Charm RO: First Impression and Professionalism.

[crepticmaster]

Rates: 60x/60x/30x
Quest Experience: 30x
Max ASPD: 193
Instant Cast: 185
Max Stat: 150
Baby Max Stat: 120

This will be a somewhat Overall appearance i got from CharmRO since i started player 1 month ago.

We'll start out with what every Server needs... A website.

Website. 5/10

The layout of the site is nice. But the one thing that bothers me is having to scroll the whole way up to see the rest of the options.

The one thing that throws me off is the parts on the top (less noticable) have more of the important stuff then on the sides.

Server information, Staff, and control panel should be alot more noticable in my opinion..

Some options like "review" and "vote" arent really necessary, and or already placed somewhere else

What makes this site a 5/10, is whats with all the empty space? it appears like the Designer here got alil lazy, and if there's space, use it? Make the other Options on the sides? rather then keep it up top. It's alittle bland and not very "charming"




Server Stability: 9/10

Lagless, (mostly)

Some maps seems to have to much running or are just slow for some reason.
Other then that it's pretty stable.

Server Economy: 3/10

The economy is Very.... bad. It's starting up but it appears as though the ones who have their money just hold onto it, causing a slight imbalance for newer characters to start off with shops and such.

Community: 5/10

The Community is neither Horrible or Good, neither were any helpful or hurtful to the server. It's as if alot of life is sucked out of them most the time, though if you wait long enough one will eventually come to an answer. They will help you 90% of the time. They dont really welcome anyone new, as i've tried and got ignored alittle, but that's to be expected.

Guild statistics: 3/10

I havnt seen many other guilds besides Vanguard, and i only see Vanguard ever do ANYTHING. I see other guilds... but the power pretty much belongs to them.


This Section will Cover the Gameplay.

Creativity: 5/10

The way they set up the town is that there are TONS of NPC's next to one another.. It's very very clustered and hard to move around.. Not even that but There are some NPC's that could of been put into one... It was insane just how many there were for one map.




24 NPC's in one map?!?!

Not only are there 24 npcs, they are all clearly visable in one spot.. This is a turnoff and deterant.
Future problems with this many npcs is Lag, limitted space to move, and to much dependance to this one town.

Other towns may only have about 10, which are the ones you'd see people normally use, But why do they not have all 24 like Payon? The owner probly already realizes most the them are just a waste of space.


Quests / Custom quests: 4/10

Ok this was seriously disapointing on so many levels. I go and ask around and find where i can do some quests.. and i get directed to this room.





What is this?!?! every single quest in one spot? all next to each other?! Blasphemy!!
This is a major deterant and turnoff for any veteran or classical RO players that enjoy walking around.




Not only were all the npc's together, The quests were extremely Bland, It's as if they just randomly chose the items, and the ammount of Zeny needed to do this quest and put it out there. There extremely Bland, and Tasteless. Sorry but you can do so much better if you were more creative.

Another thing i dont understand is i cant find ANYWHERE on the info of custom items... there are stated no where on the site... It does mention some items but it doesnt mention stats.

Another thing about is that custom items are way OP for the kinda of server.. 10 is enough for a significant stat boost.. for a mid rate server is seems kinda high to me.

Aquarius (the custom town) 1/10



Im extremely disapointed!!! such a beautifully designed custom town, but with no use what-so ever?!!!

I saw this town, i was in awh. It has the perfect ammount of space to spread out payons Npcs and small enough to not have to travel far. There's so much potential!! But it's used for nothing?

There are even buildings they have for shops and such, but none to be seen.

Please work on this! you have something good dont let it slip away!.


Using the Benefits of the Ragnarok World 3/10

I dont know if they meant for this server to be basic, but they dont utilize much to this RO. There's a vast world that Ragnarok gives you and it seems as if they throw away maps like there nothing.

@warp already ruins the purpose of travel, so i dont see the problem with using the entire world.

Another thing is the cheaply made cancel button that looks hideous, it has little to no purpose. Though the intentions to make there own custom skin would be cool, having a complete one would be better.

WoE: 4/10

There are only a few castles open, but most of the time they are owned by vanguard and there isnt much point in challenging them, since you will most likely be killed immediately.

