Going to iRO?

[Korn Ninja Seven]

Now,, I'm going to be honest with you all. I've been playing on a P. server for years, it's how I met my boyfriend, in fact. Before you get all judgy on me, Let me explain why:

At first, I had no idea it was a private server. I know that ignorance of the law is no excuse to break it, but level with me here. By the time I found out, I had friends. It was fun. If I had to pay for it, I would never have even started playing. I loved the community. I was in a great guild. And for all of you who play iRO, you know walking everywhere isn't as appealing as @warping to wherever you want.

After a while, I got busy, went back to school, lost my computer, blah blah blah. Time kept creeping along, and before I knew it, it had been a few years since I had played. Suddenly, I got the itch. So I log on. And dear lord, it was awful. All of my friends were gone, having moved on to another server, or away from RO in general. They STTIILLLL didn't have third classes. Everyone playing seemed either half my age, or didn't speak English. And Prontera was full to the brim with spam of every shape and size imaginable. I tried going off and level, but it simply wasn't fun anymore.

Since then I've been thinking, should I find another server, or join the legit masses and play iRO? Now, I'm giving you an opportunity to sway me into the light. Tell me why, beside the obvious, "it's wrong," train of logic, I should give Gravity my hard earned cash? What does iRO have for me that I won't find in a P. server?

**NOTE: Before you hit that report button, please actually read. I'm not trying to talk about P. servers. I'm not trying to link anyone. Hell, I didn't even mention the name of the server I played on. I'm trying to find out, from someone who plays iRO, what the real benefits to playing the legit game are. Also, I don't want to hear any elitist bs about how I'm going to videogame hell.

[Takarashi]

The main benefits are experiencing the fully functional game with proper Renewal mechanics, and helping to support the game you enjoy. You will lose out on a lot of convenience factors, however. Warpras, Healers, Job Changers, all those types of things. It does boast a large community at least.

The thing to keep in mind here is commitment. I believe that the pay-to-play option is now simply paying once and then you get in, and of course there's always the free server. Since these are the official servers though leveling (and most of the game) is going to be considerably slower. You won't zip to 99 by the end of the week. You will have to do a lot of those pain-staking quests to unlock some of the things you want. Hunting gear is going to take a lot time. If you're fine with all that and want to experience RO as it was meant to be played, by all means, go for it. If not, well, what you do beyond that is your business.

[Korn Ninja Seven]

Takarashi

The main benefits are experiencing the fully functional game with proper Renewal mechanics, and helping to support the game you enjoy. You will lose out on a lot of convenience factors, however. Warpras, Healers, Job Changers, all those types of things. It does boast a large community at least.

The thing to keep in mind here is commitment. I believe that the pay-to-play option is now simply paying once and then you get in, and of course there's always the free server. Since these are the official servers though leveling (and most of the game) is going to be considerably slower. You won't zip to 99 by the end of the week. You will have to do a lot of those pain-staking quests to unlock some of the things you want. Hunting gear is going to take a lot time. If you're fine with all that and want to experience RO as it was meant to be played, by all means, go for it. If not, well, what you do beyond that is your business.

There's a free iRO server?

[Takarashi]

Korn Ninja Seven

There's a free iRO server?

Yeah, Valkyrie is the free to play server. Originally it had some penalties, like 3% EXP loss on death, less warp availability, a couple of cards removed, etc. but I think with some more recent changes even those have been changed to be more like the standard RO.

The biggest downside to Valkyrie is the number of bots. You'll see parades of bots going to maps to farm items for Zeny to sell and things like that.

[Sweet Peppermint Tea]

Korn Ninja Seven

Takarashi

The main benefits are experiencing the fully functional game with proper Renewal mechanics, and helping to support the game you enjoy. You will lose out on a lot of convenience factors, however. Warpras, Healers, Job Changers, all those types of things. It does boast a large community at least.

The thing to keep in mind here is commitment. I believe that the pay-to-play option is now simply paying once and then you get in, and of course there's always the free server. Since these are the official servers though leveling (and most of the game) is going to be considerably slower. You won't zip to 99 by the end of the week. You will have to do a lot of those pain-staking quests to unlock some of the things you want. Hunting gear is going to take a lot time. If you're fine with all that and want to experience RO as it was meant to be played, by all means, go for it. If not, well, what you do beyond that is your business.

There's a free iRO server?

The game is semi-free to play now. You can create up to three characters for free on the Valkyrie and Yggdrasil servers; paying a small subscription fee will allow you to create up to nine, but once all nine slots have been filled you don't have to upgrade to VIP status again in order to play any of your characters. The Ymir server requires a one-time fee to play on, but after that it functions the same as the other two servers. All servers have an Item Mall (Kafra Shop) offering equipment and consumeables that can help both starting players and veterans gain a bit of an edge in leveling and PvP; using these items is completely optional, so you don't have to spend money if you don't want to. Aside from that, all three servers give you the option of upgrading your account for a period of time to what's called VIP Status; you have a reduced EXP death penalty, increased gains in EXP and item drops, and can enter dungeons reserved for VIP players.

I personally don't plan to spend money on VIP subscriptions once this one runs out, simply because I'm hardcore like that and can take the slower EXP rates and horrific 3% death penalty. I will admit, though, that a lot of those Kafra Shop headgears will eventually find their way into my cute headgear collection sooner or later. <3

Now, monetary costs aside, iRO has a small but active and friendly community. It's pretty easy to find a guild that will help you level and get you involved in WoE, MvPing, and Monster Hunting Event parties just by walking around Pront or Payon and seeing who's recruiting. Small, newly formed guilds or casual non-WoE guilds are your best bet as a new player; there will be less pressure to power level or get top of the line gear omg right now, letting you make friends and play at your own pace. If you want something a bit bigger and faster-paced, you can join one of the big-name WoE guilds. They're more active, which should make it easier to find someone to help you level and hunt for gear/cards/zeny loot, but since the focus is on WoE (and to a lesser extent, MvPing) you'll find that people might expect you to level up quicker and get better and more expensive gear sooner.

Speaking of leveling and gear, iRO has implemented the Eden Group, an organization of NPCs that will help newcomers to iRO familiarize themselves with the game and level up a bit quicker. Through Eden Group, you can find quests to hunt monsters in your level range and earn some fairly decent starter gear. The quests start at level 11 (12 for the gear quests) and end at level 85, by which point you should be more familiar with the game mechanics and have ingrained yourself into the community enough to find parties and level on your own from then on.