TalonRO

Started by DeePee, Apr 25, 2008, 03:27 AM

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DeePee

Over a year has passed since TalonRO's start and after a tough period, the server can now finally show its full potential.

Some information about the server:
- eAthena Episode 12.1 (Satan Morroc)
- Low Rate (5x/5x/3x)
- Max Level 99/70
- No silly eAthena customs (like nightmode, wings, tons of @commands), only !whosell, !main and !autotrade
- WoE 2.0
- Endless Tower
- PvP Battlegrounds
- Moscovia

A short history
As most people who play on this server know, this server split up from the old AnimaRO. This is not what I want to talk about now though. It's the past so let's keep it like that. Let's stick to a little history of the server itself.
TalonRO started late March 2007 as an Aegis server and the players were promised many updates, like Aegis Episode 11.2. We've waited and waited, but in the end this never happened. The main reason for this is that the owner, Black Talon (to be called BT from now on), is simply too busy IRL and thus doesn't have a lot of time for coding on the server. He did almost have it running, but this project was cancelled because of a huge change to the server, which I will tell about in a sec.
Even though there were no updates to the game itself, we did have some epic events and mainly the XMas Event 2007 was probably the most advanced RO event done in an Aegis server ever. Many people had great fun in this event, but the ending was unfortunately very bitter as there was a bug exploit in the rewards NPC which quite some people abused.
Anyway, the server started off with about 300 players on. But, with all the broken promises about updates (and the bans from the xmas event), this dropped to around 60 with around 150 at WoE times.

Big changes, the situation now
Many people have been shouting for a long time that the server needs a change. A few months ago, this finally happened. BT finally loosened up a bit and gave the other GM's more space. Also probably one of the most amazing things in an RO server ever happened. In secret, GM Boreas has been scripting on a script to convert EVERYTHING from the Aegis server to an eAthena server. Several months after this project started, this finally succeeded. After a short beta test, the new server is finally up. As said before, basically everything was transfered. Characters, storages, carts, guilds, homunculi and even family trees were converted from an Aegis 10.2 (with 10.4 features) server to a brand new eAthena 12.1 server.
BT is of course still the owner of the server, but the server is now mostly administrated by GM Boreas and GM Faith. Boreas as the main scripter and Faith as the game balance GM. More abou this later.
Together with the amazing transfer to eAthena, the GM's have also been busy on some other projects. GM Boreas has been scripting on new features like Endless Tower, WoE 2.0 and PvP Battlegrounds. They are not implemented just yet as there are still some bugs to be worked out, but I tested some of them and they work great. The server is totally stable so far and with the dedication of the GM's I'm sure it will stay like this. Player amounts have already gone up to about 100 at normal times and lots of old players are planning to return.

The future
With the other GM's having more control over the server, the future of the server looks bright. The new features (Endless Tower, WoE 2.0, PvP Battlegrounds) will be implemented soon, which will give a great load of fun to the server.
Not only are there more features, also there's a great deal of game balancing going on. GM Faith is mainly working on this with feedback of the community. The server split up from a server where donation items were widely available, so of course TalonRO is a donation server as well. This might scare off new players for a bit, but do know that these items are widely available to anyone. Even though everything was converted to eAthena, some of the GM's would more than gladly have wiped the entire server, mainly because of the incredible amount of donation items available. But the community does not want this, so it does not happen. What does happen though is a great deal of balancing on this part. For example the Doppelganger card, which normally gives a 33% aspd boost, now only gives a 22% boost. Or the GTB card, which previously blocked 100% magic damage, now only blocks 60%. Also important is that the GM team supports party play. The MVP's are a LOT tougher than they were before and it is necessary that you have a good party to kill them. They're all do-able, as long as you have a team that knows how to work together rather than to work alone.

Anyway. Apart from the current features and those that are coming shortly, there will be a great deal of new features available. We've been promised Custom Quests and an advanced new Control Panel. Along with everything else, this will make TalonRO a great unique server.

The community
The community overall is great. There are some elitist pvp bastards, but hey, which server does not have those ;)
Overall the community is very friendly though and will gladly help new players out on the server. For example: many players have shops up specially for new players that offer good items at low prices.

The GM's
The GM team is very friendly and has a lot of understanding about RO mechanics. Sometimes they have to be pretty hard on the community. This is done with a reason though, like when a commonly used MVP card is being nerfed and some people whine about it, they just have to be set straight sometimes.

The judgement
Before the big change, the server would probably die pretty soon. I would probably give it a 6/10.
Now with the big changes and a bright future, I can easily give this server a 9/10.

