[REVIEW] Fate RO

[BlackStorm]

Fate RO
20/20/10/10
Website: [EDITTED]
Forums: [EDITTED]

Score: 87/100

Server
Stability (9/10): Server has crashed once. And that was because the GM decided to intentionally mock standard RO MVPs by creating his own that did 99999 damage on every strike, spammed Stormgust, Waterball, LoV, and duplicated itself infinitely. Aside from that, there have been no actual server crashes.

Availability (9/10):  The server has no set maintenance times, but they do take it down briefly (for about 10-15 minutes) every 3-4 days for server updates. Whenever players have an issue connecting, a simple peek at the forums will inform them on how to troubleshoot it because the GMs will have posted the solution right away. The server is still very much considered to be up 24/7

Community
Friendliness (9/10): The community is quite friendly and helpful. Often offering help and advice over @main chat with player's who are stuck on quests or those who just need to know how they should build their class. There is also quite a bit of friendly competition, as is evident by the frequent duels in town.

Eventfulness (7/10): The actual events that are hosted are few.. Ranging from about 2-3 a week, but they are better events than most other servers I have been to. They are often a bit more creative and complex to set up and their rewards are often better as well.

Game Master
Friendliness (10/10): Gamemasters are extremely friendly and willing to drop whatever they're doing to come help you with your problem right away. Even for solutions outside of RO, they'll help you troubleshoot your computer problem until you're satisfied and can play again. I had an issue with my router and my ports, and the GMs walked me right through it on MSN and ventrilo.

Availability (10/10): Gamemasters are availible whenever they're not sleeping. Although the server puts little emphasis on IRC, gamemasters allow you to add them to your MSN list and you can freely PM them at any time.. Even while they're in class. At which point, they usually log onto RO on their laptops and come in to help you with your problem.

Helpfulness (10/10): This was true for me, although I'm not sure for others. The GM I spoke to wasn't able to solve my problem right away... But 6 hours later, he comes back exhausted with the solution to my problem. They have a huge amount of dedication to their players and making sure everything works right for them.

Game Play
Economy (7/10): Player shops do exist at times, but most people are online playing on their characters. There have been several cases of members making a lot of money by setting up vendors, and it is strongly encouraged that vendors sell extra instance equipment they dont need. There are many money sinks in the economy, from the healring (which charges increasing amounts of zeny) and gambling events.

Guild Competition (9/10): Guild competition picked up a lot recently with one of the largest guilds on the server having to defend their home castle against the rest of the server. In one of the most intense battles I've seen in RO, the guild actually lost their grasp on the castle and had their castle conquered. Because of how much fun everyone had in that battle, more and more guilds are springing up and competition is starting to build. For players interested in joining the server, I would do it now while the new guilds are still recruiting and power leveling their characters and raiding new instances.

Class Balance (8/10): One of Fate RO's best things is the number of custom items they have. Instanced dungeons are new custom dungeons specific to Fate RO. They provide armor sets and weapon sets of custom equipment. Despite the number of customs, they are all a gradual strengthening of current RO gear, so that they are minor steps up from the RO gear you could normally obtain. There are epic items which are as powerful as they are neat (they often have custom sprites so you can easily recognize what weapon they have) they are not so ridiculous that they will become godly. In fact, most of the custom items only provide a few extra stat points or special effects or a skill execution chance. They add diversity and creativity, but they do not overthrow the balance of the game. The GMs constantly make changes to the server to make sure things are balanced and not unfair for anyone. Now the GMs are implementing new custom skills and even an entire custom sub-class (Shadowpriests) which are surprisingly well balanced and unique with Damage over Time attacks (rather than the wizard's one shot capability).

Conclusion:
Fate RO is a really great server that focuses very much on custom end game content without destroying standard RO. It's a good hybrid of custom private server life and standard RO life. There are no donation items, or free job changers. Instances are custom dungeons with very unique custom monsters that require an actual strategy to defeat, and not just upfront bashing. Any party that is unwary or reckless will quickly get themselves killed. Impressively, this server has converted almost all of its players into thinking, strategic and cohesive fighters . The difference shows even when in PVP events or WoE.

(I hope Fox forgives me for borrowing his formatting XD)

[mcjhaychen0918]

We can often offering help and advice over @main chat with player's who are stuck on quests or those who just need to know how they should build their class.It will be the great idea.



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