Suggestions and Ideas for Improving the Oldschool Server
Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2024 1:53 pm
Hello ,
I found this project while searching for a capable oldschool server.
Here are some thoughts I have and would like to share:
Server Economy – Itemshop
I'll start with the most controversial topic first and ask why there won't be costumes and disguises in the item shop. Many big games like LoL or CS, which don't have P2W, support their server and team through skins. I think this could be an option here as well. I don't mind if everyone looks like a clown, as long as these clown outfits don't give any additional bonuses.
Possible options could be skins as costumes, hats, old and new hairstyles, weapon skins, pets, horse skins (mounts).
Horse skins can only be equipped if you own a horse and only change the appearance of the horse to, for example, a lion or reindeer, but do not give any bonuses or additional abilities. Attacking from the back of the horse skin is also only possible from horse level 11.
No P2W in the item shop. No EXP rings, gloves, switchers, or adders. Possible items could be: emotion masks, realm change, gender change, wedding items, storage expansion, fireworks, character reset, town scroll, item shop bundle.
Offline Shops
Since I briefly mentioned it, I'll explain what I mean by the item shop bundle. Offline shops are always possible, but with limited trade inventory and shop duration (e.g., 12 hours).
The item shop bundle offers you a larger trade window and longer shop duration (e.g., 7 days). This is an item that only very active farm players need and does not give an advantage over casual players. (It eliminates the need to create shops with 5 accounts.)
The Game
Who is the Dragon God? The first time I heard about him was when I was protected by him after waking up from death and didn't lose any EXP. The second time was when I saw the item shop items from him. He otherwise plays no role in the world.
He could be mentioned at the beginning (when spawning on the level 1 bridge), for example, saying that a dark force is causing the Metin stones to rain down, which curse and drive the animals mad, so the Dragon God appeared as a balance and supports all people in fighting this. (Yin-Yang principle)
Quests and Story
The game lacks a complete story. It is said that the kingdoms are at war and the stones curse the animals. The only thing you see is that the stones "spawn" the animals and players from the same kingdom slaughter each other in front of the blacksmith.
The spawn animation of the stones could be changed to really look like they attract the animals. I thought of the teleport animation of the desert turtle. The monsters could also appear a bit further away from the stone and walk into the frame to the player and attack. Another possibility would be that damaging a stone occasionally pulls monsters nearby like a bravery cape.
Yu-Hwan and Map2 don't make sense. Yu-Hwan is supposed to be a spy for the captain and spy on Map2. But the biggest spies are the existing NPCs! They all look exactly like those in Map1, and you couldn't tell who the spy is. It's even easier. The blacksmith in Map2 is the same as in Map1 because you can complete the mission "Deokbae's letter" with the blacksmith in Map2. Well, it was clear to everyone that they are exactly the same NPCs as in Map1, but what if you changed that?
You could start by having the NPCs from each kingdom wear a robe or scarf with the respective kingdom color.
Also, there are so many unused NPCs in the game files from 2009, such as Seon-Hae, Alchemist, Grotto-Sura, Gayahändler, etc. These could be optimally used as Map2 traders.
Additionally, the wounded soldiers from the "war" are missing.
You could have low-geared warriors, sura, ninjas, and shamans lying around or limping in the middle of Map2 (like drunken citizens). Occasionally, statements appear under their names like: "ALMS!" or "Do you have some Yang for a wounded veteran?".
Stable boy, captain, town guard, village square guard, all other guards are the same. I am repeating myself. It's the same point as with the Map2 NPCs.
It makes no sense that monkeys drop horse medals and live in a cave.
You could start the entire horse quest by having the stable boy say: ".... Monkeys have stolen my precious horse medals. I will only give you a chance to get one if you bring them back to me..." or something like that.
Maps
The entrance to the monkey dungeon is ridiculous. It's an outline of a building with a portal that teleports you into a cave. Huh?
Monkeys live in the jungle.
You could remove this masonry and place a cave entrance like the one to the spider dungeon or the red forest, and put some jungle plants or at least some palm trees from the desert oasis in front of it.
The game looks too barren. It looks like someone spent 20 minutes designing the landscape with a spray can. Bushes, shrubs, fence elements, broken/raided merchant caravans are missing everywhere - of course, all transparent.
In the snake field, remove the cursed animals and add groups of desert snakes. (to reduce the rarity of tail+). Add a few level 45 stones (because OTM is over-farmed).