Events: 4/10

There are many events taken place, where you can earn Charm Points, which gives you a random ammount of zeny 800k+ i think. Most of these events are timed, or are randomly done by GM's..

The maze which is every 3 hours is bland, and not very exciting.. The fact it's based entirely on luck is pretty cool since there is no garantee'd way to mess with it.

The chicken is... Just not well explained.. idk whether you have to click on him or just get close.. Sometimes the events overlap and you have to make a choice.

And some monsters are in maps they shouldnt be.. i heard there due to events, Lack of cleaning up after themselves.

I was disapointed to see that they didnt fix the turbo room, which does a race, so that alot of people could attend it at once rather then the forced ammount you usually are. This race is alot of fun, and since skills/buffs are taken off, there isnt a way of cheating and it's a fun change of pace. Instead the turbo room is just a shopping mall.....



The GM's, the heart of CharmRO:


Since there are so many I'll just name the ones i met and have tested, and an overall veiw of them as a team.

Server Admin: Luna 5/10; availability 9/10

Luna, unlike most admins, i have seen regularly around CharmRO. She's very kind, and her response time is pretty fast. And she is active regularly on the forums..

Now you may be asking why a 5/10? she can be easily tempted or "angered" over some things, if you prod enough she might just leave or server chat and tell everyone not to PM her. There is a time and place for personal problems. And to not bring a professional Job-like attitude on a needed basis, no matter how much your personal life is effected. She can somewhat be biased on the forums, it seems that she will take the people with a higher post count more seriously then new members. even if a lower poster suggested it themselves and then someone else liked it and added details. (That's the way it appears to me, im not saying she does, im clearly stating thats what i see, it's in MY OPINION). She will typically take any and all suggestions or take action.

Luna at times, can act alittle hasty.. as shown in this picture



She got alil hasty and immediately Used serverchat to notify her with the problem itself.

Most the of the time GM's are afk, you would think, so rather then explaining the situation you'd make sure they're there.
What i didnt understand is if she at least Told me in PM next time to say the full nature of help i needed and THEN serverchatted it. Hasty and might give a new person the wrong impression. Her response time was fast, though i feel somewhat yelled at for not stating the problem first =\

Overall, she at least hears you out.


GM/graphic Designer: Luna 6/10; availability 5/10

I dont really have much to say about her, since most of the time she was afk or non-responsive.

I think since she's the Designer there she's probly busy doing that stuff, but it's not exactly a reason to be on CRO, and then just afk while doing something more important.

She was not that Responsive, but when she did response.. she comes on VERY VERY strong. Like i could of probly gotten her to tell me anything if i convinced her it was RO related.

she seems somewhat biased, as i've seen her ignore some people and respond to others (i could be wrong). It appears that there isnt much going on when she's around.


GM/?: SoulSlice 9/10; availability 3/10

This guy suprised the hell outta me. He was straightforward and seemed to love this job.

I have little to no complaints about this guy other then the fact that he really isnt on.

Overall Grade: 4.7/10

Should you play it: Yea give it a try, it has great potential.

How long would you think i would play?: I'd say between 1-4 weeks until you either get along with everyone there or find urself a cozy spot somewhere alittle more active, and will help you get through the extreme downs of a Newbie.

How long I'll be staying: I probly wont stay here for much longer.

End Result:

This is a server worth trying, and has incredible potential.

Creativity is left to be desired.

The charm is left to be desired.

And the Uniqueness is left to be desired.

This is basically a typical RO server, with higher rates, and alot of NPC's.

[GorthexTiger]

YOU STOLE THOSE POINTS RIGHT OUT OF MY REVIEW!!!!

I'M TAKING YOU TO E-COURT!!!
YOUR IP ADDRESS IS BEING LOGGED AND I WILL GET YOUR MONIEZ!!!!!

@Topic:

They had a QUEST ROOM?! LOL, Where was I when THAT happened?

[oLexo]

First off.. Lex is the graphics designer.
Second off, you know better than to say you've been on a server for a month, then base my availability off one day. Besides, I blocked you on MSN because you are FAR too full of yourself.
You've left a biased review, and that's really all I've got to say for now.
Also, if you'd bothered to check the forums, you'd have seen that we're fixing npcs.
And every single donation item is on the control panel. /shy

ALSO! Joined on 11-07

[Final]

Uh...Wasn't there already a first impression series on CharmRO?  'Cause I could have sworn I read it already.

