iRO to open new Pre-Renewal server

[Tavern]

As taken from Heimdallr from the official iRO forums:

Anyone who claims that RO players here are not passionate about the game, should be here today. You all really sounded off fast about the possibility of a Yggdrasil merger to allow for an easy transition for a pre-renewal server. Mergers are not usually a happy fun time thing for communities, we do know that, and certainly we don't want that completely overshadowing what should be at least a little bit exciting for all of our players. iRO is doing good, but better is always preferred, offering more options to give more ways of play for more players is a great way to go from good to better.

Pre-Renewal certainly may not be your cup of tea, but I know everyone can agree that some players feel that way about Renewal, and having another option is great for them. As gamers and people and as a business, we know that more options that can be offered is better than fewer options. So with that we certainly want to open a new Pre-Renewal server this summer to start off our summer of updates.

We discussed internally what back up options we had to get the best out of everything and have come up with an alternative. We will be combining a bit of server resources to make a 4th world for this Pre-Renewal server. As the months go by we will monitor its performance as well as the current 3 servers performance to figure out the best use of our resources. When all goes as planned it will only mean more will be allocated!

So to firmly answer the most common statements I've heard about the old situation:
1. There is no merger planned for now.

2. If a merger ever does happen the following would occur.
You get to decide what server your account will merge too. And moved there for free.
All characters will go to that server, if no choice is made, you would default to a pre-selected server (likely Valkyrie).
All items, god items, storage will move.
Families move
Guilds move with leader
If a name conflict occurs you will get a free name change
If you have more characters between server & Destination server we should be able to allow you to play all of them (yes maybe 18 characters on 1 server). If that solution doesn't work then an extra account would be made like account_#. But we currently are working with a solution that no longer needs that extra account.
The idea is the merger is as painless and as non-game changing for you as possible, with the only change being what other players you are playing with then.
3. Pre-Renewal server should open up within the next few weeks, we will be running promotions and events with you to make it as a big of a deal as possible.
4. More lag? Not really, any latency that exists would be either each server dependent, or network dependent, the games don't use anywhere near our bandwidth cap, and even if they did it wouldn't increase because of another server. Increase load on network is almost entirely made up of more players existing rather than more hardware.

5. Why can't 4 servers just be a natural thing rather than ever discussing merging? Optimization, servers are expensive, as is finding space in our IDC for them, and this is an action that could possibly fail despite preparation. Buying more hardware for this would not be wise at this time when we had a better resource usage available. But if things pan out 4 servers certainly will be an option on the table.

6. Server transferring? Right now moving off Ygg can be done by you if you want to. With the Pre-renewal server coming there won't be transfers to or from for quite awhile. Perhaps later transfers FROM that server might be possible (in theory a conversion process from old-> new exists) but there is no foreseeable desire to allow transfer from Renewal -> pre, mostly due to the exp gain being lopsided in that case.

7. Pre-Renewal is OLD, why you want OLD? RO is a different breed than just about any other game out there, so few games have had as a huge of a game play change as renewal. It really could be a separate game, and we want to take advantage of that. Yes official updates would be limited, but we are a very firm believer that expanding maps means less than expanding activities. There are tons of stories that can be developed and told in a pre-renewal server, plus it is a very stable build. We have more options with that pre-renewal server than we did when we were actually in pre-renewal. The server will be item mall served, but it won't be the same options as Ymir, Yggdrasil, Valkyrie have. There also will be adjustments to item acquirement to address the economy issue BEFORE it becomes an issue. At the start, no WoE until we get a bunch of 99s. The server will start without Trans quest being available, this is so we can get many up to 99 before implementing that, and also let the server growth determine when updates occur. The game "physics" will be 13.2, but the towns, quests monsters etc will be much earlier. There are tons of towns and maps that were under utilized, we want to bring the core game experience to you without adding repetitive content that just spreads it all out, updates do not equal new maps. The server will grow in its story as time goes by, giving us and our community a chance to develop story arcs that can be explored that just aren't possible on the Renewal system. Morroc isn't destroyed, that is 1 big difference to begin with, the "epic tier" gears like Randgris and Morocc and Nidhoggur drops won't be available at all or for a very long time, and their acquirement may be changed.

Link to original post: http://forums.warpportal.com/index.php?/topic/79298-pre-renewal-server/

[jblazer]

I'm glad Gravity understands that renewal kind of sucks.

It's just a bunch of classes that go around one shotting everything with 50k damage, or one shotting huge mobs... along with weird stat changes I still can't make sense of.

I'll probably play on their server casually just to support the non-renewal, if the servers looking promising after a few months I may even switch over entirely who knows. 

[Alex.]

Wouldn't that fail because it will just be stuck on ep13.2? No new content and stuff..

[Gene]

They can do two things
1) Same new episodes as renewal, but different mob stats and item stats to fit on pre-renewal

2)Do alternative episodes for pre-renewal only.

[Triper]

or just do both even if I'm kinda liking the new additions and the story that is coming from that.

