I played this game since it was almost new. I was never the best player but I do take pride in what I achieved, had a lot fun playing this game, and most importantly I made a lot of friends with some of them I still stay in touch today even though we all quit this game.
To give you an idea how long I've been around, I remember when RD was a moderator of these forums and worked for YNK, and, this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNc4kazsDDU
is my favourite song (just kidding), but stuff like this used to be the reason why I loved Rohan so much, despite all of its flaws. The community was great and I think that I'm not the only one who feels like this. I still remember how much fun it was to be a part of guild feuds, town battles and to follow ingame politics on the forum before it became a trollfest.
So, after a long introduction, here's how I feel about this game, why the first iteration failed, and why this new start is a good try, but has a few flaws that need some ironing out.
The good:
-Fresh start with no upgradeds or epics (I still remember to this day the moment epics were first released and how they tipped this game from 'be a little worse than the guys that pay2win, but still keep up when you work hard' to just pure 'p2w'.)
-Lots of crone sinks to counter inflation
-No EM
-Daily rewards for playing this game
-Level achievements
-The VIP system seems neat
-Revamped skills
-No more speed penalty due to full inventory
-No more stat requirements for items
-New effects on items making the game more diverse
All in all, I feel like some effort went into identifying the problems of this game and to push it into a different direction. A lot of crone sinks were introduced, no more card game to play casino and make tons of crones for players that know how to abuse this system, no EM, so items that are worth a lot stay in the game and can't be bought for money.
We all know that this game is p2w, and also that there are a lot of games out there that are better. It's basically a money machine for the people that own it. Heck, even private servers make a ton of money when they pop up. But that is OK, as long as you don't abuse this. This is your game. It's a fun game. And it's your choice and job to make it the best you can. I know that it's possible to make changes to the game since I have personally helped people making private servers (though I have never owned one), so I do have insight into what is possible and what is not. And it's definitely possible to make all the changes that this game needs to be a balanced experience between pay to win and play to win.
The bad:
-Questing
-Mob spawns
-Mob re-spawns
-Too much cost for forging
-Too much cost for teleporting
(-success rate of forging)
-Potions are too expensive
-SES drop rate too high
-Lvl 7 Heroic Power
I don't understand for the life of me why you guys changed the questing and mob spawns. This was one of the most fun aspects of the game, and any farm-heavy MMORPG for that matter. Picking up three or four quests, finishing them and turning them in all at once is always satisfying. The new questing line and mob spawns makes this game most boring and bland game ever. Let's face it, Rohan has never been very sophisticated, but it has its lore and with the old quests, you were able to get around, "see the world" and get to make a decision of where you wanted to be. Now you don't have these things anymore. It's like you're spawned in a brainless indie-game where you get a weapon at level 1 and to reach endgame you need to run forwards and kill everything in your way. At one point progression becomes harder, then a lot harder, so you'll experience setbacks, but still, all you need to do is run forwards. It is very bland and robs you of all the choices you had before. Please give us the quests back.
The mob spawns are completely brainless. It's like someone decided to replace the somewhat though-out spawns with a grid of random mobs spawns where all that matters is the linear level progression. It's stupid and bland for the same reasons I stated above about questing. Now, it's sad that these things were removed from the game and replaced by such a linear experience. But I can see how this questing line guides the player through the levels and accompanies you through your experience. And this would be okay, if it wasn't for the rate at which mobs respawn. You barely even get time to pick up the loot that was dropped and the foe you just killed is already back. I mean, have you guys test played this game before dropping it? Even for a CBT, this is not acceptable. It's the most obvious thing that killing a mob, barely surviving just to be killed by a respawned mob shortly after you killed the first guy is a very frustrating experience. There should be areas where you can take a break from battle.
Now. All of these things can be fixed by reintroducing the old quests and spawn areas again. The fun in the PvE of this game came from accepting and handing in quests in the open areas, and farming with friends in the designated areas -> Ahkma Cave, Altar of Roha, Rahkon levels, and Spire of Redemption for instance.
