Let’s set aside the horrible stuttering and poor performance of the game in cities - we all know it’s a problem that’s unlikely to be rectified, and getting worked up about it is going to fix it (if a fix is even possible) no faster.
No, what this topic is about is the terrible, bizarre, flat-out bad design of the cities themselves.
A lot of us hail (originally) from iRO - a game thick with ‘metropolitan’ spaces of varying types. From Izlude to Alberta; Payon to Morroc, each town in Ragnarok Online had its own distinct culture, music and feel. And the beating heart - the nexus of the game itself - was Prontera, the capital.
I’m not going to go off on some tangent waxing poetic about what a masterpiece Prontera was (though simplistic, too - it was just a big rectangle), but the simple and incontrovertible fact is that Prontera was completely superior to both the cities in TOS, both in terms of functionality and aesthetics.
Just off the top of my head, Prontera featured (and it has been 10 years, so forgive me if I overlooked something):
- A bright, luxurious color palette.
- A grand, tree-lined central avenue.
- Magnificant fountains.
- A cathedral with full interior spaces.
- A gazebo where players could host weddings.
- Extensive gardens.
- A large, bustling market.
- A royal castle.
- Many empty (but furnished) buildings for player use.
Roleplay or don’t roleplay, the majority of players in MMORPGs hang out in cities during their downtime. One of my fondest memories of iRO is ‘chilling’ in one of these little social huddles in Prontera, whiling away the time and shooting joke-laden emotes at friends. And this was really only possible because Prontera encouraged it - because it was a cool place to hang out.
Contrast this against the horrible design abortions that are TOS’ two current cities, which offer none of the charm of grandeur of iRO’s towns. Orsha and Klaipeda are both:
- Sullen and dark.
- Small.
- Have almost no green space.
- Have zero ‘throw away’ social spaces.
- Are multi-leveled and poorly-designed, which no obvious central road or hub.
- Have terrible, forgettable music.
Frankly, they’re the complete antithesis of the grand majestic cities of iRO… and they are an embarrassment. Multiple reviews have pointed out that TOS is exceedingly unfriendly to socialization, but I’d argue that the one element that’s rarely addressed in this perplexing design choice is the communal spaces themselves. I don’t want to hang out in Klaipeda; I have no desire to relax in Orsha - both places are claustrophobic dumps, with all the romance and loveliness of a late 19th Century factory/sweatshop.
If TOS is to endure, it has to be more than a leveling treadmill - an essential element of games like this is that people want to hang out in cities, in part, to show off all their hard work. Making this as hostile a pursuit as possible will do nothing but hasten the end of Tree of Savior.