[Creme]

As an avid Pre-Renewal player, I love this and take this as a great victory.  Gravity finally sees the mistake they made by pretty much turning their back on the very things that made RO such a ridiculous, addictive, obnoxious game that we all love.  While RO did need some kind of renewal pretty badly, it should have been more along the lines of fixing all the stupid little bugs and exploits instead of vastly changing game mechanics and, as Heimdallr said, pretty much changing the game.

One thing that I think is interesting is how he said they're planning to utilize the older maps more, instead of the ones that were out in 13.2.  I'm a little sad that they won't have updates as often as normal, and I've got mixed feelings about the lack of end-game gear like Randgris, Morroc, and Nydhoggur.  From an admin point of view, nerfing that crazy stuff and staggering the max levels until there's a ton of 99s, etc. is a great way to curb the rampant over abundance of insanity that today's RO has pretty much devolved into, but from a person who plays in today's rampant overabundance of insanity, it's like "Rats, I can't make my 25k HP Devo Paladin and 190 Aspd Creator builds anymore!" 

On second thought, that actually might be a better thing than I first realized...o_O

Either way, can't wait to see how this evolves and I'm curious to see how many players will play on this server.  Hopefully it'll even bring back a few older players too?  I really hope they make a team dedicated to creating new content for this Pre-Re server too, and not just continue to focus all their resources on just making stuff for Renewal.

[Sol Invictus]

I am so tired of these pre renewal babbys
The game had to change to survive. Do you all not understand that? What would be the choice weapon pre renewal? A +10 Katana [4] or a new and shiny Alca Bringer? The answer is obvious really, the game had too much emphasis on cards and stats.

All the new equipment they released was s*** compared to a fully carded [4] weapon or standard Valky equipment with the usual unfro/ED set up. The game was stale and it was never made to focus on PVP aspects.
What was the point to release new high attack weapons if you could get higher damage output from a level 1 weapon with < 70 ATK? It just made no sense. Same goes for DEF and complete stat resist with 100 VIT.

I think its fine that Heimdaddy wants to please as many people as possible if it will make them play RO again, but I don't understand all the hate for renewal and the third classes. The game was good and it had its charm pre renewal, but it was getting stale and BORING.
At least those who really want to return to old RO can now do it on a official server.
I just hope it goes well and doesn't f*ck iRO up more than it already is.

[leokimah]

I didn't job change most of my chars cause i was hoping something like this would happen.. Now i read that you can't transfer Renewal --> Pre Renewal. Sad day! Either way it's still years of work lost.

[yC]

That's nice.  They finally realize they can't just give up the whole pre-re market to pservers.  I like that they mentioned "Morroc isn't destroyed".  More stable is definitely a plus, it suits older players like me that always resist changes because I am old and learning new things every update isn't that fun lol. 

But I have a feeling that it will turn into a retirement club.  Not in age, just in terms of people (those that played ro for ages, too lazy to move on to the newer stuff) sitting chilling all day not doing anything productive.

I didn't job change most of my chars cause i was hoping something like this would happen.. Now i read that you can't transfer Renewal --> Pre Renewal. Sad day! Either way it's still years of work lost.

If you didn't do any work there isn't work lost.  I mean you can still use the chars on the server it belongs to, the time you didn't level/change job isn't considered a loss.

[leokimah]

The fact that you have to restart is what's going to probably keep me from playing the new server. It's a good idea, but a lot of the older pre renewal/pre trans players don't have time for this game anymore. I was kinda expecting to transfer my account and camp PvP/WoE like i have been since 2006. Depending on the exp rate i might just bmx3 to 99,but i doubt it.

[Cawliflower]

My favorite part is someone was like "everyone will quit private servers." People will quit private servers, either way. It still isn't too appealing. It's iRO, let's not forget.

[SnowBunny]

My favorite part is someone was like "everyone will quit private servers." People will quit private servers, either way. It still isn't too appealing. It's iRO, let's not forget.

In which Mastercard > All.. Kinda.. Lol.. xD

[Triper]

1st off the assumption that should be made is all DB stuff like item stats, monster statistics and drops will be based on 13.2. This is the last pre-renewal we had, 13.3 was our renewal launch.

The quests and such will be set to an earlier setting, IE some contents will not be available at launch, this is so a fresh start can be made without having billions of options open that you can't effectively use yet due to equipment/class restrictions.

This server is only being attempted because of the community and we are in a particularly beneficial circumstances that make this a more reasonable possibility than other servers. We are more closely tied to you all than other servers are to their players (both the good and the ulcer causing interactions), we also have tinkered with enough to be able to swing this from our past experiences.

