EssenceRO Review

[PhoenixWright]

Server Name: EssenceRO
Mid Rate Server (Rates: 75/75/50)
400+ players online, with those on autovend, it can reach the 500 mark.
Max Levels: 170/90
Time I spent playing: Less than 1 month

Connection/Availability: It is a stable server if you have a good internet connection but you may lag at times. It is online with the exception of the rare server crash.

Friendliness: This is where it takes a dive. It's possible to make plenty of friends on the server, however, it is also a haven for rude players. This is because the Administrators/Moderation/GM team are extremely lenient on rule breakers. They may permenently ban a person who breakes the rules, only if it affects gameplay (i.e a bot, vending in the wrong place). Any other rule is merely for decoration, since harrassment (and sexual harrassment) is hardly enforced. You may come across a number of rude and offensive players in your stay and the best thing the staff will do is "simply ignore the offender or use /ex". Due to this passive behavior on part of the staff, favoritism may be at work here as well. In all, the staff needs to get serious and do something about their rule enforcement.

Events: The events hosted by the GM(s) are good on paper, but terrible in execution. I have participated in the Easter Event and it didn't have any thought put into it. Here's the event: Easter Eggs spawn in 7 select towns as well as an event monster known as the "Snow Bunny". The Bunny has an "extremely delayed respawn time" and it only spawns in one of the select towns. You may catch or kill the Bunny for its dropped rare items. Combine this with the online server population of 400+ players, the leniency of the Staff on the rules (in this case, KS-ing without repercussion), and the event is hardly enjoyable. It took a server crash to actually catch the Bunny as a pet by a friend of mine, since the moment the other players see the bunny, it's KS-ville from there. If the events are like this, then a person would not bother with them in the first place.

GM/Staff: The Staff is very friendly, and you can get along with them. You may see them in-game for debugging, fixing and nerfing, or showing new custom items. Now depending on what you need help with, you may or may not be helped. Obvious things like begging for zeny and such foolishness is forgotten while other simple questions (like explaining why such and such skill is broken, etc.) do get a fairly quick answer. They are human after all, so they answer questions one at a time, of course.

Economy: Since there is no donation system, expect for premium @commands, a player can buy whatever he/she desires with raw zeny or trade for items. The rare items being more expensive, and what have you. Farm zeny and buy what you need, fairly simple.

Guild Competition: Now, I have not experienced WoE or PvP, so I don't have much to say but the expected "Max level characters will defeat lower level ones". For WoE, it is very competitive. A castle is taken and in the following minutes, that same castle can be taken by another guild, so on and so forth.

Class Balance: I am a firm believer that MMO games have the worst balacing gameplay compared to a fighting game (This is another topic entirely, so I won't go into it). That said, most classes shine once you get them to its max level, 170, and with dedication and time spent equiping that character with beneficial gear, you can defeat that MvP/Monster or if in a PvP/WoE situation, your fellow player. Now, due to the nature of the customs, and nerfing done in the past/present, some classes may rely on one set build.
You'll see a lot of Gunslingers with Revolvers (and the occasional Gattling Gun), Snipers and Priests in the server since they level the fastest. The other classes are fairly equal if the player knows that he/she is doing, but Gunslingers/Snipers/Priests reign on top, in terms of popularity.

In all, the server is a good place to play, if for only a while. Stay for the gameplay but leave for the community.

P.S. This is my first attempt at a review on RMS, so I tried as best I can to be fair and honest. Comments, suggestions and constructive critism are all welcome. No Flaming/Trolling, please. Keep it civil. Thank you.

[Tira]

I agree with a lot of the above, to be honest - the only thing I do take slight exception to is the 1 (?) given against Guild Competition in the main review - particularly since you haven't participated in WoE. Looking over the last few weeks of WoE videos (which is filmed every time by one of the players):

http://www.veoh.com/channels/essencero/

The last criteria that deserves a 1 is guild competition, from what I can see - particularly with 5+ guilds and 150+ players in some castles simultaneously.

Community can, however, admittedly be a problem. Most of the enforcement emphasis is placed on "pressing" issues such as botting, which doesn't leave much remaining time on the part of the (small) staff team, particularly when faced with a large community of active players.

Other than the main review 1 for guild competition, I can see where you're coming from on most issues, so thanks for the honest review.