TalonRO Could Be Good But...

[Koreth]

Heads up I don't know if this belongs in the Rant section or here so I am going to post it here.

I recently started TalonRO server getting back into RO after not playing for several years because explaining it to a few friends got them interested and I was checking it out as a possible server to play. I played for less than 48 hours before getting banned...

It was actually going very well as the server reviews and forums painted a great picture in terms of balance, stability (mostly), and economy as well as playerbase. The amount of players was also good at a 400-2k value depending on time of day (possibly including some amount of vendors). When I was playing people were very friendly and two players, in particular, were friendly/helpful (Forvir and Bollen's or something close, might be mispelled). Thanks to both of you for the assistance in my brief time playing.

So... what happened?

A few players were trash talking in the !main chat (global chat channel) and GM Boreas logged on to see this and complained about seeing it every time he logs on (can't blame him there). Players continued so he banned them. Not too long later he begins trash talking, himself, and after he finished his rant he promptly banned the player he just yelled at and told to "shut the f*** up", etc. before the player could even reply/defend their self. GM Boreas then made a threat in chat about misbehavior or risking ban (but not so nicely put). I don't know the player who got banned but didn't see GM Boreas' way of speaking as... appropriate, particularly considering he is trying to get others to behave while acting extremely aggressive/unapproachable (as seen from a new player).

I made a reply in !main telling Boreas not to take my statement the wrong way but perhaps he could phrase things a bit better so he doesn't come off so nasty (didn't say the nasty part, explicitly) and followed with people really should follow the rules and not trash talk/etc. so they don't get banned (referring to those who were trash talking/viewing chat, I mean it is a simple concept, right?).

Immediately after GM Boreas states Another banned... and I am booted from the server and client and banned until investigation complete (what it states when I try to log in). I waited a bit but still couldn't log in so I wasn't intending to play that server any further, which I will cover below.

The rules are you can only make one forum account which holds your multiple in game accounts. I couldn't make a forum post, either since I was banned. I decided to make an alternate forum account, doesn't matter if I get perma banned because I do not intend to play any further after this nonsense, and logged into the game.

I stated in !main That I was a completely new player and had intended to bring some friends to the server but am now quitting. I would like to thank everyone for the help given to me, particularly Forvir and Bollen, but do not intend to remain. What was the point when you have abusive/corrupt GMs like GM Boreas who abuse their power to ban at whim for no reason at all even when it is something as simple as be careful how you phrase your statements so you don't come off so badly.

Just after saying this before I could log out I am immediately banned. This time I am perma banned for "multiple accounts", really simply to ensure that I don't mention any of this on his own forums which is, honestly, run as something akin to a dictatorship with how the account/banning system works and if you even so much as speak out.

I posted a review on RMS and got a funny reply.

My review by Koreth:
"Lag issues but new servers being looked into. Community was extremely friendly/helpful as a new player (particularly Forvir/Ballon, probably mispelled). Everything seems pretty solid, almost... Just one problem... GM Boreas actively abuses his power. He will insult others and then ban after he finishes trash talking. I stated in !main that he should phrase his statements better and not to take that offensively and it resulted in an immediate ban. Why invest time to be casually banned for nothin"
Rating: 69
Server
Stability: 7
Availability: 10 Community
Friendliness: 10
Eventfulness: 8 Game Masters
Friendliness: 1
Availability: 8
Helpfulness: 1 Game-play
Economy: 8
Guild Competition: 8
Class Balance: 8

The owner's reply to the review:
"Thank you for your review. Nobody abuses his powers, you simply had multiple forum accounts, which is against our server rules, and was banned because of that. While it might seem "nothing" to you, we constantly remind our players of this rule. Good luck finding a new server."

Interesting considering what just happened and the reason I had multiple forum accounts. That is not the reason I was banned. Good luck? I'm already in luck because I won't get randomly banned after investing real cash and time into the server, a server as you can see I voted as being quite favorable bar GM corruption. I don't know if other GMs are an issue but I do know that simply Googling GM Boreas TalonRO results in a number of hits on the first page about issues, specifically, with GM Boreas and his character as a GM and apparent abuse of power. Some of it is more of an issue of his behavior/attitude when handling things while others may be gross abuse of his position as GM. He clearly lets his ego get to him, and this only further reflects and enforces why what happened with my experience is an issue.

Example issues with GM Boreas:
1. http://forum.ratemyserver.net/server-reviews/talonro-problems/ (Notices identical issues related to GM Boreas behavior and ego I am posting about)
2. http://forum.ratemyserver.net/rant-and-rave/talonro(gm)-review/ (There is proof apparently shown and communications with GM Boreas that go beyond questionable and show a very egotistic personality that really doesn't give a damn willing to do whatever he pleases.
3. http://forum.ratemyserver.net/rant-and-rave/careful-with-talonro-donated-832-dollars-in-2-month-and-no-help!/5/?wap2 (As you can see from the chat logs and GM Boreas' response he has some personality flaws that are rather severe)

I stopped after those three, enough to reinforce a point. (If you want to see more, however, feel free to check http://forum.ratemyserver.net/index.php?action=search2).

If I am not mistaken GM Boreas is also the person who owns the server which means the issue isn't going to dispel. I very strongly suggest avoiding the server, completely, which is unfortunate as it seems like an ideal server for many if not for one extremely problematic person.

