Server idea

[Shuchou]

I see these short term "relive the episodes" servers pop up and close once they reach a certain episode but why hasn't anyone made a server that breaks RO into stages so that you can relive every part of RO the way you want at anytime instead of until the next update? I'll give a basic break down below...


==Classic==
Every character starts here and the game world is limited to that map stage of the game. Once a player hits 99 they can either keep playing classic or reborn the character and be warped to the pre-renewal mirror of the game world. Classic has it's own WoE and MvP, once a character is reborn they can not come back to prevent them from overpowering the world's stage.

==Pre-renewal==
Pretty much the same as above pre-renewal game world and items that are from this stage will be limited to high-1st class and up so even though you have characters in the classic stage they are not being used there. This world stage has it's own WoE and MvP like above to fit the needs/wants of those that like to play pre-renewal.

==Renewal==
When a character talks with the valk again to advance their class, they will be taken to yet another mirror of the game world that is of course renewal based. Again items are changed so they are locked to classes or character levels above the pre stages. And of course WoE and MvP for this stage

==All==
When changing from one stage to another characters memo's will be cleared, save points would be changed, and the rebirth/class change will be done on the same command action prompt so players can't disconnect to cancel the next npc chat box to stay in the last stage. OR have their save point changed and warp them to a map that has memo disabled and cleared, where they will then talk to another NPC that will change their class and warp them to the respectable stage.

Adjust the EMP Hitpoints to reflect the stage of world mirror/stage

Yes I get there would be a lot of work going through the data base changing items and making copies of some monsters to adjust their drop table, however wouldn't you think that if a server did this they would have the largest player base as you would be supporting the appeal to all RO era fans? But just think, you would be doing the one thing Gravity wanted to do but kept going about it the wrong way and rather stupid way if you ask me.


I know this is a rather rough and basic break down of my idea but if people show interest in it I'll be willing to add more details to it.

[Pandora]

Duplicating maps and monsters is easy, but between pre-renewal and renewal you're talking different game mechanics, that would require major source code modifications to have those different mechanics on the same server. At that point it's easier to have 3 servers under the same name/brand. Like some servers have both a mid and high rate that players can access.

Squishing just classic and pre-re together might be easier. You could even have the old maps, like Morroc not destroyed for classic.

However, what is the net gain in having all on one server? Shared @main chat and pms? A higher player count maybe. Then again, those players cannot really interact together.

The idea is interesting nonetheless, who knows maybe someone will read this and give it a try.

[Shuchou]

Duplicating maps and monsters is easy, but between pre-renewal and renewal you're talking different game mechanics, that would require major source code modifications to have those different mechanics on the same server. At that point it's easier to have 3 servers under the same name/brand. Like some servers have both a mid and high rate that players can access.

Squishing just classic and pre-re together might be easier. You could even have the old maps, like Morroc not destroyed for classic.

However, what is the net gain in having all on one server? Shared @main chat and pms? A higher player count maybe. Then again, those players cannot really interact together.

The idea is interesting nonetheless, who knows maybe someone will read this and give it a try.

To me atleast and I'm sure there are others, get tired of servers offering only one era. Yes you can link servers together through the client, however you will still have to deal with starting all over from nothing which turns a lot of people off from changing servers after putting many months to years of their free time into it. And having to restart from nothing does lead to burnout among the player base leading to them taking long breaks or dropping the game all together, yes Im aware there are those that love fresh starts and server hop when a new one pops up that fits their rate liking. Plus the server host could put in some kind of character roll back npc/quest (back to state of entering selected era, classic being lvl1 novice or 99 second job, pre-renewal lvl1 high novice or 99 reborn). But this would allow players to continue their progress they have already built up into the next era if they wise.

Now to my limited understanding of the server file coding differences between pre-renewal and renewal, seems that the only change is the npc, db, mob settings/stats. Most servers now a days use the up to date kRO for all the client side bells and whistles,which you can edit the grf to add or remove maps, sprits, ect. As to why I mentioned above I am aware that it would take some time and effort to copy mobs and drop table as I know just leaving the basic setup in will cause double spawns as the user friendly text file you add extra changes too so renewal restricted items are not dropping on the earlier eras.

But I guess moral of the reason behind the idea is to bring more of the fanbase together on one server instead of different servers even if on the same clients listing. Plus more this is going to be a players home server and not home servers.

[Playtester]

The problem is that the player base is already pretty low, so splitting them up on even more maps doesn't seem such a good idea.

Also hardly any server even nails pre-trans servers correctly mechanics and database-wise. It's a lot of work just digging up all the old stats and stuff.