What makes a HR/SHR server great & interesting?

[Jiri]

Okay, so I'm a SHR kind of player. I enjoy the big rates, fast-paced gameplay
and customs a SHR server offers. I've been with countless SHR servers for the past years and
currently server-hopping. Played a server that stayed with me for quite sometime after it unfortunately
closed (EpicWinRO, SeijitsuRO...) but I can't say that I've been with one great & really interesting SHR server.

What do you think makes a HR/SHR server great & interesting? (maybe in terms of gameplay as well)

[Gene]

I can see darkRO is still up~ but not as lively as it was before.

I don't really know why I got into it despite having modified OP cards, but their quests are good enough to make me stay and keep me busy.

What I hate on some SHR though, are 4 slotted gears and 2 slotted shields.

[Perry the Platypus]

Personally I like the 4-slotted ones; I like the different build combinations that you can come up with, and the fast-paced PvP since it involves a lot of gear swapping throughout the entire fight.

Although I'd say most of the current SHRs out there do a pretty bad job at it; they pretty much just slap on all the standard "balancing" changes (which don't really work) that every other 4-slotted SHR has, throw in a bunch of basic NPCs, and then spend the rest of their time figuring out how to make everyone donate for their gears. That's why I just ended up making my own server with proper balancing efforts, but I'm sure there's still a few other decent ones out there.

As for what makes the server great/interesting, I personally believe that the staff have more of an impact than the server's features do. I mean yeah, a server can have interesting features on it, but if the staff team never listens to the players, or never really work on updates, it starts to get boring pretty quick. It's up to the staff, especially the admin(s), to stay connected with the players and listen to their suggestions, even the minor ones that only matter for a small group of players; that way the server stays fresh for everyone. That pretty much applies to any server rates, really, but I feel like it's something that's missed out on more in SHRs since a lot of them are pretty much all the same these days.

If you did mean in terms of features though, the biggest thing for me is the balancing. One of the worst things is when you join an SHR and 90% of the players are Assassin Crosses because that's the only class worth using there. D:

[urboyfriend]

LOL at first i thought OP was sarcastic

btw i actually like the vision of balancing of some HR and SHR server especially yours Perry, But alot of us actually wants to immerse ourselves to the progression of ragnarok and the default setup, when i say "setup" means equipment and stats.

I hope someone also had the initiative to balance classes directly in mid and low rates 

[HarmsWay]

Nothing, they take away everything that makes the game.
Might as well just turn PVP on use only the guild maps and gor for perpetual WoE

[Razer]

IMO, HRs remove the joy of leveling and the sense of achievement but having played in some vintage SHRs before - I'd say the bigger problems are the lack of moderation(bots running rampant), short database life(yay wipes/crashes > : ) and the lack of unique content that provides some sort of long term goal.

[Perry the Platypus]

IMO, HRs remove the joy of leveling and the sense of achievement but having played in some vintage SHRs before - I'd say the bigger problems are the lack of moderation(bots running rampant), short database life(yay wipes/crashes > : ) and the lack of unique content that provides some sort of long term goal.

I've never understood the amount of database wipes in other SHRs...pretty much every time I announce an update on my server I get people asking me if there'll be any rollback/data wipes. It's kind of depressing to think that's considered normal to most SHR players now lol. Pretty much the same thing with the moderation and just the GM team in general; a lot of SHR admins don't seem to put any thought into hiring GMs anymore. They just skim over the applications, find someone who allegedly has "prior experience," and decide they'll make a perfect Head GM. It's not always easy to pick out a good GM, but I at least try to make an effort to get to know the applicants via interviews and just general in-game chatting, and discuss each of the applicants with the other GMs before making a decision.

As for long term goals and PvM gameplay, that's something I've noticed a lack of as well (admittedly even on my own server), but I've been working on it recently and have some more plans for future updates this year that should expand a lot on the PvM aspects of the server.


Sadly it seems most of the SHR admins these days are either too lazy or only in it for the money; they mostly just copy each other trying to throw out a server as fast as possible, and then hand-feed their players in an attempt to give them an incentive to stay. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one with any drive to have a unique server in the SHR scene now. D:

[urboyfriend]

Sadly it seems most of the SHR admins these days are either too lazy or only in it for the money; they mostly just copy each other trying to throw out a server as fast as possible, and then hand-feed their players in an attempt to give them an incentive to stay. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one with any drive to have a unique server in the SHR scene now. D:

This holds true in EVERY rates. Basically, everyone copies each others features at the moment and readjusts rates to look more attractive, other than that, everyone plays the "waiting game", will put on hold features that are suggested and everyone checks each others backyards to look for gimmicks that actually worked well and claim it for themselves. Too few people had the idea to innovate because too few server owners actually play their game.