The cost for forging and the success rates. I understand the cost for forging. It's actually a very good idea. Have a crone sink, make people spend ingame currency to counter inflation. Keep the overall total amount of crones that is in the game low. I'm really glad that you guys came up with solutions for this. BUT, don't make the low-levels pay for this. For veterans, it's an acceptable penalty. We all know what crones are, how to get them and what our expectations are. However, for a new player who enters the game, this is just pure frustration. Make a compromise: Either keep the high forging costs, but make success rates for LOW-LEVEL equipment higher. I'm talking up to level 30ish uniques, Froianne and weapons. Maybe even Graham to make progression to level 40 easier and then for Pluion you can drop success rates and then make it harder to get endgame equipment. At this point progression is slower so you'll have to farm a lot anyway. Having uniques should be special, I understand and even support that thought, but you need to find the line between frustration and creating a barrier of entry to the elite. I want to work hard for my special equipment, but give me something to stand and build up on.
But this has always been a complaint. Success rates and the forging system in Rohan is pretty frustrating. Trying to forge stuff ingame right now reminds of why we all used to wait for the weekly forge event back in the days.
The cost for potions is way too high as it stand right now. With the respawn rates, potions are a necessity to survive since you barely get a break between fights. Again, make the early-game easier. Make small potions accessible to new players. Additionally, don't put the most powerful version of heroic power behind a paywall. This game is about PvP, and while additional damage can be put behind a paywall since this also affects PvE, don't put a skill that completely changes the damage one receives from PvP behind money. It's unfair, and this skill should be kept at level 5 max.
The cost for teleporting is too high. While I like the new way of getting around without having to buy portal stones, I don't agree with the pricing. It's a good crone sink, but at least make it also scale with distance and not only level. Having to pay 15k for porting at level 40ish is ridiculous. The most viable way of getting around is by binding yourself to a nearby bindstone, go back to town (which costs 0) and then when you're done with business, let yourself be killed by a patrol so you get a free port back. That shouldn't be a viable option...
Finally, the drop rate for SES is way too high. Now this is actually something I shouldn't complain about, because hell, who doesn't like 100% chance SES dropped by mobs. BUT, if you want to make money, please do it on places like this. Back in the day, SES were the only thing that I felt like spending money on without having doubts in my investment. It was something I didn't feel bad about because I felt the effect permanently. SES stones are a good investment for a player. Don't give me this stuff for free from mob drops. Sell them to me for a reasonable price on the IM.
The nit-picky:
-The experience wheel/bar, please show this in percentages again, or make it possible to see how far you're in without having to mouse over it.
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I hope this gives you guys at Systemholic or whatever you, the owner of this game, is called now, something to build on. Actually, the saddest thing I feel right now is that I'm probably beating a dead horse and shouting and deaf ears. I'm not the first guy who tries to push this game into the right direction, back in the day, the whole community tried to do this and failed. And if the whole community of a game is ignored in order to make a quick cash grab, then that means that the only purpose of this game is exactly that. Which is sad, because why in hell do so many people keep coming back then. Rohan has a great foundation to become a good game and unfortunately it seems like there's so much untapped potential here. Let's not talk about the atrocious game engine btw, I'm rather disappointed that Rohan Origin is just a reboot of the same game instead of a remake in a new engine. But hell, I know that it's not the easiest thing to do, even though I also know that there was an attempt to do exactly this by ONE fan who did all the coding and tool creation to redo the game in Unity 3D. (I helped.)
Proof here: Proof
So for an entire team, this would certainly be possible. And my god, even in the current engine, the game looks fantastic if you can boost the framerate to 45 fps or something (it starts getting buggy at 60). But I'm getting off-track here. If you're able to fix the problems I stated above, this has the potential to become the old Rohan again combined with all the fixes you introduced.
Anyway. I'm almost convinced that this post won't change a thing, but at least I know I did my part. Leave a comment below and don't forget to like and subscribe.