What Kind Server Players are Looking for?

[yC]

As a player, i look for:

- Nice Community
- Helpful people / players in game and in forum
- Dedidated Staff, Knowledgable Staff, & Staff that are willing to answer questions
- No Corruption (i.e. GM give items to friends, GM playing with 133t gears, GM taking sides, GM favouritism)
- No Super Ultra Unfair Donation Rewards (+5 stats? + 10 stats? etc?)
- No exploit
- Up 24/7 except maintainence, crash once or twice in a week is acceptable but has to come back up within hrs
- Bug Free, not really possible but major stuff like skills and woe should work at least
- Balancing Classes
- No lag

The above should be the keys, then the below should be secondary:
- easy to install, easy to connect
- events
- customization (custom items / quests but keep balancing in mind)
- a little populated (not like 1 players and 10 gms lol)
- not a well grow server that nearly need a wipe (to much to catch up might make new players stay away)

so far that's what i have in mind, feel free to add more or give reasons to disagree any.
So what do you look for when you are looking for a server?  I am sure we all been there at some point in time...sigh with my list i think there's not many server that i can find, hehe i am picky but it's ok i am taking a break from RO, even if i find one i'll just sit and chat with friends.

[Mieu]

- customization (custom items / quests but keep balancing in mind)

Just as a small note:  isn't it ironic how (for a certain period of time at least) the most populated servers were ones that had little/no customization.  qRO comes to mind, back about a year ago.  The more I explored the smaller private servers, the more I saw some really unique customizations by really creative and talented devs...but no population to enjoy it. D:

I guess people still like the 'raw experience,' (your standard Warper/Reset/Jobchanger, etc) because its predictable.  I personally like being presented with a challenge when I first log into a server, so long as everything runs smoothly with little or no balance issues. xD

[Kurogasa]

Personally things i look for and rarely find all in one server:

Mid rates(15-40)
No corruption
the basic private server things(warper, jobra maybe dont mind, etc)
and most importantly balance.

By this i mean If you care to customize things do it in a way that doesnt break the balance that already exists and is already shaky at times. Servers with max lvl or job or stats raised take ENORMOUS effort to truely balance and most owners just add things like that and dont go all the way to balance it. When you add over 99 max stats you of course have to bump up the dex needed for instacast or else theres an unfair advantage for classes who can use such a thing.. then if you bump up the cost for instacast by making each dex reduce cast time less, builds/classes who use less dex normally will suffer. Things like this are very hard/impossible to balance.

Things such as making After Cast delay based on dex which ive recently experienced also break the game because the delay is meant so the stronger skills(especially the newer ones) arent too spammable. When you remove the delay or worse yet make it based on dex(so only dex based classes really get the advantage) then some classes have to funnel themselves all into one build to be comparable to the other players who abuse the lack of after cast. Good example is falcon assault. With no delay or with delay based on dex(since snipers get huge dex anyway) the thing is not only insta cast but extremely spammable.. to me it looks like 190aspd hits. It ignores defence and has a LONG range. Now these things are fine with the delay but without it.. sure theres penuma but reguardless the skill wasnt meant to be that strong. Whats the point in going for a bow build then? Or even using a bow at all?

Anyway im writing these things cus i have personal experience with them. They have turned me off to a few servers. This is ONLY MY PERSONAL OPINION AND PREFERENCES but there are many others who feel the same way, as im sure there are some who prefer high lvl/stat caps and instacast + spam skills(no i dont mean this in a bad way).

I think (hopefully) if all goes as it seems right now that ive found a new server that meets these requirements for me but then again i thought that with the last server. Time will tell.

[Alexandarius]

What I want from a server:

- As close to kRO/kSakray as possible
I want to play what the Koreans are playing, because they alwaysget things FIRST.

- No Job Changer
I actually LIKE doing the quests for my class up.

