Silkroad Online Forums

I started playing Silkroad when it was relatively new, back when there were only 3 servers, mine was Xian. It was the first real mmorpg (browser based don't count) that I have ever played. No other [free] MMO I found could live up to SRO. But I wasn't the greatest player. (It was some sort of Str/Int hybrid with skill points into just about everything) After a month of research and effort, I gave up on fixing my horrible build. I finally got bored of SP farming with my new character (got to lvl 22) and, I left around the time botting was beginning to become an issue.

I still couldn't find a good free MMO and decided to return to SRO. But so much has changed since then. More negative changes than good. Bots, gold sellers spamming the city, taxes, lag, and I can't log in most of the time...

So I need some catching up...
Like; what is this 'taxi' stuff, how do these new fangled alchemy stuff work (back in my day we only had elixirs), and everything else....

Taxis are kind of parties where one high lvl kills mobs and low lvls just follow the high lvl one and get huge amounts of exp.

By new alchemy you mean the stones? When you put your cursor on top of stone icon you can see what the stone does. For example stone may raise int, str, br, parry ratio....

Well there are indeed lots of change in good and bad.

Bad thing is that the servers are crowded and you can't get in very easily. Some servers are easier than others. And the bot problem (especially gold bot problem) isn't under control. Some areas on the servers are filled up with bots especially around hotan.

Good things, you have the auto potion to use potions automatically. The map is increased. There are now european characters to play with. The difference between euros and chinese is the fact that euros are able to buff party members while chinese buff themselves, but their pot delay is slower. Playing in a party is totally different from the chinese grinding method and it's nice because you are in a party with other players and interact and you make friends easier. And the graphics of the game are still amazing..... I'm still wondering what's the most beautifull waterfall in game.

There is a new party system with 8 players in it that share the xp and sp of their kill as long as they are in close range. Taxis are higher level players that make a 8/8 party and kill mobs very fast so that the lower levels are levelling up very fast, but it costs gold and there is a lot of scamming like paying and being kicked out of party after 10 minutes.

With stones you are able to change the white characterists of an item or add blue marks on it, but it's very risky.

Thanks for answering.

Also, what are those weird towers around Jangan, what is this academy thing?

The towers are the entry to fortresses. There is a system of fortress war, one war every two weeks, where guild can sign up to take control of a fortress. It's like a kind of mega union PVP. I think it's best to do a search on this forum or to look on youtube for a couple of vids. The owner of a fortress can put taxes, for the jangan fortress in the city of jangan (highest level is 20 % on all sales), or 20% per ferry cross for the stronghold fortress.

The academy system is a system where a high level player takes in lower levels to teach them the game, when they leave they give him points. The players with most points have some bonusses (attack bonus, speed bonus). Originally you could also buy special sox weapons (even sosun) with a limited amount of repair on it but the system was bugged and the only available weapons are chinese D8 weapons.