Ragnarok Travels vs retRO (long read)

[xtarinos]

Seeing the heated feud go on between the two server playerbase, thought i'd chime in.


Ragnarok Travels

I played the server quite briefly for about a month when it came out. I am usually a sucker for low rates and the server looked promising. The start was difficult specially due to the lack for parties or players. However i powered through and got myself a nice level 30ish thief. That was the peak of covid times(stay at home) so i tried getting my girlfriend into RO. She had tried Origins for a bit but is quite new to the game. When i went to register an account for her the weirdness of this server started to show.

When making an account it asks for your phone number, which is super weird but i didn't think much of it at the time. But when making an account for my girlfriend it just wouldn't let us create one. Even when using a different number, just gave some error. I had to use a VPN to create her an account. Then more weirdness with the client since it was running it's own anti-cheat software, which my girlfriend objected to, again being the RO lover i am just ignored it in the start. However i assured her that it's not giving any issues on my laptop so on with it. In hindsight that was a pretty dumb mistake by me because he runs his own anti-cheat. Gepard and others are tested softwares, running an unknown software is a bit fishy but i didn't face any issues myself. Anyways back to my experience.

So me and her played for a while, i think she got to like lvl 20 or so, the next day she had work from home so i told her to just buff me whilst i level up, which she was happy to as it was just alt tabbing and giving me agi up (was far from getting blessing). I wasn't exp sharing (since leeching wasn't allowed), however i can see how this whole thing might have looked suspicious from the admins side of things.

We woke up the next day unable to log into our accounts. Knowing what others have reported, y'all know whats coming, we were due for a ban. Which atm was super weird to me because i kinda expected for him to do further investigation or check with us. Being banned from a low-pop newly released server was a bit of a surprise. It kinda made me wonder, shouldn't the team be focusing on other more pressing matters rather than policing so aggressively, since the game still wasn't completely ironed out, there were a few bugs people were reporting and we were facing minor lag issues despite being in mid-west US(server is NA based as far as i know).

Sam day i approached Lord J (the admin/owner) inquiring about the ban. The only thing he told me that it was on the grounds of multi clienting. Which frankly i wasn't, but again i can see how someone could construed it as multi-clienting. Ill post my last chat with him on discord for you guys to see it.

tldr: I asked him for my account back. He hit me back with a *nothing personal dude*(??). Asked me prove me that i wasn't multi clienting, or i guess prove that i have a girlfriend who plays? I don't know what proof he wanted but moving on. The chat is posted for you guys to read

The only good thing ill say about the server is that when it wasn't lagging, it did feel fluid. I don't think Lord J is dishonest in anyway, he probably does want to create an authentic RO experience, but RO is quite alot about the social aspect of human interaction in an online game, and that's where his server is really lacking. My friend recently checked out the server a week ago, and it felt quite barren and dead to him. And the community remaining is basically a circle-jerk. Also the changes are absurd, idk if Teleport is suppose to be 100SP in iRO, never experienced it in any private or official RO (i might be wrong here though).


retRO

I've made this post long enough and it's highly opinionated, so imma keep the retRO part short and more comparative since they identical servers in their offerings.

The server is quite identical to RO Travels, however the discord is alot more lively and so are the cities. Parties are alot more common and frankly the server feels more populated than it's 150ish (50 auto traders) feels. Just been two weeks but really enjoying the server. The only major difference is that you can have an auto-trader + being playing your character, which really doesn't change the gameplay experience and probably is a smarter move as it helped the economy flow. Start was equally as rough as Ragnarok Travels, where i was barely able to buy healing items in the first few days, but due to a healthier economy i've got decent zeny that i don't have to worry about kafra teleports or buying consumables.

Even though the server is 6 months old and i've been playing for 2 weeks, i don't feel that i am too behind interms of equips, levels and zeny, i've already gotten a level 50 character thanks to some great Sage Worm parties, the community is super helpful, and the staff is real friendly, i've had bugs here and there and they seem quite genuine and apathetic when i reported it. They have the social skills of running a server pretty nailed. The only negative i can say for the server is the website is quite an eye-sore, that's like the only thing i'd give Ragnarok Travels a point over retRO.