Some specific things that we are going to do with this server:

• There will not be a standalone website for a long time if at all, there will be an UPDATE page listing the differences, but no specific info. The web team doesn't have the time in this season of game launches to do it, and frankly the plan is in flux right up until the day we turn it on. So nailing down a new page would be implausible right now. If the server booms that will be changed.
• No HD ores, those are intended to get players to +10 and higher, this pre-renewal only goes to +10.
• No 3rd classes (those are a renewal thing that won't be possible under current technologies)
• Trans will NOT be available at the begining.
• 2-1 and 2-2 will both be available at the start, so get your 99s!
• WoE will not be available at all in the begining, at least until we get a good amount of 99s in the server to make WoE interesting.
• TKM class for sure will not be available at launch, its leeching ability is a bit too imbalancing on a new server where 99 is the cap.
• BG and KVM will not exist until WoE is at least activated for awhile.
• Instances may be limited for awhile, except for Orc Instance (may be the 1st time it sees heavy use!)
• Server will be default rate of 1x 1x 1x, if VIP can be made to work it will enhance those things to 1.5 for those in VIP
• Item sales are how we are going to sustain the server cost. But of course some items will be different for the pre-renewal server than the renewal server.
• Some areas will be truncated at start, like rachel, veins, hugel etc until the power level of the server gets to that point.
  
• High end gears like Valkyrie gear, Diabolus sets and the "combo items (Morgains, morpheus) will drop in trade/vendable boxes. Once opened they will be account bound. This may seem terrible for you sharing items, but the long run will keep those items more precious, as only un-refined carded ones can be traded.
• Refining will be default rate, enriched ores will enhance the success chance but not the safety. We may work on an Expend a gear to keep the refine safe, but that will be later for high tier items (the ones in boxes)
• Currently Costume system won't be available (this is the 2nd most saddening thing for me)
• Currently VIP isn't going to work either (development time is needed, and not available for a long/infinite time so delay waiting for it would be imprudent)
• 3 Character slots available, 300 storage, 3% death penalty, if VIP comes into play this will raise.
  
• Date of launch. I am so hesitant to say anything because I know we have 1 issue we are resolving right now, it is a show stopper issue. But if it is resolved and all the rest of our ducks are in a row the launch could be at the end of June before 4th of July.
• Hardware, we are pillaging every underutilized server we have and swapping stuff to make this as high of spec server as we can to be sure that the influx of players is handled. RO specs do have a player cap, if we are sitting at that cap, we will have degraded service, and any new hardware will be only justified on how well the server is doing as a business decision (we would have to purchase whole new hardware set, which is incredibly out of current budget). So basically if we hit cap (possible judging by the buzz) and if the server is like a whole new game running for us in revenue I think we will swing something to make it work.
• Bots... We are going to have GMs to specificly bot hunt, I pray this is enough. We haven't had as much GM hunting focus in a while so this should be good. Technology answers are being pushed at HQ and worked with our community here. Frankly anything that makes reporting easier, and the GM teams efficiency in removing them (not just banning) will be leaps and bounds better than the current method of GM finding, testing, banning and then manually moving them from the map, doing that for 1 is easy, doing that for 1000s a day becomes impossible.
• God Item seals/quest will not be available until some item is ready to be made.
• Eden Group will exist as a "training ground" for new players, to give them a consolidated place to go for advice/quests. Doubtful all the exp stuff will be there, perhaps some sort of weekly target hunt will come later.

Things under discussion

• Redo monster spawn locations?
• What about TK, Soul Linker, ninja and Gunslinger
• WoE 2? Likely well after WoE 1
• Updates, yes both the ones we truncated out of the server, as well as using what contents (new maps etc) to "fake an update".
• Your comments below will populate this list here, and help to move discussions to decisions.
• We are working on a new God item system to couple with the WoE update that is coming to the renewal servers in the next month or so, this may get implemented as best as possible on the Classic server as well.

[leokimah]

The discussion in those threads are hilarious. People aren't going to quit private servers to play iRO.

I'm glad they are finally listening to their player base even though it's about 5 years too late. I don't see the pre renewal server peaking more than 500 after a month of it's opening.

Veterans aren't going to come back to have to grind to 99 and gear themselves again.

[jblazer]

The discussion in those threads are hilarious. People aren't going to quit private servers to play iRO.

I'm glad they are finally listening to their player base even though it's about 5 years too late. I don't see the pre renewal server peaking more than 500 after a month of it's opening.

Veterans aren't going to come back to have to grind to 99 and gear themselves again.

Never know man. PvP for pre renewal is kinda dead on private servers. If you disclude high rate server "pvping"

The active low rate 99/70 private servers are either corrupt/poorly balanced/inflated economies (gtb stacked guilds..etc)

At least on iRO you will always have a place to compete. But iRO has showed us time and time again, their servers get extremely imbalanced quickly.

- Botters selling tons of items
- Cash shop whores spending THOUSANDS of dollars to get ahead.
- No lifers reaching ridicolous builds for PvP. With mass +9/+10 gears/god items/mvp cards

In the end, every server is gonna have flaws to each person. The only real answer is to make your own and play the game exactly the way you think it should be... but creating a server is easy, creating and maintaining a big server is a huge dedication.

gg