UtopiaRO

[Usagimimi]

I'm usually an MR player, but UtopiaRO really hooked me at first sight.

I'm now here to write a review for it!

Stability - 10/10

The server in my play experience has never crashed, and apparently the only way to crash is to use Gameshark (whatever that is). The client itself has never freezed either. Lag is minimal and rarely occurs.

Availability - 9/10

Unexpected downtime? It hasn't occured to me in my playtime, but when it did, it was quickly fixed and recompensated with double rates. The server is available 24/7.

Community Friendliness - 10/10

It seems trolls do not inhabit LRs. At all. The community is amazing; I received two items in one day on my Hunter, Lune: Dauntless gave me a special headgear that only dropped during a special event (@ 0.05%), while Altrulia gave me the Romantic Flower I was going to hunt for. Another Gypsy also saved me from spending 100,000Z on a Frog Hat that dropped rather high on Toad (I was unaware of this modification) as well as gave me a Cigarette so my character didn't look so barren.

When you log in for the first time, you're spammed with genuine welcomes from the community. I was spammed, and as was my friend Raredith when he joined. Everyone loves the newcomer, answers questions for you nicely, and will help you out at the beginning with Zeny needs, etc. as well as leaching (as long as you aren't begging).

Eventfulness - 7/10

GM Events appear to be rare as the only GMs are full-time students who do more work behind-the-scenes than in-game.

Automated events are often enough, including the nostalgic Click Click Boom event, along with others such as Dodgeball (which seems to be a server favourite), Poring Catcher, and Monster of the Week. The Boosted Rates event occurs if the server reaches a certain vote quota, and extends the entire weekend. The rates commence as 8/8/6, and then the 2h finale at the end is 10/10/8.

Monster of the Week is one of the events that dragged me in; a monster is chosen per week to give 300% more EXP, spawn more often, and drop a special, otherwise-unattainable hat at around 0.05%. These monsters also bypass the Even Share level restrictions, allowing people to leach Level 15 Archers (for example) with Level 70 Monks.

Another "Event" is Ides of Utopia, which I guess is a GvG ordeal with a special map, factions... I've not really played, but it looks like an interesting during-the-week WoE-type ordeal.

Game Masters Friendliness - 8/10

I've only ever met the administrator, as the other GMs don't appear to be too active (even on the forums); however, jTynne (Serenity on RMS) is extremely friendly, open to ideas, and reasonable. This is a good example of an administrator who isn't power-hungry or stubborn.

Game Masters Availability - 6/10

In the days I've played, the administrator has always come online and been on the forums. I cannot say the same for the GMs, as they are not around often, but the administrator's activity is enough to suffice the 60-80 population.

Game Masters Helpfulness - 9/10

Minus the GMs, the administrator is extremely helpful, always answering questions on the forum and giving newbies information that is useful. For example, if not for him, I'd not have known about the Monster Hunting, where you select a monster in your level range and defeat x many of them to obtain bonus EXP. This was extremely useful when leveling at Geographers as the bonus EXP had me gain around 15% in one-shot.

Economy - 7/10

Economy looks fine to me. I'm used to MR rates, and when I think about how long it's taken me to earn 400,000Z, that one card that seems absurdly low takes around the same time to buy as in an MR. Suits the server in my opinion.

The only wonky one is that 9,500,000Z Zerom Card. A tad expensive, as even in a MR, Zerom Cards don't go over 6,000,000Z usually.

Guild Competition - 8/10

Everyone WoE ambitious. I've seen two Guilds so far with an equal amount of members, but the forum claims to have around three others. They might be online while I'm sleeping, though.

Class Balance - 9/10

Hasn't been touched, so Pneuma'd classes still rape Snipers, which is the only unfair aspect of the "official" RO that I think should be modified (much like EssenceRO allowed Phantasmic Arrow / Charge Arrow (forgot which) to push users out of Pneuma). The RO gameplay is intact.

Other Stuff

There have been some customization, such as Gladia and the other city which are 100% original maps with original fields and original monsters. I do not believe there are custom items at all - just monsters and maps.

Buffs last quite a bit longer than normal. Max leveled, Magnificat lasts 15min, Blessing & AGI last 30min, Gloria lasts 2min, and Assumptio lasts 15min making buff spam less frequent and "BUFFS PLZ" practically inexistant.

