get too bored with easy opponents, and makes it easier to keep within share level of others even if you don't play as much), while it becomes quick to gain the required jobs to get access to your favourite skills. Or at least that's the theory, for me the rates work fine, with an average sized party (3~5) that knows what they are doing you can reach advanced class in a single day, and your base level will be around 85 at the end of it (while on the other end of the scale, some 'hard-core' players have been MVP hunting for a while now, and they are around base level 140 after a week or so of having nothing to do but play RO most of the day :B). But anyway... I think I am going off-topic here... but the point is, most people will think MouRO is low rates because of base, without realizing that the tedium of grinding your levels isn't really felt (unless you feel that for some reason you must be max level already).

I think the best "market" for low rates are people new to RO. Those who have not been in a gazillion servers already and have everything be new to them.. those would not mind waiting longer to get their skills/build done since it's still a brand new experience to them (until they make friends with addicted people who out-level them and then leave them behind in the dust forever?

).

Muffin · Jun 02, 2007, 04:15 PM

Interesting topic but how should someone realize a server with 1-2k ppl playing at the same time? You need more than just one server. You need more traffic, more security, more money, more supporting GMs etc. this is a hard thing.
Most servers out there are just projects of small groups or just one person. your suggestion is nice but not possible i think.

Skotlex · Jun 02, 2007, 05:40 PM

Actually, a competent admin can maintain a server's growth via donations. Basicly it's all about getting players hooked (ie: loyal), and then when the news comes "we need donations to maintain the server or it'll close down D:", the money shows up. At least I know the larger servers keep themselves afloat that way.. so it should be possible (hell, they most likely can make enough money via donations that they become corrupt and start leeching away most of the income to their own pockets D: )