Revival of RO - It starts from the top

[Crimefridge]

My experience with Revival of RO was short-lived, but I saw enough to graft an image of a broken, shambling artifice run by an ego-driven maniac with a god complex.

My first impression of Revival of RO was mediocre. I went on the livestream of the admin playing the game (which at the point I didn't know he was the admin, because he didn't act like one what I was watching). It seemed like a basic server, low rate, no frills, just starting out. This isn't the first time someone streaming the game has led me to playing their server, and it probably won't be the last (as long as Ragnarok doesn't die, RIP  ). So I navigate to the website; it's clean, a little too much pandering with cute girls for 2016 (ignoring the potential female players, not a great start) and the format looked like a mixture of plagiarism and paid work. The server announcements stood in stark contrast: plain, unformatted text against a background of standard but not completely flat background design.

As of the time of this review, the "Forums" button links to the server's Discord. I applaud the modern take on implementing a server Discord into the server. However, it was very frustrating finding the actual forum message board to see what was changed, guides, activity, etc. In order to locate this, I browsed the "announcement" portion of the Discord and found a link to patch notes. Apparently the server owner is ashamed of using zetaboards and is creating a new forum but hasn't done that yet.

Note: never do this server admins. The BBS of your server is fundamentally linked with the success of your game. LFG / Trade / Server Feedback / Reporting is the lifeblood of a Ragnarok server and obfuscating your BBS'es existence only seeks to further distance players from each other.

Now whenever I start on a new server, I play Priest for the sake of dual-clienting to expedite further leveling. It's fairly easy to level without gear as a Priest. He implemented a system which I actually thought was smart: he increased the costs of certain skills but in return increased the SP / HP regen significantly to make sitting and waiting around for your regen to occur not a common theme. Some of these cost changes hurt in the early game (Teleport's cost raised to 10 from 50, most other skills raised by about 50%- Heal level 10 was 60 SP).

Then, there were all changes I had issue with, and why I said the server's description on RMS was misleading, and more to the point, borderline fraudulent:

- An all new EXP system which rewards players for challenging themselves and exploring the world! The stronger the monsters you fight, the more exp you get!

This clearly reads as a customized system what gives you more exp for fighting difficult monsters. As in, a bonus to fighting monsters that would otherwise be ignored. But in reality, this is not the correct phrasing. What it should say is:
"I have arbitrarily decided the exp of monsters and on the vast majority lowered the exp astronomically so that they are worthless to fight, except Mimics and for some reason the Ice Dungeon."

Apparently he despised Anubis so much he not only removed Turn Undead from the game, nerfed the exp he provided into the ground, but also gave him follower Pasana mobs, buffed his stats, and gave him a Holy attack to counter using Deviruichi or Evil Druid to mitigate his damage. So... he's worthless to fight entirely. This "developer" merely takes previously existing grind spots and nerfs them to the ground, and decides to nerf even monsters that aren't grinded by turning their exp into something near 1/10th on average.

And the system doesn't really work. His whole deal is to force partying to level, yet my "utter defiance" by soloing with a Priest, using his new instant cast, no blue gemstone Sanctuary with what seemed to be a heavily nerfed Magnus Exorcismus, I was heavily outpacing parties by grinding Orc Skeletons, because their exp wasn't completely neutered.

He's effectively transformed his server into an extra-grindy, equipment-required, group-centric hell where you need to erase what you know about exp and keep vigilant about the exp you get since he might arbitrarily reduce it at any time to force you onto another location. His entire agenda seems to be to make the game as grind-heavy as possible, and I justify this conclusion based on the fact that he inadvertently nerfed Suffragium and others into a 10 rank spells for the same effects because trans jobs can grind out 255 job levels. And no, he did not make getting job experience easier for the most part. Leaf Cats are probably the most extreme example of a nerf, with their exp being nerfed to sub 100 each category.

He nerfed a bunch of cards, like elemental cards that gave +20% might give +5% now, and once again let me remind you that he said he was balancing the game around having cards and equipment to be prepared for dungeons, because party dungeon leveling is apparently what he wants to focus the game around.

