IntenseRO (New and all geared up rdy to go!)

[SilentWish]

Im an oldie :X
I've played official + private servers for the past 7yrs, since primary.
I've spent a majority of my time on Excalibur-Avalon RO, NamelessRO, BlackoutRO, DerRO and a lot more.
Though, I quitted RO a while bak, 2 years in fact, as it got too boring with high rates being too crazy and low rates being...jus too slow.

Ive been searching for a good mid-rate for some time now, not much have drawn my attention due to the unbalancing donations.

HOWEVER.
4 days ago, I looked up IntenseRO, just out of curiosity. It sounded like a good midrate server, with no overbalancing donations. I was quite disappointed at the management of the homepages and simplicity of forums (that has changed now)...and the low population. But I was bored, so I jumped in jus to kill time, thinking that I'll quit anyway. Part of the reason was because Intense offered 3rd jobs, and I was curious.
And now, I don't think I want to move anymore xD.

Friendliness
I installed, logged in. And was welcomed quite warmly, but that's the case with any newbie in new servers. So not much thought given. I was surprised, however, at the sustained warmness of GMs and Devs. In other servers, u barely see the GMs sitting around in capital "busting" to answer questions/inquiries, it's different here. Any questions? Head right to capital and u're 1/2 way there to solving it. The same is in forums. Although the forums are simple, the service provided by Kazumi (master GM), Korochi (sub-GM) are very good. My questions/issues were answered in less than 1hr, and that's really something. 
Rytech is a Dev, he's in charge of editting all the 3rd job database, animations and etc. I had a couple of questions regarding my Ranger skills, and he answered me...in depth. He didn't wave me off and telling me "go read RMS for skill descriptions". He actually had me test it out with him, and to see how it works. Very nice of him.
Another thing that impresses me, is that GMs take shifts to allow themselves to be availible and provide assitance. As I am aware of, Korochi takes the morning/afternoon shift and Kazumi takes the evening/midnight shift. I give them my gratitudes and salute for sacrificing their sleep in order to help players.

Gameplay
Gameplay is quite fantastic, it's pretty unique. Basic gears are sold in capital, allowing ppl to start easy. Unique items are obtained by hunting, and it's hard, so economy isn't overheating/cooling. The rates are 150x base, 150x job, custom drop rates. I complain here and then about how hard it is to even get a bongun hat *rolls eyes* , but hey, that way the server's balanced. The max aspd is 193, so assassin cross/guillitone cross aren't spamming EDP and raping everyone. Instant cast is 150 dex presently, however, Kazumi (master GM) has decided to raise it to 165 in the very near future (max stat for 3rd jobs are 120).
Some items are dropped 100% from certain mobs to allow for easy zeny (not crazy zeny though). I won't spoil the fun for u .   

Events
There are only HOURLY (yes, every hour) events currently, Poring Catcher. It's a simple game, 100 porings are released into Poring Arena, u find it, kill it, and get an IntenseRO Gift Box. The box has a low chance of getting an unique item (not going to spoil it for u ). Although Ive never won (XD), it's quite fun. A relaxation from the long hours of lvling. There will be definately more events as more ppl join the server, no doubts about that.
The GMs are also promoting population growth, so we're having 2x exp rates (300exp overall!) once the population reaches 130.
It now stands at 70-ish.

Population & Economy
It's quite small right now. But it's growing fast. I joined 4 days ago, and it was jus reaching 40. Now, it's overshooting 70! Very fast considering the server's only been up for a couple of weeks. Sadly, there isn't really much of an economy right now, there's at max, 4 vendors in capital, but items are very over-priced. This is due to the low population (for those who do economics, demand equals supply :O). There isn't a lot of rare items running around at the moment, 1 expert ring, 1 valkyrie helm...that's I know of.
This will definately improve once the population grows expansively, as like any other server.

