Returning Player With Very Little Experience from ~2010

[Werebearguy]

Greetings, I come seeking aid in picking a server (or servers, perhaps) that might match my interests. For a little backstory, here's my experience with Ragnarok Online.

Long ago, I was introduced to Ragnarok Online through a private server my friend played on called "Clownphobia". I don't know what the rates were, and even using the Wayback Machine, I can't find the rates it had. This was back in the very early 2000's, likely between 2004 and 2005. My friend and I would play after school, and the only real endgame that I can remember was Thanatos' Tower and some Abandoned Lab (it had the ghost classes like Cecil and such). Back then, playing MMOs was not something I was super keen on nor good at, so I was EXTREMELY casual; gaining a level a day was sufficient to me at that time. What was endgame to me is probably an early jaunt for a new player now, but I remember fighting robots in some sci-fi area as the last place I went. At some point, my friend and I just stopped playing the server because we had more interesting real life stuff to do, and so my time playing Ragnarok took a long pause.

Some time later, I think in the mid 2010s, I picked up another server whose name I can't recall. When I checked it out, I recall the city of Morroc being in ruins and some absurdly high level monsters gatekept me from going there. I explored a bit, ended up in some location with high level valkyries and cube slimes, got my butt whooped, and I just kind of gave up and uninstalled. I don't know what I felt at the time, but something just didn't click with me at that point.

Now, early in 2024, nostalgia hit me like a sack of bricks. I just really want to play Ragnarok Online again, and I now know that the game's been actively getting updates in the form of a "Renewal" version. I've looked up all the features and differences between RO and RO Renewal, so I think I'm caught up on these differences. As someone who's been playing World of Warcraft since the release of its first expansion Burning Crusade back in 2007, and experiencing its painful and violently slow death in the modern age, I'm used to MMOs with both good and hilariously atrocious mechanics. So, while I understand that there's a stigma (or at least assume there's a stigma) against Renewal, I don't feel like I would be bothered by what was changed. After all, my experience with the game only goes up to Thanatos, the laboratory for the homunculus quest, and that place with robots.

That's my experience with the game as a whole. I'm going off of almost 20 years of memory, though I do vividly remember some things I did with my friend. I am unaccustomed to the concept of rates, as my experience in World of Warcraft is primarily what dictates my knowledge of rates. In that game, the rarest things are generally 1%, and they've streamlined EXP gain so you can basically do 1-60 (10 levels under current cap) in a day with mild hardcore play. So, my question is this for the ever strong community of Ragnarok Online; What are some servers that would likely be up my alley, both as someone who hasn't played in years and as someone with experience in other MMOs? Following the rules of the forum, here's what I assume matches my level of experience;

Rates: I'm not well versed in the game's rates, but anything that's not too grindy or too cheaty. "Balanced" rates, I guess would describe it?
Max Level: Variable. I'm not adverse to trying Renewal or sticking with the classic style.
Population: I don't know accurate numbers, but as long as major hubs aren't ENTIRELY ghost towns, I'm content
Region: Prefer NA, can make do with EU
Main Language: English
Other Features: No pay to win at all. Homunculus system being simplified is a positive, since I remember it being complex. I don't want my hand held, but I don't mind help. No extra software or programs; just the game, and nothing more.

A little extra to describe myself to hopefully find a good match;
- I like to collect pets. The more collectible pets, the better.
- Huge bonus points if I can get any enemy as a pet. Very easy way to win my heart right there.
- I have no bias towards the game being casual or hard. I don't do one-life hardcore stuff however.
- I'll play any class, and have a preference towards heavy hitting melee DPS,, but I won't heal. I get frustrated too easily, and healing is stressful to me.
- I tend to play solo, but I am definitely not adverse to playing with a group.
- I remember upgrading gear was a bit stressful since it could delete your items. Huge bonus if failing to upgrade no longer has that risk; I don't want to completely lose my weapon if it fails to upgrade.


Thank you for reading this, and I appreciate any suggestions towards finding a proper home for someone who hasn't played in years. I tried looking for a server, but I don't have much experience in finding servers at all.

[Mrkirka]

Hey there.
Payon Stories just had its first anniversary with around 100-160 players online to primetime.
(With merchants its like 300-400+).

Next class update will be Ninja / Gunslinger and then transclasses will arrive.
We got the standard pets to collect, they also talk when loyal (can be deactivated).

No cheaters, no donations, no pay to win!
Give it a try

https://cp.payonstories.com/?module=account&action=login&return_url=%2F

[Blinzer]

if you're fine not interacting with players too much, dm me. i can fulfill most of your requests.

[OldPoring]

First, don't choose servers with ultra-low ratings x1x1x1 and even x5x5x5 I wouldn't recommend. These are servers for "pro RO gamers", "nerd RO gamers".
99% of "nostalgic players from childhood" return for 1 week and a maximum (rarely) for a couple of months.
I recommend you to choose a server with a Healer NPC (restores hp/sp),Buffer NPC (Blessing, Agi up) and very importantly Warper NPC, to warp in every location or dungeon without a long hike and quests.

