My reasons NOT to play Return of Reckoning in 2025 as a NEW/SOLO player!

[Pulptenks]

Thread title is bad anyways. MMO RPG are not solo games. Wrong type of games to play solo. I know moderns mmo being desperate for cash try catering to solo's but it's also what ruins them all and why so many old school private servers thrives on.

There's a plethora of games to play solo. And before any bla bla bla and but, it's not a a 1v1 game. Want to 1v1 pvp? Play a fighting game. Thats where you can train your skills without gear and push to get good.

Solo in the context of the OP means joining without friends, not solo as in doing everything in the game alone. In other words, the experience of someone who comes to this game with no resources or knowledge or help vs. someone who comes and has experienced buddies there to help them along and group with them all the time.

Yeah so? Talk with people you'll make friends. That's like how it happened for all of us. Again I don't know why people play the victim and point the community is bad and game isn't playable.

The information and accessibility is there, even Hazmy came here to say how OP left the guild because he got butthurt about 2H chosen facts.

This isn't a community issue. It's a new player issue coming from spoiled game that has no self respect and just spoon everything to their casuals. I can't think of anyone who was ever against teaching or inviting people to play RoR. Advice chat is pretty friendly a generally with good and honest information. But people being butthurt for saying their choice might be difficult and not optimal happens all the time.

I just can't fathom enough how much I don't have pity for new players that can't help themselves. Reading this is just as lame as watching destro pug being too ignorant to try work together at pushing outside their warcamp when Gilletz farms then with his 10 or 12 man.

OP was offered, didn't like answers, decided the game is bad and can't be recommended? Okay dude go back to wow doing delves because I don't think you'd be able to climb ladder in arena or get a decent raider io in mythic+.

[Martok]

Yeah so? Talk with people you'll make friends. That's like how it happened for all of us.

And I appreciate that about you, truly. Its always fun to have you join in my little excursions. However I have one point of divergence:

Again I don't know why people play the victim and point the community is bad and game isn't playable.

Over time the community at large has become very clique based. Cliques are notoriously hard to infiltrate, and its members notorious for their open disdain of anyone not part of the clique. Not everyone here is like that of course blah blah blah yada yada yada everything I am supposed to say, but it is an issue new players, particularly those with no prior connection to the server, encounter.

Auto-Band doesn't help, but that issue has been discussed prior.

The information and accessibility is there, even Hazmy came here to say how OP left the guild because he got butthurt about 2H chosen facts.

Getting butthurt around here is the national pastime. I blame the Ferengi.

Reading this is just as lame as watching destro pug being too ignorant to try work together at pushing outside their warcamp when Gilletz farms then with his 10 or 12 man.

What is a Gilletz? However you (again) identify a core problem with the game in its current iteration. The Blob Rules All...

[Pulptenks]

Yeah so? Talk with people you'll make friends. That's like how it happened for all of us.

And I appreciate that about you, truly. Its always fun to have you join in my little excursions. However I have one point of divergence:

Again I don't know why people play the victim and point the community is bad and game isn't playable.

Over time the community at large has become very clique based. Cliques are notoriously hard to infiltrate, and its members notorious for their open disdain of anyone not part of the clique. Not everyone here is like that of course blah blah blah yada yada yada everything I am supposed to say, but it is an issue new players, particularly those with no prior connection to the server, encounter.

Auto-Band doesn't help, but that issue has been discussed prior.

The information and accessibility is there, even Hazmy came here to say how OP left the guild because he got butthurt about 2H chosen facts.

Getting butthurt around here is the national pastime. I blame the Ferengi.

Reading this is just as lame as watching destro pug being too ignorant to try work together at pushing outside their warcamp when Gilletz farms then with his 10 or 12 man.

What is a Gilletz? However you (again) identify a core problem with the game in its current iteration. The Blob Rules All...

Yeah that's true, not everyone is receptive to everyone and there's clique. But that has nothing to new players, even vets or long time players deal with it. I think it's fine some group prefer to be together.

Part of it is RoR host many different cultures and languages. And not everyone wants to xrealm to farm AAO like Retr- I mean Devastation. So some of us will never join groups like that.

But I like talking about Autoband, it's a love and hate relationship. I think we should open up that topic more often because there's a lot of tinfoil and I enjoy my bowl of popcorn with a good comedy.

But what do you want? Aside me giving a free jab, can't please everyone. But don't worry I've got a plan. I'll run a wb to please the OP so he can come guard one of the 3 healer or the 20 White Lions in my pug band. Nobody left behind, come blob with us, we'll teach you the real RoR experience!

And don't complain when you realize the the Runepriest was actually a magic damage dealer, he also welcome in the blob you know!

[Akalukz]

That's very noob "please hold my hand and wipe my ass" "valuable feedback".

