Returning... after a VERY long time

[Vegasian]

Hi all,

For a few weeks now I want to return to SRO. I've played with much fun back in 2006/2007, but quitted because of the ever growing bot problem.

Before I start downloading, a few questions:

- The botting problem, has it been solved nowadays? Ofcourse I don't mind a FEW bots, but I would be very disappointed to find that 90% of all players are still botting. If the problem still persists after all these years then theres no point for me to start over with this game.

- Questing, has the Chinese faction gotten a few more quests for when leveling up? I remember a certain quest back in the days involving the death of 3000 (!!!) mobs of the same type. You didn't have much choice in skipping the quest cause there weren't any alternatives. I wonder if more quests have been added since then.

- Grinding, for getting skill points I remember nearly endless grinds and the use of so called 'gaps', to gain more of those points. Is it still the same, horrible grind as it used to be (planning to build a full STR bow character)?

- Entering the servers, back then you could basically only enter if you had a premium card. The servers were always full so you would get kicked from the game if you tried to log in without one. It was one of the most dreadful ways of Joymax to get more players to buy premiums. How is logging in nowadays?

- About those premium cards... I hated the fact that they only provided extra XP for 3 hours a day. Is this still the way they provide? Or has the premium card received an upgrade to give additional xp for more hours per day?

- Silkroad normal or Silkroad R? I'm not sure what Silkroad R is all about... I've looked it up on Youtube but I don't see any differences from the normal Silkroad. So which one to choose?

[The Invisible]

Go Sro-R, it is way better if you are going to start fresh anyway.

[XiaoXo]

You could join us in Thebes We'll help u through with all the new changes, and a with a guild ^^ . We have a legit union containing 6 guilds total. And im in SuddenDeath atm, for further questions just pm or send msg in game too.

Qrystal, Quickstream or Emperor ^^ Hope we'll meet in sro-r

[Vegasian]

SRO-R it is but now I cannot seem to download the game client. Whenever I start the download I get a popup screen saying 'initializing download'. A few seconds later I receive an 'error 3' with no information or whatsoever. The client just closes and nothing is being downloaded...

[Kutt]

Hi all,

For a few weeks now I want to return to SRO. I've played with much fun back in 2006/2007, but quitted because of the ever growing bot problem.

Before I start downloading, a few questions:

- The botting problem, has it been solved nowadays? Ofcourse I don't mind a FEW bots, but I would be very disappointed to find that 90% of all players are still botting. If the problem still persists after all these years then theres no point for me to start over with this game.

There are a lot fewer bots in SRO-R

- Questing, has the Chinese faction gotten a few more quests for when leveling up? I remember a certain quest back in the days involving the death of 3000 (!!!) mobs of the same type. You didn't have much choice in skipping the quest cause there weren't any alternatives. I wonder if more quests have been added since then.

In SRO-R, the quests have been fine tuned. There are now quests for practically every monster up to 70 and the number of monster you need to kill have gone down.

- Grinding, for getting skill points I remember nearly endless grinds and the use of so called 'gaps', to gain more of those points. Is it still the same, horrible grind as it used to be (planning to build a full STR bow character)?

Now you can get faded beads fairly easily, which act like sp scrolls, making sp farming less necessary.

- Entering the servers, back then you could basically only enter if you had a premium card. The servers were always full so you would get kicked from the game if you tried to log in without one. It was one of the most dreadful ways of Joymax to get more players to buy premiums. How is logging in nowadays?

My log ins have been instant the whole time I've been playing SRO-R, about a month. So I'd say they're pretty good.

- About those premium cards... I hated the fact that they only provided extra XP for 3 hours a day. Is this still the way they provide? Or has the premium card received an upgrade to give additional xp for more hours per day?

Premium cards are gone(well, almost). They got rid of them a while ago. Now they have exp booster scrolls that give exp for a set amount of play time. They're actually fairly cheap compared to premium, 100 silk for 50 hours. I actually think it's a brilliant system since it doesn't restrict legits and it makes botting A LOT more expensive. I wish it came with a bit more time though, since 50 hours is a little low for a whole month.

I feel I should mention, you CAN get premium cards via the magic lamp system(A new form of magic pop) but it seems to me like the probability of getting one is really low.

- Silkroad normal or Silkroad R? I'm not sure what Silkroad R is all about... I've looked it up on Youtube but I don't see any differences from the normal Silkroad. So which one to choose?

Unless you bot, go with SRO-R. They addressed a lot of issues in past silk road games with it.

[[SD]Master_Wong]

its a laugh atleast for now, but we dont start fights like a lot of other legits try we just play how we like to play and have fun doing it.

As xiao said SuddenDeath is up so if my track record is anything to go by its a good fun guild xD

[Vegasian]

I've finished downloading SRO-R and made my character on Thebes server.

