[NovaRO/Shining Moon] Is migration to Helheim worth it?

[YudaPrebensen]

Not sure where to post, I'll go here, I guess...

So, It all began when Munbalance (a notorious RO streamer in "NovaRO" server community) decided to take matters into his own hands and to make his own #MunbalanceRO - the titular "Helheim" section of "Shining Moon" server. As far as I understand the situation, the reason it happened was his displeasure with lack of server development, "lack of updates, class balance issues, change of direction (customizing items)".

This event opened a somewhat stinky can of worms regarding the NovaRO's admin echelon and overall server policies (mostly regarding provocative attitudes and grindy endgame) for me, that in turn made the idea of migrating appealing. Since Munbalance's content was the sole purpose that brought me to NovaRO and back to RO generally, I followed him to "Shining Moon".

I was disappointed. World bosses with "Overlord" anime sprites; a starting town that has nothing to do with the original game, crudely overlapped on Prontera; crude multiclass system, no-penalty teleport to any floor of any dungeon... These things gave a strong feeling of oversimplification, shoddiness and lack of polish. Still, I went on. Even getting myself into endless programming loop in Mora Village didn't stop me. After getting a bit tired of lvling my ranger, I decided to roll an alchemist. That was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to say.

When it came time to create a hom, it turned out that kRO decided to make it unable to behave on itself. And Shining Moon decided to retain that "feature", flushing one the most appealing components of that class down the drain. After confirming that in their discord, I dropped that server and RO in general for a time.

A few weeks later I decided to check up on Nova. It... was just as i remember it. Polished, stable, not too casual, not too early-game/mid-game grindy, with visual population activity. Moreover, homunculi are fully operational through NovaEXT. And now, I am here.

Is migration to Shining Moon's Helheim from Nova worth it? Did anyone else here had to migrate from Nova there? If so, what keeps you in "Shining Moon"? Or the general negativity regarding NovaRO is simply overblown and exaggerated?

[live4lie]

approachable admin with a sense of and tolerance for humors
also low rates is s*** when you have like an hour of game time every day

[literalwho]

Is migration to Shining Moon's Helheim from Nova worth it?

The majority of the Renewal population are playing Renewal because it offers new "content". NovaRO is behind iRO in content. Shining Moon is ahead of iRO in content.

So unless you have a method of playing on kRO, I don't see why not.

[leriaskho]

Reasonable admin. Less toxic community. Un-nerfed official gears. More gears. 
Who knows history might repeat itself and SM Admin might turn into another N**a? 
I'd describe it as a relationship that's good at first because of the uncharted waters, but when you get the realizations you just part ways. All we can do is hope.

[Min]

Totally agree, NovaRO is a much more polished and refined server that takes extreme care and planning in absolutely everything it does. For casual players this may very clearly be the superior server choice for you. If you enjoy NovaRO more for it's extra polish and features then there isn't anything wrong with that! one of the best parts of having private servers is that you really get to choose your home rather than being forced to play which ever server your region assigns to you.

The issue myself and many other players had is that this abundance of attention of detail lead to the server falling behind in content and while it used to get content routinely before even iRO, those days are sadly gone. This on top of many issues endgame players were having with the server, including the drastically slowed progression pace leaving many parts of the server feeling lopsided, on top of many serious issues such as P2W regarding Enriched ores which are mainly available from the cash shop only and are given out as sparely as possible in every other example. This along with the presence of new gear which is completely incompatible with a refine system from 2008 lead us to become very pessimistic and critical of the choices made by NovaRO t

Many players felt trapped and staved for more content, things were dropping a snails pace and we were sick of waiting. I wanted a place that would focus first and foremost on progression and player experience and I'm working well with Lunar to see to it that many of RO's sore spots get the attention they need but after the proper steps in progression are taken.

Obviously there cant be one server that appeals to literally every RO player and that's a good thing, I want NovaRO to thrive as its a wonderful server and if you don't want to migrate that really isn't an issue at all. Play which ever server makes you happiest.

Munbalance, out.

[hexonie]

You tried the server and gave it a chance. But you went in with the wrong mindset. Maybe the server wasn't meant for you to begin with or maybe it was and you just closed off your mind from accepting that fact.

1. Is migration to Shining Moon's Helheim from Nova worth it?
Hell yes! Firstly it changed the whole party play game giving you no need to solo. I've never felt more connected to a community on Shining Moon than on Nova. The custom dungeons and events made to get kRO cash shop gear is so much better. Not to mention a custom instance to get FAWs which have taken forever to be implemented on NovaRO and still all we get are corporate-like announcements about those things from NovaRO.