[Bue]

This is the nature of open source.

Essentially, you can run your own private server without writing any source code, this excludes configuration and databases changes. Basically, a majority of the servers that has some feature is susceptible to copy and pasting some release source code.

The only problem is that someone can easily put in a backdoor or some clever exploit to fuck up your shit. (There are several techniques using scripting and code obfuscation, go explore!)

[Razer]

I think the only SHR I ever liked was qRO. It was a good experience with a stable database. Shame, it shut down.

[Variant]

As for long term goals and PvM gameplay, that's something I've noticed a lack of as well (admittedly even on my own server), but I've been working on it recently and have some more plans for future updates this year that should expand a lot on the PvM aspects of the server.

I agree. After playing SHRs for years and years, I realized that they got boring real fast. When I decided to start my server, I actually decided to design it as a single player game first, then add multiplayer components. I think it turned out really well honestly. A SHR has a lot of potential, but most people just see it as a PvP fest, which means a low population SHR is USUALLY pretty terrible.

Sadly it seems most of the SHR admins these days are either too lazy or only in it for the money; they mostly just copy each other trying to throw out a server as fast as possible, and then hand-feed their players in an attempt to give them an incentive to stay. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one with any drive to have a unique server in the SHR scene now. D:

Pfft. I don't disagree, but I invite you to give my server a shot! You don't have to stay or anything obviously, just so it gives you hope that there's still some innovation in the community . <Shameless advertising>

But yeah, you guys pretty much nailed the current image of SHRs, but here I'll tell ya guys a story:

The first server I developed and ran was SunriseRO. And... that was just bad. It was a run of the mill SHR with your classic super donations, melee rules all sorta deal. The network administrator just wanted money, I was just a kid who wanted to run a RO server, and before long, things got way out of hand. Balance was being compromised for money, corruption was rampant... all in all, I was a pretty terrible developer and administrator, and I just gave up and passed the torch on to someone else. So I studied for a while, became a developer for a ton of servers, ranging from MR to SHR, and then I finally decided I was gonna do something that'd revolutionize SHRs, and so I started on a project to break all the rules of the game.

The point of a SHR to me was a relatively short investment for a substantial gain. Usually this meant that you'd be given everything, and then just go straight to PvP. This is hard to balance a long-lasting game around though, so I thought about it for a while and came to the conclusion that... why don't I just make the numbers even higher? And make more single player content? And give people more builds to choose from? So I went and modified the client to support damage up to 999,999,999. I went and modified skills and classes to make them more convenient, but didn't want to eliminate any builds so I found compromises and asked players for input on how to adjust the meta. I created a character upgrade system to allow for customization to adapt to the meta without modifying any single class. And beyond that, I went and studied how I could make bosses harder for players to fight initially, but easier as they scaled up (because well... I didn't expect anyone to actually play, but I wanted to make it fun for that one person that would give RRO a chance). It was pretty fun thinking about these problems and solving em, and I'm still enjoying it.

---

So I dunno, I think a SHR has the most potential for innovation of any type of RO server. The things you can accomplish with a playing ground where the lower bound is already way higher than any other type of rate... is pretty amazing. I've added a ton of things, and I still have a lot more in mind to add, and I'm honestly loving every moment. The tools available to you are innumerable! Don't be restricted by what you think you can do! This isn't just for SHRs, but RO servers in general! Surpass your limits!

[Bue]

To be fair, I read the server information page on both your servers and they both offer nothing new.

[Variant]

To be fair, I read the server information page on both your servers and they both offer nothing new.

Eh. Really. Well now that's sad.

Do you mean the RMS info page? It's actually kinda hard fitting everything about a server into that character limit, especially when it's confined to a generic setting.


Edit: Ah I see, our server's About Us page is kinda bare too. I should add pictures or something.

Edit2: Thanks for the heads up Bue, I updated our About Us page with some old videos. I'll probably create some new ones soon. If pictures can mean a thousand words, then videos can probably convey more meaning than I could ever type in this lifetime.

[Bue]

Yup, I read the changelog, wiki, and forum threads.

Nothing stands out at all; simple modifications all over the place.

Edited: I used to play SHR servers back a few years ago; notably OnnaRO which had a fully-implemented custom dungeon, well-design equipment that had unique attributes (non-boosting), etc. Pretty much did a whole tour of all the available SHR servers before going back to mid-rates, where the configurations settings don't break the game and not everyone is a SinX.

[urboyfriend]

So I dunno, I think a SHR has the most potential for innovation of any type of RO server.

I believe that would be Mid Rates as it is a common meeting ground for people who want to immerse theirselves to the progression of the game and people who got sick of it.