Koko RO Classic – Custom Features

KokoRO takes a minimalist approach to custom content and events. Instead, we focus on improving server performance and game accessibility. To this end, custom changes are limited and promote play diversity.

Introduction of custom items, monsters, or dungeons frequently divides the player base. It is difficult, if not impossible, to create new content that does not inherently favor a particular class, build path, or individual.

Limited time events, and similar incentives, exist to incite guilds, playgroups, or players to migrate to a server on the condition that they are given preferential treatment, usually through allocation of items or increased rates, at the detriment of future players who will not receive this treatment.

While initially beneficial, these incentives are eventually harmful to server longevity.

Instead of limited events or imbalanced items, our developers are focused on improving server performance and game accessibility.

Performance improvements include latency reductions, improved database redundancy, or denial of service protection.

Accessibility improvements include accurate client item/skill descriptions, an interactive world map, and yes – fixing over a decade of inherited NPC dialog typographical errors.

Eske, Counter Instinct, and Shield Reflect

The Eske, Counter Instinct, and Shield Reflect skills are disabled on MVP maps.

The Soul Linker skill Eske, in combination with the Stalker skill Counter Instinct or Crusader skill Reflect, enable an unconventional tactic to defeat MVP monsters.

As reflect damage ignores defense/element and is uncapped, it is relatively simple to defeat most high end MVPs with limited players, classes, and equipment.

It is inherently difficult to contest parties utilizing Eske-Reflect, as Eske triples monster attack strength, monsters become significantly more dangerous than if they were encountered alone.

The Eske-Reflect tactic was not addressed on public servers until the implementation of renewal mechanics, which limited reflected damage based on character maximum HP.

As KokoRO has no intention of transitioning to renewal, Eske, Counter Instinct, and Shield Reflect are disabled on MVP maps.

Giant Flywings

The Giant Flywing consumable is available from the Prontera tool dealer.

One of the hurdles for party diversity is monster density. Powerful, large, parties require a dense monster population to justify their resource investment.

Weaker, smaller, parties require a sparser monster population to avoid becoming overwhelmed. While modifying the map base monster population is a justifiable solution, maps are a limited resource.

It is not feasible support maps for every party dynamic nor is it desirable to intentionally divide the playerbase.

This problem is addressed in solo play through the Flywing item. Flywings allow players to indirectly modify monster density by quickly relocating the player to different sections of the map.

Introducing Giant Flywings expands this elegant solution to party play.

Golden Thiefbug Card

The Golden Thiefbug Card is disabled on PVP maps.

In a PVP context, the Golden Thiefbug Card (GTB) is uncontested in the polarizing effect it has on gameplay and the metagame. Magic immunity trivializes guild vs. guild magnetic earth skirmishes, stealth recalls behind enemy lines, and contested Emperiums with limited counterplay.

The traditional response, exhibited on both public and private servers, is to remove the item completely. However the item is only problematic in PVP, not PVE, thus it was preferred to only disable the item in the environment where it posed an issue.

Consequently GTB remains a powerful PVE item, capable of simplifying strategies for lhz_dun03 high wizards and many high end MVPs, but it is no longer corrupts PVP.

It is comparable in PVE power level and accessibility with many other MVP cards, e.g. Dracula, Phreeoni, Eddga, and Moonlight Flower.

Icewall

The Icewall skill is disabled on odin_tem03, abbey02, abbey03, thor_v03, and lhz_dun03.

The Wizard skill Icewall, similar to Eske and Shield Reflect, promotes a new approach to defeating MVP monsters.

This approach places monsters into an idle AI state, which can be used to circumvent some encounter components.

Unlike Eske-Reflect, this approach does not impede other players and is easily contested as the idle AI state is disrupted when the monster receives damage.

In most cases, Icewall does not lower the barrier to entry for MVP content as the majority of MVPs may be defeated with one to three players. However, with Icewall, the barrier to entry for high end content is reduced from a group to an individual effort.

Public servers are inconsistent with respect to Icewall permissions and change periodically. The observed permissions are inclusive of: disabled in dungeons, disabled on MVP maps, and enabled on MVP maps.

On KokoRO, Icewall is disabled on high end MVP maps.

