Philippine Ragnarok Online will have one more major server merge that will bring together the 3 subscription servers – Baldur, Tyr, and Freya. The new server will be called New Chaos and the date of the merge is slated for November 14, 2008. There are no major details yet posted on the official website like the actual mechanics but it will probably be the same as the previous merges that we’ve done before. There are a lot of pros and cons for this move but I believe that this will be for the better. I have a few reflections and thoughts about the merge that I’d like to share with everyone today with this post. Feel free to leave your comment as well.
BAKBAKAN NA!
To quote Powerspoonz: “Bakbakan na!” That pretty much sums up the pros of the server merge. New alliances will be made and this means a more vibrant political in-game landscape which will result to more action-packed and intense sieges. The balance of power will definitely be shaken up since guilds that are powerful in their own home servers will now have to contend with the best that the other servers have.
It will be interesting to monitor what the top guilds from each server will do given the new scenario. Will they ally with one another? Or will they bash each other’s skulls in? If I know the community right – it will be more of the “bashing”. In my 5 year gaming career one thing has always been constant in gaming communities and that’s the fact that alliances will always crumble and end. I’ve seen this happen countless times across games and servers and I’m sure that whatever alliance happens after the merge it will only be temporary.
TECH PROBLEMS?
The major concern being raised by the community is the possibility of having technical problems ruin the gameplay post-merge. Since we’re putting everyone in one place, people are spectulating that the latency will be terrible. We obviously can’t let this happen because it ruins the purpose of the merge in the first place. I can’t guarantee you guys 100% that there won’t be lag but I can assure you that everyone here will be prioritizing the performance of the servers after the merge.
OLD CHAOS
I can still remember the old Chaos server days. I was one of the first 50 people to log-in Chaos during the Beta Testing way back in 2003. I was there when the botting issue exploded. I was there when the Ragnarok players staged a mini-rally at Glorietta during a Level Up event. I was there when the concurrent users of Ragnarok in Chaos alone hit 16,000. I was there when the hack-delete sprees occured – and sadly I was part of the people who were erased, hehe. I was part of the in-game politics, having led a guild and faction.
Ragnarok Online, though riddled with controveries, has been one of the most memorable and enjoyable experiences I’ve had and I will cherish the good and bad memories that I have about it. The server merge will open new doors for everyone and I’m sure that I would be excited about it if I was still an active guild leader in Chaos/Baldur.
Cheers!
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awtz on November 6, 2008
Papa wauks, any update sa new rates ng load?
Wauks on November 6, 2008
None yet bro. When I find out I’ll let you know.
awtz on November 6, 2008
Ok papa wauks thnx! parang bumalik tyo sa beta days ngayong maging 1 server na lng uli… Yung nga lng marami na may boss cards and godly item.
Na alala ko tuloy yung Hack & Delete kong char. sa Insurrection…
lupin on November 6, 2008
follow up… huhuhuhu
blog contest winner, starbucks coffee mug…
ala prin po sir wauks…
ung promise mong load…
huhuhuh…
shagojyo on November 6, 2008
Sana 50/week nalang ung rate.
Sir Wauks, still expecting the 500 load to be sent today.
hinatasou on November 6, 2008
Even euRO has recently announced a server merger. I wish iRO would get on board but they currently don’t want to.
Caine Excellence on November 6, 2008
NEW CHAOS MEANS PVP PVP PVP PVP PVP PVP PVP PVP =3
dingusfungus on November 6, 2008
Ill be back playing ragna again.. I cant imagine dealing with players/characters with boss cards and godly items equipped..
Well I guess, Ill just behave this time..
Lets see
PrimeUser on November 6, 2008
Well the thing that I am expecting in the Server Merging is the COUNTER MEASURE that the level-up will perform to “THAT”, so we can play some old fasion game without relaying to so called “THAT”.. Ciao~
+C|D+ on November 6, 2008
Sana F2P na ang new Chaos… hehehe …..ASA!
Decikator on November 6, 2008
Wala bang program ang LUG na nagbibigay ng incentives sa mga shop owner para i-maintain sa kanikanilang shop ang mga online game na pina-publish ng Level-up??? Halimbawa…me libreng headgear na +10 sa dex…or libreng acct na hindi mo na lalagyan ng load kahit maglaro ka sa comm’l server.
Iniisip ko kasi…kung ang mga shop owner ay maglalaro ng mga online game ng LUG…ay magsusunuran din ang mga player nila at mas malamang na naka-install sa lahat ng pc nila. Malamang pati na hikayatin nila ang mga player nila na maglaro ng kung ano man ang nilalaro nila.
bRO player on November 6, 2008
“I will not tire to say that merge is NOT a solution, just a painkiller.” I’ve written that a few times to you Wauks. I’ll be waiting more merge news on your site to post that again.
