First impressions, the good and the bad

[Streamlines]

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.
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

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.

[KatyPerry1]

+1. And indeed, no matter how much I hated the old questing stuff. This stuff is worse.. I don't care about walking on every small road in the Einhoren map. Hell, specter quest etc were fun as **** in the oldddd days. Pking for spots at specters etc.

Farming crones seems dead atm? Just seems like quests for leveling up.. and the only purpose it has is that it brings you to higher level mobs.

[White Arctic Fox]

Never been much of a quester myself (only in the start when I played at Syrephis). I do however totally agree that there should be more quests available or at least different intresting and adventerous quest lines with ofcourse, good rewards. Everyone plays and enjoyes an MMORPG differently, for those who want to quest or grind or pvp, all of these things should be present and easily accessible.

I do agree with most of what you said, especially the high cost on forging and on potions. Stuff up to lvl 30 should be really cheap to make/get. I don't mind pluion+ lvl items/weapons/armour being expensive and hard to get/make but at least make it easy for noobs/starters to get at least a sense of the gameplay with good items. This will make it easier for people to decided weather or not to continue to the ''harder'' part.

+ The friend and gift system is pretty awesome if you ask me
+ VIP system looks fine to me, it's P2W but it's totally acceptable and doesn't give you INSANE advantages
+ Event system looks great
+ Revamped skills/classes is good althrough I'm not sure if everything will be balanced but we'll see
+ Revamped items are good

- Only 1 questline available with kind of boring quests, there should be many many more quests with nice rewards and a few good storylines
- pre 30 items are too costly and forging etc is too expensive, pre 30 items should be really cheap and easy to come by. people should spend the first 30 lvls explorering the game and possibilitys instead of farming 420/7 for crones to make a froianne set
- CB only lasts 7 days, we want more!

[LaLee]

The linear progression is a joke, no one will play an MMORPG with a system like this. Rohan was unique because of the open-world design. That you can make a party and level anywhere, make quests all over the world. And to be honest, even the low lvl grinding was fun back then (2008-2010). It was hard to kill +10 level mobs in Ahkma Cave, so everyone was looking for healers, tanks and everyone had to focus on his role, because it's an RPG game after all. Now it's just too easy and boring.

+ 1280x1024 resolution support. Finally.

[EaglePhoenix]

Not sure if potions are too expensive per se. I mean, considering the very low CD, you'll be able to spam them - which needs some kind of counter. Plus, it's a very good sink.
It also requires you to party with priests and all that jazz.

We are also not going to turn this into a f2p or no p2w game at all, but making it less so would be good for starters. With current system, you really benefit from partying. If it's not for faster killing, it's to stay alive to say the least and, for the first time in years, there is enough population to actually form those parties.

Item stats are interesting indeed, and make it feel more progressive, diverse and dedicated. At the moment, i benefit from the extra heal % xD
Am I the only one picking up those crones, tho??

[sunnyangel]

This feels like tree of savior with only 100 lvls. Srsly have you ever seen their map?




for some reason I cant find my map with all the names and lvls but srsly theres like 150 places and you just go from place to place to place doing quests collecting exp cards to use later on and do the 5 or so daily dungeons.

[Sh00tnI99asD34d]

100% in line with you OP.

I was actually hoping to come back to farming similar areas in groups again, it was hands down the most social part of the game to me. Spending hours upon hours playing with the same people and talking about dumb ****, everyone playing their role. It's either solo play or run around and kill everything mindlessly for me so far. I like the friendslist /exp and the events going on. Hate the skill changes but we'll have to see what they had in mind with all that.

Why these quests though? what was wrong with the old system? it was fun and nerv racking expecting a pker at any time.

[Nalastarii]

100% in line with you OP.

I was actually hoping to come back to farming similar areas in groups again, it was hands down the most social part of the game to me. Spending hours upon hours playing with the same people and talking about dumb ****, everyone playing their role. It's either solo play or run around and kill everything mindlessly for me so far. I like the friendslist /exp and the events going on. Hate the skill changes but we'll have to see what they had in mind with all that.