2. If so, what keeps you in "Shining Moon"?
As I mentioned above. I have never felt more connected to a community on Shining Moon compared to NovaRO. There's much more content on shining moon (not just new dungeons but gears well). There is a good sense of gear progression. And the refine system keeps players like me who have spent hundreds of dollars on NovaRO refine system much more satisfied here. It truly feels like playing on official kRO since kRO has the refine events as well. The skills work as they do on kRO. The gears work as they do on kRO.

3. Or the general negativity regarding NovaRO is simply overblown and exaggerated?
I still remember the reason I joined NovaRO as it was advertised for the "authentic KRO experience". Then I realized it wasn't and I felt really cheated at that fact. In the "Truth about NovaRO" thread that was a really heated topic here on RMS, Nova himself said that they never followed official kRO from the very start.

Put yourself in my shoes - would you still continue using a product that was falsely advertised to you?

[ninekoki]

Anyone with more than a single digit IQ should have already figured it out that the outdated p2MAYBE WIN system from nova is retarded. 1 dollars for an enriched ore, are you kidding me? 
>b-but... nova is more polished...!!!!
Literally just play kro/jro or some s***. They are way more polished with some ACTUAL content and gear progression. Anyone with half a brain should be able to figure out how to get an account there.
>b-but.. nova is x10
LOL have you seen bio5? Minuelito tries his hardest to slow down people progression so people would buy more of his 1$ dollars enriched ore

I'm not defending some naruto wing server here but anyone who play novaro need a reality check.

Eternal reminder, this is what NovaRO used to be advertised as:

[Ara]

Eternal reminder, this is what NovaRO used to be advertised as:

Used to, I dunno why people still bring that up anymore. What are you trying to remind people of, that Nova decided to slightly change directions? It's like if you played on ShiningMoon for the custom content, and suddenly one day they decided to focus more on a lower-rate, less-custom server.

Anyway, ShiningMoon really doesn't have much to do with Nova other than occupying the same-ish market. At the end of the day, it's a game, and people will play whichever one they enjoy.

It really isn't any of our business what people from the other server think. Let people play what they want. :T

[Innomite]

As a PvP veteran in Nova, I was tempted by the idea of migrating to Shining Moon, not because of being unsatisfied with Nova's Admins, or the content itself, no. Nova's staff echelon is pretty much approachable, except for a couple of them, but I'm pretty sure many of the most relevant servers' GM staffs are the same, and while it is true that Nova is behind Shining Moon in terms of up-to-date events and implementations, Nova manages to develop them in a much more polished way, despite how slow it is.
The reason I was gonna leave is because of the self-destructive toxic community Nova used to have (and no, I'm not talking about Fu Wind's case, lmao). Funnily enough, after many of them left, mostly because of being banned or getting mad at Nova actually enforcing his rules, the server has become quite calm and less dramatic.

Still, I gave Shining Moon a shot because why not, and I played for a few weeks before getting really disappointed.

The topic of this thread is migration being worth it, as far as it concerns me, it's not. Most of the features Shining Moon offers you seem very good in paper, but when you actually play through them, they are mediocre, especially the custom ones. But I'm not posting this with the intention of throwing s*** at Shining Moon, as it does have quite the redeeming qualities I wish Nova would have.

Keep in mind this is just my opinion and as there are people that like Nova, there are people that like Shining Moon and that is completely fine, because both servers don't really have the same focus, as low-rates tend to last more than high-rates because of the grinding and time invested as a player on a server.

I don't exactly know all of Shining Moon's vices and virtues, or the qualities it has, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that one server is better than the other, I liked SM's freebies but I don't like their custom bosses. Also most of the people that got tired of Nova moved to Shining Moon so imagine if a bunch of SM's community are just toxic dudes that got banned on Nova or are really mad at him.

[Wasted Hours]

As a longtime player of Nova and a current player of SMRO, I'd have to say the main thing that entices me is the amount of party play available in SMRO. So, I will only focus on the party play both servers offer. Playing with friends is the one thing every MMO should strive to accomplish; there's nothing more boring than playing an MMO all by yourself.

If I were to compare the amount of party play in Nova vs. SMRO, the shared loot system in SMRO completely dominates Nova in terms of PvM. Every instance/farming party in SMRO would be happy to fill their party up with players. Every single party I've been a part of in SMRO is filled with my friends (and others) excited to play together. In comparison to NovaRO, it's very hard to find players willing to invite you to their instance party because inviting more people will just dilute the drops attained.