@hinatasou I think I’ve read many of your posts on iRO forums. At least I recognize this nickname. You see, merge may seem a very neat idea, more players etc. but realistically it’s an unforgiving measure with no going back. In fact, it does 100% nothing to make Ragnarok better. And making RO better is what we players should unite and strive for.
As I said, it’s just a painkiller. And you bet the company would really enjoy players asking for merge… less GMs, less machines, less maintenance and so on. Ah, and that’s just sooo deceiving! Reduced costs at zero loss, it seems! But as real problems are just not dealt with, no new players come and merge ends up inevitably pissing some that quit and the player base shrinks again. This is a vicious cycle.
samacky on November 6, 2008
i remember my lvl40 swordsman job30 became a KNIGHT
im not kidding bro.!too bad have no screen shots
and i take no quest..just boom!
its a very long story!
The Gooseman on November 6, 2008
One of the reasons I stopped playing Ragnarok Online three months ago was because of the continuously dropping number of players. I saw Freya server’s population drop from 2000, to 1500, to 1000. The population is now stable at around 1100 but you know that up to 90% of those are Bots. My friends and guildmates started quiting one after the other and acquaintances I had met in PVP stopped coming. At one point all of the players I would meet were the “ASA” type players, people who wouldn’t give a second thought to abuse and trash talk you when you try to approach them. The environment was toxic and wasn’t fun anymore. I found myself playing solo in a MMO and that was pathetic, and not satisfied with PVM, questing or even MVP hunting, there was nothing left for me in RO so I quit. Unless my friends return to RO after the merge, there isn’t really anything for me to gain from this. I’ll just move on to the next game. It was bound to happen sometime. Grand Chase is fun, maybe I’ll stay with that for a while.
Xiphias on November 6, 2008
There really is no reason to go back to playing RO just because of the server merge.. The only way a lot of people would go back to playing RO would be if bots died (I swear that I know a lot of people who quit because they only meet bots so they can’t enjoy the game any more since they can’t find party members and they end up trying to level up alon (which is so boring)). However I think that since gametime will be cheaper bots will be more rampant (if a player has 5 harvesters if somehow game time becomes 75 pesos for one week then that means we get 3 more harvesters because he has some spare money… increasing his harvesters to 8..) now if a lot of people do this then certainly the ratio of bots to humans will a lot worse thus effectively making new chaos a land of bots not humans and makes things a lot more boring *yawn*
So I REALLY think that to make this server merge succesful gravity has GOT to kill those bots.. either they kill bots and get less income at first but more players will come back or leave the bots be and let the populetion deflate even more
JimBeam on November 7, 2008
sana sa merge maging maayos na ang server… ngayon pa lang na tuwing siege sa baldur lag ka na nga, maya maya maddc ka pa!! sana po sir wauks mapansin to ng technical department…
carlo on November 7, 2008
sir wauks parang lugi ung mga nasa baldur sa name change..
Kure on November 7, 2008
Kaka miss din ang RO (currently playing WaR)
I was one of the few who was there before the 1k mark of RO.
Nobody cared about what build to do. basta yung gusto lang nila na character
Everyone was hypnotized by the magical sakkat hat
nothing could replace something like that
Iba parin yung unang laro mo nang mmorpg kahit andami nang bagong game na iba iba ang gameplay wala parin tatalo sa RO hehe.
RO had a good run pero talagang declining na ang population nya.
kulugo on November 7, 2008
kakamiss pRO Chaos!!!
kakamiss SC!!!
>_<
~~~ d2 na ako sa dubai ~~~
nakakatuwa na when you start playing a new mmo like pw and you meet someone you played with from a previous game like pRO, you begin to reminisce, just like in real life… just goes to show how this games become part of our lives…
Caballero on November 7, 2008
I was there when Ragnarok was greatly managed and GM’s are very active socializing with the players…
paysu on November 7, 2008
dun sila nahihirapan mag dsisyon.. sa load haha
World of Elegance on November 7, 2008
Shit, I’m back in Chaos after 4 years >.<
Sana pala di nako umalis kung babalik din pala ako
+C|D+ on November 7, 2008
Sana ang new chaos maging tulad ng old chaos pero malabo eh NEW nga eh heheh
popohat on November 7, 2008
hay naku mag memerge na ang 3 servers…di ko pa rin na experience ang ma MVP sa boss..
