NovaRO - honest review by Elu

Started by Eluminare, Jun 15, 2017, 06:36 AM

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Eluminare

Hello everyone! Welcome to my honest essay about NovaRO!
I hope that my opinion about the server is going to enlighten you to make a proper decision of where you want to stay for some time. Enjoy reading!

1. Renewal
First of all - it's renewal. I used to play on pre servers and honestly, the gameplay is freshly new to me - the thing is, renewal has extended features such as 3rd classes, doram race (on fully updated clients), fixed casting time, extended level to 175, extended stat points  to 130 etc etc), new instances, currencies, etc. etc. Basically, if you are the old RO's player and you had no chance to try renewal - you defenitely should :v

2. Rates
I'm not really sure why NovaRO is in the "low rate server" category - yes, you do not obtain the items with 5% drop rate from every monster but you also do not struggle with obtaining the items which might be considered as "rare". I rather see it as a medium rate server (also come on, if it was a low rate server, i'd have no chance to be max lvl in 2 weeks, unless I played everyday for XX hours like a nolife). When it comes to rates overall, I'd prolly recommend it to these people who have enough time to farm and who'd like to feel some kind of nostalgia of the first private servers which existed ages ago~

3. Leveling and max lvl
As I mentioned before, renewal is equipped with the new features - the main thing on NovaRO is to level up by finishing the eden quests (kinda like monster farm for each lvl category). I personally started playing with my sister (dps and support) which was probably the best combination since we could level up together. Some classes are not able to solo with lvl ups that's why I'd also recommend you to join the server with a friend or find a guild/group of friends that you can play with - the first steps might be diffcult, especially if you start playing alone.
Also - just like I mentioned before - lvling to the max lvl took me 2 weeks so it's not as long as you imagine when it comes to the "low rate servers"

4. Instances
NovaRO is full of instances - the list on their wiki shows around 20-30 of them (most of instances have 24h cooldown, some of them 2-3 days) so believe me - you won't be bored. At the moment I'm doing like 5-6 instances everyday and it's really, REALLY entertaining. I haven't explored most of them yet but I will definitely give them a try when I fully gear up (Im still on my way to finish, doing really well so far :'D). Each instance has their own unique reward such as headgears, useful weapons, gears (armors, garments, shoes, accessories) etc. etc. You can create a ton of different builds by using different items, it's only up to you which one you will follow. Also - istances are the main money making factor on this server so there is no way to skip them (unless you donate, but what kind of fun it is)

5. Channels
I've been on the servers which are shutting down the #main channel to avoid dramas - NovaRO is different,  you're able to globally talk to the other players and such (of course some people are butthurt some time, you may see triggered players and small qq + dramas but oh well, I believe this is a part of every MMO anyway).
There are also channels like #support and #lfg - #support is a good idea because it's an open channel for the entire community. Many servers are using the @request command feature, which sends the player'squestion straight to the staff team (it's not always a good idea since staff members are not the robots and they cannot be online 24/7). I was ignored on this channel once or twice but the community usually gives you the answer if you have any concerns (doh, sometimes they even pm you to explain something straight 1v1). #lfg channel might be frustrating, especially when you're a solo player and you're looking for a party to finish some instance or quest (looking for the other players to help you might take from 10 minutes to 2 hours sometimes lmao)

6. Rodex
Interesting feature that I've never seen before on any RO server (maybe because I was outdated as hell since I've been playing on pre-renewals like I said before haha) - easy way for item transfer, letters sending, money transfer etc etc. The only thing that actually bothers me about this system is the fact that you may send the items/money/gear etc and I have no idea if is has any transfer logs (in case you were hacked etc.). I think it should have some kind of @security code system to prevent anyone from stealing your items (since you can check the logs of deals, you cannot check the logs of sent items i believe - correct me if i'm wrong).
Speaking about @security - this is another thing that bothers me about NovaRO. The server doesn't have the lock/protection like this - this is a downside for me