In the guild land, also remove the cursed monsters. So it is a GUILD LAND. (You could perhaps spawn weaker cursed animals from Map1 metins).
QOL
An always active Yang hand is important! It takes a lot of time to pick up each Yang and Yang bombs, and it costs a lot of server performance when so much stuff is lying around.
Generally higher drop rates of leadership books.
The movement speed is too low at the beginning and already frustrates players when they have to run from Map1 to Map2 or to the biologist because of quests. Basically, you could get a pony at level 5 which expires after 7 days. Also, increasing the riding speed would be worthwhile, e.g., horse level 1 = +20 movement, level 11 = +30, level 21 = +50.
Quest Balance
Renew the quests. It can't be that there are quests like collect 4000x arrowheads or 300x expensive ores. Also, quests should give EXP instead of items. A very effective beginner method is to always create level 20 characters and do the Mi-Jung, Eun-Jung quest. As we know, a silver bracelet +0 is enough for complete Map1/Map2 equipment +6.
In the same section, you could also adjust the value of some low-level items to make them less attractive to high-level players. For example, the silver bracelet. As a beginner, it is not worth wearing or upgrading it because it gives too little HP on +0 and is too expensive to upgrade. You could adjust the bonus HP (e.g., +0 300HP -> +9 1000HP) so that it is not so interesting for high-level players and more for low-level players.
Equipment
Something definitely needs to be done about the level 30 weapons. It can't be that you have to farm desert monsters for shaman weapons. That's impossible as a shaman with a level 20 bell.
What if you can "forge" your weapon by farming certain items through the "brutal" and Map2 "mini-bosses."
My approach would be to add a level limit (e.g., 40) so that no high-level players over-farm these and the forge parts are too cheap on the market. It should still remain something special.
Additional Note: When I looked at the upgrade paths and values of all weapons up to level 40 again, I realized that there is no proper way past the level 30 weapons. Most weapons require Shurikens+ or Orc Amulets to upgrade. The level 25 daggers have EXACTLY THE SAME attack value as the level 20 daggers. The bow requires Orc teeth, and there is no level 25 bell. The magic damage is not high enough to choose the fan. The only good weapon is the two-handed sword. Since all these weapons up to level 40 have the same upgrade paths and only slightly higher attack values, you unfortunately have to run around for a long time with a level 15 or 20 weapon +6/+7 or a level 25-40 weapon +4. This is very bad, and that’s why you are forced to get a level 30 weapon.
Inflation
When I started on the server, I noticed how expensive everything is on the market, but how cheap some starter equipment is. The market is full of level 20 weapons and +7 jewelry for little money. Is there any high-level boss drop for this stuff? If so, it needs to disappear immediately! How can you give high-level players drops of good starter equipment? It is clear that this will be sold for little money and ruin the low-level area. Then you might as well start the game at level 20. As already mentioned, the rest is incredibly expensive. Level 34 armor +0 costs 200k, and level 30 weapons cost 2kk. How is this possible on an oldschool server? Either Yang buying, botting, or too much cash and high demand from high-level players.
Classes
For Ninja, it would be cool if the arrows flew through the monsters to hit multiple targets. Also, you could change the skill "Featherwalk" so that it gives enough movement on 1 and maybe HP regeneration.
Shamans and their early game... Many servers have already addressed this problem and had solutions like "increase the attack of fans and bells" or "basic strong against monster bonus." Unfortunately, these bonuses scaled, making the shaman a strong farmer in the late game as well.
You could give the shaman a basic higher attack value with level 1 (e.g., 15 attack value). This would be enough at the beginning to compensate for the damage loss but would not stand out at high levels. The problem with percentage bonuses is that they get stronger the more base values you have. But you only want to improve the early game, so you should only slightly increase the base values.
An alternative would be for the shaman to get 1 attack value for every 2 points of INT.
Herbalism
There is a "pick up" animation in the game files that has never been used in the game. This would be the opportunity. My idea is also that you can collect herbs on all green maps (Map1, Map2, Orc Valley, Forest).
The potions should also be lucrative enough. For example, replace the useless HP/MP potions with those that give INT, VIT, STR, DEX, and extend the duration from 3 minutes to 10 or 30 minutes.
Mini-Games
As a final point, I have the introduction of mini-games.
You could challenge other players to a mini-game in addition to duels. A small program would start, each player places a bet, then you can play a dice game, card game, or even rock-paper-scissors against each other. The winner gets the bet from both players.