OMG 5 YRS na ako sa RO.
jakolito on November 7, 2008
Cguro kya dmi n rng ngquit sa P2P kc mas magastos mgBOT. Hehehehe. Tignan m sa Valkyrie d bumaba ung population kahit gabi n kc libre mgBOT. Pero para skn bka d n ko bumalik sa NEW CHAOS n yan… dmi ng malalakas n BOTTER tsaka SCAMMER eh…. hehehhhe
Zerix Of Freya on November 7, 2008
50/wk na sir wauks.. kahit dami bot dami din kakagat nyan.. hehe
New Chaos on November 14 | Pinoy Gaming Network: Game Reviews and Technology News for Filipino Gamers and Enthusiasts on November 7, 2008
[...] on their official website and is also posted by Carlo Ople, Marketing Manager of Level Up!, at his blog. Merging is to take place on the midnight of November 14 and is expected to be finished anytime [...]
c h r o m e on November 7, 2008
kung ang mgiging outcome ng server merge ay negative.. p2p will be merged to f2p… sna lng.. wg mngyri ung.. i am thinking postive.. new chaos will bring old players up.. so keep up the good work LU~! congrats s LU Live 2008 kau p rin ang #1!!!!
seph on November 7, 2008
i now have a split account. this happened when you had the first server merge. what can i do to make it into one account on the new chaos server? thanks.
The Angel-Killer on November 8, 2008
new chaos…hmmm, will the name just be chaos after the merge? (i sure hope so instead of new chaos)
now i am beginning to remember the chaos days of RO…grabe that 16k mark really was the peak of pRO and its been great those days…and when payments were not yet introduced! very good environment…
shift to today and we see bots, evil people and even evil game killers…things happen so fast…i just hope all people will cooperate after post merge…im crossing my fingers for that!
anyways…
kuya wauks, i’ve read the mech. already and i want to know what and when we will get the info of name change feature? im xure exited of that (finally!!! after 2 server merges my characters names are going to get changed!!! at last!!!!) ~_~
GM Tristan on November 8, 2008
Note that the server merge FAQ is already posted at the RO website
http://ragnarok.levelupgames.ph/news_detail.php?id=1109
Your questions about name change and other details will hopefully be answered there.
Also understand that the RO team has takein into consideration lessons learned from the previous merge. The goal here really is to keep the spirit of Ragnarok – especially the Agit siege. With a lot of consulatation from fellow players, the developers and other departments in LUG, we have come up with a system to make the transition as smooth as possible.
I value your comments and suggestions and understand that we will always listen. Some of the more exciting parts will be “starting anew” with the mandatory deletion of all guilds and reseting of the Agit scores. I’m sure that competition between guilds will be back to the good old days as new alliances and challengers will come up to the batter’s plate, so to speak. We are trying to make everything fair and equal to all concerned. Even an issue as sensitive as new pricing for subscription was done with a lot of research and study.
I encourage everyone to spread the word to all your old RO friends. I know that RO has gone through a lot in the past 5 years. There were good times and there were bad times. But it’s the friends that we’ve gained from this game is the best thing that ever happened. And no amount of zenny or in-game items can ever replace that.
Myself and the RO team are committed to facilitating game changes (such as this merge) to bring back the glory days of Ragnarok. I hope that you will join us in this new journey.
GM T
Caballero on November 8, 2008
i agree with bro player… its like a vicious cycle… i remember when Odin & Freya merge together and became TYR server… waw players goes up to 2000+ but then after 2-3months… it goes down to 1000-900… and same happened when the URDR players came… and again another server merge is coming… these maybe LU’s last resort for PRO to stay in the market… and whay are they expecting? Old players to comeback? they will comeback i guess… and the cycle continues…
I really love PRO… When there are no bots, dupes, connection problems, approachable gm’s in towns and great in-game events… i really hoped that merging all the servers will make things better…
i will always remember that line i saw posted at ragnaboards… “…PRO didn’t die, those incompetent people at LU killed it…”
World of Elegance on November 8, 2008
GM T,
I’ll trade in my online friends anytime for a Mjolnir
TatsuNok on November 8, 2008
nice… i sense another dupe wipe…. gudbye Twin Ribbon of gemstone (FREYA)
Kuya Gard on November 9, 2008
Me, I love RO, even with bots and the anomalies in it.. I’m going to stick with it till it’s gone.
bRO player on November 10, 2008
@GM Tristan
Just a note. There’s no need to encourage anyone to spread word to friends. Everyone does that. Sidenote is, people also spread bad word about the server/service. And when old friend asks “has problem X been dealt with?” you will say the truth.