Another topic about party play I'd like to discuss is SMRO's World Boss System. I'll compare it with the infamously failed Arena of Abyss from NovaRO. While this comparison seems kind of unfair to those that know about Arena of Abyss, both of these systems introduce a strong boss designed to be defeated by a large amount of players in a PvP setting. The focus of each content is the driving factor that pushes World Bosses above Arena of Abyss. World Bosses don't really have a focus, you can either spend your time PKing other players/parties with your own party, or try diligently to DPS down the boss for better rewards. Arena of Abyss' focus was to deal the most damage to the boss with your guild/party. The lack of focus in world bosses allow parties to choose which path they'd like to take part of; it creates more enjoyment by allowing the party a choice.

That said, SMRO is designed for groups to play with each other; soloing in SMRO is not the way to play the server. Soloing instances doesn't offer anything more to the player except a sense of accomplishment. Playing solo in World Boss is also silly; there's no way you can enjoy the PvP or PvM aspect of the World Boss if you're fighting 1 vs everyone. I truly believe, if you didn't enjoy SMRO, it was because you played by yourself.

tl;dr go make some friends, and then try SMRO again

[Deegs]

Still, I gave Shining Moon a shot because why not, and I played for a few weeks before getting really disappointed.

The topic of this thread is migration being worth it, as far as it concerns me, it's not. Most of the features Shining Moon offers you seem very good in paper, but when you actually play through them, they are mediocre, especially the custom ones. But I'm not posting this with the intention of throwing s*** at Shining Moon, as it does have quite the redeeming qualities I wish Nova would have.

It would be really nice of you if you could elaborate more into the "good on paper but mediocre" generalizing to make your point without context makes your answer seem quite shallow.

[literalwho]

It's like if you played on ShiningMoon for the custom content, and suddenly one day they decided to focus more on a lower-rate, less-custom server.

This comparison is completely moot on two simple facts:
1) There is no "focus", both servers are when it comes to the core concept of it, based on kRO, meaning that when Niflheim is updated and things get added, the only focus that Helheim requires is ignoring and removing additions that would not belong to a kRO enviroment.
2) Comparing NovaROs change from an "authentic kRO based" server to Shining Moons split servers is just invalid, as you do not have the choice to go between the "authentic kRO based" novaRO server and "doing their own thing with their own custom additions" novaRO server.

so imagine if a bunch of SM's community are just toxic dudes that got banned on Nova or are really mad at him.

I'm not sure why exactly you would put this at the end of the post, as the usage of "imagine" and "or" signify that this is just an assumption, which quite in fact makes you the toxic person here for trying to signify that a chunk of the community are only playing on a server due to being banned or because they hate the admin of another server.

And quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the "toxic dudes" you are talking about, simply chose to leave not because of bans or hate, but rather not being comfortable with an admin who acts immaturely and thinks this kind of speech as a popular server owner is okay:

[family frieNDLy]

hey guyz,

i was playing on novaro for a long time but some guild members and I got banned for using no delay cheats in the end

will me and my friends have more luck in this new server? our old guild leader deegs seems to be enjoying it too but after we got caught using the cheats he provided us with he doesn't talk to us anymore so i dont know sirs.

i just want to be able to compete in PvP again, can i use my cheats there safely?

thx for your answers

[Lai]

Listen guys,

All you guys are wrong.

Who the hell is NovaRO? Without Munbalance, the server is nothing.

Who the hell is Shining Moon RO? Without Munbalance, the server is nothing.

Both NovaRO and Shining Moon RO had very little player, until Munbalance started to boost both servers with thousands and thousands of refer thru his videos.

So, no matter which server it is...as long as Munbalance likes it and makes videos for that server, the server is good ~~

And a bunch of fans will start playing it and making the server look good.


And, as far as we know, there is a server that is better than both of those servers, but many people despite it, because, a lot of Munbalance critism ~~
So it's all about Munbalance, everything else is irrelevant <3

[ninekoki]

Listen guys,

All you guys are wrong.

Who the hell is NovaRO? Without Munbalance, the server is nothing.

Who the hell is Shining Moon RO? Without Munbalance, the server is nothing.

Both NovaRO and Shining Moon RO had very little player, until Munbalance started to boost both servers with thousands and thousands of refer thru his videos.

So, no matter which server it is...as long as Munbalance likes it and makes videos for that server, the server is good ~~

And a bunch of fans will start playing it and making the server look good.


And, as far as we know, there is a server that is better than both of those servers, but many people despite it, because, a lot of Munbalance critism ~~
So it's all about Munbalance, everything else is irrelevant <3

Absolute kino post 10/10