7. Dailies system
Many servers have the "vote for points" system aka "If you vote for us on X website in the RO's servers ranking, you will obtain X coins/tickets/whatever else to exchange for the useful items" etc. NovaRO doesn't have the V4P system and it's replaced by the "dailies system" - you are supposed to stay 1h online everyday so you may obtain some gold coins (donation currency) and loyal proofs (tickets that you exchange for the items). Also, every daily gives you items like bubblegums, exp manuals, kafra cards, bloody branches etc etc (some kind of mini rewards). Sometimes the daily system is a pain in the donkey because if you DC, your "waiting time" extands to 1h again..so good luck to people with bad internet connection :v

8. Achievement system
NovaRO has the achievement system - Achievement Challenge is made by 1148 challenges. They have 6 different categories - general,adventure,battle,quest,bosses and feat. After finishing some challenge you may obtain the title for the character, some items, buffs, money or loyal proofs. After a month of playing im done with 100/1148 but I don't pay much attention to it at the moment. I believe for some people the achievements and challenges are some kind of entertainment

9. Costumes and alterinative sprites
I like that renewal has the costume feature, mostly because you can wear your main headgears and cover them with the sprites you like, even tho they are not useful. It's like a win-win haha.
Alternative sprites were officialy released on IRO a year ago, some class sprites are upgraded and better looking (for example shadow chaser or wanderer - they seriously look great). On NovaRO you are able to choose on how your character is going to look like. For example: If you're playing female ranger and you don't like the way that your character looks, you can purchase the alternative sprite via cash points (you exchange the gold coins for them) and choose hunter sprite, sniper sprite or the upgraded version of ranger sprite. It's a nice idea since you don't have to look like everyone else haha

10. Customization
Customization on NovaRO is almost invisible. There are few customized headgears and..that's all I believe. The server is pretty much a good copy of the original RO, you won't see any hugeass wings or auras or god knows what else. I used to play on the full custom server and I need to admit that I miss it a bit. I personally wish that NovaRO had more customized headgears to offer since - believe me or not - headgear farm was, is and always will be a part of ragnarok. (Also people really love the good looking sprites of the headgears) - Hopefully they will add more quests someday.

11. Economy and money making
I think the economy on NovaRO is stable - it's not easy to make money, you seriously need to put some effort if you want to achieve something (at least at the beggining, I will write down my opinion after months of playing once again to compare it). MVP cards are not playing here the main role since they're really difficult to obtain, people are depending on the regular gears from instances, regular cards from normal monsters/mini bosses, if you have any donation items, you do not have the adventage over the other players (beside the fact you have money). Like i mentioned before, money making is the easiest from the instances, gear selling, cards selling etc.

12. Class balance
This is the matter that I can't talk much about since I've been playing one class so far and the rest are pretty much unknown to me. Ranger seems really balanced and easy to play - you're fast for sure since it's the DD's role to play quickly and effective but from the other side it's really easy to die with this class. My sister is playing AB and she's a typical support - she cannot play without the 2nd person, her main role is to heal and buff, I haven't seen the offensive AB on the server yet (I do not pvp and participate woe yet since i'm not fully geared) so atm I can tell it seems pretty much balanced (not enough info to say more sadly :c)

13. WoE
No info from my own experience so sadly I cannot say anything yet

14. Community
I'm a social kind of player and I need to say - sadly - that I don't find the community uber friendly. I've got a feeling like players are mostly focused on the server's features, it's difficult to find someone for the chitchat unless you spam like crazy on #main etc. People rather talk in their small groups, Prontera aka main town is pretty quiet and people rather talk on the party chat/PMs than in public - I honestly don't like it but there is no way to change community's mentality. (Which is pretty much surprising, especially when you see around 1.7k people online daily). After a month of playing i made only one friend and I haven't joined any guild yet (created one with my sister for ourselves)

