KokoRO, a great server no one knows about

[Miss Lily]

I keep seeing a number of reviews comparing 1x servers, but no one mentions KokoRO, which is a shame.  It predates all of them, but there is never any drama associated with it so no one talks about it.  I created a forum account just to post a review for this server.

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If there is a shortcoming for KokoRO, this is it.  They don't advertise.  At all.  As in zero, none, nada, zilch.  I inquired as to why they don't, and their response was they would prefer to prioritize features over marketing.  While I can respect that, some amount of advertisement would go a long way to improving the population.
1/10

Community
Its really small, but everyone is super friendly and knowledgeable.  I only wish it was bigger.
5/10

Custom
There are effectively no custom changes.  They disabled Icewall/Reflect on high end MVP maps and implemented same-sex marriage, but both of these are official (at least in renewal).
10/10

Database
Their database is the best prenewal database (https://cp.kokotewa.com/resources/database) out there.  If you're not already using it, I strongly recommend you check it out - they even included a toggle to include future/unavailable content so it can be used for other servers.  Its the most transparent, and comprehensive, database out there.  My only complaint is that some of the features are hidden away in otherwise non-intuitive tooltips, which took some getting used to.  In general, if you want more information on something (be it which NPC crafts it, player craft success rates, or monster skill info), you can mouse over it or click on it and tada - more information!
11/10

Donations
They don't accept any.  The server is purely F2P and there is no way to financially support the server.  I was concerned about the server longevity at first, given that they're paying out of pocket, but this is my second year playing here and I've been very happy so far.
10/10

Events
KokoRO doesn't have events, they focus on permanent features.  This is a miss for players who want the occasional spice to their experience, but its fair to future players.  Anyone who joins today has access to the same content as early adopters (there aren't any missed exclusive items or exp/items events).  This is perfect for me, but I understand its not for everyone.
?/10

Mechanics
100% authentic.  This phrase gets used a lot, which dilutes its meaning, so let me go one step further - the KokoRO public test environment is used by eA/Herc developers to improve the accuracy of their respective emulators.  No complaints here.
10/10

Stability
The server is incredibly stable, almost to a frightening degree. Maintenance is usually < 5 minutes.
10/10

Staff
There aren't many staff members (2). They're active in Discord and will happily answer questions.  They're always calm, even when presented with opinions they disagree with.  If you scroll back far enough into the Discord history, you can even read conversations between them and Lord J and Savyon (yes, THAT Lord J and Savyon).
10/10

[Ralgondo]

It's a good server. This day in age, it doesn't appeal to the private server crowd who are used to many quality of life benefits (autoloot, autotrade, etc). But for those who enjoy a more traditional, slower paced grind, It's a great server. It's worth mentioning (if OP didn't already) that the server is not your usual eAthena / rAthena / whatever emulation. You can read about that in detail on the site for anyone who is curious. The guy who runs it is a real savant / RO enthusiast. But like you mentioned, population is low, I've seen many people come and go but there does seem to be a small loyal group. Hopefully more people come aboard who want to stick around.

[Khinaya]

I can confirm it's a great server as well~

To the readers~ If you are new or returning and want to try out the server and need something snatched or brewed, feel free to message Libra/Lavia/Celine on the Koko Discord server. 

Hope you enjoy your stay! Have a nice day. 

[Oathkeeper]

Can't really comment on the server, but I will say their database is one of the cleanest I've seen and it really is a clean UI for the information provided. The admins I'm sure enjoy their project, but they honestly have a database and control panel that rivals FluxCP that has become mostly the standard (I'd honestly license it if it were available haha).

[Mune]

I have been a member of the kokoRo community for just over a year now and I must say that I have rarely seen people who put so much heart and soul into a project as our two admins do.
Every little problem is tackled, and for as long as it takes.

As the OP already mentioned, kokoRO has an incredibly clean database. Improvements are always being made here, which also have an effect on the flow of the game.
The server certainly owes this in part to its community. We have some very affine people in the area of programming, who are also always involved in processes.

To stay with the community: As Ralgando already mentioned, we have a very small and hard core. 1 rate and no cosmetic/skill adjustments only appeal to a small group of enthusiasts. We also don't have any events.
Accordingly, it can be difficult to get a certain item.
Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and farm yourself.
Nevertheless, it is one of the friendliest and most helpful communities I have experienced to date.
From helping out newcomers to "can you come online quickly and craft 500 blue pots for me?"

If you really want to play Ragnarok like we did in our youth, then this is the only server that really reflects that experience.

[Khinaya]

From helping out newcomers to "can you come online quickly and craft 500 blue pots for me?"

Potions made from a certified mad alchemist that enjoys brewing. either a mad scientist or a mad fool?  both! both works  either way, he's right 

[Godrix]

I have wanted to play KoKo RO as my main game since it released but the character cell movement in the game which they say is the official authentic movement is unlike any other private server i have ever played and i can not get use to it no matter how long i tried. The character starts going to a cell and will lock onto it like the monks snap skill and it has a huge delay till it moves again unless you click a new cell before it gets to it but the character can only move a distance of like 6 cells so you can't click a cell far away like other private servers, you can hold down the movement button and continuously move but it will stop from time to time,  can't heal bomb as an aco when you hold down the mouse movement button so it's pointless unless you plan to walk without attacking mobs.

