Review of Ret-RO

[Fat Man T]

I thought I'd put in some effort and make a long review this Christmas evening while sipping on soda and munching on some Christmas cookies, so without further ado...

An honest but slightly biased review of Ret-RO - Classic Ragnarok Online
(not to be confused with the old high-rate server, RetRO)

My review on RMS: 87/100
My full review on forums: B+

Fast facts:

Ret-RO 2x/2x/log.2 rates. Pre-trans, Juno episode server. Minimal customs. Minimal donation features. Low population, server age 2 months.
http://ret-ro.net/info.php (site)
http://ret-ro.net/forum/ (forum)


Detailed review:

Server

Stability: A. Ret-RO had some issues in early November with lag spikes, but since moving to a new host in early November, the issues are almost completely gone. Once in awhile (once per two-three days) there are some occasional spikes, but for the vast majority of playtime the server is stable. It is unknown how many players the server can handle, as the server is low-population and dual/multi-clienting is prohibited. For all intents and purposes though the server's as stable as any.

Availability: A+. Server is up 24/7.



Community

Friendliness: A+. The server suffers from low population, which is its greatest shortcoming(the server fills a niche role, and therefore population is never expected to be high) but the community of about a dozen active players plus a dozen casuals is incredibly close-knit and friendly. Everyone knows everyone, and people are passionately helpful to others. The attitude of people on Ret-RO is top-notch, and among the best I've seen since old EuphRO-Eden/EdenRO from 2006 or the early days of ParadiseRO from 2007. It's this kind of positive community aspect that keeps the server alive despite its low population.

Eventfulness: B+. I took this to mean server events, either by players or by staff. Ret-RO has monthly themed events(November was Thanksgiving month, December is obviously Christmas month) where certain monsters give bonus exp and drops, and certain items drop at low chance globally. This adds a nice, and not too unbalancing touch to a server that has(aside from the classic feel of the server itself) as little custom content as possible. The GM staff also do small impromptu events once in a while, handing out small gifts to the winners.



Game Masters

Friendliness: A. The two staff members, the admin (Retro), and the player support (Benedict), both act in a friendly and professional manner. They respond to forum posts and in-game queries with equal courtesy, and interact well with the community while still maintaining the arms-length distance necessary to provide service to everyone in a fair manner.

Availability: B-. The two GM's aren't always available: both of them work long hours during the week, and are more active on weekends, but still manage to be available on the forums when needed and they do go out of their way to be active and make the most of their time when they are able to work on the server. Also, Retro is very prompt when replying to server suggestions, introductions, and other discussions on improving the server and negotiating content updates. Of course, GM availability is not 24/7, and is usually unavailable for off-peak(Oceania) hours, but for the server size it is more than sufficient.

Helpfulness: A-. As said earlier, the staff members act in a professional and friendly manner and are certainly helpful with continuous bug fixes, content adjustments and events. One minor sticking point would be that the admin, Retro, is fairly conservative when implementing changes. As such, the server has no custom commands found commonly on other servers such as @mi, @autoloot, etc. This provides as accurate as possible of a representation of RO circa 2004, but may disappoint some players who are used to the convenience of @ commands. However, as recent changes have shown, suggestions on improving the server are both welcomed and accepted by the staff, and community polls are often used to determine the direction the server takes in terms of mechanics changes and content fixes.



Gameplay

Economy: C. The server runs on a barter economy at this point, since the population is small and @autotrade is currently not available, nor is dual-clienting allowed(@autotrade may be implemented at a later time). However, the barter economy is effective for what it does currently, and items that players do own are freely traded amongst the players, which gives credit to the friendliness of the community.

Guild Competition: D. Due to the low population, WoE is not presently enabled (as with many servers that begin without WoE to start). There are a small handful of guilds on the server, but there is no competition between them to speak of.

Class Balance: A-. The server is designed to emulate, as closely as possible, Ragnarok Online of the Juno Episode update (EP5) with some minor tweaks forward and backward in time. Certain monster skills are rolled back to EP4(TI) while certain stats are rolled forward to EP6(Amatsu), but for all intents and purposes the server runs as though it was in EP5, including the entire compendium of pre-Amatsu maps and dungeon maps, as well as the complete absence of transcendent and expanded classes. This offers a RO gameplay very different from the vast majority of official/private servers: for the niche role that the server occupies, this is done incredibly well and incredibly accurately. Classes are balanced the same way they were in 2004, which, despite some significant differences in class balance compared to modern RO, is fairly balanced.



Final thoughts: Ret-RO is a creative and unique take on RO, that, like many servers, has great potential but suffers immensely from low population. Unlike some other low-pop servers, though, this server has a dedicated, albeit small community, as well as a handful of 'vacationers' who play on the server casually for a change of pace now and then. It is, in my opinion, unlikely that the server will ever flourish into one of the bigger RO pservs that people tend to flock to month by month, but the server does offer an incredibly nostalgic (and fun) experience for people who reminisce about the 'good old days' of RO.

Regularly competitive players most likely would not find this server enjoyable; the server will probably never harbor significant WoE competition. However, I would absolutely recommend this server to players who want a taste of how RO used to play like, either as a main server or as a secondary one to play for a couple of hours here and there when bored of modern RO or RO-Renewal. In that kind of niche role, Ret-RO has been made exceptionally well.



Cheers and Happy Holidays,

-T