Other than his weird and obviously failing balancing act, he is a completely unprofessional and immature person. He is very dismissive of others, incredibly impatient, and loves to toot his own horn. He calls his players "plebs, noobs, nerds", and it doesn't sound like he's being endearing. He deleted my character in response to my honest review of his server (which I expected worse, like deleting my account after coming to know his personality on his stream and in game), and made a not-so-graceful barrage of hatred and grandstanding that would any psychologist cringe at the amount of narcissism and deflection he was capable of. He looks like a teenager on his stream: lanky, skinny, pale, with a unkempt curly head of hair with a hint of acne. He has a sense of smugness about himself and loves to share how great he is and how great his server is. All while playing some pokemon puzzle game on stream from being bored. And then talk about how much enjoys playing on the server, "umm, I mean doing work balancing", he self-corrects. (I don't think appearance shaming is okay by the way, but I think his physical appearance and his personality are comically linkable in this instance.)

If you have a masochism streak in you, I would suggest Revival of RO, because it is filled with an abusive admin and a terribly sadistic system.

Otherwise, stay away from this sinking ship because the captain is steering straight into an iceberg and calling it "progress".

[Bue]

An actual review!

No arbitrarily scoring.
No broken English.
You're just describing the experience and your thoughts.

I already know what Blinzer is about, but an actual review on RMS. Yay.

Even though this is a hate review, at least you didn't start a massive server discussion drama thread. A+

[live4lie]

Saw the stream, didn't think such a player was actually the admin.
Giving this server 1 month before it goes down would be generous

[Blinzer]

CrimeFridge is a sabotager who claims that levelling to 65 Priest in less than 2 days is lower rates than 1x. He did not explore anything of the server, and just stuck to using cheese strategies which worked in the old game which no longer work because, well, they're cheese. The only 4 places he's ever visited on my server are Payon Dungeon, Orc Dungeon, Glast Heim Prison and Sphinx 4(where he got bopped by my AI and presumably ragequit soon after).

Almost everything he claims is a bug or wrong with my server is out of pure ignorance and is him just not knowing what is going on, the prime example being him thinking I removed "Turn Undead" when Resurrection fills this role.

Turn Undead now properly turns the target undead for 5 seconds(thx obama). 9.5s -0.5s*Lv cooldown.
Resurrection now deals (INT * Lv/10)% of a target's Max HP, and is now guaranteed to work. 2 second cooldown.

This means that at 100 int, your resurrection does 40% of a target's Max Health(and it can be lexed to almost one shot). He also made another example where elemental/racial cards only give 5%, but he simply has not explored enough of the world to know that those cards still exist, just not on hydra and mandragora, two extremely easy monsters to kill for the effects they give.

Deviruchi Card: Decreases damage received from the Angel race by 7%
Diabolic Card: Decreases damage received from the Angel race by 15%
Mini Demon Card: Decreases damage received from the Angel race by 30%

Marionette Card: Increases damage to the Undead race by 10%
Hodremlin Card: Increases damage to the Undead race by 20%

Heater Card: Increases damage to Earth element monsters by 10%
Lava Golem Card: Increases damage to Earth element monsters by 20%

As for the rest, the plot is simple. He made the review, at which point I assumed he left the server. For those of you who don't know, my server is undergoing omega phase and all characters will be wiped at the end of it, so I gave his character away to save someone some time(and everything is destined to be wiped regardless), but for some reason he logged back on using the characters name "Blinzer deleted my char". I make fun of him for a bit for outright lying in his review, he gets scolded by multiple people in town, then I return his character to him. He logs onto it, makes a mess out of dropping items in town, then logs out and comes to the forums to report me for "deleting his character".

The end.

Saw the stream, didn't think such a player was actually the admin.
Giving this server 1 month before it goes down would be generous

Next time, try to at least pretend you know something about the subject at hand.

[aneeshbk]

This Review is in rage imo this server is new way of thinking and playing, for those who don't want to explore new ways they cant survive.
I am playing this server and i love he is crying because he thought he could go TU anubis after, turning into priest class his dream was over so he rages and Throw all his item in Town and quit.

This server is for people who is tired of old stuff and want something new don't read any reviews or comments try it yourself.

[vooboo]

There's a lot more to a server than just the kind of content it offers. I'm not particularly interested in even trying out your server because if I was interested in different mechanics I'd play renewal. As a veteran and someone interested in a new server, your server doesn't look promising because there are various elements that would lead me to question its longevity.