I checked my ping to the server a long time ago and i had like 20 ping and i talked to the admin when the server opened and after we talked and i streamed myself playing the game on discord he said they use the official movement which most private servers don't use ( all i have played for like 18 years off and on is a different movement style) and they had/have no plans to change it to what most servers use as it prevents exploits, makes it very very very hard as a aco who is use to most other server movement to heal bomb and run as your character will go to a cell and get killed before you can move again.

If they changed the movement to match other servers i would happily join

[Khinaya]

I checked my ping to the server a long time ago and i had like 20 ping and i talked to the admin when the server opened and after we talked and i streamed myself playing the game on discord he said they use the official movement which most private servers don't use ( all i have played for like 18 years off and on is a different movement style) and they had/have no plans to change it to what most servers use as it prevents exploits, makes it very very very hard as a aco who is use to most other server movement to heal bomb and run as your character will go to a cell and get killed before you can move again.

If they changed the movement to match other servers i would happily join

Hi Godrix.

The server improved a lot performance wise. As someone that has an absurd high latency(talking 160~230ms on average) I can play super smooth compared to before the .Grf reduction maintenance.

Maybe this is the change you've been waiting for? Feel free to give Koko a try again! Have a nice day.

[Reehux]

Hi Miss Lily,

if you think the server is great but lack advertisement and player base, why don't you help it?
even the RMS reviews are pretty much lacking, I'm strongly agrees with admins telling players to help
their servers by voting and reviewing, it's win-win solution for both admins and players, nobody gets hurt.

another way to advertise is by making videos and share it, because someone (Godrix) says in one of the replies,
character movement is a bit different and everyone wants to see it, I personally wants to see how the server going
before decides to move in.

You know there are many low rate servers with their own taste, some even dare to destroy balance because the admins listened to
evil minions who wants their favorite class modified, like a brewer alchemist capable of deal AoE damage better than a battle-oriented builds of other classes, which is saddening but that's the reality.

I read on site's FAQ that kokoRO does not ban multiclienting, is it true?

no offense but, imbalance between classes, multiclienting, and admins who listened to evil minions should close their server forever.

[Mune]

May i ask what you don't like about multiclients when you say servers that support them should be closed?

Especially here you have the problem that you have a very small server and can't always find the right party, and if you don't want to change the classic structure, you can't implement buffers and co.

So yeah, I think multiclients are pretty fine and I dont see the issue, but looking forward to your answer.

[ac195]

This is very commonly an important thing for classic and lower rate servers because then people will just have slaves to progress them and it incentivizes solo play over group play. True it may be hard to find a group, but theres also kill turn ins for solo play too... So it's just hard to see what multiclient can bring other than just a buff slave.

[aerisdies]

I want to try this but why the heck my DL speeds for both the data.GRF and latest.zip only goes around 35~60Kbps only?!
PH country here @ 200Mbps with properly configured Asus AX55 router.

Is there any other mirror out there like in Mediafire or anything?

Edit:
great support from Koko.
currently resolving this one.

[Oathkeeper]

After reviewing what Koko has done and talking to him, I can say with confidence that if you are looking at an original Aegis built server that does things pretty much by the book, KokoRO is it. I say this purely as a fan of RO (not as a server owner), Koko (the person) is what I would consider THE industry expert when it comes to RO's official-like programming and backend infrastructure. Furthermore, he is passionate about what he does and loves discussing the technical aspects of the server. Only for lack of time do I have too little time to actually play KokoRO seriously, but what I can say is that the devotion made by Koko is superb and I admire it and what he's built over time. Aegis is a much harder server to program for given its source code is raw, unlike a more refined version like Athena or Hercules. This obviously makes the server more true to form, but also much harder to develop on, yet Koko has spent a lot of time getting to know how the code works and again, if you are looking for a devoted owner/GM, this server has that offering.

If you are looking for a pure vanilla RO server (with a few very minor improvements only Koko could really know how to do), then KokoRO is a great server to check out.

[Neffletics]

Koko is a wonderful person. You're in good hands if you're playing on this server. He's extremely knowledgeable and skilled in all aspects of the game, both technical and gameplay.

[Playtester]

Can confirm, Koko is an amazing person.

This review actually made me finally give that server a try. But the lack of other players, no player stores (meaning you will need to hunt stuff yourself) and 1x rates (+ no cash shop or subscription bonuses, so it's basically harder than official servers) just make it too brutal for me personally. I needed an hour just to get out of novice grounds because it requires you to reach job level 10 (I'm sure that's official for some servers, but it's really brutal, I'd rather explore the world than being stuck in novice grounds forever).

But the amounts of work and analysis that Koko put into this is amazing. If you are not convinced because of the cheap looking website, just read his dev blog (it's linked on the website).

I will say this: When you have a group of friends and you want to experience fully vanilla RO just together as group without being bothered by bad players (or bad server owner), then it's definitely the best pick I see.

Unlike easy to use emulators like rAthena and Herc where you could just say "If you play alone anyway, just make an offline server", this kind of fully official server is very hard to set up, so playing on KokoRO is definitely a better option for the fully official experience that will save you a lot of trouble.