Specifically, I recommend to you MindRO server
https://ratemyserver.net/index.php?page=detailedlistserver&serid=21992&itv=6&url_sname=MindRO
Exp rating x150 (with «Battle manuals» x450) Reach the maximum level in a few hours.
Item drop rating is 100% - you will be able to afford absolutely all gears and cards that you remember from childhood and that you can find in guides and easy find in databases of Ratemyserver.

There are also things like an infinite butterfly wing, an infinite fly wing, infinite arrows of all elements, multiple armor and weapon upgrades.
I'm sure that such a server will satisfy 99% of the requests for the topic of the surging nostalgia of Ragnarok Online

[Azu_Raged]

I skimmed through ur post. There isn't a whole lot of options available in my opinion. The closest to old school original for me, and that is popular at the moment is UARO. Despite me being NA and the server being EU, I am still enjoying it. And I hate ping issues, but this game still feels smooth to me. I don't have much experience in RO myself, but the fact mobs have a drop chance of 5% for a item you can sell to people for 13k is up my alley. As you can get slightly richer quicker within the early game. The economy is decent in regards to card and even some item drops actually being worth money. I like that part. The other part I like is there is repeatable quests you can do, so lets say, you make money and do those quests or even hand in the quest items you can get quick levels (even on alts) ... I enjoy that fact since ... level takes time. I don't go to ham on my "main" with the quests but my alts I can easily get levels. Despite it costing a decent amount of money.
Its pre-renewal. And unlocking infinite fly wing is a cool goal to have reached for me.
Only "downside" for me so far on the server is that figuring out how to navigate the map since theres no warper to like dungeons an stuff. But with infinite fly wing its easier.

Anyway GL on search, and I'm interested in hearing what you've decided on if you find a home.

[Werebearguy]

Apologies for my absence after posting. Part of it was the security question not accepting "Munak" as the answer to "What drops a Munak Hat".

@Mrkirka: I see plenty of good reviews for this one. Since I barely know anything about the old game, I don't think the custom content will bother me either. From what I've read, it does seem like one that I'd be able to get used to.

@OldPoring: From how you explained it, that sounds a bit too cheaty for me. Part of the appeal of the game, at least from what I recall, was the journey. While I may be accustomed to more modern sensibilities in games and how endgame is the main game, jumping to max level near instantly seems a bit too much to me.

@Azu_Raged: I see two different UARO servers. Is the one you mentioned the 5x server or the 1x server? I'll assume the former, since it actually has reviews. I'm looking at their site, and a good bit of their details sound enticing. I'll be giving this one a try as well.

I'll try out Payon Stories and UARO for a day each to see if they click with me.

[OldPoring]

Werebearguy, Once again, x1 rates are only for nerds, x5 is not much better. These are years of grinding every day for several hours, hundreds of thousands of monsters killed. You'll get bored and won't even reach level 75. I'm telling you this for sure. My option is to just remember the game and try everything, and most likely your nostalgia will go away very quickly, but you will get everything out of this game. But it's up to you.

[ForgotMyOldAccount]

Werebearguy, Once again, x1 rates are only for nerds, x5 is not much better. These are years of grinding every day for several hours, hundreds of thousands of monsters killed. You'll get bored and won't even reach level 75. I'm telling you this for sure. My option is to just remember the game and try everything, and most likely your nostalgia will go away very quickly, but you will get everything out of this game. But it's up to you.

As much as I love 1x rates, I agree with you that 1x rates are for nerds. A casual, newbie player like described in OP will most likely quit very quickly unless there's a large social aspect. Which, frankly, there isn't, considering how low pop all the servers are these days.

[Mrkirka]

So Payon Stories is writing 1x1x1x rates but its actually more, you can get lvl 75+ in 2 days easy lol.
Solo or in a party. The community is one of a kind, its very newbie friendly.

Its not filled with Custom or overwhelming stuff, just the basic - pure - RO experience.
Its a grind, but nothing compared to real 1x Server.

Very active bot checking on the server by GMs, no dual client allowed, also 0,0 donations.
I can understand that you say highrates are nice, but trust me i played 10 years on mid and highrate servers,
and Payon Stories / or lowrates can provide as much as fun, id say- even more fun- then midrate servers.

There are some little nice mechanics that let you enjoy it, without the need of getting 10 Cards in a day.

As much as I love 1x rates, I agree with you that 1x rates are for nerds. A casual, newbie player like described in OP will most likely quit very quickly unless there's a large social aspect. Which, frankly, there isn't, considering how low pop all the servers are these days.

"will most likely quit very quickly unless there's a large social aspect."

On lowrate servers it all is about the social aspect.

I wish you all good drops! Cya