All the server needs is some fresh new players. As explained, they are welcomed greatly and you'll be sure to have a great time.

For more info, check here: http://ratemyserver.net/index.php?page=detailedlistserver&serid=1491&url_sname=TalonRO

Screenshots



AceJay

Sexy.

Too bad the two servers couldn't be merged and combined onto that new eA platform =/

DeePee

That wouldn't have been such a good idea :)

Anti-Static Foam Cleaner

Quote from: DeePee on Apr 25, 2008, 03:27 AM
- No silly eAthena customs, only !noks, !whosell and !autotrade



'scuse me?

DeePee

Those are no eA customs, any server platform can have those. I'm talking about stuff like wings, nightmode, tons of @commands and such.

_claire_

TalonRo needs new players =D... This is an awesome server...

z3i

Props to DeePee for the great description of all our server's new features. Seriously, guys: check out TalonRO if you want a truly unique and intriguing Ragnarok experience! I know it sounds like a cheesy advertisement /swt but take one look at that list and you know it has to be true. Even if you don't like low-rate servers, I would highly recommend giving this one a shot. I'm a big fan of middle rates, myself, yet I've been playing on Talon since its inception about 1.25 years ago and I keep coming back even after trying out other servers.

Some more about the community
Not only are there shops set up to help out new players, but there are also guilds devoted to helping you feel at home here. Many people are extremely helpful; if you ask a question in public you will almost always get a response, and if you ask in the forum then you definitely will. I also think we have a more diverse community than most. Although the server is based in North America, we have lots of people from lots of different countries and I can guarantee you will find somebody with whom you can talk and relate. The aforementioned forum is very lively, too, a great source of amusement and discussion even for people who don't play the game anymore. Overall people are quite approachable and friendly. There are some who are cocky/condescending/annoying/etc., of course, but that's just how the world is, and avoiding those people is always a mere click away.

Some more about the GM team
Maybe it's because I've been on their server for so long, but I am very attached to our GM's. The administrator never appears in-game and he only makes the occasional forum post, but I know he does a lot of stuff behind the scenes and, again, you can refer to Dee's list of server features for proof. It is evident that the other five GM's work hard to achieve what's best for the players and the server, as well. In addition to giving us support, events and other typical GM business, they take time whenever they can to chat with us on the forum,  in-game and even on TeamSpeak/Ventrilo to let us see them as real people.

Technical aspects
Dee didn't say anything about this, but it was on the list of RMS things to rate so I thought I might as well bring it up. To my recollection I've never experienced any crashing or freezing at all, and the server is up about 99.99% of the time. Once in a blue moon I guess it has to go down for a few minutes for a reboot, but I can't even remember the last time I couldn't log in. (I guess it'd be during the Aegis->eAthena transfer. o_O)

TL;DR version: Server's a lot of fun! With more players, it can only get better.

DeePee

Yup yup, it's getting even better these days too. Lots of updates and progress. WoE 2 is fully working now and the Satan Morroc quest is released too. Not to mention: no wipes ever.

The server keeps getting better. Player amounts are increasing as well, so it's all good :) Join in the fun!

Illuria

$27   10 Old Violet Box and 1 Rank A card of Choice
$30   15 Old Violet Box and 1 Rank C Item of Choice
$40   1 Rank B Item of Choice
$60   1 Rank A Item of Choice
$100   20 Old Violet Box and 1 Lord Kaho's Horns

Rank B card   

Angeling card
Baphomet card
Bloody Knight card
Dark Illusion card
Drake card
Eddga card
Evil Snake Lord card
Gryphon card
Lord of Death card
Orc Lord card
Orc Hero card
Pharaoh card
Stormy Knight card
Tao Gunka card

Rank A card   


Berzebub card
Dark Lord card
Deviling card
Doppleganger card
Dracula card
Garm card
Ghostring card
Golden Thief Bug card
Maya card
Mistress card
Moonlight Flower card
Mysteltainn card
Osiris card
Phreeoni card
Samurai card
Toad card
Turtle General card

as taken from http://www.talonro.com/rewards.php

Is the reason i  will never play talonro :< it looks like a nice server in general for the rest tho.

DeePee

The thing is. All these items are available for zeny too. Especially now. With the new donation services NPC, they now have a free unslotting week. The MVP cards are down to 13-15 mil, which is really do-able if you put some effort in playing.