Donations
Now THIS I love :3. Kazumi (master GM) has jus added the donation items 2hrs ago. There aren't any wings or "special helms" (Chaos Helm etc). As the GMs said, "we stick to the official server". The donations are basically the really really rare equips/items that are only obtainable through events in official servers, e.g. Love Daddy Hat, Gentleman's Pipe, Poring Tower, etc.
The stats are original/will be editted according to GMs' decisions. They're quite cheap too, 1 USD = 2 tokens, and the average price of donations at the moment is....5~15-ish.
Unlike other servers, Intense's aim is to balance the server, so customisation on item script (i.e. effects) is highly disapproved by GMs (not saying there won't be any, just low chances).

Community
It's small, but warm and kind. I met Lou*sa on my 1st day under the most unexpected circumstances and we set out to train together. Later, we then set out to party with 4 more ppl in Abbey 2 (a lot lot later). It was almost like the 1st time I ever played RO 7yrs ago. Fantastic. Seriously, other servers I've played, it's pretty much solo-ing all the way (who needs party? *rolls eyes*).
Friendly ppl, really, there isn't much to be said.

WOE
Due to the low population, server is currently lacking WOE-ing guilds. There are a few major ones, but it's less than 5.
Also, there are 2 different types of WOEs here. 1 for any job up to reborn 2nd job lvl99, and another for 3rd jobs. This way 3rd jobs aren't kicking anyone's donkey in an unbalanced way. I joined once, and it was fun (with lvl25 swordie :X).
So why wait? Join now (even with friends!) and start a guild to make urself a LEGEND!!

Server Stability & Development
It's very stable, can't really say much about it. It only goes off for a few minutes so that GMs can fix a few bugs + edit scripts. But these are rarely seen and very short (max is 5minutes). There'll be less off-times in the future, as bugs and the like will be fixed. All classes seem to be balanced, though a few skills from 3rd jobs are still in development, but this is because official RO haven't implanted them properly yet, so that's not something the server is able to modify easily (not much can be done until official releases them). Development on the server is on-going, this includes anything in-game to forum/homepage.

Im sorry for the long review, never written one before. I really hope to impose a good impression on ppl for this server, as it deserves.

So yea, thanks for reading my long/boring review, and I hope I inspired some initiation to play on IntenseRO .

If u do decide to join, welcome to PM me in-game: Sola, SoIa     
I should be on. And no, Im not GM, Im jus a normal player who likes to help the server I like :X

Oh, and sry, here's the link to IntenseRO's homepage xD 
http://www.register.intense-ro.net/

[Yusifer]

IntenseRO is a server with potential; the only thing I was concerned with was the lack of internationalism and the drop-rates of MVP / Mini-Boss Cards. When talking to an admin before, I was told that I couldn't speak another language other than English in public chat. I realize the server is English, but at the same time, it's a little upsetting that IntenseRO has following the path of other English-only servers. Why not appeal to everyone?

And the MVP/Mini-Boss drops are a little funny - so funny, the admin gets confused lol! GTB is .05% if I remember correctly; GR is .10% (the admin first said .50%, then .05%, and now .10%); and Angeling is .50% (way too high - the admin said the "less useful ones" were at .50%, but Angeling is an extremely useful card! Angeling > GR; who doesn't like -25% from all elements without a negative? Since Angeling's .50% and "not very useful", I'm a bit concerned what other "not very useful" cards this team has put at .50%).

Overall, it seems like a nice server for anglophones :)

[SilentWish]

It isn't really anti-internationalism. As Korochi said, the server's GM is phillipines, and so before she launched IntenseRO on to the international..."market", she advertised locally first.
Also, u CAN speak in other languages, jus don't spam it. The GMs say "english please", but they don't put hard-stricken laws on it.

Not so sure about the cards. The drop rates are still being modified, i guess. The server's only been launched a few weeks, so it's still in the stabilizing phase, and GMs need to nerf the settings now and then so that fairness can be achieved.

@Yusifer (below): well, if u run around abusing ppl in an unknown language, i consider that spam. Players nice, I tell them i don't speak Tagalog, and they'll kindly switch to english :x  (sry, accidentally pressed karama -ve...)