Thank you to everyone who read this far and please comment with your thoughts on this.
I found this project while searching for a capable oldschool server.
Here are some thoughts I have and would like to share:
Server Economy – Itemshop
I'll start with the most controversial topic first and ask why there won't be costumes and disguises in the item shop. Many big games like LoL or CS, which don't have P2W, support their server and team through skins. I think this could be an option here as well. I don't mind if everyone looks like a clown, as long as these clown outfits don't give any additional bonuses.
Possible options could be skins as costumes, hats, old and new hairstyles, weapon skins, pets, horse skins (mounts).
Horse skins can only be equipped if you own a horse and only change the appearance of the horse to, for example, a lion or reindeer, but do not give any bonuses or additional abilities. Attacking from the back of the horse skin is also only possible from horse level 11.
No P2W in the item shop. No EXP rings, gloves, switchers, or adders. Possible items could be: emotion masks, realm change, gender change, wedding items, storage expansion, fireworks, character reset, town scroll, item shop bundle.
Offline Shops
Since I briefly mentioned it, I'll explain what I mean by the item shop bundle. Offline shops are always possible, but with limited trade inventory and shop duration (e.g., 12 hours).
The item shop bundle offers you a larger trade window and longer shop duration (e.g., 7 days). This is an item that only very active farm players need and does not give an advantage over casual players. (It eliminates the need to create shops with 5 accounts.)
The Game
Who is the Dragon God? The first time I heard about him was when I was protected by him after waking up from death and didn't lose any EXP. The second time was when I saw the item shop items from him. He otherwise plays no role in the world.
He could be mentioned at the beginning (when spawning on the level 1 bridge), for example, saying that a dark force is causing the Metin stones to rain down, which curse and drive the animals mad, so the Dragon God appeared as a balance and supports all people in fighting this. (Yin-Yang principle)
Quests and Story
The game lacks a complete story. It is said that the kingdoms are at war and the stones curse the animals. The only thing you see is that the stones "spawn" the animals and players from the same kingdom slaughter each other in front of the blacksmith.
The spawn animation of the stones could be changed to really look like they attract the animals. I thought of the teleport animation of the desert turtle. The monsters could also appear a bit further away from the stone and walk into the frame to the player and attack. Another possibility would be that damaging a stone occasionally pulls monsters nearby like a bravery cape.
Yu-Hwan and Map2 don't make sense. Yu-Hwan is supposed to be a spy for the captain and spy on Map2. But the biggest spies are the existing NPCs! They all look exactly like those in Map1, and you couldn't tell who the spy is. It's even easier. The blacksmith in Map2 is the same as in Map1 because you can complete the mission "Deokbae's letter" with the blacksmith in Map2. Well, it was clear to everyone that they are exactly the same NPCs as in Map1, but what if you changed that?
You could start by having the NPCs from each kingdom wear a robe or scarf with the respective kingdom color.
Also, there are so many unused NPCs in the game files from 2009, such as Seon-Hae, Alchemist, Grotto-Sura, Gayahändler, etc. These could be optimally used as Map2 traders.
Additionally, the wounded soldiers from the "war" are missing.
You could have low-geared warriors, sura, ninjas, and shamans lying around or limping in the middle of Map2 (like drunken citizens). Occasionally, statements appear under their names like: "ALMS!" or "Do you have some Yang for a wounded veteran?".
Stable boy, captain, town guard, village square guard, all other guards are the same. I am repeating myself. It's the same point as with the Map2 NPCs.
It makes no sense that monkeys drop horse medals and live in a cave.
You could start the entire horse quest by having the stable boy say: ".... Monkeys have stolen my precious horse medals. I will only give you a chance to get one if you bring them back to me..." or something like that.
Maps
The entrance to the monkey dungeon is ridiculous. It's an outline of a building with a portal that teleports you into a cave. Huh?
Monkeys live in the jungle.
You could remove this masonry and place a cave entrance like the one to the spider dungeon or the red forest, and put some jungle plants or at least some palm trees from the desert oasis in front of it.
The game looks too barren. It looks like someone spent 20 minutes designing the landscape with a spray can. Bushes, shrubs, fence elements, broken/raided merchant caravans are missing everywhere - of course, all transparent.
In the snake field, remove the cursed animals and add groups of desert snakes. (to reduce the rarity of tail+). Add a few level 45 stones (because OTM is over-farmed).
In the guild land, also remove the cursed monsters. So it is a GUILD LAND. (You could perhaps spawn weaker cursed animals from Map1 metins).
