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[The good things:]

#91

Server Reviews / ValiantRO - Why?

Last post by ProtobeltNunu - Mar 24, 2024, 07:49 PM

To be upfront, I've never been one to leave reviews. Typically, if I'm not a fan of something, I'll simply move on to the next option without much thought. Conversely, when I find something I enjoy, I tend to savor it in silence. However, this time around, I feel a strong urge to support the Valiant Team by sharing a candid review of their efforts. Having played in the server for over five weeks (the server is 7 week-old), I believe I've gathered enough insight to distinguish the highs and lows of this experience.

The good things:

1. I respect Solis and his vision. In Discord, he claims his role as a coder, but I think he is the admin of this project. The team's approach to skill rebalancing is both comprehensive and thoughtful. It's 2024 and while most servers out there have done the skill rebalance things, most of them barely scratch the surface of real problems in classic Ragnarok Online. The Team's rebalancing ideas are unique and did bring back lots of obsolete builds in a pre-renewal server. People actually want to play auto-cast sage, battle priest, trap hunter, and alchemist in the PvE environment, which is inspiring. You can validate my point here.

2. Their roadmap is clear. They start at Episode 8 right before Rebirth and gradually release later episodes with great consideration. For example, the next episode will be Einbech/Einbroch and they revamp every map belonging to that episode to solve the problem Solis has stated:

"Ragnarok Online has so many unused maps, so many untouched mobs, and will-never-be-used equipment."

They're even eyeballing Renewal content and thinking, "Hey, let's remix this for the old-school vibe." Talk about ambition 

"The Airplane and Airship are released on episode 9. I mean, why don't we bring Airship Crash Instance to Ep 9 as well? It would be refreshing!"

3. Last but not least, I have seen and felt that the Valiant Team is very dedicated, and they do know and understand the game. Their ability to empathize with the player's perspective is a standout trait not often seen in other teams.

The bad things:

1. You will feel a little bit left out because 90% of the community is Vietnamese people with their language. They are friendly and helpful, but they tend to play with each other as groups. If you ask them, they will give answers. A guy named Loyt even lent me some money to start the journey. I don't know if it's because they are shy or their English is not that great. Either way, you must be very communicative to interact with them actively, or you better join with your own group of friends.

2. The server connection is not that great. Solis has tried so hard that he literally set up 8 proxies all over the world to reduce latency but the spiking lag is sometimes terrible. They promised to upgrade the server at the end of this month, and I hope they keep their word.

3. This might be a good point to someone, but I myself dislike the fact that the Cash Shop doesn't sell any valuable thing. There is a VIP system that provides good QoL, but I don't see any good headgear with a decent status bonus. The Cash Shop is full of nice costumes though but I'm not into those things.


For the sheer guts of their content and vision, easy 10/10. But on making it feel like home for us international folks? More like a 5/10. It's a bit of a bummer seeing players bounce because of lag or feeling like an outsider. It's disheartening, given the team's evident efforts to improve server stability.

This review comes from a place of honesty, and I hope it reaches Solis and his team: You're doing remarkable work. Stay driven and persistent, and success will follow.

Thank you.

#92

RO Graphic, Coding & Media / Re: [WOE GRF] Nerva.grf Public...

Last post by Fluxion - Mar 24, 2024, 12:18 PM

Why not just create your own, there are so many tutorials now.

#93

RO Graphic, Coding & Media / Re: [WOE GRF] Nerva.grf Public...

Last post by Onad0704 - Mar 24, 2024, 02:29 AM

Where is the updated link? Sorry, newbie on the site.

#94

Rant and Rave / Re: Ragnafilian

Last post by OrcLordDaddy - Mar 23, 2024, 08:54 PM

Michielnummerloos

He is the reason I left the server.

The GM let his personal attacks and insults go on for too long, so I basically gave away all my gear to other German players that were still playing and deleted all my characters.

Too bad he acted so late, personally I enjoyed the server a lot, but the moment you let insults and personal attacks, that come out of nothing, just be there in the Discord without immediately taking action when you see them, that's when I'm out.