TalonRO reviews: http://ratemyserver.net/index.php?page=serverstat&serid=1491&itv=6&url_sname=TalonRO&page_num=1

[snowblind]

This doesn't surprise me. I've had similar experiences when I played on that server. Half our guild actually got banned for sharing accounts with one particular person who the GMs didn't like. Also noteworthy are the excessive censorship on the forums and GMs actively stalking players only to ban them several times, when they never harmed the server or its players. Surely there are better ways to spend your free time...

Well, you've provided enough examples of Boreas' problematic behaviour, so I don't think further proof is necessary. I can only urge players to use their own judgement and carefully consider if they want to deal with admins like that.

[TabooRo]

Sad..You would think the owner of such large server would behave more professionally..

I guess he has so many players online that he doesn't mind banning a few here and there 

Good luck finding a better server!

[Innomite]

It is not a surprise.

You know, that kind of "power abuse" is also seen in these forums... so yeah, that's a thing.

[Neffletics]

How I wish you've taken a screenshot lol
Anyway, I'm not surprised that he's banning people easily since his server's population is big, he'll be like "You're not loss, gtfo". Good luck on finding a new server, I hope the staffs of your new server won't ban you for criticism :p

[Koreth]

How I wish you've taken a screenshot lol
Anyway, I'm not surprised that he's banning people easily since his server's population is big, he'll be like "You're not loss, gtfo". Good luck on finding a new server, I hope the staffs of your new server won't ban you for criticism :p

I would have loved to, or even better recorded via Shadowplay but he has the client setup to close the application entirely the moment you get banned from the server (likely to avoid any such shadow recording features, etc.).

[IvoryMouse]

I actually started TalonRO today. Looks like that server is going into the Recycle Bin. Lol.

[Irreverence]

Utterly unprofessional. Good god.

[Ewol]

If only TalonRO closed too... we might be able to get one more good RO server.

[Charity Case]

If only TalonRO closed too... we might be able to get one more good RO server.

ggro is gone, thank god.
few bad servers like talonro out the window and we could actually get one or two legit servers.......but that probably wont happen


Im surprised talonro is still on the rms server listing, they have more then plenty proof of foul play and it should have been removed long time ago. but thats not my job so yeah....... just seems rms is pretty lenient on stuff like this.

[DeePee]

The bitterness of some of you people is real.

It's only natural that after being up for more than 8 years, we'll get some haters and angry people. Good thing that thousands of people enjoy playing on our server daily though For them we keep working hard to make the server an enjoyable place to play with growing amounts of content and customization options.

To all the bitter people: we're not going anywhere, sorry.

[ryosuky]

Well some of the server that are high populated will have this kind of issue well it just base on the server how to take action the server should be professional.. Well there are alot of of server that are good gm, player are friendly, helpfull but the server are lack of player example leika,hero ro well its doest mean that low player online make the server bad... sorrry for my broken english.. the main part are its how the server take action on the report based on what our friend here say with all the evidance the gm on ther server/should not say its hatred to the server but it will say example "well we will look/investigate in this problem and will take action if the gm are wrong" be professional not for just talonro but for all the private ro.. well sorry again for my broken english tyvm..

[Wyvern]

Talon caters to a particular community, so whether is goes down or not won't matter to me. Although the biggest issue in that server from what I can see is Boreas, so that should probably be improved.

[Decist]

The bitterness of some of you people is real.

It's only natural that after being up for more than 8 years, we'll get some haters and angry people. Good thing that thousands of people enjoy playing on our server daily though For them we keep working hard to make the server an enjoyable place to play with growing amounts of content and customization options.

To all the bitter people: we're not going anywhere, sorry.

Your server is quite good. But it could get even bigger if you remove those damned custom items that separates the community into two (Vanilla WOE/PVP and RICH kids WOE/PVP). Also, you integrated boss cards as part of donation, which is a major turn off for most hard core players out there. Heck, I mean come on, GGRO was able to amass players in a short amount of time because of not having the features that your server has.

GM Boreas also who likes meddling with player affairs. I remember getting most of our guild mates muted due to talking back to the opposing trash talking guild. And guess what, the other guild didn't get muted at all. Also, I got muted by your GM team multiple times because of KSing. Even though I didn't KS at all, I got reported without ever having any proper proof (eg. hitting a monster first and then this dude hits it and takes a screenshot. Boom, reported = mute). Well anyway, that was a very long time ago.

I didn't mind being ksed by other players at all, so long as they let me do the same. the problem is when I do the same to the kser, he will secretly report me without even telling me to stop. And you think that is good enough to f*** mute a player?

Learn from GGRO, they odn't have any s*** rules like what your server. The only problem they had is a s*** authority/corruption crisis.

[IvoryMouse]

The bitterness of some of you people is real.

It's only natural that after being up for more than 8 years, we'll get some haters and angry people. Good thing that thousands of people enjoy playing on our server daily though For them we keep working hard to make the server an enjoyable place to play with growing amounts of content and customization options.

To all the bitter people: we're not going anywhere, sorry.

It's not bitterness, it's called being real. If you must delude yourself into thinking your server is the cream of the crop, then you need to sit down and re-think your life. Each server has their up's and down's. If you can't come to terms on how your server has potentially screwed another player over who writes reviews, then that's on you.  "Haters/Angry People" these people are the ones who either make or break servers. If they write detailed reviews going over their experience on your server, then I'm sorry to say people are going to move away from your server.. You've been here for 8 year, that's great but let me give you a bit of advice a wise man once told me when I was a child. Nothing last forever, things eventually come to an end. This includes life itself. The longevity of your server solely rest on the shoulders of your playerbase.  If they are not happy, you will very much hear and see about it in no time flat.