The ping is fine playing from NA, though it is an EU based server. No complains there, similarish to what i get playing OriginsRO.

The client however is a wee bit buggy. Nothing game breaking, but annoying nonethless, reported it and GMs seem to be working on it.

Edit (missed this part): retRO also doesn't take any donations from what i can see. And in RO Travels defense, it doesn't either (sort of). It has this monthly subscription model to get access to their database, cosmetics and few other perks. I don't suspect it's game altering but it isn't totally donation free i guess, but i didn't subscribe so can't go too indepth there.

And lastly, they have a section on their website for people who have 2 players living in the same house, it is possible, you just gotta notify them before.

To sum up, both servers are pretty identical, but Ragnarok Travels is run by a CCP Gestapo KGB levels of punishment and strictness, along with the suppression of free speech that comes with it. Cheers!

[Imperial Regalia]

Hi xtarinos,

You are a 4 time ban evader and your original two accounts have nearly identical names with nearly all of the same registration information. The characters on these accounts follow the same naming scheme, and the second character was only used to autofollow and buff the first. 3 of your 4 accounts were registered from proxies and mobile IPs.

[xtarinos]

Yep, i did use proxies to create accounts as stated earlier in the original post.

The other two account were mine and were abandoned and not used after i realized that i have to use a single account. I guess i skipped the ToS part on that.
We are not proving our innocence here, since i already admitted using a VPN to register which i presume is not allowed in your ToS.

However we did not auto follow, multi-client or leech.

Though it doesn't matter now i guess.

What is concerning that you would share an ex-players login credentials on a publicly viewable platform. That is pretty sus.

[Imperial Regalia]

Your two character names are public information. Honest behavior would've been to inform staff before using a VPN to create the initial two accounts, because by nature of needing a VPN it was clear you weren't supposed to. The purpose of the subsequent multi-clienting and ban evasion was quite clear.

The other two account were mine and were abandoned and not used after i realized that i have to use a single account.

....

However we did not auto follow, multi-client or leech.

[xtarinos]

Your two character names are public information.

Bruh, what you initially posted weren't character names. Those were login IDs and clearly are not suppose to be public information.

Those were posted by you by, then later on removed by RMS due to it being sensitive information, and then later edited out by you, presumably after your realized your mistake.

Screenshots posted down below of the original posts.

[xtarinos]

The characters on these accounts follow the same naming scheme

And there would have been no pattern in character names, there absolutely would have been a pattern in login IDs mostly for convenience of remembering.
I know this because most of our character names are pretty consistent.

Merchants are xtarinos(if male), Rogue would be called Ceridwen, and Priest is Arwa. Those classes are usually what we start off servers with.

xtarinos is a random self thought of name. Ceridwen is a celtic goddess, and Arwa is the name of a water bottling company in the middle-east (also a common girl name in that region). Idk what pattern you found in that.

Those are what we have called our characters for about 5 years now across many servers.

[Playtester]

He hit me back with a *nothing personal dude*(??).

Did he suddenly teleport behind you?

...sorry couldn't help myself.

[Kirchen]

Okay since my review has been called a fake review. Id like to show some prove. And if the staff reads this, please as well take that as a report for the server itself.







I think that says all about the server. dont play it.

[Ayahuasca]

Okay since my review has been called a fake review. Id like to show some prove. And if the staff reads this, please as well take that as a report for the server itself.







I think that says all about the server. dont play it.

Given this information I'd request the mods remove the owner's reply.

[Shuchou]

Lord J abuses RMS's guide lines for rating to falsely claim bad reviews to be misleading or false as smoke and mirrors is the only thing keeping a small handful of players around. If the RMS staff spend a month on the server undercover and truly dug around they would see how toxic the server owner really is. As well as most of the reviews that have been trying to point it out were in fact REAL REVIEWS and that the server even falsely claims to be an "authentic" official mimic when it's far from it. Pre-renewal balances in classic episodes, renewal UI, Autotrading, pet looting and bonuses, are not in episode 8... It's pretty sad that RMS admins don't look into the core of issues and just slap a band aid on everything based on misleading reports.