#95

Server Discussion / Re: Project Alfheim is back

Last post by Metan - Mar 23, 2024, 02:25 PM

I'm informing people of mistakes and issues surrounding a problem. I wouldn't really call that democratic. I also provided proven solutions through comparison. What exactly am I doing wrong on a forum that discusses servers where you are allowed to state your own opinion? I don't have to think about anything but my own opinion of a product I chose to consume for a time before I dropped it. No one's feelings is a part of this, nor is defending the idea that it's difficult to start a server for "free". It is a risk, which comes with obvious consequences. The way you act as an admin reflects if people will stay, or people will go, and I believe people need to be informed of someone's discretion, observe it themselves, and make a decision. If I was the sole person who dictated whether someone plays a server, I would never type a word on this forum, but the beauty of being an individual, is that I can write a novel of terrible and negative things, and people could simply ignore it. I think the reason why anything I say bothers anyone, is because it's very direct and to the point. If any issue exists, it needs to be pointed out, or nothing will be fixed. It's that simple. If it's not fixed? well, the appropriate actions are taken by a playerbase.

My main issue with server owners continuing the way they do, is, it leads to failure, and unfortunately, the only victims are the PLAYERS who wasted their time, something MONEY can't buy, on a person's poor decisive skills. If you have a vision of something, giving the players small amounts of compassion wouldn't hurt you or your vision, but some people are just childish and refuse to see anything else. I know this from experience, because I'm a writer, and after showing my work to people, I was given advice I thought was terrible, and some I thought were good. Did I sulk in a corner? did I put my foot down and declare war on ideas? no. I simply adapted a massive change, which forced me to rewrite hundreds of hours of text, so that it was more presentable towards a certain audience, WHILE keeping things as close to my vision as I could.

If I, someone with a low self-esteem, who is normally rather fragile, can take the advice of people who dislike my work, a server owner can make a consideration for their donations. I personally don't get it. This type of game is dead without a community, so why on earth would you grudge over your community's advice and quite possibly their needs to stay? it's mind boggling that I have to write this, like it needed to be explained.

Oh please, this was never about whether you're allowed to state your mind in a public forum, so don't twist it like that. It's the assumption that admins out there not just ought to, but have to listen to inputs lest they be labeled a close-minded brute who hold their community in low esteem.

You think your ideas are sound and shoving them aside will but smother a great potential, or exacerbate an ongoing mistake? Now there's something GMs hear every day; presenting your stuff shouldn't completely influence anybody at a first glance unless it's disarmingly great. Taking this to mind, why should one's suggestions prevail amidst all others just because they have been suggested?

Moreover, I believe your idea that people in a position of power such as an admin should be more open-minded in the sense of what you're describing, and expecting, is rather counterintuitive, and potentially self-destructive. Not that it'll drive you mad or something, but in that it will degrade the original objective which you once envisioned. Where is the line that dictates at which point a server admin should reconsider their vision and instead open up to what third people have to say? And, past this point, where is the line that defines whether your idea still breathes, whether it hasn't been forever disfigured by the wheels of change? These are not so clear that one can talk about them objectively, yet they're so present that it would be a blunder to not consider them. The ego is not to be isolated, but fostered. As a writer yourself, this piece of wisdom should have long been ingrained deep into your thinking. If you cater too much to the public, your original work perishes, and it turns out that you're no longer presenting your feelings and thoughts through art, you're merely providing entertainment made cheap to be as inclusive to external ideas as possible. You essentially become the public's intellectual b****. Though I also happen to speak as a writer myself, this idea applies to all things in life where you're supposed to take a stance in the name of something or someones, and, to a less extent (you're not exactly developing a game from scratch, but some of it is still there), managing a RO server.

Besides, most of us have been playing RO for decades, and as we get older, ideas solidify, the mind loses its fluidity and adaptability, and we just stick to what we think is right, refined or degraded by decades of living. It's just natural. I think people often forget this part because it may be hard to imagine 30+ or even 40+ yo people playing games, it's usually seen as a young people's kind of thing, but a good chunk of the community, to not say the majority, is just that old, so this is worth stating.

I honestly didn't and won't read the last paragraphs because the moment someone begins to capitalize words in the middle of a sentence, it feels like they're screaming at the reader, and that behavior marks the death of reason. Overall, you don't strike me as someone who usually suggests what you think is a good idea, but more like someone who's hellbent to force a hot potato down my throat, and damn if I refuse.

