What keeps RO running after all these years?

[Kokkoro]

Topic title. RO is running for almost 2 decades now and despite gravity being gravity and stiff competition from other more modern mmos, kRO and iRO are still up and running and we still have a plethora of private servers both old and new, pre-re and renewal.

So what keeps RO alive after all this time? The community? The nostalgic urge? p2w whales in kRO and iRO at least?

[redempress]

I guess you can say the gameplay experience RO brings to new and old players cannot be found on any new MMORPG,
RO has the unique concept and it is so flexible.
If anything a developer plans and think of they can make it happen

[Notley]

I always loved RO for the vibe. The grindy playstyle with MVP's present on the open map instead of instanced locations. I also think, that the overall playerbase communication in Ragnarok is quite vibrant... I made many long-term friendships in RO. War of Emperium is also pretty original form of PvP comparing to other mmorpg's. 
After all those years, I still tend to comeback to RO once in a while to feel that nostalgic experience. Time well spent.

[Nekoruchii]

You actually nailed it all though..

Nostalgic feels,
Boredom after playing X game,
Uniqueness of the game,
Crybaby dramas on #main chat after WoE,
p2w whales on any game,
Drama on RMS or any social media about being banned, corruption, name it,
and lastly, there is still a small amount of people trying it out for the first time even at this year~

[Nova]

Nostalgia.
RNG.
Open world.
Complexity.
Freedom of stats.
Cute sprites.

And honestly the fact that the MMO's they make today simply aren't good enough for my taste. If they want me to commit hours upon hours in a new MMO, it better be damn good and I haven't found it yet.

[Neffletics]

• Nostalgia
• We can't find any better game, or we don't find the new ones interesting
• Our computers are too s*** to run modern games

[Naruto]

well renewal is sorta set up like every other game now

Wouldnt wanna be NEW to ragnarok and try getting into it....

[Pandora]

Nostalgia as others have said already. Cuteness helps too. RO is playable even if you have only a short time on your hand. No super long loading (depends on your computer I suppose).

That being said, if it came out today I believe it would tank. RO arrived at the right time, it didn't have a ton of other MMOs to complete with it.

[rubie123]

Because RO is the BEST mmo out there still to this date. 

[Eiponpon]

it aint nostalgia its because ro is a good game

[Duero]

Well I can say it like this I been playing RO sense 2005 on and off im far from expert or pro but I can say nothing beats a solid good game that can be played on a cheap laptop if you so wish I mean system spec is still Pentium II 400mhz + 128mb ram and any graphics card with 3D Acceleration & at least 16MB on-board RAM.

So I mean with ease of access and low end pc friendly makes it a viable mmo for any one that maybe don´t have a power PC.

Then nostalgia is huge factor I mean every one loves classic/pre-renewal and if you even bring up renewal they will lose their mind and piss on you for not mob grinding on 1 map for 10 hours to get 10% on your exp bar. So every one is stuck in their nostalgia dream. (For me it´s enjoy a classic with new stuff and bloody finally having quests that is not for a damn hat)

But yeah foggy nostalgia feelings when everything was better back in 1800 + the ease of access makes it still a popular game.

[shiningMoonFan]

I think most gears being tradable is a big part, MMO has moved away from this and not sure why.  The value of zeny is so much more useful than gold in WoW or other modern MMOs because of this, and it's hard to truly waste your money.

RO also has the ability to gear for very specific encounters and gearswap with sometimes one mob/boss in mind.  Once you complete a full set of gear there's always optional pieces that you may want, always something to hunt for.


For me it's definitely not nostalgia like a lot of people say, my wife got me into RO when it was 8-10 years old and I've loved it ever since (that was about 11 years ago).  I am very envious of the people that got to play it when it was brand new and the servers were packed.

[Eiponpon]

Well I can say it like this I been playing RO sense 2005 on and off im far from expert or pro but I can say nothing beats a solid good game that can be played on a cheap laptop if you so wish I mean system spec is still Pentium II 400mhz + 128mb ram and any graphics card with 3D Acceleration & at least 16MB on-board RAM.

So I mean with ease of access and low end pc friendly makes it a viable mmo for any one that maybe don´t have a power PC

ironically ro runs terrible on modern pcs

[Shagaru]

Its a classic its as simple as that. Ro was a pioneer of the mmorpg genre in beeing one of the first sprite base mmo's which exploded in popularity all over asia. It had a healthy p-server community pretty much baked into the fanbase from the beginning. Its still around cause its a classic and for all the reason people return to any medium of entertainment that has established itself as a classic in their respectiv generation or personal field interest.

A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class

A classic gets carried over generations like this and stays relevant to a certain extend. Certainly nostalgia plays a part in this but its many things. There is countless examples in Music / Literature / Film. Its the same to a lesser extend for more specific things like a game genre like MMORpg's. For example League of Legends will remain as the undisputed classic of the MOBA genre in a another decade or two and will still be played by some people. As for the P-Server Community it might be still alive for that reason but its dieing off slowly imo.With SEA and BR Community solving the  availability issue compared to the EU and US i can't see how its anything but trending downwards. The next boom for MMO's will certainly be VR just like Dungeon and Dragons got more popular through tabletop simulation online. I hope i live until then

[Wosi2]

For me RO was the first mmorp I played and the only one I always came back to.

The variety of builds, the depth of game mechanics and the possibility to always learn new tricks even after two decades of playing RO is just amazing.

Its a classic gem.