15. Game Masters
I still can't tell how many staff members NovaRO has but I usually see 2 GMs being active on the #main and #support channel. They seem pretty much open and friendly - they answer your questions, they have a chitchat with the community on channels, they also offer their help on discord so you can pm them straight if anything. I don't know about the rest - I saw at least 3 more GM names but I haven't seem them active or w/e. I believe the staff team is working mostly on the background.. I saw only 2 events hosted by game masters during this 1 month gameplay, the rest are automated. I don't think there are many interactions between GMs and players

16. Server's stability
NovaRO has a good host I think - I barely experience and lags, maybe when I enter the town full of players and during the instances sometimes (it's my PC's fault probably anyway). During one month of my gameplay, there were like 2 server downs (maintanance) but beside that the server is fully available and stable

Summary:
The server itself is really great and keeps me busy - i'm seriously entertained.  I'm really motivated to play and basically I'm having a great time haha. Nostalgia of RO is hitting me on so many levels and I feel like I want to explore this server more and more. I reccommend it mostly for players who're not orientend into super duper farmfest or intense as hell PVP with a bunch of trashtalkers etc - I'm sure you will enjoy it if you played X years ago and you recently came back haha

With love,
Elu / Ann
ps. If you have any questions, write them down below. Be aware that Im still a noob on the server and I might not know everything xD
Eluminare van Rijn - the honest review maker

noheal

#1
That is a super complete review right there.

I see a few of your problems on the Social part reading your post: point 13-14
this type of server the guilds are really focus on what they do. Pve, Pvp Woe, instances since they are heavy gear based. So you need to go to the forums, check the guilds and actually look for a nice group of people that fit your play-style (social-instances guids are the best to start enclave and rachel are two popular options that are guilds for new players and people willing to spend some time helping, show you the instances and show you pretty much how to fish

for example if you are more of a social player you need to really aim for the ACTIVE social guilds, that are focus on helping new players.

https://www.novaragnarok.com/forum/topic/3648-pied-piper-is-recruiting/ <<< for example that guild. Is the most active guild I have seem in a while, they are online, do all the quest leveling have 3 to 5 versions of the guild socials, pvp, woe more social also as being so heavy into the social the leader streams, they have a really organize and active discord.


Now a second really active guild for social-instance Would be the one that saves at rachel. Great group of people. Same as above active, great.
https://www.novaragnarok.com/forum/topic/3861-undaunted-socialpvm/


Final advice to aim for on a social guild would be timezones. On servers like this one you really want to make sure your guild is active when you play to say hi and stuff like that. (raidcall or ingame) but people to be there in case you have questions or want to be social.


PD:
Eluminare also known as the "GUCCI LEADER" if so Glad to see you back into RO.





Hilmanic

I've always steered away from Renewal, never had the urge to start since I've always loved Pre-Renewal mechanics. But with the low amount of low rate Pre-re server with high player count and low customization, I think I might just give NovaRO a try. I mean, I've already subscribed to MunBalance (YouTube channel) and watching his vids for like the past half year lol, and I don't even play renewal yet  /heh

Will probably try this if it's still there in like a month or so  /ok

kanemi

Enjoy your imbalanced classes. I tried to main a Rune Knight for a bit, apparently their value in WoE is spamming some silly dragon breath attack. LeikaRO is far better balance wise, but has no players. So it's a situation where you're picking your poison. Personally I'd be glad to see this server die, so I'd have incentive to actually play.

NovaRagnarok

Thank you so much for the in-depth review!
We pride ourselves in our large selection of instances, so I'm glad you noticed. As for the @security thing, I've been wrestling with myself over implementing something of the sort. Gravity uses a 4-digit PIN system, but I always found it kind of annoying as it was forced on everybody.

We've been planning for an expansion of the Achievement System soon, so as to make it more appealing to players. As for the quest situation, it's definitely a matter of placing more emphasis on official content implementation, so we sometimes go long periods of time without adding more quests. Something we've gotta work on for sure!