A few more questions:

- Those feaded beads for skill points... are they hard to get? Where can I find them?

- Is making a skill gap still viable these days? I want to gather some skillpoints and I want them fast. In order to be effective I believe you needed about 9 gaps at level 16 in the early days? So that means I shouldn't invest more points into my mastery beyond level 7, correct?

- Is full STR still the way to go with Chinese bow characters? And also is there a level to level guide for that build?

[ltsune]

You get faded beads from the Forgotten World Uniques. To get into the FGW you need a Dimension pillar. You get the pillar by killing it when it spawns while you're grinding. It will look like a large blue pillar. Can't really miss it

If you go FGW as often as possible, you should not need to gap much, if at all.

And I would say yes, always go pure STR on a Chinese archer. Some people would tend to agree, but yeah... the most often used build is pure STR archer.

[Vegasian]

You get faded beads from the Forgotten World Uniques. To get into the FGW you need a Dimension pillar. You get the pillar by killing it when it spawns while you're grinding. It will look like a large blue pillar. Can't really miss it

If you go FGW as often as possible, you should not need to gap much, if at all.

And I would say yes, always go pure STR on a Chinese archer. Some people would tend to agree, but yeah... the most often used build is pure STR archer.

I see sounds good!
Those forgotten world uniques, are they hard to kill? Do I need a group for them or do I go in alone and, more importantly, are they for any level?
And about those blue pillars, do they spawn often? Or are they very rare?

[ltsune]

The pillars doesn't spawn all that often. But when you kill them, two mice looking mobs will spawn from the pillar. You'll have to kill them and hope they drop a dimension hole.

How hard the FGW is depends on your level. When you get too high, you'll simply get harder mobs in the FGW. As a pure str archer with a decent set you should easily be able to solo a FGW. At least as you get into the 6th degree.

[Kutt]

I see sounds good!
Those forgotten world uniques, are they hard to kill? Do I need a group for them or do I go in alone and, more importantly, are they for any level?
And about those blue pillars, do they spawn often? Or are they very rare?

I'm a pure STR Archer and I don't have any trouble soloing FGW.

The dimension pillars first start appearing at level 35 mobs. Just note that until level 40-45, you may not be able to get through the whole thing in time. The final unique isn't hard but he has a lot of HP.

[Strwarrior]

Sometimes i really think such "returning dudes" are trolling.

[Vegasian]

The pillars appear at level 35... I guess that explains why I haven't seen one yet

Just bought some silk to check out the genie's magic lamp system. Went for the premium 4w reward 8 times and all I won we're SP scrolls/global chats. I did get 36k skill points from those scrolls, but it's not the reward I wanted. I can see that magic lamp being very addictive, as I already feel like trying again. But my common sense says no... I'm guessing the winrate for the premium is really, REALLY low?

Sometimes i really think such "returning dudes" are trolling.

No trolling here I actually did return to SRO. The question is for how long... I tend to get bored with games very quickly. I remembered SRO being one of the very few games which I actually played longer than a week or two So maybe it'll provide the same level of satisfaction again for a while... or maybe it won't.

[Vegasian]

A few more questions:

- I'm at lvl 14 now and killing bandits. One of the things which start to emerge is my mana-efficiency. If I buff myself with fire imbue for every fight and then devil bow -> multiple arrow skill I run out of mana very quickly. After about every 2 kills I need a mana potion. This is OK for now since mana potions are free... but it would become a problem on high lvl...
So how is mana efficiency as a full STR bow character on high lvls?

- Also I would like to know which build (playing Chinese only... oldschool ftw!) makes the best PVP character. I remember full INT spear users we're very powerful many years ago... but times've changed

[iscared]

Bow is fine in pvp, same as blader and glave for chinese in pvp.

Anyways make sure you have garment on because it helps save mana and allows you to move much quicker. When you become a higher level you're going to barely ever run out of mana with enchants on your gear.

[ltsune]

And also, make sure to join a guild!
Now, you might like being a lonewolf. But if you're just a tiny bit like me, you won't survive long without an active guild. I simply tend to get bored without having someone to chat with - or talk (Vent/TS).

Just, you know... some sort of suggestion

[Strwarrior]

Pure int spear if u wanna have fun in pvp ( or hybrid ), there are alot of 110/ 120 test servers for pvps if u wanna check

[Vegasian]

And also, make sure to join a guild!
Now, you might like being a lonewolf. But if you're just a tiny bit like me, you won't survive long without an active guild. I simply tend to get bored without having someone to chat with - or talk (Vent/TS).

Just, you know... some sort of suggestion

I used to be in a guild back in 2006, in a time where the majority of the players we're still actual players instead of bots it was fun, but I usually don't have time to commit myself to a guild.

