So, just wanted to throw my 2cents in on this server as now its a little over a week old.
This server has ONE admin who logs in everyday for multiple hours a day, and has actively fixed small bugs and issues for the player base. There are no favorites, no special treatments or handouts and most of all, a level of respect for the players who have chosen to come here and play this server.
There was a small group of players who rewrote the entire set of server files by hand, fixing broken items, removing useless stuff and overall reworking the game to be better then its previously rushed servers.
All weapons have been looked at, many things have changed and everything's pretty well balanced so far for everyone. Not one player seems to have an advantage or life made easy.
Side note on balancing of weapons, ONE weapon was chosen. As a guide, and ALL other weapons were then scaled from that. Not just in range, damage, speed, bonuses. But they put in the time to test out total xp per hour and made sure that no weapon gives an unfair advantage to getting ahead of the pack.
Skills here are hard to come by and this server isn't for the " I want easy mode" players. Even minor skills cost 5, while major skills like blacksmithing and mining take 15. This leaves players having to trade with each other and work together to accommodate needs. This server actually HAS an economy. Gold from mining only gives 15 coin each. And gold drops from monsters have been balances and made more scarce.
Monster drops have also been balanced. Your not going to find a element to upgrade your weapon, or the zodiac/photos staff in a few kills. The value of these types of items. And crystals as well is high. Drop rates seemingly are 1 in 500 for more common items. Up to 1 in 1200 for the more rare stuff. Once again, this is NOT an easy mode server.
Cooking has been completely revamped and is now a skill that means something. Foods have more value and have different effects. This ties back into economy for traders/cooks/farmers.
Magic system was revamped as well to be a smoother transition and better feel for the higher cost of skills.
So far the world seems fairly healthy with 5-10 players on at any given time. And peaks of 15-18 from what iv seen.
Quests are, from what I can tell so far, made well and have purpose and a balanced feel. No rewards seem outrageous or extreme. And the scaling on quests with the level range of the sector its in seems to be on par.
Wanted to give my thoughts on the server so far and let everyone who's questioning the server a highlight.
I have yet to come across anything negative minus a small skirmish in global chat between a player or two , but thats rpgwo and generally one of them just shuts up, or leaves for a while and everyone goes back to their day.
Thanks for listening
HUGE shout out to soapy and gimpy for getting this server up and running and another shout out to all else involved in making this server come to life
~Z