I'm a bit surprised about the community comments as generally I'd been seeing differently, but I feel the recent problem is that people are consolidating into guilds and avoiding 'outsiders'. GM hosted events is another one of those sections we're definitely lacking in a little and with the Summer Festival around the corner, that should be alleviated soon!

I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying your time here though, and I hope you continue to do so!
Thanks again.


Quote from: kanemi on Jun 16, 2017, 04:29 AM
Personally I'd be glad to see this server die, so I'd have incentive to actually play.

As for you, sorry to disappoint, but we're not going anywhere any time soon.

gohan

I played NovaRO for a long time, there are many praises that I could make here, but one that doesn't get in my mind is: Why not implement Fallen Angel Wings? It's official. Why not implement safe refines (from MvP drops like iRO) and HD ores? It's also official. If not implement the HD why not at least a safe to 7 certificates? In novaRO you see a lot of players with +4 and +7 armors and +15~19 weapons. As far as I know, this is not balanced at all. How would you get an item that is extremely rare over refined? That's just not possible in novaRO and that's the reason I stopped playing there. (I played since the beginning when it had 100~ players on) and actually wasn't just me, I know at least 5~10 people who quit for the same reason.

Other than that I gotta say they do a very good job in the rest, it is a very stable and good server with lots of people and friendly staff.

Nova you might remember me from a long time when I broke the emperium with a Ranger alone in one WoE. (one of the funniest moments I had in ragnarok in my whole life) I was in a PvM guild and just went to the woe to check out and everyone ignored an alone warrior ranger.


Figure

#6
It is most definitely better than my old server named DreamerRO with the most unfriendly community, corrupt staff and a useless, whiny, delusional admin I have ever seen. You can take a look at these freshly taken screenshots below for example (he calls this "active, competitive and addicting") :

http://imgur.com/a/OpAlL

Sad, right ? I guess begging for reviews around 10-15 times a day instead of actually doing something to improve your server results with this LOL. This so called admin also got my second review removed and somehow my made my first review's rating go up from 25 to 43. If the same thing happens with this post, I will just make it again.

Anyways, there is not much more to say than what has already been said about NovaRO. It's really easy to get used to it if you are a new player, it has a lot of stuffs to do, majority of people can speak in English (you won't feel like you are an opressed minority where everyone speaks in Tagalog, guess which server), active PvP and WoE with many guilds and just a few staff members who are actually competent, unlike my old server where half of the server was in the staff team. Only downside so far is that it is not easy to find people to group up with to do instances or other things with when you are all alone (and you absolutely need them for the most part) so you should try getting into a guild or making some friends first. Oh and also, the refinement system can get really cancerous.


Eluminare

Quote from: noheal on Jun 15, 2017, 12:27 PM
That is a super complete review right there.

I see a few of your problems on the Social part reading your post: point 13-14
this type of server the guilds are really focus on what they do. Pve, Pvp Woe, instances since they are heavy gear based. So you need to go to the forums, check the guilds and actually look for a nice group of people that fit your play-style (social-instances guids are the best to start enclave and rachel are two popular options that are guilds for new players and people willing to spend some time helping, show you the instances and show you pretty much how to fish

for example if you are more of a social player you need to really aim for the ACTIVE social guilds, that are focus on helping new players.

https://www.novaragnarok.com/forum/topic/3648-pied-piper-is-recruiting/ <<< for example that guild. Is the most active guild I have seem in a while, they are online, do all the quest leveling have 3 to 5 versions of the guild socials, pvp, woe more social also as being so heavy into the social the leader streams, they have a really organize and active discord.


Now a second really active guild for social-instance Would be the one that saves at rachel. Great group of people. Same as above active, great.
https://www.novaragnarok.com/forum/topic/3861-undaunted-socialpvm/


Final advice to aim for on a social guild would be timezones. On servers like this one you really want to make sure your guild is active when you play to say hi and stuff like that. (raidcall or ingame) but people to be there in case you have questions or want to be social.


