Much ado has been presented about Ragnarok Online changing to not have monthly subscriptions. Well it is true, and here is a bit of information to help clarify what to expect from the changes.
We will be switching from a Premium/Free server scenario with required monthly subscription for Premium access, to a “VIP” account system with benefits to game play, but where you can access any account and characters freely without any payment requirement. The VIP Account system can be added to an account for 30 days (or 90 and 180 days respectfully) and has the same price as the current subscription model had. We will transfer remaining daily/hourly subscription into the new VIP account status when we make this change.
The VIP account tag will be added via purchase via WP energy onto a specific game account (much like a subscription). Login to the WarpPortal and “Power-Up” the desired account
30 day Premium 700WP
90 day Premium 1900WP
180 day Premium 3350WP
This new method is ideal for returning veteran players as they certainly will be able to play with friends and such without a subscription barring access to their characters, we look forward to how this will change WoE and what not. Of course returning and new players may still need to make a WarpPortal account and bind/register Ragnarok Accounts to it, possibly update passwords on the Veteran Ragnarok Accounts.
All servers will inherit the same refine system that our current Premium servers now enjoy. (Elu = safe to +4, e.Elu = high rate and then HD are protection with normal elu rate). All Kafra shop items will be added to all servers, at the lowest currently available price. This means rental items will be seen on Ymir, cheaper stuff in general will be seen on Valkyrie. Further prices will be updated to all match Ymir, with rental items entering into the shop on all servers.
Please keep in mind the below restrictions are what is planned, and in testing, that does not mean they are 100% set in stone.
| Premium Account | Free Acct | |
| Experience | 150% | 100% |
| Drop Rate | 150% | 100% |
| Storage | 600 | 300 |
| Penalty on Death | 1% | 3% |
| Access to Special NPCs | All + special | Normal |
| Access to Special Areas | All + special | Normal |
There will be one other update regarding Yggdrasil, it will parallel Valkyrie server in how many default characters a non-VIP account create (3), both Valkyrie and Yggdrasil are considered “Open” servers, while Ymir will be a “VIP” server. Below greater detail on the create character details can be found. If you wish to transfer off of Yggdrasil to Ymir, for Free before this change please do so.
On all servers, any character can be played. So if you currently have 7 characters created, all 7 can be accessed, regardless of your VIP status. This will also be true for newly created characters, no matter what all, potential, 9 characters slots can be played if there is a character in them.
However, the ability to CREATE characters is tied to your VIP status, and which server you are logging in on VIP vs Open server.
On Open servers you can create 3 characters by default, the remaining 6 Character slots can have characters created in them if the account is currently a VIP account.
On our VIP server (Ymir) default creation number of characters to create is 0, and a VIP account will allow character creation in all 9 slots.
It is highly likely that in the future we will have promotions and events that will bypass the 0 creation restriction on the Open server.
It is intended to have the F2P change occur by April 6, but all known bugs need to be worked out before such a large change occurs, this will very likely meld into the Brasilis launch as well.
We will certainly have a discussion and answer questions about this when the forums return soon.
Edit 3/23/2011: The above was updated to clarify a few points and use the more proper VIP vs Premium language, hopefully this makes it more clear for everyone. We are still testing and discussing the finer points of the update. There seem to be 2 sticky points in Ymir storage and Valkyrie multi-clienting, we are aware of the points on both sides of the discussion and your civility is appreciated thus far.
Edit 3/31/2011 : Removed the Multi-client restriction. VIP or not multiple clients may be logged in at once from 1 computer. The solution we were testing didn’t fully meet our requirements, since it didn’t meet the requirements and that the community has certain feelings about it, we decided to remove it.
Ymir is intended to have 600 storage by default (non-VIP) and may be 600 with VIP as well. We are working on a better storage expansion beyond 600, but it is not ready and it is better overall to have Ymir keep the 600.
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Questions received from Facebook and this blog, and answers.
- Q. How will upgrades work on all servers?
A. All servers will be equal, premium status will not change this.
Safe upgrade with normal Ore from 0 -> safe (+4 on armor +7, +6 +5 +4 on weapons respectively)
Enriched Ore gives higher than normal upgrade rates when going from safe and higher, but a risk of breaking is still possible. -
Q. Kafra shop prices?
A. All servers will use the current CHEAPEST price, which should be the Ymir prices on items. Rental items will be available on all servers. - Q. What about if I’m a returning player, what happens?
A. Returning players can login and access the game account and all characters that exist on the account, with no restriction on server, or premium status. This is the big benefit of this for our veteran players, that all old accounts become valid accounts for login. -
Q. Storage on Ymir will shrink from 600 to 300! But what happens then?
A. No items will be deleted or made unavailable, they will be in a “remove only” state so you can take items out but not put them in if you are over the default storage amount. Aside from making the account “Premium” you could login another account and use its storage to extend what you have. -
Q. Is it really wise to have a system for so long and then take it away.
A. Change is touchy, but the intention of the old seperation between Premium/Free SERVERS was the same as what we have with this update, except we remove the tie to server and instead make it unique to accounts.