[Imperial Regalia]

Okay since my review has been called a fake review. Id like to show some prove.

It's a fake review because you have a conflict of interest that you're not disclosing — one of your closest friends has a staff position on the other server. Regardless of when you played, it is impossible for you to be impartial now given that relationship. The nepotism and lying about multiclienting seen here does not surprise me, and is ultimately one of the reasons that Ragnarok Travels exists.

Players will make their choices depending on how much they tolerate these kind of things.

[Ayahuasca]

It's a fake review because you have a conflict of interest that you're not disclosing — one of your closest friends has a staff position on the other server. Regardless of when you played, it is impossible for you to be impartial now given that relationship. The nepotism and lying about multiclienting seen here does not surprise me, and is ultimately one of the reasons that Ragnarok Travels exists.

Players will make their choices depending on how much they tolerate these kind of things.

There's always a reason why it's never Lord J's fault and every one else is just being mean, scheming, lying, fake, etc.

If you run into [jerks] all day long... so on and so forth.

[baphomet123]

one of the sh*t servers that i have played. Not worth playing this server full of toxic and the admin is full of corrupt and bad ideas on the server. Just don't play it. server trash and it's a fact.

[neethree]

It's a fake review because you have a conflict of interest that you're not disclosing — one of your closest friends has a staff position on the other server. Regardless of when you played, it is impossible for you to be impartial now given that relationship. The nepotism and lying about multiclienting seen here does not surprise me, and is ultimately one of the reasons that Ragnarok Travels exists.

Players will make their choices depending on how much they tolerate these kind of things.

Everyone has bias. He played, didn't like it, and listed the specific things he didn't like. Just because it's not positive doesn't mean it's fake.
Maybe you should add a background check to your application process if you want to ensure only impartial players with no ties to other servers play.

[Kirchen]

It's a fake review because you have a conflict of interest that you're not disclosing — one of your closest friends has a staff position on the other server. Regardless of when you played, it is impossible for you to be impartial now given that relationship. The nepotism and lying about multiclienting seen here does not surprise me, and is ultimately one of the reasons that Ragnarok Travels exists.

Players will make their choices depending on how much they tolerate these kind of things.

At this point i am not sure you are trolling.

Just because I play on a server doesnt make the admin my "closest" friends. what kinda of hidden bait it this.
And i am completly neutral in terms of server settings. Ive tried your server with a few players of my guild for a good amount of time. And it simply isnt exactly offering what you are saying. It is a 1x server , yes. But it uses aegis wich provides buggy clients, wich isnt a good ro experience and second is your server i just set to 1x.

(Wasnt there when I played, if it was there i would have never started) -> It offers exp manuals for donation. It provides premium acc stuff. And you have total random change of teleport skill with 100sp.
my complet review is proven and those dates of the conversation where even before retro and we as a guild even left before retro was announced.

[Raïner]

It's a fake review because you have a conflict of interest that you're not disclosing — one of your closest friends has a staff position on the other server. Regardless of when you played, it is impossible for you to be impartial now given that relationship. The nepotism and lying about multiclienting seen here does not surprise me, and is ultimately one of the reasons that Ragnarok Travels exists.

Players will make their choices depending on how much they tolerate these kind of things.

At this point i dont trust nothing with your words, simply because ure claiming that retRO is full of multi-clienter due to the exploit of master account. U said long ago to not make a merc alt solely for vending, and now u announced it in your update. Your words has no meaning, and ur server is garbage 

[Imperial Regalia]

At this point i dont trust nothing with your words

This was you before you and your guild received punishments:

You deserved the ban hammer, and instead of whining about J's decision, suck it up ... People are not stupid, and dont expect others to buy your story based on nothing.

In this case, all I can recommend is that you take your previous advice.

Everyone has bias.