The Healer will heal HP free, but requires 2 Vote Credits ("Cash Points") or 5,000Z to heal HP&SP + low-leveled buffs. Cash Points can also be used to buy donation items at high prices, as to not tamper with the balance of the server.

As well, the population seems to be rising. During the summer, around ~80 were online due to school not being in session. Now that it is, I've watched the server sprout from ~45 to 65 in the last two days, with only ~15 vendors. The server really is amazing and deserves to be well-known, as it has been thoroughly done and has some features that are unique enough to actual say it's original compared to other, lifeless servers out there. The server has grown in the last 1.5-2weeks to a grand 90 online, rather than ~45 before - only 10~17 being vendors (view screenshot below).

Anyway, overall I give this server a 83/100 and a big kudos for actually being different enough to make me consider an LR. So far, it's the most enriching and "fulfilling" RO experience I've had in the last four years. Good job.



http://i55.tinypic.com/s1p4xe.jpg

[Usagimimi]

'Will come visit sometimes! uRO is still on my 'puter :b

<3 uRO

[kilerz14]

I've always been looking for a woe/pvp, eventful and balanced server and I think I found it!
www.utopiaro.com

Stability - 9/10
Over all its pretty good, but there have been instances of lag due to the server host issues and not the actual server! Most if not all downtime is given sufficient notification and hasn't lasted more then a few minutes from what I've seen.

Availability - 9/10
Everything seems to be pretty good and the downtime is compensated by rates! Woot!

Community Friendliness - 10/10
Friendliest community ever played! Everyone is very nice and u have to try really hard to actually piss someone off! Just don't go overboard and beg... No one is ridiculous cocky too in pvp or woe its almost always positive comments afterwards!


Eventfulness - 10/10
Very eventful! Events occur several times a day and cant forget Friday Galore! Friday(pst time) galore consist of Ides of Utopia 4pm(20min) , 5pm Social Mixer(30-45min), 6pm WOE(1hour) then Ides of Utopia 7pm(20min). I love it and lots of other mini events occur such as Dodgeball, Cluck Cluck Boom, Monster Hunt!

Event info:nuff said
http://www.utopiaro.info/index.php/Main_Page


Game Masters Friendliness - 10/10
Gamemaster is not corrupt and will aid u in anyway they can! Overall they are fair and all points they give are valid.

Game Masters Availability - 8/10
I submit support tickets for bugs/exploits etc and I get a reply in 24 hours or less! Not perfect due to other moderators/gms not very active due to school starting and  back to work season atm.

Game Masters Helpfulness - 9/10
Very helpful, I get help whenever I need it and they always follow through asap.

Economy - 7/10
Economy of this server has its ups and downs due to this server being fairly new! Some items are way overpriced, but improvement can be made. However, there are enough players who price things fairly!

Guild Competition - 9/10
One castle Only! So the server is pvping/woeing in only 1 castle! weaker guilds ally with other weaker guilds to take down the powerhouses! its really back and forth when that happens!Before had 4 main guilds and 2 semi guilds woed and now alliances and guild merges occured  2-4 main guilds fight for the castle!

Class Balance - 9/10
no class is overpowered and the gears are fair!

[uncelebrated]

.

[blue_destiny]

Hi sorry I know I don't really post, but Yusifer's review made we wanna try this server XD

It's true that I'm used to High-Rate / Super-High-Rate servers, but these servers tend to be infected with extremely rude people. This is one of the few reviews I've read that genuinely describes a friendly community

I'll go visit this server when I get home. ^_^

[Usagimimi]

You won't regret it, blue. Don't let the rates put you off, either. With MotW, it shoots up to around 15/15/4 on certain monsters.

I believe this week is Geographer, which is epic EXP.

[Kiyoshiro]

I believe this week is Geographer, which is epic EXP.

Say whaaat? O_o *makes a wiz* XD

[uncelebrated]

I believe this week is Geographer, which is epic EXP.

Say whaaat? O_o *makes a wiz* XD

Might be better of with a hunter   Every week on UtopiaRO we have a new Monster of the Week.  Basically it's a monster chosen at random that gives 2x-3x more bonus exp than it usually does.  The bonus exp is split evenly between all party members, regardless of level, so it is excellent for leveling up new people, vendors, linkers, and other slaves.

[bloodybaka]

And to maximize xp, get a party of 5, you get more xp bonus that way

[uncelebrated]

^Yep, MotW is heaven for low levels (sometimes high levels too).