QOL
An always active Yang hand is important! It takes a lot of time to pick up each Yang and Yang bombs, and it costs a lot of server performance when so much stuff is lying around.
Generally higher drop rates of leadership books.
The movement speed is too low at the beginning and already frustrates players when they have to run from Map1 to Map2 or to the biologist because of quests. Basically, you could get a pony at level 5 which expires after 7 days. Also, increasing the riding speed would be worthwhile, e.g., horse level 1 = +20 movement, level 11 = +30, level 21 = +50.
Quest Balance
Renew the quests. It can't be that there are quests like collect 4000x arrowheads or 300x expensive ores. Also, quests should give EXP instead of items. A very effective beginner method is to always create level 20 characters and do the Mi-Jung, Eun-Jung quest. As we know, a silver bracelet +0 is enough for complete Map1/Map2 equipment +6.
In the same section, you could also adjust the value of some low-level items to make them less attractive to high-level players. For example, the silver bracelet. As a beginner, it is not worth wearing or upgrading it because it gives too little HP on +0 and is too expensive to upgrade. You could adjust the bonus HP (e.g., +0 300HP -> +9 1000HP) so that it is not so interesting for high-level players and more for low-level players.
Equipment
Something definitely needs to be done about the level 30 weapons. It can't be that you have to farm desert monsters for shaman weapons. That's impossible as a shaman with a level 20 bell.
What if you can "forge" your weapon by farming certain items through the "brutal" and Map2 "mini-bosses."
My approach would be to add a level limit (e.g., 40) so that no high-level players over-farm these and the forge parts are too cheap on the market. It should still remain something special.
Additional Note: When I looked at the upgrade paths and values of all weapons up to level 40 again, I realized that there is no proper way past the level 30 weapons. Most weapons require Shurikens+ or Orc Amulets to upgrade. The level 25 daggers have EXACTLY THE SAME attack value as the level 20 daggers. The bow requires Orc teeth, and there is no level 25 bell. The magic damage is not high enough to choose the fan. The only good weapon is the two-handed sword. Since all these weapons up to level 40 have the same upgrade paths and only slightly higher attack values, you unfortunately have to run around for a long time with a level 15 or 20 weapon +6/+7 or a level 25-40 weapon +4. This is very bad, and that’s why you are forced to get a level 30 weapon.
Inflation
When I started on the server, I noticed how expensive everything is on the market, but how cheap some starter equipment is. The market is full of level 20 weapons and +7 jewelry for little money. Is there any high-level boss drop for this stuff? If so, it needs to disappear immediately! How can you give high-level players drops of good starter equipment? It is clear that this will be sold for little money and ruin the low-level area. Then you might as well start the game at level 20. As already mentioned, the rest is incredibly expensive. Level 34 armor +0 costs 200k, and level 30 weapons cost 2kk. How is this possible on an oldschool server? Either Yang buying, botting, or too much cash and high demand from high-level players.
Classes
For Ninja, it would be cool if the arrows flew through the monsters to hit multiple targets. Also, you could change the skill "Featherwalk" so that it gives enough movement on 1 and maybe HP regeneration.
Shamans and their early game... Many servers have already addressed this problem and had solutions like "increase the attack of fans and bells" or "basic strong against monster bonus." Unfortunately, these bonuses scaled, making the shaman a strong farmer in the late game as well.
You could give the shaman a basic higher attack value with level 1 (e.g., 15 attack value). This would be enough at the beginning to compensate for the damage loss but would not stand out at high levels. The problem with percentage bonuses is that they get stronger the more base values you have. But you only want to improve the early game, so you should only slightly increase the base values.
An alternative would be for the shaman to get 1 attack value for every 2 points of INT.
Herbalism
There is a "pick up" animation in the game files that has never been used in the game. This would be the opportunity. My idea is also that you can collect herbs on all green maps (Map1, Map2, Orc Valley, Forest).
The potions should also be lucrative enough. For example, replace the useless HP/MP potions with those that give INT, VIT, STR, DEX, and extend the duration from 3 minutes to 10 or 30 minutes.
Mini-Games
As a final point, I have the introduction of mini-games.
You could challenge other players to a mini-game in addition to duels. A small program would start, each player places a bet, then you can play a dice game, card game, or even rock-paper-scissors against each other. The winner gets the bet from both players.
Thank you to everyone who read this far and please comment with your thoughts on this.