PD:
Eluminare also known as the "GUCCI LEADER" if so Glad to see you back into RO.

Yea well, one month is enough for the 1st impression of the server and I can simply say - mine was good :) I know that looking for a social guild is not a big deal and the reason why I haven't felt a connection with players yet is because I wasn't really looking for the stable guild yet...but maybe I will do someday.
ALSO PARA - HELLO THERE I HAD NO IDEA I WILL MEET U HERE :'D how long have you been there already? I even saw the guild named "Gucci" and you were the first person I was thinkng about when I saw it ahahahah

Quote from: Hilmanic on Jun 16, 2017, 01:01 AM
I've always steered away from Renewal, never had the urge to start since I've always loved Pre-Renewal mechanics. But with the low amount of low rate Pre-re server with high player count and low customization, I think I might just give NovaRO a try. I mean, I've already subscribed to MunBalance (YouTube channel) and watching his vids for like the past half year lol, and I don't even play renewal yet  /heh

Will probably try this if it's still there in like a month or so  /ok

Well pre-renewal has its own adventages and disadvantes. When I first met renewal, I felt really confused but the bunch of features they added to the updated version of client is just brilliant. I honestly had no idea it might be THAT entartaining xD.
I don't think you will regret if if you try it, it's pretty much refreshing :'D if you decide to join let me know, I might try to help a bit :)

Quote from: kanemi on Jun 16, 2017, 04:29 AM
Enjoy your imbalanced classes. I tried to main a Rune Knight for a bit, apparently their value in WoE is spamming some silly dragon breath attack. LeikaRO is far better balance wise, but has no players. So it's a situation where you're picking your poison. Personally I'd be glad to see this server die, so I'd have incentive to actually play.

Well, I believe you might had a bad experience on the server - like I said, I had no chance to play many classes yet since I'm new but I wil be defenitely testing them. Thanks for telling me btw, maybe the next review won't be as colorful as this one but for now I really enjoy it and I find this server pretty nice anyway :D




Quote from: NovaRagnarok on Jun 16, 2017, 05:10 AM
Thank you so much for the in-depth review!
We pride ourselves in our large selection of instances, so I'm glad you noticed. As for the @security thing, I've been wrestling with myself over implementing something of the sort. Gravity uses a 4-digit PIN system, but I always found it kind of annoying as it was forced on everybody.

We've been planning for an expansion of the Achievement System soon, so as to make it more appealing to players. As for the quest situation, it's definitely a matter of placing more emphasis on official content implementation, so we sometimes go long periods of time without adding more quests. Something we've gotta work on for sure!

I'm a bit surprised about the community comments as generally I'd been seeing differently, but I feel the recent problem is that people are consolidating into guilds and avoiding 'outsiders'. GM hosted events is another one of those sections we're definitely lacking in a little and with the Summer Festival around the corner, that should be alleviated soon!

I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying your time here though, and I hope you continue to do so!
Thanks again.


As for you, sorry to disappoint, but we're not going anywhere any time soon.

Well, you're welcome - I believe that every good server deserves a good review. The instances are really awesome so it's a really huge +1 for that. About the @security system - I know it might be annoying but I believe that implementing a small "irritating" feature may protect the accounts from the possible hacks and items stealing. 4-digit pin system is pretty common on many private servers and I really think that you should consider it. Also this system is not really forced on anybody since you could leave your players a choice if they would like to set it up or not - it's not impossible to create.

About quests - I secretly wish (and believe me, i'm not the only once since I had a chance to speak with your community) that NovaRO had more custom headgear quests. The list of hats is pretty short at the moment (in my opinion) and creating additional quests might really encourage players to farm more, create more interesting costumes and it would also be a great idea for the money creating (since people love sprites :V)
Great job overall :)

Quote from: gohan on Jun 16, 2017, 02:55 PM
I played NovaRO for a long time, there are many praises that I could make here, but one that doesn't get in my mind is: Why not implement Fallen Angel Wings? It's official. Why not implement safe refines (from MvP drops like iRO) and HD ores? It's also official. If not implement the HD why not at least a safe to 7 certificates? In novaRO you see a lot of players with +4 and +7 armors and +15~19 weapons. As far as I know, this is not balanced at all. How would you get an item that is extremely rare over refined? That's just not possible in novaRO and that's the reason I stopped playing there. (I played since the beginning when it had 100~ players on) and actually wasn't just me, I know at least 5~10 people who quit for the same reason.