[Usagimimi]

Just a prime example of how reviews can help a server; uRO has grown in the last week from 38 reviews to 51, and population has sparked from 45 with 19 vendors to 85 with 14 vendors.

Might end up playing again as promise is showing even more than before.

[uncelebrated]

^I'm going to go ahead and attribute the recent growth to a combination of the following (no particular order).

1.  Yusifer
2.  Advertising by players and admins.
3.  Whatever jTynne has been doing, because I know he's always working to improve the server.
4.  Competitive WoE/Battlegrounds
5.  PvP Maps
6.  Improved community interaction

[Failure]

While this is a review and not really a "talk about the server" thread, I can't help but want to ask a few questions to the people who play on this server.  Not as criticisms, since I'm actually wanting to ask to see if I want to download/play RO again (I have some strange addiction and I cannot get it out anymore).

I had a very brief experience with UtopiaRO a good while back, and while it seems to be the "least horrible*" RO server currently in existence, I did have a few niggling problems with it I'd like answers/explanations/brainwashing/evidence to.

The fact that cash points are used for what are usually considered "basic" services (healing, resetting, ect.) is kind of off-putting.  I either spend money to get what I would get on any other server, or get a bit of a stiff penalty.  While it is indeed not as imbalancing as selling GTBs for tree-fiddy, it's certainly annoying to see "Oh too bad you have no cash points, if you did you could do X Y and Z with no problems at all".  The fact @feelreset is a donation power means Star Gladiators who donate are massively more powerful and useful than those who do not.

Didn't this guy make SerenityRO before that, and it went under?  What happened to that?  Is this server going to follow the same fate at any point in the future?  Isn't Serenglade from SerenityRO, in fact?  How much other stuff is just ported to UtopiaRO?  Yeah this is kind of digging into history and blublublu, but it sort of matters to know "where things have been".

As a third, more nitpicky thing, I'm curious why unregistered viewers can only see the Important Info forum group and General Assistance.  It's not as if guests can actually post anything, so letting people view the rest of the forums shouldn't be too big of a deal, right?  What's the harm in letting someone "preview" the community before actually signing up and going for it?

Again, this doesn't seem like a bad little server at all.  Hell, I might try to persuade a friend to join me in playing this.

* This isn't really intended as an insult, but I personally can't find an idea', great server anymore, just ones that aren't as bad as the rest.

[Usagimimi]

You can pay Zeny, or you can use cash points for healing, etc. You get a ton of cash points by voting just once so I generally use that, as I am poor ): I like having the option, though.

I mentioned @feelreset being unfair in the donation post, saying it'd be party-abused and 99/70 will start appearing more often due to interchangeable "feel" skill save spots. I'm not sure if Justin considered this or if it's lurking in the back of his mind still, but since nothing was done, I'd have to say it's "end of story" unless a lot of people band together against it.

I'm not sure about SerenityRO, but I do believe he had a server before. No idea what happened to it, but I'm sure he would've fixed the mistakes he did make last time when making this new server. Otherwise, there wouldn't be >70 online constantly (and growing) anymore.

Forums aren't too active anyway. Most active topic lately has been about more GMs and the Growth topic I made promoting reviewing and explaining the importance. Nothing much to see, but I do believe it would be better to have the forums open to everyone (or at least, the majority).

[Failure]

You can pay Zeny, or you can use cash points for healing, etc. You get a ton of cash points by voting just once so I generally use that, as I am poor ): I like having the option, though.

Ah, yes, I forgot I could pay for the healing part, at least.  Is Zeny also usable for resets?

[Usagimimi]

You can pay Zeny, or you can use cash points for healing, etc. You get a ton of cash points by voting just once so I generally use that, as I am poor ): I like having the option, though.

Ah, yes, I forgot I could pay for the healing part, at least.  Is Zeny also usable for resets?

500k each, or 975k for both.

I use CP because it's typically less effort lol *is so poor* Q.Q

[Failure]

Well then, you may have just won over this person.  As long as I can use zeny, I'm perfectly satisfied.  I'll try to persuade my friend to join in.

There was a thing here, but I'm pretty sure I was misunderstanding

[Usagimimi]

Well then, you may have just won over this person.  As long as I can use zeny, I'm perfectly satisfied.  I'll try to persuade my friend to join in.