Red flags:
- Immature/unprofessional GM
- Questionable Management
- Low population despite the defensive/aggressive post made earlier. Population capped at 9 past afternoon Sunday and was mostly 0-1

Potential Flags
- Questionable Content/Balances

No matter how "unique" your server is, you're still competing in perfectly competitive market. You should really review your marketing strategies if you want your player base to actually grow.

[Blinzer]

There's a lot more to a server than just the kind of content it offers. I'm not particularly interested in even trying out your server because if I was interested in different mechanics I'd play renewal. As a veteran and someone interested in a new server, your server doesn't look promising because there are various elements that would lead me to question its longevity.

Red flags:
- Immature/unprofessional GM
- Questionable Management
- Low population despite the defensive post made earlier. Population capped at 9 past afternoon Sunday and was mostly 0-1

Potential Flags
- Questionable Content/Balances

No matter how "unique" your server is, you're still competing in perfectly competitive market. You should really review your marketing strategies if you want your player base to actually grow.

That's too bad. And we didn't even have a chance to get to know each other!

[vooboo]

I honestly don't care if you're too stupid to see what's in front of you dude o-o I can talk s*** all day and that has nothing to do with how I manage my server. Professionality is based off of actions, not talk. And you're all talk.

My condolences to your down syndrome, and for the fact that you'll be on an ironic eternal quest.

You're right I'm too stupid to see the 10 player count despite the age of your server. Calling me names isn't gonna change the fact that your server is trash.

Good day.

[Blinzer]

You're right I'm too stupid to see the 10 player count despite the age of your server. Calling me names isn't gonna change the fact that your server is trash.

Good day.

Yes, I have worked hard on my server for over a year and a half now, going through two betas and now an omega. My player count doesn't mean as much to me as I prioritize making the best game I can over market strategies and appearances, but I am confident that many people who have actually played on it before will agree that this is what all the years of ragnarok were leading up to. If you are unwilling to at least see for yourself, there is nothing I can do to help you.

[vooboo]

You're right. I'm weak, kind of like your server. It probably won't survive longer than a month. Feel free to prove me wrong and incur a cost driver that will lead to a monetary loss.

We live in a world where success is results-driven. I'm sorry you can't seem to grasp that but the unemployed are unemployed for a reason: they don't bring results. If you want, I can offer to be your mommy and lie to you about how great your server is in a month though.

[Blinzer]

You're right. I'm weak, kind of like your server. It probably won't survive longer than a month. Feel free to prove me wrong and incur a cost driver that will lead to a monetary loss.

We live in a world where success is results-driven. I'm sorry you can't seem to grasp that but the unemployed are unemployed for a reason: they don't bring results. If you want, I can offer to be your mommy and lie to you about how great your server is in a month though.

k

[whiteboi]

So before I give my 2 cents I should probably state that I am quite a fan of this server since I've been playing on it for nearly a year during its beta phase helping GM Blinzer tweak and change a lot of his balances. I'm a bit conflicted as I post this for two reasons: about half of Crimefridge's post is true while the other half is false.

Firstly, Crimefridge's stance on the website and forums is important as the new changes done to the server is not easily accessible unless you talk to someone in game that knows about it or talk to GM Blinzer directly (which he is always almost on). Also I feel that Crimefridge (who i think is Dynamic Thrust on the server) was unfairly treated as his Priest was "given away"? after a negative review on RMS. Though in GM Blinzer's defense the negative review wasn't the reason he was mistreated but it was the lack of support in the negative review. In it, it stated that the GM: Friendliness is 2 (which seems about right) but his Availability: 4 and Helpfulness: 1; which I think is crap. His humor may not be to the taste of everyone (as he always jokingly calls people noobs and plebs) but he's always on and will fix anything that you bring to him-- ALWAYS, because he wants to make sure his server is working and balanced. Although Crimefridge's review did not seem substantiated, I still feel that he was mistreated with his character being given away. Although in Blinzer's defense his character was given back to him when he logged back in again. Also another note: these two weeks of Revival of Ragnarok is like a "soft opening" called the Omega Phase, meaning that it's the last round of testing before its official launch, so all of our characters would eventually get deleted anyways.

