EuphRO [3/3/2]

[Kappa]

EuphRO Review by Kappa

Introduction
In order for this review to be effective, knowing my background and my experience with Ragnarok Online is crucial. That way, it is understood that I am writing this review in the most possible fair and unbiased way.

First and foremost, I am not a GM or anyone prominent at EuphRO. I decided to write the advertisement for them in the Low Rates Advertisement section myself and write this review as well. There is no "official" sponsor behind this; everything I write is from the perspective of the audience watching the Game Masters' performances and playing on the server.

As for information regarding me that would help this review, I started playing Ragnarok Online back in 2002-2003. Basically, when iRO beta began. I really enjoyed the game, and when iRO beta closed I moved to a private server named Esteria to play with a couple friends. I left the server to focus on my studies, and the server closed shortly afterwards. I put RO on hiatus for a while until I was introduced to EuphRO through a friend (old EuphRO, not new EuphRO). I played on old EuphRO until the server ended, and yes, I did witness the entire drama unfold which led to the server closing. I had gotten many chars to transcendent classes so to have lost all that because a corrupt few really impacted me, and largely affected my views on private servers. I played a few after EuphRO closed, but because I was not over losing my characters, I just quit and put RO on hiatus again. Fast forward a year, my friend, who also played on old Euph, convinced me to join the new EuphRO server. I was skeptical at first, and partially reluctant to do anything so I joined EuphRO warily. And I'm still on the server since that time, which has been nearly a year now.

Now for the meat of the review...


Server Details
I. GMs
The new server is owned by canadiancow who runs a staff of four GMs, 1 developer, 1 bot-hunter, and several forum moderators. Now, it may seem like an inefficient team on text, but in reality, they are quite effective at their jobs. Some of the GMs are also developers, I believe. Due to the stigma associated with the scandal that ended old EuphRO, the GMs have been very forward in being transparent and letting everyone know what they are working on. Proof for this has been through topics that allow suggestions from members (of course, taking those into serious consideration-- one is currently being worked on for implementation) and topics that track the development of the server, and not to mention the regular updates, with their own server development and eAthena updates.

Bothunting is exceptional on this server; having seen numerous bots on other servers (iRO included-- you know it <_<), I have yet to see one bot on the new server. The main bothunter, Aco, is quick and efficient at cleaning out bots from the server. Something I have seen to be unique to this server is providing proof for their ban-- regularly, botters will pretend to wonder why they are banned, and the GMs are generally very willing to post screenshots to defend their actions. Not once did I ever question their actions-- the screenshots are VERY explicit in proving someone to be a bot.

Player support is really good, but personally, I think could be a bit better. Most reports tend to be over insults made in-game or some scams, but there are occasions where difficult reports come up that are incredibly sensitive and require intensive analysis of the situation and the factors before a judgement. Giovani is pretty good at handling these issues, and I like to read threads in the "Report a Player" section for some reason, and from my perspective, it seems they do read and evaluate all the topics regardless how trite the report may be. They are also improving their support system, so they seem to be a lot more efficient than a couple months ago.

II. Players
It seems a lot of the players interact through the forums and through their guilds. If there is really one thing that I wished stayed the same from old EuphRO, is the sense of community. In my opinion, the new server seems a bit disjointed. It's not to say that people on the server are not approachable-- they really are approachable, and I've joked around with random people on the streets, but it seems to be a small group of people together. I can't speak for the @main since I am personally not a fan of it.

There is also a lot of fierce competition in this server. The server forces you to play RO as it should be played, without warpers and the like, and thus weeds out lots of incompetent people who seem to be heavily reliant on express NPCs. There is a lot of emphasis on teamwork and ability on this server-- in order to be really good, you need to know how to play your class. Otherwise, the other players will easily defeat you in WoE and PvP. On the forums, there are experienced players posting serious guides to their classes to foster competition, and there are even people providing feedback and discussion on those guides. Though there seems to be a strive from everyone to be the best in the server, there is also genuine support to help better other people. I really like this, since it only proves to me that people on this server truly do want fair gameplay and good competition. However, don't get me wrong-- the server isn't absolutely harmonious and everyone gets along... heck, the WoE threads can be pretty verbally intense, but overall people on this server value true ability and good competition over self-indulgence.