- No Stat/Skill Resetter
I believe the majority of us have played RO before (or else we wouldn't be on pservers right?) and I believe that you shouldn't have to change your build for every WoE or everyday or every week whenever you feel like it. High Rate to Mid Rate servers should be utilized if your REALLY need to find the right build IMO. If you mess something up, either make use of it or wait til rebirth (unless you ARE rebirthed, then you're screwed)

- No Corruption
This is the MAIN reason I don't play a certain server because even though the server owner is a friend and all, his team of GMs is the WORST EVAR (talking crap about a banned players back, threatening to ban an ENTIRE guild because of ONE person) etc. I mean, GMs SHOULD have the right to play the game, just not give free handouts and such. For example, in the guild I'm in, on the server I play, we have a GM AND a Bot Hunter, and neither give us free items or anythig of the like, they just have fun with the rest of us.

- Nice Community
NO ARSEHATS! OMG, I can't TELL you how many times you have RUDE players (ESPECIALLY if you play a Priest!) who will flame the hell out of you for not helping them out (Tank pls! Hael Pl0x! etc.) when you only ask that they ask you correctly. As if it's your job to stand around Prontera healing everyone like a bot, no, I'm sorry, that's no good. They're rude to you if you catch them KSing, they're rude when they grief you, it's bad. 

- Decent GMs
A GM's actions speak louder than words. If we have a ban happy GM who decides that because you said something bad to them on IRC, they have EVERY RIGHT to ban you on the forum and in-game for something that took place in FREAKING IRC! Those kind of GM's kill the ENTIRE server for players. As well as GM's who think it's their god-given right to harass you.

- No GODLY items...custom or donation
OMG, if you donate now you can get this wonderful headgear that gives you +10 to all stats! Erm, no thanks. Sounds like an infomercial and it's unfair. Not everyone has money to donate to a server, and donaters shouldn't get crazy items just for donating. OBBs and OPBs are fine because you never know what you're gonna get. And also, custom items really shouldn't affect the game and make it too imbalaced.

My .02 cents.

[Toztie]

No reset, 5/5/3, no card remover, very expensive warper, healer for pay. and any server that hasnt rakuun / mew

[yC]

it's funny how few years ago when private server came from underground, customization was a way to standout from the crowds.  The more customization u have the more the ppl coming from iRO will say "omfg this server is cool"...etc bbq...  All those shortcuts with warpers/healers were once cool and all.  Nowaday, we finally realize card removers/healers/warpers ruins the fun of the game, but still ppl new to those features might find it good to save time.  ... Private servers are getting old D:...

[Riotblade]

If I were still looking for servers, I'll look for the servers that remain in the old 6.0 episodes.  All the new jobs are BS and PvP was a little more fun back then.

[Sumsum87]

Um I want like a server filled with emo-people (like gRO) and I want there to be lots of hot girls that have boyfriends so I can steal them.

I want like GM's to actually be abel to take a joke and not send you to jail cuz he/she thinks they're god and don't have to tolerate any missbehaviour -- one thing about this, if EVERYONE did follow all rules and behave according to em then what kinda crap community would that be? where is the drama??? (ups sorry offtopic... or was it)

I want like a namechanger cuz like if you have a girlsname say like "yumy" which u choose cuz u didnt want to play seriously then like you start playing seriously and with that name... omg. well ok some restrictions like 2 namechanges=free after that u have to like pay lots of zeny (depending on how the economy looks on the server) or like just hunt lots of mushrooms (500+) and then be abel to change yah.

[elbin1993]

-High Rate Server
-255lvl-400lvl
-job 100 or more
-no Buffer
-Free Healer
-lagless
-PK
-Commands (!go ,!warp)

[poringmonger]

Please 'scuze my rezzing this discussion. I'm still hot to make a good server for dedicated players, if fiascoes like iRO haven't killed them all. (Yeah, I'm a disgruntled iRO fangirl.)

No reset, 5/5/3, no card remover, very expensive warper, healer for pay. and any server that hasnt rakuun / mew

A very expensive warper, as in to not take business away from acolytes? I agree. ^_^

Raccoon and mew? Are those unbalanced items or buttmunch GMs? Sorry, I'm new and don't understand. ^^; I did try Googling it, though, so please treat me fairly as a moron and not a lazy moron. ^_-;

If I were still looking for servers, I'll look for the servers that remain in the old 6.0 episodes.  All the new jobs are BS and PvP was a little more fun back then.

Could I please ask what changed with PvP that made it worse? I left off around Amatsu or Kunlun and haven't kept up.

