NoobFury RO - Server with good potential, even if it IS for "Noobs".
Having owned and played Lowrates and Midrates, I do find it strange how I ended up on NFRO. Apparently the drama of months past is nonexistent, with the atmosphere focused more on players as opposed to the GM's inner workings and scandals of threads that have preceded this review.
In all honesty, the first thing people think of when they see the name is, "Great...another donation hellhole...." Not necessarily.
NoobFuryRO is one of the rare HRs that seem to attempt to cater to everybody, regardless of whether you're rich or poor, donator or non-donator. Of course, there IS that "donor's edge" that happens when you flat out purchase gear, but does that mean you're sold up the river? Not a chance.
Seeing as I have rediscovered my old GameFAQs reviews, might as well give it a good breakdown.
GAMEPLAY - 5/10
Worthy effort to keep all engaged, but not without its flaws...
Leveling is speedy, as with any HR above 500x, drop rate may seem a bit nonsensical for the "hardcore" LR/MR elitist, but for the casual gamers you find on NFRO, it's just right. The "Rebirth" system seen on other servers is available here, where you can reset your character back to scratch and hit up 255 all over again, with a special reward for those who go the distance to Rebirth MAX. A system like this, even WITH the added stats, is still a wonderful thing, as it will keep players motivated to push themselves to improve their character, and completely extends the end-game scenario. Guild Competition seems heated, and Guilds are rather large. That's the good.
The bad?
Class Balance can be nearly horrendous. High Wizards seem to be the dominating factor, with GTB only halving damage and MDEF-Gear based equipment sets are negated by the fact that nearly everybody and their mother's dog has a High Wizard Card from Lighthalzen Dungeon 03. Champions also rule the day and reap the spoils of PVP and WoE, as Skill Delay and Cooldown is purely based upon the "DEX <--> ASPD" system that most HRs are running nowadays, leaving classes like Lord Knights, Paladins, and Snipers to get demolished by Creators, High Wizards, and Professors. Obviously not very well thought out for the long run, but hey...it could change, right?
Another bad? The economy........
...is crap. Even EShadowRO back in its day didn't have prices like this. The market is pretty much filled with nonsense, such as certain MVP Cards being relatively cheap(Nice to know I can buy a GTB for 90M), yet certain pieces of gear going for astronomical prices(Why, oh WHY did I see Valk Shoes going for 780M?!). It's almost as if every merchant sits there and thinks "Hey...what can I do that would make the least amount of sense and have other sensible players want to blow their brains out?". The inflation and deflation changes faster than you can keep up. Not exactly a good thing, but with the ridiculous saturation of the market between MVP Cards, God Items, et cetera, there's nothing short of a wipe that could change it.
SERVER - 7/10
Strange hiccup every time Devil's Square starts, but other than that...
Haven't really hit any Downtime yet, server doesn't seem to be prone to Lag spikes, if they could just fix that incredibly annoying 30-second hiccup that NFRO goes through everytime Devil's Square runs, this score would be MUCH higher. Not much else to say than that. Patcher runs smooth as silk(But PLEASE, PLEASE do something about Caramelldansen playing EVERY TIME I load the goddamn thing, guys!!), no problems with logging in or switching characters. Relatively solid.
COMMUNITY - 9/10
They weren't kidding when they said "The most friendly server"...
My first day, I was welcomed with open arms to the guild "Revelations". The forum users are just as nice, and even the randoms you find hanging around the Gold Room and on the leveling maps are so damned pleasant, I actually had to think about whether I really was playing RO or not. Even for a PK server, there seems to be a mutual respect with regards to leveling, and nobody really preys on the newer players or lower leveled characters. I DID get PK'd once by a High Wizard, who immediately came over and Ressed me, then apologized about his random Storm Gust.
As for Events, there's Devil's Square daily, and there is also a "Super Rates" event, that lasts an hour and boosts the rates by a small percentage. There is also Poring Ball. However, aside from the auto-events, there's not really a GM in sight(at least the times that I've been on so far) to actually RUN events.
Oh, and the community is about 50/50 in the language department. You're either speaking English or Tagalog, but it seems that the players from the Philippines are quite well-versed in both languages, meaning you shouldn't have any communication problems with them.
GAME MASTERS - 5/10
Lack of in-game activity seen is the only reason this score is so low...
I really have yet to see a GM in-game at ALL. However, they are very helpful on forums and I have yet to hear a bad thing about the Staff from players while logged in. There's a "TO DO" List as a thread where Kitsune keeps players updated on possible future changes to the server, which is a nice touch, as it doesn't create surprises.
Still, the lack of in-game activity really drops this score down, as you can't exactly gauge GMs without interacting with them.
Overall, is NoobFuryRO worth it?
It's not a bad server by any means. There will be some who can embrace the gameplay and will love every second. There will be some who will be completely turned off and appalled by the Customs List and the Skill Cooldown schematics. There will also be those like myself, who are sitting on the middle of the fence. It has potential to go beyond what it is now at 130+ players if a few changes were put in place, but aside from those, a pretty worthy effort from Kitsune and company.
Besides...if it's enough to have my gaming time split between F1 and RO, it's got to be worth something.