There was a thing here, but I'm pretty sure I was misunderstanding

Glad to have cleared some things up; joining uRO won't be a mistake, especially if you love WoE and PvP as both WoE and Ides (a type of PvP in group) is extremely active.

[uncelebrated]

I get banned, but I continue to return to jTynne's new servers because there simply no better server to troll noobs on.

[Lathenor]

My reviews of the Utopia Ro serve.
www.utopiaro.com

Stability - 9/10
Never lag and only shut down after warning.
Availability - 9/10
The downtime is compensated by rates. Some times during the day theirs no GM or EM on.
Community Friendliness - 10/10
Friendliest community ever! Too much, really the server needs a villian to make people competitive again.
Eventfulness - 6/10
A lot of pre-programed events some unbalanced ones like ides and poring catcher (will talk later), some very balanced like dodgeball and the chicken one. The real events normaly involves searching npcs what can be pretty boring depends on you taste. Monster hunting favor some classes a lot, Monster of the week favor auto leech since dual acc is alowed and sharing is free for all in MotW. So a lot of events, yes. Good, funnyand balanced ones have 1 or 2 >.<.
Game Masters Friendliness - 10/10
Gamemasters are very friendily but GM like to play ides and WOE with GR and ineffective build, so is like joke, but still unbalance and make some guilds go way.
Game Masters Availability - 10/10
Very efficient suporte tickty system. Usualy the anwser come in lest than 24 hours.
Game Masters Helpfulness - 10/10
Very helpful, I get help whenever need it.
Economy - 2/10
Economy of this server has gone to the pit. The MotW and the rate make money less valuable and them the price of itens is very salty.Now since some ones are quitting the server, economy is based on millions zeny or trades. Some bad desing in the custon MVP lets easy acumulation off money (dicussed later)
Guild Competition - 4/10
One castles is avaliable per WOE (2xweek) and lately only one guild was gone to war, pretty lame. Let's
hope new players don't be scared by the server economy.
Class Balance - 7/10
Some of the events favor some classes a lot more than others (discussed later).

Full rewiew – the later discussion:

The Good:
*Friendily users and GM.
* Donations MVP cards are pvm only.
*Donations are obtained by voting and events.
*Monster of the Week event is pretty cool, but incentive autoleech and disvalue the loot.*Dual acc is allowed and incentived.
*Extended buff duration is good to pvm but overpower to woe/pvp-events

The bad:
* Monster hunter favors some class allowing them to get special awards.
*The populations is inflated by the AFK vendor/other since time disconection by innactivity is disable, today as exemple has 84 online, in gladia south I see 39 auto vendors plus AFK users.
*Custons MVP easily abused by bad desing (Hollow Porings mobs given a lot of "xp", and the mobs is constituited by ghostrings that drops cards and the MVP is holy ¬¬ leading to easy farming by magic users) this could be resolved by substituing the gosthiring by the one that has no drops (Mob-ID#1576) but aparently everone get a GR card is fine in a low rate, lol.
*AFK innactivity for more 30seg cancel autoloot, but the GR hunting is fine, I don't get ~.~.
*Ides of utopia is a distorcion of BG: a "group-vs-group" event ta don't incentive party system, given the random team formation 90% of time the matchs ends like 400x12 points, chest system favor farmer builds (infamous stalker farmer build IC JT/DS ¬¬), the base system with healer favor a lot Champions and heavy sp user besides that acess to storage penalyse cart-class carry capacity. To be at top 10 Ides (gain some BG sets, stats food etc) you must a) farm a lot of coins as stalker or b) kill a lot. If you are a supportive class you have to go all ides events and hope to get top 10 because survivability don't have the same value as killing or farming. The GM says that BG is disable in utopia but the npc is in his location and 5x5 is working, 10x10 couldn't be tested because low pop.
* Recentily Speed pots extended duration is disabled in ides time but is usable 5 min before the event for 30min duration, the same works to assumption (14 min duration).
*Poring catch is a dairy event that favors bow users, cash point reward abuse obvious.
* Cash point system/donation allow adiquire stats food at low price, so a) make food don't have value and b) a lot of IC builds because the extended food duration to 1 hour.
* New freature impression: The Elemental MVP based on Sorcerer summons give itens that let you obtain special itens that by GM post (http://www.utopiaro.com/mb/index.php?topic=1776.0) should used only to PVM but aparently the are usable on PVP/woe events, need confirmation. They are easely solable.