EDIT : Yeppers there is one already.  http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/index.php/topic,12408.msg89476.html#msg89476

There should not be two reviews on one server therefore I suggest lock/delete/move/whatever idc.

[Yusifer]

I agree that the Quest Room, the custom town (very nice), and Payon are a little pathetic and "thrown together".

The website is fine; it's a bit too red, but I wouldn't give it less than a 7/10.

Luna's very nice and I don't see what the problem was with using @broadcast to alert other players that it's best to PM problems in general and not just a bland "HELP ME PLZZZZ". It's like the joke that the vet uses:

Person: "My dog is acting funny!"
Vet: "Oh? A comedian?"

Seriously. You should explain your problem before just saying "HELP MEEEE".

Not sure about the rest; I never played.

[Green]

What's wrong with more than one First Impression of a server?
I was not aware that although people's prolonged impressions are different, that first ones must be the same.

[yC]

Uh...Wasn't there already a first impression series on CharmRO?  'Cause I could have sworn I read it already.

EDIT : Yeppers there is one already.  http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/index.php/topic,12408.msg89476.html#msg89476

There should not be two reviews on one server therefore I suggest lock/delete/move/whatever idc.

There is no rule on who cannot write an in-depth review so the "I am here first" does not apply.  Review of the same server can co-exists, just like those short ones on the site.

Enough of who is behind the review/server.  Shouldn't have a debate on that.  Stop thinking it matters and it will not matter in the end.

[Seikon]

Let me start this rebuttle off by saying that you should have a well-developed mastery of the english language before you consider posting a review of anything.

"We'll start out with what every reviewer needs... leetness."

Looks like you've failed in that department.  Or should I say derpartment.

Now onto the rest of your 1st-Post-trolling:

The website is beautiful.  A lot of hard work went into creating something user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.  The empty space there?  Yeah, that's not laziness, that's called "making it look good."  If you can't handle the fact that there's a red background on a server's website (and are prepared to dock points off of the server's rating as a result of this) you need to go learn basic HTML and figure out how pro websites are made.  You'll learn to appreciate that space.

As far as 'scrolling up' to see the 'rest' of the options, I have no idea what browser you're using but in IE I see everything just fine, without having to scroll at all.

I could name and show you at least 50 other server pages with 'Vote' buttons on the homepage, right in the middle.  You're giving them a bad score because they're advertising geniuses?  Check yourself.

Stability wise, if you're experiencing lag, it's your machine.

I'm not going to comment on the economy, besides the fact that you are right, those who have money tend to hang onto it at CharmRO (and that's because we believe in Capitalism).  Congradulations on pointing out the problem with the entire world's economy with your otherwise lacking review of Charm's.

The community, on the other hand, is something I will absolutely disagree with you about.  Unless you're talking about people who don't speak english, I cannot remember a time where someone's questions have gone unanswered in Payon.  Usually answers come immediately, and GMs will attest to the fact that generally more than one more experienced player jumps at the chance to help someone new.  Perhaps you were playing at 3 A.M. on a Tuesday morning.  As an added bonus, Charm has the highest number of -actual- female players (per male players) that I've ever seen in my Ragnarok career.  They bring a lot more to the community than a bunch of wannabe-badass acne'd out nerds ever could.

I created Vanguard.  It is true, the guild competition is one of this server's weakpoints, but you need to realize that this server is brand new.  Before Resonance packed up and left, they were the ones in charge.  At this point in time, there are three or four guilds that have been leveling and organizing to (hopefully) dethrone us.  (By the way, I hope you're not butthurt that we didn't send you an invite the minute you logged in ^_~)

The amount of NPCs on a map is of no consequence.  I could show you as many servers as you wanted with more than that, and these npcs would more than likely be organized poorly as well.  Granted, Payon has become crowded, but had you read the forums you would have noticed that measures are being taken to improve this very issue.

On that note, you would have seen the announcements about the work that is being done on the quests (and their respective npcs).  With the help of other members and Charm's staff I developed a tiered system of quests, organized by difficulty.