Of course, you have to like the type of server, but that's of course something personal. I myself never donated anything, except for a gift for someone else and still I have about anything I would wish for. So yeah, anyone can get this stuff without spending a dollar. All it needs is a little effort, which is of course needed in any RO server. Back when I started...it took me about a month to get my first MVP card. With the right help from people, you can do this way faster. It's easy to make a few million zeny a day with looting or whatever, so you can get an MVP card in less than a week easily :)

havoc

Quote from: DeePee on May 02, 2008, 08:49 AM
Those are no eA customs, any server platform can have those. I'm talking about stuff like wings, nightmode, tons of @commands and such.
You still have @commands you just turned the @ into a ! as for night mode I like that custom.

DeePee

@commands !commands, that's all the same. All I was saying is that there are many servers than have tons of eAthena commands, while this server just keeps it simple.

Helrouis

Quote from: Illuria on Jun 04, 2008, 07:52 AM
$27   10 Old Violet Box and 1 Rank A card of Choice
$30   15 Old Violet Box and 1 Rank C Item of Choice
$40   1 Rank B Item of Choice
$60   1 Rank A Item of Choice
$100   20 Old Violet Box and 1 Lord Kaho's Horns

Rank B card   

Angeling card
Baphomet card
Bloody Knight card
Dark Illusion card
Drake card
Eddga card
Evil Snake Lord card
Gryphon card
Lord of Death card
Orc Lord card
Orc Hero card
Pharaoh card
Stormy Knight card
Tao Gunka card

Rank A card   


Berzebub card
Dark Lord card
Deviling card
Doppleganger card
Dracula card
Garm card
Ghostring card
Golden Thief Bug card
Maya card
Mistress card
Moonlight Flower card
Mysteltainn card
Osiris card
Phreeoni card
Samurai card
Toad card
Turtle General card

as taken from http://www.talonro.com/rewards.php

Is the reason i  will never play talonro :< it looks like a nice server in general for the rest tho.



Read this one


be enlightened.

.KitKatBar.

DeePee is correct, MVP cards aren't just something donaters have. Anyone who is willing to put a bit of effort to earn zeny, can attain those kinds of cards.

Quote from: GM Shiris (from TalonRO)

Let's face it, getting certain MVP cards in a lowrate server by drop only ridiculously overpowers the lucky person to obtain it
. If there's only one or two people with a GTB or a Ghostring, they're instantly on a separate tier from everyone else, and it's unrealistic to expect that anyone else can catch up to that. So, what happens if everyone is allowed to reach that tier instead? It would throw the game completely out of whack.

So you're faced with things going out of whack for one person....or throwing the whole game out....or a third option. Bring everything to a new tier. MVP cards were made available for donation, with the caveat that they were all customized to create a new level of gameplay. They are not bound, and a market was produced for them. On top of that, custom items were introduced via quests and unavailable for donation, that work in the context of these customized donation cards. That's where Valk helms and Mjolnirs and Sleipnir[1]'s and the rest of the SQI's came from.

On top of that, the server once had an ads system, in which players were reimbursed with donation points for participating in surveys, free offers, and trial memberships in sponsor programs and products. Thus, there was a market for these donation points, and they came to be known instead as "ad credits," even. So it's become an integral part of the economy (the credits have historically had a very traceable market value in zeny and have been indicative of overall economic health). Due to some abuse, it was removed, but we're planning to bring it back up in the near future.

It's a wild spin on lowrate gameplay, but since it has pervaded the community so much, it's feasible for non-donators to buy both the gear previously obtained via donation as well as the credits to directly obtain the services, as well. And the most powerful items cannot be donated for anyway -- and they do not have strict requirements on multiple people completing the quests, like the official servers. Each character can create one if they have the materials and the time to complete the quests involved.

Now everyone has a chance for such cards, instead of just a few lucky people who are now (due to finding these cards) vastly outpower those that don't have them. Everyone has a chance at these, the playing field is leveled. If someone has all those awesome cards, you are able too as well, and you don't even need to donate.

Pandora

Even if they are available in shops now from other players, it still means there was a sucker who paid for it a while ago, be it with "ad credit" or donation, the server got money for it, granted it's probably the previous server. Still, when the Talon server separated it could have changed the donation reward prices.. 100$ for LKH? Thats hefty. I concur with Illuria and would never play there. A server doesn't need that much money to maintain itself, therefor the donation system is most likely there to make profits.

As for the difficulty of a few people having MVP card or them being widespread that's a whole other debate, I think both point have values, if you like that kind of gameplay I'm sure Talon is fun. And I very much respect the work that they did to switch from Aegis to Athena smoothly + adding the newer content, must not have been easy so props for that.
[color=darkblue]heRO is a great friendly, pre-renweal, unique and fun server with a great community, give it a try![/color]



[color=darkblue]Click here to find out more about heRO![/color]