EDIT: TBH, I think this thread has run its course a long time ago, even before this discussion. Is this even about PA anymore? lol

[daily]

#96

Server Discussion / Re: Project Alfheim is back

Last post by ghrim987 - Mar 23, 2024, 01:54 PM

My main issue with server owners continuing the way they do, is, it leads to failure, and unfortunately, the only victims are the PLAYERS who wasted their time, something MONEY can't buy, on a person's poor decisive skills. If you have a vision of something, giving the players small amounts of compassion wouldn't hurt you or your vision, but some people are just childish and refuse to see anything else. I know this from experience, because I'm a writer, and after showing my work to people, I was given advice I thought was terrible, and some I thought were good. Did I sulk in a corner? did I put my foot down and declare war on ideas? no. I simply adapted a massive change, which forced me to rewrite hundreds of hours of text, so that it was more presentable towards a certain audience, WHILE keeping things as close to my vision as I could.

Did you approach people with the intent of getting advice? Did you think your work had room for improvement but couldn't put your finger on what's lacking?
There is a fine line with going out of your way to ask for feedback and advice and having it shoved down your throat.

There is another issue when only a small fraction of the playerbase even uses discord.
You'll never have a clear view if your suggestions or criticism will lead to changes that flips another part of the community off completely.

Recently people were -screeching- daily about L4L (leech for loot) in our individual loot dungeons, so naturally to adress the constant b**** we received adjustments that toned down L4L but now people can't multi client on said maps anymore.. guess what? It seems to be causing even more screeching than before, because now it's harder to get a party going in the first place.

To clarify the point I am trying to make:
Something that some people make out to be a huge deal is a non-issue for many others, similar to how the chat restriction was to you.
There were many options you could've chosen:
A) play for 2 hours to reach the level needed to chat away
B) go to town and chat away with people if it's that important to you
C) join a guild and chat away, plenty of welcoming ones for new people
D) talk on discord while playing until you get to the point

But somehow that non-issue snowballed into all of this?

If I, someone with a low self-esteem, who is normally rather fragile, can take the advice of people who dislike my work, a server owner can make a consideration for their donations. I personally don't get it. This type of game is dead without a community, so why on earth would you grudge over your community's advice and quite possibly their needs to stay? it's mind boggling that I have to write this, like it needed to be explained.

Are we still talking about PA at this point?
As I've mentioned before, content gets adjusted via player feedback and player suggestions get implemented steadily.

I often see people (that quit) asking for PA 2.0 with a fresh server reset, so apparently the server can't be as bad as you make it out to be?

I think some people just expect too much out of the small dev team PA has, I am surprised we get big updates as frequently as we do honestly.

#97

Server Discussion / Re: Project Alfheim is back

Last post by Felione - Mar 23, 2024, 12:36 PM

That said, I agree with yC and Blitzen. People (not just Felione, but the general sort who take their own takes to another degree) seriously need to sit down, chill and think what exactly in the world they're doing, acting like that.

I'm informing people of mistakes and issues surrounding a problem. I wouldn't really call that democratic. I also provided proven solutions through comparison. What exactly am I doing wrong on a forum that discusses servers where you are allowed to state your own opinion? I don't have to think about anything but my own opinion of a product I chose to consume for a time before I dropped it. No one's feelings is a part of this, nor is defending the idea that it's difficult to start a server for "free". It is a risk, which comes with obvious consequences. The way you act as an admin reflects if people will stay, or people will go, and I believe people need to be informed of someone's discretion, observe it themselves, and make a decision. If I was the sole person who dictated whether someone plays a server, I would never type a word on this forum, but the beauty of being an individual, is that I can write a novel of terrible and negative things, and people could simply ignore it. I think the reason why anything I say bothers anyone, is because it's very direct and to the point. If any issue exists, it needs to be pointed out, or nothing will be fixed. It's that simple. If it's not fixed? well, the appropriate actions are taken by a playerbase.

My main issue with server owners continuing the way they do, is, it leads to failure, and unfortunately, the only victims are the PLAYERS who wasted their time, something MONEY can't buy, on a person's poor decisive skills. If you have a vision of something, giving the players small amounts of compassion wouldn't hurt you or your vision, but some people are just childish and refuse to see anything else. I know this from experience, because I'm a writer, and after showing my work to people, I was given advice I thought was terrible, and some I thought were good. Did I sulk in a corner? did I put my foot down and declare war on ideas? no. I simply adapted a massive change, which forced me to rewrite hundreds of hours of text, so that it was more presentable towards a certain audience, WHILE keeping things as close to my vision as I could.

If I, someone with a low self-esteem, who is normally rather fragile, can take the advice of people who dislike my work, a server owner can make a consideration for their donations. I personally don't get it. This type of game is dead without a community, so why on earth would you grudge over your community's advice and quite possibly their needs to stay? it's mind boggling that I have to write this, like it needed to be explained.