Zerix Of Freya on November 10, 2008
gawin nyo 50/wk effective ang merge promise
Zerix Of Freya on November 10, 2008
and fairly speaking mga GM.. its been 5 years na give us players the break of really enjoying the pang MASA na enjoyment not kayo nlng lagi to have the money.. if you want us to enjoy the true spirit of RO especially this xmas then yng makaya lng namin sa bulsa pag sabihin mong 75/wk medyo masakit pa din e yng 50/wk tlaga maganda yn nkaka kuha ng pansin especially to highschool students and college students na di msydo makapal ang bulsa.. dats just one of my thoughts pde pa mabalik ang 16k players dati nito..
Balmung on November 10, 2008
Since ma-interrupt ang service this weekend dahil sa server merge, may maintenance pa ba this Wednesday? How about sa F2P, may maintenance ba this Wednesday?
+C|D+ on November 10, 2008
hehe sana 50/wk n lng , kaya ako napaquit eh dahil d kinaya ng bulsa ko,
almost 1year nako ala sa pRO, pero buhay pa naman account ko
sana wala na load para mas masaya
Kaiser on November 10, 2008
wag 16k.. laggers n un.. pero tama.. mas ok sana kung magiging mura ung 7-day topup.
Kaiser on November 10, 2008
ilang tulog na lang pala.. woohoo! syet kailangan ko na pala bumili ng mga emperium.
whiteman on November 13, 2008
i’m not sure if i’m excited or not sa chaos merger. just this afternoon i revisited my old accounts in chaos which i left 2 years ago. nandyan pa naman ung mga characters kasama lahat na equips. it remains to be seen if worth ba na balikan ang RO or not.
i’m not a good or skilled player. i’m just an ordinary player enjoying the game during the chaos time. but i am a good customer of LU also. the fact na i was able to get a valk set reward sa chaos MYLU account ko just shows that LU would love to have players like me back in NEW CHAOS server.
i left RO after the dupe wipe out. it’s very discouraging na mawala lahat na gamit mo which you bought billions of zennies and at the end dupe lang pala.
i can accept the lost kasi meron naman 300m zeny na compensation. but what is worst is to see those dupers playing in baldur without being penalized. i think alam na ng lahat sino ung TOP 2 dupers sa chaos (GM pa ng kilalang guild) but the RO do nothing about about it? ( i heard na banned na ung isa?) Why still there? dahil malakas sila sa LU personnel? Kilala ni Waukeen ung mga un lalo na ung isang GM na naging allies ng Shadow Circle. Nasabi ko yan because i’m part of the said allies before.
if GMT wants people to return to RO at bubuhayin muli ang glorious days of RO 4-5 years ago, they have to show to the people that RO is worth playing for. I think solving the BOT problem is the number one issue, if they can’t solve this one it will be the end of RO kahit ano pa ang gawin nila.
talong on November 14, 2008
isipin naten na business eto ng LUG. isa lang naman para malutas serve merge nalang lahat as one. one server lang buong ragnarok tapos walang lag rapsa na yan. i remember noon hanggang izlude nun dameng naka vend…. ang sarap mamimili at mag benta
talong on November 14, 2008
sa totoo lang po mga sir isa na sa pinaka enjoy ang ragnarok every siege kelangan present ka.. nakaka miss din yung mga naging kaibigan na sa ragnarok mo na kilala. ayos din ang ragnarok dahil kahit me trabaho ka d ka maiiwanan dahil naka bot. kahit pano sambot mo na ang pang pots mo every siege tulad ko lordknight ako kulang saken 3k mastela isang siege… kalimitan kase sa malalakas na guild ay hindi suwelduhan mahirap din ang walang bot masisira buhay mo pati kalusugan mo. aminin nating lahat na pvp woe at bosshunt at kuwentuhan lang naman ang kasiyahan sa ragnarok. at yung mga contest na mag papa sabik saten para mag online. alam ko na sa huli worst to worst ay mag giging isa nalang ang server ng ragnarok like old days. at sana mangyari yun. isang line up ng gm lang ang mag maintain sa server, madali at mabilas ang magiging sulusyon sa ano mang problema ng players. alisin sana ang bias ng mga gm, bawal ang highblood para kahit anong problema ng players handa nilang lutasin. ako po ay me shop din at lahat sa kanila ay nag enjoy sa ragnarok, handa rin sila mag laro ulet ng ragnarok kung magiging masaya ulet tulad noon.
Zerix on November 15, 2008
pinoy tlaga.. hehe 20hours ha.. 1:30 nlng ala pa din.. mka tulog na nga hahahaha