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.
**************************************************************************
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.
The teleport skill nerf doesn’t effect botting in the slightest…
Will fly wings and gemstones now drop like normal on valkyrie? Will teleport go back to costing 10sp rather than 100? I’m a veteran player that is coming back to playing RO (played in alpha and beta way way back) I know part of the reason I didn’t get back into it during the few times I tried was cause things that I always used were so expensive I felt like I would need to bot (or use a zeny service) to use them like I was used to doing…I also felt like with such an expensive teleport my aco was severely nerfed. Hope all servers will now enjoy the normal rate regardless of VIP status. I’ve bought kafra items and find that a much more enjoyable purchasing scheme for me since I cannot play all the time. Hoping that all servers won’t be overrun with bots now that everything is free. SOrta sad to see after all these years botting is still such a huge problem.
Wow. Well, I suppose I have the benefit of having played this game since beta, having gotten to be among the first to play a mage class (the game didn’t start with those), the second ninja on Valkyrie server, etc, etc. So I have the perspective of someone who has seen this game change and grow- and I’m a game developer and game player.
After reading the above changes and having played several other mmo’s and read the comments here, I think we’re beating a dead horse and people are doing a couple of things that should probably stop if we are to get anywhere good for everyone. Those things are: 1.) Being too concerned about their particular, individual situation, without regard for the overall import or consideration to the fact that common sense says there will be compensation for some losses- and
2.) Assuming that, somehow, the way things are is more or less fine.
There need to be some drastic measures to stop drastic problems. You talk about multi-clienting and partying? This game had TONS of party opportunities with little to no multiclienting and no quests, whatsoever- let alone repeatable exp quests. Parties used to consistently be 7-9 people, and if I recall correctly capped around 20 not 12. And I’ve been in large parties long before we had quests to encourage them. So make your comparisons appropriately please.
There is a reason, partially related, to why we don’t see large parties, consistently, outside of events. Something was lost that we used to have- or something was gained that hurt the need to party like that.
Do you like bots? Do you like the spam? Do you like that KP items are at 50% value from WP farmers? Ask yourself that before you suggest anything about keeping even 2 clients. Then, once you know what you want and how much you’re willing to pay for it, make a suggestion that can progress things to benefit everyone the most- not just you. I have a soul linker I married, too, you know? But would I give it up to get rid of the bots- yes. But that is me and I have my reasons…which, in all fairness, I should be willing to provide insofar as they are relevant to a potentially useful suggestion that would further the game.
My suggestion? 2 clients per account/computer with integrated mail and storage system that can connect to a secondary account and mail items between the two without having to log into the other. at 300 per account, you have 600 storage space between two accounts and never have to log into the other account to unload some extra items into the storage there. It sounds spiffy, may require some tricky coding, but also clears up mailbox spots in the game while simultaneously providing some synergy and sophistication between accounts and playability.
Giving Merchants an easy quest skill letting them purchase something like a cart which allows them to sell items from their cart while logged off. Perhaps the purchase of an NPC for 6, 8, 12, and 24 hour shifts who can access a special vending section of storage (as an example) and sell and even transfer money gained to the owner while the owner is playing on their other account or even possibly the same one. This has some potential for reducing load on the server (I am not sure) or reducing load on a players computer by not having to log in an actual merchant for that time frame, to vend with.
Now, I know that these ideas may actually be a bit far fetched from a coding standpoint with the game as it is now- but they are suggestions and I have worked more complex things like this into games I’ve worked on in the past. So it is possible. You don’t have to like my ideas…but at least they are very possible, very realistic answers to the most immediate concerns, in a constructive, and innovative (for RO) manner. Hope I am leading by example.
Did you know a lot of people invest into computers capable of doing more then one task at a time? And NEW computers are not cheap. I happen to be one of those consumers..
I even had plans to pop out the cash for sex change/marriage to a linker on RO too. So while on the topic of wasted money, I can say I am not a happy camper. And I feel bad for you Tiki.
The RO gaming community has invested itself with a lot of time into this game. It feels wasted when things like this happen.
People are quitting RO for problems lesser then this. Is the intention meant to aggravate the situation and make things worse?
Multi-clienting restrictions should not happen. Though, I am strongly opposed to this occurring. I do agree with the comments here that 2 accounts for F2P would be a reasonable compromise per computer.
However, I think this should be pushed farther. If the restrictions are going to be imposed.. Then the option should exist for us to VIP a warp portal account. And not the actual accounts themselves individually.
I mean, think about it. Why would I pay in excess up to 100$ for the freedoms I have now? Just to VIP individually my own accounts. When I could pay a possible suggested retail of $15 to $20 premium per warp portal account?
My conclusion on this, is: Why should I invest my money, if the community opinion does not matter?