Koko RO Classic – Item Drop Tables

In most cases item drop tables for consumable items, e.g. Old Card Albums (OCAs), mirror Japan Ragnarok Online (jRO) episode 13.2. For more detailed information, including the complete item drop table, see Tables.

Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus cannot polymorph boss monsters.

When a monster is polymorphed, i.e. transformed into a different monster, their AI does not immediately assume that of the new monster.

This mechanic can be used to easily defeat monsters, with lower difficulty requirements than intended, by circumventing their skill use.

To protect the economic integrity of items obtained from legitimately defeating boss monsters, SA_CLASSCHANGE has been disabled from the Sage skill Hocus Pocus.

Hugel Minigames

Prize Medals cannot be exchanged for experience or equipment.

The Hugel mini games were introduced as a social activity. Players participated in low-stakes games of chance, against the game (monster races) or each other (bingo).

The mini game rewards were useful, but more readily obtainable by other means, and the primary incentive for participating in the mini games was the social engagement. However, over time, new rewards were introduced on other servers that replaced this original intent.

These rewards included: weapons; that were exclusive to difficult monsters or quests, slotted elemental armors; that was exclusive to Ifrit or were otherwise unobtainable; and large amounts of base or job experience.

The mini games significantly lowered the barrier of entry to these rewards relative to other means.

By circumventing the barrier to entry for these rewards, their exclusiveness and status lost meaning.

There was little incentive to defeat a powerful foe or complete a laborious quest when rewards of equivalent status were obtainable through social gambling.

By removing the NPCs which provide the offending rewards, players are incentivized to explore end game content.

War of Emperium and Battlegrounds

War of Emperium and Battlegrounds are currently disabled.

War of Emperium (WoE) rewards a limited quantity of unique and powerful items and relies on players (PvP), rather than the environment (PvE), to provide the barrier-to-entry.

Due to the limited quantity of the rewards, the barrier-to-entry established by players often surpasses the difficulty of PvE content. However, such a barrier-to-entry is not yet present on KokoRO.

Consequently, WoE will not be implemented until players are able to provide an appropriate challenge. Guild dungeon access will be provided through WoE map Kafras until WoE is implemented.

Battlegrounds also rewards unique and powerful items and relies on players to provide the barrier-to-entry, but unlike WoE, does so with an unlimited quantity.

Due to the unlimited quantity of the rewards, players often collude to circumvent the intended difficulty. Succinctly, Battlegrounds failed to gate rewards with appropriate difficulty. Consequently, Battlegrounds is not implemented.

War of Emperium Kafra and Item Repair

The Kafra Cooperation and item repairmen extend their services to War of Emperium maps.

To improve performance, PVP map have been consolidated to a dedicated zone server. While this minimizes latency for PVP, characters lose some beneficial effects when transitioning between PVE and PVP maps. Some of these effects have considerable PVP applications, e.g. Soul Links, Preserve, Magnificant, etc. However amenities with PVP applications e.g.

Kafra storage and item repair, are normally located on PVE maps. Instead of isolate some towns with these amenities on the PVP zone server, and degrade the PVE experience for players utilizing those towns, amenities have been added to WoE maps.

Koko RO Classic – Global Chat Channels

Players may opt into global chatrooms to communicate with a broader audience.

Global chat channels may be used to interact with non-local players who are not within the character’s party, friends list, or guild. Due to architectural differences, global chat channels are implemented differently relative to other servers.

Global chat channels are opt in and may be interacted with on a character basis, i.e. settings from one character do not transfer to another. Offline characters are periodically removed from the global chat channels to improve performance for online characters.

Global chat channels are referenced as though they were another character through the private message system. For example: to join a channel; send the message join, to leave a channel; send the message leave. With the exception of utility commands, all other messages are relayed to all other channel members. Global chat channels utility commands are detailed below:

• join – adds the character to the channel (may send and receive messages),
• leave – removes the character from the channel (may no longer send or receive messages),
• who – returns the channel member count and member list,
• date – returns the server time, e.g. 2020-07-05,
• time – returns the server date, e.g. 21:07:36,
• afk – adds/removes a character afk tag, and
• version – returns the channel application version.

The following channels are currently supported:

• #main – for general conversation,
• #lfg – for organizing party play, and
• #trade – for buying, selling, or trading items.