Why these quests though? what was wrong with the old system? it was fun and nerv racking expecting a pker at any time.

perhaps after closed beta, they will add daily dungeons and lower the rate of mob re-spawns, no point killing a mob if you can't collect the drops because the mob spawns within 2 seconds.

i feel the 2hour pets should have been longer. the cost to buy pets from the merchant is just wow 600k for the bear? o.o

[soulholder]

Initial Review: After Day 1 from a R:BF beta tester ten years ago

I do agree with most of what the OP expresses, though I have a few differing opinions:

My guess (or at least hope) is that most of the quests are missing from the game as it stands, and hopefully many will return once the beta ends, particularly the repeatable ones. That said, I haven't looked at Korea, so I could be dead wrong. Its highly-linear approach to questing and lack of portal stones makes inventory management and general travel feel stale and rather uneventful. I feel like I'm on a guided tour of the maps rather than on an epic adventure. Long-term, I don't think this approach is sustainable when trying to retain players; one of the perks of the refinement system was allowing players to GH -> Portal Stone -> Start right off on higher level mobs when making a second/third/fourth character.


THE GOOD:
I disagree with the OP about the SES drop rate being too high. I haven't looked at all of the characters, but I can absolutely tell now from the HE perspective, an outright need for getting a majority of skills to 6/7 is making me happy to be constantly getting these things to drop. I'll never discount drops like this; it also makes making alts a lot easier and sustainable if you don't like the character; before you sold it on the EM to hopefully make a bit of the SES costs back, now there's no EM and you'll need to re-grind the stones yourself, or buy them. But since there's also no EM for buying things in the IM, this makes the upfront costs drop considerably while still keeping level 7's a source of income for the company. That said, I criticize some level 7 dependency below.

More granular approach to stats and builds will definitely make endgame more interesting.

Some skill changes are awesome, and were much-needed. Again from the HE perspective, the reworked Scout looks absolutely fantastic.

The community reboot and fan-service for this is super awesome. The whole notion of "10 years ago..." made me smile ear-to-ear, this being the game's 10th year after R:BF's release in Korea.

Main questline is at least a bit more engaging early on, and the general story seems better. There's a conflict, and at least from the Ein side, it's not just a total partisan war for no reason; many NPC's seem to recognize the legitimacy of the other side of sympathize with them. Storytelling 101, moral ambiguity is much better than a bunch of zealotry.

Removal of stat refinement - it was a hassle more than anything.

Higher resolution game client is a big win. Good job for addressing this QoL issue.

Item mall rewards being permanent and never resetting is a reasonable strategy to add incentive for players to spend over time, and not all at once or feel an imperative need to go all-out repeatedly. It also prevents giving inherent advantages to high-rollers over and over.

Fatigue: Concept is cool to deny botting and so on. I think R:BF lost itself with HK's, and the consistent pushes to the level cap weren't helping anyone in terms of healthy playstyle choices, and bringing back the days of social/good partying to make the time more worthwhile is better for all. Implementation could use some potential future-tweaking, but I like the notion as a whole.

Stat deflation: Keeps the game much more manageable and balance easier, while also opening more doors for viable pieces of gear. Nicely done.

Sockets: Building a ton of small modifiers off of a large number of sockets is a great idea, and one I proposed years ago. We'll need to see this feature elaborated on more.



THE BAD:
Linear content layout/leveling. One of the coolest parts about R:BF was that even low-level zones had a very big variety of levels and encounters, such as the knight boss in Ein (I can't remember the name). There's a real lack of sense of exploration in this game, and no lie, it doesn't feel that amazing. I'm hoping this is largely a beta test design to keep players progressing and clearing content, and isn't part of the final design intent. It really needs more openness. This after all is an MMO where players decide how things unfold, and it should be up to them to play the game as they wish.

No tutorial zone. Getting some fundamental systems explained will help, especially new players. I can only assume we don't have one now just because this is a beta.

Experience rates are weird, and from my < 20 levels in so far, I preferred the old values a bit better. It feels very slow for just starting out. It may be too early for me to tell, however. If the rate stays similar, it's probably a net improvement, but I have my doubts on this, and I don't think that grinding lower exp rates is a good idea, especially early on. The game is about PvP at its core.

Mob placement is awkward and feels at times both totally barren and completely flooded. Grind spots are necessary, but some areas feel too desolate and others nightmarish to cross.

Skill tooltips have weird descriptions, and there's a huge emphasis on having abilities at level 7 over level 6. This wouldn't so much be a problem if so many weren't just totally defined by their level 7 behaviors. Realistically, without the EM funding players, the IM prices for level 7 stones and other IM items are going to need to drop dramatically compared to R:BF. I looked at what I'd consider "required" level 7 abilities for a functional character as a HE, and was quickly pushed into the 15+ mark. Unless these things are priced at like $0.50 each per month, you're going to end up with people losing interest with the game too quickly due to its relatively dated gameplay for how pricey it'd be. Top-of-the-line games are being put out for one-time purchases of $10-60 like BDO and GW2. That's ultimately competition, and your core audience is probably going to be lower-end or lower-budget players, emphasizing a breadth of audience versus milking a few for big bucks. That was the demise of R:BF, and don't let it happen again.