[Yusifer]

I'd list all of the weird MVP / Mini-Boss Card drop-rates but I was told to go in-game and @mi them all, and I'm too lazy to do that just to figure it out. Angeling at .50% is enough for me lol

And "spamming it" is a conversation in public? I don't understand how you can spam a language unless you type fast something like "Je suis la!" 100x

:<

Nice review though; I give j00 +1 'cause I feel nice today lol

[kochiro]

Heeeey, i replied to you in french too there! Boss cards are already stable and no more modification of card rates. Its only been up for 12 days so yeah It's alright to speak your language but of course when talking to someone who doesn't know the language then at least speak english right? o.o

[ragnazorg]

Sorry about that.. I remember your questions via the shoutbox.. Wasnt really feeling well that time with lack of sleep.. Both work and for the server. So sometimes i was like uH.. Eh Er.. Uhmm.. I dont really mind if people from other countries play here I remember talking to a player with my worldlingo on so I can talk to him and understand what he's saying.  Anyway thanks for the reviews.

[Yusifer]

Oh no'es! I've been remembered!

And yeah, Intense is a nice server overall. The card thing is what really turned me off, though.

Happy playing to all i-RO players :)

[ragnazorg]

@yusifer

Thanks..


@all

and also about the english thingy.. we dont actually require everyone to speak in english.. and its not a rule that everyone needs to speak in english

 

[Naiv]

I've given it a try aswell, I felt bored a few days ago so I started out there just to see what it was like.
Its a nice server overall and the review is pretty accurate. The only thing I really dislike about the server
are EDP's and Acid bottles being sold in the mall, aswell as dropped by porings etc. Makes those two classes
a bit too attractive imo.

[STCRockstar]

I've tried it too. I became curious when I saw their cute website. And it's really newbie friendly with those NPCs directing to where you should go. The only thing I had a problem with is deleting my character. After searching for the answer in the forums its says that you can't delete a character that is below base level 50, for safety measures/scam prevention maybe? Now I have to level it to 50 before I can delete it. But over-all, it's pretty rockin' .

[Yusifer]

I've given it a try aswell, I felt bored a few days ago so I started out there just to see what it was like.
Its a nice server overall and the review is pretty accurate. The only thing I really dislike about the server
are EDP's and Acid bottles being sold in the mall, aswell as dropped by porings etc. Makes those two classes
a bit too attractive imo.

It was this and the MVP/Mini-Boss Drops that forced me not to join. I can't stand AD/EDP on donation / voting rewards / any other method other than creating them.

[Reviewmaker123]

well, i played iRO for about a week. Since it was a newly opened server, i got interested to try it out. I like the server over all, but if it was a HR server it would be better. But alas, my boredom got to me, i stopped playing constantly and just go online once or twice a week(if i feel like playing) i am used to a HR server that's why

you guys should definitely try out this server. You will be impressed
dont just take my words for it, try it out for yourself

[kochiro]

Hmm~

EDP and bottles are easily gotten due to the fact that sinx's and creators are not really overpowered here, and our goal is to balance everything out, that even without "rare" items or god items, new players can keep up with the old ones. That's the reason for the drop rates, we don't want anyone feeling inferior just because they're new.

It's kinda a lax server and we tried to make a whole new feel to RO, minus TOO much grinding, but work nevertheless.

If you think about it, its 50% grinding and 50% woe and pvp-based server. XD

[SilentWish]

Sinx with EDP does 1k on an equip-less Ranger, both at max lvl (Ive tried it out on a sinx with my ranger).
And since max aspd is 193, u won't actually see 1k dmg going at Mach speed.
On the other hand, he had anti-human equips, and my double strafe does 1.8k on him (with Rudra bow [ 0]),
so it's not really over-powering for guillitone crosses.

The only thing that will allow for gullitone crosses to win, is their higher hp + flee in comparison with a ranger's.

[kochiro]

Thanks a lot for the comments guys. Appreciate it a lot