I've been playing on SRO-R Thebes server for a day or two now and one of the things that I've noticed is that it's pretty quiet. Sure theres people online and I even see them doing their things around the various questing areas and such... but still... it's very quiet if compared with SRO a few years ago.

So I wonder... this quietness. Is it just SRO-R? Is it really the lack of bots that I'm seeing here? In ISRO @ 2006 I remember thousands of people being online at the same time. The three Eastern Chinese cities constantly lagging because of the masses. Dozens of people dueling outside the gates with each other. Hundreds of folks trying to sell their stuff in their own little market stalls etc. So is this because a lot of people quitted SRO, or are most people still on good old ISRO? Or is it just Chinese being onpopular these days and is everyone playing Euro?

[ltsune]

There are fewer stalls now because of the consignment system.
On this page you can see the servers capacity: http://www.rev6.com/servercapacity/

As you can see, there ARE people online. The thing is, most of them are bots. People also PVP less on SilkroadR as everyone is kinda rushing to the cap.

I know for a fact that there is a SRF guild on SilkroadR, so you might join them. I mean, I don't think they mind that you're only a casual player. But yeah, go ahead and ask them

[[SD]Master_Wong]

would say a srf guild but there are srf members mostly in our union a lot in my guild

SuddenDeath

[Vegasian]

Already tired of SRO on official servers... The seductions of paying alot of money is just to great. Joymax got greed written all over. The game is just to much centered on harvesting payments.

So, I've decided to give private servers a go. But which one should I choose? Theres hundreds of them out there! I'm looking for one with a nice server pop, I don't like running through completely deserted lands
I already tried Silkroad Revolution. Nice pop but you still need to pay (donate) for getting silk items. Not something I expect from a private server. Also the rates are just a tad to high I think. For example level 1-8 is done with just 1 kill... good for testing... not good for playing!

My demands on a list:
- Chinese faction available
- Getting silk or at least getting silk items for free
- Balanced increase in exp/sp rates. I don't want to reach cap in a few hours of playing, but I don't want it to take months either.
- Solid community at all times. I don't want to find myself on the Silkroad alone
- 100+ cap would be nice, but isn't a neccesity

[[SD]Master_Wong]

salvation is most of those but 70 cap but personally i like to level if salvation went over 70 to 100 id be happy to join

[Vegasian]

I read about Salvation earlier. I can overcome the 70 cap I think. However, only the Jangan and Dhonwhang areas are available... I don't really like that aspect. I like the Hotan area and the city is my personal favorite of all SRO's cities. Also, silk(items) still have to be paid for
Rates seemed well balanced tho, so I might still give it a try if there are no better alternatives...

[Tasdik]

I read about Salvation earlier. I can overcome the 70 cap I think. However, only the Jangan and Dhonwhang areas are available... I don't really like that aspect. I like the Hotan area and the city is my personal favorite of all SRO's cities. Also, silk(items) still have to be paid for
Rates seemed well balanced tho, so I might still give it a try if there are no better alternatives...

We can easily add in Hotan. But we're keeping it closed for now to limit the map size and cause more player interaction. Besides, DW is so much better then HT for pvping.

The silk items you can buy are purely cosmetic. There's no OP Devil spirits, damage scrolls, premiums, etc.

[[SD]Master_Wong]

if the cap was raised id come join i personally dont like the idea of 100 skills or 120 skils at 70 cant be balanced 100, 120 just means there is never an end you can level or pvp or both its always something to work towards pvp gets boring fast and there isnt enough end game pve in sro

[Tasdik]

if the cap was raised id come join i personally dont like the idea of 100 skills or 120 skils at 70 cant be balanced 100, 120 just means there is never an end you can level or pvp or both its always something to work towards pvp gets boring fast and there isnt enough end game pve in sro

Which is why we're doing what we can to make end game more enjoyable. As of right now, there's shinmoo, Naiad, Togui Elder, Roc and Scarcrow as end game high level uniques. All three of them drop different end game items which will benefit your character. And you have to employ several different tactics in order to beat them, and ks any other parties that may be there. Not gonna lie, shit is kind of fun.

And then there's the jobbing aspect which is crazy active on this server. I'm talking massive trades with like 20 5*'s. Jobbing is the best way to get money on this server.

There's also BA which, unlike most servers, is pretty damn active here. Almost everyone goes to it.

And don't forget about FGW. Also an excellent way to make some money/spend 2 hours with friends fighting to survive the monsters that'll rape you in a second, should you let your guard down.

Oh and if treasure hunting is what you're in to, there's 13 treasure boxes, with various goodies, scattered throughout the entire map, some of them incredibly hard to find, some of them a tad bit easier.

We're constantly improving sro to make it more enjoyable.

[[SD]Master_Wong]

these are just altered, your essentially making it easier, but stil the 70 cap puts me off