I've been playing at EssenceRO for a few weeks now; I originally started playing a year or so ago, but I didn't stick around long enough to actually experience the server fully. Thus, my review commences, after approximately three weeks of adventuring.
Stability: 8/10
- EssenceRO lags rarely and I've never experienced a crash; however, around 04:00-07:00EST, the server will become "jumpy", meaning frequent lag spikes and disconnections. When you try to reconnect, it will appear as if the Character Server is down, since it'll reject you constantly (even though people are actually playing). The site will say that the Character Server is Online, but it acts funky around this time. If you want the best, most reliable gaming experience, stay clear of the server from 04:00-07:00EST.
Availability: 9/10
- As stated before, the server never crashes, and maintenances are always planned 5~12 days in advance. Even during the morning EST lag spikes, the server is available (technically); just be sure not to log out in this time period, or you'll constantly be rejected.
Community Friendliness: 7/10
- Other than the few random idiots (like Final j/k), the community is great. You ask a question, you get a response (usually). @main is full of idiots, however, and for some reason, there are a lot of people who feel it necessary to create characters with names such as "Vaginal Archer" and "I have a big d***". There appears to be no rule set against this, since it's so frequently done. People are also inclined to speak sexually in public chat about everything; my main experiences of this being in Gonryun. Beware of the random Warg-ridden Ranger who'll spam "Insert" because he's so desparate for attention. As for diversity, there are plenty of Pinoys, anglophones, francophones, and Spanish-speaking ("spanglophones"?) on the server, so everyone's welcome. Their broadcast system will even broadcast into several different languages, although the French translation is terribly done.
Eventfulness: 4/10
- No events really, other than the Survival Arena and some random, very, very, rare GM-held events. If you hate events (like me), and despise GMs who spam @broadcast with event-related nonsense, than EssenceRO is perfect. For event-lovers, though, you'll be disappointed in this area.
Game Master Friendliness: 9/10
- The Game Masters are really friendly and approachable. They're not in-game very often, but they stalk the forums a lot and you can see that they're busy since the Suggestion section is constantly updated with maintenance-pending ideas / rejections. The Bugs section is also updated often with maintenance-pending material; unfortunately, I posted about an Arrow Storm & Arrow Shower bug about a week ago, and they've yet to pay heed to it. It's fact they've visited the section since, for I posted a Kafra bug three days ago and they managed to file that, but not the Arrow Storm & Arrow Shower bug. Patience is key, I suppose, but mobbing with a Ranger is quite difficult since Arrow Storm only does 2~3 hits now (usually, it's around seven).
Game Master Availability: 4/10
- In-game? Non-existent. Sorry to say, but there are rarely any GMs in-game, and when they do come online, they don't stay long. Online greetings are short, simple, and over before you actually remember that question you've been dying to ask for a week. On the forums, however, the GMs are often there, except Tira (root admin) who appears to be inactive since a few months. Okale comes often; I haven't seen the other moderators / GMs on the forum in my three week stay, though.
Game Master Helpfulness: 4/10
- Again, availability issues. When you have a question to ask, you realize they've gone offline already. On the forums, it's not the GMs who answer you usually (Okale does sometimes, but it's not often unless it's in the Suggestions / Bugs area); you're depending on the community here, and luckily they're considerate enough to answer posts and questions, both in-game and on the forums.
Economy: 10/10
- I am very impressed with the economy; another review stated that 200~300mil for an Ice Pick is overpriced, but I'm used to 600mil for an unslotted Ice Pick, so 200mil is cheap for me. Cards and items are relatively cheap and fair-priced; the use of @ss is very welcoming since I've experienced times where players sell items at 1,000,000Z but @ss shows someone in Payon selling the same item for 250,000Z (Evil Wing). Always be sure to use @ss when purchasing items; generally the prices are all similar, but you don't really want to pay an extra 750,000Z for an Evil Wing or an extra 2,500,000Z for that random Card you happen to require.
Guild Competition: 7/10
- There are many, many, many guilds at EssenceRO, but most appear to be only "for-show" guilds, single-man guilds, or social guilds. I have yet to experience War of Emperium, but it would appear that there's one massive guild that runs everything, and it takes a few guilds to actually take them down. I'm sure it's a lot of fun, though; I do not plan on participating in War of Emperium on EssenceRO, however, due to the custom items and the lack of a goal.
Class Balance: 9/10
- Classes are balanced with minimal bugs (and these bugs are fixed relatively quickly); I'm not sure if any of them are over-powered or not, but the GMs make technical changes often if ever it occurs. You can view a history of changelogs on the forum. They've modified some classes and skills to be more balanced as well, such as Pneuma being bypassed by Phantasmic Arrow and Falcon Assault.
Final Notes:
- I was always skeptical of EssenceRO, especially when Third Jobs came into play; however, the GM team has balanced classes significantly, such as allowing Phantasmic Arrow and Falcon Assault to bypass Pneuma (seriously, it was about time: every class has a way to deviate around obstacles, but once a Ranger confronts Pneuma, they're helpless). The wings are nice; I find them overpowered, but since they're available to everyone, I guess it's all right in the end. The Valkyrie Helm +15% movement speed does not stack with AGI Up / buffs, so it makes it 1/2 useless unless you have other movement speed modifying equipment, such as Bloody Axe or the Mechanic's Acceleration tool. Overall, a fair server with a hard-working, non-existent GM team and a blissful community.
Final Grade: 71/100
Statement: Definitely give EssenceRO a try; it's worth it.