Once again, the example is MUHRO, a server which had 20 players (unsure of that number actually, might have been 40+) , suddenly got about 200 players, and instead of keeping to their VISION, they asked the community, they TALKED with the community, they DISCUSSED SOLUTIONS with the community, and even today, they are COMMUNITY ORIENTED. Many changes were made for the sake of new players, and yes, the old ones didn't like it, but they were minor changes, so guess what happened? yes, yes, they stayed, that's correct. They retained their old community, while adapting a new one, with fresh ideas. Yes, I'm sure to them it was a traumatic time reading all the terrible suggestions, and watching people argue over them, but they arrived with a compromise for everyone. When there was an event people disliked and complained about, they were SUPER annoyed at the community, specifically ME I'm sure, for pointing out how awful it felt, but instead of banning me and getting rid of me, they kept me, they gave me an event I LOVE, and PEOPLE love, and now everything is fine and dandy. See how that works? the reason why I'm so loyal to them is because I gave them the HARDEST TIME OF THEIR LIVES pointing out issues with a change they might have, and I argued my points with ignorant people, so it was quite toxic, but they were BOTH mature enough to opt for a SOLUTION, without sulking that I'm a terrible person who deserved to be banned. This is how you run a server. It's not a feelings factory for someone's mental health, it is a business, filled with customers RUNNING THE BUSINESS on the side, and until server owners understand this gimmick, we're going to have a lot of dead servers.

I am doing nothing wrong, and everyone I speak about, deserves to be spoken about in such a way, unless proven otherwise. Like all of you, I want something great, but without great thinking, it will not happen. As an Admin, just love your community, and show them they're worth your time investment, so they can invest their time in you, and for the love of god, stop complicating the process.

I know this was long, but thank you for reading.

#98

Server Discussion / Re: Project Alfheim is back

Last post by Metan - Mar 23, 2024, 09:30 AM

You might think that RO players are all negative, but the truth is that all positive RO players just enjoy the game and won't bother posting here (or anywhere really).

I think it's about the subject, rather than the place(s). I believe I'm a positive kind of player in that I'm aware my suggestions are just suggestions and my opinions are just opinions, and I understand that admins have their own visions and ways of handling things (which I may my own perspective on -- but again, an opinion), but here I am.
Usually, people don't talk about things that are going well, and only feel the need to speak out when something is wrong; it's similar to how news companies would soon be out of business if they changed their approach and published news like "everything's fine," which naturally leads to a lot of problems, including this perception that we're negative in general. In truth, it's just like you said: people who are content are simply playing the game.

I also think it's a misconception that server owners (or game developers in general) should always cater to the players. Sometimes, you just want to make your own vision and it doesn't really matter much to you if the majority wants it or not. It's basically just "Here I made this thing I personally want to play and if you coincidentally like the same thing, feel free to enjoy it too".

As a consumer the only thing you're entitled to is to decide whether you want to consume the product or not. Of course you can always give suggestions, but these should just help the creator see things they didn't consider for their vision and not force them to change their vision.

Definitely. Sometimes I wonder if this isn't a byproduct of people getting so addicted to the idea of democracy that they think everything around them ought to work as such, including places that are obviously not democratic (like a RO server, which often works like "my way or the highway"), which leads to people getting seriously upset that their ideas, which they're so sure are magnificent, are not heard. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out like some cultural/political explanation like this is the key, because the truth is that this is not unique to RO. I've seen it only too much over the internet.

That said, I agree with yC and Blitzen. People (not just Felione, but the general sort who take their own takes to another degree) seriously need to sit down, chill and think what exactly in the world they're doing, acting like that.

#99

Server Discussion / Re: Project Alfheim is back

Last post by Playtester - Mar 23, 2024, 05:13 AM

You might think that RO players are all negative, but the truth is that all positive RO players just enjoy the game and won't bother posting here (or anywhere really).

I also think it's a misconception that server owners (or game developers in general) should always cater to the players. Sometimes, you just want to make your own vision and it doesn't really matter much to you if the majority wants it or not. It's basically just "Here I made this thing I personally want to play and if you coincidentally like the same thing, feel free to enjoy it too".

As a consumer the only thing you're entitled to is to decide whether you want to consume the product or not. Of course you can always give suggestions, but these should just help the creator see things they didn't consider for their vision and not force them to change their vision.

#100

Guides / Re: Fast DirectX 9 lib for lap...

Last post by Metan - Mar 23, 2024, 12:38 AM

That's amazing. Thanks a lot for developing this!