What's wrong with the trans classes, aside from that gawdawful rebirth system?

it's funny how few years ago when private server came from underground, customization was a way to standout from the crowds.  The more customization u have the more the ppl coming from iRO will say "omfg this server is cool"...etc bbq...  All those shortcuts with warpers/healers were once cool and all.  Nowaday, we finally realize card removers/healers/warpers ruins the fun of the game, but still ppl new to those features might find it good to save time.  ... Private servers are getting old D:...

Thank you very much for the insight. (: Can I ask: is there anything that would revitalize RO? Any longstanding annoyances that still need fixing? Are any shortcut commands truly useful without just getting stupid over time? (My guess is no.)

I know it would take a long time with quality service to build up dedicated players, since we've all been burned by flighty servers before, official or private. But I'd like to attract people like that if they're still around, like the absorbed players who played iRO for years and finally gave up in disgust. Honestly, is there any chance of people building a second life in RO again?

Thanks for tolerating my silly questions. (:

[Caprion]

Don't feel silly for not knowing what rakuun and mew are... I've never heard of them, either!

And personally, I think PVP ruined RO, not customization.  Now all people focus on is how they can be better than anyone else, when MMORPGs are supposed to be focused on community and building relationships.

[poringmonger]

Yeah, I hate WoE. The money I made selling SP restoratives on raid nights - while it was MAD money - couldn't pay for the damage to the community and the fun I lost. I'm actually considering PvM WoE.  PCs win, rates go up. PCs lose, monsters invade cities.

[Mr.NiceGuy]

ok, first off, who ever it was that said "I want to play on a server thats as close to kro as possible" theres a dilemma there lol.  It is only a theory, but (and im only saying this as imho) you probably want to play that kind of server because you can afford to play the offical one? lol  or cant read Korean maybe, but what ever, why would you want to play some slop excuse for RO on Gravities server? sure they made it, but they are dwarfed by some of the p servers out there.

now, as for what i look in a server that i want to play.

-little or no lag
-large community if possible (ill accept a small or non existent one if the server is uber awesome lol)
-customizations out the asscrack (if i wanted to play kro i would go to the official servers)
yeah, private servers should not be used as free version of the offical server, customs were ment for p. servers, hence why they are called customs !
-friendly gms that are funny and can take a joke, i dont mind if they are a little corrupted because that makes it more fun when you see two gms start fighting xD
-class balancing isnt really that important to me, i figure you play the class you like the most, who cares if its good for pvp or not.
-ah, to pvping now, i dont mind it, it brings more fun to ro and keeps it from being stale.
-payer items: i hate these, if you have to pay to get an item,s you automatically next in line for my Ro $h!tlist (jynxro was a server that was just so).
-donater items: these i dont mind because they are usually hard to get cards and items, and not custom items like the payers items always are.
-Woe: i also look for some good woe on servers that im looking into playing.  again, if theres a uber small community then i basically pass by this one.


and really thats all i look for in a server.  Which very few meet all of! (except for maybe GeoRo). 

I have been on plenty of high rate servers with no customs etc with people that have been playing on them for years and im like, htf do you keep your sanity?  because servers like Van Ro and Qro never update with customs and they got real stale after a few months and then it was boring, and i hadn't even maxed out yet!

So the thing that makes me most likely not to join a server is:

1. payer items
2. no customs what so ever just straight gravity's ro with higher rates (just recently started with this one).

And i do firmly believe that if we got rid of some of the gravity version lovers servers outa here that the very small to moderately sized private servers would gain a lot of people to the communities, because right now everyone seems brainwashed in to liking the official gravity, but not playing on the official servers but instead expecting EVERYONE not to use customs and to use the boring version of Ro from gravity xD

OH and to those of you who said you wanted nice people in the community and not "Arsehatters"... how do you plan on making them be nice?  slap em on the wrist?  go tell their mommies?  really, think logically here people.  not everyone is going to be nice and play fairly, weather its because they had a bad childhood (LOL) or because they aren't good at online games (look at Gunz as an example for that! noob hackers everywhere) theres always going to be someone that s*** it up.  and the only way to deal with them is one of three ways:

1. ignore them and report them if needed
2. give them what they want
3. kill them when their back is turned xD

you cant except the runners of the server to press a 'nice' button that will make everyone nice and friendly, its just not possible.  now if the player is being rude and calling everyone a slut or something like that, then yeah, i would think a ban is in order.  but stuff like zeny plix or cards plix, i just ignore them like the homeless people on the side of the street that are begging for money.

