I'm usually an MR player, but UtopiaRO really hooked me at first sight.
I'm now here to write a review for it!
Stability -
10/10The server in my play experience has never crashed, and apparently the only way to crash is to use Gameshark (whatever that is). The client itself has never freezed either. Lag is minimal and rarely occurs.
Availability -
9/10Unexpected downtime? It hasn't occured to me in my playtime, but when it did, it was quickly fixed and recompensated with double rates. The server is available 24/7.
Community Friendliness -
10/10It seems trolls do not inhabit LRs. At all. The community is amazing; I received two items in one day on my Hunter, Lune: Dauntless gave me a special headgear that only dropped during a special event (@ 0.05%), while Altrulia gave me the Romantic Flower I was going to hunt for. Another Gypsy also saved me from spending 100,000Z on a Frog Hat that dropped rather high on Toad (I was unaware of this modification) as well as gave me a Cigarette so my character didn't look so barren.
When you log in for the first time, you're spammed with genuine welcomes from the community. I was spammed, and as was
my friend Raredith when he joined. Everyone loves the newcomer, answers questions for you nicely, and will help you out at the beginning with Zeny needs, etc. as well as leaching (as long as you aren't begging).
Eventfulness -
7/10GM Events appear to be rare as the only GMs are full-time students who do more work behind-the-scenes than in-game.
Automated events are often enough, including the nostalgic Click Click Boom event, along with others such as Dodgeball (which seems to be a server favourite), Poring Catcher, and Monster of the Week. The Boosted Rates event occurs if the server reaches a certain vote quota, and extends the entire weekend. The rates commence as 8/8/6, and then the 2h finale at the end is 10/10/8.
Monster of the Week is one of the events that dragged me in; a monster is chosen per week to give 300% more EXP, spawn more often, and drop a special, otherwise-unattainable hat at around 0.05%. These monsters also bypass the Even Share level restrictions, allowing people to leach Level 15 Archers (for example) with Level 70 Monks.
Another "Event" is Ides of Utopia, which I guess is a GvG ordeal with a special map, factions... I've not really played, but it looks like an interesting during-the-week WoE-type ordeal.
Game Masters Friendliness -
8/10I've only ever met the administrator, as the other GMs don't appear to be too active (even on the forums); however, jTynne (Serenity on RMS) is extremely friendly, open to ideas, and reasonable. This is a good example of an administrator who isn't power-hungry or stubborn.
Game Masters Availability -
6/10In the days I've played, the administrator has always come online and been on the forums. I cannot say the same for the GMs, as they are not around often, but the administrator's activity is enough to suffice the 60-80 population.
Game Masters Helpfulness -
9/10Minus the GMs, the administrator is extremely helpful, always answering questions on the forum and giving newbies information that is useful. For example, if not for him, I'd not have known about the Monster Hunting, where you select a monster in your level range and defeat x many of them to obtain bonus EXP. This was extremely useful when leveling at Geographers as the bonus EXP had me gain around 15% in one-shot.
Economy -
7/10Economy looks fine to me. I'm used to MR rates, and when I think about how long it's taken me to earn 400,000Z, that one card that seems absurdly low takes around the same time to buy as in an MR. Suits the server in my opinion.
The only wonky one is that 9,500,000Z Zerom Card. A tad expensive, as even in a MR, Zerom Cards don't go over 6,000,000Z usually.
Guild Competition -
8/10Everyone WoE ambitious. I've seen two Guilds so far with an equal amount of members, but the forum claims to have around three others. They might be online while I'm sleeping, though.
Class Balance -
9/10Hasn't been touched, so Pneuma'd classes still rape Snipers, which is the only unfair aspect of the "official" RO that I think should be modified (much like EssenceRO allowed Phantasmic Arrow / Charge Arrow (forgot which) to push users out of Pneuma). The RO gameplay is intact.
Other StuffThere have been some customization, such as Gladia and the other city which are 100% original maps with original fields and original monsters. I do not believe there are custom items at all - just monsters and maps.
Buffs last quite a bit longer than normal. Max leveled, Magnificat lasts 15min, Blessing & AGI last 30min, Gloria lasts 2min, and Assumptio lasts 15min making buff spam less frequent and "BUFFS PLZ" practically inexistant.
The Healer will heal HP free, but requires 2 Vote Credits ("Cash Points") or 5,000Z to heal HP&SP + low-leveled buffs. Cash Points can also be used to buy donation items at high prices, as to not tamper with the balance of the server.
As well, the population seems to be rising.
During the summer, around ~80 were online due to school not being in session. Now that it is, I've watched the server sprout from ~45 to 65 in the last two days, with only ~15 vendors. The server really is amazing and deserves to be well-known, as it has been thoroughly done and has some features that are unique enough to actual say it's original compared to other, lifeless servers out there. The server has grown in the last 1.5-2weeks to a grand 90 online, rather than ~45 before - only 10~17 being vendors (view screenshot below).Anyway, overall I give this server a
83/100 and a big kudos for actually being different enough to make me consider an LR. So far, it's the most enriching and "fulfilling" RO experience I've had in the last four years. Good job.
http://i55.tinypic.com/s1p4xe.jpg