--------------

WE HAVE SUPPORT TICKETS FOR A REASON.  WE HAVE A FORUM FOR A REASON.  WE ALSO HAVE AN ADMIN THAT DOES INVEST A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT INTO THIS SERVER IN ORDER TO MAKE IT THE BEST POSSIBLE PLACE TO PLAY, A PLACE THAT ALL ARE WELCOME.

DO NOT, HOWEVER, EXPECT TO BE HELPED WHEN YOU PM HER LIKE A NOOB.  I CAN GUARENTEE THAT JUST ABOUT ANY OTHER SERVER ADMIN WOULD REACT THE SAME WAY.

NOTICE THAT SHE WAS NOT SINGLING YOU OUT IN THIS SITUATION, AND SIMPLY NOTIFYING THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY THAT PMING 'HELP' WILL NOT GET YOU SERVED.

HAVE A NICE DAY.

--------------

You list Luna as the graphic designer and the admin.  You need to slow down and pay attention to what you're doing next time you review a server.

You're also missing a review of GM-Siegfried.  As such, you fail.

TL;DR

COOL STORY BRO.  MAYBE WHEN YOU'RE OLDER.

[Gelchork]

Website. 5/10

The layout of the site is nice. But the one thing that bothers me is having to scroll the whole way up to see the rest of the options.

The one thing that throws me off is the parts on the top (less noticable) have more of the important stuff then on the sides.

Server information, Staff, and control panel should be alot more noticable in my opinion..

Some options like "review" and "vote" arent really necessary, and or already placed somewhere else

What makes this site a 5/10, is whats with all the empty space? it appears like the Designer here got alil lazy, and if there's space, use it? Make the other Options on the sides? rather then keep it up top. It's alittle bland and not very "charming"

I don't see the problem with the Server Information, Control Panel, and Staff buttons being there, they are the first things i see when i enter the website...
I also dont see the problem with the "review" and "vote" being there. They are there for one simple reason...because they want you to Review, and Vote. Just like every other server, 'eh?
Also, just fyi...the designer is FAR from lazy. The designer works really hard every day with what she does.

Server Economy: 3/10

The economy is Very.... bad. It's starting up but it appears as though the ones who have their money just hold onto it, causing a slight imbalance for newer characters to start off with shops and such.

People don't normally buy stuff because they are too busy Hunting the stuff -.-

Community: 5/10

The Community is neither Horrible or Good, neither were any helpful or hurtful to the server. It's as if alot of life is sucked out of them most the time, though if you wait long enough one will eventually come to an answer. They will help you 90% of the time. They dont really welcome anyone new, as i've tried and got ignored alittle, but that's to be expected.

You should really get to know the people on the server better. The community is very helpful to people. Also, it might've just been your bad luck, cause when someone asks a question if their new, they have always gotten an answer ^^

Creativity: 5/10

The way they set up the town is that there are TONS of NPC's next to one another.. It's very very clustered and hard to move around.. Not even that but There are some NPC's that could of been put into one... It was insane just how many there were for one map.


24 NPC's in one map?!?!

Not only are there 24 npcs, they are all clearly visable in one spot.. This is a turnoff and deterant.
Future problems with this many npcs is Lag, limitted space to move, and to much dependance to this one town.

Other towns may only have about 10, which are the ones you'd see people normally use, But why do they not have all 24 like Payon? The owner probly already realizes most the them are just a waste of space.

As said above, that problem is being taken care of
Also, if you had read the forums...you would know why the other ones have those 10 NPC's in the the other towns ^^.

Aquarius (the custom town) 1/10


Im extremely disapointed!!! such a beautifully designed custom town, but with no use what-so ever?!!!

I saw this town, i was in awh. It has the perfect ammount of space to spread out payons Npcs and small enough to not have to travel far. There's so much potential!! But it's used for nothing?

There are even buildings they have for shops and such, but none to be seen.

Please work on this! you have something good dont let it slip away!.

This town was created for other complaints of too many NPC's in Payon. :>

Using the Benefits of the Ragnarok World 3/10

I dont know if they meant for this server to be basic, but they dont utilize much to this RO. There's a vast world that Ragnarok gives you and it seems as if they throw away maps like there nothing.