I never liked the move to level requirements for unlocking skills in R:BF, and I think to really bring back the core experience of the original game, level requirements should be removed from the skills when ranking them up. If I want level 5 frozen by level 6, I should be allowed to do so.

No minor health/mana potions and spammable healing effect cooldowns will lead to cost issues for low-level solo players and PvP balance issues.

Lack of critical PvE option items/sockets available like Tears of Edoneh to keep mana values high given the nature of how low the cooldowns in the game are, now. This makes playing mana-hungry skillbuilds like the Scout a lot more frustrating than it needs to be.

HK's are still around - these really need to be removed ASAP. They're so much more destructive than one might think.


THE UGLY:

Forge/Refine Costs: These are just awful. 45k/try to make a 3x rare, and 15k/delvl on a 3x white. Formula needs some adjusting because the new player experience with the prices so high is really miserable.

The removal of Ahkma Cave entrance from Wild Highlands... Y U DO DIS?! This really hit me in the feels, since so much of my time was spent there in the past. Walking up the path from the bindstone brought me down memory lane and hit me super hard in the feels, and then seeing the lack of a cave altogether felt only a little bit soul-crushing. Further, I think this would be an awesome contention point between the Ally/Dhan starting questline conflicts, and it marked a great entry-level dungeon. Edit: I know it's moved, but the change of location to me at least is pretty saddening. This is mostly a nit-pick, though.

We really need the ability to keybind what's settable for movement abilities in the y-keybind menu. Q+E strafe is really hard for people unfamiliar with the game (including old veterans who haven't played in a long time like myself), and makes the experience downright frustrating. This has been an issue all the way back to the core game, and if not fixed will be a pretty huge impairment to getting new players on board. Custom keybinds have a huge place in PvP environments, and if that's what we're selling, those need to happen. Otherwise it just screams that the product isn't being taken seriously by the company. The niche for the game is old-timers and low-budget/low-spec gamers looking for some PvP action in an MMO, and this audience generally isn't easy to get loyalty from. This game was a top-tier product ten years ago, but it hasn't been updated mechanically since. Quality in deliverance of the product to the known audience/market is really going to need to be pushed.

The ranger itself seemed totally gored of most of its purpose. Winged Foot is seemingly no longer permanent, with just a 12s duration on a 90s cooldown, and Siege shot at level 7 providing only 30% RA is questionably useful given that it still immobilizes. Speed Wind has also been heavily nerfed. I haven't looked thoroughly at all of the classes, but there are some definite concerns about balance and utility into the future. The team is going to really need to be on top of this.

Sockets: I've only seen temporary bonus stats to sockets, and they seem very out of the price range of reason for a more casual audience, not to mention that I've only seen a few low-impact socket options be made available. High-time commitment and high-cost are not demands that the game is going to succeed with making due to its age. Recognize the game's place and its niche and the money will come as appropriate. Again, this game's strength is its capacity to have huge battles unfold near-endlessly. There shouldn't be much of a reason to go and keep farming once you reach endgame aside from just doing so for the sake of doing so or to maintain some low-cost consumables like pet food and pots.

Option Items: Insanely expensive for how short-term they are, and how many you can apply to gear. Optimized characters would need to spend several dollars every single day for just a few hours of play. Long-term, these things actually make epics/upgrades look like a good deal. Make them permanent, even if it means upping the cost to a dollar or so each. The 2-hour duration is just downright insulting and is more P2W than R:BF. It's bad to a point where if this doesn't change very soon, I'm just dropping out. It's a horrendously bad deal.

Time-expiring pets/no food. They're just way too expensive. While crone sinks were needed, I don't think this was the way to go. High-level consumables (a la potions/tears/etc.) sold for a reasonable-but-endgame crone cost at NPC's that'd eventually run non-PvE'ers dry would probably be a wiser approach.

Bez costumes at the end-of-the-line VIP rewards. This is a massive amount of power-gain and you know it. Rewards should act as freebies and incentives to keep spending over a long time and playing the game for a long time, not as free power. R:BF started losing control of its consistent revenue when we started seeing costumes with +20 stats be limited-time offers or be part of the fail-heavy minigames in the IM. Given the stat deflation here, this will carry big consequences.


CONCLUSION:
Overall, it's fun, but mostly I think from nostalgia. The game still has an audience to profit from, but it needs some pretty substantial changes to make it a success. The new-player experience needs substantial work to keep players around, particularly due to how pricey forging is given is lack of guarantees, and I think Origin is still better off trying to close the gap on release-candidate R:BF than making a whole new game; release R:BF was honestly one of the most wholesome experiences I've had playing a game, and I think a lot of people will agree.