Which also leads me to a afterthought to reflect on:
Last year, where Ragnarok stood.. It had come so far with improvements. This year we have taken more then a dozen steps back. Renewal has caused many obstacles, versus solutions.
I believe there is variety of localization that needs to be done. But at the same time, I don’t feel the community voice is being heard.
I feel bad as I see more people decide to leave. And I stand by as there are less and less faces I recognize in our community..
I even had friends comment on their own feelings that they felt that it was very intentional how they thought Gravity was killing the game. One step at a time.
The community needs reassurance of the future of RO. Will that not even be given to them?
Thanks. =/
The idea that server is merging and its free is good more people to play w/ and ive return to iro coz its free which is awesome. But the one free acc is f@ck bcoz almost everyone has an alt. acc for merch selling and stuff. People put money and time to lvl those alt acc if this goes thru i think people will be discourage to play. i hope this could be work out and put in to much much nided considiration.
Multiclienting ruined RO a long time ago. That’s when parties became more sparse and everyone just used heal slaves.
No longer did the beginner have to start out and make friends with a acolyte and a few other people. Nope, just make two accounts and your set.
This game needs the communal aspect or it falls apart, which is what I saw happen in the last few years.
It’s no fun playing alone.
i think you should rethink your possibilities before doing whatever you would. what you do now is the crucial point for the game, everyone would enjoy. DON’T just look at it from a money making POV. Go forward and kind of re-create a game that is both free and an item mall game i mean cmon whats 600 storage… i fill that in no time at all… remembering back to when it was 300 and i had to pay for it. the fact you’ve already done the damage to the community, how will breaking it further cause? look back to when you merged the servers. PVP was FCKING AWESOME! what happened to that? it died, why i ono, ask the players and maybe take in theyre considerations. take in the peoples answers or as i may call it…..
PRAYERS, THANK YOU LORD O JESUS U R MY 1 WELCOM SAVOR I R LIEK PRAY 2 U ALL TEH TIEM, but u dun anser.
think about it. with a rational response. i may be drunk like all the time when i harass you with my problems, but please, take all our happiness into consideration. that is all. thank you.
I’m so excited to see what happen after the implementation. Maybe a decrease of 1000 number of online player in Valk but keep in mind that it’s 950 bot and 50 human lol
SERIOUSLY LEAVE YMIR STORAGE @ 600 BY DEFAULT.
WTH we payed all these years the least you can do is leave our storage alone. People with multi accounts most likely have well over 500 on all there accounts if they been playing long enough.
Problem dont effect VALK they were never aloud past 300 to begin with. Gravity cant be this stupid or cold and callus to the people that pay a sub all these years. LEAVE US SOME PERKS FOR BEING LOYAL SUBSCRIBERS ALL THESE YEARS
Mutli client scheme is bad idea allow us altest to dual 2 of our accounts weather it free or sub. Either way I see this back firing and people just hacking the client to allow it again.
Which If I remember correctly was one of the main reasons why you started to allow it begin with, people wanted it and cause you didnt allow it people just hacked the client to allow it.
Not even requiem has this mutli client limit on its free accounts.
So instead of paying to play the game, gravity is going to downgrade the servers so players would hate this, and pay for the VIP account…
This is no different than the monthly subscription. People wont want to play on a downgraded server at all, so they will of course, pay for the VIP tag. That’s high pressure salesman-ship.
This change would only by worth it, if the VIP account tag is less money than the usual monthly subscription.
Limiting multiclienting on Valkyrie server is a real bad idea. I know people who play in this specific server just for the possibility of triple-clienting, as an example the battle builds. I believe the purpose of turning to F2P is to bring more players, please don’t defeat that purpose.
I’ve read a lot of the comments and we are hearing the same things over and over again. Unfortunately, we have only heard a couple suggestions for potential remedies to the problems. But after thinking about things from my last post, there is a deeper realization that needs to be made about RO. It is a simple game. That is its appeal and its curse. You will not solve a lot of the problems because RO is only slightly more complex than some Facebook games these days. If you want to solve the problems plaguing RO, you cannot keep doing the same things you’ve done in the past. The game needs to fundamentally change if you want to solve these issues. The changes you are proposing have been done in the past. They apparently did not work, because it was changed again when I came back to RO after 6 years. Now you’re looking to do it again. The definition of futility is to attempt the same thing over and expect different results. There must be a high turnover rate or some short memories on the design board to think that the more dramatic changes will in fact change anything.
I’m already playing Valkyrie less becouse of changes you have made over the past couple of years.
Without multi clienting I may decide to stop bothering all together.
yes atleast allow dual clienting on Valk,many of us veteran players as we made many support chars for these purposes…