Spoiler:

Your boomer ass self is the reason this game never gets any new players and actually builds a playerbase, and instead bleeds players. No new player wants to play this game bc the new player experience is that ass, Return of Reckoning has had so many chances with insane levels of exposure and everytime new players come theyre gone within the first 5 days of the game, then you wonder why you cant fill up warbands or roam in this game anymore

. And the 55 year olds playing it are now taking care of their grandchildren and got no time to play

Hey i still find a little time

[Martok]

Your boomer ass self is the reason this game never gets any new players and actually builds a playerbase, and instead bleeds players. No new player wants to play this game bc the new player experience is that ass...

For a number of years the success level of the server has been measured by some segments of the player base in the number of people they have/can run out of the game as opposed to how many they can keep/bring in. Not everyone is like that blah blah blah yada yada yada all the things I am supposed to say however the issue of the 'new player' experience has been a topic of discussion for some time now, unified by a common thread. It ain't easy being green.

Return of Reckoning has had so many chances with insane levels of exposure and every time new players come they're gone within the first 5 days of the game,

Fact check true. The first Lazy Peon wave is the most obvious example of that phenomenon in practice.

[gisborne]

Lol what you are saying is completely untrue in every single way, both as someone who has fought multiple people in twinked out gear and myself who have bought twinked out gear in the past. Ive seen first hand just how strong it is, youre also bringing in lair gear which a new player will most likely not be familiar with. Versus a twinked out toon with all lair pieces, cape, helmet & everything with full on talismans. Bolster brings you up to your softcap in stats for that level which is what makes you so strong, a level 2-3 Bolster gets like around 260 strength but a level 11-13 Player fully twinked out in talismans has multiple times those stats and thats just a hard fact, not to mention you only get 2 free potions in mail both HP and Armor pot, meanwhile twink toons run with a full stack of armor pot and HP pots, youre not competing w someone chugging pots with twice ur stats. And if u think you do youre on some hot copium

A large portion of the problem does lie in T1, Its where Ive seen most people give up on the game and quit. Because either side is 200-400% AAO most of the time, people dont want to sit afk and do nothing. And then zone flips to Elf and now youre running a marathon across the map on each death because the zone is too large for a 25% Mount if you want to get action, or a new player playing a DPS Thinking they will actually deal damage to an AM or a Shaman only to realise that once the fight is over their HP hasnt moved one inch, ive seen it happen an ungodly amount of times hundreds of people quitting in T1.

Do you not remember when Lazypeon brought us a large influx of players and within 3 days nearly the entire influx had completely exited out and left the game? 90% of those had not left TIer 1.

Multiple times doesn't mean what you think it means. Facts doesn't mean what you think it means, either.

Every time you greatly exaggerate, you just make it so nothing you say is believable.

[saiho]

Lol what you are saying is completely untrue in every single way, both as someone who has fought multiple people in twinked out gear and myself who have bought twinked out gear in the past. Ive seen first hand just how strong it is, youre also bringing in lair gear which a new player will most likely not be familiar with. Versus a twinked out toon with all lair pieces, cape, helmet & everything with full on talismans. Bolster brings you up to your softcap in stats for that level which is what makes you so strong, a level 2-3 Bolster gets like around 260 strength but a level 11-13 Player fully twinked out in talismans has multiple times those stats and thats just a hard fact, not to mention you only get 2 free potions in mail both HP and Armor pot, meanwhile twink toons run with a full stack of armor pot and HP pots, youre not competing w someone chugging pots with twice ur stats. And if u think you do youre on some hot copium

A large portion of the problem does lie in T1, Its where Ive seen most people give up on the game and quit. Because either side is 200-400% AAO most of the time, people dont want to sit afk and do nothing. And then zone flips to Elf and now youre running a marathon across the map on each death because the zone is too large for a 25% Mount if you want to get action, or a new player playing a DPS Thinking they will actually deal damage to an AM or a Shaman only to realise that once the fight is over their HP hasnt moved one inch, ive seen it happen an ungodly amount of times hundreds of people quitting in T1.

Do you not remember when Lazypeon brought us a large influx of players and within 3 days nearly the entire influx had completely exited out and left the game? 90% of those had not left TIer 1.

Multiple times doesn't mean what you think it means. Facts doesn't mean what you think it means, either.

Every time you greatly exaggerate, you just make it so nothing you say is believable.

It means exactly what I say it means? Just the other day I was in T1 with a friend trying to help them get into the game and I looked up a few of the people I faced on Armory bc they were completely unbeatable far beyond class standards, and guess what atleast a handful of them were completely twinked out so I did the same thing for me and my friend so we could stand a chance against them, now my friend had the luck of already having an established friend on the server that can do that for them a lot of new players may not.

And facts are facts, just like others in this thread agreeing with facts Ive pointed out in this thread. Just because you might not like my tone or the way i present it doesnt mean anything I say is wrong

[salazarn]

This isn't a community issue. It's a new player issue coming from spoiled game that has no self respect and just spoon everything to their casuals. I can't think of anyone who was ever against teaching or inviting people to play RoR. Advice chat is pretty friendly a generally with good and honest information. But people being butthurt for saying their choice might be difficult and not optimal happens all the time.