Setting the website, forums, and the administrator aside however, the game itself is great. It really addresses and fixes a lot of problems (in my opinion) that official Rangarok had. In the second half of Crimefridge's review, it is quite obvious that he tried old strategies and failed (as Blinzer pointed out earlier). I could go on about the many changes done to the server to change up the gameplay and to provide a new (and better experience in my opinion) to Ragnarok, but the gist of it is that you cannot take short cuts to 99-- there is a progression. Crimefridge, and possibly many of the furture players of Revival of Ragnarok, may feel that since they can no longer TU Anubis to hit level 99 is a bad thing-- but i disagree. In RO, for acolytes, there are clear leveling spots: payon dungeon, pnuema + firelocks, Glastheim Prison, and Anubis. That's pretty much it. Heck, with another priest friend, you can get an acolyte to level off of Anubis with just level 10 Heal and some INT. THAT DOESN'T WORK HERE. Especially with the change to the Turn Undead spell, you can change ANY MONSTERS' race to Undead and heal bomb them or cast Resurrect on them. Effectively allows you to farm and level anywhere.

This isn't just restricted to acolytes though, almost all classes have had their leveling progression changed to be less easy. Though mages and archers can level off Geographers still, they don't give as much experience when compared to places where you have to use more than one skill (Fire Bolt or Double Strafe). The game is designed such that if the monster is harder to kill, it gives more experience. Harder to kill doesn't just mean the monster is higher level, but has a better AI when fighting you.

The server does encourage party play, but has places where you can solo as well to 99. Crimefridge was a bit too ingrained into the old ways of leveling that he didn't really explore the game enough to find those spots. As a spoiler, a priest can solo Ancient Mummies, which give a lot of experience, but needs to use LEX + RESURRECT to 2-shot them. Extremely easy. Another spoiler, thieves can solo Rachel Sanctuary on Vanberk, Isilla, Echio, and Agav to 99 as well. There's a trend, every class has an area that they can farm and solo to 99 PRE-TRANS. But group play will give you more/better experience along with progressive gears.

The bottom line is that GM Blinzer may take a while to get use to, but he's extremely helpful and very passionate about this server. His passion may be misdirected sometimes but the server itself is great. The population may be low (but i attribute that to the barriers to entry than the server itself), but the retention rate of its players is high. The beta testers of last year still play, myself included. Also the barriers to entry is stuff like not knowing what the changes to cards, monsters, and items are. Despite all of that though, the product that is Revival of Ragnarok is great.

[Blinzer]

Although in Blinzer's defense his character was given back to him when he logged back in again. Also another note: these two weeks of Revival of Ragnarok is like a "soft opening" called the Omega Phase, meaning that it's the last round of testing before its official launch, so all of our characters would eventually get deleted anyways.

I immediately returned his character to him as soon as he logged back on and revealed his presence to me. That's not a minor detail, and you were all there for it. He logs back on with the character "Blinzer deleted my char", I specifically tell him "no, I did not delete your character but gave it to somebody else because I thought you left after making your review, so here's your character back even though you don't deserve it". He then proceeds to log onto his character, drop all his items, quit the game, come on this forum and say I deleted his character anyways in a server report.

[aneeshbk]

Well Said whiteboi

[Daeron]

Hello everyone,

despite the heat in this thread I like to add my opinion in here. I'm around the server for quite some time now (had a few months break inbetween) but came back to see lots of progress done. Yes, the server might not be fully ready yet (that's why we have a Beta/Alpha/Omega-Phase, whatever you want to call it).
People who are used to pre-renewal or overall tactics in the world of our beloved Ragnarok World need to adapt since Blinzer added lots of new features, monster AIs, items etc.. To complain about those old "cheesy" tactics (because they don't work anymore) is not really a great review of the server... Blinzer did all this work to avoid boring 30-99 Anubis farms or what so ever.

About the complains/statements on Blinzer: He has his own kind of humor and takes time for some people to work with, but I have to agree with Whiteboi there and say he is always around, helps and works very hard! So just saying "this server will should down in 1 month" is kind of rude and doesn't belong in a review post/forum. You can appreciate his work or you don't but please don't destroy the experience for other players by saying the server won't be around or that the work is not worth the effort to join. Like I said, some people are around for over one year now and he still puts hour after hour in working on his server.

Just come around and look for yourself. It really is worth a shot!

Daeron out!