Other than that I gotta say they do a very good job in the rest, it is a very stable and good server with lots of people and friendly staff.

Nova you might remember me from a long time when I broke the emperium with a Ranger alone in one WoE. (one of the funniest moments I had in ragnarok in my whole life) I was in a PvM guild and just went to the woe to check out and everyone ignored an alone warrior ranger.

Fallen angel wings..is it the mid gear? I never had a chance to play on the official server so I have no single clue honestly :| If it is then I've also noticed that server has no "bigass sprite" items which are taking a huge space around you. From one side it's nice since people appreciate the simple sprites, from another I miss customizations like that sometimes (even tho you're saying this one is official).
About refines - I've been thinking the same for a moment but honestly I used to play the other MMOs where safe refine rate was up to +4/+5 even tho the maximum one was +20 o honestly it's not really that uncommon even tho upgrading might be a pain in the donkey (I also find it annoying xD)

Quote from: Figure on Jun 20, 2017, 06:38 AM
It is most definitely better than my old server named DreamerRO with the most unfriendly community, corrupt staff and a useless, whiny, delusional admin I have ever seen. You can take a look at these freshly taken screenshots below for example (he calls this "active, competitive and addicting") :

http://imgur.com/a/OpAlL

Sad, right ? I guess begging for reviews around 10-15 times a day instead of actually doing something to improve your server results with this LOL. This so called admin also got my second review removed and somehow my made my first review's rating go up from 25 to 43. If the same thing happens with this post, I will just make it again.

Anyways, there is not much more to say than what has already been said about NovaRO. It's really easy to get used to it if you are a new player, it has a lot of stuffs to do, majority of people can speak in English (you won't feel like you are an opressed minority where everyone speaks in Tagalog, guess which server), active PvP and WoE with many guilds and just a few staff members who are actually competent, unlike my old server where half of the server was in the staff team. Only downside so far is that it is not easy to find people to group up with to do instances or other things with when you are all alone (and you absolutely need them for the most part) so you should try getting into a guild or making some friends first. Oh and also, the refinement system can get really cancerous.


I believe we shouldn't discuss the other servers policy on this thread :)
Anyway - about the rest: Yea, the good side of NovaRo is the fact that there are actually players from many different countries all around the world (I was surprised when I meet people from my country on this server, I had a feeling like they left ragnarok long LONG time ago haha). I agree with looking for players for instances but I believe it's just the matter of time to make friends and find a good guild to play with.
About the refinement system - I actually gave my opinion earlier :v
Eluminare van Rijn - the honest review maker

noheal

#8
Quote from: Eluminare on Jun 20, 2017, 03:54 PM
Yea well, one month is enough for the 1st impression of the server and I can simply say - mine was good :) I know that looking for a social guild is not a big deal and the reason why I haven't felt a connection with players yet is because I wasn't really looking for the stable guild yet...but maybe I will do someday.
ALSO PARA - HELLO THERE I HAD NO IDEA I WILL MEET U HERE :'D how long have you been there already? I even saw the guild named "Gucci" and you were the first person I was thinkng about when I saw it ahahahah

DAMM is really you. I am allways a newbie is quite fun, on that server you may find my welcome post somewhere there, like 6 months ago or something like that

That is why I know the social thing I did  all the asking and testing looking for the most active-nice guilds out there, and reduce the list to them 2


I am not playing right now I am on vacations but have fun on that server.

PD:I know you dont do hands out, free stuff etc etc, but if you need something I may have it. On any server hahaha