I just can't fathom enough how much I don't have pity for new players that can't help themselves. Reading this is just as lame as watching destro pug being too ignorant to try work together at pushing outside their warcamp when Gilletz farms then with his 10 or 12 man.

OP was offered, didn't like answers, decided the game is bad and can't be recommended? Okay dude go back to wow doing delves because I don't think you'd be able to climb ladder in arena or get a decent raider io in mythic+.

It's hard to compare wow arena ladder to RoR. Arena has matchmaking and a system designed for skill expression, no matter how effective it is at that. I think RoR is far more comparable to classic wow pvp: Sort of messy and unkempt with a focus on fun first. I think the latter is a far better model for mmo pvp.

But it is exploitable. And the grose effectiveness of stacking a 2.2.2 of players with guard and group heals vs. any other team composition of way or playing is a problem. Solos and randoms are happy to lose I think vs more organised groups. But they have to get something. Put randoms against a premade and the systems in this game will ensure they dont get a single kill. That is disheartenning and will drain a community over time i think.

[AsylumZA]

So,

I've noticed quite a few comments, where obviously the poster is trying to take a personal dig or just hasn't really taken the time to read the actual entirety of the post and or discussions that have ensued from my original post.

This obviously shows that they are, like a few have already picked up just literally here to troll.

My initial post was meant to highlight what numerous others have already pointed out.

1. Transparency of RoR
2. Guides for new players
3. Overhaul/Revisit of some archaic systems or rules sets that are in place.

etc etc ... and some really good ideas have come of this, which I truly hope the Dev's take note of.

Yet I'm sure that the above is not within the scope of the Dev's because of them being focused on Balancing/Content etc etc for the player base. (eg: New dungeon to teach players how to tank/heal/dps etc etc) I'm grateful for this, however it makes me wonder .. creating a PVE dungeon for PVE situations for a PVP game .. Yes some of these 'learnt' situations will help in PVP, however most of it will be lost during the storm of blob vs blob.

Which makes me to believe that this storm of entangled **** will never be solved. Its a beast eat beast situation, where either you take it and like it, no matter what ' IT ' is or you just move on and find another game. Which is sad, because when you start a project like this, you obviously have a love for the thing you are creating a project around.

Like what someone said earlier, LazyPeon brought many, the mechanics and beast ate and spat them out and they then came to the conclusion of either stay or go, of which many chose to go.

Which leads me back to one of my earlier post(s), I hope the Dev's read this and I hope that they want their game to grow instead of stagnate (which seems to be where its at).

I'm trying to be upbeat about this, however the more I'm trying to find solutions, the more I'm noticing a trend.

It is what it is and it will always be...

So in its entirety, I think I'm going to ask a Dev or Forum moderator to just close this discussion because as much as I'm trying to help make solutions, in the end I only see the same outcome and that's sad!

Thank you to those that have actually tried to add value and bring up points of discussion for us to openly talk about and I hope that someday change will happen, however when this games been going on for such a long time, I don't think those changes will ever come and that's me calling it out for what it is.

God bless you all and much love!

[georgehabadasher]

To all the "the new player experience is fine, git gud noob" people, you are part of the problem and the reason why this game cannot retain its new players.

If it feels right to tell a new player to join a big guild to get carried to rr80 in the blob, you have a grave misunderstanding of what getting into a new game means. It means you need to have fun, a meaningful gameplay and meet a friendly behaviour from the old timers.

You also need a learning curve, as in - learning how to play your class - which is currently completely skipped in the big RR factories on both sides... And it's on full display given how many new RR80 seem completely clueless about basic game mechanics concerning their class when they get out of the blob to play SCs or Dungeons.

The main issue is the lack of T2 / T3 RVR. Being mixed with BiS toons as soon as you get out of T1 is an horrible experience for most, as Bolster is mostly a placeholder which doesnt compensate the lack of tactic slots / important class skills / morales nor does it even out the gear itself. We could completely have lower tiers, as the population of RoR is healthier than most live servers past the 2 first years, contrary to the poplar belief that "we don't have enough players for lower tiers".
Furthermore, new players are often being misguided by people telling them to stay the underdog as long as possible to max out their RR, which is total bullshit. To be able to learn your class, you need your tactic slots, your skills, your morales as soon as possible and you can very easily compensate a low RR when you reach lvl 40 by getting the dungeon gear (which is up to Invader lvl, so pre BiS), then take your time grinding to 75 for sov. By shortening the time spent feeding the ogre for free, you can at least hope for some fun within a few days after reaching 40.

Lastly, I've tried to bring at least two dozen of friends to RoR in those past years, in the end only two remained and leveled past T1, despite the fact that all of them were initially very interested by the universe and had some good fun in T1 RvR / SCs. Those are probably the proportions of new players leaving because of the current state of the new player experience past T1. You need some power scaling to be able to retain them, the feeling that each new level brings something fulfilling rather than rushing through the bullets on a DDay shore until you finally reach BiS.

Great summary of the reasons RoR struggles to retain players.