[Kurogasa]

*Kurogasa has been cursed with mindbreaker. Lose 100 int. Stun for 3 posts.*

People like uncustomized servers for BALANCE. Balance in pvp pvm and woe.. you know.. the whole game. Customizations that are purely graphical or things like added modes(capture the flag etc) are fine but changing the core mechanics of the game breaks it. The end.

We dont play kro cus it requires a korean id and its laggy even if you get by that since most of use arent in korea. Iro is at least a half a year behind kro so why would i pay for something like that? We dont "expect" everyone not to use customizations but we chose not to play on broken servers.

[poringmonger]

-little or no lag
-large community if possible (ill accept a small or non existent one if the server is uber awesome lol)
-customizations out the asscrack (if i wanted to play kro i would go to the official servers)
yeah, private servers should not be used as free version of the offical server, customs were ment for p. servers, hence why they are called customs !
-friendly gms that are funny and can take a joke, i dont mind if they are a little corrupted because that makes it more fun when you see two gms start fighting xD
-class balancing isnt really that important to me, i figure you play the class you like the most, who cares if its good for pvp or not.
-ah, to pvping now, i dont mind it, it brings more fun to ro and keeps it from being stale.
-payer items: i hate these, if you have to pay to get an item,s you automatically next in line for my Ro $h!tlist (jynxro was a server that was just so).
-donater items: these i dont mind because they are usually hard to get cards and items, and not custom items like the payers items always are.
-Woe: i also look for some good woe on servers that im looking into playing.  again, if theres a uber small community then i basically pass by this one.

Thank you. Great info.

And i do firmly believe that if we got rid of some of the gravity version lovers servers outa here that the very small to moderately sized private servers would gain a lot of people to the communities, because right now everyone seems brainwashed in to liking the official gravity, but not playing on the official servers but instead expecting EVERYONE not to use customs and to use the boring version of Ro from gravity xD

Give iRO time. I don't know how it's been limping along for the past three years. ;p Well, no, I do, without exaggeration, Chaos is 95% bots. (Wow! Pay twelve bucks a month to sit on my can and bot! Sure sounds FUN! Next I think I'll pay to watch paint dry.)

I agree with you, I've been praying for iRO to die for years now so that the few non-bots who are still there - most of whom are utterly dedicated players and nice people - will come try something else.

OH and to those of you who said you wanted nice people in the community and not "Arsehatters"... how do you plan on making them be nice?

Bore them. If your server doesn't have what they want, they'll probably go away, or at least thin out to the point where you can kick them out one by one. Arsehatters/asshatters/hosers like having unfair power. You mentioned payer items suck - I agree, that'll attract lazy elitists. Give the kind of people you don't want no reason to play.

*Kurogasa has been cursed with mindbreaker. Lose 100 int. Stun for 3 posts.*

Fear not, for I shall save you with my... um... weapon perfection.

People like uncustomized servers for BALANCE. Balance in pvp pvm and woe.. you know.. the whole game. Customizations that are purely graphical or things like added modes(capture the flag etc) are fine but changing the core mechanics of the game breaks it. The end.

I agree, though I could say a few things about the balance of official servers.

I'm super lucky. I have the support of a professional GM who is a balance fascist and loves making solid games. I'd probably tweak the core a little to his suggestions.

We dont play kro cus it requires a korean id and its laggy even if you get by that since most of use arent in korea. Iro is at least a half a year behind kro so why would i pay for something like that? We dont "expect" everyone not to use customizations but we chose not to play on broken servers.

We were lead to believe that iRO was much more stable than kRO, and whatever problems we were having, we should swallow and be happy with because kRO broke so often and was so unbalanced. It got very, very old when items started disappearing out of inventories.

BTW, Homunculous is a rare exception. When I played the lag between kRO and iRO for features was more like 18 months. @_@


Thanks everyone! This input helps a lot. (: