This review was written on March 30, 2009.
Introduction of Self
Well, let me start with a brief introduction of myself.
I go by Gears, and I've been an active member in the RebirthRO community for about a year.
I first heard of the server from a friend. Initially a fan of low-rate servers, I decided to give this new world a try.
RebirthRO Basic Info
RebirthRO has three playable realms.
Loki: The primary server, it is a 100/100/20 rate, "donation"-based server with max levels 255/120.
Eir: This server is a 5/5/3 rate, semi-"donation"-based server with max levels 99/70
Tyr:100/100/10 rate server, with max levels 99/70. No "donations."
At this point I should clarify what I mean by donation-based. Elite items are obtainable by (and only by) purchasing them through the server's "buy" page. In a sense, you pretty much have to buy, or in some way earn via Zeny [In Game Currency], these elite items in order to become a formidable opponent in the WoE and PvP worlds.
RebirthRO has received many bad reviews on these forums (I did my research!).
I can't say I disagree with them, either. They're more than true and I would have rated RebirthRO less than 5/10. I'd actually recommend you take a look at some of those reviews, so you know where the server's been.
In fact, here's a testimonial from an actual GM on the server: http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/index.php/topic,3860.0.html (http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/index.php/topic,3860.0.html)
This was all in the past, and will hopefully remain there.
The good news is that recent events show promising results with the revamp of RebirthRO.
My review is focused primarily on their mid-rate server, Loki.
Initial Impression
As with most new experiences, I entered the realm curious and optimistic. The server was pretty stable, and I had a feeling that due to the revenue it collected via "donations," the server would remain for quite some time. The only lag I experienced was client-side, so I had no complaints with that. Registration and download were relatively simple. The community was pretty helpful, and the forums were a great place to have questions answered.
The server looked promising, and so I kept hoping for the best.
The Road To Emperium
As you gain experience and strengthen your character, the worlds of PvP and WoE come into view.
At this point, you begin to see a clear and distinct difference in "donated/bought" characters and in "legit" characters. Simply put, unless you have an exceptional amount of skill combined with luck, legit characters fall short when compared to the elite items possessed by those who donate.
Not to mention that donors have the option of buying a player-vs-monster weapon dubbed "Angra," which grants them a +3,000 attack, as well as the ability to heal the amount of damage you have dealt. This weapon further expands the gap of donor vs. non donor, since donors can reach the max level in under a week.
At this point in my RebirthRO "career," I experienced a Server Roll-back, and many unexplained down times.
I was less than impressed, but seeing as I had already invested my time..
I decided to push on through, hoping for the best.
Corruption
I lived through an extremely unpleasant experience from around October 2008 to around January-February 2009. Specifically, an immensely corrupt admin.
This admin, who will remain unnamed so as to not soil my thread with his foul name, went as far as to offer custom (scripted himself) and "godly" items to players who would purchase him over $300 USD in goods off his Walmart and Amazon wishlists. For Christmas. These new items were even more imbalanced than the previously mentioned Donation items. A player with one of these "God Sets" could take out over 20 people (who had full donation items), all by his/her self.
On top of that, he was rude, abusive with bans, and generally an idiot.
The only think that kept me on the server was my characters (invested a lot of time,) my $15 Angra (yeah...I know...I wasted my money...), as well as over $150 worth of donation-items given to me by my in game friends.
So, I pushed on through, yet again. Hoping for the best.
RebirthRO: Rebirthed?
In mid March of 2009, the long past due firing of the Corrupt Admin finally occurred; and it was a day to rejoice. This movement left room for the new Administrative Team to jump in and revamp the server.
In under a month [March, 2009], I've seen more updates and customized content than I have in the previous year.
While RebirthRO has certainly had a rough past, the new Admin Staff and GM staff looks promising.
I guess I'll push on through, hoping for the best.
Some Numbers:
I stole this format from Dean Stark and his review on Phase RO.
Dean Stark : http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=10469 (http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=10469)
His Review : http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/server-reviews/phasero/0/ (http://www.ratemyserver.net/forum/server-reviews/phasero/0/)
SERVER:
Stability - 9.5/10
- As mentioned before, the server is relatively stable. It undergoes scheduled downtime every Tuesday at approximately 2100 server-time.
COMMUNITY:
Friendliness - 8.5/10
- Unfortunately, this is the internet. There will always be Trolls and generally mean people who like to pick on newbies. However, when you grow in the community you'll find it quite likeable.
Eventfulness - 5/10
- I don't particularly like the events that the GM Staff holds, but they happen pretty frequently.
GM's:
Availability - 9/10
- To be honest, it depends on which GM you contact. Some will really only help you if you're a friend, while most will help you as long as you're relaxed, intelligent, and present your arguments in a well organized manner. It never hurts to know people, though. ;)
Friendlyness - 9/10
- Besides a certain Corrupt Admin who was recently fired, the new staff is generally friendly.
Professionalism - 9/10
- The GMs and Admins know how to have fun, and therefore have been known to joke around. However, when the situation calls for a mature and professional authority, they step up to the plate and follow through.
GAMEPLAY:
Economy - ???/10
- As mentioned, Loki is generally donation based, so unless you plan on farming in game currency or extremely rare cards, be prepared to shell out 15 bucks for an "Angra." Mind you, you can get by without it, just don't expect to be a big name in PvP and WoE.
Balance - 5/10
- As mentioned, the server is heavily donation-based. The new administrative team is working on closing the gap, so hopefully this will change.
Guild Competition - 8.5/10
- The main competitive WoE castles are the Prontera castles, so if you're looking for some serious guild on guild action, your best bet is to max your level and join a big guild.
However, if that's not your style, you can join/form a small guild and take over the less popular castles. Difficult is usually marked by castle location (which town).
Overall Rating:
7.5/10
If I have time in the future I'll review the other two servers, Eir and Tyr.
Quick note: Tyr is the newest server and my favorite by far. If you're looking for balance and a generally connected community, Tyr is a great place to start. Loki isn't very balanced, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you plan on shelling out some cash.
I'd say I'm pretty pleased with the server, especially the direction in which it's headed. Although it has a dirty past, I believe it has a chance at Rebirth.
thanks for the in depth review.
I am a little interested in who got fired, not that i know any gm of the server except one or two. Would appreciate if you can give the name or you can pm it to me. I was trying to find the answer myself but it looks like the rebirth forum got wiped? is it related to the corrupted gm case?
It was Ancyker.
The forum isn't wiped, however it is linked to game accounts, to to view the forum you'd have to register a game account.
Also, Gears, I'll post an in-depth response for you after I get some sleep!
Quote from: yC on Mar 31, 2009, 12:15 AM
thanks for the in depth review.
I am a little interested in who got fired, not that i know any gm of the server except one or two. Would appreciate if you can give the name or you can pm it to me. I was trying to find the answer myself but it looks like the rebirth forum got wiped? is it related to the corrupted gm case?
As Ailinea [Eir Lead GM and a good friend] pointed out, it was indeed Ancyker.
As for the old forums crashing...I don't think I can release any of the already-limited information I have.
There's a new RebirthRO forum up, and I've been spamming it (in a good way!) for about a week now, so I know it works.
Side Note: If you make a thread titled "Ancyker" on the forums, it'll get spammed with hurrays, large bodies of texts on how they're glad he's gone, lists of the damage he's caused, etc. And then it'll get closed in about 5 minutes haha.
okay, my guess was right. hope rebirth can get that ugly past behind.
It still surprises me since Bas hired him for a long time, treated him well etc and ancy have been the same old ancy he is during all these time (i.e. he didn't TURN corrupt or anything, he is corrupted to start with ...). More surprised than Obama fired the GM ceo lol...
Quote from: yC on Mar 31, 2009, 02:34 PM
okay, my guess was right. hope rebirth can get that ugly past behind.
It still surprises me since Bas hired him for a long time, treated him well etc and ancy have been the same old ancy he is during all these time (i.e. he didn't TURN corrupt or anything, he is corrupted to start with ...). More surprised than Obama fired the GM ceo lol...
I never thought to compare Bas to Obama.
But I bet Obama would play Paladin if he played RRO.
Oh gawd I'm spamming again, aren't I.
Back on topic!
I forgot to mention that RRO DOES send out an annoying email, telling you to "come back!"
So, I would recommend signing up with an alternative email-address. A small issue like junk mail shouldn't get in the way of a relatively fun server.
Gears, pretty sure we forced Bas to tone that email spam down. You can direct it to spam just fine, apparently.
Also, we do have a paladin called Barrack Obama playing on RRO... Coincidence..?
Regarding Ancyker: To be fair, we were stuck with his s*** for a year, and it took some coincidentally wrong information to get him fired, finally. But good lord let me take this chance to tell any server NOT to hire him. And if you do, keep him away from ingame (or scripting, or so I heard)
We should dedicate an entire thread in the Hall of Shame for him! lol
Quote from: Ailinea on Mar 31, 2009, 08:37 PM
We should dedicate an entire thread in the Hall of Shame for him! lol
You guys shouldn't really bash on Joshua without knowing him properly...
Spoiler
*coughs*
-Pow
Quote from: Ailinea on Mar 31, 2009, 08:37 PM
We should dedicate an entire thread in the Hall of Shame for him! lol
Why soil the RMS forums with the mention of his name? He'd probably be smiling, knowing that he's [in]famous.
Quote from: Gears on Mar 31, 2009, 11:40 PM
Quote from: Ailinea on Mar 31, 2009, 08:37 PM
We should dedicate an entire thread in the Hall of Shame for him! lol
Why soil the RMS forums with the mention of his name? He'd probably be smiling, knowing that he's [in]famous.
No, it will be quite fun - I wish to speak with him again as he tries to jump and defend himself.
-Pow
Quote from: Gears on Mar 31, 2009, 02:46 PM
Back on topic!
I forgot to mention that RRO DOES send out an annoying email, telling you to "come back!"
So, I would recommend signing up with an alternative email-address. A small issue like junk mail shouldn't get in the way of a relatively fun server.
Highlighting this quote for the truth. I registered for RebirthRO in 2007 sometime just to check it out, and left a couple of days later. During December '08 and the first two months of this year however, I have received around 40 emails requesting me to come back to RebirthRO.
Maybe it's just me, but the admin seems pretty desperate for players if they'd goto the lengths of spamming ex-players with such an obsessive amount of emails. I wouldn't object to a couple of "Hey, we're relaunching such & such server, feel free to come back and give us a try!" emails, but 40? No.
I will admit though, the spam emails have stopped since March. Hopefully it'll stay that way.
I'd recommend the advice given by Gears, and use an alternative email address when registering on this server.
Quote from: Pow on Mar 31, 2009, 11:45 PM
No, it will be quite fun - I wish to speak with him again as he tries to jump and defend himself.
-Pow
To be honest, he did a few good things for the server. However, no one ever appreciated him for it because those acts were greatly overshadowed by his evil deeds.
Quote from: Gears on Apr 01, 2009, 08:29 PM
Quote from: Pow on Mar 31, 2009, 11:45 PM
No, it will be quite fun - I wish to speak with him again as he tries to jump and defend himself.
-Pow
To be honest, he did a few good things for the server. However, no one ever appreciated him for it because those acts were greatly overshadowed by his evil deeds.
He managed to copy paste every old script he used on BakaRO, tweak it JSUT A LITTLE BIT and throw it in RRO. Yeaaah, hard work.
Quote from: Dauphine on Apr 01, 2009, 08:59 PM
Quote from: Gears on Apr 01, 2009, 08:29 PM
Quote from: Pow on Mar 31, 2009, 11:45 PM
No, it will be quite fun - I wish to speak with him again as he tries to jump and defend himself.
-Pow
To be honest, he did a few good things for the server. However, no one ever appreciated him for it because those acts were greatly overshadowed by his evil deeds.
He managed to copy paste every old script he used on BakaRO, tweak it JSUT A LITTLE BIT and throw it in RRO. Yeaaah, hard work.
Most of those scripts weren't even his to begin with.
-Pow
Why does every thread turn into a flame-Ancyker thread?
I've seen too many to count. lol.
Lets talk about nicer things... :P
Quote from: Paradox924X on Apr 02, 2009, 09:08 AM
Why does every thread turn into a flame-Ancyker thread?
I've seen too many to count. lol.
Lets talk about nicer things... :P
Nice things? Hai guyz, ^took Ancy's old job, JOIN NOW AHAHA
Quote from: Paradox924X on Apr 02, 2009, 09:08 AM
Why does every thread turn into a flame-Ancyker thread?
I've seen too many to count. lol.
Lets talk about nicer things... :P
Like what?...
I've been playing RebirthRO for over a year now.
Over this one year alone, I've seen an increase in "premium items" available for purchase. There are 2 (?) "premium item sets" (3 premium items) that don't work VERY WELL, unless you buy the other 2 items in the set. Costing you 90 euros just to kick a** in a game. Also implemented was voting points, and rewarding pokemon pets and other valuable items as well in return. The once unique and highly valued items have been degraded. All to serve the purpose of gaining more fame for the server which leads to more money for Bas.
And Gears, that was a very thorough review. Thanks for the review, I've noticed a lot of things about the server that I've turned a blind eye upon.
Being a member of RRO for about 5 years I can tell that the server is finally starting to go back to the beginning where it was more balanced, welcoming, and overall more fun to play.