Everyone has bias, not everyone has conflicts of interest. As mentioned, one of his closest friends has a staff position on the other server. Regardless of when he played, it is impossible for him to be impartial now given that relationship. The nepotism and lying about multiclienting seen here does not surprise me, and is ultimately one of the reasons that Ragnarok Travels exists.

Players will make their choices depending on how much they tolerate these kind of things.

[Raïner]

This was you before you and your guild received punishments:

In this case, all I can recommend is that you take your previous advice.
Everyone has bias, not everyone has conflicts of interest. As mentioned, one of his closest friends has a staff position on the other server. Regardless of when he played, it is impossible for him to be impartial now given that relationship. The nepotism and lying about multiclienting seen here does not surprise me, and is ultimately one of the reasons that Ragnarok Travels exists.

Players will make their choices depending on how much they tolerate these kind of things.

Are you trying to persuade the situation here?

This was me before the absurd changes of 100sp teleport, 250z fly wing, 2.5k blue gems, and 12k ygg leaf.
I did still play your server despite all my guild members got kicked, and i did revert my negative reviews on your server. What are you trying to prove? Stop trying to manipulate people into thinking that i left a negative review on your server due to my guildies being kicked out of the server you manipulative fk. My guildies got kicked at 7th july, and im still playing til 27th july.
The main reason why i quit your server in the first place is that, ure a mental sociopath.
1. You constantly manipulate your players that retRO is a bad place, with corrupt system, multi-client, and overall, a bad place to play, which is not true.
2. You often mute/kick/ban people for expressing their opinions. Kirua jokingly make a sarcastic comment on the changes and u did what? You muted him for 24 hours  . What is this? GulagRO?
3. Your words cannot be trusted. Back then you confirmed that you will never implement side-client vendors, and u just did what recently? Implement a master account system for vending 
4. You never show concerns to your players, but to justify your own decisions. After the absurd changes, alot of players quitted, and you decided to revert your changes excluding 100 sp teleport. People that recently sold their stash of gems, fly wings, ygg leafs got huge zeny boost and inflation, while others still suffer. We expect an apology to the issues, and what did you do? NOTHING  . You deleted all the messages regarding the issues, muting/banning people for asking/speaking about the matter.

Lastly, i find it funny that u call your 100 sp teleport change Authentic Experience that is Official , but you dont have the balls to pin your changes on the #changelogs section on discord. Alot of newbies that dont know about the 100 sp teleport change, ended up hunting creamy just to realised that they cannot use it  . And please if you do intent to fix it, fix it correctly at least. My newly created thief has like 75 sp, and i can use teleport . Basically, if u have over 1 sp u could use teleport and still abuse the skill, which is ideal for rogues, while monks, priests and other classes all suffer. 

Im glad that i left your server for good.


Staff edit: removed personal attacks, watch your language.

[xtarinos]

Everyone has bias, not everyone has conflicts of interest. As mentioned, one of his closest friends has a staff position on the other server.

Bruh, being friends with an admin isn't a conflict of interest. It would only be a conflict of interest if another admin wrote the review him/herself.

Also speaking about reviews on RMS, you have basically accused every person with a "fake review" on the RMS review page who gave you a score below 50 along with accusing them with multi-clienting, opposition attack, toxic behavior, boycotting(??) advertising another server, political activism or botting (which according to your website should be impossible due to your in-house security system, your words not mine.)

Does this imply that your server is so perfect that it absolutely can not get a score of below 50 by any player? Or is it because you are an incredibly thin-skinned & delusional, who believes everyone is out to get you or defame your precious server. If i was a betting man, it would be the latter. You have pretty much dismissed everyone who has spoken out, be it constructively or negatively.

Considering your server gets 80 players in peak hours and, you are spending way too much time policing the tiny population and replying to RMS reviews rather than working on the game side of things.

Enjoy the meme.
https://imgur.com/a/Nu5Ynb4

[Shagaru]

I probably said it before and will say it again.
The Administration of RetRo is and was leaps and bounds ahead of this maniac over at travels pretty much since the server launched.
They are competent, polite and are doing all this for free the last time i checked.
I remember even receiving a message from deja after leaving their discord. He just wanted to confirm my reasoning.
These are people that care about their playerbase and the project they are publishing. Seeing the server so successful is no surprise at all.

