Server Vision
Development Philosophy
Changes made for Ragnarok Timelines are meant to honor the core game design of vanilla Ragnarok. Our goal is to make Timelines feel like a classic server, with the added bonus of more gameplay variety: our first principle is to improve on previously unviable gameplay options. Our second priority is to respect the time you have invested into your character. Changes to class skills will be extremely rare.
Community Philosophy
The expectation is that the community will sort out their own day to day issues and manage the drama level, while the staff will step in to moderate extreme cases and those specifically and clearly in violation of the server rules. We seek to ensure, through game policy, that pick up parties, WoE, and all manner of content can be enjoyed by any player willing to put in effort and hold a good attitude.
A vision statement from [GM] Skarpi:
I wanted to take a few moments to lay out my thoughts on what I envision this server becoming.
It is a tough question: a balancing of idealism and dreams, and technical, administrative, and time limitations, that is to say reality. So read what I say below understanding that my dreams are likely bigger than I am writing, and my capabilities may fall short in some regards.
I'll start with core tenets that I have as a player, as a developer, and as an admin and how they shape what this server will become:
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I consider my players' time sacred; the time you spend playing, engaging, offering feedback, and discussing Timlines is an investment into this project just as much as my time spent developing it. I want to deliver what I say I will and I don't want to make substantial, game ruining changes to the server after launch.
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I consider this game's greatest strength to be its variety. It allows for players to play the game they want, how they want to. While there is a meta, there is also viability for almost all of the content with off-meta, and sometimes crazy, setups. As the game aged through rebirth and into renewal, I felt that it lost a lot of this aspect and as such the game got worse. Timelines is going to restore that variety to the player experience. The meta will be unique from any other server in recent memory. This server is aimed at players interested in exploring and experimenting within the classic Ragnarok mechanics set.
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I consider player to player engagement to be the core metric of how well the server is doing. This is the quantity of engagements, the types of engagements, and the quality of those engagements. Many of my most remembered and significant moments in Ragnarok have been due to the players around me. We play this game because we enjoy playing it with others. Be it in the form of cooperative or competitive engagement, Ragnarok is an MMO and Timelines will be designed as an MMO.
So alright, lots of idealistic statements but how does that translate into a server?
Timelines is going to be a low-rate, pre-trans, classic mechanics server. It will never get trans classes or swap to renewal mechanics. We are interested in finding a balance of settings that ensure excellent party play and room for shenanigans with friends. This will not be a vanilla experience, more of a hot fudge Sundae. The base is vanilla, the additions are tasty and enhance the experience.
I do not intend for this server to be huge. If a single player running a server in his basement is a 1, and the biggest private servers in history are a 10, I would say Timelines is aiming to be a 4, maybe a 5. I would consider a consistent online population of 200 to be a big success. I think players should be able to find groups to play with, both in guilds and as random pick up parties. I think that content like MvPing and end game maps should be enjoyable by all the players that are wanting to take on those challenges.
I want this server to be as single-client friendly as possible.
We are including adjustments to encourage single-client play and to reduce the advantages that arise from “sweaty play”. That said I’m not opposed to players multi-clienting to fill party slots when other players are not available. I’m not going to enforce a strict policy on how you should play the game, it is a game, we play for fun.
There will be WoE.
It will be different than what you are maybe used to. It is not aimed at the GvG meta. It is not intended to be a weekly struggle between two massive guilds for domination. My vision for WoE is to get as many players as possible involved. I think that WoE is best when it is dynamic and chaotic and reflective of the effort, strategy, and skills of the players. That is what Timelines will aim for.
What about player retention?
Won’t players get bored if there is no new content/episodes coming? Perhaps they will, perhaps the relationships and the large amount of content, new dynamics, and the quest for the top items (yes God items will be a thing on Timelines) will keep many players engaged for a long while. As a long term plan, there will be additional content loosely tied into a story. This content will likely come and go and will explore down the path of alternate Timelines. There is a huge amount of maps, mobs, items, and just general content available to adapt, again, with the core tenents in mind.
Phew, that was a lot of writing.
Apologies for the wall of text. I’ll try to summarize. Ragnarok Timelines aims to be a unique experience within the Ragnarok universe. It may end up being a niche thing, but we are going to make it the best version of that niche thing that we can. If you are into the low rate, pre-trans experience with a meta-shifting twist, then this might just be the niche thing you’ve been looking for.