@warp already ruins the purpose of travel, so i dont see the problem with using the entire world.

Another thing is the cheaply made cancel button that looks hideous, it has little to no purpose. Though the intentions to make there own custom skin would be cool, having a complete one would be better.

@warp was a request from the community, as far as i can say for it...deal and grow ^^

WoE: 4/10

There are only a few castles open, but most of the time they are owned by vanguard and there isnt much point in challenging them, since you will most likely be killed immediately.

It is called "WAR of Emperium" for a reason you know...

Events: 4/10

There are many events taken place, where you can earn Charm Points, which gives you a random ammount of zeny 800k+ i think. Most of these events are timed, or are randomly done by GM's..

The maze which is every 3 hours is bland, and not very exciting.. The fact it's based entirely on luck is pretty cool since there is no garantee'd way to mess with it.

The chicken is... Just not well explained.. idk whether you have to click on him or just get close.. Sometimes the events overlap and you have to make a choice.

And some monsters are in maps they shouldnt be.. i heard there due to events, Lack of cleaning up after themselves.

I was disapointed to see that they didnt fix the turbo room, which does a race, so that alot of people could attend it at once rather then the forced ammount you usually are. This race is alot of fun, and since skills/buffs are taken off, there isnt a way of cheating and it's a fun change of pace. Instead the turbo room is just a shopping mall.....

The chicken is very well explained in the broadcasts actually. Very simple: Click and try to win the prize -.-
Not a mall. a vending area....

Most the of the time GM's are afk, you would think, so rather then explaining the situation you'd make sure they're there.

Nah, not afk. They just alt-tab a lot ^^

GM/graphic Designer: Luna 6/10; availability 5/10

I dont really have much to say about her, since most of the time she was afk or non-responsive.

I think since she's the Designer there she's probly busy doing that stuff, but it's not exactly a reason to be on CRO, and then just afk while doing something more important.

She was not that Responsive, but when she did response.. she comes on VERY VERY strong. Like i could of probly gotten her to tell me anything if i convinced her it was RO related.

she seems somewhat biased, as i've seen her ignore some people and respond to others (i could be wrong). It appears that there isnt much going on when she's around.

*Lex (As stated above)
She isnt that easily convinced, trust me ^^
She doesnt always see what others ask or say. As she is a very "alt-tabby" person and comes in as others ask her something, might be what your seeing

GM/?: SoulSlice 9/10; availability 3/10
I have little to no complaints about this guy other then the fact that he really isnt on.

The dude has some IRL things hes going through right now. Family things, etc. Also, his internet is having issues lately, just not working at all for some reason. Thats why hes not on a lot ^^


Thanks for the review to the community of RMS
-Chorky

[Seikon]

In case you hadn't noticed, CharmRO gets a lot of piss-poor reviews.  I couldn't (and refuse to) take it anymore.  If people want to post an honest, educated review, that's completely 100% fine with me.  Do I think CharmRO is the perfect server?  No I do not.  Do I think it has unlimited potential?  Absolutely.  We seem to have a bad reputation and I've come to set the story straight.

(And by the way, a "NO U" arguement is kind of unnecessary in a thread that has nothing to do with me)

[Final]

Is that not the job of the owner, not the player?

[Seikon]

Our owner and our admin (who isn't on RMS anymore) are different people.

Everyone's entitled to their opinion.  Whether or not it's my job is none of anybody's business.  And even if it wasn't my job I'd feel inclined to defend the truth.  

[GorthexTiger]

You know I didn't exactly CARE that someone else had the same feelings I did out of the review, but I think the "taste" of the review was pretty much simple.

-I did a review.
-Re-iterate what I say and sling more dirt.

Funny how this review thread breaks out into an food fight, based off assumptions and people getting wound up over crap.

@yC: Ever consider making this thread unreplyable? :\

Oh, quick, guys!
Someone showed an opinion of their own!

Get him!

But you took my pitch fork!! What am I supposed to get them with!?

@Seikon and Gelchork

Go emo elsewhere plz

Replying and trying to rebuttle points in a review is like re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic: useless.

[yC]

thread going in the wrong direction yet again.

locked.