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Why Return of Reckoning is worth checking out!
Izkimar
Member UncommonPosts: 568
Return of Reckoning is a great choice for homeless MMO vets, that want a game that actually still offers some fulfillment.
I made a video of it to cover the reasons I personally enjoy the server, as well as show gameplay for those of you that are curious: 
What Return of Reckoning offers:
Fun PvP based environment where community is tight knit and important.
Community is very welcoming to newcomers, and it is important to actually interact with people.
PvE is still a component of play, but not all of the endgame dungeon content is implemented. (Devs are adding more PvE content over time.)
Server has constant updates and the devs are working hard to continue to improve the game.
Great PvP with interesting group dynamics
Interesting World PvP zones as well as huge array of PvP battlegrounds
A lot of classes to choose from with interesting mechanics
Best UI and Tab Targeting System - I feel Warhammer is really underrated for this. Their out of the box UI customization, as well as Tab Targeting mechanics are easily still the most sophisticated to this day.
You can customize every single aspect of the UI with the layout editor.
Tab Targeting also features Defensive and Offensive Targets that you can maintain simultaneously.
There is even skill design centered around dealing damage to your offensive target, and then issuing a positive effect to your defensive target.
Why I Personally Enjoy RoR:
I have yet to level to cap. I exclusively play lowbie Tier 1 PvP.
This game honestly is the best Twink Playground.
There are lots of different ways to twink out characters, and all the classes are really strong. It is more about building group synergies, or making self-sufficient characters.
Twinks aren't oppressive, they have a really really short life cycle. You can line up a near min/maxed gear path for your twink, but he will level out of Tier 1 really fast.
Because of this twinks aren't overbearing, and it isn't really cost effective or efficient to pour too much time into a twink.
If you want to min/max characters at a decent level it takes time, it creates a fulfilling gameplay loop of planning and working to gear them out.
Gold economy for Tier 1 PvP revolves around contested boss spawns. There are hidden lair bosses in each PvP Zone that spawn on random timers. This creates an interesting dynamic of scouting and trying to sneak the bosses. It really gets fun when fights break out over them.
You can see a small skirmish start over one here: https://youtu.be/Du0GvwOvEz0?t=380
The gear is coveted either to put on Twinks or for their cool looking transmog for level cap characters.
The gear usually sells for really good gold.
Melee in Tier 1 is really well designed.
There isn't gap closers, so melee aren't flying all over the place like in modern MMO's. You aren't getting your head knocked off by melee gap closers. CC is actually effective, since they don't have a million different gap closers to negate it.
DPS classes have a lot of risk reward mechanics, and rely on movement speed buffs + snares to stick targets. They are really menacing when left unpeeled.
Tanks are really important. They are integral for keeping the group alive. They have a mechanic called Guard which makes them split damage with their Guarded target.
You can go beefy sword and board and bring some important CC, and be very durable so you can easily survive Guarding.
Or you can go 2h and build damage, you will be more of a juggernaut that puts out sustain DPS.
CC is really limited in Tier 1. This makes the CC that exists much more important, but it isn't over the top and frustrating.
You can outplay much larger groups if you have good group synergy and play properly.
The server feels like an actual MMO with community and flavor! For example, this guy runs all Dwarf Warbands in T2: https://youtu.be/n3wN_yCM6i4
Class design for the most part is really interesting. Healers aren't all just about spamming heals. They all contribute in different ways, and some classes or builds contribute through damage. Shamans & Arch Mages have a Yin/Yang class identity, when they heal they shift towards one side buffing their damage, when they deal damage they move back towards other side buffing their healing.
One negative: I have seen many people address server drama, and the devs ruling with an iron fist. At first, I was going to say I can't really criticize them too much here, and don't know enough about the drama. However, one of my guild members just got perma-banned without an apparent warning for his Character Names. I'll admit they were really stupid, and based in middle school humor. The aim I guess was to just have the effect of, "Fuck I just got killed by a jackass named masturbation....." Anyways, I can understand them addressing the names, however I feel the perma ban without a real warning was a bit excessive.
This is where if I were speaking with the devs, I would tell them to pick and choose their battles. Yes it is up to them to keep the community from becoming a toxic cesspool. It is also their sandbox/playground they are building. However, this playground/sandbox is only fun when there are actually people there to play. So don't arm the real trolls with more ammo against you, and focus on the people that are really disrupting play.
TL;DR - Return of Reckoning is a real MMO that actually emphasizes community. The community is really welcoming to newcomers. The PvP is really good, there is PvE as well. Game also offers interesting class choices, best UI/Tab Targeting systems, and makes for a fulfilling experience. It is more than deserving as at least a holdover/fallback game.
Comments
Population peaks at about 1000+. The weekends are really populated. NA time has its lulls, moreso for Tier 1. For example, it is 9 CST and there are 263 players in T2, and there are 80 people in T1.
The result is Flaghammer: Sitting on flags while I watch Netflix
I did play a lot of classes as with Dark Age of Camelot the designers of the classes were able to create many different classes that were interesting and yet different and able to be quite diversified in their skills.
As far as the buffing up to level 40, your still at a huge disadvantage. Your base stats are boosted to level 40, but your RR is not and you don't have access yet to the spells you would of a 40 until you actually earn them. It simply takes a couple seconds longer to bring you down is the only difference.
Love the heck out of that game, but unless they bring it back to 4 tiers, I won't be playing it again.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
Trust me, if RoR gets popular enough (and isn't C&D'd first), you'll see those people show up, looking to ruin everyone else's time. Just like you're used to in other games.
When Lineage 2 was still new, it had that problem - people who just hung around starting areas and ganked new players all the time. While people enjoy PvP, they don't enjoy being repeatedly ganked by people they have no chance of defending or even escaping from, making it impossible for them to do anything or, you know.. actually *play the game*. They're also not paying a sub to be someone else's cheap entertainment. So, after a time, they'd give up and leave.
NCSoft had a strict hands-off policy of not getting involved in stuff like that. If someone reported a griefer, they'd tell them to find/make allies and fight back. Being new, they probably didn't really know anyone, yet. So, a new player really had no recourse.
In the short term, this wasn't too much of an issue, as it was new, lots of people were coming in, and enough were making it past those a-holes and progressed further into the game.
However, after a time, the game started to become top-heavy because not enough new people were sticking around. Vet players quickly realized that lowbie gankers were a big reason for this. In a PvP MMO, players are the lifeblood. They are "the content" in a big way. So, not having new players coming in or sticking around is a problem.
So, the veterans asked the gankers to lay off, and let new players get into the game, so it could continue to maintain a healthy playerbase. PK them once or twice, maybe, but then move on. The gankers, of course, didn't stop because in their pathetic stunted brains, making players quit was a badge of honor. So what if it hurts the game, as long as *they* get their kicks.
Realizing asking wasn't working, the vets took it into their own hands, and started going to the new player areas to deal with gankers personally. The result was either gankers quickly logging off, or breaking out into a whine-fest of how their fun was being ruined (irony, right?).
Overall, it worked. Speaking for myself, I was helped by a higher level Vet who dealt with a griefer near a starting area and helped me get into the game more. If not for that, I might not have stuck around. Instead I stuck with the game for the next 4-5 years. Later on, when I'd leveled up, I would spend time around a starting area and deal with newbie gankers; paying it forward you could say. The rate at which a ganker can go from being "bad ass PK'er" to "whining cry-baby" is impressive.
Eventually, NCSoft became a bit more hands-on with dealing with griefers as well. But it's really hats off to the veteran players of old-school Lineage 2 who drew the line in the sand and took action to help improve the experience for new players, and keep the population from stagnating.