[shirohv2]

Savyon is a moderator of the Travels server.

I want to add something although its not about the Ghostring Topic which is clearly made up from Travels to defame retRO.

Now my 2 cents on Ragnarok Travels vs retRO
I have played Travels for 3 months, mainly just casual to play some ragnarok after work.
As a member of a guild in the beginning, I realized that literally every 2nd conversation in the Guild was talking about the admin and I really disliked that because I had just joined the server kind of and I wasnt even on the Discord, yet everyone there was talking bad about that 1 person's server they are playing on. This resulted in me leaving the guild and looking for other people to play with.
As i ended up joining another Guild, the whole thing began again and after they got me to join the Discord finally I instantly regretted it. There has been so much drama i couldnt even follow and also didnt want to, but I had to realize that the server was literally run by an admin that simply didnt know how to deal with the criticism. Almost everything that has been said, was either censored or the admins friends (always the same 2 people) plus the Admin were really toxic towards you if you said something.

Long story short, the Discord was full of Drama and after a few days of literally zero fun interactions or nice chats on that server discord, I ended up leaving it again.


About retRO:
I play on retRO since the day it opened (after my time on Travels)
Eventhough retRO doesnt have 1000 players online, the Discord and the ingame-towns feel like a very active and populated place. There is a lot of social interactions ingame that is mainly focused on the game, or off-topics like Roleplaying or just IRL-Chitchat.
The people are very friendly, the admins are insanely nice and take their time for every player to deal with any problems. They follow a strict no Donation / p2w environment (compared to Travels where you can get different advantages when you donate, especially with a database that isnt even fully developed, but you need it since the server has a lot of costumizations that the admin claims to be authentic and correct, while everything else is false) - Sorry, back to retRO
So, the admins are very nice and helpful and I literally never seen so much support on a server that basically doesnt take any money whatsoever, even when i asked them, they said no, but ill ask my team, but if so, it will be completely annonymous (that is 6 months ago and they still dont take any donations)


If people do still read this and if you are looking for a 1x server for nostalgia purposes, or for WOE, I can not recommend, I do advise you to try retRO over Travels. retRO for me will always be that 2nd euRO that I played when I was a young boy!
retRO is just such a nice place to play on that strives to make their players happy, not to get the highest playerbase and cash the money out of them.
Even if you are not into 1x because it is a lot of work to put in, I think everyone should give it a try. These admins achieved something they should be proud of, even if it is just a game that is very old already.

To the retRO Team;
We love your server, keep the work up! Don't change the way you are. Thanks for giving me a great time playing on your server. May it be for much longer!



After i wrote my RMS Review (my Review name is JohnnyMoe), a few hours later, Lord J answered my review with "Banned today for afk leeching"
I dont even have that server installed on my PC, neither have i logged in, in over 6 months.

My review after all wasnt that bad and a rating of 55 isnt too shappy, seeing all the other even worse reviews that all have been claimed by the admin to be from people that got banned.

Lord J, i never had any real grudge, but you saying that you had banned me today for something impossible, really said something about yourself...
You should delete that from my review and just let it be, since what you say is wrong, otherwise you will kind of force me to log in and show everyone that i am not banned yet, prooving that you are RNG flagging reviews to be wrong. You do not know who i am on your server, you do not know what ingame characters are mine, or which username belongs to me. So don't just flag my review with "Banned for AFK leeching today".

[yC]

Everything have to do with "the card" incident have been moved to the topic that finished the discussion earlier, those that are interested can read the topic in its entirety below:
https://forum.ratemyserver.net/server-reviews/retro-online-an-emulation-of-official-euro-absolutely-free/15/

That discussion is done and locked for a reason.  We do not need to bring up the same discussion again and again as a tool to derail topics for mysterious intention.

[Raïner]

100 sp is now reverted, and J's words are irrelevant, as always        

Nice attempt to save your dead server, damages has been done tho, farewell Lord Jerk.