If you have always preferred to play by ‘subscription” you can continue doing that, but instead of being a “for access subscription” it is a for added benefit Premium package. On ymir if you have an active premium on your account your game play should be precisely the same as now from the exp/drop storage etc. But there will now be more NPCs and maps being added that you get better access too. This should be a win scenario for veterans. -
Q. Multi-client restriction?
A. Current design: Yes, you can have as many premium accounts logged in on one PC as you wish, but only 1 non-Premium account can be logged in from that PC at a time. -
Q. But I have more accounts than that on Valkyrie, how will I play?
A. This is an unfortunate issue that came about due to no way to limit the amount of clients opening on Valkyrie when we opened. Players were used to having tons of accounts with 1-2 characters apeice instead of fewer accounts filled with characters. That was not a design intention, one that is possible to correct now.
With that said, this part of the update is the one that is most likely to be reviewed to be changed (possibly more non-prem logins) in some form or removed all together. -
Q. If multi-client limiter is put in, will it be tied to gateway?
A. As much as we want to see our gateway become more fun and useful and adopted further by our community, at this time we are not planning on directly tying game login to it, by extension of that it will not be a part of any client restrictions.
The limitation of how many Premium vs non-Premium accounts that can be opened, will need to be completely controlled via the client/server architecture, thus be transparent to the players.
There is some other news that we want to share regarding this update.
- All regular servers will launch from one client. No more having to use different launchers to get to your desired server (Sakray is not a regular server).
- Yggdrasil will shift to be like Valkyrie, with 3 character slots open for creation rather than 0 like Ymir.
- We will be offering Free Yggdrasil -> Ymir server transfers, without restrictions, starting 3/21 until we make this system change around April 6th.
As soon as the form is finished being created it will be announced on the patch notices, websites etc to get in your transfer request now. - If you opt to stay on Yggdrasil (which is a fine choice) you will still be able to play on the server, you will likely be the new upper class characters on that server when we begin having new users play there.
What exactly is meant by multi-client?
is good for me, is a good solution, but, i live in chile and i have a lot of lag, when you will fix that?
So if I have more than 3 characters already on Valkyrie I’m going to be able to login the other 6…right?
Why would you guys restrict Multi Clienting? Even if the account isn’t paying for a subscription it might still be paying for Kafra shop which is still bringing you some money compared to none.
Just a question, the 150% base rates for a premium scription, using a 200% manual will this allow for 300% exp? as to a free account would only be 200%
Secondly access to speical areas would be granted to those who buy kafra shop items… will kafra shop item be available for each of the subscription bonuses or just for dungeon access.
Thirdly if i already have 9 slots filled will i have access to all 9 chars f2p. also on this note if my storage is 500 items and i revert back to f2p can i still store items.
Forthly if someone has char on ymir and they dont want to pay for subscriptions will they have access to the game with f2p bonuses
The 1 Free account sounds retarded and I see it screwing up many people. Your going to force people to go mod the client again and forcing this issue into a grey area. Think of more than one person in a house or two people who have both their accounts on a single warpportal account. Appreciate a re-think on this issue.
I have certain questions about F2P. I’m posting them here since the forums aren’t back yet. :/
1) Are items in the Kafra shop going to be priced at the premium or non-premium rates? Ie: Mysterious Dyestuffs go for 100 KP on premium servers but 125 KP on the free servers.
2) What happens to items that require KP on the free servers, but not on the premium servers? Ie: Written Oath of Marriage is not required on premium servers but is 500 KP on free servers.
3) Are premium accounts based on Ragnarok accounts of all the accounts tied to a Warp Portal account?
4) For multi-client on free servers, does this mean that one person can only have one client open at a time, or does it mean that one person (one IP address) is allowed to have up to two clients at a time?
5) Is it possible to consider a kind of make-your-own-plan system? For instance, someone might want the lower death penalty rates, but not the extra kafra storage. Maybe charge a certain amount of money per service and have it all tallied up at the end depending on what people have chosen?
dont log Multi-Client on free acc
I dont like it :-<
yo so wat if its already filled up? my store and characters that is?
hows that gonna work
Actually there is just not enough clarification about 1 free account perhaps you could provide some better info on the subject so we might have a chance at better understanding what it all means.
hate the idea ,just let things be of now
Multi-Client – As Many Premium Accts – 1 Free Account
what means that ? is that also for valk?
i have 4 accs there
so if i pay one premium, i can use the others too ? or must i pay all 4 premium x_X
I think its not bad but its kinda rubbish cause from paying u just get wht we had before hand when i think should be like 150% for F2P and 200% for premium. Just think it hasnt really got any better and the F2P isnt gone back to old ro rate and no ones going to want to play cause this game is to much of a grind lvling game
I think its not bad but its kinda rubbish cause from paying u just get wht we had before hand i think should be like 150% for F2P and 200% for premium. Just think it hasnt really got any better and the F2P has just gone back to old ro rate and no ones going to want to play cause this game is to much of a grind lvling game (sorry spelling mistakes)
What about the people on premium that already have 500+ items in their storage, when their account runs out?