III. The Server Itself
The server right now is much better than the one hosting old EuphRO. I don't know if Euphorian just kept lying about upgrading the servers, but it is pretty clear the servers for new EuphRO are high-end. I almost never experience any lag and hardly have any issues about the server. I'm not sure what else to say about it. It seems the server is also maintained and restarted at a regular basis weekly.

The thing I like so much about this server is that there are no custom modifications. That's right-- no stupid ginormous angel wings, or special implements that would affect gameplay or just unbalance it unnecessarily. It sticks very closely to kRO, with the exception of eAthena commands, but it seems very obvious that the GMs do not support anything that may enhance gameplay other than what Gravity already offers through its official servers. It is very true to the real game.


Miscellaneous Comments
I also wanted to address some issues that I've read around that people have with the server.

One thing I've seen commonly around is that some people object to a certain rule, namely the "Do not act stupid" rule. I can understand why people would object, as it does seem as though it gives the GMs free reign to ban whoever they want, but in reality the rule is hardly ever used for banning. And I do believe it's for that very reason-- it's kind of a flimsy rule, and very subjective if that. The rule is commonly used for the multitudes of other offenses they don't have time to explicitly state against, and I've only ever seen it used appropriately. In fact, I'd even say I've never seen them ban for that reason.

The reason I post this review is to get people to come on the server and broaden our competition. We've been on for 2 years now, and honestly, if there's any reason why you should consider seriously joining this server with your friends and/or your guild is because of that-- stability. There is no shady business going on: ask for proof and the GMs are happy to give it to you. They interact freely on the forums and there is no strange disconnection from the player and the GM. Heck, one of the developers was caught cheating in WoE from a player video and had his GM powers stripped in a day.

Also, I'm open to discussing several aspects of the server I may have missed, but I will not engage in pointless arguments. Everything I have said can be proven by just browsing through EuphRO forums, and if you give it a chance you will see it. This is a completely different server from the old EuphRO server where the GMs are held accountable for everything they do. It's a server with a lot of integrity and I would say it is largely the reason they have stayed on so long.

Thank you!
-Kappa

[Pandora]

I thought you had to be a gm/admin to write the advertisement post.

[You]

too long, didn't read.

[Auroraâ„¢]

I thought you had to be a gm/admin to write the advertisement post.

Anyone can post an advertisement post, you just have to be sure to include, at minimum, everything the guidelines ask you to include.

[Descent]

I thought you had to be a gm/admin to write the advertisement post.

This looks more like a review to me.

[Auroraâ„¢]

I think Pandora was referring to where the OP said:

I decided to write the advertisement for them in the Low Rates Advertisement section myself and write this review as well.

[Pandora]

What aurora said. Don't know if it's changed, but there was a time where you could not make the advertisement if you were not the official person mandated by the server (admin/gm), that's because you wouldn't want a player making a crappy advertisement spot, and then the admin not being allowed to make another since you're only allowed 1 per server (not saying the advertisement made by kappa is crappy, it seemed well structured).

[Descent]

What aurora said. Don't know if it's changed, but there was a time where you could not make the advertisement if you were not the official person mandated by the server (admin/gm), that's because you wouldn't want a player making a crappy advertisement spot, and then the admin not being allowed to make another since you're only allowed 1 per server (not saying the advertisement made by kappa is crappy, it seemed well structured).

Oh. My  mistake, then. Well, if you go look at ZigaRO's advertisement, apparently Spencer is "not" a staffer. I guess if it hasn't been deleted, all's fair.