Upcoming 5.2 classic server project

This is something I've been working on since last year and I'm ready to somewhat announce my plans in order to get some potential players feedback. The original plan was going with epic 7.2 right away but when I made a post about that back in December I received an private message from the Domination Rappelz guys, asking if I'm down to join their project instead since they already had decent progress and shared the same vision. Fast forward a few months their project kinda failed and once again I am tempted to host a classic server on my own.

To give you an general idea of what's to come:

• a real classic server based on Epic 5.2
• will update to 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 7.1 and 7.2 over the span of several months
• other than npc's that sell cs items there will be no custom content
• no cash shop, this is a non-profit project
• low rates. Probably x1 but possibly even slightly lower than retail
• Entirely built from the source (5.2 downgraded from 6.1, rest comes from the actual source)
• Fixed a plethora of bugs / game exploits in the code based on the more recent epics

Now I would like to know if you guys have any suggestions or ideas before this goes into testing? Even though I said there will be no custom content I am tempted to revisit some parts of the game in later versions, namely drops. A good example would be pet cards dropping from specific creatures simply to preserve that aspect and make open world farming more attractive. I for one enjoyed grinding Blue Pixies or Hawks to get their respective card drops and wouldn't mind having it like that even on Epic 7.2. Be creative and let me know what you want in that regard :)

I support your idea specially the updating to newer versions part i find it interesting. However, what cs stuff are you putting in npcs? and any ETA on when is the beta/release?

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Originally Posted by redsoul010 I support your idea specially the updating to newer versions part i find it interesting. However, what cs stuff are you putting in npcs? and any ETA on when is the beta/release?

Current plan is three npcs providing the following:

• anything cosmetic - very low cost
• anything consumables: ss, luck pot, respec and so on - medium cost
• anything enchantment - high cost

Prices are to be figured out in beta runs. Some items, namely t-pro's, will be considerably expensive or event only. I want pets, especially higher tier, to have their respective value.

Eta is late July / early August.

Sounds good.
The most important thing is that there are no exploits/bugs that ruin server economy. Otherwise some players feel betrayed and leave... Thats what happened in Domination.

T-Pro should only be available at events. In my Opinion they shouldnt exist at all!

Idea sounds nice to relive Rappelz Epic 5-7 with updates.

Might work out!

I've always wondered why players want old epics so much. even knowing that they don't live long
nostalgia... it's like taking an old phone and starting to walk around with it, because nostalgia, even if you know it won't work for a long time
maybe you just haven't tried playing on the new epics 9+ and all their amenities, because they really are much more interesting and convenient to play, and they live much longer

this is solely my opinion

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Originally Posted by RappelzGameOfWar I've always wondered why players want old epics so much. even knowing that they don't live long nostalgia... it's like taking an old phone and starting to walk around with it, because nostalgia, even if you know it won't work for a long time maybe you just haven't tried playing on the new epics 9+ and all their amenities, because they really are much more interesting and convenient to play, and they live much longer this is solely my opinion

nostalgy, competitive gameplay-dungeons are based on open world map system, you cant just leave the instant dungeon to reset the boss and monsters. unlimited resources that are beeing limited to the point where you have to compete against other players and guilds for drops. you won't understand this. even pking in dungeons like this is even more enjoyable but theres always people that cry about happening even if that's the pk war for spot or boss drops, not for quests entirely.players who wants protected spots for them to farm and level answers everything on their own-they should not play these kind of servers.

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Originally Posted by RappelzGameOfWar I've always wondered why players want old epics so much. even knowing that they don't live long nostalgia... it's like taking an old phone and starting to walk around with it, because nostalgia, even if you know it won't work for a long time maybe you just haven't tried playing on the new epics 9+ and all their amenities, because they really are much more interesting and convenient to play, and they live much longer this is solely my opinion

For me it is fairly simple:

• much slower pace: Game is not an aoe grind fest
• bosses (both dungeon and open world) weren't total pushovers
• both solo and party play was viable
• overall better class balance
• less powercreep
• no soul pets / going up in pet tiers felt amazing and very rewarding
• much slower leveling
• better economy - those random drop you found during leveling has actually some worth

While this games combat isn't incredibly deep I always felt like the balance and overall gameplay loop of older versions suited it better. Modern Rappelz is nothing but powercreep, blitzing through masses of monsters with whatever has the highest aoe. Remember the days where bad pulls in dungeons could actually overwhelm and cause wipes? Where classes weren't just buff slaves and picking a Priest over Bishop could result in a more rounded dungeon party? When upgrading from Orc to Hawk, RP to Angel or finally taming that Cerberus felt amazing? That is what I'm trying to replicate and I am sure there will be a small playerbase for that.