I'll probably update this as time goes on. Overall, it's been a fun little ride of nostalgia, especially reconnecting with some people I've not seen in years.

Updated Feedback 4/1
[+GOOD]
[+BAD] HK's still being around, lack of PvE tools for mana/health management
[+UGLY] Forge/refine cost scaling for earlier levels, Bez items in VIP rewards

Updated Feedback 4/6
[+GOOD]
[+BAD]
[+UGLY] Duration on option stones and how expensive they are to maintain. This is probably a bigger priority to fix than even the Forge costs. This is REALLY, REALLY bad.

Cheers,

THH

[DeadMansEnd]

Initial Review: After Day 1 from a R:BF beta tester ten years ago

I do agree with most of what the OP expresses, though I have a few differing opinions:

My guess (or at least hope) is that most of the quests are missing from the game as it stands, and hopefully many will return once the beta ends, particularly the repeatable ones. That said, I haven't looked at Korea, so I could be dead wrong. Its highly-linear approach to questing and lack of portal stones makes inventory management and general travel feel stale and rather uneventful. I feel like I'm on a guided tour of the maps rather than on an epic adventure. Long-term, I don't think this approach is sustainable when trying to retain players; one of the perks of the refinement system was allowing players to GH -> Portal Stone -> Start right off on higher level mobs when making a second/third/fourth character.


THE GOOD:
I disagree with the OP about the SES drop rate being too high. I haven't looked at all of the characters, but I can absolutely tell now from the HE perspective, an outright need for getting a majority of skills to 6/7 is making me happy to be constantly getting these things to drop. I'll never discount drops like this; it also makes making alts a lot easier and sustainable if you don't like the character; before you sold it on the EM to hopefully make a bit of the SES costs back, now there's no EM and you'll need to re-grind the stones yourself, or buy them. But since there's also no EM for buying things in the IM, this makes the upfront costs drop considerably while still keeping level 7's a source of income for the company. That said, I criticize some level 7 dependency below.

More granular approach to stats and builds will definitely make endgame more interesting.

Some skill changes are awesome, and were much-needed. Again from the HE perspective, the reworked Scout looks absolutely fantastic.

The community reboot and fan-service for this is super awesome. The whole notion of "10 years ago..." made me smile ear-to-ear, this being the game's 10th year after R:BF's release in Korea.

Main questline is at least a bit more engaging early on, and the general story seems better. There's a conflict, and at least from the Ein side, it's not just a total partisan war for no reason; many NPC's seem to recognize the legitimacy of the other side of sympathize with them. Storytelling 101, moral ambiguity is much better than a bunch of zealotry.

Removal of stat refinement - it was a hassle more than anything.

Higher resolution game client is a big win. Good job for addressing this QoL issue.

Item mall rewards being permanent and never resetting is a reasonable strategy to add incentive for players to spend over time, and not all at once or feel an imperative need to go all-out repeatedly. It also prevents giving inherent advantages to high-rollers over and over.

Fatigue: Concept is cool to deny botting and so on. I think R:BF lost itself with HK's, and the consistent pushes to the level cap weren't helping anyone in terms of healthy playstyle choices, and bringing back the days of social/good partying to make the time more worthwhile is better for all. Implementation could use some potential future-tweaking, but I like the notion as a whole.

Stat deflation: Keeps the game much more manageable and balance easier, while also opening more doors for viable pieces of gear. Nicely done.

Sockets: Building a ton of small modifiers off of a large number of sockets is a great idea, and one I proposed years ago. We'll need to see this feature elaborated on more.



THE BAD:
Linear content layout/leveling. One of the coolest parts about R:BF was that even low-level zones had a very big variety of levels and encounters, such as the knight boss in Ein (I can't remember the name). There's a real lack of sense of exploration in this game, and no lie, it doesn't feel that amazing. I'm hoping this is largely a beta test design to keep players progressing and clearing content, and isn't part of the final design intent. It really needs more openness. This after all is an MMO where players decide how things unfold, and it should be up to them to play the game as they wish.

No tutorial zone. Getting some fundamental systems explained will help. I can only assume we don't have one now just because this is a beta.

Experience rates are weird, and from my < 20 levels in so far, I preferred the old values a bit better. It feels very slow for just starting out. It may be too early for me to tell, however. If the rate stays similar, it's probably a net improvement, but I have my doubts on this, and I don't think that grinding lower exp rates is a good idea, especially early on. The game is about PvP at its core.