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Originally Posted by Forgiven Worry For me it is fairly simple: much slower pace: Game is not an aoe grind fest bosses (both dungeon and open world) weren't total pushovers both solo and party play was viable overall better class balance less powercreep no soul pets / going up in pet tiers felt amazing and very rewarding much slower leveling better economy - those random drop you found during leveling has actually some worth While this games combat isn't incredibly deep I always felt like the balance and overall gameplay loop of older versions suited it better. Modern Rappelz is nothing but powercreep, blitzing through masses of monsters with whatever has the highest aoe. Remember the days where bad pulls in dungeons could actually overwhelm and cause wipes? Where classes weren't just buff slaves and picking a Priest over Bishop could result in a more rounded dungeon party? When upgrading from Orc to Hawk, RP to Angel or finally taming that Cerberus felt amazing? That is what I'm trying to replicate and I am sure there will be a small playerbase for that.

I feel like you understood what the core of rappelz was by 100%.
If you manage to create such a server with nice class balance, slow progress and good server economy there will be small/medium but steady playerbase.

DO IT

I think you get what most player wants to see in a low rate server. Just don't put T-pro in there at all, we really don't want to see a white dragon first week.

Also slave buff, two choice, a NPC that give buff, lvl 5 from 0-50, and afterward lvl 10, or let player have slaves without having to use sandboxie or else.

Don't give us hope for nothing ! alot of us have been waiting for this kind of server

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Originally Posted by fwteddy I think you get what most player wants to see in a low rate server. Just don't put T-pro in there at all, we really don't want to see a white dragon first week. Also slave buff, two choice, a NPC that give buff, lvl 5 from 0-50, and afterward lvl 10, or let player have slaves without having to use sandboxie or else. Don't give us hope for nothing ! alot of us have been waiting for this kind of server

I am not a fan of t-pro either and it isn't included in the current build. Ullr scrolls are another story as of now but might be awarded during events only, in limited quantities.

As for buffs I thought about including an npc but ultimately decided against it. Playing the respective classes as main or alt was part of the retail experience and I'll leave it untouched. That also means party toggle buffs won't happen. Multiclient is allowed by default. If someone goes through the troubles of leveling an alt for the sole purpose of buffing themselves then by all means, more power to them. This isn't limited to a few select individuals and thus doesn't create an unfair advantage. Players who don't wish to have these alts themselves can group up with actual players playing these classes.

Which brings me to the next point, giving people an incentive to play different classes. Given the fact that I'll leave class balance untouched it is only natural for the majority to prefer certain classes over others. In order to even this out a bit there will be events based on class specific leaderboards. This will run along side the general competition for server firsts (ie first r5/6/7, first party to clear specific bosses et cetera) and can be rewarded with either hard ti acquiere ingame items or real cash. Do note that this is a non-profit project and thus rewards like these would be entirely crowdfunded, depending on how much interest there is for this sorta thing.

I remember my heart skipped a bit, after seeing Evo3 Cerb for the first time in Rappelz... That was so exciting... I'll be there, even if there would be just a small community.
Good idea, now just turn it into gold and let's goo!

Waiting for something like that for so long ! Iam in for sure !!!

Count me in! I agree with almost everything it has been said. I agree with the buff NPC without player buffs, we should try to play these classes, maybe just basic hv buffs? As far as quests are concerned, would be nice to upgrade them to motivate people to do them (maybe improve rewards? with enchanting items or mid prize rage depending on quest?). Looking forward to participate in this project. Count me in to beta testing if needed. cheers

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Originally Posted by guanostarmie Count me in! I agree with almost everything it has been said. I agree with the buff NPC without player buffs, we should try to play these classes, maybe just basic hv buffs? As far as quests are concerned, would be nice to upgrade them to motivate people to do them (maybe improve rewards? with enchanting items or mid prize rage depending on quest?). Looking forward to participate in this project. Count me in to beta testing if needed. cheers

Hidden Village and its perk will be accessible to everyone right away, free of charge. HV buffs will be available from the Druid just like usual. The only thing I consider is doubling their price while doubling their duration to make it more in line with other buff timers, such as SS or generic class buffs.

Quests will remain mostly untouched. If anything I'll consider adjusting the exp gain from certain quest series such as red farm, witch and so on. I'd love to see players dp and siege for Crystal Valley (CV1/CV2) instead of skipping it entirely. To compensate I'd probably up the itemized rewards of these quests. They reward empty rare pet cards by default and I'll probably double down on this.

As for beta testing there will be a seperate topic about that in the future. It will be public and multiple waves (minimum three) to ensure everything works as intended once the project goes online for good.