Mob placement is awkward and feels at times both totally barren and completely flooded. Grind spots are necessary, but some areas feel too desolate and others nightmarish to cross.

Skill tooltips have weird descriptions, and there's a huge emphasis on having abilities at level 7 over level 6. This wouldn't so much be a problem if so many weren't just totally defined by their level 7 behaviors. Realistically, without the EM funding players, the IM prices for level 7 stones and other IM items are going to need to drop dramatically compared to R:BF. I looked at what I'd consider "required" level 7 abilities for a functional character as a HE, and was quickly pushed into the 15+ mark. Unless these things are priced at like $0.50 each per month, you're going to end up with people losing interest with the game too quickly due to its relatively dated gameplay for how pricey it'd be. Top-of-the-line games are being put out for one-time purchases of $10-60 like BDO and GW2. That's ultimately competition, and your core audience is probably going to be lower-end or lower-budget players, emphasizing a breadth of audience versus milking a few for big bucks. That was the demise of R:BF, and don't let it happen again.

I never liked the move to level requirements for unlocking skills in R:BF, and I think to really bring back the core experience of the original game, level requirements should be removed from the skills when ranking them up. If I want level 5 frozen by level 6, I should be allowed to do so.

No minor health/mana potions and spammable healing effect cooldowns will lead to cost issues and PvP balance issues.


THE UGLY:
The removal of Ahkma Cave entrance from Wild Highlands... Y U DO DIS?! This really hit me in the feels, since so much of my time was spent there in the past. Walking up the path from the bindstone brought me down memory lane and hit me super hard in the feels, and then seeing the lack of a cave altogether felt only a little bit soul-crushing. Further, I think this would be an awesome contention point between the Ally/Dhan starting questline conflicts, and it marked a great entry-level dungeon.

We really need the ability to keybind what's settable for movement abilities in the y-keybind menu. Q+E strafe is really hard for people unfamiliar with the game (including old veterans who haven't played in a long time like myself), and makes the experience downright frustrating. This has been an issue all the way back to the core game, and if not fixed will be a pretty huge impairment to getting new players on board. Custom keybinds have a huge place in PvP environments, and if that's what we're selling, those need to happen. Otherwise it just screams that the product isn't being taken seriously by the company. The niche for the game is old-timers and low-budget/low-spec gamers looking for some PvP action in an MMO, and this audience generally isn't easy to get loyalty from. This game was a top-tier product ten years ago, but it hasn't been updated mechanically since. Quality in deliverance of the product to the known audience/market is really going to need to be pushed.

The ranger itself seemed totally gored of most of its purpose. Winged Foot is seemingly no longer permanent, with just a 12s duration on a 90s cooldown, and Siege shot at level 7 providing only 30% RA is questionably useful given that it still immobilizes. Speed Wind has also been heavily nerfed. I haven't looked thoroughly at all of the classes, but there are some definite concerns about balance and utility into the future. The team is going to really need to be on top of this.

Sockets: I've only seen temporary bonus stats to sockets, and they seem very out of the price range of reason for a more casual audience, not to mention that I've only seen a few low-impact socket options be made available. High-time commitment and high-cost are not demands that the game is going to succeed with making due to its age. Recognize the game's place and its niche and the money will come as appropriate. Again, this game's strength is its capacity to have huge battles unfold near-endlessly. There shouldn't be much of a reason to go and keep farming once you reach endgame aside from just doing so for the sake of doing so or to maintain some low-cost consumables like pet food and pots.

Time-expiring pets/no food. They're just way too expensive. While crone sinks were needed, I don't think this was the way to go. High-level consumables (a la potions/tears/etc.) sold for a reasonable-but-endgame crone cost at NPC's that'd eventually run non-PvE'ers dry would probably be a wiser approach.

I'll probably update this as time goes on. Overall, it's been a fun little ride of nostalgia, especially reconnecting with some people I've not seen in years.

Cheers,

THH

To Adress somethings in this Post:

Repeatables Quest: They Start at lvl 31, recently hit that and well yeah they are there. Nothing impressiv thou.
Lack of PortalStones: You can teleport around just by opening map and clicking on desired spot. Want Altar of Roha? click on it it will tell you a Price in crones.
Quest = no Grinding : thats pretty wrong you can grind at a desired spot for xp and do quest after wards for rewards the quest it self never gives much XP just about 2-10%. Only Rewards like 100% Ses make it worth.
No Ahkma, No Dungeons: You havent checked the map then. Ahkma is there on 2nd map equal each Race( lvl 16-28 Mobs inside). Other Dungeon are also on Other maps.